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Article
Publication date: 6 June 2016

Musa Pinar, Tulay Girard, Paul Trapp and Zeliha Eser

The purpose of this paper is to examine customer, management, and contact personnel perceptions of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and its dimensions utilizing a services…

3342

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine customer, management, and contact personnel perceptions of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and its dimensions utilizing a services branding triangle framework in the banking industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from customers, managers, and contact personnel of three types of banks in Turkey – state, private, and foreign.

Findings

The study finds significant external branding gaps between the perceptions of managers and customers and interactive branding gaps between the perceptions of contact personnel and customers, but no internal branding gaps between the perceptions of managers and contact personnel with respect to CBBE dimensions.

Research limitations/implications

The sample was limited to Turkish adult citizens of a single major metropolitan area in Turkey and bank personnel in three cities.

Originality/value

The services branding triangle framework used in this study allows service brand managers to understand not only the differences in the perceptions of brand equity dimensions of bank customers, managers, and contact personnel, but also provides an opportunity to identify the external, internal, and interactive branding gaps of each of the brand equity dimensions. The findings provide an empirical test for the three promises theory and identifying potential branding gaps resulting from differences between consumer, management, and contact personnel perceptions of CBBE and its dimensions. The paper discusses the implications of the findings in developing a strong services brand and brand equity.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2022

Feng Hu, Rohit Trivedi and Thorsten Teichert

This study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables…

1054

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables hotel managers to use introduced methodology to measure and monitor frontline employees’ role behavior and optimize their service.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ approach links text mining and importance-performance analysis with role theory’s conceptual foundations taking into account the hotel industry’s specifics to assess the effect of frontline hotel employees’ actions on consumer satisfaction and to derive specific management implications for the hospitality sector.

Findings

This study identifies different actors involved in hotel frontline interactions revealing distinct role behaviors that characterize consumers’ perspectives of service encounters with different role types associated with front-office employees. This research also identifies role performance related to role behavior to improve service encounters.

Practical implications

Customer–employee interactions can be assessed by user-generated contents (UGC). Performance evaluations relate to frontline employee roles associated with distinct role scripts, whereby different hotel segments require tailored role designs. Insights of this study can be used for service optimization, market positioning as well as for improving human resource management practices in the hotel industry.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the service encounter literature by applying role theory in the text mining of UGC to assess frontline employees as actors and the effects of their actions on service quality delivery.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2011

Dorothea Alewell, Sven Hauff, Katrin Weiland and Kirsten Thommes

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how characteristics of the HR department and HR work, which relate to resource availability and resource needs, influence HR outsourcing…

1555

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how characteristics of the HR department and HR work, which relate to resource availability and resource needs, influence HR outsourcing. The study examines the subject of human resource (HR) outsourcing.

Design/methodology/approach

The potential influence of firms' characteristics on HR outsourcing is analysed theoretically and empirically. The dataset (n=1,021) covers a broad spectrum of personnel services and is based on computer‐aided telephone interviews with chief executives and human resource managers of German firms.

Findings

Generally, we find that firm size and previous reorganization activities significantly raise the probability of an HR outsourcing. In contrast, there is no overall significant influence of central characteristics of HR work or the HR department on HR outsourcing in general.

Originality/value

Although there is a trend toward the outsourcing of work, little research is being done on the relationship between the expected effects of outsourcing, the make‐or‐buy decision of decision makers, and the firm's characteristics themselves. This study sheds some more light on the relationship between HR outsourcing and firms' characteristics and finds some interesting relationships.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1999

Ronald James Ferguson, Michèle Paulin, Charles Pigeassou and Romain Gauduchon

This study assessed the technical (tangible) and functional (human interaction) quality of services in a first‐class international health resort and related these to service…

2732

Abstract

This study assessed the technical (tangible) and functional (human interaction) quality of services in a first‐class international health resort and related these to service management effectiveness. Service management is effective when customers judge the overall service quality to be good, they are highly satisfied, they are willing to recommend the firm to others and they intend to re‐purchase or are predisposed to purchase additional services from the firm. The technical and functional aspects of services quality and their relation to service management effectiveness, were found to be different between the core and supplementary services, between customers and service personnel and between customers with and without experience. The results support the statement that competitive advantage in this industry can be obtained by improving the functional aspects of services management, by better performance of supplementary services and by reducing the gap in perceptions between customers and contact personnel.

Details

Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-4529

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2002

Nha Nguyen and Gaston Leblanc

The purpose of this article is to evaluate empirically the impact of contact personnel and physical environment on the perception of corporate image by new clients by using the…

8467

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to evaluate empirically the impact of contact personnel and physical environment on the perception of corporate image by new clients by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis capable of exploring the potential presence of higher order and interaction terms. With data collected in two service industries, namely 272 new clients of a life insurance company and 238 travellers in a hotel, a linear relationship with corporate image was statistically confirmed for contact personnel, while a potential curvilinear relationship was found for physical environment. The results reveal the significant effect of both contact personnel and physical environment, as well as their interactive effects on corporate image. The managerial and research implications of the reported study are discussed.

