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Slabbert, Gabriel Johannes. "Facilitating customer retention in hotels in the Garden Route." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1552.
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Over the past few decades, customer satisfaction, customer retention and policies and procedures to sustain the above mentioned, have earned great amount of lip service. The importance of satisfied customer percentage have been emphasized by theories even longer before the best advised companies have done so. It is only recently, on the eve of the Soccer World cup 2010 that the issue has been narrowed down to truly hard relationships and one hard question: “Will the guest visiting the hospitality establishment frequent the hotel?” Two vital financial catalysts were used as basis for customer retention. The first is that of old customer’s costs much less than acquisition of new ones and the profit generated from the retained customer must therefore handsomely exceed the harvest reaped from the new clientele. Retaining customers have become an intangible asset in the sense that their value demonstrates the return that is won by successful efforts to satisfy the customers so greatly that they and their custom literally and figuratively stays with you. South Africa has lured even the loneliest traveller to the scenic beauty that is cradled by the country and its surroundings. When taking the former into consideration, South African businesses have enjoyed an increased appreciation and application of Business Management and its accompanying principles. The hospitality industry should therefore embrace the business management principles with specific emphasis on Total Quality Management (TQM); providing managers with the capacity to think strategically about the organisation, its business position, how it can gain sustainable competitive advantage and how its business management strategy can be implemented and executed successfully. The latter forms the basis for ensuring the smooth running of operations and ultimately, ensuring guests have a wonderful experience at the particular establishment. There is a strong belief that lodging facilities in the Garden Route area has experienced low customer retention due to a lack of comprehensive implementation of Total Quality Management principles which impedes on the establishments to reach their optimum profit levels. It is for this reason that this thesis will argue the importance of the systematic client retention as a strategic mandate in today’s service markets. Commercial reality demand long and lasting relationships that are beneficial to both the hospitality related establishment and their customers. The hypothesis used is the application of Total Quality Management as a Business Management Strategy which will facilitate customer retention in hospitality related industries such as hotels situated in the Garden Route area. Research shows that service expectations of customers and potential customers have escalated. Hospitality businesses found that implementation of quality processes to be a vital competitive component. However, many hotels are still struggling to reach a real understanding of what is meant by TQM. The research data indicates that 93 percent of hotels in the Garden Route do not follow a TQM program although all the hotels were familiar with the concept. This might be the reason why most hotels neglect customer retention activities. The literature reviewed in chapter two considers the customer retention activities evaluated in the questionnaire as important to retain guests. Hotels in the Garden Route do not perform these activities to the extent of success. Hotel managers thus know what to do in order to retain guests but the problem is quite simple, they do not always implement the necessary strategies.
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Wang, Yi. "Dimensions of guest house service: perceptions of owners and expectations of business travellers." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1006215.
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The need for successful management of a guest house in the increasingly competitive hospitality industry in South Africa, compels guest house owners to understand their customers’ needs and deliver service of acceptable quality. The objective of the research is to find out what business travellers expect from a guest house and how these expectations compare with the perceptions of guest house owners in Port Elizabeth. Conclusions drawn from this research would also benefit guest house owners in other parts of the country. A literature review was conducted to provide an understanding of the nature of service and the role “evidence of service” can play in the perception of quality. The empirical study aimed at comparing business travellers’ expectations of guest house service with guest house owners’ perceptions of their guests’ expectations. The empirical findings showed that business travellers deemed secure parking and professionalism of staff as the most important attributes, while guest house owners thought it would be friendliness of front desk staff and efficient handling of complaints. Moreover, both groups indicated that cleanliness of rooms and services performed by staff adequately the first time, were of particular importance. It was also found that the importance rating of the different service dimensions were not significantly influenced by the business travellers’ gender, managerial position, nights of stay or by the guest house grading. The study proposes that guest house owners continue to focus on strategies for training and developing competent employees, simplify the steps of service delivery and improve on the standards of the servcie to ensure that business facilities are in line with the expectations of business travelers.
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Larsson, Emma, and Malin Eriksson. "Facebook as a tool for building customer relationships in the hospitality industry : A quantitative study on the effects of Facebook activities on relationship drivers and relational benefits." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-91041.
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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Facebook activities on relationship drivers and relational benefits and the effect of relationship drivers of relational benefits perceived by customers to Pite Havsbad. To do this we have explored the relationship between a number of Facebook activities, relationship drivers and relational benefits. We developed two conceptual models, which included these relationships. We have written this degree project on commission for Pite Havsbad, which is a company that operates in the hotel industry in the county of Norrbotten in the north of Sweden. The research question that we formulated was as following: What kind of impact does Facebook activities have on relationship drivers and relational benefits in the hospitality industry? With this research question we aimed to make a practical contribution and to help Pite Havsbad develop their social media strategies in order to be able to build customer relationships. We also aimed to make a theoretical contribution to fill the research gap that exists in the research area on social media and customer relationship building. We used a quantitative data collection method in the form of a survey administered on Pite Havsbad’s Facebook page. Our population consist of the approximately 6 300 fans that Pite Havsbad has on Facebook. The data continuing of was 256 responses were processed in SPSS by conducting Cronbach’s alpha test, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis in order to test the hypothesized effects between our key variables. The findings from this degree project show that Facebook activities affect both the relationship drivers and relational benefits, although they have less effect on relational benefits. The relational benefits are though highly affected by the relationship drivers. Over all, the Facebook activities of Pite Havsbad were highly valued by the respondents, which means that all of them are important to work with. Many of the activities also had positive effects on the relationship drivers, which means they can be used to build relationships with customers. By conducting this research we also helped Pite Havsbad with the starting point of creating a Social CRM strategy, which can be used for future relationship building with their fans on Facebook.
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Ramarumo, Relebohile Gertrude. "The impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded hospitality establishments in the Freestate province." Thesis, Bloemfontein: Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/231.
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Thesis (M. Tech) (Tourism and Hospitality Management)) Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014Job stress and burnout can have a detrimental effect on the health of employees and their job performance. This is especially applicable to the hospitality industry which is a service-intensive industry where customer needs and wants are the most important focus. Organisational culture being defined as the social glue that helps bring the organisation together is seen in this case as the proper mechanism that managers could use to deal with the detrimental effects of job stress and burnout. This study assessed the impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded hospitality establishments in the Free State Province. The two main economic areas of the Free State, namely Bloemfontein and Clarence, were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to all staff members in 46 graded accommodation establishments, and a total number of 227 questionnaires were collected for data analysis. The questionnaire consisted of a demographic section, an organisational culture section (based on the Competing Value Framework), a job stress section (based on Spielberger’s Job Stress Survey) and a burnout section (based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory). Data were interpreted using both descriptive and inferential statistics (including factor analysis and t-tests). The findings indicate that graded hospitality establishments had a predominantly Rational Culture, which points to strong external positioning and competitiveness. The Rational Culture is externally focused and does not adequately consider the needs of internal constituents – notably the employees. The cultural values associated with the Rational Culture are thus not as conducive in moderating job stress and burnout as the Group and Developmental Cultures. Appropriate recommendations are proposed in mitigating the effect of job stress and burnout in the hospitality industry.
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Newham, Nicole. "Customer relationship management in the hospitality industry : identifying approaches to add stakeholder value." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/967.
