Online Customer Experience in e-Retailing: An empirical model of Antecedents and Outcomes

The theoretical understanding of online shopping behavior has received much attention. Less focus has been given to the formation of the customer experience (CE) that results from online shopper interactions with e-retailers. This study develops and empirically tests a model of the relationship between antecedents and outcomes of online customer experience (OCE) within Internet shopping websites using an international sample. The study identifies and provides operational measures of these variables plus the cognitive and affective components of OCE. The paper makes contributions towards new knowledge and understanding of how e-retailers can provide effective online experiences for customers.     

PFI, Public—Private Partnerships and the Neglected Importance of Process: Stakeholders and the Employment Dimension

The prominence of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public—Private Partnership (PPP) policy and practice is growing as a mechanism for improving resources available to, and value for money throughout, UK public services. This interest has not been accompanied by an appropriate level of academic scrutiny, nor by depth of insight into the impact of the PFI/PPP process upon public sector organizations. The authors draw on the experience of a National Health Service PFI project to examine key aspects of the PFI process, in particular, structural characteristics affecting design and implementation of PFI projects, financial and other organizational costs, and the nature of stakeholder involvement and the wider employment dimension. The article concludes by reflecting on implications for PFI/PPP policy, management and research.     

Political Activism and Workplace Industrial Relations in a UK 'Failing' School

The paper draws on a qualitative case study of workplace industrial relations in an inner–city secondary school identified as 'failing' and subsequently closed. It considers the way unionized teachers and their representatives interpret, influence and resist the impact of centralized managerial and educational change. The local implementation of such change leads to an engagement with the debates on union renewal. In particular, the paper explores the dynamic interrelationship between political and trade union activism and the tension between workplace relations and formal union organization.     

Towards a pre-service technology teacher education resource for New Zealand

The Pre-service Technology Teacher Education Resource (PTTER) was developed as a cross-institutional resource to support the development of initial technology teacher education programmes in New Zealand. The PTTER was developed through collaboration involving representatives from each of the six New Zealand university teacher education providers, Massey University, University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, University of Otago, Victoria University and University of Waikato, working with the National Technology Professional Development Manager. The framework for PTTER is built on four key elements considered to be essential to the education of technology teachers. The four elements are: philosophy of technology, rationale for technology education, technology in the New Zealand curriculum, and teaching technology. The PTTER is a web-based resource aimed at assisting technology teacher educators in the development of their teacher education programmes. The framework is a statement of shared philosophy, purpose and intent and is located on the Techlink website (www.techlink.org.nz). PTTER contains a range of teaching resources and strategies located within an overall framework for initial technology teacher education programmes. This paper describes the rationale for the PTTER framework, the process through which it was developed, explanation of each of the framework’s elements, and concludes with discussion of the framework’s implementation and future development.     

Exploring the effectiveness of bus rapid transit a prototype agent-based model of commuting behavior

The introduction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), typically involving the use of exclusive bus lanes and related bus priority measures, is increasingly advocated as a flexible and cost-effective way of improving the attractiveness of public transit in congested urban areas by reducing travel times and variability. These schemes typically involve the reallocation of road space for exclusive use by buses, presenting commuters with potentially competing incentives: buses on BRT routes can run faster and more efficiently than buses running in general traffic, potentially attracting commuters to public transit and reducing congestion through modal shift from cars. However, a secondary impact may also exist; remaining car users may be presented with less congested road space, improving their journey times and simultaneously acting as an incentive for some bus-users to revert to the car. To investigate the potential for these primary and secondary impacts, we develop a prototype agent-based model to investigate the nature of these interactions and how they play out into system-wide patterns of modal share and travel times. The model allows us to test the effects of multiple assumptions about the behaviors of individual agents as they respond to different incentives introduced by BRT policy changes, such as the implementation of exclusive bus lanes, increased bus frequency, pre-boarding ticket machines and express stops, separately and together. We find that, under our assumptions, these policies can result in significant improvements in terms of individual journey times, modal shift, and length of rush hour. We see that the addition of an exclusive bus lane results in significant improvements for both car users and bus riders. Informed with appropriate empirical data relating to the behavior of individual agents, the geography and the specific policy interventions, the model has the potential to aid policymakers in examining the effectiveness of different BRT schemes, applied to broader environments.     

Customer experience quality: an exploration in business and consumer contexts using repertory grid technique

This study proposes a conceptual model for customer experience quality and its impact on customer relationship outcomes. Customer experience is conceptualized as the customer’s subjective response to the holistic direct and indirect encounter with the firm, and customer experience quality as its perceived excellence or superiority. Using the repertory grid technique in 40 interviews in B2B and B2C contexts, the authors find that customer experience quality is judged with respect to its contribution to value-in-use, and hence propose that value-in-use mediates between experience quality and relationship outcomes. Experience quality includes evaluations not just of the firm’s products and services but also of peer-to-peer and complementary supplier encounters. In assessing experience quality in B2B contexts, customers place a greater emphasis on firm practices that focus on understanding and delivering value-in-use than is generally the case in B2C contexts. Implications for practitioners’ customer insight processes and future research directions are suggested.     

Stakeholder involvement in the new service design process

The role of innovation/new product/service development as a source of organisational growth and profitability is well recognised. Similarly, the need to build ‘quality’ into the design of new products and services is understood. Research focusing on the development of new financial services usually includes new product development models, emphasising the ‘technical quality’ of the service, while service design models emphasise process or ‘functional quality’. Additionally, while the impact of staff on service delivery at the implementation stage and the need for inter-departmental cooperation is widely discussed, many studies do not focus on the range of stakeholder interests that affect the new product development/design process. The case study presented highlights both the focus of service design and the multiple stakeholders involved in the process. In-depth interviews with managers of the new product development department of a UK bank reveal potential and actual sources of conflict.