Securing customer satisfaction through component service specifications: Purchasing maintenance services for social rented housing

Many companies nowadays buy services that they pass on to their customers. A specific example is a housing association that buys maintenance services to be delivered to their tenants. These services are referred to as component services and have a large impact on end customers, and this should be taken into account when developing the specifications for the service.The main objectives of this article are to (1) find out what end customers perceive as important for their customer satisfaction for component services; and (2) investigate whether the buying company gives sufficient attention to these characteristics in their service specifications. We investigate these issues in the context of maintenance services bought by Dutch housing associations and conduct a survey among tenants to determine the relative importance of different characteristics of the maintenance they receive on their dwellings. Subsequently, we investigate service specification documents to verify whether they sufficiently reflect the characteristics that are important for tenants.The survey results show that determinants of maintenance service quality that add to perceived tenant control are more important in case of reactive maintenance than in case of planned maintenance. Based on our analyses, we conclude that the selected housing associations only to a limited degree take these aspects into account in the specifications of maintenance services. Although replication in other settings is required, the results of this study suggest that buying companies are not always aware of the specific characteristics of component services, and how this affects the purchasing process.     

What satisfies younger versus older employees,and why? An aging perspective on equity theory to explain interactive effects of employee age,monetary rewards,and task contributions on job satisfaction

In light of increasingly age-diverse workforces, organizations face the challenge of fostering job satisfaction among both younger and older employees. Combining equity theory with an aging perspective, we propose that due to age-related shifts in motives and goals, younger versus older employees’ job satisfaction will depend differently on monetary rewards (outcome side of equity theory), task contributions (input side of equity theory), as well as on imbalances (inequity) in the relationship between monetary rewards and task contributions. In a multisource study with 166 managers, we found that while younger employees were satisfied primarily by monetary rewards, older employees were satisfied primarily by their task contributions. Most importantly, a three-way interaction indicated that younger versus older employees react differently to two types of inequity: Being proportionally over-rewarded (i.e., receiving high monetary rewards for low task contributions) reduced older (but not of younger) employees’ job satisfaction. By contrast, under-reward inequity (i.e., receiving low monetary rewards for high task contributions) decreased younger (but not of older) employees’ job satisfaction. These age-dependent effects of job features on job satisfaction reveal important theoretical as well as practical implications.     

Top management leadership,employee empowerment,job satisfaction,and customer satisfaction in TQM organizations: an empirical study

Top management leadership and employee empowerment are considered two of the most important principles of total quality management (TQM) because of their assumed relationship with customer satisfaction. As a result, many top management leadership and employee empowerment strategies and practices have been suggested in the management literature. However, few studies have been done to test this assumed relationship and determine which of these strategies and practices may be most effective in bringing about the intended results. This study surveyed organizations that have adopted TQM to determine the relationship between top management leadership, employees' empowerment, job satisfaction, and customers' satisfaction. The results reveal positive correlation between top management leadership, employee empowerment, job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction. Employee empowerment and improved levels of job satisfaction are facilitated by top management leadership and commitment to the TQM goal of customer satisfaction by creating an organizational climate that emphasizes total quality and customer satisfaction. Effective strategies for achieving employee empowerment and job satisfaction, together with top management leadership roles in a TQM environment, are identified and discussed.     

国际贸易便利化对顾客满意度的影响研究

国际贸易发展是世界经济进步的重要表现。全球化背景下,经济和科技不断发展,人们对于生活的要求也发生了各种各样的变化,其中顾客对于产品的满意度直接影响了企业的利润增长,所以如何提高顾客满意度是经济发展的重要因素。国际贸易便利化是全球化背景下出现的新型经济特点,国际贸易便利化使各国对外贸易的政策发生了改变,实现了对国际贸易链条的全部环节的覆盖,顺应时代背景的发展。贸易便利化的发展趋势必不可挡,在国际贸易便利化发展过程中对于顾客满意度有着很大的影响。     

客户关系变动提高了审计费用吗？

在全球供应链不断发展的形势下，稳定的供应链关系愈发重要。从审计师风险应对视角探讨客户关系变动是否以及如何影响审计费用。实证结果表明，客户关系变动显著增加了审计费用。机制检验发现，客户关系变动使审计师加大审计投入并感知到更高的审计风险，进而收取更高的审计费用。进一步探究客户关系变动的原因及其对审计费用的影响后发现，客户自身面临财务困境时引发客户关系变动，提高了审计费用;但当企业经济政策不确定性较高时却降低了客户关系变动，从而降低审计费用。基于事务所层面和企业层面的异质性检验还发现，客户关系变动与审计费用的正向关系主要体现在高资质事务所、客户集中度较高和治理水平低的企业中。研究结论为探讨客户关系变动的经济后果提供了新的证据和视角，对当下中国如何进行供应链风险管理具有启示意义。     

