Kai Kristensen

The relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty: Cross-industry differences

(2000). The relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty: Cross-industry differences. Total Quality Management: Vol. 11, No. 4-6, pp. 509-514.

The drivers of customer satisfaction and loyalty: Cross-industry findings from Denmark

What drives customer satisfaction and loyalty? Which drivers have the largest impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty? Are there cross-industry diVerences in the drivers’ impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty? These questions are of great importance to companies. Customer satisfaction must not be a goal in itself, but only a means for improving the company’s performance. Several empirical studies have demonstrated a link between customer satisfaction, loyalty and the economic performance, measured in several ways. For example, return on investments, stock market value and market value added (Anderson et al., 1994; Bohte, 1996; EkloÈ f et al., 1999; Fornell, 1999; Fortune, 1998; Ittner & Larcker, 1996; Kristensen, 1997; Reichheld & Sasser, 1990). A profound knowledge about each driver’s impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty can help companies to optimize the allocation of limited resources. This knowledge will thereby have consequences for the company’s priority-setting and strategy development. The above-mentioned questions are the focus of this paper. The paper reports the development of a Danish Customer Satisfaction Index and the ® rst results from a pilot study. The methodology, which is based on the recently introduced European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI), is shortly presented. By using this ECSI approach, it is possible to obtain information about the levels of satisfaction, to understand customers’ perceptions and the reasons behind these, and to calculate the impact in terms of future loyalty. The drivers’ impact on satisfaction and loyalty is crucial for a company’s future performance. The impacts will vary in strength and oVer good opportunities for exploring possibilities of improving the future competitive situation of the individual company. The paper presents impacts of the drivers on customer satisfaction and loyalty, and industry diVerences are investigated. Managerial implications are discussed brie ̄ y, and consequences of the results for future customer satisfaction research are mentioned.

Customer satisfaction measurement at Post Denmark: Results of application of the European Customer Satisfaction Index Methodology

In this article the ideas behind the European Customer Satisfaction Index are introduced. The methodology is explained and various methods of estimation are discussed. The practical use of the index is shown on a data set collected for Post Denmark and the results for both the private and the business-to-business markets are shown. Special emphasis is put on the idea of combining the generic measurement of customer satisfaction with specific measurements chosen specifically for Post Denmark. Various ways of approaching this problem are discussed and a number of suggestions are given.

Enhancing importance‐performance analysis

Purpose – The interpretation of the importance/performance map is based on an assumption of independence between importance and performance but many studies question the validity of this assumption. The aim of this research is to develop a new typology for job satisfaction attributes as well as a new importance/performance map that can be an aid for organizations when they prioritize their improvement actions based on a job satisfaction study.Design/methodology/approach – A typology for possible relationships between importance and performance in job satisfaction studies is developed based on theoretical considerations. This typology is then applied and validated on approximately 10,000 responses from the European Employee Index 2002. Ultimately a new importance/performance map for priority setting in job satisfaction studies is developed based on the new typology for possible relationships between importance and performance.Findings – The result of this analysis showed that the assumption of independence...

Customer satisfaction in European food retailing

Abstract Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is becoming an increasingly important factor in modern retailing—a market characterized by slow growth and intense competition. Big non-European chains such as Walmart are already present in some countries and consider buying some of the retail chains in other countries, e.g. in the Scandinavian countries. This development will demand even more focus on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in order to stay in business and may also demand that existing actors on the market place form new coalitions. Promising new partners may be identified, partly based upon measures identifying how potential partners are perceived by the customers. Based on results from the European Customer Satisfaction study, a comparative analysis of customer satisfaction in Europe is conducted. Some specific Danish results are shown and the relationship between customer loyalty, supermarket type and ownership structure is studied. The relationship between results after taxes and customer loyalty is documented.

Quality management practices: a comparative study between East and West

This paper compares quality management practices in manufacturing companies in the East and the West. It uses data collected from three countries in the East, namely Japan, Korea and Taiwan and compares these with data collected from four countries in the West, namely Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Australia. Twenty‐five Japanese companies, 105 Korean companies, 48 Taiwanese companies, 65 Danish companies, 88 Swedish companies, 18 Finnish companies and 62 companies from Australia responded to the questionnaire. Comparison between the East and the West is carried out on the following: formulation and communication of a quality policy; education and training of employees in quality management; top management participation in quality activities, quality motivation and suggestions; and the use of quality tools and methods. The comparison shows that quality management practices are relatively more widespread in the Eastern companies than in the Western companies. The key differences between the East and the West are identified and suggestions made to close the gap.

On measurement of customer satisfaction

Based on a theoretical argument where company profit as a function of total customer satisfaction is maximized, a new system for measuring and balancing customer satisfaction with respect to individual quality characteristics is developed. A procedure for implementation is suggested and the results of a practical case-study are reported.

The criterion weights of the EFQM excellence model

This paper examines the weight structure of the EFQM excellence model. This is done through a survey among 756 chief executive officers from Danish companies who responded to a self‐assessment questionnaire. The data from this survey have been analysed through factor score regression based on confirmatory factor analysis on 5,000 bootstrapped samples. The analysis shows that the perceived criterion weights vary from the current allocation in the EFQM excellence model. This deviation is so substantial that the allocation of weights between the enabler and the result block vary considerably from the actual allocation in the EFQM excellence model. Furthermore, it seems as if Danish companies perceive the enabler criteria as equally important but this is not the case for the result criteria.

The Drivers of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. The Case of Denmark 2000–2002

This paper analyses the time dependency as well as industry differences of the drivers of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the EPSI rating framework. The analysis is carried out on data from Danish mobile phone companies, banks and supermarkets from 2000 to 2002. The analyses indicated that the model structure of the EPSI Rating framework is stable across industries as well as stable across time with respect to the overall effects on customer loyalty. The analyses furthermore revealed that there is an increasing effect of image on customer satisfaction over the three year time span and that service quality is more important for banks than for supermarkets. Finally the overall effect of expectation turned out to be insignificant.

Private versus public sector excellence

This paper analyses the differences between private and public sector organisations in Denmark in relation to the penetration of holistic management models, how companies achieve excellent results and the empirical weight structure of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model. The results show that the penetration of holistic management models is greater among public organisations. Furthermore private and public organisations do not achieve excellent results in the same way. Private companies put higher emphasis on the systems dimension whereas public organisations put higher emphasis on the people dimension. In relation to the empirical weight structure of the EFQM excellence model two significant differences were found. Private companies put higher emphasis on the criteria “leadership” and “policy and strategy” than public organisations.