Browsing by Author "Amorim, Marlene"
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- Counterintelligence Technologies: An Exploratory Case Study of Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System in the Afghan National Defense and Security ForcesPublication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, Nuno; Cohen, Yuval; Costa, JoanaThe preliminary credibility assessment screening system (PCASS) is a US-based program, which is currently being implemented by intelligence units of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to make the initial screening of individuals suspected of infiltrating the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). Sensors have been instrumental in the PCASS, leading to organizational change. The aim of this research is to describe how the ANDSF adapted to the implementation of PCASS, as well as implemented changes since the beginning of the program. To do so, we have conducted a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive case study that allows one to understand, through the use of a series of data collection sources, a real-life phenomenon of which little is known. The results suggest that the sensors used in PCASS empower security forces with reliable technologies to identify and neutralize internal threats. It then becomes evident that the technological leadership that PCASS provides allows the developing of a relatively stable and consistent organizational change, fulfilling the objectives of the NATO and the ANDSF.
- Digital Transformation: A Literature Review and Guidelines for Future ResearchPublication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, Nuno; Matos, PatríciaThe aim of this paper is to provide insights regarding the state of the art of Digital Transformation, and to propose avenues for future research. Using a systematic literature review of 206 peer-reviewed articles, this paper provides an overview of the literature. Among other things, the findings indicate that managers should adapt their business strategy to a new digital reality. This mainly results in the adaptation of processes and operations management. Scholars, for the other side, are also facing challenges, as prior research may not have identified all the opportunities and challenges of Digital Transformation. Furthermore, while the Digital Transformation has expanded to all sectors of activity there are some areas with more prospects of being developed in the future than others.
- Disclosing Paths for Multi-channel Service Research: A Contemporaneous Phenomenon and Guidelines for Future InvestigationsPublication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, NunoThe present paper reports on the findings of a systematic literature review on multi-channel services. In doing so, it uses an affinity diagram to show the results of a content analysis regarding the issues addressed by the existing literature in the field. This enables to understand areas of interest in the contemporary subject of research, find gaps in the literature and, lastly, to uncover guidelines for future research. The results suggest that future investigations should focus on the integration of traditional and virtual services, on quality issues and customer behaviour towards the use of multi-channel services. Previous research also suggests that multi-channel services are largely unaddressed, regarding issues as back-office processes, within the scope of operations management. Subsequently, since multi-channel services are multidisciplinary in nature, these guidelines represent a fruitful opportunity for future research to involve other disciplines.
- EQUASS Assurance Certification: The View of Pioneer AdoptersPublication . Melão, Nuno; Amorim, Marlene; Marimon, Frederic; Alegre, InésPurpose – The paper examines from a practitioner’s perspective the European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS) Assurance standard, a certification programme for European social service organisations to implement a sector-specific Quality Management System. In particular, it analyses the adoption motives, the internalisation of the standard, the impacts, the satisfaction and the renew intentions. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey methodology. From the 381 organisations emailed, 196 responses coming from eight different European countries were considered valid (51.4%). Data from closed-ended questions were analysed using simple descriptive statistical techniques. Content analysis was employed to analyse practitioner’s comments to open-ended questions. Findings – It shows that social service providers typically implement the certification for internal reasons, and internalise EQUASS principles and practices in daily usage. EQUASS Assurance produces benefits mainly at the operational and customer levels, whereas its main pitfalls include increased workload and bureaucracy. The majority of respondents (85.2%) are very satisfied or satisfied with the certification, suggesting that it meets their expectations. Certification renewal intentions are also high but some respondents report that the final decision depends on several factors. The insights gained through the qualitative data are also described. Practical implications – It can be helpful to managers, consultants and Local License Holders working (or planning to work) with this standard. It can inform the work of the EQUASS Technical Working Group in the forthcoming revision of the standard. Originality/value – This is the largest survey conducted so far about EQUASS Assurance in terms of number of respondents, participating countries and topics covered.
- Multichannel service failure and recovery in a O2O era: A qualitative multi-method research in the banking services industryPublication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, NunoThis article aims to investigate how service providers are employing their channels to support the handling of customer complaints in an online to offline era. It provides a timely contribution by characterizing multichannel recovery practices, discussing its implications for customers, and discovering new trends. The study employs a qualitative multi-method research, which includes not only more than one method of collecting data, but also more than one method of analyzing data. Data collection involved 50 records of customer complaints, 10 semi-structured interviews, direct observation and internal bank reports. The results suggest that multichannel customers are not willing to interact with a large number of channels to solve their problems leading to a high number of interactions. Customers expect a complex recovery not in terms of interactivity but in terms of depth. Recovery solutions, such as apologizing and monetary compensations are non-permanent solutions, are inefficient in the long term and imply financial losses. Despite the investment that is required, this investigation advocates for permanent solutions. To avoid service failures and complex recovery processes, it is possible that companies are improving their operations management in search of new strategies that are blurring the boundaries of O2O into a mix of offline and online channels (O2).
