Rhett H. Walker

Why consumers use and do not use technology‐enabled services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on and discuss findings of a research study undertaken to investigate and establish empirically reasons why people use, or choose not to use, three types of technology‐enabled service: internet banking, telephone bill‐paying, and internet shopping services.Design/methodology/approach – A behavioural model is developed and tested, and the results support what is modelled and hypothesised.Findings – In sum, the findings show that willingness to use the internet and telephone for financial and shopping services is influenced by the individual sense of personal capacity or capability to engage with these service systems, the perceived risks and relative advantages associated with their use, and the extent to which contact with service personnel is preferred or deemed necessary. The paper also contains attitudinal and behavioural insights, and concludes by discussing managerial implications and opportunities for further research.Research limitations/implications...

Re-thinking the conceptualization of customer value and service quality within the service-profit chain

Purpose – To provide an alternative view of customer value and service quality as conceptualized in the service‐profit chain.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of the vast and diverse literature on the concepts of value and quality is used to reconceptualize these constructs as they are used in the service‐profit chain. The concept of intrinsic value and quality is proposed as an addition to the extrinsic value and quality concepts already apparent in the chain.Findings – The service‐profit chain is based on the premise that profitability to a firm derives from customer satisfaction and loyalty, which, in turn, are derived from a customers sense of value received. This value, it is argued, is calculated with reference to the perceived quality of what is received, balanced against the aggregated costs to the customer of availing themselves of the service. This paper questions the sufficiency of the assumption that value offered to a customer resides solely in the customers perception of what has been...

Employee perspectives of service quality in the supermarket sector

Purpose – Internal organisational aspects of service delivery from the employees perspective have received some attention in the literature. However, there is a need for more detailed empirical research to explore the possible impacts of specific internal service factors (ISFs) on service quality. This paper seeks to consider the overall influence of customer‐employee interactions, and to discuss and test empirically the relative influence of five ISFs that interface with internal marketing strategies.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were collected from a sample (n=202) of supermarket employees across a large metropolitan city. The data analysis used bivariate correlations, stepwise regression, and structural equation modelling.Findings – The main research findings, from the employee perceptions of service quality, suggest that there are three main predictor variables, namely, service orientation, service role flexibility, and non‐standardised scripted behaviour. The most important internal s...

Signaling intrinsic service quality and value via accreditation and certification

Purpose – This paper sets out to consider the role that can be played by independent professional accreditation systems and processes in influencing and grounding the intrinsic quality of what is offered by a service provider who has secured this certification.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of personal interviews conducted with senior management personnel within a range of accommodation providers who were responsible for preparing their accreditation submission.Findings – More than 80 percent of respondents agreed that the process of applying for accreditation forced a critical review of all aspects of their operations, and heightened their awareness of things that could prove problematic and ways by which these problems could be effectively countered. Respondents also agreed that the process served to motivate the development and detailed documentation of policies, systems and procedures, which enabled greater consistency in the standard of what is provided.Practical implicatio...

Managing technology-enabled service innovations

Increasingly technology is being employed to replace or substantially diminish personal interaction in service provision. Research is beginning to shed light on the impact of this phenomenon on the diffusion and adoption of technology-enabled service innovations. In this paper, we discuss implications of various findings of this research, including that undertaken by the authors of this paper, for service providers. We also argue why, in our view, diffusion of innovation theory warrants review in order to accommodate better the case provided by technology-enabled service innovations.

Measuring marketing performance against the backdrop of intra‐organisational change

Measuring the financial performance and contribution of marketing activity is a challenge increasingly faced by marketers globally. In this paper, we consider the potential effects of intra‐organisational change, particularly employee turnover or “churn”, on the measurable financial performance of an organisation and the ability of an organisation to sustain desired performance. We also discuss implications for research.

Community banks in Australia: an innovative approach to social and economic wealth creation?

Community banks in Australia are a recent new phenomenon. Their ownership structure and operational model, however, suggest an innovative approach to social and economic wealth creation is different from that typical of community and cooperative banks elsewhere in the world. In this paper, we explain and discuss distinctive features of these community banks and how their business model may be adapted elsewhere.

Developing a quality-of-life measure to assess the impact of community services: The case of Australian community banks

This article reports on findings of a study designed to develop and test measures suitable to assessing the perceived comparative contribution of Australian community banks and other more conventional banks to communities served, and the perceived impact of these banks on the well-being and quality of life of individuals who reside in those communities. Findings reveal that perceptions of the contribution of community banks to the sense of community and individual well being are significantly more favorable than those of more conventional banks.