GREENING THE SERVICE PROFIT CHAIN: THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

This paper explores the relationship between environmental practices and performance in services and the impact of such practices on the external portion of the service profit chain. Using structural equation modeling, it tests the hypotheses developed with data from the European hospitality industry. The findings suggest that environmental practices are positively related to performance through the mediating effect of enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty. The paper's contributions include: the conceptual development of the relationship between environmental practices and performance in services, the incorporation of environmental practices within the service profit chain, and the testing of their impact on customer satisfaction.     

服务质量决定要因顾客满足和行动意图的影响--在中国服务产业的应用

为维持现有顾客和创造新顾客,服务企业必须知道怎样实施服务质量战略来增加顾客满足和行动意图,因为服务质量、顾客满足和顾客行动意图之间存在着因果关系.本研究把整体服务质量分解为相互作用质量、物理环境质量、结果质量三个决定要因,并对服务质量决定要因对顾客满足和行动意图的影响进行了研究,实证检验在中国服务产业中进行.对研究模型的验证结果支持本研究提出的所有因果假设,即构成整体服务质量的三个决定要因对顾客满足具有显著的正向影响,顾客满足对行动意图具有显著的正向影响.而且,对于中国顾客来说,服务质量决定要因对顾客满足的相对影响力依次为"结果质量"＞"相互作用质量"＞"物理环境质量".     

服务供应链管理、顾客满意与企业绩效

本研究构建了服务供应链管理活动同顾客满意及企业绩效间的结构方程模型,并以来自中国民航服务业的数据进行了实证分析。结果显示服务企业的领导力不仅对服务供应链的战略管理和运作管理活动有正影响效应,还对企业服务信息系统的构建有积极影响;企业文化对企业战略层面的服务供应链管理计划、协作关系的构建、整合服务资源等服务供应链战略管理活动有显著影响;服务供应链战略管理活动、运作管理活动和顾客信息系统的构建通过有效提升顾客满意感、可以增加企业绩效。     

First Step in Social Media: Measuring the Influence of Online Management Responses on Customer Satisfaction

With the growing influence of online social media, firms increasingly take an active role in interacting with consumers in social media. For many firms, their first step in online social media is management responses, where the management responds to customers' comments about the firm or its products and services. In this article, we measure the impact of management responses on customer satisfaction using data retrieved from a major online travel agency in China. Applying a panel data model that controls for regression toward the mean and heterogeneity in individual preference for hotels, we find that online management responses are highly effective among low satisfaction customers but have limited influence on other customers. Moreover, we show that the public nature of online management responses introduces a new dynamic among customers. Although online management responses increase future satisfaction of the complaining customers who receive the responses, they decrease future satisfaction of complaining customers who observe but do not receive management responses. The result is consistent with the peer‐induced fairness theory.     

An Exploratory Study of the Impact of e‐Service Process on Online Customer Satisfaction

Although extensive academic research has examined the dynamics of interpersonal interactions between service providers and customers, much less research has investigated customer service encounters through technological interfaces such as the Web in electronic commerce transactions. Corporate websites have become an important point of contact with customers for many companies. Service has been described as one of the most important attributes for online business to influence traffic and sales. However, more research is needed to understand how Web‐based technological capabilities of services affect customer satisfaction. In this paper, we propose viewing the interface between online buyers and sellers through the lens of service management to identify possible determinants of online customer satisfaction. A company's website is considered its electronic service delivery system. We look at this electronic service delivery system from its process point of view. Our findings indicate that as the electronic service delivery system process improves, a customer's perception of the website's ease of use increases, leading to increased service value and perceived control over the process, which increases customer satisfaction. The research provides evidence that the technological capabilities embedded in the website processes are an important factor in determining service quality and ultimately online customer satisfaction.     

