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Abstract Airlines constantly seek to attenuate the negative impacts of operational service failures, namely arrival delays, mishandled baggage, and involuntary denied boarding, on customer satisfaction. Our study examines the roles [...]

Abstract. Many customer service organizations (CSOs) reflect a tiered, or multilevel, organizational structure, which we argue imposes hassle costs for dissatisfied customers seeking high levels of redress. The tiered structure [...]

Firms struggle to manage touchpoints in their customer journey that consumers perceive as dissatisfying. Based on attribution theory and associative learning we examine branded outsourcing as a strategic means to reduce such touchpoints' negative impact on brand evaluations. We find in the field and in a series of experimental studies that brands can reduce the detrimental impact of dissatisfying touchpoints. This effect is reversed for satisfying touchpoints. Importantly, we find that the explanation for the effect of branded outsourcing goes beyond consumers' responsibility attributions. Rather, we find evidence that branded outsourcing reduces the extent to which consumers mentally associate the focal brand with the outsourced touchpoint, which results in a shift in brand evaluations. In an additional study we show that a strong third-party brand is not always more beneficial than a weak third-party brand, which further enhances the managerial relevance of our findings., Author(s): Anne-Madeleine Kranzbühler [sup.1] , Mirella H. P. Kleijnen [sup.2] , Peeter W. J. Verlegh [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000000084992262, grid.7177.6, University of Amsterdam, , Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018, Amsterdam, [...]

A study was conducted to show that formats used by retailers to organize assortments into subcategories can improve consumers' learning and satisfaction. It is believed that unexpected subcategory formats provide a newness cue for more knowledgeable consumers. Findings indicate that subcategory formats can be tailored to consumers' prior knowledge levels.

Many services are delivered to a (large) number of customers simultaneously within a confined zone (e.g., restaurants, resorts, trains, and airplanes). Under unexpected high demand, customers experience discomfort from two [...]

There are many business opportunities for international architectural, engineering, and construction firms to work in Southeast Asia (SEA) due to its high volume of construction demand and its growing economy. Before entering the region, these industry practitioners need to decide on the appropriate market entry modes and business strategies. The objectives of this research are to investigate the effective market entry modes and business management strategies that industry practitioners can adopt for SEA projects. The research method is based on a structured questionnaire. The study found that the most effective market entry modes are: setting up wholly owned foreign subsidiaries and forming project joint ventures with local firms. The most effective business strategies are: providing a superior product or service and paying great attention to client satisfaction. It is recommended that industry practitioners place emphasis on customer satisfaction by considering all aspects of the client's requirements and the proposed project's usage throughout its intended life cycle, to differentiate itself from its competitors. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE) 1052-3928(2008) 134:3 (248) CE Database subject headings: Asia; Construction management; International factors; Business management; Foreign projects.

Selecting the right parties to interact with is a fundamental problem in open and dynamic environments. The problem is amplified when the number of interacting parties is high, and the parties' reasons for selecting others vary. We examine the problem of service selection in an e-commerce setting where consumer agents cooperate to identify service providers that would satisfy their service needs the most. Previous approaches to service selection are usually based on capturing and exchanging the ratings of consumers to providers. Rating-based approaches have two major weaknesses. 1) ratings are given in a particular context. Even though the context is crucial for interpreting the ratings correctly, the rating-based approaches do not provide the means to represent the context explicitly. 2) The satisfaction criteria of the rater is unknown. Without knowing the expectation of the rater, it is almost impossible to make sense of a rating. We deal with these two weaknesses in two steps. First, we extend a classical rating-based approach by adding a representation of context. This addition improves the accuracy of selected service providers only when two consumers with the same service request are assumed to be satisfied with the same service. Next, we replace ratings with detailed experiences of consumers. The experiences are represented with an ontology that can capture the requested service and the received service in detail. When a service consumer decides to share her experiences with a second service consumer, the receiving consumer evaluates the experience by using her own context and satisfaction criteria. By sharing experiences rather than ratings, the service consumers can model service providers more accurately and, thus, can select service providers that are better suited for their needs. Index Terms--Multiagent systems, ontology design, electronic commerce.

