A Mathematical Model of Service Failure and Recovery Strategies*

Understanding the nature of service failures and their impact on customer responses and designing cost‐effective recovery strategies have been recognized as important issues by both service researchers and practitioners. We first propose a conceptual framework of service failure and recovery strategies. We then transform it into a mathematical model to assist managers in deciding on appropriate resource allocations for outcome and process recovery strategies based on customer risk profiles and the firm's cost structures. Based on this mathematical model we derive optimal recovery strategies, conduct sensitivity analyses of the optimal solutions for different model parameters, and illustrate them through numerical examples. We conclude with a discussion of managerial implications and directions for future research.     

The Economic Payout Model for Service Guarantees

Service guarantees consist of a promise to a customer (marketing), the delivery of a service to the customer (operations), and actions to appease the customer when service failures happen (recovery). A part of recovery involves offering the customer an economic and/or noneconomic payout when things go wrong. When the economic payout is too high or low, the impact on the organization and the customer is usually negative. Therefore, determining the size of the economic payout is of critical strategic and tactical importance in businesses. Yet, no systematic quantitative methods are found in the literature to help managers determine the economic payout for service failures. The current ways an economic payout is determined are management judgment, the consensus of customer focus groups, competitive benchmarking, and the use of simple expected value methods. In this article, we define the Economic Payout Model for Service Guarantees (EPMSG) that provides an optimal service guarantee economic payout under certain conditions. The EPMSG and its objective function considers customer revenue over the short‐ and long‐term, the cost of creating and providing the service, the cost of recovery, the probability of a service failure, and the probability of customer retention as a function of economic payout. A numerical example is provided of how EPMSG works. Customer retention probability distributions are examined assuming normal and gamma distributions. We end the article by describing the theoretical contributions, model limitations, managerial implications, and opportunities for future research.     

Schedule Recovery: Unplanned Absences in Service Operations*

The U.S. service sector loses 2.3% of all scheduled labor hours to unplanned absences, but in some industries, the total cost of unplanned absences approaches 20% of payroll expense. The principal reasons for unscheduled absences (personal illness and family issues) are unlikely to abate anytime soon. Despite this, most labor scheduling systems continue to assume perfect attendance. This oversight masks an important but rarely addressed issue in services management: how to recover from short‐notice, short‐term reductions in planned capacity. In this article, we model optimal responses to unplanned employee absences in multi‐server queueing systems that provide discrete, pay‐per‐use services for impatient customers. Our goal is to assess the performance of alternate absence recovery strategies under various staffing and scheduling regimes. We accomplish this by first developing optimal labor schedules for hypothetical service environments with unreliable workers. We then simulate unplanned employee absences, apply an absence recovery model, and compute system profits. Our absence recovery model utilizes recovery strategies such as holdover overtime, call‐ins, and temporary workers. We find that holdover overtime is an effective absence recovery strategy provided sufficient reserve capacity (maximum allowable work hours minus scheduled hours) exists. Otherwise, less precise and more costly absence recovery methods such as call‐ins and temporary help service workers may be needed. We also find that choices for initial staffing and scheduling policies, such as planned overtime and absence anticipation, significantly influence the likelihood of successful absence recovery. To predict the effectiveness of absence recovery policies under alternate staffing/scheduling strategies and operating environments, we propose an index based on initial capacity reserves.     

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.     

主动性-被动性员工创新行为:基于分布式领导的作用机制研究

员工创新是企业创新驱动的重要推动力和提升其核心竞争力的关键。当前中国组织情境中，存在着两种不同性质的员工创新行为：主动性员工创新行为和被动性员工创新行为，两者所产生的创新绩效存在巨大差异。然而，现有文献对被动性员工创新行为研究不足，理论研究已经无法适应实践的需要，因此，有必要将两种不同性质的员工创新行为放在一个框架下进行研究，以丰富创新行为的研究内涵。本文以新兴的领导发展取向——分布式领导为切入点，引入组织支持感作为中介变量，上下级关系和价值观匹配作为调节变量，构建了分布式领导对主动性-被动性员工创新行为的作用模型。为了验证该模型，以408名知识型员工为研究对象，通过多元回归分析的方法进行检验，研究结果发现：分布式领导对主动性员工创新行为具有正向影响，对被动性员工创新行为具有负向影响；组织支持感在分布式领导与主动性-被动性员工创新行为之间起中介作用；上下级关系和价值观匹配正向调节分布式领导与组织支持感之间的关系，并进一步验证了有调节的中介作用。同时，上下级关系和价值观匹配交互调节了分布式领导与组织支持感之间的关系。本文研究为解构中国创新管理实践中纷杂多样的创新行为提供了理论诠释，丰富了中国情境下的创新管理理论。     

