The impact of employee satisfaction on quality and profitability in high-contact service industries

The extant operations management literature has extensively investigated the associations among quality, customer satisfaction, and firm profitability. However, the influence of employee attributes on these performance dimensions has rarely been examined. In this study we investigate the impact of employee satisfaction on operational performance in high-contact service industries. Based on an empirical study of 206 service shops in Hong Kong, we examined the hypothesized relationships among employee satisfaction, service quality, customer satisfaction, and firm profitability. Using structural equations modeling, we found that employee satisfaction is significantly related to service quality and to customer satisfaction, while the latter in turn influences firm profitability. We also found that firm profitability has a moderate non-recursive effect on employee satisfaction, leading to a “satisfaction–quality–profit cycle”. Our empirical investigation suggests that employee satisfaction is an important consideration for operations managers to boost service quality and customer satisfaction. We provide empirical evidence that employee satisfaction plays a significant role in enhancing the operational performance of organizations in the high-contact service sector.     

感知服务质量与顾客满意和顾客忠诚关系的实证研究

在实践中,中国服务业发展迅速,但营销水平有待提高,很多管理人员对营销以及服务管理的理解有限。在理论中,对感知服务质量各个维度、顾客满意和顾客忠诚之间的关系讨论很多,尚无定论。实证研究发现,是顾客满意正向影响感知服务质量各个因子,而不是相反,说明基于交易的顾客满意会影响对服务进行长期综合评价的感知服务质量。只有忠诚度一个因子影响顾客忠诚,因此企业在培养忠诚顾客上应该有所侧重。顾客满意和顾客忠诚的关系被验证并非线性关系,在线性方程模型中未能验证成功。     

Unit-level linkages between employee commitment to the organization,customer service delivery and customer satisfaction

Service profit chain and service climate research identifies the importance of employee attitudes and employee service behavior as mediating between organizational practices and customer satisfaction. While the importance of employee attitudes and customer service performance are acknowledged, there are calls to more precisely specify proximal mediators between employee attitudes and customer satisfaction. We propose a model in which the relationship between unit-level organizational commitment and customer attitudes is not direct but mediated via employees' customer service delivery including queuing time, serving time and service quality. We conducted a longitudinal unit-level analysis (N = 39) aggregating employee (N over 893) organizational commitment and customer (N over 1248) satisfaction data, and customer service behavior drawn from organizational records. Our model received reasonable support from basic tests of the predictive associations between unit-level organizational commitment, customer-relevant employee behaviors and customer satisfaction; however, organizational commitment was not found to be an important predictor in more rigorous change analyses. The findings as a whole therefore suggest that organizational commitment is a feature of units delivering fast, quality service, but its causal role is as yet unclear.     

Customer satisfaction of bicycle sharing: studying perceived service quality with SEM model

ABSTRACT

Bicycle sharing is an emerging business in many cities worldwide and has attracted a large number of users, due to its convenience, environmental friendliness, low cost, and flexibility for short-distance travels. This study evaluates main factors affecting the perceived service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty of bicycle sharing customers. We design measurement variables, conduct a satisfactory survey on customers using OFO bicycle sharing service in Ningbo, China, develop a Service-Satisfaction-Loyalty model using structure equation modeling (SEM), and conduct statistical analysis. The perceived service quality was simplified to three dimensions including: perceived service quality of platform, perceived quality of bicycle entity, and perceived quality of value. The results show that SEM model can account for commonly unobserved variables within satisfaction and loyalty of bicycle-sharing. Perceived services quality of bicycle entity and platform are found to affect customer satisfaction significantly, while perceived quality of value is not a significant factor. This study confirms that satisfaction decisively leads to loyalty of bicycle sharing.     

服务失误情境下的服务补救和顾客赢回策略

服务失误给顾客带来经济利益和情感的双重损失,最终导致企业竞争力下降和利润损失。除了既有研究所关注的服务失误的"内因"和"外因",服务过程中员工与顾客的互动因素也是导致服务失败的原因之一。企业针对服务失误采取顾客赢回策略,可带来经济和情感(满意度)的双重效应。顾客赢回策略既要着眼于对外部和内部顾客的成功的服务补救,同时还要通过构建服务失误预应机制,完善企业客户关系管理和内部营销,关注与企业外部利益相关者的合作来为顾客创造和传递更多价值,以求赢得顾客的长期忠诚。     

服务承诺策略有效性实施探讨

服务承诺,是服务机构通过公开媒体向顾客预示服务质量或效果,并予以保证或赔付的营销行为,其目的是降低顾客购买风险和增加顾客满意度。但是,服务企业要有效发挥服务承诺的作用,就必须在服务承诺设计上遵守"内容适度"、"表述清晰"和"兑付容易"等原则;在实施服务承诺时,要综合考虑服务本身特点、服务企业状况、服务行业情况和顾客特征等一系列因素。     

