Today we identify service articles published in Marketing, Management, Operations, Productions, Information Systems & Practioner-oriented Journals in the last month.
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Bacile, Todd J., Jeremy S. Wolter, Alexis M. Allen, and Pei Xu. “The Effects of Online Incivility and Consumer-to-Consumer Interactional Justice on Complainants, Observers, and Service Providers During Social Media Service Recovery.” Journal of Interactive Marketing 44 (2018): 60-81.
Ponsignon, F., A. Smart and L. Phillips, (2018): A customer journey perspective on service delivery system design: insights from healthcare,International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 35(10), pp.2328-2347
Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide novel theoretical insight into service delivery system (SDS) design. To do so, this paper adopts a customer journey perspective, using it as a frame to explore dimensions of experience quality that inform design requirements. Design/methodology/approach This study utilises UK Patient Opinion data to analyse the stories of 200 cancer patients. Using a critical incident technique, 1,207 attributes of experience quality are generated and classified into 17 quality dimensions across five stages of the customer (patient) journey. Findings Analysis reveals both similarity and difference in dimensions of experience quality across the patient journey: seven dimensions are common to all five journey stages, from receiving diagnosis to end of life care; ten dimensions were found to vary, present in one or several of the stages but not in all. Research limitations/implications Limitations include a lack of representativity of the story sample and the impossibility to verify the factual occurrence of the stories. Practical implications Adopting a patient journey perspective can improve the practitioner understanding of the design requirements of SDS in healthcare. The results of the study can be applied by managers to configure SDS that achieve a higher quality of patient care throughout the patient journey.
Originality/value This paper extends existing literature on SDS design by adopting a customer journey perspective, revealing heterogeneity in experience quality across the customer journey currently unaccounted for in SDS design frameworks. Specifically, the findings challenge homogeneity in extant SDS design frameworks, evidencing the need for multiple, stage-specific SDS design requirements.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-03-2018-0073
Schneider, A. B. (2018): International service learning in the business curriculum: Toward an ethic of empathy in a global economy, Business Horizons, 61(6), pp.913-923
In the context of business education, International Service Learning (ISL) programs introduce students to social responsibility and help them develop a sense of solidarity with individuals living in a different context from their own. But even ISL programs that strive for reciprocity and co-create projects with community partners still reinforce a microcosm of the power asymmetries present in the global economy. As an alternative to traditional ISL models involving direct service, I propose a model of ISL that eliminates the direct service component and instead emphasizes listening and learning abroad. In this model, local knowledge is expert and then students engage in advocacy in their home countries. Herein, I present a current course—Marketing for Social Change: The Uganda Project—as an example of the alternative ISL model designed to address the structural inequalities and wealth disparities brought by globalization.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.08.001 [Google]
Dixon, M. (2018): Reinventing Customer Service, Harvard Business Review, 96(6), pp.82-90
Customer service jobs are notoriously joyless, and callers’ experiences with reps can be just as unsatisfying. But T-Mobile has a new operating model that’s making both employees and customers happier. There are no rows of service agents robotically responding to random calls as quickly as possible. Instead, T-Mobile relies on colocated, collaborative teams of reps who manage specific accounts in a given locale, with a focus on autonomous problem solving. Reps get more-comprehensive training, managers get more time for coaching, and team members are evaluated on group performance as well as individual performance. In addition, teams are authorized and expected to manage their own P&L statements. The results are impressive: In three years, T-Mobile has dramatically reduced its customer churn rate, cost to serve, and employee attrition and absenteeism. Its Net Promoter Score is way up too. Other companies might likewise benefit from similar efforts to rethink standard industry practices. INSET: New Service Technologies Cut Both Ways.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ [Google]
Biemans, W. and A. Griffin (2018): Innovation practices of B2B manufacturers and service providers: Are they really different?, Industrial Marketing Management, 75(), pp.112-124
