Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose the microeconomics concept of elasticity to estimate the SERVQUAL gap elasticity to derive important insights for service providers to develop the right strategies to bridge the overall gap in service. Design/methodology/approach The dimensions of SERVQUAL adopted from Parasuraman et al. (1988) and Kumar et al. (2009) are first verified for their unidimensionality using structural equation modeling and reliability in the context of United Arab Emirates banking industry. Furthermore, the technique of dominance analysis is used to derive the relative importance of dimensions for different groups of banks. Finally, the stepwise log-linear regression models are used to estimate the gap elasticity to measure the responsiveness of the overall SERVQUAL gap to a change in customers’ perception on different dimension. Findings The results reveal that the dimension which is prioritized as the most important dimension need not to be the one to be targeted under the resource constraint to react faster to the changes of customers’ banking behavior. Originality/value This is probably the first attempt to examine the service quality through gap elasticity. This method is especially useful when the traditional approach to measure relative importance of critical factors fails to clearly discriminate between two or more dimensions, which, in turn, may lead to failure in decision making to choose the right strategies to bridge the overall gap in the service.

The study aims to understand the determinants of dividend trends of Indian firms. The study was based on a sample of 31,234 firms representing 15 different industry sectors. Construction materials, machinery and transportation equipment sectors were the most dividend intensive sectors in India. Partial least square structural equation modeling methodology (PLS SEM) was employed to examine the determinants of the dividend intensity of Indian firms. Different schemes of path models were tested and the results show that the higher the financial leverage, the lower is the propensity to pay dividends. Firms with high intangibles are expected to have higher agency costs. High growth firms have low dividend payout policies. Dividend intensity of firms is directly related to the size of firm. Higher the R&D intensity of the firms, greater is the dividend intensity of the firms. Firms with higher agency costs tend to have higher dividend intensity. Higher agency costs lead to lower cash flows for Indian firms. Firms with higher liquidity tend to pay more dividends. Profitable firms tend to have higher dividend intensity.

This study aims to explore the influence of brand value on firm performance and shareholder wealth creation. This study is based on the top 100 brands ranked by Interbrand. This research article analyses the impact of brand value on firm performance both in terms of stock market performance and operating performance. This study uses panel regression data to understand valuation effects of brands. The results suggest that firms with superior operating performance have higher brand valuation effects. Higher brand valuation is a significant determinant of profitability. Brand quality leads to improved cash flow on account of the likelihood of repurchase. This study establishes the negative relationship between agency conflicts and brand value. The results support the belief that a marketer’s efforts on brand investments are a significant source of value-creating activity.

Theoretical and empirical studies have focused on discretionary investments such as research and development (R&D) and advertisement as value-creating activities. This empirical research article examines the determinants of the discretionary investment policy of food sector firms in India. The study aims to analyze the impact of financial policies and firm characteristics on the discretionary investment strategy of the food industry firms. The article uses the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to understand the drivers of discretionary investment policy of food sector firms. The study finds that investment policy of firms is a major determinant of profitability of food sector firms. Higher investments in capital expenditures and working capital result in higher profitability. Management efficiency significantly influences firm profitability. The results suggest that riskier firms in food sector might focus on R&D investments as a strategy to generate more cash flows. Size of firm is negatively related to R&D intensity. Smaller firms in food sector tend to invest more in R&D. The study does not provide evidence to suggest that profitable firms invest more in R&D activities.Keywords general management, management, social sciences, manufacturing, operations management, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational behavior, strategic management organizational theory and business policy, multi-variate analysis, research methods, discretionary investments, partial least squares, path analysis, food industry by guest on June 4, 2016 Downloaded from

No abstract