Assessing the impact of derived behavior information on customer attrition in the financial service industry

The value of the customer has been widely recognized in terms of financial planning and efficient resource allocation including the financial service industry. Previous studies have shown that directly observable information can be used in order to make reasonable predictions of customer attrition probabilities. However, these studies do not take full account of customer behavior information. In this paper, we demonstrate that efficient use of information can add value to financial services industry and improve the prediction of customer attrition. To achieve this, we apply an orthogonal polynomial approximation analysis to derive unobservable information, which is then used as explanatory variables in a probit–hazard rate model. Our results show that derived information can help our understanding of customer attrition behavior and give better predictions. We conclude that both researchers and the financial service industry should gather and use derived financial information in addition to directly observable information.     

The impact of information technology on organizational efficiency in public services: a DEA-based DT approach

This study attempts to examine the impact of information technology (IT) on organizational efficiency in public services. We propose a new approach to providing the directions of IT investments to improve organizational efficiency. The proposed approach is based on the integrated form of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and decision tree (DT), and composed of two steps. First, DEA is conducted to measure organizational efficiency with the selected inputs and outputs. Second, DT is built based on efficiency scores obtained from DEA and IT factors, as a target variable and predictor variables, respectively. In doing so, we can identify the relative impact of IT investments on organizational efficiency and set priorities to the IT investments to improve efficiency from a view point of each organization. A case study on the Korean local governments is presented to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach.     

The impact of digital channel distribution on the experience goods industry

We explore the impact of a digital channel for experience goods on the profitability and behavior of players in the supply chain and on piracy. We consider a firm which can sell an experience good in physical form, in digitized form, or both. We analyze different pricing schemes – price for whole album on the retail channel and linear and nonlinear pricing for songs on the digital channel. Consumers are divided into a retail-captive segment whose consumers are limited to the retail channel and a hybrid segment whose consumers have access to both retail and digital channels.     

Impact of information technology on the performance of logistics industry: the case of Hong Kong and Pearl Delta region

Over the last decade, a number of research studies have advocated the use of information technology (IT) in different aspects of logistics and distribution operations. This study examines the current state of the use of IT and its impact on logistics service performance through a survey of 210 logistics companies in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. A hypothetical model is also proposed in which the theories of the market-based view and the resource-based view are applied to link up the implications of IT capabilities with logistic performance. The model was tested using structural equation modelling. The findings suggested that (i) IT implementation directly enhances the service quality of the logistics companies; (ii) the impact of IT implementation improves service quality thereby creating competitiveness.     

Embedded options in commercial banking and their impact on asset liability management

Commercial bankers sell—more often give away—options to their clients like the prepayment facility attached to a mortgage or the right to obtain a credit at a prespecified interest rate which is associated in France with specific term deposits. This paper aims to present the financial consequences of these options from a microeconomic point of view and on the scale of the French banking system. We first example our valuation techniques and then analyse the impact on the balance sheet of a typical commercial bank, both in terms of value and sensitivity. Securitization is presented in this context as a way to monitor risk exposure. Finally the global impact of these embedded options in the French banking system is estimated and briefly discussed.     

Security investment and information sharing in the market of complementary firms: impact of complementarity degree and industry size

We study a differential game of information security investment and information sharing in a market consisting of n complementary firms. Two game approaches, the non-cooperative game and the totally cooperative game, are employed to investigate the steady state strategy of each firm. Under certain conditions, a unique steady state can be obtained for both games. We find that the steady state security investment and information sharing level are not always less in the non-cooperative game than that in the totally cooperative game. In addition, some theoretical analyses are made on the impacts of the complementarity degree and industry size on firms’ steady state strategies for both games. Finally, some numerical experiments are conducted to give some insights related to the instantaneous profit in the steady state. It can be found that a firm will obtain more instantaneous profit in the steady state of the totally cooperative game than that of the non-cooperative game, which emphasizes the importance of coordinating strategies. The effects of the complementarity degree and industry size on the instantaneous profits in the steady state are also obtained through the numerical experiment results.     

