Pierre Filiatrault

Value Strategy Rather Than Quality Strategy: A Case of Business-to-Business Professional Services

Abstract How do organizational customers assess professional services? The present study aims at evaluating the respective effects of three strategic variables, which are often confused—namely, quality, value, and satisfaction, on organizational customers’ behavioral intention to buy professional services from engineering consultants. Hypotheses derived from the existing literature are tested through a causal model (EQS procedure). Results show that competence, reliability, and communication are good indicators of quality, and that quality does not influence satisfaction; however, value, which is determined by both quality and total price, affects satisfaction; finally intent to buy (or rebuy) services is a function of satisfaction. These results lead to a reconsideration of the service evaluation models, both in theoretical and practical terms.

Interactive effects of musical and visual cues on time perception: an application to waiting lines in banks.

This study explores the interactive effects of musical and visual cues on time perception in a specific situation, that of waiting in a bank. Videotapes are employed to simulate the situation; a 2 × 3 factorial design (N = 427) is used: 2 (high vs low) amounts of visual information and 2 (fast vs slow) levels of musical tempo in addition to a no-music condition. Two mediating variables are tested in the relation between the independent variables (musical and visual ones) and the dependent variable (perceived waiting time), mood and attention. Results of multivariate analysis of variance and a system of simultaneous equations show that musical cues and visual cues have no symmetrical effects: the musical tempo has a global (moderating) effect on the whole structure of the relations between dependent, independent, and mediating variables but has no direct influence on time perception. The visual cues affect time perception, the significance of which depends on musical tempo. Also, the “Resource Allocation Model of Time Estimation” predicts the attention-time relation better than Ornsteins “storage-size theory.” Mood state serves as a substitute for time information with slow music, but its effects are cancelled with fast music.

The implementation of relationship marketing in commercial banking

Abstract Buyer-seller relationships are attracting increasing interest among practitioners. However, the issue of implementing relationship marketing within an organization has not yet been tackled. On the basis of data derived from the banking industry, the authors argue that implementation of a relational approach to seller-buyer exchanges is a strategic issue impacting on major corporate decisions such as the definition of profit centers, human resources management, and organizational structure.

Relationship Marketing and Commercial Banking: A Critical Analysis

Competitive pressures as well as the search for fee‐based incomes, mainly derived from cross‐selling, have forced commercial financial institutions to redefine their marketing strategies and to focus on “relationship marketing”. Identifies the major problems raised by the implementation of an effective relationship approach. From this critical analysis, concludes that relationship banking is a major corporate issue, not the sole responsibility of front‐line people (account managers) – marketing and strategic issues are merging.

Service quality and service productivity management practices

Abstract This article reports the results of empirical research on service quality and service productivity management practices. The objective of the research is to gain a better understanding of these practices through a comparative analysis of large and small businesses, of firms delivering services to organizations and to consumers, and of unionized and nonunionized firms. A second objective is to correlate these practices to two performance variables: financial results and perceived customer satisfaction. The most frequent practices have been identified. Various quality practices are associated with customer satisfaction but not with financial results. Productivity practices are less popular than quality practices, but some are related to both financial results and customer satisfaction. An important problem is that quality has been defined and redefined in many ways that often embody elements of productivity.

The Impact of Waiting in Line on Consumers

Since consumers feel that time is becoming an increasingly scarcer resource, service organizations are also becoming increasingly sensitive to the economical and psychological costs which they impose on their clients in waiting lines. Reports a study aimed at examining the relations between two variables which are controllable by banks (i.e. service interruption and clients′ participation in the service process) upon the perceived time spent in waiting lines, clients′ mood and perceived service quality. Results show that individuals who find the waiting time “unacceptable” have a very significantly lower mood and perceived the service as being of lower quality. Concludes that perceived waiting time can be modified through managerially controllable variables which also influence strategically important variables such as client mood and perceived service quality.

Managing business-to-business marketing relationships in consulting engineering firms

Abstract Managing relationships is an important issue in business-to-business markets. This article presents the results of an empirical study on the practices of relationship marketing in firms offering professional services (consulting engineering services) to businesses. Data were collected in North America (Quebec, Canada) and Europe (France). A four-phase model of the relationship management process in business-to-business projects is induced from actual field practices. Cultural similarities and differences are also discussed.

Research on service quality evaluation: evolution and methodological issues

Abstract Service quality, and more specifically the evaluation of that quality, has given birth to an increasing body of knowledge for both professional and standard services. What is the state of the art of research in this growing disciplinary field? The authors present a synthesis of the evolution of empirical work on service quality, emphasizing the most important phases that have influenced the process followed by researchers. A methodological analysis of empirical work on the evaluation of the quality of professional and standard services to individuals and organizations is conducted. The results reveal that two schools of thought, the Nordic and the American, have given rise to a considerable body of literature. The former tends to be more theoretical and the latter more empirical. In addition, the research objectives and the quality of research also vary in depth. The methodological issues related to the definition of services and to the conceptualization and measurement of service quality are discussed.

Strategic auditing of human and financial resource allocation in marketing: An empirical study using data envelopment analysis

Abstract Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to assess the degree to which allocation of marketing resources affects the corporate profits of Canadian firms. The analysis was undertaken in five economic sectors. It shows that corporate profits are related to the allocation of both financial and human resources; however, efficient allocation of human resources varied from sector to sector while efficient allocation of financial resources did not vary from sector to sector. In order to assess the validity of data, a regression analysis between profits and resources was also undertaken, the residuals of which were shown to be highly correlated with some key DEA indices.

Service Delivery Processes: New Technology and Design

The search for service quality and the division of work between front office employees and backroom workers as the core of service design are examined. Discussion centres on whether the server′s task should encompass more backroom work to avoid duplication and delay or be more limited to reduce turnaround time. Alternative service delivery designs are explored and the impact of technology examined. It is concluded that the task at hand is not merely to select the best design but a technological migration path allowing the bank to maintain or improve its competitive position in what has been described as “bare‐knuckle banking”.