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The core research objective in this thesis is to address the ways in which Customer Experience (CX) emerges through the combinational effects of multiple customer interactions at touchpoints and their resulting CX responses. The empirical study designed in this work is positioned to build upon existing literature within the Service Management field. According to extant work, CX can be viewed from both the provider's perspective (e.g. 'intended' or designed), and the customer's perspective (e.g. 'realised' or subjective). The thesis integrates both accounts through the presentation of a new conceptual model which forms the basis for the design of the empirical study. Several limitations are addressed in this work. First, building on the notion that CX emerges across multiple touchpoint interactions (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016) the study explores the impact multiple interaction types, and their associated responses, have on overall CX. Extant studies have tended to view CX at single touchpoint interactions (Becker and Jaakkola, 2020). CX emerges across multiple touchpoint interactions, which each induce responses in the customer. As it stands, little is known about how this process occurs, or the relationships which exist between customer interaction, customer response, and overall CX. Second, the study widens the field and its understanding of the servicescape from an 'unbounded' perspective (Rosenbaum and Massiah, 2011). Traditionally, studies have explored CX through the impact of provider-owned touchpoints, predominantly within bounded service sites. The study addresses requests to explore the impact of wider, non-provider-controlled touchpoints on overall CX (Kandampully et al., 2018). Relating to this aim, very little existing work deals with the impact of natural servicescape touchpoints on CX. The case studies in this work have been chosen for their suitability to address this gap. The study employs a comparative case study approach from the cultural heritage sector. Text mining (TM) and text analytics (TA) techniques are employed to capture and assess CX elements found within customer feedback data from an online review depository. Contrary to existing work in this field, the study employs a three-step annotation process to concept classification which can ensure rigour in the results. The purpose of the analysis process is to capture patterns of CX responses and customer interactions within the data and assess their relationship to overall CX ratings. Both quantitative measures (e.g. statistical analysis) and qualitative measures (e.g. verbatim text analysis) are used to explore a number of key questions relating to the core research objective. The empirical study performed in this work results in several key findings. The study finds that CX arises as a combination of customer interactions and CX responses, with each pattern impacting the overall experience in different ways. Results suggest that pattern prevalence and prominence are not core drivers of customer rating, but rather that significance measures need to be employed. From a customer perspective, negative CX responses have a stronger effect on overall CX rating than positive responses. These can be induced through touchpoint interactions beyond the control of the provider. The emotional content of the experience is key, with customer surprise, anger, and sadness significantly impacting CX to a greater degree than other discrete emotions. The findings suggest that customer expectations play an important role in the delivery of CX. Customer expectations can be used to make sense of the differences in terms of patterns and the statistical significance of their relationship to CX rating. Several potential avenues for future work to further develop these themes are put forward in the final stages of the thesis.

This thesis examines the operational delivery systems of information-centric Mass Claims Processes. Empirical data is presented which builds upon existing literature within the Operations Management discipline. This thesis aims to extend the area of knowledge which focuses on the rendering of assistance to very large groups of individuals disadvantaged through particular events such as armed conflict, civil unrest, acts of government and other similarly sweeping actions. One such approach of aid delivery is through a legal process known as a Mass Claims Process which delivers assistance. This research examines how this assistance is rendered to the individual, the ‘claimant’, through a legally guided and controlled analysis of claimant-provided information. Such organisations are typically either publicly funded or funded through social schemes, which introduces significant pressure for efficiency. Similarly, the legal nature of MCPs emphasises the need for accuracy in the delivery of justice and law. The research addresses a number of areas not fully explored by the extant literature. There is a lack of research which explores the apparent trade-off between efficiency and accuracy in large scale legal services. Little empirical evidence exists on the application of Postponement strategies in information-centric operations. This research also investigates a previously unexplored context in which strategic frameworks must find optimal alignment between the service concept and the design of the delivery system in a restricted and challenging environment. Fieldwork was carried out over a three year period in two separate organisations, and utilised a polar case approach to increase the validity of the findings. The phenomenon of information interrelation, previously unidentified in the literature, is shown to have significant impact in this context. Several models are presented to describe the dynamic relationships between the characteristics and the strategic choices of the MCP. The results produce a set of findings illustrating optimal design choices for the key delivery system characteristics associated with MCPs. The financial impact of such organisations reaches into the billions (USD), and will continue to be a significant economic consideration for the foreseeable future. As such, research in this area has the ability to increase the efficient use of organisational resources for the organisations, while improving the service for the applicants. Whilst this thesis contributes to the body of knowledge for delivery system design, further research is welcomed, especially on the phenomenon of information interrelation, for the growing area of information-centric organisations.

