An empirical investigation of the effectiveness of an integrated service recovery system

Although service recovery has become an increasingly-studied topic in the operations management literature, robust theories and accompanying empirical studies have only begun to emerge. For example, while many authors have identified and measured the specific activities that are perceived by consumers as effective ways to recover from failure, much less attention has been directed at the systematic structuring of recovery efforts to consistently ensure customer satisfaction and achieve improved, long-term organizational outcomes. Building on recent research that identified the principal constructs of service recovery, this study seeks to explore the relative effectiveness of an integrated service recovery system. Data from 158 service organizations are used to explore the relationship between the system and its associated recovery outcomes. Results indicate that a complete recovery system defined by seven distinct dimensions (formalization, decentralization, comprehensiveness, accessibility, influence, human intensity, and system intensity,) significantly impacts internal capability improvements as well as externally-perceived outcomes (i.e., speed, employee empathy, and recovery effectiveness) while both of these outcomes have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and market performance attributed to service recovery