Nicholas J. Ashill

An examination of the relationship between service quality dimensions, overall internet banking service quality and customer satisfaction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among three dimensions of service quality that influence overall internet banking service quality and its subsequent effect on customer satisfaction in a New Zealand banking context.Design/methodology/approach – Internet banking service customers of a national bank in New Zealand completed a self‐administered questionnaire. Data obtained from the customers were analysed using the SEM‐based partial least squares (PLS) methodology.Findings – The results show significant relationships among online customer service quality, online information system quality, banking service product quality, overall internet banking service quality and customer satisfaction.Originality/value – Little attention has been given in the literature to understanding the service quality dimensions that influence overall internet banking service quality and the specific outcome of customer satisfaction. By expanding previous research in internet banking service quality...

The Effect of Management Commitment to Service Quality on Frontline Employees' Job Attitudes, Turnover Intentions and Service Recovery Performance in a New Public Management Context

We present and test a model of behavioural job outcomes grounded in Bagozzis (1992) reformulation of attitude theory in the important and novel context of a former public sector government department that has undergone corporatisation. Frontline employees (FLEs) completed a self‐administered questionnaire on how factors characterising management commitment to service quality (MCSQ) affect their job satisfaction and organisational commitment, and how these job attitudes impact service recovery performance and turnover intentions. Data obtained from the FLEs were analysed using the SEM‐based Partial Least Squares (PLS) methodology. Results suggest there is a significant influence of MCSQ on job attitudes, which in turn influence service recovery performance and turnover intentions. Implications of the results and further research directions are discussed.

Antecedents and outcomes of service recovery performance in a public health‐care environment

Purpose – This paper proposes investigating a model of service recovery performance in a public health‐care setting.Design/methodology/approach – Frontline hospital staff (administrative and nursing staff) representing a range of out‐patient departments/clinics in a New Zealand inner‐city public hospital completed a self‐administered questionnaire on organizational variables affecting their service recovery efforts, job satisfaction and intention to resign. Data obtained from the hospital were analyzed using the SEM‐based partial least squares (PLS) methodology.Findings – The results show significant relationships between perceived managerial attitudes, work environment perceptions, service recovery performance and outcomes variables.Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the study are noted including the generalizability of the findings within a public health‐care environment. Suggestions for future research include an examination of other variables potentially important in service recovery e...

Measuring State, Effect, and Response Uncertainty: Theoretical Construct Development and Empirical Validation

An important contribution to the literature on perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) is Milliken’s distinction between state uncertainty, effect uncertainty, and response uncertainty. However, despite its appealing logic in capturing the types of uncertainty managers may experience as they seek to understand and respond to changes in an organization’s environment, there has been no full and rigorous psychometric development and testing of scales to measure the three constructs. Using a two-phase empirical study, this research seeks to develop and test such scales in terms of dimensionality, reliability, and validity (including nomological validity). The results suggest that managers do make a meaningful distinction between different types of uncertainty, that it is worthwhile measuring all three constructs (as they have differential impacts on outcome variables), and that there are linkages between them. Managerial contributions and implications for future research are also discussed.

Job resourcefulness, symptoms of burnout and service recovery performance: an examination of call centre frontline employees

Purpose – This study aims to extend previous research on the relationship between role stressors and symptoms of burnout by examining the influence of job resourcefulness as a situational personality trait in the burnout process, and its impact on service recovery performance. Using data from call centre frontline employees (FLEs) in New Zealand, it seeks to investigate the moderating influence of job resourcefulness on the relationships between role stressors, burnout symptoms and FLE service recovery performance.Design/methodology/approach – In this study, call centre FLEs completed a self‐administered online survey questionnaire on role stressors, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, job resourcefulness and service recovery performance. Data were analyzed using structural equations modelling (SEM) by means of LISREL 8.53.Findings – The results show that job resourcefulness buffers both the dysfunctional effects of role stressors on symptoms of burnout and the effects of role stressors on FLE servic...

