Customer Satisfaction, Quality in Cruise Industry

Record numbers of passengers are sailing on board cruise ships, with the industry claiming high levels of customer satisfaction. Conversely, little is known about the specific factors which make up customer satisfaction with the cruise experience. The authors examine customer satisfaction data from nearly 15,000 guests of a large U.S. cruise line to determine which aspects of the cruise experience have the greatest impact on overall satisfaction and perceptions of quality.

Adapting the Customer Satisfaction Index to the Lodging Industry: Foreign Customers' Evaluations

As a standard form of measuring customer satisfaction, the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) has been utilized in many countries. By using the Korean Customer Satisfaction Index (KCSI) methodology, this study attempted to investigate foreign customers’ evaluations of luxury hotels in Seoul, South Korea. In doing so, some efforts were made to overcome the methodological problems associated with the KCSI for the lodging industry. Data for this study were collected through a mall intercept survey using a self-administered questionnaire. Precisely 783 responses, collected solely from foreign guests who had stayed at a luxury hotel in Seoul, were included in the study.

Service Quality and Black Customer Satisfaction - A Perspective on the United States Restaurant Industry

This paper examines the issue of racial discrimination of Black United States (U.S.) restaurant patrons from a service quality and customer satisfaction perspective. In spite of the progress the industry has made in recent years to alleviate this problem, many contemporary examples clearly demonstrate that racial discrimination is still of great concern. The articles stresses the importance of an ethical approach in human resource management-intensive and offers suggestions for reducing discriminatory practices in U.S. restaurant service delivery.

Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of Aruba-- Small Island Nation

Tourism studies related to small island destinations have become a research stream amongst many academics in recent years. The current study investigates tourist satisfaction related to a tour operator on the island of Aruba that specializes in jeep and bus tours. As there is an increased expenditure pattern for these types of activities, companies are looking for ways to improve customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Results indicate that tourists are generally satisfied with the tour company; however a difference in satisfaction ratings was obtained for respondents 61 years old or above. Four factors were extracted from tourists’ satisfaction attributes and three of these factors, including the overall tour value, tour guide, and sound systems used during these tours, were found to be strong predictors of behavioral intentions measured by the likelihood to rebook and the likelihood to recommend the tour company to family and friends. Operational and marketing strategies were suggested based on the findings of the study.

Examining the Impact of Service Times on Overall Guest Satisfaction Perception in the Casual Dining Environment

A mystery shopper study was used to examine the influence of service times on customer satisfaction. The impact of management emphasis on service quality was also examined. In the restaurants studied, service time influenced customer satisfaction. Management attention to service time improved performance in direct relationship to the level of emphasis.

A Study of Satisfaction Level of Hong Kong Tourists with Hot Springs Hotels and Resorts in Guangdong, China

The research reported here aimed at examining Hong Kong tourists’ level of satisfaction with hot springs hotels and resorts in Guangdong, China. Primary data were collected and service quality and tourist satisfaction levels were measured using the SERVQUAL model. The empirical findings indicate that most tourists are satisfied with the service quality of these hotels and resorts. Among the different dimensions of service quality, empathy receives the highest score. Overall satisfaction receives a score only slightly better than average. The results also reveal significant relationships among customer satisfaction level, loyalty, and recommendation.

A comparison between homemaker prepared meals and traditional home delivered meals on the dietary intake of frail homebound elders

To frail elders, the consumption of nutrients is a challenge. Individuals participating in home delivered meal programs achieve higher daily intakes of key nutrients over non participants. However many elders require special diet and modifications in food texture, features generally not provided by such programs.^ This study compared a pilot program providing individual homemaker prepared meals based on special needs with the traditional home delivered meal program. Eight participants in the model group and 19 participants in the control group completed the 180 day study. The high drop out rate in the model group was due to scheduling difficulties.^ No significant differences existed between the two groups with respect to weight gain/maintenance, macronutrient intake, intake of most micronutrients and customer satisfaction. Homemaker prepared meals is a viable option for individuals needing dietary adjustments. ^

Business process quantitative analysis and optimization for service industries

The total time a customer spends in the business process system, called the customer cycle-time, is a major contributor to overall customer satisfaction. Business process analysts and designers are frequently asked to design process solutions with optimal performance. Simulation models have been very popular to quantitatively evaluate the business processes; however, simulation is time-consuming and it also requires extensive modeling experiences to develop simulation models. Moreover, simulation models neither provide recommendations nor yield optimal solutions for business process design. A queueing network model is a good analytical approach toward business process analysis and design, and can provide a useful abstraction of a business process. However, the existing queueing network models were developed based on telephone systems or applied to manufacturing processes in which machine servers dominate the system. In a business process, the servers are usually people. The characteristics of human servers should be taken into account by the queueing model, i.e. specialization and coordination. ^ The research described in this dissertation develops an open queueing network model to do a quick analysis of business processes. Additionally, optimization models are developed to provide optimal business process designs. The queueing network model extends and improves upon existing multi-class open-queueing network models (MOQN) so that the customer flow in the human-server oriented processes can be modeled. The optimization models help business process designers to find the optimal design of a business process with consideration of specialization and coordination. ^ The main findings of the research are, first, parallelization can reduce the cycle-time for those customer classes that require more than one parallel activity; however, the coordination time due to the parallelization overwhelms the savings from parallelization under the high utilization servers since the waiting time significantly increases, thus the cycle-time increases. Third, the level of industrial technology employed by a company and coordination time to mange the tasks have strongest impact on the business process design; as the level of industrial technology employed by the company is high; more division is required to improve the cycle-time; as the coordination time required is high; consolidation is required to improve the cycle-time. ^

