... because: © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2008 Retail trade Computer peripheral equipment Speech recognition Service levels Customer satisfaction If you have recently telephoned an airline, bank, or movie theatre, your first point‐of‐contact with the organization was probably...

... elements are simple to state, few firms have been able to implement systems that deliver the desired results consistently and seemingly effortlessly, and are hard to imitate at the same level of sophistication by competitors. Selection Training Empowerment Service levels Airlines Strategic...

... assurance Service levels In the “age of customer” delivering quality service is considered an essential strategy for success and survival in today's competitive environment (Dawkins and Reichheld, 1990 ; Parasuraman et al., 1985 ; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990 ; Zeithaml et al., 1990...

... marketing as a continuous social and economic process in which operant resources are paramount. This logic views financial results not as an end result but as a test of a market hypothesis about a value proposition. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2007 Value added Service levels Ecology...

... Retailing Service levels Quality Retailers Brands Brand equity It is widely recognized that today's retail environment is highly competitive and that it is essential for retailers to gain some form of differential advantage. It seems, however, that retailers often offer the same assortments...

... Service levels Employee behaviour Food service Restaurants The service encounter is an important component of the service quality construct (Raajpoot, 2004 ; Imrie et al., 2002) and involves critical moments of truth where customers often develop indelible impressions of the firm...

..., responsiveness, assurance and empathy using a set of 22 questions for expectations and 22 questions for performance (Parasuraman et al., 1988). The second revision collapsed the original instrument to 22 items measured on a nine‐point scale ranging from 1 (lower than desired service level) to 9 (higher...

... of the respondents were female and their ages covered the whole range from 18 to 92 (mean 54). Customer loyalty Customer satisfaction Service levels Many service companies worry about the length of their queues because customer waiting time is considered as having a negative influence on consumer...

... of defecting customers suggests that service companies can boost profits by almost 100 per cent by retaining only five per cent of their customers (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Therefore, it is critically important for retailers to identify customers' desired service levels in relation to their patronage...

... opportunity to criticise offending –companies – thus becoming what Heskett et al. (2003) has characterised as “terrorist” customers. Decision making Service levels Empowerment Service recovery A manager can be a strong leader and still tolerate and even encourage different ways...

..., parents, staff, employers, business and legislators) (Rowley, 1997). Customer satisfaction Universities Service levels Quality Italy Therefore, Italian universities, in order to satisfy different needs depending on the features of the geographic area where they are located, no longer...

... Queuing theory Reception Service levels In recent years local government has been under pressure to establish clear, understandable and meaningful service standards. This article analyses the number, distribution and nature of enquiries made at a district council’s central reception and the times...