TY  - JOUR
AB  - The literature shows a paradox in the understanding of the relationship between structural complexity (defined as the diversity of services offered by an organization) and customer satisfaction. Structural complexity tends to be a popular strategy designed to satisfy different customer needs. However, a negative relationship between structural complexity and customer satisfaction has also been argued. Based on the research on the public versus private distinction, this paper proposes that type of ownership is associated with the paradox mentioned, moderating the relationship between structural complexity and customer satisfaction. The authors tested this hypothesis using a sample of 60 managers and 897 customers of service organizations. The results indicated that as structural complexity increases, public organizations are less able to maintain customer satisfaction than private organizations. Ownership appeared to be an important contingency factor in understanding the paradoxical relationship between service structural complexity and customer satisfaction.
VL  - 12
IS  - 3
SN  - 0956-4233
DO  - 10.1108/EUM0000000005522
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005522
AU  - Martínez‐Tur Vicente
AU  - Peiro´ Jose´ M.
AU  - Ramos Jose´
PY  - 2001
Y1  - 2001/01/01
TI  - Linking service structural complexity to customer satisfaction: The moderating role of type of ownership
T2  - International Journal of Service Industry Management
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 295
EP  - 306
Y2  - 2024/09/25
ER  -