关系品质对服务补救效果的调节作用

在关于服务补救的文献中,许多研究过于强调服务补救属性本身对补救后顾客态度和行为意向的影响。其实,它们不仅仅取决于类似于特定服务补救属性的感觉要素,还取决于类似于关系品质这样的知觉要素。为了揭示知觉要素对服务补救效果的重要性,本文以关系品质作为调节变量来考察它对服务补救过程中顾客的态度标识参数和行为意向的影响,发现关系品质对于服务补救效果确实存在着积极的调节作用,并根据这一发现提出了相应的营销建议。最后,文章给出了本研究的局限和未来的研究方向。     

Confidence Matters: Self‐efficacy Moderates the Credit that Supervisors Give to Adaptive and Proactive Role Behaviours

In complex and uncertain work environments, employees need to not only be proficient in carrying out their core duties, but also to be adaptive (able to cope and respond to unpredictable events) and proactive (able to anticipate the situation and act in a self‐directed way) in their work roles. In this study we investigate the extent to which supervisors actually give credit to adaptive and proactive role behaviours when they judge employees’ overall job performance. Drawing on attribution theory, we propose that the extent to which these role behaviours are valued by supervisors will be enhanced by employees’ confidence for relevant role behaviours. Support for these ideas is provided using data from junior doctors and their supervisors in a hospital emergency department. Adaptive role behaviours positively influenced supervisors’ judgements of overall job performance. This relationship was stronger for employees with high self‐efficacy for achieving outcomes. Engaging in proactive role behaviours while also lacking role‐breadth self‐efficacy resulted in supervisors’ giving employees less credit for their proactive role behaviours. Findings support the argument that employees’ self‐efficacy for specific role behaviours provides attributional cues about capability that modify how adaptive and proactive role behaviours are interpreted and valued.     

Modeling the Effects of a Service Guarantee on Perceived Service Quality Using Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE)*

This paper addresses the dearth of empirical research on the relationship between service guarantee and perceived service quality (PSQ). In particular, we examine the moderating effects of a service guarantee on PSQ. While a recent study provided empirical evidence that service quality is affected by service guarantee and employee variables such as employee motivation/vision and learning through service failure, the nature and form of the relationships between these variables remain unclear. Knowledge of these relationships can assist service managers to allocate resources more judiciously, avoid pitfalls, and establish more realistic expectations. Data was obtained from employees and customers of a multinational hotel chain that has implemented a service guarantee program in 89 of its hotels in America and Canada. As the employee variables could affect performance in a non‐linear fashion, we relaxed the assumption of model linearity by using the Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE) algorithm to arrive at a better‐fitting, non‐linear regression model for PSQ. Our findings indicate the existence of significant non‐linear relationships between PSQ and its determinant variables. The ACE model also revealed that service guarantee interacts with the employee variables to affect PSQ in a non‐linear fashion. The non‐linear relationships present new insights into the management of service guarantees and PSQ. Explanations and managerial implications of our results are presented and discussed.     

基于顾客自我调整导向的差异化服务补救策略研究

已有的服务补救研究认为服务补救应该和服务失败匹配,没有深入探讨顾客心理差异对补救效果的影响。本文提出服务补救应和顾客特征相匹配,从"自我调整导向"角度区分顾客的心理特征,研究顾客的个体差异对服务补救效果的影响。服务补救方式被区分为"多获利"型和"少损失"型两类;顾客的自我调整导向有"趋利"和"避害"之分。本文选取餐馆行业,采用实验方法考察顾客的自我调整导向与补救努力的交互作用对顾客感知的补救绩效和补救满意的影响。通过多因素协方差分析研究发现,当补救努力与顾客的自我调整导向一致时,顾客的感知补救绩效更高,对补救更加满意;对于"趋利"导向的顾客,"多获利"型补救方式效果更好;对于"避害"导向的顾客,"少损失"型补救方式更加有效。     

Service Personnel,Technology, and Their Interaction in Influencing Customer Satisfaction*