冷漠顾客满意形成机理探究——基于中国电信行业调查数据

满意的顾客不一定是忠诚的顾客,感受满意的顾客仍有可能流失,顾客满意与顾客忠诚之间存在一个"冷漠满意区域"。企业仅仅满足顾客期望还远远不够,应通过提供超越期望的服务来达到顾客感动,将顾客拖离冷漠区间,是赢取忠诚顾客的有力手段。     

间断性服务业顾客忠诚维度及其影响因素

本文以餐饮业为实证对象,对间断性服务业的顾客忠诚问题进行研究与讨论。结果表明,间断性服务业的顾客忠诚可用认知忠诚、情感忠诚和行为忠诚三个维度来刻画,且三个维度之间存在因果关系;影响间断性服务业顾客忠诚的主要因素以及影响程度从大到小依次是顾客满意、服务质量和感知价值;各影响因素对顾客忠诚各维度的影响机理与程度各不相同。并由此得出提升顾客忠诚的若干管理启示,最后指出了进一步研究的方向。     

浅论服务业营销的顾客关系管理

随着服务业在国民经济中的比重加大,服务业营销也理当引起企业管理者的重视。服务业营销不同于产品营销,其顾客在营销中的地位也与一般商品营销不同。通过对顾客关系进行有效管理,乃至把顾客作为服务企业的核心资产进行管理,提高顾客的满意度和忠诚度,使顾客资产价值实现保值、增值,成为服务企业的竞争优势。     

中国零售业服务质量研究对比分析:2005─2010

零售业服务质量不仅影响顾客满意度,还会影响顾客忠诚度。目前,国内对零售业服务质量的研究不仅限于服务质量量表的探索性研究,还涉及到对顾客满意度和忠诚度影响的实证研究。未来的零售业服务质量研究除了在多个业态方向继续深入外,服务质量量表的探索性研究也会加大力度,而服务质量与顾客满意度及忠诚度的关系会是研究的重点。     

TQM practice in maquiladora: Antecedents of employee satisfaction and loyalty

In this study, we investigate the transferability of TQM practices to offshore manufacturing firms by validating direct and indirect relationships among top management commitment, HR-focused TQM practices, employee satisfaction, and employee loyalty. Our research objective is to isolate critical TQM practices that would enhance employee satisfaction and loyalty among maquiladora workers. On-site surveys were conducted at two leading maquiladora firms that have long implemented TQM. The statistical results indicate that employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee compensation have a significant and positive influence on employee satisfaction. The improved employee satisfaction leads to a higher level of employee loyalty. In addition, the results indicate that the effects of top management commitment on employee empowerment and teamwork are significantly mediated by employee training, implying that the success of employee empowerment and quality teams can be dependent upon the level of employee training.     

Comparing the main effects and moderating effects of education among three models in IT service: a quantitative approach

This study examines the formation of relationship quality and loyalty for an ISP (Internet service provider). Three conceptual models are tested for comparison. In the models, relational selling behavior, network quality, and service recovery indirectly influence loyalty with an ISP through the mediation of relationship quality. That is, in model 1, relationship quality is examined as a single construct, rather than the second-order construct comprising satisfaction and trust in model 2. In model 3, satisfaction and trust are examined as two different constructs. Customer education moderates several paths of the three models. The moderating effects are simultaneously examined using data from customers of a Taiwan’s leading ISP. The test results indicate that the influence of satisfaction on loyalty and that of network quality on satisfaction are stronger for low education customers than high education customers, while the influence of trust on loyalty and that of network quality on trust are stronger for high education customers than low education customers. Furthermore, the influences of relational selling behavior and service recovery on satisfaction and trust are similar for both high education customers and low education customers. Implications of the empirical findings are also discussed.     

CRM在酒店管理系统中的设计与应用

客户关系管理(CRM)是一种新的管理理念,在企业的具体实践中引入这一理念有利于企业去管理并分析宝贵的客户数据,从而更加了解和更准确预测客户的需要,改善客户服务质量,不断改进与客户关系,提高客户满意度以及加强客户的忠诚度。文章介绍了一个实用的酒店管理信息系统的设计和实现方法,针对目前传统酒店管理信息系统中存在的缺陷,重点论述了如何把CRM理念引入该管理信息系统中。实践证明,该系统具有良好的性能和较强的适用性。     

A multi-level examination of quality-focused human resource practices and firm performance: evidence from the US healthcare industry

In today's business world, the role of quality has become ever more significant for organizations to compete in a global marketplace. Based on the quality management theory, this study empirically examines the relationship between quality-focused human resource practices (QHRP) and organizational performance outcomes. Data from 69 healthcare organizations indicate a strong support for this relationship. A Human Resource (HR) system focused on quality management was directly related to multiple dimensions of organizational performance outcomes (i.e., intangible – employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction – and tangible – profit). Specifically, two measures of QHRP, knowledge management and strategic management, were found to be positively related to the financial performance of firms implementing quality management. Process management is found to be negatively related to employee satisfaction. General Human Resources were positively related to both employee and customer satisfaction. Employee focus of the firms is also positively related to employee satisfaction. In addition, employee satisfaction is also related to both customer satisfaction and financial performance while customer satisfaction is found to be positively related to employee satisfaction. The findings indicate a generally strong positive relationship with the organizational performance outcomes. The results of this study are particularly important in showing HR's contribution to the organization's bottom line.     

