Services advertising: showcase the customer!

The research presented in this article focuses on the effectiveness of advertising strategies used in services communication. For this purpose, a quantitative study of 50 magazine advertisements for services in tourism and banking/insurance was conducted with a sample of 249 respondents. This research shows that, for both sectors, certain advertising strategies are more effective than others, and that the most effective advertising strategy is one that showcases the service customer. This strategy is more effective than those highlighting competitive advantage, contact staff, a physical representation of the service or the company’s brand image.     

不同企业合作关系下供应链契约选择的博弈分析

供应链契约是一种重要的供应链协调机制。在不同的供应链企业关系中,企业会采取不同的博弈策略,进而会影响供应链契约的选择。本文首先就供应链中的企业合作关系进行博弈分析,引入了一个柔性批量订货契约模型,在此基础上,研究了不同供应链企业关系下的企业博弈问题及供应链契约选择问题,提出了基于供应链企业关系的供应链契约选择策略。研究表明,只有当博弈各方对未来的收益具有足够重视时,双方长久的合作关系才能建立和维持,并会选择着眼于合作的供应链契约。     

The role of buyer and supplier relationships in integrating TQM through the supply chain

Many academics and practitioners have alluded to the importance of total quality management (TQM) principles and the important role the purchasing function plays in the quality process. However, the role of the buyer–supplier relationship in the TQM process has not been directly investigated to any large extent. Three hypotheses concerning the role of buyer–supplier relationships in the success of TQM implementation were tested. The results demonstrate that buyer–supplier relationships are different in firms with successful TQM programs. Hypothesis 1 suggests that those firms with successful TQM programs will have more formal mechanisms for interacting with suppliers. The second hypothesis suggests that business units with more successful TQM programs exhibit a greater degree of competitive focus and single sourcing. The third hypothesis relates to a higher level understanding of internal and external customer needs by successful TQM adopters. All hypotheses were supported. The buyer–supplier relationships in firms with successful TQM programs are different than firms with less successful TQM programs.     

How to date your clients in the 21st century: Challenges in managing customer relationships in today's world

Since its first entry into the literature discussion in the 1980s, customer relationship management (CRM) has found its way into nearly every company. Concepts like personalization, loyalty programs, and customer valuation are used regularly to interact with and prioritize customers. Unsurprisingly, this more widespread use has changed our understanding of CRM substantially and as a consequence, the field has seen a remarkable transformation in the past 3 decades. Yet, the CRM strategies implemented by many firms today are frequently still fundamentally based on an understanding of CRM from the early days. The purpose of this article is to outline the origins of CRM and to present the main wisdoms that firms believed to be true about customers 3 decades ago. I then discuss the key insights that academics and managers have obtained in recent years that increasingly challenge those wisdoms. The article ends with an outlook of CRM in years to come and presents some of the major challenges practitioners and researchers will have to deal with in the near future.     

Understanding How the Web Works!

ABSTRACT

Creating dining environments that make customers feel comfortable is a key goal of restaurant designers and operators. By applying basic precepts of environmental psychology to restaurant seating configurations, foodservice managers may be able to enhance the guest experience without sacrificing operational efficiency. This paper reviews the environmental psychology literature related to seating behavior, and analyzes the designs of ten representative chain restaurants to determine if these psychological principles appear to be supported in a successful foodservice operation. It also examines the seating behavior of different cultures, and suggests approaches to foodservice design that may appeal to an international market. While environmental psychology literature rarely addresses foodservice environments directly, many of its findings can be applied to restaurant settings. An analysis of the floor plans of five quick service restaurants and five table service restaurants outlines how some operations have provided seating configurations that assist customers in defending personal territory. Research that examines seating behavior in a wide range of foodservice settings and across cultural groups would be a valuable addition to the literature while providing foodservice managers and designers with excellent data for making seating layout decisions.     

供电企业上网电价分析

随着电力工业体制改革和电力市场的发展,现行电价政策、制定电价的方法等已越来越不适应新形势的要求,暴露出了诸多弊端,本文主要分析了上网电价改革的不足和建议.     

价值链分析在供应链成本管理中的应用探讨

随着经济的发展、市场环境的变化,现在的竞争已经从单个企业之间的竞争发展成为供应链与供应链之间的竞争.如何进行供应链成本管理成为值得探讨的问题,本文通过对价值链与供应链之间的关联性,探索价值链分析方法应用于供应链成本管理的可行性,并进一步对具体的实施过程展开探讨.     