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Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to determine approaches to CRM within the luxury hotel sector in Cape Town in order to add value not only to guests, but to all stakeholders of the hotel. This was done by conducting a literature review, supported by a sound base of primary research. The findings proved that CRM theory holds true for most luxury hotels and the notion that luxury hotels in modern times cannot afford to be without a CRM initiative, was underpinned. Furthermore, the concept of an aligned strategy and vision in terms of a hotel's CRM approach was found to be integral. Staff buy-in and co-operation are of utmost importance for any hotel property implementing a CRM initiative. Additionally, training and education on the importance of CRM was highlighted as an important factor to get all staff on board. Management needs to become customer relationship management experts themselves in order to inspire and motivate staff to excel at building relationships with guests. Moreover, the common mistake of hotels to place greater impetus on CRM technology than training and lack of leveraging CRM investments was examined as some of the main reasons for the failure of CRM initiatives. Although CRM technologies are extremely powerful tools and may facilitate a hotel's CRM strategy, they cannot be viewed in isolation and made responsible for the success of such a programme. Training is vital to enable staff to use these systems optimally and to turn guest data into gold. The importance of people was also emphasised in the light of personalisation of service; having the correct staff with an aptitude for guest service and hospitality is imperative. Lastly, the concept of customer-centric processes and systems was stressed. Everything a hotel does in terms of CRM efforts should be derived from the notion of guest satisfaction. Guest satisfaction is the one essential element that will enable a hotel to flourish and enjoy a firm base of repeat business. Repeat business is the most rewarding type of business for a hotel as it means that guests are satisfied with their service and will promote the hotel to others at no additional cost to the hotel.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie navorsingstuk was om die houding van luukse hotelle in Kaapstad teenoor kliënte verhoudingsbestuur (KVB) te bepaal en vas te stel hoe alle aandeelhouers van die hotel voordeel kan trek uit KVB. Die doelwit was bereik met behulp van primêre en sekondêre navorsing. Die bevindinge het bewys dat KVB teoreties waarde toevoeg tot meeste luukse hotelle. Die feit is geboekstaaf dat luukse hotelle nie sonder KVB kan oorleef nie. Dit was ook gevind dat 'n geintegreerde strategie en visie van uiterste belang is in KVB in hotelle. Personeel samewerking en entoesiasme is ook uitgelig as belangrike elemente wat die sukses van KVB bepaal. In hierdie opsig, was opleiding 'n integrale faktor tot die bevordering van personeel deelname. Die bestuur van hotelle moet self kundiges raak op die gebied van KVB om sodoende personeel te inspireer en motiveer om ook waardevolle kliënteverhoudinge te bou. Algemene foute wat hotelle begaan in terme van KVB is die feit dat meer klem gelê word op KVB tegnologie as op opleiding en dat die opbrengs op die inisiële belegging in KVB nie in ag geneem word nie. Alhoewel KVB tegnologie van onskatbare waarde is om 'n hotel se KVB strategie suksesvol te maak, kan die sukses van so 'n strategie nie alleenlik daaraan toegeskryf word nie. Ten einde die personeel te bemagtig om hierdie sisteme optimaal te benut, moet opleiding weereens as 'n area van belang beklemtoon word. Nog 'n prioriteit is die kwaliteit van personeel wat aangestel word; personeel moet 'n natuurlike aanvoeling hê vir kliënte diens en persoonlike interaksie.
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Novikova, Ksenia. "A STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FACTORS AND EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY." OpenSIUC, 2009. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/520.
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The major purpose of this study was to identify customer and employee satisfaction levels and the most important satisfaction factors in the lodging industry by the example of two hotel properties of a resort on the East Coast. This study included a sample of 267 customers, while the exact number of employees was unknown. The customer satisfaction survey was prepared by the consulting agency. It was conducted in the form of a 10-minute telephone interview with the customers who stayed at the resort 30 days prior to the survey. The customers indicated their satisfaction levels with six areas of the customer experience at the resort such as dining experience, golfing experience, experience with spa, beach club experience, experience with facilities/activities, and guest problems experience. Top 10 and lowest 10 customer satisfaction factors were found for both hotels of the resort. Four similar factors out of 10 positive ones were found to be in both of the hotel properties. Nine similar factors out of 10 were ranked as least satisfying in both of the hotels. The range score between the highest and the lowest customer satisfaction rating for the Hotel A was found to be 1.44, and for B Hotel 1.6. As for the overall customer satisfaction in two hotels, the overall customer satisfaction for the Hotel A was 4.5 (90%), and for the Hotel B was 4.58 (91.6%). To identify the customer satisfaction factors, four areas were selected for the analysis: staff, room divisions, recreation, and conflict resolution. Satisfaction with Room Divisions received the highest overall mean scores (4.64-for Hotel A, and 4.83- for Hotel B), while Conflict Resolution area received the lowest satisfaction scores for both of the Hotels (4.51- for Hotel A, 4.48- for Hotel B). The employee satisfaction questionnaire was created by the human resources department of the resort. The employee satisfaction survey was represented by 12 areas: the company; vision/mission/values; interact; your job; your department; physical work environment; communications; leadership, supervision and management effectiveness; teamwork; pay, opportunity, and benefits; career development and training; quality; and demographic information. To determine the employee satisfaction levels, the mean percentage scores of all positive and negative employees' responses were calculated. Satisfaction with Your Department received the highest positive total percentage mean score of 81.1%, while satisfaction with the Interact program implemented by the resort received the lowest positive mean percentage score of 44.0%. Similar to customer satisfaction, the 10 top positive and 10 bottom negative employee satisfaction response questions were identified. The strong positive relationship (r=0.66) was found between the Hotel A and B of the resort and customer satisfaction factors. Those areas that were ranked high by the customers of the Hotel A were also highly ranked by the Hotel B customers. A Person's correlation coefficient was run on the relationship between the hotel property and customer satisfaction levels. The strong positive association was found between two hotel properties and satisfaction statements. Paired sample t-test was also run in order to determine if there was a significant difference in customer satisfaction in two hotels A and B based on the customer's responses to the questionnaire. The t equal to (-2.5), and the probability of (0.016) were found. There was found to be statistical significant difference between the Hotel A and B customer satisfaction statements.
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Wong, Chon Mio. "Strategic public relations management : an investigation of the role of public relations in Macau hospitality industry." Thesis, University of Macau, 2007. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1874197.
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Koch, Sharron Lee. "Relationship Building and Unethical Behavior in the Hospitality Industry." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2492.
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Relationship building is a fundamental component to develop successful businesses, although corrupt purchasing executives pay bribes in excess of $1.5 trillion dollars annually. The participants for this case study consisted of 10 national sales managers who have successfully implemented strategies to train suppliers in relationship building in a hotel in Greensville, South Carolina. The resource dependence theory grounded the study. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies a hotel owner in Greenville, South Carolina used to train managers on relationship building. Collection of data included 8 semi-structured telephone interviews and 2 video interviews that were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim, archived data, and field notes. Using a modified van Kaam method and methodological triangulation, 3 prominent themes were identified that included the appropriateness of relationship building activities to collect data critical to negotiations, the need to clarify unclear expectations, and developing an increased awareness of the gray areas for possible boundary violations between the vendor and the customer. The data from the results indicated the need for increased training to reduce the number of instances of unethical behavior perceived in relationship building activities. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase the awareness of ethical issues in multicultural business settings on the part of national sales managers, which could decrease the rate of unethical behavior in the hospitality industry.
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Kniatt, Nancy L. (Nancy Louise). "The Effect of Demographics on Customer Expectations for Service Quality in the Lodging Industry." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1995. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc277825/.
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This study investigated demographic characteristics of 240 Chamber of Commerce members in terms of their expectations for customer service in hotels. Subjects reported their age, gender, marital status, race, educational level, income level and ethnicity, and completed a 26-item questionnaire which measured expectations for customer service. Principal components analysis was used to reduce the 26 items to five dimensions of service quality, and multivariate analysis of variance was used to evaluate the effect of the demographic variables on those dimensions. Gender of the customer was found to have a significant effect on the combined dimensions of service quality; other variables were not significant.
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Cutcher, Leanne Rose. "'Banking on the Customer': customer relations, employment relations and worker identity in the Australian retail banking industry." University of Sydney. Business, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/632.