Exploring a possible route through which training affects organizational performance: the case of a Greek bank

Despite the dithyramb on training found throughout the literature, its impact on organizational performance still remains a ‘black box’ yet to be unlocked. Indeed, neither the intervening process nor the factors that mediate training effectiveness have been substantively explored or linked together in a framework. In this paper, gaining insights from the concept of the balanced scorecard and using the service profit chain as a strategy map, an attempt is made to formulate a casual linkage value chain that highlights one possible route through which training can impact organizational performance. Using a predictive design, data were collected from multiple sources (employees, customers, and the bank's financial records) and raters from a sample of 30 branches of a Greek bank. The findings confirmed a framework illuminating a value exchange process ignited by training. More precisely, the results suggested that a formal, structured, and long-term approach to training, as well as certain pre- and post-training conditions and activities, improve training effectiveness by creating positive perceptions about the training's value. The generated for employees value results to higher levels of job satisfaction which boosts employee loyalty, creating in this sense value for the organization. This value is reflected to customers, in terms of better service quality, and reciprocated to the organization through higher customer satisfaction and branch loyalty leading to improved profitability at the branch level.     

An integrated model of the effects of service evaluation,corporate image,and switching barriers on customer loyalty

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between service evaluation, corporate image, switching barriers, and customers’ intentional loyalty. The proposed model was tested and valuated in the mobile services context. A field survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire about the investigated concepts. To test the proposed hypotheses, a model was constructed and estimated using the method of partial least squares. Findings indicate that service evaluation constructs have both direct and indirect effects, through customer satisfaction and corporate image, on customers’ intentional loyalty. The outcomes suggest that marketers, in their effort to develop more customer-oriented marketing plans, should consider both the pool-in factors, reflecting the value of the provided services, customer satisfaction, and corporate image, and the interactions among them, as well as the push-back factors, as they all impact on customers’ behavioral intentions. The research was limited to one service setting and the proposed model should be cross-validated in other service settings before the relationships among its components are fully clarified. Also, the use of cross-section design reduces inference ability regarding temporal changes in research constructs. This article contributes in adding to the body of the existing knowledge by considering both corporate image and switching barriers, along with service evaluation constructs, as antecedents of consumer’s intentions determination, resulting in a model that has not been investigated thus far.     

论供应链管理中沟通对提高客户满意度与忠诚度的作用

在供应链管理中如何保持和客户之间的紧密关系对企业的长期发展来说相重要。本文主要通过美国学者的一项研究来探讨沟通对于提高客户满意度与忠诚度的作用，并对国内企业实际操作中存在的问题做了分析。     

Green indoor and outdoor environment as nature‐based solution and its role in increasing customer/employee mental health,well‐being,and loyalty

The present study was an empirical endeavor to explore the effect of nature‐based solutions (NBS) on the customer and employee loyalty generation process by considering the role of mental health and well‐being in the hotel industry. A quantitative approach was employed. A survey methodology with a convenience sampling technique was used to collect the data. A total of 303 responses and 301 responses for customer and employee groups, respectively, were used for data analysis. Our results of the structural analysis indicated that green indoor and outdoor environment as NBS helps customers and employees improve mental health perception, emotional well‐being, and loyalty. In addition, the prominent role of emotional well‐being in building customer loyalty and of mental health perception in building employee loyalty was uncovered. The developed conceptual frameworks for customers and employees contained a satisfactory ability in predicting loyalty. Mental health perception and emotional well‐being were mediators. Moreover, the relationship strength among study variables differed between customer and employee groups. Overall, our findings significantly increased our understanding of NBS and its critical role in the hotel industry.     

Employee attitudes,customer satisfaction,and sales performance: assessing the linkages in US grocery stores

Using store‐level panel data for a major supermarket company, we investigate the linkages between employee attitudes, customer satisfaction, and sales performance, while controlling for observed and unobserved differences across stores. We find that employee attitudes positively affect customer satisfaction with service but do not affect customer satisfaction with quality or value. Additionally, we find that customer satisfaction with service positively affects sales performance. Our results suggest that employee attitudes affect sales performance through their impact on customer service. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CRM在酒店管理系统中的设计与应用

客户关系管理（CRM）是一种新的管理理念,在企业的具体实践中引入这一理念有利于企业去管理并分析宝贵的客户数据,从而更加了解和更准确预测客户的需要,改善客户服务质量,不断改进与客户关系,提高客户满意度以及加强客户的忠诚度。文章介绍了一个实用的酒店管理信息系统的设计和实现方法,针对目前传统酒店管理信息系统中存在的缺陷,重点论述了如何把CRM理念引入该管理信息系统中。实践证明,该系统具有良好的性能和较强的适用性。