Developing customer need based services in personal security service industry

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how services can be developed and how the voice of the customer can be incorporated to the strategic planning of services. Furthermore, the objective is to investigate the methods of customer need analysis and service bundling. The data is collected from secondary and primary sources by reviewing the existing academic literature and by conducting in-depth interviews and surveys. The main findings of this research indicate that the service development in personal security service industry should be conducted through a formalized process and the process should begin with setting the strategic objectives. Moreover, the voice of the customer should be incorporated into all stages of the development process, especially into the front-end of the process. Furthermore, the information on customer needs should be gathered in a manner tailored for the purposes of service development.

The Impact of Service Quality and Relationship Quality on Customer Loyalty in Business-to-Business Context

The main objective of this Master’s Thesis was to examine the interrelations of service quality and relationship quality (customer satisfaction, trust and commitment), and find out are they antecedents for customer loyalty in business-to-business context. Literature review revealed some research gaps concerning these focal concepts, which should be studied more closely. The theoretical basis for this research was collected for evaluating a strategic increase of customer’s perceptions of service quality and relationship quality as well as customer loyalty in business-to-business environment, and it was tested empirically in a sample of 164 corporate customers, who responded to the Internet-based survey. The measures, used in the survey, were first assessed by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and then the hypothesized relationships were further verified using structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL 8.80. There was found support for a half of the hypothesized construct relations. The results of the research confirm the direct influence of trust and commitment on customer loyalty. Also, service quality turned out to have an indirect impact on customer loyalty through trust. No support, however, was offered for the proposed impact of customer satisfaction on loyalty in this case. The research provides managerially relevant and actionable results that may help service providers execute more specific customer relationship quality strategies that lead to higher customer loyalty.

Exploring Customer-Oriented Service Offerings in Public Health: Developing Integrated Health Care Services for Rural Areas

Väestön ikääntyminen pakottaa yhteiskunnan ja julkisen terveydenhuollon muutoksiin. Jotta ikääntyvien ihmisten kotona asuminen voidaan mahdollistaa, palvelujärjestelmän pitää mukautua muuttuvaan tilanteeseen. Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on tunnistaa asiakaslähtöisiä lähellä asiakasta tarjottavia palvelukokonaisuuksia. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys muodostuu asiakasarvon luomisesta ja palvelutarjoamista. Tarkasteluryhmänä on Etelä-Karjalan alueen 60–90-vuotiaat ja käytetty aineisto on kerätty vastaajilta postitse lähetetyllä kyselyllä. Tutkimus on eksploratiivinen ja tulosten tulkinnassa on hyödynnetty määrällisen tutkimuksen ja verkostoanalyysin menetelmiä. Työn keskeisimmät tulokset ovat tunnistetut asiakassegmentit ja heidän tarpeidensa pohjalta muodostetut palvelupaketit. Tulokset indikoivat asiakkaiden tarpeita ja tuloksia on analysoitu myös tuottajan näkökulmasta. Empiiristen tulosten lisäksi teoriaviitekehystä on kehitetty eteenpäin, jotta palvelukeskeiset teoriat voidaan ymmärtää yritysten näkökulman lisäksi asiakkaan näkökulmasta.

