Barbara Caemmerer

Customer feedback mechanisms and organisational learning in service operations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents and consequences of the implementation of different customer feedback mechanisms with regard to their contribution to organisational learning that leads to service improvement.Design/methodology/approach – A critical case organisation is chosen to explore the link between the implementation of customer feedback mechanisms and organisational learning from a middle management and employee perspective. Method triangulation is adopted, gathering qualitative and quantitative data.Findings – Organisational learning in relation to service improvement is influenced by the interplay between the way data are gathered through customer feedback mechanisms and implemented at a branch or business unit level. The implementation depends on attitudes of middle management towards such mechanisms.Research limitations/implications – Future studies might investigate whether the findings can be replicated in other operational settings and triangulate the data wi...

The planning and implementation of integrated marketing communications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the tasks involved in the planning and implementation of integrated marketing communications using an interesting, real‐life case study.Design/methodology/approach – A mix of secondary and primary research is used: analysis of academic literature, market research data and organisational data, as well as interviews conducted with members of the Renault Marketing Team.Findings – The planning and implementation of integrated marketing communications is complex and involves a wide range of different management tasks. These include: situation analysis and identification of marketing communications opportunities; choosing the right marketing communications agency; campaign development and implementation, including the selection of the marketing communications mix, creative execution and media planning; campaign evaluation; planning of follow‐up campaigns; and managerial coordination between all tasks and parties involved to ensure integration of marketing com...

The application of marketing principles to a social marketing campaign

Purpose – This paper aims to explain how the principles of marketing can be applied to the planning and implementation of a social marketing campaign.Design/methodology/approach – A wealth of secondary sources are reviewed and discussed, including academic literature, market research and campaign data.Findings – The planning and implementation of social marketing campaigns is complex and requires a wide range of tasks. For one, the case study illustrates that identifying the right themes is crucial in order to reach the desired target audiences to create attitudinal and behavioural change. Further, a coherent implementation of the marketing mix is necessary in order to ensure campaign effectiveness over time. As social marketing campaigns often need to reach a wide range of audiences, the task of managing marketing initiatives in these contexts is more complex and requires constant evaluation in order to identify levels of effectiveness and areas for improvement over long periods of time.Originality/value...

The Franchise Dilemma: Entrepreneurial Characteristics, Relational Contracting, and Opportunism in Hybrid Governance

Using franchise data, we identify that entrepreneurial characteristics of franchisees partially impact on their opportunistic tendencies. Further, relational contracting increases franchisee opportunism by strengthening the opportunism‐enhancing impact of entrepreneurial characteristics. These findings point to a key dilemma franchisors need to be aware of: Entrepreneurially minded franchisees who might be better at exploiting market opportunities for their units may also behave more opportunistically, if given the chance through a more relational contracting regime. At the same time, if they perceive the contractual framework as being too rigid, they may be less able to leverage their capabilities, become dissatisfied, and exit the system.

Dimensions of Satisfaction in Retail Settings: A Research Note

ABSTRACT Taking issue with the prevalent practice of measuring customer satisfaction with a single global measurement item, this article stresses the importance of measuring customer satisfaction through its underlying dimensions, especially in retail settings. Empirical results of a survey of 351 consumers demonstrate that (a) consumer satisfaction with retail stores has 6 key dimensions, (b) the suggested dimensions of retail satisfaction predict overall satisfaction, and (c) the dimensions of retail satisfaction have a greater effect on overall satisfaction than SERVQUAL dimensions. However, the predictive power of the dimensions of retail satisfaction is still fairly low. Implications for retail management as well as academic research are outlined.

An Exploration of Assimilating Service Relation Strategies in the Private and the Public Sector

Although there has been an extensive discussion about the appropriateness of the adoption of private sector service relation strategies in the public sector, only a few studies have investigated the extent of the convergence between private and public sector service practices. Therefore, an in-depth comparison between organizations from both sectors was conducted, exploring prevalent service orientations and service relation strategies. The main contribution of this article is that it provides empirical evidence for inter-sectoral assimilation of service aspirations and practices induced by increasing pressure on private and public services.

Growth, uniformity, local responsiveness, and system-wide adaptation in multiunit franchising

Using the resource‐based view framework, we investigate the link between multiunit franchising (MUF) and performance on four key challenges in franchise chain management: growth, uniformity, local responsiveness, and system‐wide adaptation. Our findings support the assertion that system growth is positively related to MUF rate within a system, in particular in relation to geographic expansion. Interestingly, while uniformity does not seem to be related to MUF rate, we find marginal support for an inverted u‐shaped relationship between system‐wide adaptation and MUF rate. Furthermore, the data suggest that local responsiveness and MUF rate are related in a u‐shaped function.

Public Service Satisfaction, Citizen Trust, and Participation: An Abstract

While extensive research has been carried out to explain the phenomenon of institutional isomorphism, less is known about the emergence of institutions across different structural fields such as the private versus the public sector. There is also limited research into examining desired outcomes of implementing certain practices within organizations, which is particularly pertinent as outcomes differ largely contingent upon the field. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate around institutional isomorphism by investigating how private sector practices can be adopted by the public sector. To be more precise, we investigate how effective customer relationship management (CRM) practices from the private sector can be adopted by public sector bodies—in order to manage relationships with citizens—and how such an adoption is related to important outcomes such as citizen trust and identification and, arguably most importantly, participation.

The Market Orientation of Micro-organizations: An Abstract

The broad underlying understanding of what market orientation (MO) represents is widely accepted in the literature: A strategic orientation of the marketing concept, as it is a conscious and strategic decision to be responsive in the market. This orientation, as researched in the context of large organizations, may manifest itself through certain behaviors—including intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness (Kohli and Jaworski 1993), as well as customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination—and the profit and long-term focus of the organization (Narver and Slater 1990). It is this strategic, long-term approach to the marketing concept which raises questions about the application of MO to the context of micro-organizations: Micro-firms are defined as having less than ten employees and often fall into the realm of the entrepreneurial literature. They have a number of characteristics in common, such as a lack of resources and a lack of skills or knowledge in management. As such, the way these organizations are managed may be very informal, based on cognitive and emotional responses of one person to the organizational environment, as well as a lack of processes and resources. No assumption can be made that there is a long-term focus with the aim of growing the organization or its profits. The founders often act as CEO and play a dominant role in the firm’s decision-making so that their worldviews affect the direction of the firm (Sidik 2012). In line with this notion, individuals may not set out to follow the well-developed strategy—actions—performance models, nor do they necessarily follow a rational goal-driven model. Instead, they may work from the ground up by looking what can be done without having a strategic approach. It is thus the aim of this study to explore how the MO concept and its implementation apply to micro-organizational contexts.

A Multi-Level Study on Franchisee- and System-Level Antecedents of Opportunism and Satisfaction

Franchising as a business model has gained increased economic importance and research attention over the last three decades. While prominent in many industries, franchising is now particularly common in sectors where production and consumption has to take place simultaneously, and which need to operate through diffused distribution networks with outlets that are located close to customers and managed by individuals with local knowledge. It is for this reason that the success of such operations strongly depends on the proper selection of franchisees, as well as the implementation of practices to manage the relationship with franchisees. Therefore, the majority of authors in this field of research have based their studies on transaction cost economics (TCE) reasoning, which recognizes the importance of safeguarding against adverse selection and opportunistic behavior (moral hazard) in economic partnerships.