Engagement y productividad en las empresas

El presente trabajo pretende mostrar algunos avances en el término “engagement”, y como puede ser implementado en las organizaciones, teniendo en cuenta los diferentes factores que intervienen, para que los trabajadores se sientan “engaged” dentro de la organización. Además busca relacionar las diferentes habilidades y tipos de liderazgo que los altos mandos utilizan con sus empleados y como éste afecta la productividad de los trabajadores en las organizaciones. Para esto, se realizó una investigación de las clases de liderazgo y los comportamientos de los altos mandos, que pueden afectar positiva y negativamente el vínculo y sentido de pertenencia que tienen los trabajadores con la empresa en la que trabajan. Considerando importante las habilidades del liderazgo transformacional, para lograr desarrollar algún grado de engagement en los trabajadores, lo cual genera a su vez, un alza en la productividad de sus resultados dentro de la organización.

Influencia de la relación estratégica comunitaria y el marketing en la salud financiera de las organizaciones en mercados internacionales

La globalización de mercados ha generado una serie de cambios en la estructura del comercio internacional, como el surgimiento de áreas de libre comercio, que son el resultado de las integraciones económicas, las cuales han facilitado los flujos de capital, recursos y personas. La internacionalización no solamente se ha convertido en una estrategia para aprovechar las oportunidades que se dan en los mercados internacionales, sino también en un medio de diversificación del riesgo para reducir la dependencia del mercado doméstico. Sin embargo, para emprender un proceso de internacionalización, es necesario conocer muy bien el contexto dentro del cual se desarrollan los clientes, puesto que la falta de conocimiento del entorno puede perjudicar la salud financiera de la empresa. De ahí la importancia de utilizar una definición de comunidad y unas estrategias comunitarias con las cuales se identifiquen las necesidades, objetivos e intereses de la comunidad, para establecer un relación a largo plazo que procure el desarrollo de ambas partes. La relación estratégica comunitaria y el marketing impactan positivamente la salud financiera de la empresa, en la medida en que este desarrollo mutuo, tanto de la comunidad como de la empresa, no solamente incrementa el interés y el compromiso por seguir interactuando; también crea vínculos afectivos entre ambas partes, lo cual consolida aún más la perdurabilidad de la relación, logrando así una fidelización de los clientes y por ende aumentando la rentabilidad de la empresa.

Antecedentes de la lealtad en los entornos on line y off line: un análisis empírico aplicado al sector de la aviación civil

El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la lealtad de los usuarios de líneas aéreas tanto en el entorno online como en el entorno offline. La revisión bibliográfica ha identificado tres antecedentes: la satisfacción, la confianza y el valor percibido. Se ha llevado a cabo un estudio empírico realizándose un total de 1710 entrevistas personales en el aeropuerto del Prat (Barcelona) a usuarios de dos compañías aéreas tradicionales, Iberia y British Airways, y a una compañía low cost, Easyjet. Se trata de las tres compañías que operan con vuelos directos Barcelona-Londres. En el análisis de los datos se han utilizado modelos de ecuaciones estructurales y en particular la técnica utilizada fue el análisis factorial confirmatorio. Los resultados revelan que tanto la satisfacción, como la confianza y el valor percibido explican las relaciones de lealtad entre los pasajeros y las compañías aéreas.

Implementation and role of device management Solutions to the end users

This research is based on consumer complaints with respect to recently purchased consumer electronics. This research document will investigate the instances of development and device management as a tool used to aid consumer and manage consumer’s mobile products in order to resolve issues in or before the consumers is aware one exists. The problem at the present time is that mobile devices are becoming very advanced pieces of technology, and not all manufacturers and network providers have kept up the support element of End users. As such, the subject of the research is to investigate how device management could possibly be used as a method to promote research and development of mobile devices, and provide a better experience for the consumer. The wireless world is becoming increasingly complex as revenue opportunities are driven by new and innovative data services. We can no longer expect the customer to have the knowledge or ability to configure their own device. Device Management platforms can address the challenges of device configuration and support through new enabling technologies. Leveraging these technologies will allow a network operator to reduce the cost of subscriber ownership, drive increased ARPU (Average Revenue per User) by removing barriers to adoption, reduce churn by improving the customer experience and increase customer loyalty. DM technologies provide a flexible and powerful management method but are managing the same device features that have historically been configured manually through call centers or by the end user making changes directly on the device. For this reason DM technologies must be treated as part of a wider support solution. The traditional requirement for discovery, fault finding, troubleshooting and diagnosis are still as relevant with DM as they are in the current human support environment yet the current generation of solutions do little to address this problem. In the deployment of an effective Device Management solution the network operator must consider the integration of the DM platform, interfacing with many areas of the business, supported by knowledge of the relationship between devices, applications, solutions and services maintained on an ongoing basis. Complementing the DM solution with published device information, setup guides, training material and web based tools will ensure the quality of the customer experience, ensuring that problems are completely resolved, driving data usage by focusing customer education on the use of the wireless service In this way device management becomes a tool used both internally within the network or device vendor and by the customer themselves, with each user empowered to effectively manage the device without any prior knowledge or experience, confident that changes they apply will be relevant, accurate, stable and compatible. The value offered by an effective DM solution with an expert knowledge service will become a significant differentiator for the network operator in an ever competitive wireless market. This research document is intended to highlight some of the issues the industry faces as device management technologies become more prevalent, and offers some potential solutions to simplify the increasingly complex task of managing devices on the network, where device management can be used as a tool to aid customer relations and manage customer’s mobile products in order to resolve issues before the user is aware one exists. The research is broken down into the following, Customer Relationship Management, Device management, the role of knowledge with the DM, Companies that have successfully implemented device management, and the future of device management and CRM. And it also consists of questionnaires aimed at technical support agents and mobile device users. Interview was carried out with CRM managers within support centre to further the evidence gathered. To conclude, the document is to consider the advantages and disadvantages of device management and attempt to determine the influence it will have over customer support centre, and what methods could be used to implement it.