E-business solutions as a part of a customer service portfolio

Tässä työssä tutkittiin sähköisen liiketoiminnan palveluiden tarvetta kartonkiteollisuudessa. Palveluiden tarvetta ja sisältöä tutkittiin suomalaisessa metsäteollisuusyrityksessä. Tutkimus suoritettiin teemahaastatteluin ja sitä täydennettiin tekemällä yritys case. Tutkimuksen pohjana toimi esiselvitys, jossa muutamia sähköisen liiketoiminnan palveluita oli tunnistettu. Sähköisen liiketoiminnan palveluiden on havaittu lisääntyneen merkittävästi yritystenvälisessä liiketoiminnassa. Kuluttajakaupassa sähköisen liiketoiminnan palvelut ovat olleet jo pitkään käytössä. Sähköisen kaupankäynnin lisääntyminen on ajanut yrityksiä perustamaan sähköisiä kauppapaikkoja, modernisoimaan toimitusmallejaan tai palvelukonseptejaan sekä huomioimaan sähköisen tiedonvaihdon vaikutuksia liiketoimissaan. Tutkimuksen tulokset johtivat kolmeen johtopäätökseen. Tutkimus osoitti, että sähköisen liiketoiminnan palvelut ovat osa nykyaikaista yritystenvälistä liiketoimintaa. Palveluita on olemassa ja niitä on tarjolla yrityksen kilpailijoiden toimesta maailmanlaajuisesti. Toiseksi tutkimus osoitti, että toimitusketjun tulevaisuus on palveluiden kehittämisessä ja niiden rakentamisessa. Kartonkituotteet lähenevät toisiaan laadullisesti kokoajan, sähköiset palvelut voivat tuoda kilpailuetua ja niiden avulla voidaan erottua markkinoilla. Kolmanneksi, sähköiseen liiketoimintaan on panostettava ja palveluita on rakennettava toimitusmalleja tukevaksi. Palveluiden sisällön on huomioitava asiakastarpeet.

The effects of the service process on satisfaction, trust and value as creators of customer loyalty in a daily deals concept

This study aims at applying the customer behaviour studies of satisfaction, trust, perceived value and loyalty to a daily deals concept. The goal is to find out whether the relationships are the same in this specific context when compared to previous e-commerce studies. The study examines how the daily deals service process affects customer satisfaction, trust and value, and how these in turn impact customer loyalty and each other. The data was collected via e-mail survey from case company customers, and research was conducted on a quantitative basis by using multivariate methods as tools. The results suggest that daily deals service process and service quality do have a direct and positive effect on customer satisfac-tion, trust and value. Additionally, positive correlations between the latter variables and customer loyalty were found. The results imply that the daily deals concept does not differ from other e-services when considering the studied factors. The results also emphasize the importance of recognizing what determinants have the greatest impact on customer loyalty in this specific context.

Service Blueprinting in Irregularity Service Improvement, case Swissport Finland Ltd

The trend of concentrating to core competencies leads to outsourcing of non-core activities. One such activity is logistics, where the responsibility is given to third-party service providers. This means the service provider acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the end customer. This thesis concentrates on depicting the operational environment of one such service provider, Swissport Finland Ltd, and the improvement of their checked baggage irregularity service. The tools used for this work were service blueprinting, an illustrative method for service mapping, and failure modes and effects analysis. The theoretical part of the thesis offers a framework for using these tools for logistics services, while the empirical part consists of a study mostly qualitative in nature. Action research method was used for the service improvement research. According to the results of this study the combination of service blueprinting and FMEA can be used successfully for irregularity service improvement. The most important result was an enhanced irregularity process that has been found to alleviate earlier problems.

Value-based Reference Marketing in a Small Process Industry Software and Service Company

This master’s thesis was done for a small company, Vipetec Oy, which offers specialized technological services for companies mainly in forest industry. The study was initiated partly because the company wants to expand its customer base to a new industry. There were two goals connected to each other. First was to find out how much and what kind of value current customers have realized from ATA Process Event Library, one of the products that the company offers. Second was to determine the best way to present this value and its implications for future value potential to both current and potential customers. ATA helps to make grade and product changes, starting after machine downtime, and recovery from production break faster for customers. All three events sometimes occur in production line. The faster operation results to savings in time and material. In addition to ATA Vipetec also offers other services related to development of automation and optimization of controls. Theoretical part concentrates on the concept of value, how it can be delivered to customers, and what kind of risk customer faces in industrial purchasing. Also the function of reference marketing towards customers is discussed. In the empirical part the realized value for existing customers is evaluated based on both numerical data and interviews. There’s also a brief case study about one customer. After that the value-based reference marketing for a target industry is examined through interviews of these potential customers. Finally answers to the research questions are stated and compared also to the theoretical knowledge about the subject. Results show that those customers’ machines which use the full service concept of ATA usually are able to save more time and material than the machines which use only some features of the product. Interviews indicated that sales arguments which focus on improved competitive status are not as effective as current arguments which focus on numerical improvements. In the case of potential customers in the new industry, current sales arguments likely work best for those whose irregular production situations are caused mainly by fault situations. When the actions of Vipetec were compared to ten key elements of creating customer references, it was seen that many of them the company has either already included in its strategy or has good chances to include them with the help of the results of this study.

