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This article builds on the existing literature in management and marketing, and presents a conceptual framework for viewing organizational technology in service encounters. In particular, the customer's involvement in assembling and combining appropriate technological resources is examined. Three factors that govern the process of assembling technological resources are identified. In addition, the process of combining interactive and noninteractive technologies is examined. Managerial implications and directions for future research are proposed., A service encounter may be described as the direct or indirect interaction between a service provider (i.e., a firm) and its customer. As a topic of research, service encounters have [...]

Introduction Customer orientation has become a familiar slogan with pride of place in the strategy statements of many organizations - both in the public and private sector contexts. In the [...]

The Dept. of Commerce has incorporated reinvention efforts in its operations such as customer service and business process reengineering focusing mainly on improving management. The Commerce administrative management system will provide public managers comprehensive financial data. The Commerce management accountability project stresses on accountability for results using the private sector as its model., For organizations that are operational in nature, the Commerce initiative is the beginning of a businesslike approach to providing essential services in government. Introduction As the series editor, I have [...]

UnionTools Inc. used the quick response approach to improve its relationship with customers, enhance its marketing focus and increase its share of the market. Retailers and manufacturers such as UnionTools are formulating new operational strategies to provide customers with value and firmly establish their control of the market. Quick response also increases retailer competition and motivates manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to cooperate to improve customer service and lower overall inventories. UnionTools' efforts to use the quick response method are described., Last spring, my friend Hal needed to buy a tamper to help him pack down the dirt around the posts of the new fence he had installed in his backyard. [...]

Business enterprises planning to improve profitability or market share should provide flexible service offerings instead of merely adding or giving away services. Managers lack an understanding of whether a service should be standard or optional. As such, they neglect the costs involved, which leads to less profits. Companies should analyze their entire line of services, assess their value and determine the costs. Standard services and optional services should be reevaluated, and new services should be added. Finally, sales personnel should sell value services.

The scheduling of the orders of normal and vital priority customers in a job shop is studied. Results show that when due dates are tight, servicing the orders of vital customers causes deterioration of service to normal priority customers. In cases of limited resources and capacity, managers must decide which orders to give up. The Forced Pace and Preempt were also found to be the most efficient dispatching rules.

Business process reengineering (BPR) is slowly garnering momentum in the public sector. This management strategy is in line with total quality management and aims to organize around outcomes. Although federal agencies may find BPR expensive, focusing on processes rather than functions and departments seems more practical and effective, given the prevailing challenges in customer service., The proof of reengineering is not in changing the way things work, it is in making change work. At the Mark Twain National Forest, customers used to wait 30 days [...]

A review of the historical eras in business management is presented to determine the potential of using logistics principles in service organizations. A look at the historical underpinnings of service logistics helped to determine that service logistics' mission is to make service more responsive to individual customer needs while minimizing wasted capacity. Four service era concepts which are crucial to service logistics and areas for future research in service logistics are presented.

Two approaches to customer service in physical distribution are discussed. These are the traditional physical distribution orientation approach and the more recent marketing approach. Each approach differs from the other in terms of the scope of activities it includes and thus, its relationship to the marketing mix; the types of measures used which affects modelling efforts; and the levels of generalizability across companies and industries. A deep understanding of these customer service approaches helps as a foundation for the formulation of creative management tactics for customer service.

Managers of successful service organizations concentrate most of their attention on customers and frontline workers. They understand that customer loyalty is primarily responsible for growth and profit, that this loyalty comes about because of customer satisfaction, that satisfaction is earned by the value of services, that this value is created by satisfied employees and that satisfied employees are influenced by quality support services. A 25-question service-profit chain audit is presented to suggest steps that may be taken for long-term profitability.

Substantial changes have been recorded in the global advertising industry even as a much rapid stage of development has been observed for these industries in the advanced developing countries. A study of Turkey's advertising sector revealed the importance of a personal relationship between the advertising agency and its client. Morever, the research revealed that clients evaluate the performance of their advertising agencies in a different manner, depending on the length of their relationship as well as the structural makeup of the companies.

A creative new partnership between customers and suppliers has evolved at Bose Corporation. The key to this new relationship is an in-plant representative who takes on the roles of buyer, [...]

Recommendations on handling consumer complaints are presented. Complaints are inevitable in businesses because of continuous market development, increase in competitive products, and greater consumer expectations. It is imperative for businesses to handle compliants well since the process may be used in strategic planning decisions, reduce likelihood of lawsuits, increase consumer loyalty and offer savings from warranty and servicing bills. Complaints can be handled effectively by designating competent people to formulate policies and handle the complaints themselves. Standards on response times, methods, reimbursements and follow-ups must be set up. This can be done more efficiently by computerized aggregate complaint data analysis that can be accessed by the different departments of the organization.

In 1988, Don Clausing and I wrote an article on the 'House of Quality,' a product development technique that had long been used in Japan and that was gaining popularity [...]

An analysis of managing quality in business-to-business services is presented. Supplier-client relationships present varying degrees of quality in terms of such services and requirements. It is shown that quality and satisfaction can be classified as 'hard,' 'soft' and 'outcome' quality in terms of relationship marketing and services. Since clients will have different requirements, it is necessary to meet them to better determine their needs.

Some companies, such as Dell Computer, Home Depot and Nike, have become more successful than their competitors by following three strategies. These firms have re-defined value for their customers, developed business systems to deliver that value and raised their customers' expectations. Companies can become market leaders by selling value. Firms that use the strategy of customer intimacy tailor their products to a specific market.