Managing both the technologies and the personnel needed for providing high‐quality, multichannel customer support creates a complex and persistent operational challenge. Adding to this difficulty, it is still unclear how service personnel and these new communication technologies interact to influence the customer's perceptions of the service being provided. Motivated by both practical importance and inconsistent findings in the academic literature, this exploratory research examines the interaction of media richness, represented by three different technology contexts (telephone, e‐mail, and online chat), with six customer service representative (CSR) characteristics and their influences on customer satisfaction. Using a large‐sample customer survey data set, the article develops a multigroup structural equation model to analyze these interactions. Results suggest that CSR characteristics influence customer service satisfaction similarly across all three technology‐mediated contexts. Of the characteristics studied, service representatives contribute to customer satisfaction more when they exhibit the characteristics of thoroughness, knowledgeableness, and preparedness, regardless of the richness of the medium used. Surprisingly, while three other CSR characteristics studied (courtesy, professionalism, and attentiveness) are traditionally believed to be important in face‐to‐face encounters, they had no significant impact on customer satisfaction in the technology‐mediated contexts studied. Implications for both practitioners and researchers are drawn from the results and future research opportunities are discussed.     

A MARKET UTILITY‐BASED MODEL FOR CAPACITY SCHEDULING IN MASS SERVICES

Only a small set of employee scheduling articles have considered an objective of profit or contribution maximization, as opposed to the traditional objective of cost (including opportunity costs) minimization. In this article, we present one such formulation that is a market utility‐based model for planning and scheduling in mass services (MUMS). MUMS is a holistic approach to market‐based service capacity scheduling. The MUMS framework provides the structure for modeling the consequences of aligning competitive priorities and service attributes with an element of the firm's service infrastructure. We developed a new linear programming formulation for the shift‐scheduling problem that uses market share information generated by customer preferences for service attributes. The shift‐scheduling formulation within the framework of MUMS provides a business‐level model that predicts the economic impact of the employee schedule. We illustrated the shift‐scheduling model with empirical data, and then compared its results with models using service standard and productivity standard approaches. The result of the empirical analysis provides further justification for the development of the market‐based approach. Last, we discuss implications of this methodology for future research.     

Encounter Satisfaction in E‐tailing: Are the Relationships of Order Fulfillment Service Quality with its Antecedents and Consequences Moderated by Historical Satisfaction?

This study focuses on whether historical satisfaction with an e‐tailer (HSat) moderates baseline relationships in order fulfillment service quality models. HSat is defined as satisfaction with the e‐tailer spanning all transactions except the current encounter. Encounter satisfaction (ESat) is defined as the consumer's satisfaction with the current transaction. In the baseline model, four order fulfillment service quality (OFSQ) dimensions managerially relevant to consumer e‐tailing are examined: timeliness, availability, condition, and billing accuracy. The baseline structural model results support that OFSQ dimensions impact ESat, which in turn predicts two key consequences—repurchase intention and word‐of‐mouth. Adaptation theory is used to model the role of HSat, while controlling for transaction recency, vendor familiarity, and competitive pricing. HSat is shown to have pervasive main and interaction effects upon all baseline model relationships. These moderation effects have great managerial relevance. For example, the results illustrate a phenomenon similar to the service recovery paradox, wherein when a negative service encounter is followed by a highly positive service recovery event, previously dissatisfied consumers, as compared to previously satisfied consumers, respond with higher levels of current satisfaction. For managers, this finding is encouraging because policies that create highly positive events for consumers can thus supersede past negative experiences. Our results show however that HSat cannot be completely superseded by current OFSQ or current ESat.     

Experience,Service Operations Strategy,and Services as Destinations: Foundations and Exploratory Investigation

This paper explores the customer experience paradigm as it pertains to service operations strategy and design. First, we operationally define and discuss the concept of customer experience. In this context, we propose a reframing of the strategic role of operations strategy as one of choreographing experience‐centric services. We then introduce the concept of services as destinations as an emerging business model for classifying experiential service strategies. Our conceptual typology of experience‐based strategies uses two dimensions: (1) the depth of use of experience as a source of value creation, ranging from brand experience to the services as a destinations business model, and (2) the degree of integration of experience internally within the firm. Using this conceptual typology, we develop five propositions and use multiple cases to illustrate firms' use of these experience strategies. Laying the groundwork for future research, we highlight insights from the qualitative, multiple‐case data as they pertain to service operations strategy and the business model that employs services as destinations. A number of questions for further research are suggested.     