Employee development strategies in the B2C banking environment: two Australian case studies

The implementation of technology and, in particular, eCommerce technologies has had unforeseen consequences for the relationship between managers and employees. To be able to operate in an increasingly global and competitive environment, retail banks have had to develop new ways of dealing with their employees. Issues have arisen that have necessitated a rethink in the way employees interact with customers and this, in turn, has required changes to human resource strategies. The question we address in this paper is what are the employee capabilities and qualities retail banks must develop to satisfy both more sophisticated customers (who demand flexibility of interactions, responsiveness and convenience) as well as the organisation’s own needs (including expanded sales opportunities, cost containment or reduction and customer loyalty) when implementing eCommerce technologies. The paper discusses two case studies illustrating some of the issues with which banks, as service organisations, have had to deal. These two banks have taken rather different approaches in their use of technology to interact with their customers and this has implications for the way they manage their employees who deal with those customers.

An analysis of the involvement-commitment relationship across product categories

An involvement-commitment-loyalty model is proposed and tested with AMOS. The results for fast-moving-consumer-goods (fmcg) are consistent with the theory. Ego involvement influences purchase involvement, which influences brand commitment, which influences customer loyalty. The results for the more ego-involved service of hair stylists, however, showed a different result. Purchase loyalty did not mediate the relationship between ego involvement and brand commitment, but instead ego involvement had a direct relationship with brand commitment.

An exploration of relational customers` response to service failure

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how customers with different relational bonds respond to the same service failure. In particular, the framework to service failure and recovery devised by Fournier and Mick is applied.
Design/methodology/approach – To uncover rich emotional and cognitive responses to service failure, in-depth interviews with eight former and current patrons of an Australian opera were used.
Findings – Three types of relationship were identified: satisfaction-as-love (SaL), satisfaction-as-trust (SaT) and satisfaction-as-control (SaC). Each responded to the same failure in different ways. SaL customers had emotional bonds with the product category and thus reaffiremed their loyalty following the failure. SaT customers saw the service failure and inadequate recovery as a breach of the brand's implied promise and thus excited the relationship. SaC customers took charge of the situation, using their status to improve their situation and then defended the brand.
Practical implications – The findings indicate the importance of customizing service recovery strategies, in this case to those customers with the strongest emotional bonds to the brand, not the product class.
Originality/value – This is the first paper to examine how relational customers respond to service failure and identify how different customer-brand relationships result in different post-failure reactions and expectations of service recovery.

What women want in a relationship (with retail salespeople)

The purpose of our study was to examine what women shoppers seek in establishing relationships with sales associates and stores. Based on 70+ personal interviews in 4 countries, we found that women seek a variety of relationship types. It is incumbent upon the retailer and sales associates to assess each customer and determine the level and type of interaction each customer is seeking. "One size does not fit all" when it comes to forging relationships with customers.

Do organizational service recovery actions impact on hotel guests future intentions and does speed of recovery matter?

This paper investigates hotel guests’ responses to organizational actions dealing with service failure. Eight service failure scenarios were used to identify guests’ intentions towards future visits. Guests’ intentions to switch hotels, revisit the property and remain loyal to the chain were found to vary based on the recovery efforts undertaken. This research found that empowering employees contribute to positive consumer intentions toward the service provider. Compensation was also found effective if offered through empowered employees. Speed of response to service failure was also identified as important action to improve consumer future intentions. Based on these findings, implications for future research are highlighted. Recommendations to the practitioners of hospitality and tourism sector were made for the management of failed service encounter.

Business to consumer eCommerce : implications for employee management

This research explored the way service organisations deal with employee management issues when implementing eCommerce technologies. The thesis proposes a framework for understanding the technology-mediated context of the customer-employee interaction in service organisations when implementing eCommerce. The framework assists in achieving a balance between achieving efficiencies and maintaining customer loyalty.

