Scenario planning for service quality: a Monte Carlo simulation study

Journal of Strategy and Management - Tập 5 Số 3 - Trang 331-352 - 2012
AnandPrakash1, Sanjay KumarJha2, RajendraPrasad Mohanty3
1ITM‐BIT Collaborative Research Programme, Navi Mumbai, India
2Department of Production Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Jharkhand, India
3Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, India

Tóm tắt

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose the idea of linking the use of the Monte Carlo simulation with scenario planning to assist strategy makers in formulating strategy in the face of uncertainty relating to service quality gaps for life insurance business, where discontinuities always remain for need‐based selling.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews briefly some applications of scenario planning. Scenario planning emphasizes the development of a strategic plan that is robust across different scenarios. The paper provides considerable evidence to suggest a new strategic approach using Monte Carlo simulation for making scenario planning.

Findings

The paper highlights which particular service quality gap attribute as risk impacts most and least for the possibility of occurrences as best case, worst case, and most likely case.

Research limitations/implications

This study suffers from methodological limitations associated with convenience sampling and anonymous survey‐based research.

Practical implications

The approach using Monte Carlo simulation increases the credibility of the scenario to an acceptable level, so that it will be used by managers and other decision makers.

Social implications

The paper provides a thorough documentation on scenario planning upon studying the impact of risk and uncertainty in service quality gap for making rational decisions in management of services such that managers make better justification and communication for their arguments.

Originality/value

The paper offers empirical understanding of the application of Monte Carlo simulation to scenario planning and identifies key drivers which impact most and least on service quality gap.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Bradfield, R., Wright, G., Burt, G., Cairns, G. and Van Der Heijden, K. (2005), “The origins and evolution of scenario techniques in long range business planning”, Futures, Vol. 37 No. 8, pp. 795‐812.

Chen, J.‐K. and Lee, Y.‐C. (2009), “A new method to identify the category of the quality attribute”, Total Quality Management, Vol. 20 No. 10, pp. 1139‐52.

Chermack, T. (2004), “The role of system theory in scenario planning”, Journal of Futures Studies, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 15‐30.

Chermack, T.J., Lynham, S.A. and Ruona, W.E. (2001), “A review of scenario planning literature”, Futures Research Quarterly, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 7‐31.

Cornelius, P., van de Putte, A. and Romani, M. (2005), “Three decades of scenario planning in shell”, California Management Review, Vol. 48 No. 1, pp. 92‐109.

Eckhardt, R. (1987), “Stan Ulam, John von Neumann, and the Monte Carlo method”, Los Alamos Science (Special Issue) No. 15, pp. 131‐7.

Hatcher, L. (1994), A Step‐by‐Step Approach to Using the SAS(R) System for Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling, SAS Institute, Cary, NC.

Horwath, R. (2006), “Scenario planning: no crystal ball required”, available at: www.strategyskills.com/Articles/Documents/ST‐Scenario_Planning.pdf (accessed June 21, 2011).

Huss, W.R. and Hunton, E.J. (1987), “Scenario planning: what style should you use?”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 21‐9.

Kwak, Y.H. and Ingall, L. (2007), “Exploring Monte Carlo simulation applications for project management”, Risk Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 44‐57.

Lorterapong, P. and Moselhi, O. (1996), “Project‐network analysis using fuzzy sets theory”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 122 No. 4, pp. 308–18.

Mattila, A.S. (2001), “The impact of relationship type on customer loyalty in a context of service failures”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 91‐101.

Metropolis, N. and Ulam, S. (1949), “The Monte Carlo method”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 44 No. 247, pp. 335‐41.

Micklethwait, J. and Woolridge, A. (1997), The Witch Doctors: What the Management Gurus Are Saying, Why it Matters, and How to Make Sense of it, Times Books, New York, NY.

Mietzner, D. and Reger, G. (2005), “Advantages and disadvantages of scenario approaches for strategic foresight”, Int. J. Technology Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 220‐39.

Phillips, B. (1996), “Future‐mapping: a practical way to map out the future and achieve what you want”, Career Development International, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 10‐8.

Prakash, A., Mohanty, R.P. and Kallurkar, S.P. (2011), “Service quality modelling for life insurance business using neural networks”, Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 263‐86.

Prakash, A., Mohanty, R.P., Kumar, S. and Kallurkar, S.P. (2011), “Validation of multiple‐item scale for measuring service quality in life insurance business: structural equation modelling approach”, Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 433‐58.

Rashid, M.M. (2010), “A review of state‐of‐art on KANO model for research direction”, International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Vol. 2 No. 12, pp. 7481‐90.

Ratcliffe, J. (2000), “Scenario building: a suitable method for strategic property planning?”, Property Management, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 127‐44.

Reimann, M., Lünemann, U.F. and Chase, R.B. (2008), “Uncertainty avoidance as a moderator of the relationship between perceived service quality and customer satisfaction”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 63‐73.

Ringland, G. (1998), Scenario Planning: Managing For the Future, John Wiley, New York, NY.

Ringland, G. (2002), Scenarios in Business, John Wiley, New York, NY.

Schoemaker, P.J.H. (1991), “When and how to use scenario planning: a heuristic approach with illustration”, Journal of Forecasting, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 549‐64.

Schwartz, P. (1991), The Art of the Long View, Doubleday, New York, NY.

Shahin, A. and Zairi, M. (2009), “Kano model: a dynamic approach for classifying and prioritising requirements of airline travellers with three case studies on international airlines”, Total Quality Management, Vol. 20 No. 9, pp. 1003‐28.

Strategic Direction (2006), “Intelligent success and intelligent failure: where's the difference?: why some business models work, and some do not”, Strategic Direction, Vol. 21 No. 9, pp. 5‐7.

Teas, R.K. and DeCarlo, T.E. (2004), “An examination and extension of the zone‐of‐tolerance model: a comparison to performance‐based models of perceived quality”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 272‐86.

Van Der Heijden, K. (1997), Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation, John Weily, New York, NY.

Wack, P. (1985), “Scenarios: shooting the rapids”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 63 No. 6, pp. 139‐50.

Whittington, R. and Cailluet, L. (2008), “The crafts of strategy”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 241‐7.

Wilson, I. (1998), “Mental maps of the future”, in Ratcliff, J. (Ed), Scenario Building: A Suitable Method For Strategic Property Planning, The Cutting Edge 1999, The Property Research Conference of the RICS, 5‐7 September, St. John's College, Cambridge, pp. 1‐17.