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.     

基于公平理论探讨服务补救质量影响的实证研究——来自中国电信服务行业的证据

企业与客户交易时并不会一帆风顺,当客户面对交易过程中出现的故障时,不同服务补救措施会如何对客户感知、满意度和信任度产生影响?本文区别于以往实验或准实验法为主的定性或定量研究,引入组织行为学的公平理论,采取真实客户服务数据,基于不同客户类型深入探讨服务补救质量对客户满意、客户信任和客户忠诚的影响.实证研究发现,服务补救质量对感知价值、满意和信任均会产生正向作用;大客户对服务补救过程中的"互动公平"最为重视,公众客户更为强调"结果公平"的影响.这就告诉服务型企业应如何采取补救措施,大客户看重过程,一般客户更看重结果.本文从理论和实践两方面为服务补救领域的研究提供了有力证据.     

Linking Perceived Quality and Customer Satisfaction to Store Traffic and Revenue Growth*

Effects of perceived merchandise and service quality, relative to competition, on retail store performance are investigated using store traffic and revenue growth as outcome variables. A model is proposed and tested using aggregate customer data and store performance outcomes from a group of stores owned by a national retail organization. Results suggest that both service and merchandise quality exert significant influence on store performance, measured by sales growth and customer growth, and their impact is mediated by customer satisfaction. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.     

服务质量、消费价值、旅客满意感与行为意向

作者对广东省三个旅行社进行了一次实证研究,探讨服务质量、消费价值和旅客满意程度对旅客行为意向的影响。统计分析结果表明,这三个因素都对旅客的行为意向有直接的影响。服务质量、消费价值、旅客满意程度和旅客的行为意向既是四个不同的概念,又是旅游服务消费经历的子概念。     

企业内部服务质量、关系质量对内部顾客忠诚的影响机制:基于内部营销视角的实证研究

本文基于内部营销视角,揭示内部服务质量的各个组成因素之间的关系以及内部服务质量对关系质量的影响,进而探索内部服务质量、关系质量对内部顾客忠诚的影响机制。通过对某电信企业内部238份员工样本的采集分析,提出并验证内部服务质量(含实体环境质量、交互质量和结果质量)、关系质量(含内部顾客信任、满意)对内部顾客忠诚的影响机制整合模型。研究发现,内部服务质量的三个维度之间确实存在层级叠加作用,而服务质量则会通过信任这一中介变量影响内部顾客的满意、承诺。内部关系质量的三因素中,内部顾客的承诺水平对内部顾客的忠诚度有直接正向影响,提高对内部顾客的承诺水平是提高内部顾客忠诚度的关键。     

A Design Theory Approach to Building Strategic Network‐Based Customer Service Systems*

Customer service is a key component of a firm's value proposition and a fundamental driver of differentiation and competitive advantage in nearly every industry. Moreover, the relentless coevolution of service opportunities with novel and more powerful information technologies has made this area exciting for academic researchers who can contribute to shaping the design and management of future customer service systems. We engage in interdisciplinary research—across information systems, marketing, and computer science—in order to contribute to the service design and service management literature. Grounded in the design‐science perspective, our study leverages marketing theory on the service‐dominant logic and recent findings pertaining to the evolution of customer service systems. Our theorizing culminates with the articulation of four design principles. These design principles underlie the emerging class of customer service systems that, we believe, will enable firms to better compete in an environment characterized by an increase in customer centricity and in customers' ability to self‐serve and dynamically assemble the components of solutions that fit their needs. In this environment, customers retain control over their transactional data, as well as the timing and mode of their interactions with firms, as they increasingly gravitate toward integrated complete customer solutions rather than single products or services. Guided by these design principles, we iterated through, and evaluated, two instantiations of the class of systems we propose, before outlining implications and directions for further cross‐disciplinary scholarly research.     