Customer experience is one strategic option for organisations wishing to differentiate their service offering. Little research however has been conducted to explain how service design and management practices influence customer experience in non-hedonic contexts, settings in which the objectives for the design of the delivery system are not experiential. The objective of this research is to address this gap in academic knowledge. The conceptual framework used as the basis of the empirical research demonstrates how four experience mechanism constructs, incorporated into the design of the delivery system, facilitate the customer’s involvement in the delivery of the service and influence how they perceive the experience that emerges as a result. To explore the relevance of the framework two case studies were conducted. Data was collected principally through interviews with employees working at various levels throughout the organisations hierarchy and with customers. Observations and secondary source material also provided additional evidence. The thesis provides an original and distinct contribution to knowledge, through three main findings: Firstly, the research found evidence that the conceptual framework was relevant to the design of the delivery system and in customers’ perception of their experience. This challenges assumptions in existing literature that experience might not be a relevant design consideration in non-hedonic service contexts. Secondly, the findings provide a point of distinction between experiences in hedonic and non-hedonic contexts. Finally the study extends experience design theory demonstrating how in the contexts studied, the experience mechanisms act as antecedents for the experience a customer perceives. Whilst conducting only two case studies limits the impact of the findings, the propositions formulated to explain the key themes identified, can be used as a vehicle through which future quantitative research can be carried out, therefore extending the generalisability of the study beyond the contexts studied.

The information service sector e.g. utilities, telecommunications and banking has grown rapidly in recent years and is a significant contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the world’s leading economies. Though, the information service sector has grown significantly, there have been relatively few attempts by researchers to explore this sector. The lack of research in this sector has motivated my PhD research that aims to explore the pre-established relationships between dependability, quality and customer satisfaction (RQ1) within the context of information service sector. Literature looking at the interrelationship between the dependability and quality (RQ2a), and their further impact on customer satisfaction (RQ2b) is also limited. With the understanding that Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Customer (B2C) businesses are different, exploring these relationships in these two different types of information firms will further add to existing literature. This thesis also attempts to investigate the relative significance of dependability and quality in both B2B and B2C information service firms (RQ3a and RQ3b). To address these issues, this PhD research follows a theory testing approach and uses multiple case studies to address the research questions. In total five cases from different B2B and B2C information service firms are being investigated. To explore the causality, the time series data set of over 24 to 60 months time and the ‘Path Analysis’ method has been used. For the generalization of the findings, Cumulative Meta Analysis method has been applied. The findings of this thesis indicate that dependability significantly affects customer satisfaction and an interrelationship exists between dependability and quality that further impacts customer satisfaction. The findings from B2C cases challenges the traditional priority afforded to relational aspect of quality by showing that dependability is the key driver of customer satisfaction. However, B2B cases findings shows that both dependability and quality are key drivers of customer satisfaction. Therefore, the findings of this thesis add considerably to literature in B2B and B2C information services context.

The objective of this thesis is to explore the design of operational processes in information-intensive service delivery systems. Empirical data is presented which builds upon existing literature within the Business Process Management (BPM) and Service Operations Management (SOM) disciplines. Adopting a theory building mode, the thesis concludes with the formulation of several research propositions which specify the design characteristics of the processes that provide the service concept to the customer. The research addresses a number of gaps in the literature. First, there is little empirical evidence concerning the relationship between the service concept, customer inputs, and process design. Second, service classification schemes promote homogeneous thinking in the design of service systems delivering diverse service concepts. Third, the BPM literature provides generic process design principles which offer limited theoretical insights into the design requirements of operational processes. Finally, there is a need for process design research in information-intensive service organisations. A research framework that integrates theoretical models addressing service process design is investigated using a single case study approach. Fieldwork was carried out over a sixteen-month period in a large electricity supplier in the UK. In contrast to the macro-orientation found within the literature, this study employs a more granular level of analysis to address the unique requirements of ‘service concept – processes’ pairs. This approach results in a number of important findings which, in several instances, are in contradiction to current thinking. First, the results empirically validate the theoretical relationship between service concept, customer inputs, and process design. Different service concepts lead to different process designs, and the more customised the service concept, the more the process is uniquely designed. Significant differences in the design of the individual processes that collectively provide the service concept to the customer are highlighted. The results also provide some new insights into the design of front office – back office activities as well as into the design characteristics of processes characterised by low customer contact. In addition, the study refutes the view that generic process design principles are universally applicable irrespective of the context in which the processes operate. Finally, the research findings show that a process-based view of service systems allows for heterogeneity; that is differences in the design of service delivery processes within the same organisation.