Kenneth A. Heischmidt

Importance-performance analysis revisited: the role of the factor structure of customer satisfaction

The measurement and management of customer satisfaction has become a key issue in the last decade. Banks must thoroughly understand the needs of their customers and design products and services that meet and exceed their expectations. The importance-performance analysis (IPA) is a widely used analytical technique that yields prescriptions for the management of customer satisfaction. IPA is a two-dimensional grid based on customer perceived importance of service attributes and attribute performance. Depending on the interplay of these two dimensions, four strategies can be derived. Recent research in customer satisfaction, however, suggests that service attributes fall into three categories (basic factors, performance factors, and excitement factors) and that their importance depends on their performance. As a result, the traditional IPA needs to be reconsidered. In this article, the results of an empirical study on the satisfaction with bank services are presented and it is demonstrated that traditional IPA can be misleading. This is attributed to the existence of three satisfaction factors: basic, performance, and excitement factors. The authors then present an analytical procedure to identify these factors and discuss how these findings can be interpreted and how the traditional IPA should be extended and modified. The paper closes with managerial implications of the findings.

Leader-Member Exchange and Job Satisfaction Bond and Predicted Employee Turnover

Results of hypotheses testing using the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) scale and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) indicate that 7 out of 12 LMX measures (explaining 98% of the variance) and 6 out of 20 MSQ measures (explaining 71%-79% of the variance) were positive and significant. Satisfaction with supervision had a significant impact on job satisfaction, explaining 80.7% of the variance. In the near future, employee job satisfaction is predicted to be lower than satisfaction with supervision, due to absence of strong intrinsic motivation. Testing hypotheses on these scales also helped predict future employee turnover in the banking industry.

Rating of Marketing Publications: Impact of Accreditation and Publication History

Abstract In this article, we examine the ratings by marketing department chairpersons of various publications in marketing. In addition to developing a journal ranking based upon these ratings, we examined the impact of the colleges accreditation status and past publication history of the rater. Generally, the perceived value of various publications appears to be influenced by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) status of the institution. Additionally, the prior publication experience of individuals appears to influence their perception of the value of various publications. Implications for faculty promotion and tenure as well as other areas related to marketing education are discussed.

Professional Accounting Services

ABSTRACT The American Association of Public Accountants has allowed accountants to actively advertise for over 22 years. This article provides the reader with the results of a study that looked at the current promotional and advertising practices of CPAs in three different geographic areas of the United States. The results of the study indicate a pattern of behavior by CPAs that favor print advertising and the use of the web pages on the Internet. The CPAs heavily used the yellow pages, newspapers, brochures, and church bulletins. They appear to view the Internet as a source of potential effective communications with current and future clients. The responding accountants seem to practice relationship marketing on the financial, social, and structural levels.

Implementing business ethics: Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is a problem for many organizations. Organizations must understand that sexual harassment lies within the broader context of sex discrimination and inequality of opportunity in the workplace. Sexual harassment is both an illegal and unethical practice. Companies need to implement a policy which respects the rights of individual employees by prohibiting sexual harassment. This policy need to be clearly stated in the company Code of Ethics and enforced rigorously.

Information source preference and dental selection

Previous literature provides insights into the role information source preference plays in consumer selection of products. The results of an empirical investigation provides evidence of the possible relationship among information source preferences with consumer decisions related to dental consumer needs. The primary findings suggested a relationship between certain information source preferences and both a consumer dental care selection situation and certain consumer demographics.