Cognitive evaluation : prompts used to measure sponsorship awareness

Marketing managers have the same accountability for their spending on sponsorship as they do for their general advertising spend. Since the direct impact on customer loyalty and profit is so hard to measure, surrogate measures such as recall are often used. Key issues with recall measures are the nature and type of prompting given. This paper reports the results of an experiment on three different ways of measuring sponsorship recall based on brand, category and event prompts. Differences between the prompts are shown with some facilitating and another inhibiting recall. The results are discussed within the framework of spreading activation theory which has the potential to explain and predict recall.

Corporate image in the leisure services sector

Purpose – This paper seeks to empirically examine the relationship between corporate image and customer satisfaction in the leisure services sector. It also aims to examine the mediating impact of employees and servicescape on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a sample of 195 individuals who had visited an Australian zoological garden over a specified time period. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the measures, whilst structural equation modelling and multiple regression were used in hypothesis testing.
Findings – Findings reveal that corporate image has a significant positive relationship with customer satisfaction. Although the results indicate that the relationship between corporate image and customer satisfaction is not mediated by either servicescape or employees, they imply that corporate image and employees directly influence customer satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications – A single-case study design was implemented, limiting the generalisability of the findings. This provides an opportunity for replication of the model in other leisure services environments and services contexts outside the leisure services industry.
Practical implications – The findings reinforce the need for leisure services operators to prioritise the development of a strong, clear corporate image. The extended analysis illustrates that the disaggregated dimensions of corporate image are valuable to consider in terms of directing managerial strategy. Employees and servicescape are key aspects of the service offer on which management needs to focus to ensure that their desired corporate image is communicated and reinforced.
Originality/value – This study addresses an identified need to further examine the relationship between corporate image and customer satisfaction. It also contributes to corporate branding research by broadening the conceptualisation of the corporate image construct. Moreover, this study contributes to the corporate image literature by examining the mediating factors of employees and servicescape.

The role of brand orientation in the higher education sector: a student-perceived paradigm

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived brand orientation (PBO), satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour in the Australian higher education sector.

Design/methodology/approach
Two hundred and fifty-eight questionnaires were completed by undergraduate students of a particular university in Australia. Structural equation modeling was employed in this study to examine the associations between the constructs.

Findings
This study provides empirical evidence that PBO has a positive and significant relationship with all dependent variables. The research reveals that students' perception of a university's brand orientation is significantly related to satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour.

Research limitations/implications
The findings may guide the key decision makers in higher education institutions to understand the importance of brand orientation in their corporate strategy to enhance satisfaction, loyalty, and positive WOM, which can be used to differentiate themselves from other institutions in the highly competitive education market.

Originality/value
Past researchers have not looked into the dynamic relationships between PBO, satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour, and hence research is to be called for in this area. The paper is the first to examine brand orientation from the perspective of the students and provide higher education institutions with recommendations to improve service quality through brand orientation.

Fidelização de clientes a livrarias virtuais: um modelo heurístico

The conventional commercial relationship between suppliers and customers has undergone a profound change as a result of the technological advances that have been made in electronic transactions, such as the Internet. These transformations have not been entirely technological in nature, as they have also directly altered marketing activities. Due to a series of factors, companies are increasingly driven by their customer wishes and requirements, with Electronic Commerce being just one of the means of developing and maintaining this type of relationship, called Customer Relations Marketing. The Internet sites available allow companies to obtain information more easily about which aspects are most relevant to their target customer group in terms of their products and services, helping them to increase the value of commercial transactions on offer. The online marketing strategies of electronic retail companies aim to cultivate customer loyalty after the first purchase has been made, so that customers make repeat purchases. Virtual bookstores represent a particularly successful sector in the world of Electronic Commerce. However, to ensure profitability, the business models of these companies need to be based on customer loyalty, as there is stiff competition in this area. This research study seeks to develop a heuristic model, called 4Ps and 1F, for customer loyalty to virtual bookstores. The 4Ps represent one of the most traditional marketing concepts and the F relates to Customer Loyalty. In developing this model the aim is to see how each marketing P influences customer loyalty, thus identifying the factors critical to the success of virtual bookstores retaining customer loyalty.

A Teoria de segmentação face à satisfação do consumidor de serviços bancários: um estudo de caso em um banco de varejo

There is a intensity change within financial services industry: deregulation, technology, joint ventures and, in Brazil, privatization, increase of foreign competitors and fall of industry participating from 31 per cent to 5,4 per cent in Brazilian GDP.In this context financial institutions are working very hard to improve their market share, besides promoting customer retention and creating customer loyalty.In this paper we are presenting the scenario of industry in the 90's, opportunity to use segmentation and relationship strategies used by banks through distribution channels.The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and segmentation. To ascertain whether such a link exists, a primary study of 3.378 individuals was conducted in two branches at Rio de Janeiro in March 2001. The results suggest that there is little relationship between customer satisfaction and segmentation, besides other qualitative findings.