Service innovation is of critical importance for western economies. But, in sharp contrast with product innovation, the service innovation literature is fragmented and it is not clear to what extent B2B service innovation differs from B2B product innovation. This article contributes to this ongoing debate by analyzing the innovation practices of 372 B2B product manufacturers and service providers. The findings show that, compared to B2B products-focused firms, B2B services-focused firms are overall less sophisticated in their innovation practices: they manage less explicitly for innovation, have lower innovation expectations, favor incremental innovation and, when they do initiate more innovative or radical projects, they spend less time taking them to market. Nevertheless, they have innovation outcomes that are equivalent to products-focused firms. This study also acknowledges the reality that the vast majority of B2B firms actually offer product-service hybrid offerings to their customers. It shows that most B2B firms offer both products and services to customers, and that mixed product strategy firms with 75% products (services) and 25% services (products) are most committed to innovation. Therefore, firms need to simultaneously develop both new products and related services and are looking for the concepts and tools to effectively do so. Highlights • The service innovation literature is fragmented and there is an ongoing debate about how service innovation differs from product innovation. • Compared with B2B product firms, service firms manage less explicitly for innovation, have lower expectations and favor incremental innovation. • Most B2B firms offer hybrid offerings and need concepts and tools to effectively develop related new products and new services simultaneously.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.008 [Google]
Chaudhry, S., B. N. Srivastava and C. Joshi (2018): Vendor response to client opportunism in IT service relationships: Exploring the moderating effect of client involvement, Industrial Marketing Management, 75(), pp.100-111
Research literature, both conceptual and empirical, has enunciated benefits of client involvement for better client vendor relationships. However, relevant research in the realm of problematic relationships is scarce. To address the gap, this research examines the role of client involvement for vendor response strategies when client displays opportunism and vendor experiences negative affect. The paper uses data from 280 project managers belonging to the IT services industry. Structural equation analysis reveals that client involvement in the form of senior management involvement has varied effect on response strategies. It weakens the influence of vendor negative affect on passive acceptance and disengagement. However, it does not impact the influence of vendor negative affect on constructive discussion and venting. Findings suggest that when client involvement is high, vendor negative emotions in response to client opportunism would lead to behavior that sustains, but does not secure the quality of the relationship. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed. Highlights • Client opportunism brings about vendor negative affect, venting and disengagement. • Venting and disengagement occur only when vendor experiences negative affect. • Constructive discussion and passive acceptance can occur despite client opportunism. • Client involvement weakens the influence of negative affect on passive acceptance. • Client involvement weakens the influence of negative affect on disengagement.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.012 [Google]
Kreye, M. E. (2018): Interactions between perceived uncertainty types in service dyads, Industrial Marketing Management, 75(), pp.90-99
This paper investigates the dynamic interactions between uncertainty types in service dyads between servitized manufacturers and their customers. This is an important research area because servitized manufacturers face multi-source uncertainty and need to manage this uncertainty effectively to avoid business failure. A conceptual framework of four uncertainty types is investigated: environmental, technological, organisational, and relational uncertainty. We present insights from four empirical cases of service dyads collected via multiple sources of evidence including 54 semi-structured interviews, observations, and secondary data. The cases show seven interaction paths with direct knock-on effects between two uncertainty types and indirect knock-on effects between three or four uncertainty types. The findings suggest a causal chain from environmental, technological, organisational, to relational uncertainty. This research contributes to the servitization literature by (i) confirming the existence of uncertainty types, (ii) providing an in-depth characterisation of technological uncertainty, and (iii) showing the interaction paths between four uncertainty types in the form of a causal chain. Highlights • We investigate the interaction between uncertainty types. • We define environmental, technological, organisational and relational uncertainty. • We present data from four industrial case studies of service dyads. • We find a causal chain of interaction effects.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.014 [Google]
Reim, W., D. Sjödin and V. Parida (2018): Mitigating adverse customer behaviour for product-service system provision: An agency theory perspective, Industrial Marketing Management, 74(), pp.150-161