Symptoms of burnout and service recovery performance

Purpose – This study aims to expand on previous research on the antecedents and outcomes of burnout, and to examine the role of job resourcefulness as a situational personality trait with the capacity to ameliorate burnout. Using data from Call Center frontline employees (FLEs) in a New Zealand banking context, the paper seeks to investigate the direct influence of job resourcefulness in a model examining the antecedents and outcomes of burnout.Design/methodology/approach – Call Center FLEs completed a self‐administered questionnaire on job demands, job resources, burnout symptoms, job resourcefulness and service recovery performance. Data obtained from the FLEs were analyzed using the SEM‐based Partial Least Squares (PLS) methodology.Findings – Eight of the 14 advanced hypotheses were supported and the results suggest that job resourcefulness plays a significant role in burnout and in influencing Call Center FLE service recovery performance.Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the study inc...

An Exploratory Study into the Impact of Components of Brand Equity and Country of Origin Effects on Purchase Intention

ABSTRACT Due to rapid globalization of markets and products, it is necessary for managers and academics alike to understand the importance of the drivers of global brands. In this paper we extend Kellers (1998) conceptualization of brand equity to incorporate Country and Brand Origin (CBO) and Country of Origin (COO) effects on purchase intention. A structural equation modelling approach is used to test a conceptual model that hypothesizes relationships between these variables for the product category of watches. The results show that the components of brand equity through the effect of brand loyalty are three times more important than COO effects. A direct recommendation of this study is that for this product category, marketing managers can choose a country of manufacture for cost efficiencies regardless of the associations that consumers have with that country.

Management commitment to service quality and service recovery performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a model of management commitment to service quality (MCSQ) and service recovery performance in the context of public and private hospitals in New Zealand.Design/methodology/approach – In a cross‐sectional survey grounded in Bagozzis reformulation of attitude theory, frontline hospital employees (FHEs) were asked about how MCSQ impacted on their service recovery performance in both the public and private sectors.Findings – The results of the study suggest that the relationship between MCSQ and service recovery performance is mediated by organizational commitment. With the exception of the relationship between MCSQ and organizational commitment, there are no differences between FHEs in the private and public sectors.Originality/value – Very little attention has been given to a comparative examination of those managerial practices critical for improving frontline employee service recovery efforts in a public and private healthcare context. Our research a...

Strategic marketing planning: a grounded investigation

Using grounded theory, the authors present an inductive model of strategic marketing planning (SMP) which extends the domain of the marketing planning literature. Based on a field investigation of four large organisations drawn from a single industry using a multiple‐case design, the authors present findings using the views and perspectives of those involved in SMP development and implementation, and identify and group relevant variables into seven major themes or “core categories” that characterise the SMP process. The authors integrate a broad literature search, both within and without of marketing, with the exploratory research results, to develop a grounded theoretical description of multiple layered factors that characterise a SMP process. This grounded “picture” supports the innovative work of Piercy and Morgan, and Greenley and Oktemgil who advocate a broader domain of SMP. We suggest that extending practitioners’ understanding of the nature of these inter‐related factors may lead to better insights of how a SMP process can be managed more effectively.

Dimensions of advertising attitudes

Purpose – Examines the similarities and differences in the dimensionality of advertising attitudes between Turkish and New Zealand consumers.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data, collected by questionnaire from 303 respondents in Turkey and 189 respondents in New Zealand were first analysed separately using principal components analysis to identify the underlying dimensions of advertising attitudes. The factor congruency technique was then used to examine the extent of similarity between the two samples.Findings – Advertising attitudes consist of social and economic dimensions. The dimensionality of these attitudes exhibits a fairly similar pattern across both countries.Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to a particular sample. Extensions of the research to other samples is needed for cross‐validation. Potential moderators of advertising attitudes should also be considered in future research.Practical implications – Findings suggest that advertisers in Turkey and New Zealand sh...