Adaptive versus Proactive Behavior in Service Recovery: The Role of Self‐Managing Teams

In this article, we develop a conceptual model of adaptive versus proactive recovery behavior by self‐managing teams (SMTs) in service recovery operations. To empirically test the conceptual model a combination of bank employee, customer, and archival data is collected. The results demonstrate support for independent group‐level effects of intrateam support on adaptive and proactive recovery behavior, indicating that perceptual consensus within service teams has incremental value in explaining service recovery performance. In addition, we provide evidence that adaptive and proactive recovery behavior have differential effects on external performance measures. More specifically, higher levels of adaptive performance positively influence customer‐based parameters (i.e., service recovery satisfaction and loyalty intentions), while employee proactive recovery behavior contributes to higher share of customer rates.     

Are Self‐Service Customers Satisfied or Stuck?

This paper investigates the impact of self‐service technology (SST) usage on customer satisfaction and retention. Specifically, we disentangle the distinct effects of satisfaction and switching costs as drivers of retention among self‐service customers. Our empirical analysis examines 26,924 multi‐channel customers of a nationwide retail bank. We track each customer's channel usage, overall satisfaction, and retention over a 1‐year period. We find that, relative to face‐to‐face service, customers who use self‐service channels for a greater proportion of their transactions are either no more satisfied, or less satisfied with the service they receive, depending on the channel. However, we also find that these same customers are predictably less likely to defect to a competitor if they are heavily reliant on self‐service channels characterized by high switching costs. Through a mediation model, we demonstrate that, when self‐service usage promotes retention, it does so in a way that is consistent with switching costs. As a robustness check, we examine the behavior of channel enthusiasts, who concentrate transactions among specific channels. Relative to more diversified customers, we find that self‐service enthusiasts in low switching cost channels defect with greater frequency, while self‐service enthusiasts in high switching cost channels are retained with greater frequency.     

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。     

An Information‐Processing Approach for Evaluating In‐Store Retail Operational Design Strategies

We develop a model to evaluate retail store operational design strategies using an information‐processing perspective of organizational design. We propose that three model constructs pertaining to in‐store shopper task uncertainty—the product mix complexity, the service production complexity, and the product mix changeover—create shopper encounter information requirements (IR). These requirements can be met using specific retail service operational design choices for managing shopper encounters, namely, designing layouts for self‐service (SS) and providing employees with task empowerment (TE). The model is then operationalized using a two‐stage approach to develop new multi‐item, measurement scales. The psychometric properties and predictive validity of the scales and model are then confirmed by using structural equation modeling with survey data from 175 merchandise retail store managers. We find that our model can be generically applied across the retail industry to understand how shopper encounter IR motivate retailer store design choices and can be used to determine whether to design stores for SS or to provide store employees with TE. We then evaluate the efficacy of the studied store design choices on customer delivery satisfaction, and offer some suggestions for future research.     

The Influence of Service Orientation on B2B e‐Service Capabilities: An Empirical Investigation

E‐Services, or the company's portfolio of service offerings available to its customers through the Internet, are an emerging area of interest to operations management. Yet little is known about the operations and capabilities needed for provision of business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐services. This paper aims to make a contribution toward closing this gap. First, we develop a new construct of B2B e‐service capability, a term that captures a generic set of five interrelated and complementary dimensions: (1) e‐service recovery, (2) e‐customization, (3) ease of navigation, (4) service portfolio comprehensiveness, and (5) information richness. These combined operational abilities are associated with B2B service delivery, including its portal design, technology architecture, and mix of product and service offerings. They are posited to be necessary for delivering effective B2B e‐services. We also argue that, both service orientation (SO) and customer receptivity to technology, influence B2B e‐service capability. We empirically test a path model using structural equation modeling on a sample of 181 businesses that have deployed B2B e‐services. We find that the influence of SO on performance is not direct but rather mediated by the e‐service capability, a finding that holds for both goods producers and service providers. We suggest that a firm's SO may mitigate industrial customers' resistance toward conducting business online.     

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.     

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。     

How Long Should a Customer Wait for Service?