THE MARKET SHARE IMPACT OF SERVICE FAILURES

This paper develops a simple but powerful model that relates service satisfaction/dissatisfaction to market share. The model is based on an intuitive service satisfaction framework that relates three service system parameters (service success rate, complaint rate, and service recovery rate) to the percent of satisfied customers. A dynamic model is then posited that relates the defection rate and the addition rate to market share changes. The service satisfaction/market share model yields useful insights into how market share is influenced by these service system parameters. The surprisingly simple model predicts changes in market share due to changes in customer satisfaction.     

基于东方管理的服务创新与服务利润链实证研究:以通信服务业为例

创新已经成为国内通信服务企业的竞争利器,探讨创新影响企业内部运作、外部顾客满意度和企业绩效的路径和模式.本文以河南省新联通为例,运用调查研究方法和案例研究方法,探讨基于东方管理的服务创新与员工满意、顾客满意和绩效之间的关系.本文得到如下结论:(1)基于东方管理思想的"内部服务创新-员工满意-顾客满意-企业绩效"的服务利润链路径得到验证,但强度较弱,这表明东方管理思想和服务创新理论在国内通信服务企业的应用是有效的,但其作用有待提升;(2)内部和外部服务创新通过直接和间接两条路径影响企业绩效;(3)内部创新影响路径(内部服务创新→员工满意→顾客满意→企业绩效)的强度小于外部创新影响路径(外部服务创新→顾客满意→企业绩效)的强度,表明针对员工的内部服务创新还未成为当前国内通信服务企业创新的重点;(4)除了创新对绩效的间接影响外,内部服务创新和外部服务创新会直接影响企业绩效,这表明国内通信服务企业的创新可能仍倾向于绩效导向,而非顾客导向,即表现出行为短期化.     

Transaction‐Specific Investments,Relational Norms,and ERP Customer Satisfaction: A Mediation Analysis*

Integrating the perspectives of transaction cost economics, the resource‐based view, and resource dependency theory, this study analyzes the institutional settings of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations in China. Specifically, it examines how bilateral transaction‐specific investments (TSIs) and relational governance mechanisms influence customer satisfaction with ERP implementations. The model is empirically tested using data from on‐site interviews with 208 ERP customers in China. The results demonstrate that the effects of vendors’ and customers’ TSIs on customer satisfaction are facilitated by multiple‐stage micromediational chains. The influence of TSIs on customer satisfaction is mediated by relational norms, and the impact of relational norms on customer satisfaction is bridged by perceived service quality and customer trust. Furthermore, the influence of vendors’ TSIs is stronger than the influence of customers’ TSIs. The findings contribute to business research and practice by providing valuable insights into how ERP vendors and customers should strategize TSIs to enhance relationship performance.     

Integration of IPA and QFD to assess the service quality and to identify after sales service strategies to improve customer satisfaction – a case study

Customer satisfaction is considered very essential nowadays as it shows how firms are dedicated to afford quality products or services to their customers. Retaining the existing customer and acquiring the new customers are the basic objectives of any organisation and after sales service (ASS) has acquired a strategic role as a mean to achieve customer satisfaction. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) and quality function deployment (QFD) are the powerful tools successfully applied in many fields. However, studies on application of these tools in investigating the ASS quality and customer satisfaction seems to be scarce. This article investigates linking of IPA, which is a simple and effective customer satisfaction tool and QFD in the improvement of ASS attributes in an effort to determine the appropriate ASS strategic action plans to be adopted with the objective of enhancing customer satisfaction. In this study, a customer-driven model is proposed to examine the importance of the various ASS attributes and the performance of the organisation via questionnaire survey, and through the IP analysis, the areas to be focused are identified to help the decision makers in devising suitable policies, to improve the ASS performance. This is achieved through the employment of QFD that will help decision makers in the strategic planning to attain better customer satisfaction. A case study is carried out to exhibit the effectiveness of the developed model in a firm involved in manufacturing the home appliances.     