Customer orientation of sales personnel: Implications for service quality

Prior customer orientation research has concentrated mainly on studying the economical potential of customer orientation to companies. Service quality research instead has concentrated on emphasizing the evaluation of service quality from the customer’s perspective. This means that the service providers lack important information regarding customer orientation and service quality they would need for managerial purposes such as selecting and training employees. Therefore, there is an emerging need to study how customer orientation and service quality relate to company processes, policies and employees, and this study answers to those calls. The objective of this study was to examine what is the role of sales personnel’s’ customer orientation in quality of service delivery and what features support the development of customer orientation among sales personnel. Also the components customer orientation were studied extensively in order to understand how they relate to service quality. The empiric part of the study was conducted as a qualitative research by interviewing seven sales people from operative, tactical and strategic levels of the case corporation in order to get a broader view for customer orientation. The findings propose that both organizational factors and individual factors are affecting customer orientation construct inseparably. Organizational factors are bundled in this study under standards, support and systems, whereas individual factors are formed of employees’ personal attributes, motivation and self-perceived decision making authority. The findings suggest that in the service delivery process at an operative level, customer orientation appears largely in the employees’ individualistic characteristics. Their social and technical skills and motivation to serve customers are the most identifiable factors for customer orientation and consequently, quality service. However, organizational standards, support and systems are strongly dictating the frames the operative sales people operate in, having an influence on how the employees are experiencing their decision making authority and in the end, customer orientation. When looking at the service delivery process at tactical and strategic levels, customer orientation is affecting mainly in the organizational constructs through setting standards, support and systems. However, tactical and strategic level employees influence the operative level through individual customer orientation components as well. The findings indicate that their emotion and personal interaction skills are affecting the overall service delivery process mainly through supervisor support and motivation of the operative level employees. Based on this study it can be argued that an organization can operate as a facilitator and create certain frames for customer oriented sales behavior through standards, support and systems. However, as the impact of individual customer orientation factors on sales people’s service quality seems decisive, from an organizational perspective it puts pressures on the recruitment.

Customer-driven service product development

This thesis studies customer-driven service product development and how to manage customer involvement in the service product development process. The theory part of this thesis is a literature review of the prior studies and the thesis also includes empirical evidence in the form of a case study about ABB.

The new era of customer experience in the omni-channel environment of a communication service provider

This study discusses the evolution of an omni-channel model in managing customer experience. The purpose of this thesis is to expand the current academic literature available on omni-channel and offer suggestions for omni-channel creation. This is done by studying the features of an omni-channel approach into engaging with customers and through the sub-objectives of describing the process behind its initiation as well as the special features communication service providers need to take in consideration. Theories used as a background for this study are related to customer experience, channel management, omni-channel and finally change management. The empirical study of this thesis consists of seven expert interviews conducted in a case company. The interviews were held between March and November 2014. One of the interviewees is the manager of an omni-channel development team, whilst the rest were in charge of the management of the various customer channels of the company. The organization and analysis of the interview data was conducted topically. The use of themes related to major theories on the subject was utilized to create linkages between theory and practice. The responses were also organized in two groups based on the viewpoint to map responses related to the company perspective as well as the customers´ perspective. The findings in this study are that omni-channel is among the best tools for companies to respond to the challenge induced by changing customer needs and preferences, as well as intensifying competitive environment. The omni-channel model was found to promote excellent customer experience and thus to be a source of competition advantage and increasing financial returns by creating an omni-experience for the customer. Through omniexperience customers see all of the transactions with a company presenting one brand and providing ease and effortlessness in every encounter. The processes behind omni-channel formulation were identified as customer experience proclaimed as the most important strategic goal, mapping and establishing a unified brand experience in all (service) channels and empowering the first line personnel as the gate keepers of omniexperience. Further the tools, measurement and supporting strategies were to be in accordance with the omni-channel strategy and the customer needs to become a partner in a two way transaction with the firm. Based on these findings a model for omni-channel creation is offered. Future research is needed to firstly, further test these findings and expand the theoretical framework on omni-channel, as it is quite scarce to date and secondly, to increase the generalizability of the model suggested.

