Search results

While the concept of supply chain resilience has received lots of scholarly and policy interest over the past few years, empirical research examining its sources and outcomes remains inadequate, particularly, in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Grounded in the resource-based view and social capital frameworks, the study examines the relationship between social network relationship, supply chain resilience and customer oriented performance.

The study develops and empirically tests a research model that proposes social network relationships and customer-oriented performance as the antecedent and outcome respectively of supply chain resilience. Data was obtained from a survey of 110 SMEs in Ghana.

The findings of the study suggest that a firm's external and internal social networks can be leveraged to enhance its supply chain resilience and customer-oriented performance. Supply chain resilience was also found to enhance customer-oriented performance. Additionally, supply chain resilience was found to significantly mediate the effect of social network relationships on customer-oriented performance.

This is the first study that empirically explores and establishes the relationship between social network relationships, supply chain resilience and customer-oriented performance to the best of the authors’ knowledge.

Considers the impact of multi‐faceted measures of job satisfaction on customer‐oriented behaviours demonstrated by service providers. Reveals how overall job satisfaction, together with specific satisfaction related to supervision, colleagues, promotion and work are positively related to customer‐orientation, while satisfaction with pay is not of significance in this case. Discusses recommendations for management and suggestions for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise customer-oriented product returns service (COPRS) performance, and develop and validate its measure.

This study uses qualitative consumer interviews and a quantitative survey to conceptualise, operationalise and validate the measure of COPRS performance.

The findings indicate 12 components with 46 measurable items for COPRS performance, including assurance, compensation, convenience, empathy, employee empowerment, explanation, feedback, information availability, reliability, responsiveness, tangibles and timeliness.

The measure could facilitate future empirical studies in the product returns service area. Future research could apply the COPRS performance measure across industries or in different settings such as cross-cultural or other retailing contexts.

Managers could evaluate their existing returns service performance in different key aspects based on the COPRS performance metrics and then improve their returns offerings accordingly. It also alerts practitioners to pay more attention to functional integration in designing returns service strategies to enhance customer satisfaction.

The study is one of the first to develop a new measure that substantiates the notion of an integrated marketing and reverse logistics interface, which is an underrepresented body of knowledge in the marketing and operations management disciplines.

This study examined the customer orientation ‐ performance link in small‐ and medium‐sized businesses and tested for the possible effects of innovation orientation, market dynamism and competitive intensity on the degree of customer orientation among these firms. Specific performance measures used were new product success, sales growth and return on investment (ROI). Based on constructs of these measures, a research scale was developed for the study and data were collected via a self‐administered mail survey among a UK samples of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The results show a positive effect of customer orientation on SME performance. There are also findings on the varied influences of innovation orientation and the competitive environment on the levels of SME customer orientation. In the light of existing literature, implications of our findings for SME managers, the study’s limitations and future research directions are subsequently addressed.

Organizations wishing to implement TQM face unavoidable profound changes in performance measurement and are in need of guidance and better understanding of the role of different performance measurement methods and systems. The objective of this paper is therefore to provide guidance for future TQM adopters through investigation of existing practices implemented by a group of finalists in the total quality category of Canada Awards for Business Excellence. Especially the usage and perceived appropriateness of different methods are of interest.

A sample of finalists in the total quality category of Canada Awards for Business Excellence was surveyed. The data were collected either through in‐depth personal interviews or by mail/phone using a questionnaire. Next, descriptive statistical techniques were used to analyze the data. T‐statistic tests were performed in order to determine the significance of the results.

Regarding the extent of use and appropriateness of the traditional and TQM‐related performance measures (PMs) and systems/methods (PMS) found in TQM environment, the findings reported that PMs and PMS, used and considered appropriate by TQM adopters, are predominantly process‐oriented (process sequence flow charts, Pareto chart, cause and effect diagram), long‐term‐oriented (market research/customer survey, percentage of sales from new products and absolute market share), and customer‐oriented (number of complaints, percentage on‐time delivery, overall customer satisfaction).

The small sample limited exclusively to finalists in the total quality category of Canada Awards for Business Excellence may be a limitation.

This research provides guidance for companies considering implementation of TQM or in the process of adopting TQM with regard to the design of a performance measurement system that would support their TQM efforts successfully.

This research is looking at extent of use of performance measures and methods and at their perceived appropriateness by TQM adopters at the same time. Thanks to this approach it provides valuable insights into performance measurement in TQM both for academics and for practitioners.

