Jens Hogreve

Revenue and Profit Implications of Industrial Service Strategies

In many business markets, manufacturers seek service-led growth to secure their existing positions and continue to grow in increasingly competitive environments. Using longitudinal data from 513 German mechanical engineering companies and latent growth curve modeling, this study offers a fine-grained view of the financial performance implications of industrial service strategies. By disentangling the revenue and profit implications of industrial service strategies, findings reveal that such strategies increase both the level and the growth of manufacturing firms’ revenue streams. In contrast, they reduce the level but improve the growth of manufacturers’ profits. Results further suggest that services supporting the clients’ actions (SSC) and services supporting the supplier’s product (SSP) affect performance outcomes in different ways. SSCs directly affect revenue and profit streams. In turn, SSPs display only indirect effects on financial performance mediated through SSCs. A moderator analysis identifies two organizational contingencies that facilitate service business success: Only companies with decentralized decision-making processes and a high share of loyal customers can expect favorable financial results from industrial service strategies. In summary, this research provides significant insights and managerial guidance for turning service strategies into financial successes.

Twenty Years of Service Guarantee Research A Synthesis

During the past two decades, service guarantees have received increased attention as a means for service firms to attract and retain customers and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Although many academic studies, referring to diverse service guarantee aspects, have appeared during this time, a synthesis of research is needed to clarify what researchers have learned about service guarantees and what remains unknown. To evaluate the state of published research on service guarantees, 109 articles published from 1985 to 2008 are collected and analyzed. The resultant review reveals a significant change in the type of research being performed, including a shift toward greater interest in the impact of service guarantees on consumer behavior and service firms. However, a significant shortfall marks empirical work directed toward the internal and operational effects of service guarantees. The effects of service guarantees on service performance, service recovery, and return on service guarantee investments are topics in need of further research.

The Service–Profit Chain: A Meta-Analytic Test of a Comprehensive Theoretical Framework

The service–profit chain (SPC) has served as a prominent guidepost for service managers and researchers alike. This meta-analysis provides the first comprehensive test of the SPC, showing that all the proposed links are statistically significant and substantial. However, the effect sizes vary considerably, partly according to the type of service provided. Meta-analytic structural equation models show that internal service quality translates into service performance through various mechanisms beyond employee satisfaction, and they highlight the importance of the service encounter and customer relationship characteristics for customer responses. The findings not only indicate the need to integrate complementary paths in the SPC framework but also challenge the implicit SPC rationale that firms should always maximize employee satisfaction and external service quality to optimize firm performance.

Do Service Guarantees Guarantee Greater Market Value

Service guarantees are an important feature of many service offerings because consumers recognize greater risk associated with the purchase of services than with the purchase of goods. Despite substantial service guarantee research in the past two decades though, no extant study has examined the return on service guarantee investments. To fill this gap, the authors examine the effect of a service guarantee on a firm’s market value by identifying new service guarantee announcements, then using these announcements as events in an event study. The results show that simply offering a service guarantee does not result in greater market value, as measured by a change in stock market returns, for the offering firm. Instead, the market value of a service guarantee depends on its scope and the process required to invoke the guarantee. In particular, service guarantees that are specific in scope or automatically invoked lead to significantly greater market value than unconditional or customer-invoked guarantees, respectively. In addition, these differences are moderated by firm size. From a theoretical point of view, this study extends signaling theory to explain the differential effects of service guarantees, depending on their design.

Explaining social exchanges in information-based online communities (IBOCs)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize platforms for members to exchange information by information-based online communities (IBOCs, like LinkedIn or Facebook). Because member participation is vital for IBOCs, this research aims to identify and validate factors that drive member participation. Design/methodology/approach – With reference to social exchange theory the authors developed a model of antecedents of participation in IBOCs that was tested with survey data using PLS. Because some of the results contradicted the theory, the authors examined those results in a mainly qualitative study with online community providers. These experts offered explanations that inform the discussion and managerial implications. Findings – Role clarity, provider’s responsiveness, and enjoyment all influence member participation. Contrary to theory, the cooperation of other members affects member participation negatively while a member’s ability shows no effect. Practical implications – This research has sev...

