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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, [...]

The Capacitated Multi-facility Weber Problem (CMWP) is concerned with locating I capacitated facilities so as to satisfy the demand of J customers with the minimum total transportation cost of a single commodity. This is a non-convex optimization problem and is difficult to solve. This work focuses on a multi-commodity extension and considers the situation where K distinct commodities are shipped to the customers subject to capacity and demand constraints. Customer locations, demands, and capacities for each commodity are known a priori. The transportation costs, which are proportional to the distance between customers and facilities, depend on the commodity type. A mathematical programming formulation of the problem is presented and two alternate location-allocation heuristics and a discrete approximation method are proposed and subsequently used to statistically estimate confidence intervals on the optimal objective function values. Computational experiments on standard and randomly generated test instances are also presented. Keywords: Location-allocation, multi-commodity transportation, heuristics, confidence intervals, 1. Introduction Given the locations of J customers and their demands, the Multi-facility Weber Problem (MWP) is concerned with locating I uncapacitated facilities and allocating them to the customers in [...]

Product take-back and reuse is sometimes at odds with the rapidly evolving desires of some customers. For other customers, the environmental benefits of reuse more than compensate for minor drawbacks. 'Selling a service' (rather than a product) through leasing enables the manufacturer to control the timing and quality of product take-back but current methods assume a fixed leasing period. What is needed is a method for fine tuning the time span of customers' life cycles in order to provide each market segment the combination of features it most desires. This paper presents a new method for performing long range product planning so that the manufacturer can determine optimal take-back times, end-of-life design decisions, and number of lifecycles. The method first determines a Pareto optimal frontier over price, environmental impact and reliability using a genetic algorithm. Then, a multiattribute utility function is employed to maximize utility across different segments of the market and also across different lifecycles within each segment. Post-optimal studies help determine feasibility of component redesign in addition to parts consolidation. The proposed method is illustrated through an example involving personal computers. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4002142]

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.

Marketers now realize that simply satisfying customers may not be enough to insure loyalty. Rather, they should strive for customer delight, defined as a combination of joy and surprise. Yet, only in the last decade have customer delight and especially its proposed opposite, outrage or disgust, been given much attention in the literature. The review below examines the literature on delight and disgust. As much as possible it avoids the extensive work on customer satisfaction. Though satisfaction and delight are conceptualized quite differently, some researchers operationalize them in much the same way. Indeed, some measure delight/disgust as extreme ends of a satisfaction/dissatisfaction continuum even while agreeing that the concepts are different. This paper consists of a review and evaluation of research and opinion on or related to delight., INTRODUCTION Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (2006) state that, '... businesses have begun to realize that simply satisfying customers may not be enough. Rather, they should strive for 'customer delight,' which [...]

Traditional methods of measuring turnover are briefly reviewed before various forms of survival analysis are discussed. The review and discussion of survival analysis leads to a recommendation for developing and using a turnover constant to assist managers in understanding turnover and in future research as a means of providing uniformity, comparability and clarity to the subject., INTRODUCTION O'Reilly (1991) suggested that research into turnover has entered a 'fallow' period and is in need of some stimulus or new direction to more fully address the process of [...]

The goal of this paper is to recognize the potential problems for sellers who share information with customers in the business-to-business (B2B) setting, a perspective counterintuitive to previously discussed in the marketing literature. In doing so, the author hopes to broaden the understanding of information exchange from the seller to the buyer, providing a perspective to the potential harmful long-term effects. The author proposes relationships are enhanced through information sharing in the early stages of the relationship, but eventually these relationships often peak and diminish as expert knowledge is transferred from the seller to the buyer. Also discussed is the seller's paradox in sharing information to build trust, while taking the risk of diffusing valuable knowledge to the buyer over the extended relationship., INTRODUCTION In the selling domain, it is clear that for the seller to survive, he/she must develop and maintain long-term relationships with the customers. Indeed, the marketing literature acknowledges the [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2009.02.006 Byline: Amber N. Kimathi, Mary B. Gregoire, Rebecca A. Dowling, Marcelle K. Stone Abstract: The objectives of this study were to determine customer satisfaction with a healthful options food station offered in a worksite cafeteria and document the financial contribution of such a station. The healthful options station featured daily entrees with fewer than 500 calories and less than 30% of calories from fat. Questionnaires from 655 (24.5% response) employees and students provided data on satisfaction with and usage of the station. The majority of the respondents who had purchased from the healthful options station were female (77.3%), white (51.6%), aged 30 to 50 years (52.0%), and had annual incomes of $60,000 to $100,000 (29.3%) or $20,000 to $39,999 (22.2%). Sales and gross profit from the healthful options station were compared to those of the comfort station. Customers were satisfied with attributes of the healthful options station (means >3 on a 5-point scale). Results of paired t tests suggested that customers who had purchased from the healthful options station rated the station significantly (P<0.001) higher for healthfulness of entrees, food presentation, food quality, overall quality of the cafeteria, length of line, and food choices available compared to their ratings for the cafeteria in general. The healthful options station generated average daily sales of $458 and gross profit of $306. However, the sales and gross profit were significantly (P<0.05) less than the comparison comfort station. Article History: Accepted 25 July 2008

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 seven reasons mental health practitioners providing services to children and families face an escalation of legal liability and risk of ethical, regulatory (licensing), and legal (malpractice) complaints: (1)parents using children to assuage their own anxiety; (2) the increase in governmental control of mental health practice; (3) the penchant for litigation; (4) the demise of community mental health services programs (resulting in highly disturbed persons seeking services from private practitioners); (5) distrust of health care providers (which results in a common negativity towards health care practitioners in general and mental health therapeutic compliance in specific); (6) demands from and restrictions imposed by third-party payment sources that increase the risk of client dissatisfaction; and (7) the competitive marketplace. This article explains the practitioner's hesitancy to rely on legal counsel for risk management purposes, noting that there are two barriers to making the decision to obtain legal services: the wish to maintain control of the situation; and the financial expense. Guidance is given for recognizing the need for legal counsel.

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.

Purpose: Previous research from the Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation (CCDE)in Arkansas, New Jersey, and Florida suggests that giving consumers control over their personal care greatly increases their satisfaction and improves their outlook on life. Still, some argue that consumerdirected care may not be appropriate for consumers with intellectual disabilities or mental health diagnoses. This study examined how Cash and Counselinga new option allowing consumers to manage an individualized budget equivalent to what agencies would have spent on their care-changes the way consumers with mental health diagnoses meet their personal care needs and how that affects their wellbeing. Design and Methods: Using the Arkansas CCDE baseline and the 9-month follow-up data for individuals in the treatment and control groups, we compared and contrasted the experience of elderly consumers with and without mental health diagnoses utilizing logit regression. Results: After examining several outcome measures, including satisfaction with care arrangements and the paid caregiver's reliability and schedule, unmet needs, and satisfaction with the relationship with paid caregivers, this study found evidence that, from the perspective of consumers, the Cash and Counseling program works well for participants with mental health diagnoses. Implications: Considering the growing need for long-term-care services and the limited resources available, a consumer-directed option makes sense, and it can be a valuable alternative for persons with mental health needs. Key Words: Elderly, Mental health, Consumer direction, Cash and Counseling

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 use of simulation, technology-based curriculum, etc. by PepsiCo Inc. to train its sales leaders to develop innovative measures to ensure customer satisfaction is discussed.

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 role of information perception by the decisions makers and its relation to customer satisfaction is examined.

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.