Details

International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-4233

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2001

Pauliina Hirvonen and Nina Helander

Studies customer relationships in professional services. A framework is proposed for managing professional service relationships in a way that creates value for both parties of…

1602

Abstract

Studies customer relationships in professional services. A framework is proposed for managing professional service relationships in a way that creates value for both parties of the relationship. Furthermore, through the framework the marketer is able to discover also those customer needs that the customer itself is not even aware of. The framework and the benefits of joint value creation are illustrated through a case study of an organisation providing learning and personnel development services.

Details

The TQM Magazine, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0954-478X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2013

Kim Ngoc Phan and Nabil Ghantous

Vietnamese banks have relied in the past on short‐term promotional techniques and attractive interest rates instead of developing strong brands. This research investigates how…

5535

Abstract

Purpose

Vietnamese banks have relied in the past on short‐term promotional techniques and attractive interest rates instead of developing strong brands. This research investigates how customers’ perceptions of bank brands drive their trust and loyalty. It also addresses how customers’ experience and their social compliance moderate the impact of their brand perceptions on their trust and loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

Customers’ perceptions are measured through brand associations based on the bank's functional elements, its personnel and its overall image. A structural equation model linking brand associations to customers’ trust and loyalty is tested using data from a sample of 557 Vietnamese bank customers.

Findings

The results indicate that the personnel‐based brand associations are the strongest driver of trust and have a negative direct impact on loyalty, while functional and corporate‐based associations have a stronger impact on loyalty. Trust strongly mediates brand associations’ impact on loyalty. In addition, corporate‐based associations have a stronger impact on trust and loyalty for customers with little direct experience with the bank and personnel‐based associations have a stronger impact for socially compliant customers.

Practical implications

The findings indicate how different brand associations can be leveraged to trigger customers’ trust and loyalty in the Vietnamese banking sector. Moderating effects of the extent of customers’ experience imply that bank brand managers should integrate the customer relationship lifecycle in their segmentation/targeting and in their customer‐brand relationship management.

Originality/value

This study highlights the potential of branding in the Vietnamese banking industry as a strategy to build strong customer relationships. It also strongly points out the need for brand managers to take into consideration the Vietnamese context and more precisely customers’ lack of banking experience and their tendency to social compliance.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1986

The Nature of Business Policy Business policy — or general management — is concerned with the following six major functions:

2052

Abstract

The Nature of Business Policy Business policy — or general management — is concerned with the following six major functions:

Details

Management Decision, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2020

Jill Manthorpe and Stephanie Bramley

This purpose of this paper is to review evidence about the barriers and facilitators to ex-service personnel obtaining employment within social care roles. Social care has…

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to review evidence about the barriers and facilitators to ex-service personnel obtaining employment within social care roles. Social care has long-standing, well-recognised problems of staff recruitment and retention. Policymakers and employers are exploring if there are untapped sources of potential employees. Some ex-service personnel may be interested in exploring a move to social care work with older people but may face barriers to such a move which may need to be addressed.

Design/methodology/approach

Databases and grey literature were searched systematically to provide an overview of evidence on this topic. In total, 23 articles were included in the review.

Findings

A narrative analysis revealed barriers to ex-service personnel obtaining employment within social care not only related to their previous occupation, health status and identity but also facilitators related to the sector’s severe recruitment challenges and the transferable skills of ex-service personnel. Evidence suggests that learning from health services may be highly relevant and transferable.

Research limitations/implications

This review was confined to English language studies published between 2008 and 2018. Few mentioned specific user or client groups.

Originality/value

This review identified evidence suggesting that learning from health services may be highly relevant and transferable to the social care sector so as to facilitate the transition of more ex-service personnel into social care work with older people.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1991

Ian Kessler

The range of pressures which has impacted on localgovernment in the 1980s has forced the emergenceof dynamic and sophisticated forms of industrialrelations at the workplace level…

Abstract

The range of pressures which has impacted on local government in the 1980s has forced the emergence of dynamic and sophisticated forms of industrial relations at the workplace level. It is clear, however, that with conceptual tools forged to analyse developments in the private manufacturing sector, very few attempts have been made by academics, policy‐makers or commentators to discuss the structures and processes which have emerged. The character of the changes at authority level are considered using material from a survey of personnel officers in over a third of authorities in England and Wales and within the context of prevailing analytical and theoretical frameworks. It is argued that the distinctive development of the personnel function in local government has resulted in a managerial process which conforms to key features of the human resource management (HRM) model, in particular the devolution of personnel responsibilities to line managers and the integration of personnel concerns at the strategic level. However, other features of this model are less in evidence. The search for employee commitment and flexibility remains patchy and often appears as a practical response to labour market and competitive pressures. Furthermore, collectivist features of employee relations remain well entrenched with the continued encouragement of both union membership and involvement. This is not to deny change beyond the HRM model. Thus, it is clear that established joint machinery is becoming increasingly unable to deal with ongoing issues while the trade unions are gradually being forced into a consultative rather than a bargaining role.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

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