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Previously consigned to the anonymity of �the product market� by researchers in traditional fields such as labour economics and industrial relations, the customer has recently attracted the attention of scholars from a diverse range of disciplines, including organisational behaviour, work psychology, labour process studies, gender studies, and critical management studies. In large part, this emerging interest in the customer is a result of the increasing dominance of service industries in developed economies and the recognition that service work entails a complex, three-way interaction between customers, management and workers. The literature identifies a range of competing and, at times, contradictory images of the customer. Rather than seeking to reconcile these competing representations, this thesis explores the multi-faceted nature of the customer presence and the implications for managers and workers in the retail banking industry in Australia. The thesis highlights how structural change and shifting discourses of the �customer� have influenced customer relations, employment relations, and worker identity in three areas of the retail banking industry: traditional retail banks, the credit union movement, and community banks. Drawing on detailed qualitative case study evidence, the thesis highlights the range of customers, both �real� and �constructed�, that can be found in the case study organisations. The thesis identifies the ways in which customers influence employment relations and how workers can be active in either accommodating or resisting the impact of these �customers� on workplace practice and worker identity. The central argument of the thesis is that, in addition to customers having a physical presence in and influence on organisational life, management and workers also construct �discursive customers� as a means of influencing the employment relationship and the meanings attached to service work. The study examines how these competing concepts of the customer and customer service influence both the customer-service provider relationship and service workers� relationships with one another and with management. Despite the increasing recognition that service work entails a three-way relationship between customers, management and workers, our understanding of how workers either welcome or resist the presence of this third actor in the employment relationship has, until recently remained very limited. This thesis makes a significant contribution to our understanding that for workers the customer is ever-present physically, emotionally and discursively.
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Cutcher, Leanne. "Banking on the customer customer relations, employment relations, and worker identity in the Australian retail banking industry /." Connect to full text, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/632.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2004.Title from title screen (viewed 8 May 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies, School of Business, Faculty of Economics and Business. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.
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Reynolds, Kate L. "The antecedents of dysfunctional customer behaviour severity: an empirical examination within the hospitality industry." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.493833.
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Başara, Meltem. "Cultural influences on service quality expectations evidence from the hotel sector in Germany and Spain /." View electronic thesis (PDF), 2009. http://dl.uncw.edu/etd/2009-3/rp/basaram/meltembasara.pdf.
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Martin, David Spencer O'Neill Martin. "Exploring the effect of emoiton [sic] on time-elapsed consumer peceptions [sic] of servic [sic] a reexamination of the satisfaction construct /." Auburn, Ala., 2005. http://repo.lib.auburn.edu/2005%20Summer/master's/MARTIN_DAVID_4.pdf.
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Amoah, Felix. "Customer satisfaction with the guesthouse experience in Ghana." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6073.
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Guesthouse accommodation plays an important role in Ghana’s hospitality industry and was therefore the focus of this study as little research dealing with guesthouses in Ghana could be found. The number of guesthouses in Ghana continues to grow and they thus represent an important alternative to hotels. However, these establishments seem to perform poorly and face several challenges such as lack of managerial knowledge, insufficiently skilled employees, poor interaction with customers, and criticisms of the provision of low quality service. The main reason for undertaking this research was to provide guesthouse managers in Ghana with information that might assist them in making decisions about the experience they offer. Such knowledge could make this type of accommodation more competitive and eventually help the hospitality sector in Ghana attract tourists and grow. It is imperative that guesthouses focus on the experience they offer, because contemporary tourism and hospitality literature suggest that successful businesses require a shift from functional and financial interests to a more profound focus on total experiences which embody emotional aspects. It is thus argued that, if guesthouse managers in Ghana do not know how their guests perceive their guesthouse experience, they might make costly mistakes and allocate resources to aspects that already provide quality and value in a functional sense, instead of those elements perceived as providing quality and value in the total experience. Two dominating concepts, namely experience quality and experience value, formed the basis of the examination of guests’ experience with the guesthouses in Ghana. In addition, the relationships between the experience and satisfaction were also investigated. Four experience quality dimensions, namely hedonics, peace of mind, involvement, and recognition, and seven value dimensions were examined. The experience value dimensions included atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, efficiency, excellence, escape, and economic value. A proportional stratified random sampling procedure was followed to select the guesthouses for the study. Thereafter, a structured questionnaire was distributed to the guesthouse guests selected by means of convenience sampling. Five hundred and forty one useable questionnaires were received. The guesthouse guests formed the primary sampling unit for this study. The results of the empirical study showed a strong positive correlation between all the dimensions of experience quality and experience value, while the factor analysis confirmed that all these dimensions loaded on a single factor. Therefore, experience quality and experience value cannot be separated, and the resulting single multi-dimensional factor was subsequently renamed, overall experience. The results also indicated a positive relationship between hedonics, peace of mind, involvement, recognition, atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, efficiency, excellence, escape, economic value, and overall satisfaction. The inferentially established rank-order of the dimensions contributing to satisfaction can guide managers when allocating resources. Overall, atmospherics was ranked first, followed by economic value. Escape was the lowest ranked dimension. In addition, it was found that, except for escape, all the experience dimensions were perceived as basic satisfiers. This implies that guests will be dissatisfied when provision of these dimensions is inadequate. With regard to escape, listed as a performance factor, guests will be satisfied when performance is improved and dissatisfied when performance is low. A positive relationship was also found between overall experience and overall satisfaction. The latter include the likelihood of return and recommending the guesthouse to others. Finally, structural equation modelling confirmed a model representing the 11 experience dimensions (hedonics, peace of mind, involvement, recognition, atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, escape, efficiency, excellence, and economic value) and the relationships between overall experience and overall satisfaction pertaining to guesthouses in Ghana.
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Hanif, Basharat, and Hammad Saleem. "How Customer Support Service works for small companies in hospitality industry in Sweden? : A study of a small hotel in Karlstad." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Handelshögskolan, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-30784.
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Nhepera, Nicolas. "The influence of hotel product innovation on customer loyalty in Cape Town." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2548.
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Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.The study identifies and examines evidence on how customer loyalty is influenced by hotel product innovation. This examination helps to understand differentiation and the competitive benefits of innovation in product and loyalty for such innovation. The innovation influence provides rationale to extend product innovation as a strategy to differentiate, compete, and gain loyalty in the hotel industry. With increased competition in the hospitality industry, the examination of hotel product innovation becomes imperative for both practical and theoretical relevance. This examination was done using a survey method to collect data from 242 travellers who visited Cape Town, stayed in a graded hotel, and visited Kirstenbosch Gardens during the period of the study. This quantitative survey was supported by data triangulation approach with respondents chosen using systematic random sampling. The semi-structured questionnaire comprised mainly closed-ended and a few open-ended questions. The study found that hotel product innovation has greater influence on customer loyalty and hotel choice. However, not all product innovations have the same level of influence, and not all influences are statistically significant. Therefore, the degree of influence was found to be a useful enabler of competitive and loyalty strategy in the hospitality industry.
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Lam, Lai Ki. "Adoption of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in local manufacturing industry /." access full-text access abstract and table of contents, 2005. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/ezdb/thesis.pl?mphil-meem-b19887292a.pdf.
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Thesis (M. Phil.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005."Submitted to Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy." Includes bibliographical references.
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Hensens, Wouter. "Hotel rating through guest feedback." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1631.
