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The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the practical matter of customer loyalty (CLOY) in the banking industry context. As such, this paper explores, in detail, the antecedent factors to building strong CLOY. More specifically the focus is on the constructs of customer care (CARE), product/service offerings appeal (PSOA), customer satisfaction (CSAT) and brand trust (TRUS).

This wok relies purely on a positivist research paradigm. In doing so, structured questionnaires were administered to research subjects. For statistical processing, the PLS-SEM technique was deemed appropriate.

The two biggest takeaways of this work are the findings about the indirect influence of PSOA and CARE on CLOY. This paper reveals the relations to be sequentially mediated by CSAT and TRUS. Besides, data support the mediating effect of CSAT on CARE-TRUS link, as well as the mediation of TRUS on CSAT-CLOY link. Other findings indicate PSOA and CARE are key determinants of CSAT, CARE is also a key determinant of TRUS.

There are limits that come with the present analysis. One of the major limits is in the fact that it was conducted in a single country’s setting, thus limiting the generalizability of the research findings. As a result, this research report merits to be adequately scrutinized in differing financial landscapes. Finally, the broader implication of this research is that the road toward achieving strong CLOY is far more complex than previously imagined.

To generate sustained CLOY, a solid starting point for bank products managers in particular is to design more attractive products for their target audiences. Meanwhile, the special role of quality CARE cannot be overstated (enough), and so managers should allocate more resources in this area. In sum, this study encourages financial services managers to continue to pay greater attention to critical dimensions related to CLOY, such as PSOA, CARE, CSAT and TRUS.

The present analysis provides a clearer explanation of how the above-mentioned constructs are interconnected together. By using top Ghanaian banks’ customers as a test case for the research, the authors are helping to develop a more balanced approach to achieving sustained CLOY. Finally, the value of this work rests in the complex relations studied

The concept of innovation is gaining ground steadily in the context of an increasingly competitive and highly volatile banking sector. The purpose of this paper is to find out the role of service innovation (SI) in the relationship between service delivery (SERVD), customer satisfaction (CSAT) and loyalty in the banking sector of Ghana.

Drawing from banking and marketing literature, a conceptual framework was developed and tested using data from 450 sampled customers of commercial banks in Ghana. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The findings indicate that SI has direct influence on SERVD and CSAT. Again the findings revealed a positive relationship between SERVD, CSAT and bank customer loyalty.

This study offers theoretical support for the adoption of innovative techniques in service provision and delivery.

This paper provides an initial study into innovation management in financial services context in an emerging economy.

The paper aims to identify, analyze and discuss the links between information and communications technology (ICT) and knowledge management (KM), on the one hand, and job satisfaction (JS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT), on the other hand, in hospitals in Lebanon.

A mixed-methods approach has been adopted that utilizes both quantitative and qualitative primary data, along with supportive and peripheral secondary ones. Specifically, a survey measuring variables was conducted among health-care professionals, with whom interviews were also conducted for greater depth and to refine the findings and relationships under study.

The results of the quantitative study find no statistically significant relationships between the variables. The qualitative study suggests that this is likely because of the subjectivity of the evaluations and/or their mutual canceling. This is further partly explained not only through technical/functional deficiencies of the system but also through the impact of implicit and peripheral forces, adjacent to contextual aspects.

The research adds significant and focused knowledge on the subject of the linkage of ICT and KM with JS and CSAT, in the context of emerging economies.

Performance of service desk is critical to an organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance measurement system of a technical assistance center at one of the largest semi‐conductor manufacturers in the world. The study examines top performance issues faced by the service desk and provides recommendations to address these issues.

A case study approach has been adopted. An analysis is first carried out as to how the performance system has been developed in the organization. A number of employees associated with the service desk have been interviewed, to take into account the employees' views on the performance measurement and the appraisal and reward system of service desk agents. In addition, secondary data as available in public domain have been used. Data from the customer satisfaction survey were analyzed to determine performance issues faced by the service desk and to ascertain the root cause of the performance gap.

The top performance issues faced by the service desk of the case organization are in areas of poor communication, high time consumption in service delivery, poor trouble shooting, poor knowledge of the agents, and confusing phone menu. The top four areas that need focus and improvement are Resolution Rate (RR), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Total Utilization, and Tickets per Agent per Week (TAW). In addition, there are mismatches between the employees and the management of the service desk regarding the rewards and recognition system.

Both customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction are vital for the survival of an organization. Performance measures as suggested are effective tools to plan initiatives for improvement.

Satisfaction of employees is closely linked with a performance measurement system which determines appraisal and incentives. A wrong or inappropriate measurement system can bring down motivation levels, creating low productivity, low earnings, low customer satisfaction, and social tensions. There are larger social implications: ineffective performance measures will bring down employment levels because of attrition.

Performance measurement in service is comparatively new. The study described in the paper should prove to be a valuable addition and the paper offers methods to improve performance and action plans to close performance gaps, to enhance customers' experience in a service organizational setting.

Many organizations expect their service engineers, or frontline employees (FLEs), to behave as brand advocates by engaging in favorable communication about the brand and its offerings toward customers. However, this approach is not without risk as customers may be disappointed or even frustrated with brand advocacy behavior in many service encounters. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of FLEs’ brand advocacy on customer satisfaction with the service encounter, and identify the conditions under which the effects are detrimental. This paper specifically considers service issue severity and product newness as contingency conditions.