Satisfying and Retaining Customers through Independent Service Representatives

The degree of leverage possessed by manufacturers who outsource their customer service function to channel partners over customer satisfaction and loyalty is assessed empirically. Data provided by independent service representatives are linked with data from their customers. Results indicate that a manufacturer's support of its representatives increases their job satisfaction which, in turn, is indirectly linked to the customer satisfaction through shared perceptions of service performance and quality. However, the strength of the effects is modest, suggesting that manufacturers may need to consider direct customer contact strategies or contractual means of assuring customer satisfaction when independent service representatives “own the customer.” Conceptually, the hypothesized shared mindset model is tested against the competing affect transfer model, resulting in support for the former. Job satisfaction moderates the degree of agreement between representatives' and customers' perceptions of service performance and quality such that greater agreement occurs when job satisfaction is high.     

行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法

客户导向的产品族规模优化方法在与竞争对手产品族相比时并不一定能使在线定制服务提供商获得竞争优势,还需要考虑竞争对手产品族对其产品族规模的影响。产品族规模优化应该在满足工程技术约束和制造规模经济性的基础上,引入产品功能配置元和结构配置元,结合客户需求强度和偏好分析,构建了行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法,最后结合案例证明该方法的有效性。     

A NEW LEARNING APPROACH TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

Redesigning and improving business processes to better serve customer needs has become a priority in service industries as they scramble to become more competitive. We describe an approach to process improvement that is being developed collaboratively by applied researchers at US WEST, a major telecommunications company, and the University of Colorado. Motivated by the need to streamline and to add more quantitative power to traditional quality improvement processes, the new approach uses an artificial intelligence (AI) statistical tree growing method using customer survey data to identify operations areas where improvements are expected to affect customers most. This AI/statistical method also identifies realistic quantitative targets for improvement and suggests specific strategies predicted to have high impart. This research, funded in part by the Colorado Advanced Software Institute (CASI) to stimulate profitable innovations, has resulted in a practical methodology used successfully at US WEST to help set process improvement priorities and guide resource allocation decisions throughout the company.     

A DYNAMIC PROCESS MODEL OF DISSATISFACTION FOR UNFAVORABLE,NON-ROUTINE SERVICE ENCOUNTERS

This paper explores the effect of expectations and information on customer dissatisfaction in unfavorable, nonroutine service encounters. In complex services (e.g., health care) with multiple encounters and wide range of services, customers use some of the services rarely or only once. In such encounters, customers may not have clear expectations regarding the process and/or outcome of the impending service delivery. This may increase the likelihood of the customer to perceive poor service or be dissatisfied. Hypotheses regarding the nature of expectations—levels, uncertainty, consistency—and its affects on customer dissatisfaction are tested using a dynamic process model of customer dissatisfaction.     

服务企业的顾客忠诚及其决定因素研究

忠诚的顾客是企业生存和发展的基础,服务业的迅速发展要求业界和学界深入了解服务业顾客忠诚的确切含义、构成及其决定因素。本文对西方学者在服务业顾客忠诚领域的相关研究进行了回顾和梳理,从直接影响和间接影响途径探讨了它的关键决定因素,并引入顾客价值概念诠释顾客忠诚的成因,最后提出若干基于顾客价值进行顾客忠诚管理的建议。     

基于PDCA的供应链视角下物流客户服务绩效评价研究

在系统总结国内外相关文献的基础上,设计了基于PDCA循环的供应链视角下物流客户服务绩效评价流程,并针对每个流程给出了控制重点,旨在通过对绩效评价流程的规范管理,不断提高物流客户服务绩效和供应链整体绩效水平。在绩效评价方案设计环节提出了给予供应链整体绩效提升的物流客户服务绩效评价方法和指标体系,在绩效评价方案实施环节给出了应用模糊层次分析法选择物流服务商的步骤。     

Gaining Competitive Advantages: Analyzing the Gap between Expectations and Perceptions of Service Quality

Universities have obligations to fulfill the needs of two customers –students and industry. Students must be intellectually prepared to meet the challenges of a highly competitive global environment. One approach in meeting this challenge is to focus on `Service Quality.' The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant research literature and theorize several propositions about SERVQUAL in the higher educational environment. The research considers the gap between expected services and perceived services and how these dimensions of SERVQUAL may be utilized to improve service quality and customer satisfaction.     

