Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [84-85]).

This dissertation focuses on the investigation of human perception of stereoscopic 3D image quality and the development of automatic stereoscopic 3D image quality assessment frameworks. In order to assess human perception of visual quality, a human study was conducted and interactions between image quality, depth quality, visual comfort, and 3D viewing quality were inferred. The results indicate that the overall 3D viewing quality can be well predicted from only image quality and depth quality. Between image and depth quality, image quality seems to be the main factor that enables accurate prediction of overall 3D viewing quality. Two other human studies were conducted to study the effect of masking on stereoscopic distortions. Binocular suppression was observed in the stereo images which were distorted by blur, JPEG compression, or JPEG2K compression, however, no such suppression was observed for stereo images distorted by white noise. Further, a facilitation effect was also observed against disparity variation for blur and JPEG2K distorted stereo images while no depth masking effect was observed. Based on these results, I proposed an automatic full-reference (FR) 3D quality assessment framework. In this framework, I used Gabor filterbank responses to model stimulus strength and then synthesize a Cyclopean image from a stereo image pair. Because the quality of this synthesized view is similar to that of a Cyclopean image, which the human visual system recreates from the stereoscopic stimuli, performing the task of 3D quality assessment on synthesized views can deliver better performance. I verified the performance of this FR framework on the LIVE 3D Image Quality Database and the results indicate that applying the proposed framework improves the performance of FR 2D quality assessment algorithms when applied to stereo 3D images. Further, I proposed a no-reference (NR) 3D quality assessment (QA) algorithm based on natural scene statistics in both the spatial and the depth domain. Experiments indicate that the proposed NR algorithm outperforms all 2D FR QA algorithms and most 3D FR QA models in predicting 3D quality of stereo images. Finally, a fourth subjective study was conducted to understand depth quality when stereo content is free from visual discomfort. The result suggests that human perception of depth quality is correlated with the content of the stereo image and the stereoacuity function of human visual system. / text

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This research investigates the impact of service characteristics on the importance of service quality dimensions across a wide range of service industries. In this research, six service industries are selected to represent the characteristics peculiar to services. The different importance weightings of service quality dimensions in these service industries are identified and a 16-dimension service quality approach is developed for the empirical analysis. This research identifies that importance is the most powerful and appropriate measurement to assess service quality in an industry level. Two phases of empirical research were conducted using a mixed methodology approach. Phase one -the quantitative study -uses 600 telephone interviews to investigate service quality importance from the customers' perspective. Phase two - the qualitative study - uses 12 in-depth personal interviews with managers from these industries to assess service providers' perceptions. Comparisons are made on service quality issues among the six service industries, among all service quality dimensions, between customers and service providers, and among consumers with different experience level with the service. From the quantitative phase, this research develops a service quality importance model to aid managers and academics in understanding customers' perceptions of service quality. The model is then verified in the qualitative phase. Findings indicate that both customers and service providers perceived each service industry has different weightings relating to service characteristics and service quality dimensions. However, perceptual differences between service providers and consumers were found in all service industries. In addition, the findings suggest that consumers' experience levels have no impact on consumers' service quality importance perception in some services industries, e.g. university and restaurant, and only have impact on a limited number of dimensions in other service industries. The concepts of core dimensions and peripheral dimensions are derived from the interviews with service providers in the qualitative phase. The peripheral dimensions are of particular importance for building competitive advantages.

Graduation date: 1950

Graduation date: 1951

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-139). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2007. / Adviser: Ron Johnson. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech(Business Administration))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town,1996 / All organisations, profit as well as nonprofit, are increasingly coming to the realization that trying to compete solely on costs leads to ineffectiveness and a weaker financial position. Competing on the basis of product or service differentiation is becoming increasingly futile because products and services are becoming less and less unique. To ensure survival, effectiveness and competitiveness, organisations must provide services of exceptionally high quality. Providing services of high quality has proven to be the single most important factor contributing to organisational success and well-being. Providing services of superb quality also presents an important opportunity for organisational differentiation. A major requirement for successful management is effective measurement. This study is motivated by the limited research and resulting limited literature available on this subject in social work. The development of the SERVQUAL instrument offers a possible reliable and valid device for the measurement of service quality in social work. However, SERVQUAL has not been subjected to rigorous testing for reliability and validity in a social work organisation. In this research SERVQUAL was used to measure the quality of services in a social work organisation. The aim of this research was to determine the applicability, reliability and validity of the instrument in a social work organisation. Attention was given to literature that focuses on service quality, its measurement and management. The empirical research involved executives, social workers and clients of the social work organisation. It was found that SERVQUAL can be applied to social work services and it proved to be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring service quality. However, further research is necessary to improve the quality of services to clients and directions for future research are indicated.

Acceptable product quality is one of the central pillars of customer satisfaction, which is key to customer retention and business success. The quest to improve and maintain good product quality is as old as mankind himself. In the beginning of time, quality involved selecting edible plants, to craftsmanship then later to mass production. As time went on, various individuals and institutions made valuable contributions to quality control methods, tools and techniques as we know them today. The International Organisation for Standardisation initiated quality management standards, provide requirements, specifications and guidelines that can be used to ensure materials and products meet a certain quality level. These quality management systems were adopted by the global automotive organisations, adapted and tailored to suit their requirements. The result was the development of ISO/TS 16949, which is a requirement for all direct manufacturing suppliers to the automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), like BMW, TOYOTA and GM. Some OEMs specify additional requirements their supplier base, in case of General Motors, Quality Systems Basics (QSB) is a mandatory quality management systems requirement. QSB is designed by GM to help suppliers reduce product defects, improve internal efficiencies and improve supply chain processes. A quantitative approach was chosen, which utilised an explorative and descriptive survey questionnaire in order to complete the research study. The study will show that the majority of the respondents believed that the implementation of QSB has resulted in positive implications in their manufacturing process and supply value chain.