The relation between ergonomic principles and quality management initiatives, both, in the private and public sector, has received increasing attention in the recent years. Customer orientation among employees is not only an important quality principle, but also an essential prerequisite for customer satisfaction, especially in service organizations. In this context, the objective of introducing new public management (NPM) in public-service organizations is to increase customer orientation among employees who are at the forefront of service providing. In this study, we developed a short scale to measure perceived customer orientation. In two separate longitudinal studies carried out in Austria and the US, we analyzed changes in customer orientation resulting from the introduction of NPM. In both organizations, we observed a significant increase in customer orientation. Perceived customer orientation was related to job characteristics, organizational characteristics and employee quality of working life. Creating positive influences on these characteristics within the framework of an organizational change process has positive effects on employee customer orientation. Keywords: Macroergonomics; TQM; New public management

A model for attaining profits while increasing productivity and satisfying clients, using fuzzy logic, is presented.

The process of delivering and achieving total customer experience by implementing advanced customer loyalty programs is discussed.

Decision making methods based on statistical analysis, which examine customer satisfaction of supplier contracts, are proposed.

Guidelines are offered for striking a balance between product innovation, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Gauging business complexity involves number of offerings, sales volume, modularity, manufacturing, services, and retail.

Guidelines for fostering creativity in the corporate environment include providing mental challenges and minimizing obstacles; discussion also shows how these relate to customer satisfaction. The North Carolina-based software company SAS Institute Inc. is used to illustrate these points.

Brand loyalty in consumers and the factors which build such trust-based commitments and satisfaction in them are studied by using a multi-dimensional relationship model.

Lean consumption focuses on addressing consumer needs promptly and accurately, with a specific emphasis on not wasting the customer's time. Components that make lean consumption possible, such as advances in information technology and logistics, are discussed.

The concepts such as rights, contracts, and client satisfaction for welfare rec ipients of workless are examined. The administrative failure in implementing basic income guarantee in United States is observed.

The challenges faced by traditional sales organization in delivering superior customer value and integrating sales and other sections of organization are studied. The importance of organizational transformation towards strategic customer management is emphasized.

A study dealing with the evaluation of an Engineering Department based on the principles of multicriteria analysis and preference disaggregation modelling is presented. The determination of the critical points that affect student's satisfaction from their training and graduate's acceptance from the labour market constitute the results of the evaluation.

The process of delivering services to a firm's customers through independent service representatives is examined. A model to determine if a firm can indirectly impact customer satisfaction by providing support to independent service representative is analyzed.

The affect of process reduction on customer dissatisfaction in the context of the United States domestic airline industry is investigated. The results show that the relationship between process variation and customer dissatisfaction is contingent upon a company's average performance with regard to each process.

The relationship between market orientation and business performance between 1990 and 2002 is examined with the help of 51 studies. Further results reveals that there is no unequivocal evidence as to if and when market orientation has a positive impact on business performance but there is some unequivocal proof on how market orientation influences business performance.

Managing IT as a portfolio of services helps in achieving necessary focus to deliver business value from IT investments. The critical role that employees at all levels play in the delivery of services in and around the processing, provisioning and stewardship of information is highlighted.

Harrah's Entertainment has developed a devoted clientele by offering compelling customer incentives, resulting in earnings of $4 billion, and $235 million in net income.

Being responsive to customers requires businesses to be fast and right. If the business is right, the customer gets what he/she needs. Value depends on how fast the response is delivered. Topics include an explanation and examples of customer responsiveness and the four key elements of customer responsiveness, and how organizations transform.

Construction has typically been viewed as a production process, with the product being the completed facility. In addition to providing this product, contractors also provide service. Construction is examined in terms of the service product, service delivery, and service environment. The concept of service encounters is examined in the context of perceived quality and customer satisfaction. Determinants of service quality are analyzed in terms of how they influence perceived quality. The relationship between the criteria used by customers in choosing suppliers and the factors driving satisfaction are examined, and results of two studies of factors involved in contractor selection and satisfaction are reviewed. These factors are the contractor-customer relationship, the contractor's project management skills, the contractor's safety performance, whether the contractor has a prepared/skilled workforce, and the cost of the work. CE Database keywords: Construction; Client relationships; Construction management; Contractors; Cost control.

Issues concerning the concepts of agility, consumer response and quick response in marketing are discussed. Particular attention is given to theoretical differences between the concepts and to a brief review of literature explaining the concepts.

This article examines the customer relations strategy using a personal banker as a model. The authors conclude that it is far worse to have a poor strategy which gives negative effects and that more stands to be lost.