A methodological framework for modeling pavement maintenance costs for projects with performance-based contracts

Performance-based maintenance contracts differ significantly from material and method-based contracts that have been traditionally used to maintain roads. Road agencies around the world have moved towards a performance-based contract approach because it offers several advantages like cost saving, better budgeting certainty, better customer satisfaction with better road services and conditions. Payments for the maintenance of road are explicitly linked to the contractor successfully meeting certain clearly defined minimum performance indicators in these contracts. Quantitative evaluation of the cost of performance-based contracts has several difficulties due to the complexity of the pavement deterioration process. Based on a probabilistic analysis of failures of achieving multiple performance criteria over the length of the contract period, an effort has been made to develop a model that is capable of estimating the cost of these performance-based contracts. One of the essential functions of such model is to predict performance of the pavement as accurately as possible. Prediction of future degradation of pavement is done using Markov Chain Process, which requires estimating transition probabilities from previous deterioration rate for similar pavements. Transition probabilities were derived using historical pavement condition rating data, both for predicting pavement deterioration when there is no maintenance, and for predicting pavement improvement when maintenance activities are performed. A methodological framework has been developed to estimate the cost of maintaining road based on multiple performance criteria such as crack, rut and, roughness. The application of the developed model has been demonstrated via a real case study of Miami Dade Expressways (MDX) using pavement condition rating data from Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for a typical performance-based asphalt pavement maintenance contract. Results indicated that the pavement performance model developed could predict the pavement deterioration quite accurately. Sensitivity analysis performed shows that the model is very responsive to even slight changes in pavement deterioration rate and performance constraints. It is expected that the use of this model will assist the highway agencies and contractors in arriving at a fair contract value for executing long term performance-based pavement maintenance works.

Employee Orientation: An Organizational and Experiential Learning Approach

Employee orientation problems for a resort chain were studied and addressed through action research. The implemented solution leveraged experiential learning to foster employee initiative and problem solving to instill a culture of learning, improve customer satisfaction and increase employee retention. Business results were achieved but learner/ management reaction was mixed.

Food service Contracts That Win: Essentials in the Development of a Food service Agreement

The authors provide tips for institutions wanting to place a contract for operation of their food service and for companies and/or individuals in the business of managing food service operations for a fee.

Effects of computer self efficacy and positive mood in business -to -business service encounters

Attempts to improve the level of customer service delivered have resulted in an increased use of technology in the customer service environment. Customer-contact employees are expected to use computers to help them in providing better service encounters for customers. This research study done in a business-to-business environment explored the effects of customer-contact employees' computer self efficacy and positive mood on in-role customer service, extra-role customer service and organization citizenship. It also examined the relationship of customer service to customer satisfaction and customer delight. ^ Research questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. Results indicated that computer self efficacy had a greater impact on extra-role customer service than it did on in-role customer service. Positive mood had a positive moderating influence on extra-role customer service but not on in-role customer service. ^ There was a significant relationship between in-role customer service and customer satisfaction but not between extra-role customer service and customer satisfaction. There was no significant relationship between in-role customer service and customer delight nor between extra-role customer service and customer delight. There was a statistically greater positive relationship between joy experienced by clients and customer delight than between pleasant surprise and customer delight. ^ This study demonstrated the importance of facilitating customer-contact employee positive mood on the job in order to improve the level of extra-role customer service delivered. It also showed that increasing the level of customer service does not necessarily lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction. ^

A Methodological Framework for Modeling Pavement Maintenance Costs for Projects with Performance-based Contracts

Performance-based maintenance contracts differ significantly from material and method-based contracts that have been traditionally used to maintain roads. Road agencies around the world have moved towards a performance-based contract approach because it offers several advantages like cost saving, better budgeting certainty, better customer satisfaction with better road services and conditions. Payments for the maintenance of road are explicitly linked to the contractor successfully meeting certain clearly defined minimum performance indicators in these contracts. Quantitative evaluation of the cost of performance-based contracts has several difficulties due to the complexity of the pavement deterioration process. Based on a probabilistic analysis of failures of achieving multiple performance criteria over the length of the contract period, an effort has been made to develop a model that is capable of estimating the cost of these performance-based contracts. One of the essential functions of such model is to predict performance of the pavement as accurately as possible. Prediction of future degradation of pavement is done using Markov Chain Process, which requires estimating transition probabilities from previous deterioration rate for similar pavements. Transition probabilities were derived using historical pavement condition rating data, both for predicting pavement deterioration when there is no maintenance, and for predicting pavement improvement when maintenance activities are performed. A methodological framework has been developed to estimate the cost of maintaining road based on multiple performance criteria such as crack, rut and, roughness. The application of the developed model has been demonstrated via a real case study of Miami Dade Expressways (MDX) using pavement condition rating data from Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for a typical performance-based asphalt pavement maintenance contract. Results indicated that the pavement performance model developed could predict the pavement deterioration quite accurately. Sensitivity analysis performed shows that the model is very responsive to even slight changes in pavement deterioration rate and performance constraints. It is expected that the use of this model will assist the highway agencies and contractors in arriving at a fair contract value for executing long term performance-based pavement maintenance works.