Model to Build a Service Quality Centric Customer Reference Portfolio in a Software as a Service Company

The goal of the master’s thesis was to develop a model to build a service quality centric customer reference portfolio for a software as a service company. The case company is Meltwater Finland Oy that leverages customer references externally but there is no systematic model to produce good quality customer references that are in line with the company strategy. The project was carried out as a case study, where the primary source of information were seventeen internal interviews with the employees of the case company. The theory part focuses on customer references as assets and service quality in software as a service industry. In the empirical part the research problem is solved. As a result of the case study, the model to build a service quality centric customer reference portfolio was created and further research areas were suggested.

When job dissatisfaction leads to customer-oriented citizenship behaviors

This thesis places boundary conditions on the withdrawal model in the frontline setting of service organizations by considering continuance commitment and supervisory support as moderators of the relationship between job dissatisfaction and customer-oriented citizenship behaviors (COCBs). Departing from traditional research in the areas of the service-profit chain and employee withdrawal, the author advances our understanding of conditions that may lead frontline service employees who are dissatisfied to deposit COCBs into the organizational system. Specifically, based on principles derived from social exchange theory, high continuance commitment and high supervisory support are expected to lead to COCBs, because under this condition the benefits of performing such behaviors are increased (i.e., promotion-based, reciprocity-based), while the costs are decreased (i.e., opportunity costs). Utilizing a sample of 127 frontline employees from both the financial services and travel agency industries, the hypothesized relationships are empirically supported using moderated hierarchical regression analysis. To conclude discussion, implications of the results for both academics and p

Service quality and reliability assessment of mobile communication infrastructure

The service quality of any sector has two major aspects namely technical and functional. Technical quality can be attained by maintaining technical specification as decided by the organization. Functional quality refers to the manner which service is delivered to customer which can be assessed by the customer feed backs. A field survey was conducted based on the management tool SERVQUAL, by designing 28 constructs under 7 dimensions of service quality. Stratified sampling techniques were used to get 336 valid responses and the gap scores of expectations and perceptions are analyzed using statistical techniques to identify the weakest dimension. To assess the technical aspects of availability six months live outage data of base transceiver were collected. The statistical and exploratory techniques were used to model the network performance. The failure patterns have been modeled in competing risk models and probability distribution of service outage and restorations were parameterized. Since the availability of network is a function of the reliability and maintainability of the network elements, any service provider who wishes to keep up their service level agreements on availability should be aware of the variability of these elements and its effects on interactions. The availability variations were studied by designing a discrete time event simulation model with probabilistic input parameters. The probabilistic distribution parameters arrived from live data analysis was used to design experiments to define the availability domain of the network under consideration. The availability domain can be used as a reference for planning and implementing maintenance activities. A new metric is proposed which incorporates a consistency index along with key service parameters that can be used to compare the performance of different service providers. The developed tool can be used for reliability analysis of mobile communication systems and assumes greater significance in the wake of mobile portability facility. It is also possible to have a relative measure of the effectiveness of different service providers.