Offering product-service systems (PSS) arguably results in economic, environmental and social benefits but also entails significant challenges related to relational dynamics between the provider and the customer. Although prior studies suggest that adverse customer behaviour during PSS provision is likely, they provide a limited theoretical understanding of the conceptualization of such relational problems and, more importantly, offer few possible ways to address these problems. By applying the lens of agency theory, this study examines PSS provider-customer relational problems and solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify agency problems and propose mechanisms to mitigate adverse customer behaviour in PSS provision. Based on a multiple case study approach involving two manufacturing companies, several results are presented. First, we identify and describe two underlying reasons for adverse customer behaviour. These reasons are associated with goal differentiation and monitoring challenges. Second, different agency mechanisms (i.e. sharing, monitoring and trust) are presented as approaches to mitigate the likelihood of adverse customer behaviour. The matching of agency problems with agency mechanisms to mitigate these problems lays the groundwork for developing a framework for agency situation evaluation during the formation and ongoing phases of the PSS agreement. In addition, the choice of agency mechanism is found to be correlated with the maturity and type of customer relationship and can change over time as new customers become known and then become loyal. The proposed framework has major theoretical implications for the PSS literature as well as managerial implications for large manufacturing companies engaged in PSS provision. Highlights • Need to manage adverse customer behaviour in PSS provision • Identification of potential agency problems and mitigating mechanisms • Reasons for adverse customer behaviour: different goals and monitoring challenges • Agency mechanisms to solve problem: sharing, monitoring and trust
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.004 [Google]
Stigliani, I. and K. D. Elsbach (2018): Identity Co‐Formation in an Emerging Industry: Forging Organizational Distinctiveness and Industry Coherence Through Sensemaking and Sensegiving, Journal of Management Studies, 55(8), pp.1323-1355
We inductively studied the sensemaking and sensegiving processes used by industry founders in the co‐formation of organizational and industry identities in the emerging industry of Service Design. Our findings illustrate how the sensemaking and sensegiving processes that revolved around the new ‘Service Design’ label allowed the two sets of industry founders to forge both distinctive organizational identities and a coherent industry identity. The new label was, thus, used as a central ‘carrier’ for both holding meanings (in terms of distinctive principles and common practices) developed through sensemaking, and for transferring these meanings respectively to organizational and industry identities through sensegiving. These insights illuminate how industry founders can address the tension between organizational distinctiveness and industry coherence in emerging industries, and have important implications for theory and future research on identity co‐formation and its underlying sensemaking and sensegiving processes.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joms.12403 [Google]
Viswanathan, V., S. Tillmanns, M. Krafft and D. Asselmann (2018): Understanding the quality-quantity conundrum of customer referral programs: effects of contribution margin, extraversion, and opinion leadership, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(6), pp.1108-1132
Firms can substantially profit from customer referrals, but they must understand the different stages of the referral process to determine what drives the number of referrals (first stage), conversion (second stage), and average contribution margin per referral (third stage). Applying a framework that integrates perceptual and behavioral drivers, this study uses a financial services company’s customer survey and transaction data to investigate how the effect of contribution margins of referring customers at all three stages depends on their perceived extraversion and opinion leadership. Extreme extraversion and opinion leadership diminish the positive effect of the contribution margins of referring customers on the number of referrals; their effect on the number of successful referrals is insignificant. In terms of the contribution margin of successful referrals, extraversion has a negative and opinion leadership a positive moderating effect.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-018-0603-8 [Google]
Saghafian, S., W. J. Hopp, S. M. R. Iravani, Y. Cheng and D. Diermeier (2018): Workload Management in Telemedical Physician Triage and Other Knowledge-Based Service Systems, Management Science, 64(11), pp.5180-5197
Telemedical physician triage (TPT) is an example of a hierarchical knowledge-based service system (HKBSS) in which a second level of decision agent (telemedical physician) renders a decision on cases referred to him or her by the primary level agents (triage nurses). Managing the speed-versus-quality trade-off in such systems presents a unique challenge because of the interplay between agent knowledge and flow of work between the two levels. We develop a novel model of agent knowledge, based on the beta distribution, and deploy it in a partially observable Markov decision process model to describe the optimal policy for deciding which cases (patients) to refer to the second level for further evaluation. We show that this policy has a monotone control-limit structure that reduces the fraction of decisions made at the upper level as workload increases. Because the optimal policy is complex, we use structural insights from it to design two practical heuristics. These heuristics enable an HKBSS to adapt efficiently to workload shifts by adjusting the criteria for referring decisions to the upper level based on partial real-time queue length information. Finally, we conduct analytic and numerical analyses to derive insights into the management of a TPT system. We find that (1) the telemedical physician should evaluate more patients as congestion in the emergency room waiting area increases; (2) training that improves accuracy of the physician and/or nurses can be effective even if it only does so for a single patient type, but training that improves consistency must do so for all patient types to be effective; and (3) patient classification in triage should consider environmental and operational conditions in addition to the patient’s medical condition. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2905. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2905 [Google]
Long, E. F. and K. S. Mathews (2018): The Boarding Patient: Effects of ICU and Hospital Occupancy Surges on Patient Flow, Production & Operations Management, 27(12), pp.2122-2143
Patients admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) often endure prolonged boarding within the ICU following receipt of care, unnecessarily occupying a critical care bed, and thereby delaying admission for other incoming patients due to bed shortage. Using patient‐level data over two years at two major academic medical centers, we estimate the impact of ICU and ward occupancy levels on ICU length of stay (LOS), and test whether simultaneous “surge occupancy” in both areas impacts overall ICU length of stay. In contrast to prior studies that only measure total LOS, we split LOS into two individual periods based on physician requests for bed transfers. We find that “service time” (when critically ill patients are stabilized and treated) is unaffected by occupancy levels. However, the less essential “boarding time” (when patients wait to exit the ICU) is accelerated during periods of high ICU occupancy and, conversely, prolonged when hospital ward occupancy levels are high. When the ICU and wards simultaneously encounter bed occupancies in the top quartile of historical levels—which occurs 5% of the time—ICU boarding increases by 22% compared to when both areas experience their lowest utilization, suggesting that ward bed availability dominates efforts to accelerate ICU discharges to free up ICU beds. We find no adverse effects of high occupancy levels on ICU bouncebacks, in‐hospital deaths, or 30‐day hospital readmissions, which supports our finding that the largely discretionary boarding period fluctuates with changing bed occupancy levels.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.12808 [Google]
Sun, H. and L. Xu (2018): Online Reviews and Collaborative Service Provision: A Signal‐Jamming Model, Production & Operations Management, 27(11), pp.1960-1977
We study the provision of collaborative services under online reviews, where the service outcome depends on the effort of both the service provider and the client. The provider decides not only her own effort but also the client’s, at least to some extent. The client gives the review based on his net utility upon service completion. We develop a signal‐jamming model in which the provider’s inherent capability or type is unobservable, and the market infers the provider type through observable signals such as the service outcome, the client review, or both. We show that compared to the benchmark case when the service outcome is observed as a signal, the client review generally leads to less effort of both the provider and the client. The review hence tends to sacrifice the service effectiveness in favor of the efficiency of the client’s effort input. Nevertheless, when clients incorporate private information about the provider type into their reviews, service providers are better motivated to devote effort. Interestingly, we find the provider’s effort choices may be either strategic complements or substitutes. With a reasonable level of informativeness, online reviews could lead to favorable performance in service effectiveness, client effort efficiency, and provider type distinguishability. Surprisingly, we demonstrate that when both the review and the outcome are available, the provider may lack sufficient incentive to devote effort, resulting in inferior distinguishability of provider types. It thus illustrates that richer information may not necessarily generate favorable strategic outcomes.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.12592 [Google]
Zheng, S., A. L. Tucker, Z. J. Ren, J. Heineke, A. McLaughlin and A. L. Podell (2018): The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals, Production & Operations Management, 27(12), pp.2201-2212
Provision of safe, timely care to hospital patients requires services from multiple support departments, such as environmental services and pharmacy. However, few studies have examined the impact of the service quality of internal support departments on clinical performance. The lack of studies linking internal service quality (ISQ) to clinical performance creates a gap in healthcare operations management theory and—from a practice standpoint—might contribute to underinvestment in the quality of services delivered by internal support departments. To address these issues, we test whether higher ISQ is associated with a lower rate of adverse events. We leverage a unique dataset from a hospital that developed a measure of ISQ provided by support departments. Using over a year’s worth of monthly data on the average ISQ delivered by 11 support departments to five nursing units, we test the impact of ISQ on two nursing‐sensitive adverse events: patient falls with injury and hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers. We find support for our hypothesis that higher levels of ISQ are associated with lower rates of adverse events, controlling for patient acuity and other confounding factors. Our results show that improving the overall average ISQ received by a nursing unit by 0.1 on a 5‐point scale has almost the same benefit for reducing adverse events as would increasing staffing on that unit by one full‐time equivalent nurse. Our study has important implications for theory and practice as it points to a fruitful, cost effective, and yet underutilized avenue for reducing adverse events experienced by hospital patients.