DEVELOPING SOPHISTICATED QUALITY IMPROVEMENT APPROACHES THROUGH BUSINESS-ACADEME COLLABORATIONS: INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE

The pursuit of better performance has led to a number of business-academe collaborations. These collaborators have developed a number of sophisticated approaches that go far beyond such traditional simple methods as benchmarking against the best company, Ishikawa diagrams on feedback and control, Pareto diagrams, incentive systems based solely on output or quality, standard process control charts, and separate treatment of control charts and product inspection. The authors in this special issue report on approaches like benchmarking industrial performance through industry studies; the use of an artificial-intelligence statistical-tree growing method to analyze complex customer service data; an incentive system based on the total quality management (TQM) concepts of continuous improvement, teamwork, adaptation to change, and a focus on customer satisfaction; and integration of product inspection and process control. Because of the continuing widespread interest in TQM, there is an opportunity to take stock of how successful TQM initiatives have been and how we should consolidate and further extend the knowledge in TQM. Two of the papers report on the gap between what organizations espouse as TQM and what they actually implement and on the literature on TQM.     

Managing big data in the retail industry of Singapore: Examining the impact on customer satisfaction and organizational performance

Much of the research on big data analytics has been centered on technical or system development. Research has been carried out on the usage of big data analytics to understand customer relationships and experience, amongst others. Still, there is a lack of research in the retail industry considering big data management, examining the impact on customer satisfaction and organizational performance in the retail sector. Retailers explore analytics to gain a unified picture of their customers and operations across the store or online channels and make strategic decisions contributing to the growth of the retail industry. Thereof, this study has been conducted by majorly focusing on the Singapore retail industry to clarify the feasibility of big data management analytics. Quantitative research method was employed involving 500 participants from the retail industry of Singapore. The results of the study stated that amongst the different big data analytics utilized within the retail industry of Singapore, social media analytics had been majorly answered by the participants. Future researchers can study about the upcoming retail trends in Singapore and how the effects of big data analysis changed in the past few years and deal with the unexpected future recessions in the retail industry within Singapore.     

Foundations and Implications of a Proposed Unified Services Theory

Diverse businesses, such as garbage collection, retail banking, and management consulting are often tied together under the heading of “services”, based on little more than a perception that they are intangible and do not manufacture anything. Such definitions inadequately identify managerial and operational implications common among, and unique to, services. We present a “Unified Services Theory” (UST) to clearly delineate service processes from non‐service processes and to identify key commonalities across seemingly disparate service businesses. The UST defines a service production process as one that relies on customer inputs; customers act as suppliers for all service processes. Non‐services (such as make‐to‐stock manufacturing) rely on customer selection of outputs, payment for outputs, and occasional feedback, but production is not dependent upon inputs from individual customers. The UST reveals principles that are common to the wide range of services and provides a unifying foundation for various theories and models of service operations, such as the traditional “characteristics of services” and Customer Contact Theory. The UST has significant operational corollaries pertaining to capacity and demand management, service quality, services strategy, and so forth. The UST provides a common reference point to which services management researchers can anchor future theory‐building and theory‐testing research.     

Facility location decisions with environmental considerations: a case study from the petrochemical industry

The recently growing concerns of customers and governments about environmental protection and greenhouse gas reduction have forced companies to integrate the topic of environmental sustainability into their decision making. Facility location decisions are of special relevance in this respect because of their strategic nature. Furthermore, many different trade-offs must be considered, for example between operational costs and customer service. But as soon as environmental issues are concerned, other critical issues must be considered as well. Based on a case study from the petrochemical industry, this paper extends two basic facility location models and shows the impact of distribution network-design decisions on the economic and environmental performance of the company. The results show a trade-off between total (distribution) costs and transport carbon emissions.