Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess and compare different private healthcare settings based on perceived service quality in Indian context using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The Indian private healthcare sector has been controlled by three categories of healthcare settings, namely, nursing clinics (NCs), non-corporate hospitals (NCHs) and corporate hospitals (CHs). Design/methodology/approach AHP was used to rank order of healthcare setting regarding the service quality dimensions and relative standings of every service provider with respect to its competitors. The authors collected random data from nine private hospitals situated in eastern and southern India. The authors proposed a feasible appraising approach based on AHP to decide the sustainability priority of dimensions like reliability, physical environment, empathy, efficiency, timeliness, transparency, affordability, communication, appropriateness and consistency in the Indian private healthcare industry. Findings The result demonstrates that Indian NCHs are performing better on customers’ perceived service quality, followed by CHs and NCs. The comparative performance of healthcare settings is an attempt to establish a performance ranking. Originality/value This research assesses dimensions of the service quality that need urgent attention. The results may provide insight to healthcare managers as to how they can improve their service quality in order to match customer expectation and to improve business performance.
This paper attempts to explore and identify issues affecting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation in context to Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. Issues which are considered more important for large scale enterprises may not be of equal importance for a small and medium scale enterprise and hence replicating the implementation experience which holds for large organizations will not a wise approach on the part of the implementation vendors targeting small scale enterprises. This paper attempts to highlight those specific issues where a different approach needs to be adopted. Pareto analysis has been applied to identify the issues for Indian SMEs and Large scale enterprises as available from the published literature. Also by doing comparative analysis between the identified issues for Indian large enterprises and SMEs four issues are proved to be crucial for SMEs in India but not for large enterprises such as proper system implementation strategy, clearly defined scope of implementation procedure, proper project planning and minimal customization of the system selected for implementation, because of some limitations faced by the Indian SMEs compared to large enterprises.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the contextual quality management practices (QMP) and to empirically examine their underlying dimensions and its direct influence or association with performance in context to Indian IT enabled service small- and mid-size enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach The methodology adopted in this study is sequential exploratory mixed method approach. This study adopts two stage processes of capturing data, first identifying critical QMP/indicators as obtained from review of literature, followed by in-depth interview based on semi-structured questionnaire from sample of 20 select service SMEs. Based on comprehensive compilation of literature as well as through in-depth interview 21 QMP have been identified. Structured instrument has been developed taking measures as identified. The QMP relevant to SMEs have been derived from Kaynak (2003), Samat et al. (2006), Salaheldin (2009), Kim et al. (2012) and Talib et al. (2013b). The research instrument developed was customised and adapted to the background of Indian IT enabled service SMEs. Similarly for measuring quality performance five items have been identified from previous literature. Five-point Likert scale ranging from “5=strongly agree” to “1=strongly disagree” is used to show the agreement of the respondents. Exploratory factor analysis has been deployed to identify underlying dimensions of QMP. Thereafter, linear regression modelling has been done to better understand the relationships between QMP and quality performance. Findings A three-factor solution has been obtained and the individual practices could be reconfigured into three dimensions, namely, organisational management, capacity management and quality documentation and security management (QDSM). The findings reflect that strength of Indian IT enabled service SMEs pertaining to quality implementation lie with customer focus, training and service-level management (SLM). Regression analysis shows that all three factor dimensions are positively influencing quality performance. The predictor score of three factor dimensions clearly reflects that Indian SMEs in service sectors have been focusing more on organisational culture and QDSM. The overall findings resemble very interesting insights which gives indication of unstructured pattern of approach. Keeping in view the pattern of practices it can be predicted that Indian digital SMEs are not practicing continuous improvement. It could be inferred that Indian IT enabled service SMEs approach is non-continuous in nature. Research limitations/implications Further analysis may be needed to measure the construct using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The research paper is limited by including only six service sub-sectors which may not be adequate to generalise the results for the entire IT enabled/digital service SMEs within India. The same study can be extended by incorporating more quality management (QM) variables and other contextual factors within the organisation and by involving other service sector SMEs. Future research could be done by incorporating multi-contingency framework and moreover researchers may deploy other sophisticated tools and techniques to investigate how individual QMP are interrelated and its influence on performance by means of linkage research. The conceptual model developed can be validated by incorporating other service sector SMEs by deploying CFA and structural modelling. Practical implications This study could be beneficial to entrepreneurs and managers of start-ups and other service industries towards understanding improvement and changing their implementation approach. The theoretically grounded conceptual framework developed could provide entrepreneurial insights to new service managers and entrepreneurs who can better allocate their scarce resources to build quality and scalability effectively. Originality/value This study adds to the literature in identifying and showing importance of QMP in Indian IT enabled service SMEs. This choice is appropriate for this study as no prior research has been found to be conducted on this particular sector from Indian context, especially from service SMEs point of view. This research contributes in identifying new QMP (i.e. service reporting; content management; SLM and information and security management). Overall, the results of this study contribute towards advancing the understanding of the dimensionality of QM. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study being undertaken in context to Indian IT enabled service SMEs and is believed that the study provides valuable knowledge from the perspective of QM issues pertaining to Indian service firms.
Substantial research exists on quality management practices in context to large organisations with plethora of studies in manufacturing organisations while exiguously aiming service sector SMEs. As more and more organisations strive to remain competitive, the concepts and practices of quality management have received increased attention by Indian industry. The contribution of service sector in Indian economy has increased at a faster rate in comparison with other sectors. Considering the pressing need this research explores the literature for a near exhaustive list of practices in quality management by deploying qualitative and descriptive approach. Thereafter, twenty service organizations were surveyed for comprehending their adoption of the type of quality management practices. On the basis of their prioritization or apportioning weight to those practices, a descriptive pattern analysis has been deployed to detect perceived level of adoption/implementation of quality management practices. The findings represent that out of twenty one quality management practices; thirteen practices substantially have been ranked on priority while others require phenomenal acclimatization towards implementation in the Indian scenario. Analysis also reflects that the strength of service SMEs lies with customer focus, management leadership and customer feedback. Further with the integration of contextual factors, as supported by theory, a conceptual framework has been proposed exhibiting relationship between quality management practices with performance and growth. The methodological approach led to the emergence of unique dimensions culminating into new findings with both managerial and entrepreneurial implications. Directions for future scope of research and suggestions for improvement have also been recommended.
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