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Hotel rating refers to the process where the comfort and services of a hotel are assessed and classified, usually in five categories, using stars as symbols. Conventional hotel rating systems are generally operated by governments or independent parties. However, with the growth of social media and customer-review sites, guest review platforms became an important source of information. The main aim of this study is to establish whether guest feedback can determine hotel ratings more accurately than conventional methods and whether a social media platform such as TripAdvisor can provide the necessary data to do so. The customer-review website, TripAdvisor, has grown rapidly and made a strong impact on the tourism and hotel industry. This study identifies the nature of TripAdvisor, its reliability, how its ratings compare with conventional ratings, and what criteria are used in guest reviews on TripAdvisor when assessing the quality of a hotel. These findings were triangulated with findings from the conventional rating systems of the 11 destinations that were sampled for this study to identify the value of TripAdvisor. Two samples were taken from TripAdvisor of 110 and 33 hotels, respectively. From the latter, ten guest reviews were gathered and analysed per hotel, resulting in a total of 330 reviews that were analysed. The study’s findings indicate that TripAdvisor is the largest guest feedback platform for hotels and its data can be considered to be reliable. The TripAdvisor ratings were not connected to the conventional ratings of the sampled hotels. The criteria used in TripAdvisor reviews focused more on service delivery than on the objective tangible elements used in most hotel rating systems. The rich context found in most guest reviews makes the information presented on TripAdvisor valuable. There is no evidence that conventionalrating system controls are linked to the comments found in TripAdvisor reviews. The results facilitated the identification of the delight and frustration factors in services marketing for the hotel industry. A new theory to include guest feedback in hotel ratings is developed and proposed. The study further presents two future scenarios, the most likely one of which predicts the demise of conventional rating systems as a result of the success of guest feedback platforms such as TripAdvisor.
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Babili, Galeichubeloe Nnana. "The effect of branding on customer buying behaviour in selected hotels of Gaborone, Botswana." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2117.
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Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014.The success of any hotel depends entirely upon the satisfaction of its consumers. In order to get this right, hotels have to know the buying behaviour of their customers, hence the saying that “the Customer is King, therefore the Customer is always right!” The Botswana hospitality and tourism market has experienced remarkable changes of late. The well-known hotel brands seem to have increased their market share in the existing market, which used to be dominated by local brands. A brand is a powerful tool that attracts more consumers to buying particular products and services. Some companies may even regard it as equity, as it can add value to the products with which it is associated. It is in this regard that branded properties are important in the hospitality industry. “Brands play an intangible role in the operational effectiveness of any organisation” (Bruce & Harvey, 2008:6). “Brands are increasingly important to tourist destinations and are used by all consumers in the process of buying situations” (Kotler, Bowen & Makens, 2006:315). This study focused on exploring the research problem, which stated: What will the effect of branding be on consumer buying behaviour in the hospitality industry of Gaborone? and the sub-problem, which stated: Will there be an increase in the buying behaviour of consumers due to branding in the hospitality industry of Gaborone? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the sales managers of the three participating hotels, and two questionnaires were distributed – one for guests and one for staff. The analysis of the questionnaires and the interview results indicated that the guests and employees of the hotels were aware of the brands that were available to them in the hospitality industry of Gaborone, Botswana. This was shown by the results that revealed that 52.99% guests stated that the hotel brand had a very important effect in their decision making on which hotel to choose, and 76.06% of the employees thought that the hotel brand had a very important effect in the decision making of customers on which hotel to choose.
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Mortensen, Wayne. "Customer-supplier relations in the Australian information technology and telecommunications industry : a strategic perspective." Monash University, Faculty of Business and Economics, 1997. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/8075.
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Wilkins, Hugh Charles, and n/a. "A Structural Model of Satisfaction and Brand Attitude in Hotels." Griffith University. Griffith Business School, 2006. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20061023.160143.
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This thesis is about the customer experience in hotels. The thesis evaluates the customer experience in relation to the antecedents of behavioural loyalty. Behavioural loyalty is evaluated in relation to customer satisfaction, brand trust and brand attitude. Customer satisfaction is also evaluated in relation to the antecedents of hotel performance, service quality and perceived value. The broad research underpinning this research is: How do consumers perceive and relate to luxury and first class hotel brands? The hotel industry is a large and highly diverse industry that includes a wide range of property styles, uses and qualities (Chon & Sparrowe, 2000; Go & Pine, 1995; Olsen, 1996; Powers & Barrows, 1999). The industry covers the spectrum of small, medium and large enterprises (Brotherton, 2003; Jones, 2002) and makes a significant contribution to national and international economies. The research incorporated data collection in three stages. The first stage was a qualitative study of consumers who self selected as first class or luxury consumers. The data from the focus groups were used to develop items for inclusion in a survey instrument. The focus groups data, together with information gathered from a literature review, were used to develop scales across a number of hotel performance dimensions. In addition scales were included in the survey instrument on customer satisfaction, perceived value, brand trust, brand attitude and behavioural loyalty. The second stage of the research was a pilot study with the survey instrument being distributed to a convenience sample. The data collected at this stage were used to purify and refine the survey instrument. The final stage was data collected from consumers in a number of Australian hotels. The resultant data set comprised 693 completed and useable responses. The data were examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to confirm the hotel performance and other dimensions. The resultant dimensions showed good psychometric properties. A number of hypotheses were proposed in the thesis and examined using structural equation modelling. Although two hypotheses were rejected the resultant structural model showed strong relationships between the dimensions included. The research identified that service quality is a strong contributor to behavioural loyalty. The stronger pathway from service quality to behavioural loyalty was through customer satisfaction ( = 0.63) although the pathway through brand attitude ( = 0.22) was also significant. Both customer satisfaction and service quality had a significant effect on brand trust and service quality also influenced brand attitude. A number of recommendations for further research were made. These included the replication of this study in different geographic and industry contexts.
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Goodsir, Warren. "Managing employee customer service interpersonal exchanges in the hospitality industry a New Zealand hotel case study : a thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in International Hospitality Management, 2008 /." AUT University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/276.
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The continued growth of service industries and the development of the experience economy has highlighted the need for employees to have extensive social and interpersonal skills. The need for employee interpersonal skills is further emphasised by the extensive interaction between employees and customers, during the provision of customer service, in full service hotels. Despite the heterogeneous nature of the customer service environment, management expect that a consistent level of service will be maintained, while customers desire a unique experience that meets or exceeds their individual expectations. To ensure that both the needs of the organisation and customers are consistently met, management control of employee actions and behaviours is required.The aim of this study was to identify how hotel organisations and managers control employee interpersonal interactions with customers. The research also sought to identify the interpersonal and emotional capabilities employers require from employees to meet the needs of customers and present the desired corporate image. A qualitative, case study, research methodology was applied to understand the expectations of managers, the issues concerning managing employee interactions with customers, perceptions of employee capabilities, and beliefs about current management control strategies in a hotel environment. The research was conducted at four hotel properties belonging to one international hotel group. The data gathering methods included semi-structured interviews, documentation review and field notes.The research concluded that effective alignment of employee and management goal congruence first requires the alignment of managers' goals to the organisation. To ensure management's expectations, customers' expectations and employee actions and behaviours are aligned, management must also have a sound understanding of the organisation's brand and desired image. Cultural and social control mechanisms were found to be important, as they provided a consistent method of aligning employees' behaviour with the goals and expectations of management. The development of social cohesion and norms, through serial and investiture socialisation mechanisms, also helped to create self-managing teams that reinforced the goals of management. The study suggests that, due to the increasing diversity of the stakeholders' views and goals, some of the traditional management perspectives of hospitality may need to change to meet the needs of contemporary employees.
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Lungiswa, Mbungwana Christine. "Customer satisfaction in hotels in Cape Town." Thesis, [S.l. : s.n.], 2009. http://dk.cput.ac.za/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1122&context=td_cput.
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Wong, Amy. "The management of customer relationships in the retail industry." Monash University, Dept. of Management, 2002. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/9305.
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Bunzel, Dirk. "Real numbers, imaginary guests, and fantastic experiences : the Grand Seaside Hotel and the discursive construction of customer service /." View thesis, 2000. http://library.uws.edu.au/adt-NUWS/public/adt-NUWS20031121.101443/index.html.
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Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, 2000.Includes index. "November 2000" "Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Western Sydney" Bibliography: leaves 321- 345.
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Ekorn, Stephanie, and Silvia Khan. "THROUGH THE EYE OF THE CUSTOMER : A STUDY OF HOW CORPORATE BRAND IMAGE IMPACT CUSTOMER LOYALTY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-226971.
