Search results

This paper extends Lawler's argument (in “An affect theory of social exchange”) that social exchanges can create a sense of shared responsibility to service settings, and predict that inseparability produces customer perceptions of shared responsibility for service outcomes, resulting in greater emotions. When emotions are positive, there should be increased loyalty to the service provider.

A questionnaire was used to obtain cross‐sectional data pertaining to our model's constructs: inseparability, shared responsibility, emotional response, and service loyalty. A structural equation model evaluated the strength of relationships between these constructs.

Support was found for the predicted relationships between inseparability and shared responsibility, shared responsibility and emotions, and emotions and service loyalty.

Inseparability and shared responsibility have not been measured before, and more research is needed to validate and test the scales we develop. Goods are seldom sold without some service attached, and anything that contributes to perceptions of inseparability and shared responsibility may affect emotional responses and brand loyalty for both services and goods.

Service employee training programs should emphasize the customer's role in the service experience to increase perceptions of shared responsibility and to create a positive emotional experience for customers.

This study contributes to the services marketing literature by viewing inseparability as a potential source of service brand loyalty, developing original scales for measuring inseparability and shared responsibility in a services setting, and applying a previously untested theory to a marketing context.

Global procurement of service activities has received an increasing amount of managerial attention in recent years. Service firms seem to have begun sourcing part of their service activities from abroad in much the same way as manufacturing firms have sourced components and finished goods in the past 30 years. However, little is known about the nature of service global sourcing strategy. In this study, we examine the differences in the characteristics of core service activities provided by service firms that market pure service activities versus those service firms that market service activities which involve tangible goods, and the extent to which both types of service firms engage in internal and foreign sourcing of core service activities before the service activities are provided to their customers. The results show, among others, that the level of inseparability of core service activities performed and/or sourced by “pure” service firms is significantly higher than that of “non‐pure” service firms and that “non‐pure” service firms consider foreign sourcing drivers as much more important factors in influencing the decisions in selecting potential suppliers for core service activities. Managerial and theoretical implications are explored.

Four characteristics have been regularly applied to services: intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, perishability (IHIP). More and more exceptions occur which have resulted in substantial criticism. This paper aims to show that each characteristic is valid and useful when related to an individual aspect of services instead of being assigned to services as a single entity.

Based on customer integration, a framework (FTU framework) and a resource typology are developed. These approaches are the theoretical foundation of the analysis.

The FTU framework and a resource typology reveal different aspects of services and allow the assignment of the IHIP characteristics to them. Intangibility is assigned to the service offering, heterogeneity and inseparability to customer resources, and perishability to the facilities of the provider.

The paper is based on a theoretical analysis. Researchers may want to empirically test the approach.

Assigning the IHIP characteristics more clearly to certain aspects of services reveals their origin and makes them more tractable. For example knowing that heterogeneity of services is due to customers resources makes it more predictable and manageable.

Although the IHIP characteristics are both widely cited and criticized, existing research has only tried to find and establish new characteristic(s). The approach of this paper is original because it takes a more trenchant look at them in order to develop a framework identifying aspects of services for which they apply.

The strength of the relationship between uncertainty and the firm′s decision to engage in foreign direct investment (FDI) is moderated by factors such as capital intensity and firm size. Recognizes two types of uncertainty, internal and external. Develops specific hypotheses about how the influence of external uncertainty on FDI is conditioned by certain moderators. Not enough is known about how internal uncertainty affects the FDI to develop specific predictions about moderators. However, these effects are empirically determined. Uses data on US international service firms to test the various effects using logistic regression. Results suggest that the moderators affect both the strength and the direction of the impact that internal and external uncertainty have on foreign direct investment.

As an exploratory study, our research aims to investigate what factors would influence choices of foreign market entry mode by system integration (SI) companies. There are two distinct points. First, we specifically focus on a service industry, i.e., SI (System Integration) industry, which has unique features compared with other industries, yet not been studied extensively. Second, we indirectly examine whether forces influencing firms in an advancing country like Korea are different from those in more advanced countries: in this paper we investigate the Korean cases only, since most of the previous studies viewed this issue from the perspective of advanced countries.