A major concern for service managers is the determination of how long a customer should wait to be served. Services, due to the customer's direct interaction with the process, must face a trade-off between minimizing the cost of having a customer wait and the cost of providing good service. A total cost model is presented for determining how long a customer should wait when these two conflicting cost components are considered. An integral part of this model includes a measure of customer satisfaction with waiting time which is used to develop a waiting cost function. The model is then applied to a major fast food chain, using data collected at several locations. Analysis of the data reveals that the “ideal” waiting time for this firm is significantly less than the current corporate waiting time policy. Thus, as indicated by the model, a corporate policy change is recommended to provide much faster service. The adoption of such a policy would result in increased labor costs, and would simultaneously increase the firm's overall profits. Although appearing contradictory, increases in current labor costs and long-term profits are both possible when management takes the long-range perspective suggested in this paper.     

Media Effects on Group Collaboration: An Empirical Examination in an Ethical Decision‐Making Context

Even though it is widely acknowledged that collaboration underlies much of the decision‐making efforts in contemporary organizations, and that organizational groups are increasingly making decisions that have ethical implications, few studies have examined group ethical decision‐making processes and outcomes. In addition, while there is increasing evidence that groups often collaborate/communicate using different mediating technologies, few studies have examined the effect of the characteristics of the media in group ethical decision‐making contexts. Finally, there is a clear paucity of studies that have investigated group decision making pertaining to information technology (IT)‐related ethical dilemmas, an area of rising importance for information systems (IS) and decision science researchers. This article seeks to address the gaps described above through an experimental study where groups collaborating either in a face‐to‐face context or in a computer‐mediated context (using NetMeeting or Wiki) were required to make a decision with respect to a scenario with an IT‐related ethical dilemma. Results indicate that media characteristics (e.g., anonymity, immediacy of feedback, parallelism) do not have an effect on whether groups make ethical (or unethical) decisions. However, several media characteristics were found to play a significant role on downstream variables, such as the quality of a follow‐up task (i.e., creation of a decision justification document), and overall process satisfaction of the group members.     

The Value to the Customer of RFID in Service Applications*

This article examines how customer value may be affected by deploying radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies within service environments. Business articles promote operational cost savings and improved inventory management as key benefits of deploying RFID. In response, service firms are using RFID to reengineer service transactions and customer touchpoints. Customers may view these RFID applications to offer both benefits and drawbacks. This article demonstrates that individuals will recognize far more value from RFID service applications than just cost savings and inventory availability. The article analyzes qualitative survey responses on the value gained from RFID to identify a broad list of value objectives—benefits and drawbacks—associated with RFID service applications. The article contributes to academic literature by providing salient value dimensions for return on investment models of service RFID applications and for future empirical analyses of means‐ends and value‐profit chain models. Managers can use the list of dimensions to develop rich business cases for evaluating the benefits and costs from enhancing service operations with RFID. The identified drawbacks also provide managers with a resource for understanding potential risks of RFID applications.     

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".     

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.     

服务转换成本对顾客忠诚的影响——满意度与替代者吸引力的调节效应

通过将顾客满意和替代者吸引力看作是调节转换成本与忠诚之间关系的变量,考察了当满意度和替代者吸引力都不同时,转换成本对忠诚的直接影响效果会发生哪些变化的问题。通过对来自于网络宽带服务业的数据进行分析,结果显示:转换成本只有在满意度和替代者吸引力同时较高或同时较低的情况下,才能直接明显地起到提升顾客忠诚、防止顾客流失的作用;在满意度较低而替代者吸引力较高的情况下,转换成本对于顾客忠诚的作用会失效;当满意度较高而替代者吸引力较低时,由于一定数量的唯利是图者的存在,其对于促销利益和转换损失同样敏感,只要替代者的促销利益还不足以弥补其转换损失,就仍会忠诚于现供应商。     

评价电信企业客户满意度动态变化的Malmquist指数

介绍了基于DEA模型的M alm qu ist指数,并在此基础上提出了一种评价电信企业客户满意度动态变化的M alm qu ist指数评价法。运用M alm qu ist指数从纯技术效率、技术变化和主因素生产率等方面,对A省移动通信公司的17个分公司客户满意度的动态变化进行了有效性评价,并指出该公司今后应该通过技术创新和提高技术效率来改善客户满意度。