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An important question in today’s research on marketing is in what way a company can influence how customers perceive their brand and in what way they can facilitate customer retention. The aim with this paper is to research the impact the corporate brand image has on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty within the travel industry to further the understanding of how branding activities influence customer preferences. By using a survey with an experimental design, where corporate brand image is manipulated through a PR-article, the results indicate that a company can influence the loyalty a customer feels toward their brand by trying to influence the corporate brand image. The results also support the idea that corporate brand image does have its own effect on customer loyalty and is not merely indirectly influencing it through customer satisfaction. Furthermore, these results are of interest to the travel industry since it indicates that PR campaigns can aid the travel agency in differentiating itself from its competitors. In an industry with intangible and homogeneous services and a highly competitive market differentiating the brand is likely to have a positive competitive effect.
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Jun, Jaekyoon. "An Exploratory Model of the Relationships between Empowerment, Job Involvement, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Customer Orientation in the Hospitality Industry." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/40269.
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The concept of customer orientation is becoming increasingly more important to managers, especially in service industries. Given the premise of the study that a customer-oriented employee has a critical role in enhancing service quality, little research has investigated the antecedents of the customer orientation construct. The objective of this study was to develop a theoretical model of customer orientation, and to test the hypothesized relationships between customer orientation and its antecedents of empowerment, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.
To measure these hypothesized relationships at the individual level of analysis, 217 employee responses from a multi-unit chain restaurant were analyzed. The model was evaluated using structural equation modeling (SEM) utilizing SAS CALIS (SAS system 1989). Evaluation was conducted using a two-stage procedure, in which the construct measurements (a measurement model) were evaluated first, and then the structural relationships (a structural model) between the constructs were evaluated.
Results indicated that empowerment and job satisfaction were found to have positive, direct effects on customer orientation, whereas job involvement had a negative, direct effect on customer orientation. Job satisfaction was found to be a positive antecedent of organizational commitment. Employee empowerment was found to positively influence job satisfaction. Moreover, the path from empowerment to organizational commitment, which was not hypothesized in the initial model, was found to be positively significant. However, the direct relationship between job involvement and organizational commitment, as hypothesized in this study, was not supported.
The findings contribute to a better understanding of customer orientation by identifying antecedents of customer orientation among employees in the hospitality industry. The managerial implications of these research findings were discussed. The limitations of the study were explored, and suggestions were given for future research.Ph. D.
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Soutari, Hanna, and Jenny Almstedt. "Radisson SAS - Varför har deras företagskunder valt dem, och varför stannar de kvar." Thesis, Södertörn University College, School of Communication, Technology and Design, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-1880.
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Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to study how the hotel chain Radisson SAS works with prolonged customer relations with their business clients, with other words the clients that have business agreements with them.
Methods: This study will contain an inductive approach and qualitative methods. The qualitative research method is in the shape of a deep interview with the sales manager of Radisson SAS and qualitative interviews of chosen business clients to the hotel.
Results: The results of this investigation show that business clients are controlled by what kind of agreements their company has.
The companies sign agreements with hotels and hotel chains that are able to satisfy big parts of their needs, if not all of them.
With the help of flexible solutions, a well known brand, and good relations, Radisson SAS has made sure that their business clients have prolonged their agreements.
They are a global hotel chain near transports, and business clients feel secure with Radisson SAS.
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Mtatsi, Siyabonga Chris. "Retaining customers through customer service in the telecomminications industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018641.
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South African Mobile network industry has seen many developments since its inception in 1994. When mobile technology was introduced in this country, the first two mobile network operators, namely Vodacom and MTN, enjoyed vast benefits of being early entrance in this business space and they grew at rate that was much faster than they themselves had expected. As expected, in the past five years this growth rate has slowly diminished due to various economic factors; these factors included increase in Government regulations, increase in number of players in the mobile network space and ever evolving technology. The mobile network operators saw interconnect fees, which amounted to fifteen per cent of total revenue for each of these operators, being reduced by more than half, with Government foreseeing total removal of these fees. At the same time, the number of competitors grew from one to three within a period of five years forcing all operators, especially Vodacom and its Vodashops, to search for winning strategies that could ensure retention of their customers thus their revenue. Therefore, the intention of this research is to investigate various strategies that are suitable and can be implemented for one of the Vodashops in Cape Town, namely Canal Walk Vodashop, to ensure that this store manages to retain and possibly grow its existing customers. The investigation led the researcher to find that, in a situation where the affected organisation is at the maturity level of the business, as it is the case with the selected store, the most effective strategy to retain and grow customers is the customer service strategy. This strategy includes various elements which are very important to its success; these elements include providing job specific skills to employees, designing and implementing suitable processes and creating best value for customers on products and services that the company offers. The research was achieved by following the approach below: • A literature study was done in order to determine the key elements of an effective customer service strategy; • A survey of literature focusing specifically on employee skills development, design and implementation of processes and creation of value for the offered products and service; • Insights of customers from the selected Vodashop were obtained via interviews to determine their perception on products and services offered; and • Lastly, interview results were analysed to determine the areas of improvement and also what customer service strategies are suitable for highlighted problems. Through this research, various customer service strategies that must be consistently and continuously executed in order to achieve this excellent customer service were recommended. The recommended strategies include training and development of employees, design and implementation of processes that are aligned to the selected Vodashop and also to the needs and expectations of customers.
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Zhang, Jin. "An investigation into guests' perceived service quality of the bed-and-breakfast and guest house market industry in the Nelson Mandela Bay area." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1087.
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The tourism and hospitality industry has made a meaningful contribution to the development of the South African economy. Not only the hotels, but also the demand for self-catering holiday properties such as guest houses and bed-and-breakfast (B&B) establishments is increasing which could boost the tourist industry. Moreover, the prospect of the self-catering holiday properties in South Africa is extremely positive, particularly when the country is given the opportunity to hold the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Thus, expectations and perceptions are significantly shaped and transformed by the prosperous environment. The self-catering holiday properties should provide the best possible service to international and domestic tourists and ensure that their needs are fully met. The general purpose of this study was to evaluate the service quality of guest houses and B&Bs in the Nelson Mandela Bay by comparing guests’ expectations and perceptions. The results of this study could assist the managers of guest house and B&B in improving its service performance to more effectively fulfil the needs of dynamic tourist market. The literature study provided an overview of tourism industry from the management and marketing perspectives, services marketing and a detailed discussion of service quality focusing on the nature of services, determinants of service quality and techniques for measuring service quality. The SERVQUAL model and its derivative, Lodging Quality Index (LQI), were adapted for measuring the guests’ perceived service quality in this research. ii The empirical data was collected by means of a survey, using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to guests who were staying at guest houses or B&Bs in the Nelson Mandela Bay identified in terms of convenience sampling. One hundred and five useable questionnaires were received. The empirical findings based on the perception-minus-expectation (P-E) gap analysis showed that the perception mean scores were consistently lower than the expectation mean scores. This implies that guests perceived service quality of guest house and B&B to be relatively low. It is recommended that the managers of guest houses and B&Bs should: {u10007A} uniform the employees; {u10007A} use every tool to figure out what the guest wants; {u10007A} establish specific working procedures and help employees to understand their job responsibilities and mangers’ expectations; {u10007A} invite suggestions of existing located facilities from guests, and move the inconvenient facilities if possible; {u10007A} employ a communication audit to evaluate the overall quality of the communication system by comparing communication objectives to actual performance; {u10007A} combine useful destination information from different sources and update them on the website frequently; and {u10007A} apply an attracting layout to build positive image.
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Gallant, Helen Michelle. "The use of the enneagram to improve customer relationships with a motor vehicle manufacturer." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/194.