Perceived differences in the composition of goods and services forms the basis of a significant degree of analysis of the firm internationalisation process. In particular, product inseparability is highlighted as a distinguishing feature of service offerings and purports to explain the different approaches to internationalisation strategy adopted by service firms. The research, however, proposes that the division of goods and services into distinct products is outmoded. Rather, it is important to understand the extent of service components that embody, or are embedded in, a product offering. The authors argue that this “service embeddedness” influences the process by which a firm internationalises. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Based on ten case studies of Australian international firms, this paper examines the impact of service embeddedness on a firm’s internationalisation process.

The research underlines that firms approach internationalisation with a view of ensuring that the various activities that combine to form their product offering are available to their international clients.

From an academic perspective, a dichotomous approach to products (good or service) underestimates the role that embedded services have on a firm’s internationalisation process. The research, therefore, has implications for researchers and practitioners as it highlights the importance of delivering products internationally that comprise of both good and embedded service components.

The research develops a deeper understanding of the extent and nature of separability within individual product categories from international production and operations perspectives.

Reports on research concerning the role and nature of communication during the innovation process of new financial services. A causal framework has been developed on the antecedent role of communication in financial service innovation and its impact on success. Project team communication is conceptualized by: intra‐project communication (communication between project team members); and extra‐project communication (boundary‐spanning communication). Examines the effectiveness of these communication flows from an information processing perspective and assesses the amount of uncertainty reduced about customers, competitors, technologies and resources. Also assesses the impact of the reduction of uncertainty on new financial service performance. In view of the context, i.e. financial service innovations, we included the specific characteristics of services (intangibility, inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity and perishability) into our theory and research design. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

This work proposes that a multi-national service company (MNSC) needs to develop dynamic customer-oriented relational capabilities (DCRC), constituting dynamic service customization (DySC), dynamic customer integration (DyCI) and dynamic timeliness of service delivery (DyTSD) capabilities, to gain competitive advantage and performance in its internationalization efforts.

For empirical validation of the framework, developed through qualitative interviews, this study includes multi-cross-sectional data from twelve countries, four each in the category of underdeveloped (Africa), developing (Asia) and developed economies (Europe). Covariance-based structural equation modelling is used to test the hypotheses.

The study supports that DySC, DyCI and DyTSD capabilities have a significant positive influence on firm competitive advantage and performance across economies. The levels of competition intensity and regulatory restrictions, an outcome of the type of economy, have negative intervening effects, with varying intensities across economies.

This work guides the internationalization service managers to leverage DCRC across national borders keeping the state of the economy into consideration.

This work proposes a model of DCRC, based on the Intangibility, Heterogeneity, Inseparability and Perishability (IHIP) service framework, that enables firms to derive competitive advantage and performance across economies with varying environmental conditions.

This paper aims to address the concept of customer advocacy through storytelling, urban legends and folklore. The main purpose of the paper is to identify firms that are frequent subjects of positive customer storytelling, and to examine these firms for common practices.

Following an assessment of various literature, this paper incorporates a two‐stage design. The first stage identifies a set of companies that are frequently the subject of customer service storytelling. The second stage takes a grounded theory approach, utilizing a thematic analysis of data collected in relation to the exemplar firms.

Ten exemplar firms were identified. Themes and sub themes were drawn from data about the firms and categorized into ten theme clusters. A single theme – related to customer and employee obsession – was determined to be the common thread. An assessment of customer and employee practices from the exemplar firms is provided to give illustrations of specific practices and beliefs.

When customers and non‐customers engage in positive dialogue, narrative and storytelling about a business, it is seen as the ultimate marketing outcome. By understanding some of the practices of firms that are subjects of customer service folklore, managers can gain insights into how customer and employee treatment strategies can be incorporated into their businesses.

Storytelling and myths have been examined (and utilised) from the perspective of organizational culture, communication and change – but rarely from the perspective of customer‐to‐customer communications.

To develop and propose a framework, termed here as the value package prism, for assessing the kinds of management processes and flexibility available in providing a range of value packages (services and goods offering mix).

The literature is examined and a set of highly‐visible Latin‐American examples are presented to support the development of the proposed framework.

Provides an additional perspective to the traditional set of characteristics (intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, and perishability) for differentiating services and goods. The proposed framework (stockability, intensity of interaction, simultaneousness of consumption, and ease of performance assessment) and the value prism may be useful to operations managers in developing, planning, organizing, or controlling the production and delivery of services or goods.

Offers a new framework and an applied way to improve operations management by moving away from the extremes of pure services and pure goods to embrace how businesses compete and operate today, by delivering value packages. Provides an approach that facilitates operations managers' understanding and ability to manage substantial changes in the value packages offered to customers.