Outlines the policies of Southern Electric in implementing a quality service through a customer‐oriented culture, describing a strategy designed to develop internal and external quality measurements for continuous improvement. Discusses market opportunities, regulation, the City, Southern Electric staff and customers in respect of the company′s quality strategy and identifies five key steps as important for success in this quality strategy. Stresses the importance of setting the scene, building a disciplines framework, developing staff ownership of the culture, initiating customer‐oriented procedures and recording process/measuring success. Suggests that the customer‐oriented culture is a fundamental feature of achieving continuous improvement in service quality in an environment of changing market conditions.

Scanning both the academic and popular business literature of the last 40 years puzzles the alert reader. The variety of prescriptions of how to be successful (effective, performing, etc.) 1 Organizational performance, organizational success and organizational effectiveness will be used interchangeably throughout this paper.1 in business is hardly comprehensible: “Being close to the customer,” Total Quality Management, corporate social responsibility, shareholder value maximization, efficient consumer response, management reward systems or employee involvement programs are but a few of the slogans introduced as means to increase organizational effectiveness. Management scholars have made little effort to integrate the various performance-enhancing strategies or to assess them in an orderly manner.

This study classifies organizational strategies by the importance each strategy attaches to different constituencies in the firm’s environment. A number of researchers divide an organization’s environment into various constituency groups and argue that these groups constitute – as providers and recipients of resources – the basis for organizational survival and well-being. Some theoretical schools argue for the foremost importance of responsiveness to certain constituencies while stakeholder theory calls for a – situation-contingent – balance in these responsiveness levels. Given that maximum responsiveness levels to different groups may be limited by an organization’s resource endowment or even counterbalanced, the need exists for a concurrent assessment of these competing claims by jointly evaluating the effect of the respective behaviors towards constituencies on performance. Thus, this study investigates the competing merits of implementing alternative business philosophies (e.g. balanced versus focused responsiveness to constituencies). Such a concurrent assessment provides a “critical test” of multiple, opposing theories rather than testing the merits of one theory (Carlsmith, Ellsworth & Aronson, 1976).

In the high tolerance level applied for this study (be among the top 80% of the industry) only a handful of organizations managed to sustain such a balanced strategy over the whole observation period. Continuously monitoring stakeholder demands and crafting suitable responsiveness strategies must therefore be a focus of successful business strategies. While such behavior may not be a sufficient explanation for organizational success, it certainly is a necessary one.

Considers the importance of implementing a market orientation, highlighting the difficulty in focusing on competitors rather than customers. Offers an approach to competitive analysis taking into account the validity of both competitor and customer orientations. Argues that this type of method can help managers to maintain or build their position in relation to competition. Illustrates the stages involved in customer‐based competitive analysis with a case example.

Few companies focus on the key issues of customer satisfaction and loyalty and a large proportion measure for measurement’s sake. By moving away from traditional methods of measurement to verbal representations of service, from unacceptable through to ideal, and by trading‐off changes in one level of service against another, one can identify precise priorities for improvement. These priorities should take into account the following: importance to customers; gap between perceived and expected levels of service; customers’ priorities for improvement; and competitive performance. There is little evidence that many organizations collect the necessary information which determines what proportion of their customers are at risk and, specifically, the proportion that can be considered as being immediate or high risk.

This study examines the impact of customer value creation on hotel performance. Customer value is seen as a multi-phase and multi-party process that combines hotel and tourist perspectives while also integrating the participation of frontline employees. The study also investigates financial performance (FP) and customer-based performance (CBP).

Data were collected from Morocco through multiple-informant design surveys to explore three perspectives related to three actors involved in the process, that is, the managers, the employees and the tourists. The hypotheses were tested with SmartPLS4.

The findings reveal that customer value positively and significantly impacts not only the FP of hotels but also the CBP. The results highlight a sequential relationship in which each actor drives the subsequent phase to definitively enhance the hotel's performance. The results further show significant mediation effects in the customer value sequence. Moreover, the results show a significant and positive effect of CBP on FP.

Theoretical and managerial implications of the research are discussed and future important researches are drawn from the study limitations.

Managers must be aware that frontline employees and guests are crucial for creating customer value, which enables to improve their performance. The results highlight that hotels should motivate and involve frontline employees in value propositions (VP) development. Furthermore, the guests are the final arbiters of value who drive hotels' performance. Moreover, for additional FP, managers are required both to deliver superior value and create loyal customers.

This study mostly confirms previous findings and highlights a sequential relationship among three phases involving three actors of customer value. However, it reveals more reasonable and robust results in the mediation effect of the value offering (VO) between the VP and the perceived value-in-use (PVI). This study is also the first to provide evidence on the mediation effect of the PVI between the VO and the CBP.