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Marketing strategy relies heavily on segmentation and positioning. Lifestyle and psychographics are increasingly being used as a basis for market segmentation. Marketers require deeper insight into the motivational factors that encourage purchases in order to tailor make offerings to suit individual needs. The focus is on customer relationship management in order to retain customers over a longer period of time, rather than once-off sales. This study examines how using the ancient and mystical technique of the Enneagram can improve customer relationship management and formulates a model for doing so. The Enneagram can be used as an effective base for psychographic segmentation by harnessing the diagnostic and predicative power therein. It is already being used in human resource development and strategic planning by companies and it seems fitting to apply it in yet another business area that can greatly benefit from this.
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Chen, Ivan Shiou-Herng. "A study on the servicing of culturally different guests for the hotel industry in the U.S. /." Online version of thesis, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/10705.
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Yam, Bonga Sherperd Elvis. "Factors affecting customer retention at an automative manufacturing organisation." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018573.
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South African vehicle manufacturers are under immense competition from vehicle manufactures from India and China. The global financial crises also put these organisations under intense pressure and this resulted in these organisations having to start seeing the need to focus on issues that affect customer retention. The way that business is done in the 21st Century is forcing organisations to implement strategies that are geared towards increasing customer retention and growing the business. Organisations need to build relationships with their customers with the hope that these customers will in turn extend their stay with the organisation when an opportunity to replace their vehicles arises or keep on servicing with them. In order to establish a good relationship with customers, organisations need to understand customer expectations by being customer orientated and by providing customers with value. The primary objective of this study is to improve customer retention for a selected vehicle manufacturer after the warranty and service plans have expired, by investigating the relationship between customer service quality, customer loyalty, and customer retention. The results obtained from the 64 respondents who participated in the survey revealed that although all the above-mentioned variables play a role in increasing customer retention, customer service quality exerts the most influence. The study also highlights areas that should be improved, as well as recommendations on how to improve them. Recommendations for future research are also provided.
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Caigny, Arno de. "Innovation in customer scoring for the financial services industry." Thesis, Lille, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019LIL1A011.
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Cette thèse améliore la notation des clients. L’évaluation des clients est importante pour les entreprises dans leurs processus de prise de décision parce qu'elle aide à résoudre des problèmes de gestion clés tels que le choix des clients à cibler pour une campagne de marketing ou l'analyse des clients qui sont susceptibles de quitter l'entreprise. La recherche effectuée dans le cadre de cette thèse apporte plusieurs contributions dans trois domaines de la littérature sur la notation des clients. Premièrement, de nouvelles sources de données sont utilisées pour évaluer les clients. Deuxièmement, la méthodologie pour passer des données aux décisions est améliorée. Troisièmement, la prédiction des événements courants du client est proposée comme une nouvelle application de la notation des clients. Tous les résultats présentés dans cette thèse sont issus de données réelles et sont non seulement d'une grande valeur académique, mais aussi d'une grande pertinence commercialeThis dissertation improves customer scoring. Customer scoring is important for companies in their decision making processes because it helps to solve key managerial issues such as the decision of which customers to target for a marketing campaign or the assessment of customer that are likely to leave the company. The research in this dissertation makes several contributions in three areas of the customer scoring literature. First, new sources of data are used to score customers. Second, methodology to go from data to decisions is improved. Third, customer life event prediction is proposed as a new application of customer scoring
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Arsenault, Reginald W. "Creation of a CRM selection methodology for the aerospace & defense industry." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2006. http://165.236.235.140/lib/rarsenault2006.pdf.
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Su, Fen. "Emotional labour in the hospitality industry a case study in an international Auckland hotel : this dissertation is submitted to Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master in International Hospitality Management, December 2005." Full Dissertation. Abstract, 2005.
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Malan, George Francois. "Quality customer information management in the financial services industry : a case study." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50072.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Competition in the long-term insurance industry is intense and is increasing. This market is highly sophisticated and competitive and has developed substantially over the last few years with increasing integration into the world economy. Many companies have come to a crossroad as far as expansion of their market share is concerned. They have to operate in this highly competitive market and are under increasing pressure from legislation. New customers are in a short supply and competition is fierce. These facts are forcing companies to look at alternative ways of increasing their market share, especially through projects that try to maximise the value of existing clients. This paper looks intrinsically at information quality and how it coincides with customer relationship management projects for it to be effective and to give companies a competitive advantage. Through qualitative exploratory methods I was able to get a clear picture of how one of South Africa's biggest insurance companies tries to increase its market share in such a saturated market using information about their customers to gain competitive advantage. I first develop a thorough theoretical background on the terrain of information quality and how it relates to customer information management, which in turn has a great impact and forms the foundation of customer relationship management. Then, I explain how the company sees customer relationship management and how customer information management and information quality playa role in this view. Finally, I look at practical examples of quality information management at work within a framework of customer relationship management.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kompetisie in die langtermyn versekerings-bedryf is intens. Die mark is hoogs gesofistikeerd en kompeterend en het substansieel ontwikkel in die afgelope paar jaar met 'n verhoogde integrasie in die wêreld-mark. Vele maatskappye bevind hulself tans by 'n kruispad- met betrekking tot die uitbreiding van hulle aandeel in die mark. Besigheid moet gedoen word in 'n baie kompeterende mark en dan is daar ook die ewig toenemende druk wat toegepas word met betrekking tot wetlikheid en konformiteit. Dit, tesame met die feit dat kliënte al hoe minder raak, dwing maatskappye om na alternatiewe maniere te kyk om verdienstes op te stoot, en spesifiek deur projekte wat probeer om die waarde van bestaande kliënte te verhoog. Die werkstuk kyk spesifiek na informasie-kwaliteit en hoe dit verband hou met kliënte verhoudingsbestuur projekte om dit effektief te maak. Daar word ook gekyk na hoe dit die maatskappy 'n kompeterende voordeel gee. Deur kwalitatiewe ondersoekende metodes kon ek 'n helder beeld kry van hoe een van Suid Afrika se versekerings-maatskappye probeer om verdienstes te verhoog in so 'n versadigde mark deur gebruik te maak van informasie oor hulle kliente om 'n kompeterende voordeel te verkry. Eerstens ontwikkel ek 'n deeglike teoretiese agtergrond oor die gebied van informasie kwaliteit, en hoe dit verband hou met kliënte informasie-bestuur, wat op sy beurt weer 'n groot impak het en die grondslag vorm van kliënte verhoudingsbestuur. Tweedens verduidelik ek hoe die maatskappy kliënte verhoudingsbestuur sien en hoe kliënte informasie bestuur en informasie-kwaliteit 'n rol speel in die siening. Laastens kyk ek na praktiese voorbeelde van kwaliteit informasie-bestuur en die impak wat dit het op kliënte verhoudingsbestuur.
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Shi, Guicheng. "Customer relationship strength in relationship marketing : an investigation with empirical evidence from the insurance industry in China." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2005. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/660.
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Hogg, Gillian. "Service quality in business advisory services : the case of the public relations industry in Scotland." Thesis, University of Stirling, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/2583.
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The thesis concerns quality of service in the context of business advisory services. The economic rationale for improving any quality standard is based on the theory that by creating customer satisfaction and a perception of service quality, an organisation can retain its existing customers and attract new business, thus improving market share. This argument is based on the assumption that by improving the quality of the service delivered to customers, product offerings can be differentiated in such a way as to improve customer value. This is a customer defined approach to quality and assumes that the provider has understood and responded to customer requirements. In order to achieve this it is necessary to understand the particular situational characteristics of this market and the criteria customers use to assess the service they receive. In order to investigate service quality in business advisory services, the public relations industry in Scotland is considered as a specific case. Public relations is a business advisory service concerned with the management of image or reputation. However it is not a homogeneous product and is made up of a number of specific functions that equate to two main product variants. Based on these product variants, the research identifies three main purchaser groups in Scotland. However, although outcome expectations are consistent across purchaser groups, there are different expectations of the process of delivering the service according to the product variant purchased. The research concludes that when purchasers are buying a task level service their perceptions of quality are based upon tangible, measurable service features, whilst purchasers of a managerial product variant are concerned with process factors that lead to developing a relationship of trust. There are also a number of 'bottom-line' expectations, common across purchaser groups, which are essential to a perception of quality. Service quality, in the business advisory service context, is dependant on recognising what constitutes the core product and tailoring the process of delivery to satisfy purchaser expectations. The implications of this research are that an understanding of context is essential when considering service quality, in order that customer expectations and provider delivery combine to achieve added value. Secondly, that product definitions are required in determining the expectations associated with performance quality; and thirdly, that customer segmentation based upon product variant is a viable proposition in business advisory services.