Approaches to child labour in the supply chain

This paper examines the difficulties of dealing with child labour in the supply chain. It begins by identifying a number of the factors which make global supply chains so difficult to manage. It goes on to outline a framework of different approaches that can be taken to managing the supply chain with relation to child labour, moving from national and international regulation, through to the role of NGOs and the companies themselves. Focusing on an 'engagement' strategy for dealing with child labour, the paper traces a case study of Adidas-Salomon and its attempts to implement their 'standards of engagement' in this area with relation to one of their supplier factories in Vietnam. The research draws on the direct involvement of one of the authors who visited the site and was able to interview staff and observe the operation in practice. Her findings are supported by wider work on the implementation of corporate approaches to human rights at a range of companies interviewed by another of the authors. The paper aims to highlight the issues needing to be addressed for companies considering the 'involvement' approach to child labour. It also aims to develop theory on our understanding of different approaches to corporate rights.     

供电企业的电力营销管理分析

电力营销是供电企业的核心任务.目前供电企业电力营销管理模式较为单一,管理机制缺乏创新,市场化水平、营销管理水平及核心竞争力与国内一些先进企业相比有相当大的差距.本文提出了电力营销管理面临的主要问题,分析了供电企业电力营销管理策略,介绍了供电企业推行精细化营销管理的重要意义和对策,强调了科技和人才管理.     

浅谈供电企业物资采购供应的现代化管理

供电企业管理的一个重要部分就是物资采购管理.其能否规范化的运行时关系到供电企业良好发展的一个重要方面.所以对于物资采购供应方面必须要进行现代化管理,这样才能进一步提高公司运作的水平,增加公司的收益.所以本文从电力企业物资采购.管理的问题和解决方式进行了探讨.     

The impact of new technologies on customer satisfaction and business to business customer relationships: Evidence from the soft drinks industry

Sales technology has been touted as a primary tool for enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) and thus improving overall customer satisfaction. The marketing, IT, and practitioner literatures make numerous references to the impact of CRM on business orientation and performance. However, according to Richard et al. (2007), not many studies have investigated customer relationship technology adopted by a firm and the impact on relationship development. The aim of this paper is to examine the relative impact of new technologies on improving customer relations and overall customer satisfaction within the sales industry. New technologies have revolutionised the workplace and have become an integral part of organisations throughout the world (Forster, 2000). Driving this revolution are two powerful new forces, cyberspace and computing power. This article defines three key terms which include CRM, customer satisfaction and new technologies and evaluates the impact of these emerging technological developments on relationships and customer satisfaction in a sales force/customer context. Primary research was conducted using two focus groups consisting of nine participants from Britvic. The analysis reveals that technology is both beneficial and essential within the sales force industry for both the sales representative and their customers and provides an insight into the impact of technology on the sales force/customer relationship. The paper concludes with reference to new technologies and the future.     

2005国际供应链管理峰会召开在即

由本刊和美国派克欧哈尔集团公司联合主办,中国贸促会上海市分会、上海国际经贸研究所、《中国国际物流》杂志等协办的2005国际供应链管理峰会将于5月12日在上海科技馆隆重举行。     

Please explain why it happened! How perceived justice and customer involvement affect post co-recovery evaluations: A study of Iranian online shoppers

As online shopping is growing, the probability of service failure is increasing, too. Therefore, online retailers need to employ particular recovery strategies in online setting. Online shopping relies more on information and communication rather than traditional shopping. In addition, involving consumers in co-recovery procedure triggers them to perceive post-recovery satisfaction higher than usual, hence, resulting enhancement behavioral intentions (i.e. positive word-of-mouth, repurchase intention, loyalty, intention to future co-creation). While recent researches in online shopping did not examine the impact of informational justice and co-recovery, this study aims to investigate the influence of four justice dimensions (e.g. distributive, procedural, interactional and informational) by mediating role on involvement on post-recovery satisfaction. Thus, a scenario-based, between-subjects experiment was performed to reduce extreme memories and biases of the subject matter. A sample of 278 Iranian online shoppers from two shopping websites (i.e. Digikala and Bamilo) was employed to analyze data. Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) was employed to analyze data. First, the measurement model was performed to check validity and reliability of the constructs involved in the conceptual framework. Then, proposed hypotheses were tested using structural model. Results show that justice dimensions are positively associated with post-recovery satisfaction. Also, it is confirmed that involvement is mediator between justice dimensions and satisfaction, which means customers participation in recovery procedure is necessary in online post-recovery assessment. These findings also suggest that informational justice should be consider as a crucial factor in online shopping, particularly online recovery. Results suggest that managers should be generous to share information with customers and explain them what is the reason of failure, in detail. Finally, post-recovery satisfaction is positively related to behavioral intentions such as positive word of mouth, loyalty; repurchase intention and future co-creation tendency.     