Relative measures in service research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce an alternative novel approach to measurement of customer perceptions of the service experience that links closely with customer loyalty outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper draws upon prior theory and empirical research to investigate the relevance of using relative metrics compared to absolute metrics in service research. Findings – The findings upon which this paper draws upon show that measuring customer satisfaction, likelihood to recommend, brand preference using absolute metrics explain a very small per cent of the variance in key customer outcome measures such as share of wallet. Instead, a relative approach to these and other measures in service research is proposed. Practical implications – Although business practice has embraced relative measurement much more extensively than has scientific research, the vast majority of customer experience measurement programs today continue to employ absolute measures resulting in sub...

Building on the past: advancing theory in services through meta-analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a reflection on the role that meta-analysis can play in theory building for service phenomena. Design/methodology/approach – The paper illustrates the benefits of conducting meta-analysis, presents its basic steps, and then uses an example to illustrate how meta-analytic findings can be used to enrich and develop theory. Findings – Meta-analytic findings allow identifying gaps in current theories, thereby offering the opportunity to develop new research. Theoretical advancement through meta-analysis can imply theory borrowing, mutual theoretical development with other disciplines, intradisciplinary and multidisciplinary theorizing. Practical implications – Experienced researchers might use this essay to better understand how meta-analysis can be used to generate new relevant research. Young researchers and PhD students may benefit from a greater use of meta-analysis to gain a thorough knowledge of their research topic and about the areas that require further...

Die Wirkungen von Zertifikaten auf das Kaufverhalten bei Dienstleistungsangeboten

Guteoder Qualitatszeichen fur Produkte sind bereits seit vielen Jahren bekannt und bewahrt. Siegel, wie das CMA-Gutezeichen fur landwirtschaftliche Erzeugnisse mit einer hohen Qualitat oder ein Testurteil der Stiftung Warentest, dienen Konsumenten als Orientierungshilfen, die sie bei ihrer Kaufentscheidung unterstutzen. Beschaffenheit, Leistungsumfang und Qualitat des Produktes sind fur den Konsumenten auf diese Weise leichter zu bestimmen. Auch im Dienstleistungsbereich finden sich mittlerweile mehr und mehr Anbieter, welche die Qualitat ihres Angebotes, bestimmte Leistungseigenschaften oder die Zuverlassigkeit ihrer Dienstleistung durch einen unabhangigen Dritten uberprufen und besiegeln lassen. So kommuniziert beispielsweise die Commerzbank die Objektivitat ihres Fondsauswahlprozesses uber ein neues TUV-Gutesiegel (Irle 2005). Die SEB Bank hingegen wirbt mit einem TUV-Siegel bezuglich der Zufriedenheit ihrer Kunden (Hanser 2005).

When The Whole World is Listening – an Exploratory Investigation of Individual Complaints on Social Media Platforms

Social media offer consumers a public stage to voice their dissatisfaction to a global audience. Negative service experiences can therefore go viral in the twinkling of an eye. Hence, they can seriously damage a company’s reputation (States 2009). Consumers use social media platforms with little or no physical and mental costs to interact with firms and talk about companies with other users on a daily basis (Fischer/Langner 2008; van Noort/Willemsen 2012). Due to the increasing prevalence of fast Internet access, smartphones, and the public nature of communication in the social web, conversations can occur beyond geographic constraints (Kane et al. 2009; Boyd et al. 2010).

Dienstleistungsgarantien als Instrument zur Steuerung der Kundenintegration

In jungster Zeit werden Dienstleistungsgarantien in Management und Wissenschaft als ein innovatives Marketinginstrument angesehen, mit dessen Hilfe Dienstleistungsanbieter Wettbewerbsvorteile sichern und ausbauen konnen (Wirtz/Kum 2004). So bieten beispielsweise die Munchner Stadtwerke ihren Kunden eine Garantie an, in der sie die Bearbeitung aller Anfragen innerhalb eines bestimmten Zeitraumes zusagen (o.V. 2006). Die Bremer Strasenbahn AG entschadigt ihre Kunden mit einem kostenlosen Tagesticket, wenn der Bus oder die Strasenbahn mehr als 15 Minuten Verspatung hat. Das Management mancher Hotelketten, wie beispielsweise der Choice Hotels, verspricht, Unannehmlichkeiten wahrend eines Aufenthaltes sofort zur Zufriedenheit des Gastes abzustellen oder bei Nichtzufriedenheit kein Entgelt zu verlangen (siehe Abbildung 1). Open image in new window Abbildung 1 Beispiele fur Dienstleistungsgarantien (Quellen: Stadtwerke Munchen; Bremer Strasenbahn AG; Choice Hotels, UK)