The impact of multi-skilling on personnel scheduling in the service sector: a retail industry case

Using personnel scheduling to reduce overstaffing and understaffing in a service industry across multiple periods is often undermined by lack of flexibility due to the exclusive use of specialized personnel. This study analyses the impacts of assigning multi-skilled personnel to different activities and its potential for improving schedule efficiency. A proposed mixed integer linear programming model determines which employees are trained to work in which activities and their assignments over a one-week planning horizon. The model results show that the lowest total-cost multi-skilled configurations are obtained in scenarios where personnel supply and demand are in equilibrium. Half of employees would continue to be specialized for just one activity while the half slated for multi-skilling would be trained in most cases for just one additional activity, even though training cost is assumed to be minimal. It is also shown that multi-skilling is best applied to employees whose contracts are highly flexible.     

The impact of DSS use and information load on errors and decision quality

This paper uses a laboratory experiment to examine the effect of DSS use on the decision maker’s error patterns and decision quality. The DSS used in our experiments is the widely used Expert Choice (EC) implementation of the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Perhaps surprisingly, our experiments do not provide general support for the often tacit assumption that the use of a DSS such as EC improves decision quality. Rather, we find that, whereas a DSS can help decision makers develop a better understanding of the essence of a decision problem and can reduce logical error (especially if the information load is high), it is also susceptible to introducing accidental effects such as mechanical errors. In some cases, as in our study, the accidental errors may outweigh the benefits of using a DSS, leading to lower quality decisions.     

The acquisition of new technology and its impact on a firm's competitive position

The strategic decision concerning the optimal and dynamic acquisition of new technology is examined. The model focuses on a profit maximizing firm that optimally derives its price, level of output, and its level and composition of productive capacity over time. The acquisition of new technology and reduction of existing capacity may occur simultaneously, so that the composition of the firm's productive resources may be upgraded over time. It is assumed that the acquisition of new technology causes a reduction in production costs and a direct increase in the firm's demand. The demand experienced by the firm may be directly increased as a result of acquiring new technology due to benefits such as expanded product-mix or volume capabilities, improved quality of output, or improved customer service (shorter production lead time). In addition, it is shown that demand is indirectly increased due to the reduced production costs that enable the firm to charge a lower price. Therefore, the strategic impact of acquiring new technology is captured, since its effect on future demand and the firm's ability to meet the demand are considered. The importance of capturing the increased demand potential offered by the new technology is demonstrated through the analysis of numerical examples. In addition, the effect on the optimal solution caused by a variety of environmental conditions is examined. For example, the impact of technological innovation is observed by defining (i) the cost of acquiring technology as a decreasing function of time, and (ii) the effectiveness of new technology on reducing operating costs as an increasing function of time.     

The impact of partial information sharing in a two-echelon supply chain

We consider a simple two-echelon supply chain composed of a manufacturer and a retailer in which the demand process of the retailer is an AR(1) where the random component is a function of both sides’ information. We focus on partial information sharing under which each side informs the other of an interval in which the exact value of its own component of demand lies. These various levels of information sharing can reduce the supply chain costs.     

Inventory control with product returns: The impact of imperfect information

Product returns are characterized by considerable uncertainty on time and quantity. In the literature on inventory management for product return environments best forecasts of future returns are associated with methods that use the most information regarding product return history. In practice, however, data is often scarce and unreliable, while forecasts based on historical data, reliable or not, are never perfect. In this paper we therefore investigate the impact of imperfect information with respect to the return process on inventory management performance. We show that in the case of imperfect information the most informed method does not necessarily lead to best performance. The results have relevant implications regarding investments in product return information systems.     

The impact of information sharing in a two-level supply chain with multiple retailers

Information sharing is an important component of cooperation in supply chain management. This paper presents a study to evaluate the impact of information sharing on inventory and expected cost in a two-level supply chain with multiple retailers. Three levels of information sharing are given and the optimal inventory policy under each level is derived. We show that both the inventory level and expected cost of the manufacturer decrease with an increase in the level of information sharing.     