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT: AN EXAMINATION OF SERVICE STRATEGY IN A HIGH‐CONTACT SERVICE ENVIRONMENT

A critical component of service strategy in high‐contact environments is service encounter management. Effective service encounters are a result of the quality of employee development, including systems for work and job design, training and development, and attention to employee well being. Results of empirical analysis indicate that service strategies reflecting the dimensions of employee development drive employee outcomes such as productivity and satisfaction. Employee outcomes are significantly associated with customer satisfaction, but only some linkages to financial performance are significant. This study illustrates the importance of employee development in service strategy design for managing service encounters in high contact service environments.     

创始团队关键人力资本、战略地位优势与创业绩效

鉴于创始团队关键人力资本对新创企业发展的重要性及已有研究的不足,在界定相关概念及其结构维度的基础上,遵循资源/能力-地位-绩效理论逻辑,构建基于能力视角的创始团队关键人力资本对新创服务企业战略地位优势和绩效影响的概念模型。以环渤海、长三角、珠三角和海西地区的新创高技术服务企业创始团队成员为调研对象,基于182份有效问卷,运用SPSS 19.0和AMOS 17.0软件及多元层级回归方法分析数据。研究结果表明,创始团队关键人力资本的3个维度均显著提升新创高技术服务企业绩效,但作用机理不同,绩效效应存在差异,服务扩展优势部分中介适应性营销能力和市场链接能力与绩效的关系,服务扩展优势和服务差异化优势同时完全中介新服务开发能力与绩效关系;适应性营销能力和市场链接能力直接和通过服务扩展优势间接产生的综合绩效效应均显著高于新服务开发能力通过服务扩展优势和服务差异化优势间接产生的综合绩效效应;服务扩展优势在服务差异化优势转化为企业绩效的过程中发挥部分中介作用。新创高技术服务企业应合理配置和整合创始团队成员多样化能力,促进关键人力资本与战略地位优势的协同匹配。     

分布式领导、组织支持感与新生代员工主动性-被动性创新行为:基于上下级关系和价值观匹配的交互调节效应

新生代员工正逐渐成为企业的主力军,其创新意识和行为直接影响着企业发展的前景与未来。本文基于中国文化和组织情境,从员工个体创新动机视角将新生代员工创新行为归为主动和被动,以306名新生代员工为研究对象,验证了分布式领导对新生代员工不同性质创新行为的作用机制。研究结果表明:分布式领导与新生代员工主动性创新行为呈正相关关系,与其被动性创新行为呈负相关关系;组织支持感在分布式领导与新生代员工主动性-被动性创新行为之间具有中介作用;上下级关系和价值观匹配正向调节分布式领导与新生代员工组织支持感之间的关系,并进一步检验了有调节的中介效应。此外,上下级关系和价值观匹配的交互项调节了分布式领导与新生代员工组织支持感之间的关系。本文研究为企业如何指导新生代员工进行有效的创新实践提供了经验证据。     

The Dynamics of Pre‐ and Post‐purchase Service and Consumer Evaluation of Online Retailers: A Comparative Analysis of Dissonance and Disconfirmation Models*

This article explores the theoretical underpinnings of the dissonance framework in online consumer satisfaction formation process. Specifically, we suggest that any discrepancy between pre‐ and post‐purchase service performance would help determine consumers’ evaluations of online vendors. Drawing upon cognitive dissonance theory, a conceptual model is developed and tested in two different studies (preliminary and main studies). Using data from 191 college students collected longitudinally, the preliminary study demonstrates the validity and reliability of the measurements. Using a comparative analysis, the main study then tests our conceptual model as well as various competing models, including the expectation–confirmation model, with a sample of 292 online consumers. The results in both studies support our main prediction that the service encountered in different stages establishes dissonance. Specifically, we find that dissonance explains online consumers’ satisfaction process to a substantial extent, as compared with disconfirmation under the same conditions in online retailers. This study contributes to providing an alternative yet substantial approach for expectation–confirmation theory, reflecting the overarching nature of online shopping.     

顾客关系、信任与顾客对服务失败的反应

优异的服务质量是建立长期顾客关系的重要手段。本文通过实际调查,分析了服务质量的两个维度--结果质量和过程质量对顾客满意度和重购意愿的影响,并探讨了顾客关系和信任感在服务评价和顾客反应方面的作用。研究发现,服务过程和服务结果间存在交互作用,顾客关系对服务质量的影响发挥着调节功能,信任感经由服务结果而影响顾客的反应。     

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.