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Chiang, Jing Fen. "Cultural impact on customer perception of service quality in the hotel industry: A comparative study of Eastern and Western respondents." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2006. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3041.
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The purpose of the study was to investigate cultural aspects that influence customer perception of service quality in the hotel industry, specifically those that influence Eastern and Western respondents. A questionnaire was developed to assess cultural differences on perceptions, which included a modified version of the SERVQUAL scales, an instrument used to measure service quality. The convenience sample consisted of students enrolled in the MBA program at a Western university (N=152; Eastern=57.9%, Western=34.9%, Other=7.2%). Findings indicated that there were no significant differences between Eastern and Western cultures in perceptions of service quality. A sample questionnaire is included.
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Parmbro, Anders. "Approaches of Aftermarket Services for Successful Customer Relations : A Study of Volvo Trucks de México S.A. de C.V." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekonomi och organisation, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-128380.
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It has for many businesses, especially on competitive markets, become fundamental to offer augmented services around the core product, with the aim of building lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with the customers. The author of this thesis has investigated such services offered on the Mexican truck aftermarket. The art of creating successful customer relations requires theoretical insight. Research applicable on aftermarket services has therefore been studied, and the reader will go into theories of service management, relationship marketing, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, to better understand the contexts in which aftermarket activities can be placed. The empirical research has been carried out at Volvo Trucks in Mexico through interviews with employees and dealers of its aftermarket organization, but also through interviewing and surveying its truck customers. The main objective of the project was to identify gaps between the aftermarket services offered and the actual needs of the customers, and to address them. Another objective was to find appropriate ways of monitoring customer satisfaction- and loyalty in the future. The lack of spare parts at the dealers was found to be the most urgent problem for the moment. In addition, spare parts availability was evaluated to be the most important area among the surveyed customers. Financial problems of the dealers were found to provoke the lack of spare parts in many cases. In turn, evidence of poor management was identified as possible causing factors to the financial problems. The main general flaw in this sense would be a questionable dealer business focus. The research identified the following issues as possible areas of improvement, based on the theoretical approach chosen: A financial renovation of the Volvo Trucks dealer net, excepting the dealers that are not fully committed to its role. Those are to be phased out. Initiation of IT-solutions to support automatic replenishment of spare parts at the dealerships. Forcing the usage of a common CRM database. Introduction of corporate key performance indicators based on customer relations’ metrics. Altering dealer business focus towards relationship marketing thinking. Improve dealer management business vision and business knowledge. In addition to these findings of possible areas of improvement, the following future methods of customer satisfaction research and customer loyalty metrics are recommended: Yearly one-to-one interviews with core customers performed by the aftermarket organization, and continuous close follow-up actions performed by the dealers, to monitor customer satisfaction. Customer defection rate metrics to monitor customer loyalty.
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Mburu, Peris Njoki. "Determinants of customer satisfaction and retention: a survey of the banking industry in Kenya." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1014106.
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Customers have become the lifeblood of any organisation. Without customers, or-ganisations would not exist let alone survive in this competitive global environment (Grigoroudis, Politis and Siskos, 2002). Banks depend on sufficient and sustaining profitability to survive in the global business world. Customers are the source of banks‟ profitability. By satisfying the customer, the bank is able to retain the custom-er and reap maximum benefits from the relationship which ultimately leads to higher profitability. Customer satisfaction has therefore evolved as a strategic business ini-tiative which banks cannot ignore. Retention of the bank customer has become one of the most important objectives of the overall marketing strategy of any bank. In Kenya, the term „customer service‟ came to the fore just over fifteen years ago when banks started acquiring customer service departments. Since then, many cus-tomer training programs for staff have been put in place to transform the image of the customer as not just a profit-maker for the banks but as a human being with needs, which if not fulfilled will cause the customer to look for alternatives in the market. Training has focused on the bank staff whose customer handling skills have been sharpened. In spite of this, no empirical study has attempted to find out if the intended satisfaction of the customer has been achieved or not, which is indicative of little or no attention being given to this important phenomenon. In Africa, with the ex-ception of South Africa, empirical studies on customer satisfaction in the banking in-dustry are few. This gap presented the motivation for this study. The primary objective was to establish the determinants of customer satisfaction and retention in the Kenyan banking industry. The secondary objectives were to establish the relationship between socio-economic factors and customer satisfaction in Ken-yan banks; secondly, to determine whether bank-related factors influence customer satisfaction in Kenyan banks; thirdly, to identify the various strategies known to cus-tomers and employed by Kenyan banks to ensure customer satisfaction and customer retention and finally, to analyse the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention in Kenyan banks. The study adopted a descriptive survey design to suit the target population which was dispersed over a wide geographical region spanning the entire Kenya. The tar-get population included every bank customer in Kenya. Both qualitative and quantita-tive data were used. The data collection instrument was a self-administered ques-tionnaire that contained both closed and open-ended questions. Statistical tests were done using Pearson, Chi Square, Anova, Pearson Correlation and Multi-linear re-gression. Data were presented using frequency distribution tables, percentages, cross tabulation and pie charts. The findings indicated a positive relationship be-tween bank-related factors and customer satisfaction and retention. The conclusion was that if banks improved on factors like quality service, staff orientation towards customers, availability of management and ATM uptimes just to name a few, propor-tionately, customer satisfaction and retention would be enhanced. Finally, recommendations based on the findings were made to the Kenyan banks highlighting antecedents which would enhance the customers‟ satisfaction and reten-tion in the Kenyan banking industry.
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Monsen, Line, and Marie Sandberg. "Potentialen till tjänsteutveckling i hotellbranschen." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-73196.
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Hotell ser i dagens samhälle i regel likadana ut och konkurrerar om samma utbud och kunder. Det är således betydelsefullt att i dagens konkurrensinriktade samhälle skilja sig från andra företag som verkar i samma bransch. Nya tjänster hjälper företag att attrahera nya kunder och samtidigt behålla redan befintliga vilket har gjort tjänsteutveckling till en viktig konkurrensfaktor. Det är således viktigt för hotell att känna till vad kunderna efterfrågar för att kartlägga potentiell tjänsteutveckling. Avsaknad av konkret forskning på ämnet kan leda till att ledningen för ett hotell genomför förändringar utan att se till kundernas egentliga behov, vilket kan medföra ett stort risktagande och stora ekonomiska kostnader. En positiv förändring sker först när hotell utvecklas i den riktning som deras kunder begär. Studien syftar till att kartlägga potentialen till tjänsteutveckling inom hotellbranschen i Umeå ur ett företags- och kundperspektiv. Detta för att se om det finns behov till förändring och om branschen tillmötesgår marknadens krav. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer kartläggs utbudet och efterfrågan av tjänster och service i hotellbranschen. Dessa analyseras sedan mot den teoretiska referensramen. Studien avser även att som delsyfte analysera och beskriva om tjänsteutveckling ger ett högre kundvärde samt vilken typ av tjänsteutveckling inom hotellbranschen som skulle underlätta för kunderna samt öka kundvärdet. En ökad förståelse i ämnet kan öka hotellens marknadsposition, lönsamhet och kundvärde. Studiens resultat uppvisar att det finns potential till utveckling av tjänster och service bland hotellen som var föremål i studien. Främst gäller det personalutveckling och utveckling av processen vid in- och utcheckning samt möjligheten till att göra beställningar på mat under alla tider på dygnet. Resultatet visar skillnader mellan vad affärsresenärer och privatresenärer efterfrågar. Affärsresenärer efterfrågar effektivisering och tjänster som underlättar i deras vardag och bidrar till att hotellet fungerar som ett stationärt hem. Privatresenärer å andra sidan efterfrågar främst personlig service och har inte samma krav som affärsresenärerna har över boendet och utbudet av tjänster. Slutligen har vi funnit att hotellen som önskar att öka kundvärdet gentemot sina kunder måste välja en tydlig strategi. Här har vi kommit underfund med två starka koncept, antingen ett lite dyrare koncept där allt ingår eller så ett billigare alternativ där kunderna får köpa tilläggstjänster efter önskemål. En tydlig strategi minskar risken för besvikelse och missförstånd.