Building on social identification theory, the paper builds a conceptual model, which is empirically tested using a data set that matches data from service engineers, customers, and archival records from the after-sales service department of a globally operating business-to-business print and document management solutions provider.

This paper finds that brand advocacy behavior harms customer satisfaction especially in service encounters that involve simple service issues (e.g. maintenance) for products that are new to the market. Fortunately, brand identification can compensate this negative effect under many service conditions. While the joint effect of brand identification and advocacy is most beneficial for severe service issues of new products, no effect on customer satisfaction was found for established products.

This paper identifies those service situations in which brand advocacy is advisable and guides managers toward achieving more favorable customer evaluations.

Past research has considered several FLE branding activities in the frontline but the effects of brand advocacy have not been isolated. In addition, most studies have assumed the effects of employee brand-related behaviors on customer satisfaction to be universally positive rather than negative and focused on antecedents and not on moderators and consequences.

Describes, utilising practical examples/results, how Nortel Wireless Networks initially recognised the need to enhance the existing emphasis on purely customer satisfaction to that of an evolving focus on customer loyalty, i.e. retaining customers and generating repeat orders. It also highlights how the business evolved the existing customer satisfaction process taking into account global customer base requirements such as language, culture and respondent influence within the recipient organisation, the process by which this was enacted, and the rationale behind the evolution from a customer satisfaction strategy to that of a customer value management methodology leading towards increased customer loyalty. Details the current process by which customer value management is being rolled out through the organisation.

This study aims to investigate the proposed relationships concerning the supply chain collaboration (SCC) practices and knowledge sharing with organizational performance in the pharmaceutical industry of a developing country.

In total, 203 executives working in various pharmaceutical companies of Bangladesh participated in the study. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to test the proposed research hypotheses.

This study reveals that both knowledge sharing and collaboration practices in the supply chain significantly influence customer satisfaction leading to business competitiveness as evidenced in the superior product quality and new product innovation in this knowledge-intensive industry. It further reveals a statistically significant correlation between SCC and knowledge sharing practices.

This study is performed only on the manufacturers in the pharmaceutical industry from the perspective of a developing country. Future studies could cover other entities operating in a pharmaceutical supply chain.

The findings of the study have significant practical implications due to the fact that the aspect of knowledge sharing exerts influence on customer satisfaction that holds the key to competitive priorities. The managers need to address this issue seriously.

Few studies have been performed vis-a-vis the impact of both SCC and knowledge sharing on the organizational outcomes in the pharmaceutical industry from the perspective of a developing country.

Measurement of customer satisfaction is integral to a culture of continuous improvement. But Nortel, the telecommunications multinational has taken it a step further in developing a practical process and tool kit for the enhancement of customer loyalty through customer value management for competitive advantage.

With the advent of the smart home, where connectivity is facilitated by the internet of things, the provision of guest technologies in hotel service delivery has acquired greater significance. This ubiquity of technology implies that hotels need to view their technological offerings as facilitating guest’s broader lifestyles, and not just services in isolated spaces. This study aims to examine the role of “home” as a socio-technological unit, and how customers’ ownership of technologies at home affects evaluations of guest technologies at hotels.

Data are collected from a sample of US lodging consumers using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Partial least squares, which is a component-based structural equation modeling technique with SmartPLS 3.2, is used to test the hypotheses and meet the study’s objectives.

The findings show that hotel guest technologies should be of a higher standard than those at home, for guests to be satisfied with them. This relationship was robust across all hotel types, and both leisure and business visitation. Also, satisfaction with guest technologies has a relatively stronger impact on customer satisfaction in mid-scale and economy hotels compared to that in upscale and luxury hotels.

By empirically validating “home” as a frame of reference in the evaluations of hospitality experiences, it opens up the potential for future research to study how home affects the evaluation of the hospitality experience as a whole.

Hotels need to identify viable technologies that have the potential to become mainstream, and be ahead of customers in the technology adoption curve.

This study is the first to look at home as a conceptual entity that is integral to hospitality using a socio-psychological lens, and evaluates its impact on evaluations of guest technologies at hotels.

The purpose of this empirical paper is to investigate internal marketing from a behavioural perspective. The impact of internal marketing behaviours, operationalised as an internal market orientation (IMO), on employees' marketing and other in‐role behaviours (IRB) were examined.

Survey data measuring IMO, market orientation and a range of constructs relevant to the nomological network in which they are embedded were collected from the UK retail managers. These were tested to establish their psychometric properties and the conceptual model was analysed using structural equations modelling, employing a partial least squares methodology.

IMO has positive consequences for employees' market‐oriented and other IRB. These, in turn, influence marketing success.

The paper provides empirical support for the long‐held assumption that internal and external marketing are related and that organisations should balance their external focus with some attention to employees. Future research could measure the attitudes and behaviours of managers, employees and customers directly and explore the relationships between them.

Firm must ensure that they do not put the needs of their employees second to those of managers and shareholders; managers must develop their listening skills and organisations must become more responsive to the needs of their employees.

The paper contributes to the scarce body of empirical support for the role of internal marketing in services organisations. For researchers, this paper legitimises the study of internal marketing as a route to external market success; for managers, the study provides quantifiable evidence that focusing on employees' wants and needs impacts their behaviours towards the market.