How policy is shaping the macro healthcare delivery supply chain: The emergence of a new tier of retail medical clinics

The healthcare industry continues to face substantial pressure to simultaneously improve costs and patient centricity. Much of the focus to date has concerned policy interventions capable of improving these performance measures for traditional healthcare providers, such as hospitals. But recently, nontraditional healthcare providers like Walmart Health and Amazon have made forays into the industry by establishing retail medical clinics (RMCs). These efforts constitute a redistribution of how services are organized across the macro healthcare delivery supply chain. While RMCs stand to bring innovative models of service delivery to patients, the policy environment can both enable and inhibit their involvement in the industry. We develop a framework that explains how structural and conduct regulations have historically influenced demand for and supply of healthcare services. We then describe how these regulatory factors can support nontraditional healthcare providers as they launch innovative service delivery models aimed at efficiency and customer centricity.     

How small service failures drive customer defection: Introducing the concept of microfailures

Service that falls below customer expectations is framed as a service failure. While many researchers have investigated service failures, they have tended to focus on large service failures. This is likely because large failures are more noticeable by firms and more likely to prompt customer complaints than small failures. However, we argue that smaller service failures can cause as much damage as larger failures, and in some cases even more. We introduce the concept of service microfailures, which we define as instances when a customer’s expectations go unmet in some small way. While minor in isolation, repeated service microfailures that go unnoticed and unrecovered can compound in effect and drive customer defection. For this reason, we propose that service microfailures are a potentially much larger managerial problem than they may appear on the surface. In this article, we conceptualize microfailures as a distinct form of service failure and outline the mechanism through which they cause damage. We then develop a multifaceted approach through which managers can detect, repair, and prevent service microfailures.     

论关系沟通对供应链协同的影响作用

对沟通在协同周期不同阶段的影响机制进行了分析,认为沟通对协同运作有直接作用和间接作用两种机制,其中直接作用主要是对供应链企业间信息共享和同步决策的作用;而间接作用主要是通过建立信任机制、发展和提升合作关系水平来对协同运作产生影响.同时,沟通在协同的各个阶段均有作用,贯穿于协同运作始终.     

浅谈供电企业变电运行安全生产

本文分析了供电企业变电运行安全生产中常见的一些问题,介绍了影响供电企业变电运行安全因素,阐述了变电运行安全生产的关键,强调了有章不循是变电运行安全生产的最大隐患,提出了加强供电企业安全生产管理的对策.     

浅议工业园区供应链金融的业务模式

当地经济的发展离不开因区的核心企业,然而在发展过程中,供应链上的中小企业融资问题制约着整个供应链的生存与发展,分析供应链上企业的融资模式,解决企业发展的瓶颈问题,便于提出政策性的支持建议。     

辽宁康辉国际旅行社旅游供应链的构建研究

我国目前的旅游供应链是以旅行社为核心、各相关企业为节点服务于旅游者的模式,但由于旅行社力量薄弱、分散,导致了供应链运作中的一系列问题.鉴于我国旅游业发展现状及旅行社在供应链中的重要作用,必须确立其在供应链中的核心地位以提高供应链效率.本文首先对旅行社构建供应链的重要意义做了简要的论述,同时结合辽宁康辉国际旅行社旅游供应链的现状对旅游供应链中存在的主要问题进行了深入探讨,在此基础上提出了辽宁康辉国际旅行社旅游供应链的发展对策.     

浅谈供电企业降损增效的措施

国家电网公司按照国家关于电力行业节能减排的工作要求,提出了建设环境友好型、资源节约型企业的目标,并将其写入了社会责任报告书.作为供电企业,贯彻落实科学发展、节约发展的工作思路,扎实做好降损增效工作,是我们义不容辞的企业责任和社会责任.线损率综合反映了电力网规划设计、生产运行和经营管理水平,通过对其进行科学有效的分析评估,查找生产、经营、管理各环节存在的问题,进而从技术上、管理上双管齐下,运用科举的措施与方法,实现电网的"降损增效".