Customer acceptance of four types of hospitality value propositions

Although how successful hospitality companies create value propositions has received some interest, how and why customers accept value propositions remains largely unknown. Grounded in theory of acceptance and service-dominant logic, this study examined consumers’ psychological mechanism of acceptance of value propositions at different points of exchange, and investigated the impact of value propositions acceptance on customers’ well-being and perceptions of service advantage. Online respondents (N = 180) assessed four hospitality value propositions: innovation, marketing, production, and recovery. Repeated-measures ANOVA and PROCESS Model analyses revealed that customers accepted value propositions cognitively, emotionally, normatively, and behaviorally, positively influencing subjective well-being and perceptions of firm’s service advantage. Service production and recovery value propositions had higher acceptance compared to innovation and marketing. This study is the first to empirically illustrate the complex process of customer value proposition acceptance and the effects on personal and organizational outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.     

The impact of IT-enabled customer service systems on service personalization,customer service perceptions,and hotel performance

Customer service is a critical element of a hotel's strategy and an important lever for differentiation of the hotel's offer. Over the last two decades, information systems have contributed to the transformation of customer interactions, enabling an unprecedented scale and scope of service personalization in the tourism industry. This paper reports the results of a mixed method study in a hotel that offers three contributions to the development and refinement of IT-enabled service personalization theory. It explores the role of signifiers in the design of customer service systems, showing that they significantly increase customer preference elicitation during the learning phase of the service personalization process. It then demonstrates that improved preference elicitation translates into higher customer service evaluations and value perceptions of the hotel. Finally, our study shows that IT-enabled service personalization creates financial benefits for the hotel via revenue share-shift from costly intermediated to direct distribution channels.     

论旅游服务提供者在包价旅游合同中的法律地位及责任

针对旅游服务提供者的法律地位及责任问题,《关于审理旅游纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的规定》和《旅游法》都设置了若干规则,但其中某些规则值得商榷。在包价旅游合同中,旅游服务提供者并非旅游合同当事人,而是向债权人(旅游者)履行义务的第三人,也是《合同法》第121条中的第三人。旅游服务提供者是否属于旅游经营者的履行辅助人,在我国《合同法》对旅游合同中的违约责任不以过错为要件的背景下并不重要。旅游经营者无干涉、控制可能的公共交通运营者仍应属于旅游服务提供者。根据《合同法》第64条,旅游者对旅游服务提供者应享有履行合同义务或承担违约责任的直接请求权。因旅游服务提供者的原因而致旅游者人身损害或财产损失的,《旅游法》施行以后,旅游服务提供者与旅游经营者承担的是不真正连带责任。     

Impression Management and the Hospitality Service Encounter

Abstract

Managers, marketers, and employees in the hotel and restaurant industry that are aware of the needs of people from different cultures will be able to better direct their efforts at product development, provide better guest services, and thereby offer a means of developing competitive advantage. This study determined cross-cultural differences in customer perceptions of employee behavior, intentions to return, and tipping between Americans and Asians living in the United States. The study was based on several impression management dimensions (ingratiation, intimidation, self-promotion, exemplification, supplication, and non-verbal behaviors). The results suggest that behaviors associated with ingratiation and exemplification techniques were perceived as being more satisfying for American than Asian respondents. Behaviors demonstrative of intimidation and supplication techniques were perceived as very dissatisfying for Americans.     

The influence of lead indicator strength on the use of nonfinancial measures in performance management: Evidence from CEO compensation schemes

Nonfinancial measures (NFMs) are a common feature of strategic performance management frameworks. We examine the role of one widely used NFM: customer satisfaction, in one aspect of strategic performance management: CEO compensation schemes. Drawing on agency theory precepts, we hypothesize that the extent to which firms link CEO compensation to customer satisfaction is influenced by satisfaction's ability to act as a leading indicator of future profitability (lead indicator strength). We further hypothesize that the extent to which customer satisfaction's lead indicator strength influences the weighting of satisfaction in CEO compensation schemes has a positive influence on future shareholder value. Our empirical results offer strong support for both hypotheses and extend research on the use and efficacy of NFMs in CEO compensation schemes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using users: When does external knowledge enhance corporate product innovation?

Prior research on corporate innovation highlights the importance of accessing external knowledge from other firms and universities. However, survey evidence indicates that product users are perhaps the most important source of external knowledge. We build on existing theory to identify the conditions under which user knowledge contributes to corporate innovation and when the benefits will be greatest. Using a panel dataset of medical device companies and their collaborative efforts with innovative physicians, we find evidence that inventive collaborations with users enhance corporate product innovation and that the benefits are greatest in new technology areas and in the generation of radical innovations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overcoming localization of knowledge — the role of professional service firms

The literature on organizational learning asserts that external learning is often limited geographically and technologically. We scrutinize to what extent organizations acquire external knowledge by accessing external knowledge repositories. We argue that professional service firms (PSFs) grant access to nonlocalized knowledge repositories and thereby not only facilitate external learning but also help to overcome localization. Focusing on patent law firms, we test our predictions using a unique dataset of 544,820 pairs of European patent applications. Analyzing patterns of knowledge flows captured in patent citations, we find that accessing a PSF's repository facilitates the acquisition of external knowledge. As the effect is more pronounced for knowledge that is distant to a focal organization, we conclude that having access to a knowledge repository compensates for localization disadvantages. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论虚拟经营对现代服务业发展的影响——兼论在虚拟经营模式下现代服务业统计的调整

大力发展现代服务业,尤其是生产性服务业,是建设我国新型工业化的必由之路。企业虚拟化经营的广泛实施,加速了许多具有服务属性的运行功能从企业,尤其是制造型企业中的分离,同时以运行功能为对象的社会分工与合作又要求这些分离出来的运行功能以独立企业的形式与实施虚拟化经营的企业进行功能互补,从而加速和扩大了现代服务业的发展。同时企业虚拟化经营对现代服务业的统计也产生了诸多影响。     

财政外溢下的地方政府公共服务提供——以教育为例

主流财政分权和公共服务提供理论在强调地方政府竞争效率的同时,较少考虑联邦体制与单一集权体制的制度差异,而且忽视了地方政府在提供一些公共服务时面临着巨大的财政外溢。考虑到我国单一集权的政体背景,应用多任务代理框架来构建理论模型,可以发现。地方政府会忽视产出不易测量的文教卫生等社会民生类公共服务的提供。在人口大规模迁移使得教育支出具有显著财政外溢情况下,地方政府将进一步削减教育支出,并向居民转嫁。未来的政策调整方向是,淡化地方政府经济活动激励的同时,加大对社会民生类公共服务的激励强度,并增加对具有财政外溢的教育的专项转移支付,使其经费负担主体逐步上移。     

The effects of strategic and market complementarity on acquisition performance: evidence from the U.S. commercial banking industry, 1989–2001

Most traditional research on mergers and acquisitions tends to focus on the role of similarity in explaining acquisition performance. While scholars have recently begun to examine acquisition complementarity, there is still little evidence concerning how complementarity influences acquisition performance. Further, previous research has not drawn the connections between related contexts and the potential benefits from complementarity. In this article, we move the study of acquisition complementarity forward by investigating the effects of strategic and market complementarity on acquisition performance in the context of related horizontal acquisitions. We also propose that two key attributes of acquirers—strategic focus and out‐of‐market acquisition experience—will moderate this relationship. We investigate our research questions in the context of all 2,204 acquisitions made by publicly traded U.S. commercial banks during the 12‐year period from 1989 to 2001. Our findings are generally supportive, suggesting complementarity is an important antecedent of acquisition performance, and raising important issues on the nature of acquisition research in general. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.