- New Ways to Deal with Omni-Channel Services: Opening the Door to Synergies, or Problems in the Horizon?Publication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, NunoThis article aims to investigate organizational synergies in the omni-channel service context. In doing so, it discloses new omni-channel trends and discusses its implications for managers and academics. It uses a qualitative multi-method approach, which includes more than one method of collecting data to generate comprehensiveness and rich knowledge, namely: a systematic literature review and a case study. The transition to an omni-channel service requires companies to overcome many organizational challenges and is compelling academics and practitioners to focus on its operations management. The results indicate that organizational synergies are changing the omni-channel landscape and may provide several opportunities for gaining competitive advantages by implementing new technologies (e.g. m-payments), and anticipating customer needs (e.g. multi-brand experience). It is possible that these organizational synergies are transcending the omni-channel concept, creating new trends, but to confirm this hypothesis further investigation is needed.
- Omni-Channel Service Architectures in a Technology-Based Business Network: An Empirical InsightPublication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, NunoThis article investigates the existing omni-channel service architectures in the front-office of technology-based business networks. It discusses the implications from the existing alignment between the network-preferred channel with other channels and clients. The methodological approach is qualitative, exploratory in nature, and employs case study research in a large private retail bank in Portugal. It includes multiple sources of data collection for corroboration purposes, including semi-structured interviews, direct observation and institutional documents. Although we have identified four types of omni-channel architectures in a business network context, the case analysis revealed that only two of them meet all the requirements, namely: the mixed services and pure virtual services. For academics this is the first attempt to discuss a growing topic in the operations management literature. Thus, this study may also help practitioners to understand the challenges they may have to deal with an omni-channel strategy in a business network context.
- Quality Management and Excellence in the third sector: examining European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS) in non-profit social servicesPublication . Melão, Nuno; Maria Guia, Sara; Amorim, MarleneThird sector organisations are increasingly pressured to implement Quality Management and Excellence programmes. However, there is a paucity of literature investigating the impacts of such programmes. This research discusses the benefits, pitfalls, and professional practice effects of the implementation of the European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS) certification in non-profits. It uses a qualitative multiple case study approach of four Social Services Organisations (SSO) that have adopted the Assurance and Excellence levels of EQUASS. The findings indicate evident enhancements in process quality, whereas service outcome improvements or economic benefits were unclear. Although some impacts are specific to EQUASS Assurance and Excellence, they are consistent in many ways with those of ISO 9001 and the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence model, respectively. The practice of social workers became more systematic and user centric, while their workload and time management difficulties also increased. Overall, the EQUASS certification may generate benefits that offset costs, but some challenges remain if quality of service/life is to clearly improve in SSO.
- Quality management systems in European social service organizations: A survey of EQUASS Assurance pioneer adoptersPublication . Melão, Nuno; Amorim, Marlene; Marimon, Frederic; Alegre, InésPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze from an adopters’ perspective the European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS) Assurance standard, a certification program to implement a quality management (QM) system specifically tailored to European social service organizations (SSO). Specifically, it analyzes the motives, internalization, impacts, satisfaction, and renew intentions of this standard. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey methodology with both closed and open-ended questions. Of the 381 organizations contacted, 196 responses from eight different European countries were considered valid (51.4 percent). Descriptive statistical techniques and content analysis were employed to analyze closed- and open-ended questions, respectively. Findings – The results show that SSO typically implement the certification for internal reasons, internalize EQUASS Assurance principles and practices in daily usage, obtain mainly operational and customer benefits, and consider main pitfalls such as increased workload and bureaucracy. Around 85 percent of the respondents are very satisfied or satisfied with the standard, which suggests that it meets their needs. The intention to renew the certification is also encouraging, but the final decision may be contingent on several aspects. Overall, the results reveal a rather optimistic picture, though there are some reasons for concern. Originality/value – Recent years have seen many social services implementing QM systems, but there have been few studies investigating this phenomenon. Social service managers, consultants, auditors, and the EQUASS certification body can find in this work valuable information to make their practice
- Service failure and recovery in technology-based business networksPublication . Reis, João; Amorim, Marlene; Melão, NunoPurpose – This paper aims to investigate how service providers are using their channels to support the handling of customer complaints in a technology-based business network (Tb2N) environment. It aims to discuss the implications from existing misalignments between the service delivery debilities and the complexity of the Tb2N recovery process. Design/methodology/approach – This study used an exploratory case study research conducted in a Portuguese private bank. Data collection involved multiple sources for corroboration purposes, such as reports from customer complaints, semi-structured interviews, direct observation and official documents. Data were analysed to identify paths and relationships between constructs, to reduce data, to enable interpretation and to achieve valid and reliable results. Findings – The case analysis revealed four types of Tb2N debilities: weaknesses in what concerns the channel migration to new technologies, automated physical and virtual barriers in accessing the firms’ common channel, non-automated barriers concerning the cross-training of employees and, finally, barriers concerning the service operations management. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to characterize the service failure and recovery in a Tb2N context. Complaint management is an essential tool for managers, as failures in service delivery are inevitable and the recovery of such encounters encompasses significant challenges. For academics, this is the first effort to discuss a growing topic in the operations management literature. Further investigation is needed, and with this contribution, the authors expect to stimulate other researchers to provide their contribution.