The Effect of Customer‐Centric Green Supply Chain Management on Operational Performance and Customer Satisfaction

This study explores the links of implementing customer‐centric green supply chain management (GSCM) with its antecedent factors (i.e. customer pressure) and performance outcomes (i.e. operational performance and customer satisfaction). Data for this study were obtained through a survey of 126 automobile manufacturers in China. Results suggest that customer pressure has a positive effect on the implementation of customer‐centric GSCM, which, in turn, leads to multiple operational performance improvements (i.e. flexibility, delivery, quality and cost). While production flexibility and cost appear to have no significant impact on customer satisfaction, product quality and delivery are significantly and positively associated with customer satisfaction. On the practical front, this paper provides guidelines for managers in implementing customer‐centric GSCM to respond to customer pressures and improve firm performance, and for policy‐makers to encourage partner‐focused GSCM efforts in environmental policy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

The impact of forecasting on operational performance: Mediation effects through flexibility enablers

Literature has devoted increasing attention to the problem of supply and demand management in uncertain contexts. Only limited contributions, however, can be found regarding the interaction between forecasting and flexibility enablers to manage demand as well as regarding the flexibility enablers’ effect on company performance. We will discuss the impacts of flexibility and forecasting on dynamic interactions. The aim of this work is to study the mediation effect of forecasting through flexibility enablers on company performance, i.e., customer satisfaction and cost efficiency. Our results provide evidence that the relationship between forecasting and customer satisfaction is mainly due to process flow management, while the relationship with cost efficiency is mainly due to layout.     

Customer satisfaction and service domains: a further development of PROSERV

Quality & Quantity - This paper aims to represent that levels of customer satisfaction of tourist accommodation are an important prerequisite when the goal is building a loyal relationship with...     

基于企业社会责任理论顾客满意度模型的研究

自从顾客满意的概念的提出之后,各方专家学者根据自己的见解,建立了不同的顾客满意度模型。但是,这些模型只是从某些方面解释了如何提高顾客满意度。而且,有的模型已经不能适应当前社会的发展。很多企业想通过这些模型来提高顾客满意度,最终的效果却很不理想。究其原因,是由于社会的高速发展,顾客的范围不断变化,而这些企业没有更深入地对顾客的概念进行发掘和认识。所以,文章通过对顾客这一概念的重新理解,结合企业社会责任理论,将顾客进行分类,并且对隐藏型顾客做出详细的阐述。在原有的顾客满意度模型的基础之上,文章提出了一种更为全面的顾客满意度模型。     

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。     

Perceived Fairness of the Mystery Customer Method: Comparing Two Employee Evaluation Practices

This study explores differences in the perceptions of fairness between two employee evaluation methods: one based on data collected using the mystery customer method and the other based on supervisor judgment. Fifty eight female sales clerks filled out a questionnaire which assessed their perceptions with respect to the fairness of the two evaluation methods and their job satisfaction. Given apparent differences in the evaluating agent, the extent of process consistency, the breadth of behaviors evaluated, and the extent of employees' awareness of the evaluation process, we hypothesize and find that evaluation procedures conducted by supervisors are perceived as more fair both procedurally and distributively than those conducted by means of the mystery customer method.The expected relationship between perception of fairness and job satisfaction was, however, foundonly in the correlations with supervisor evaluations and not in the correlations with the mystery customer evaluation method. Though the results are limited by the restricted sample, they shed an important light on the perceived fairness of the mystery customer procedure, and suggest that the choice of this procedure should take into account the fairness aspect of it when assessing its effectiveness and value. The data in this study was collected by Idit Malka and Michal Ben-Avi, for a research seminar conducted under the supervision of the second author.     

Customer Orientation and Management Control in the Public Sector: A Garbage Can Analysis

Recent public sector reforms have increasingly tended to re-cast citizens as ‘customers’. This paper explores the implications of such customer orientation efforts for management control based on a field study in a Swedish central government agency. We extend prior research on this topic, informed by critical and institutional theories, with insights from the garbage can literature and focus on a key decision-making process involved in making extant management control practices more customer-focused. Our analysis nuances the predictions of critical scholars, suggesting that customer orientation initiatives will commodify public services and narrow the interests served by public sector organizations. In doing so, we draw attention to how conflicting institutional arrangements fostered a garbage can situation hampering radical change in management control practices. Our garbage can analysis provides a bridge between critical and institutional perspectives by re-instating a focus on decision-making. We show how the intricacies of decision-making may moderate the power embedded in novel management control practices and foster inertia and unintended outcomes. Our analysis also raises important policy implications pertaining to the possibilities of combining customer orientation efforts with rationing of public services.     