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/poms.12758 [Google]
Ndubisi, N. O. and R. Nataraajan (2018): How the young adult consumer segment responds to trusty and committed marketing relationship, Psychology & Marketing, 35(12), pp.923-935
Service providers build relationship with their customers for mutual satisfaction and benefits. However, little is known about the relational antecedents and outcomes of relationship satisfaction among young adult consumers. The goals of this study are to evaluate the incremental effect of trust and commitment in determining relationship satisfaction, and the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction in the association of relationship trust and commitment with relationship outcomes (such as attitudinal loyalty, behavioral loyalty, and switching restraint). The model was tested and compared between samples of Malaysian and Australian young adult consumers of healthcare services. The findings reveal that relationship trust and relationship commitment have unequal and equal incremental effect in determining relationship satisfaction in Australia and Malaysia, respectively. Moreover, the mediating role of satisfaction in the association of relationship trust and commitment with attitudinal loyalty, behavioral loyalty, and switching restraint differ between Malaysia and Australia samples. Theoretical, contextual, and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21145 [Google]
Pounders, K. R., J. G. Moulard and B. J. Babin (2018): Examining customer‐created guilt in a service context, Psychology & Marketing, 35(11), pp.830-844
Previous research in retailing contexts finds customers feel guilty after violating a social norm and that such customer‐induced guilt leads to increased repatronage intention, despite guilt being a negative emotion. However, prior research has neither identified the mechanism through which this occurs nor how relationship type may influence this process. Additionally, previous work has not considered how service providers should react when a customer experiences guilt. This paper advances research on guilt by first proposing that affective and normative commitment are intermediate e‐motivations, mediating the effect of guilt on repatronage intention, but that these e‐motivations differ depending on the strength of the customer’s commercial friendship with the service provider. Second, this research investigates whether service providers, when faced with a guilty customer, should emphasize or downplay the customer’s norm violation (CNV). Survey findings reveal that affective commitment fully mediates the relationship between guilt and repatronage intention for those in strong commercial friendships, whereas guilt directly affects repatronage intention for those in weak commercial friendships. Normative commitment does not play a mediating role. Additionally, experimental findings suggest that enhancing the CNV increases guilt. However, doing so also increases perceived guilt induction, which ultimately decreases repatronage intention.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.21138 [Google]
Burbano, V. C., J. Mamer and J. Snyder (2018): Pro bono as a human capital learning and screening mechanism: Evidence from law firms, Strategic Management Journal, 39(11), pp.2899-2920
Research Summary: Inquiry into CSR as a human capital management tool has suggested that firms benefit from such activities because employees value the meaningfulness of these activities, which influences motivation and retention. We propose an alternate avenue through which firms can benefit from an important type of socially responsible activity—pro bono services—that does not require that employees derive utility from the meaningfulness of the activity. We propose that pro bono activities can benefit firms through human capital learning and screening mechanisms, given the stretch roles that pro bono engagements allow. We formalize this argument in the legal services industry, where we provide primary evidence, a formal model, and empirical results using a panel dataset of the top 200 law firms to support this argument. Managerial Summary: We examine a type of CSR activity, pro bono engagements, in the context of the top 200 law firms in the United States. We show that firms can benefit from these engagements through human capital learning and screening mechanisms, due to the stretch roles that pro bono engagements allow junior lawyers. Our findings suggest that firms in which pro bono engagements provide stretch roles for junior employees can benefit from pro bono activities regardless of whether their employees value the meaningfulness or social impact of the pro bono work.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2947 [Google]
