Article ID: | iaor2009505 |
Country: | United States |
Volume: | 35 |
Issue: | 4 |
Start Page Number: | 665 |
End Page Number: | 689 |
Publication Date: | Oct 2005 |
Journal: | Decision Sciences |
Authors: | Anderson Ronald D., Mackoy Robert D., Thompson Vincent B., Harrell Gilbert |
Keywords: | decision theory, supply & supply chains |
Bayesian network methodology is used to model key linkages of the service–profit chain within the context of transportation service satisfaction. Bayesian networks offer some advantages for implementing managerially focused models over other statistical techniques designed primarily for evaluating theoretical models. These advantages are (1) providing a causal explanation using observable variables within a single multivariate model, (2) analysis of nonlinear relationships contained in ordinal measurements, (3) accommodation of branching patterns that occur in data collection, and (4) the ability to conduct probabilistic inference for prediction and diagnostics with an output metric that can be understood by managers and academics.