Managerial Collective Cognitions: An Examination of Similarities and Differences of Cultural Orientations

abstract    Using the context of market orientation, we examine how an exemplary business's market orientation culture is reflected in managers' mental models, evaluate how mental models and perceived behaviours differ across hierarchical levels and functions, and compare the cognitive values and beliefs or the cognitive aspects of market orientation culture with behavioural aspects. Results from a rich, multi-method, case study suggest that while managers in the business share core beliefs regarding the customer dimension of market orientation, their beliefs regarding competitors, technology and inter-functional coordination dimensions vary widely across the levels and functions of the business. We found differences in terms of both the integration between the four dimensions of market orientation and the depth of knowledge within the dimensions. Our findings reveal that customer rather than competitor beliefs are the most important commonly shared beliefs in successful companies, leading us to encourage cognitive researchers to move beyond competitor analysis when examining managerial cognition. Another implication for future research is that a strong market orientation implies common core beliefs regarding customer dimensions but does not imply that all beliefs will be or should be shared. From the methodological standpoint, we find that cognitive mapping techniques provide rich insights into a business's market orientation culture that are not gained from behavioural methods alone.     

Customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing and customer satisfaction: An online field study

This paper investigates the customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing. We conceptualize customization relevant to the two constituent sub-processes in the online purchase process: (i) decision customization—the customization of the information content delivered to customers to help them in the decision-making sub-process; and (ii) transaction customization—the customization of the purchase transaction sub-process for each customer. We draw on and synthesize the theoretical perspectives of Website Usability, Technology Acceptance Model, and Transaction Costs, to triangulate and deduce hypotheses linking customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing and customer satisfaction. The hypotheses are tested by analyzing: (i) primary data on customization of the online purchase process collected from an online field study involving a direct observation and content analysis of the websites of 422 retailers; and (ii) secondary data on customer satisfaction with the online purchase process for the same set of 422 electronic retailers collected from a publicly available data source. The research method used for the empirical analysis is Multivariate Analyses of Covariance (MANCOVA). The results indicate that decision customization that provides choice assistance by way of personalized product recommendations is positively associated with customer satisfaction with the decision-making sub-process; and transaction customization, oriented towards making the transaction sub-process personal, convenient, and interactive is positively associated with customer satisfaction with the purchase transaction sub-process. Additionally, the results indicate that both decision customization and transaction customization are associated with overall customer satisfaction with the online purchase process of electronic retailers. The contributions, managerial implications, and limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.     

休闲旅游业顾客满意的前置因素——基于长株潭城市群的实证研究

本文基于顾客感知的服务绩效和服务公平理论,以长株潭地区的休闲旅游服务为例,对游客满意的前置因素及满意度现状进行了实证研究。问卷设计主要借鉴SERPERF量表和服务公平模型,并运用SPSS17.0软件对问卷的信度与效度进行了验证。调研结果显示,游客整体满意度水平处于"一般"和"不太满意"的临界区间。服务感知绩效的满意度得分要高于服务公平方面的得分,说明长株潭休闲旅游在服务态度及与顾客有效沟通方面比较欠缺。调研结果还表明了不同满意程度的顾客,所对应的购后行为是有差别的。本研究结果验证了服务公平与感知绩效理论在休闲旅游中的适应性,提出了顾客关系管理与服务补救策略在休闲旅游经营中的重要性。     

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。     

Exploring the identity and reputation of departmental groups: whose opinions matter most to their members?

This article focuses on perceptions of a collective's contribution identity (i.e. how its own members view the effectiveness of its contributions towards organisational goals) and contribution reputation (i.e. how the rest of an organisation views its contributions), and how they are associated with the job satisfaction of its members. Data from 187 employees across 10 organisational departments was used to test competing hypotheses developed from three different theoretical perspectives. Results suggest that satisfaction was positively linked to member beliefs about their department's contributions to organisational success. Reputation had a positive impact on satisfaction only when it is derived from individuals from other departments that a department interacted frequently with.     

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.     

服务补救对顾客满意度影响的研究综述

目前我国服务补救理论处于发展初期,各学者只从某一个角度出发研究,尚未形成一个理论体系,通过文献研究法对现有的服务补救理论进行了分析,总结出了服务补救影响顾客满意度的三种心理学理论解释,分别是归因理论、公平理论、期望理论。希望该结论将会指导服务业的服务质量管理,提高服务水平。     

外卖快递服务质量对消费者满意度的影响实证研究

为了研究外卖快递服务的消费者满意度,文章基于价值感知理论和外卖快递服务质量,构建外卖快递服务消费者满意度研究模型,并且通过调查问卷收集数据,借助SPSS和Smart PLS进行统计分析和假设检验。研究表明,外卖快递服务的及时性、便利性、安全性和可靠性显著影响用户的功能价值和享乐价值,进而影响用户的满意度。研究结果对于提高外卖快递服务质量和消费者满意度具有重要作用。