Incorporating operations research techniques to evaluate information systems impact on healthcare

Over the past 4 years, the Hospice Palliative Care Network Project, co-led by the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Toronto Community Care Access Centre, has been working toward developing an innovative model of home palliative care coordination and service delivery. After a successful completion of stage one involving data collection of approximately 400 variables to a common Linux database repository, the current stage of the Project is to compare various modes of care delivery and disseminate the results to internal and external evaluation stakeholders. The Temmy Latner Centre's customized Panacea Information Management System (PIMS) had been linked to the Linux repository in order to customize reports to determine the optimal model of coordination and service delivery that could serve as a template for home palliative care delivery in Ontario. The objective of this paper is to outline the development and functionality of the PIMS and to evaluate its contribution in terms of improved data quality and health outcomes; in other words, to justify the information systems investment by demonstrating the relationship between this investment and improved health system delivery and effectiveness.     

Context matters: The impact of product type,emotional attachment and information overload on choice quality

We show that contextual variables in a Multiple Criteria Decision Making task influence choice quality. Based on an experiment we investigate the effects of product type, emotional attachment, and the amount and structure of information provided. We measured choice quality with nondominance, which is a desirable property of good choices. Regarding the product type effect, we distinguish between hedonic products that primarily are desirable due to affect, and utilitarian products, which are desirable because they are useful. When subjects with high emotional attachment make choices with hedonic products, they make fewer dominated choices than with utilitarian products. Further, we show that information overload is a relevant phenomenon in MCDM experiments. However, what matters is the quality of information, not just the quantity. When we add information that does not change the dominance relations between products, choice quality is not degraded.     

各国信息产业综合水平的比较

使用因子分析法对世界 4 1个国家的信息产业发展作横向关联和时间纵向的综合水平比较 ,在定量分析的基础上 ,提出了自己的观点和看法。     

The Greek banking system: Reanalysis of performance

Zopounidis et al. used an ordinal regression analysis to assess an additive utility model and to obtain final ranking of a representative sample of commercial Greek banks [C. Zopounidis, D.K. Despotis, E. Stavropoulou, Multiattribute evaluation of Greek banking performance, Applied Stochastic Models and Data Analysis 11 (1995) 97–107]. In this paper, we reanalyze their data by means of a new multivariate analysis method called Co-plot, a two-dimensional graphic display technique designed to analyze observations (e.g., 16 banks) and attributes (e.g., 7 attributes) simultaneously. The method produces three results: (1) similarity among the banks by the composite of all attributes involved (five clusters are obtained), (2) the structure of correlations among the attributes (three clusters are obtained), and (3) the mutual relationships between the banks and the attributes. The banks are mapped into a partial order according to their (increased) performance to obtain their rating. The final ranking obtained by the Co-plot method differed from that obtained by Zopounidis et al.     

Productivity breakdown of the information and computing technology industries across countries

In this paper, we measure productivity growth of the information and computing technology (ICT) industries in 14 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries over the 13-year period of 1978–1990. The ICT industries are the providers of essential information technology (IT) capital goods. This macro-level analysis seeks to find out how productively such IT capital goods are provided. The basic unit of analysis employed is the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (TFP) index. The Malmquist TFP index is then decomposed into three constituent elements accounting for different sources of productivity growth: technological progress, efficiency change, and change in economies of scale. The approach of measurement is based on the concept of distance functions and employs the non-parametric frontier method of data envelopment analysis. Our results indicate that each country's ICT industry manifests its own particular patterns in various performance measures. Among the 14 countries examined, 10 had witnessed productivity growth in their ICT industries. Overall, these ICT industries are found more productive than other industries when compared with previous research. Further analyses reveal that (1) most of the productivity growth measured is due to technological progress; (2) efficiency change exerts a relatively small positive effect on productivity growth; and (3) the change in scale economies unfavourably affects productivity for most countries. Finally, practical implications for formulating IT policy are drawn from our results, and topics are identified for future research.