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Bayari, Lyne Sarah Obindja. "The assessment of workforce diversity in the hospitality industry : a case study in the Western Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2729.
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Thesis (MTech (Business Administration ))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, [2018].Diversity management was developed in the 1980s in response to demographic changes within the labour force and commercial competition in the US. This context establishes the fundamental point that organisations stand to profit from having a diversified workforce (Naik, 2012). However, the integration of immigrants within South African businesses is a process characterised by intense challenges. The reasons for this are unclear, as are the benefits of having a diverse workforce in the South African labour market. In order to explore and better understand the phenomenon, this study adopts a qualitative research approach and makes use of semi-structured interviews. Such a process is appropriate for gaining insight into complex issues concerning the research problem (East et al., 2010; Monette et al., 2014). According to several sources, immigrants face challenges linked to the degree of their language proficiency, educational level, lack of experience, ethnicity and country of origin. This notwithstanding, immigrants bring to organisations new ideas, a sustainable competitive edge, productivity and profits, and much more. This study provides an understanding of how the hospitality industry value immigrants and how they can accommodate them in their organisations. This will add to the existing body of knowledge and contribute to improvement in the quality of social relationships in organisations, bringing about returns on investment. The researcher adopted the ten ethical guidelines of Bryman and Bell (2007) in carrying out this study. Specifically, the participants’ consent was sought and they were informed that they could exit the project at will, and would not be subjected to any harm. The data collection process was also clearly explained (Bryman & Bell, 2007). The findings of this study were that not only immigrants find it difficult to find a job in the Western Cape Province: South Africans, the majority semi-skilled and under-qualified, are also trying to find a job in their own country. In short, South Africa is in a crisis of high unemployment, and there is an urgent need for more infrastructure to address this. But those who are most disadvantaged in this crisis are immigrants with formidable and remarkable qualifications. They have left their home countries with the sole desire to get work, to succeed, and to enjoy a good life in the host country. Unfortunately, certain destructive circumstances, such as discrimination, obstructive situations in the Department of Home Affairs, etc., prevent them from even obtaining a suitable job offer. At the end of their job search, some remain unemployed while others have to work in hazardous jobs, or in jobs not related to their qualifications, just to have an income. The study concluded that although workforce diversity has some inherent challenges, it has benefits for business organisations and so, should be supported by the government and business owners.
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Evren, Yigit. "The geography of supplier customer relations : the organisational and locational structure of SCR networks in the Turkish automotive industry." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.400257.
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Yeung, Wing-lun, and 楊永倫. "The implementation of customer relationship management as a key performance indicator for the service apartment industry in Hong Kong: a case study of standard serviced apartment." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B48343754.
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Service Apartment, as a new growth real estate sub-market had rapid growth in the past decade. Under the change of market condition and impact from its own characteristic, Service Apartment industry is facing a great challenge. In the marketplace, different organization would adopt different business strategies to confront the challenges. Apart from those common business strategies, Customer Relationship Management is one of the common strategies that has widely adopted by different organization and the effect was highly recognized. Therefore, some of the operators of Service Apartment also adopt Customer Relationship Management into the operation to improve the competitiveness and performance of the apartment.
In view of Service Apartment is a new growth industry, we attempt to conduct a case study in a standard class Service Apartment in Hong Kong to identify the importance of CRM to the Service Apartment industry and evaluate the performance of CRM application from operator's and user's view point and hence to identify the potential improvement on the application.
4published_or_final_version
Housing Management
Master
Master of Housing Management
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Fong, Sharon Mei Chan. "Examining re-patronising intentions formation : the intention-as-wants model /." Connect to this title, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0020.
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Van, Deventer Reinard Gawie. "An operational model for increasing customer satisfaction for Detpak South Africa." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020807.
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Detpak South Africa is a subsidiary paper and board company of Mpact Limited, formally known as Mondi Packaging South Africa. The Mpact group of companies operates across 31 sites and employs more than 3 700 employees. Detpak South Africa specializes in three respective niche markets: international fast food packaging, industrial packaging and disposables packaging. The primary objective of this study is to propose an operational model for improving customer satisfaction levels within the disposables market for Detpak South Africa. Further, Detpak’s competitive position with respect to customer satisfaction was assessed and an empirical assessment was conducted to identify imperative attributes impacting on overall customer satisfaction. It is noted from marketing journals that providing a quality product at the right price no longer suffices as an adequate value proposition. Numerous authors have noted that there is no longer a difference between a goods market and a service market, in its purest form, and that manufacturers of goods must embrace the principles of service marketing to develop a competitive advantage within the market. A quantitative research was conducted to obtain data. The measuring instrument used to obtain data was a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 84 questionnaires were distributed nationally across South Africa. From the 84 questionnaires a total of 62 questionnaires were obtained from respondents, from which a final sample of n=59 was considered for capturing. Three questionnaires were excluded from the sample due to response error of non-completion. Correlation coefficient analysis was used to calculate the relationships between independent and dependant variables. It was found that all customer satisfaction attributes, listed below, had a positive relationship to overall customer satisfaction: Customer value; Product quality; Price; Communication; Reliability; Responsiveness; Customer service; Sales support. The hypothesized relationship between overall customer satisfaction and customer loyalty was measured and confirmed to be strongly positive. It can be concluded that a positive movement in overall customer satisfaction will be accompanied by a similarly positive movement in customer loyalty. Furthermore, through secondary review it was noted that the retention of existing customers costs much less and is more profitable than the acquisition of new business. The results presented within this study indicate a strong market position for Detpak South Africa in terms of product quality compared against competitive activity, which means a competitive advantage in the market for the company and which will assist in attaining its strategic objectives. The results also identified a number of customer satisfaction attributes which Detpak South Africa could improve to allow them to establish a firm position in the market through the overall improvement of customer satisfaction levels. Finally, an operational model integrating the important concepts identified within the literature study was proposed to assist Detpak South Africa in enhancing levels of perceived customer satisfaction. The model integrates the important business philosophies of customer relations, best practices, continuous improvement and, finally, customer satisfaction attributes.
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Ferreira, António Filipe Andrade Caldeira. "Programas de fidelidade em hotelaria: o caso Porto Bay." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/2439.
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Mestrado em MarketingAs estratégias de relacionamento constituem um dos principais factores de diferenciação utilizados actualmente pelas cadeias hoteleiras e que têm por objectivo atingir a fidelização dos clientes, sendo que o CRM (Customer Relationship Management), através da utilização dos programas de fidelidade é uma das formas de atingir essa meta, daí que o estudo pretende investigar formas de aumentar o valor do relacionamento entre o Grupo Porto Bay e os seus clientes, respondendo assim a esta questão de investigação. A metodologia adoptada foi de natureza qualitativa e possuiu um carácter exploratório e descritivo, sendo conduzida por um estudo de caso numa empresa do sector hoteleiro (Grupo Porto Bay). Foram realizadas entrevistas abertas em profundidade, observações directas e recolha de dados secundários. O material proveniente do caso foi analisado por meio de técnicas de análise de conteúdo e triangulação. Da análise teórica e da confrontação com a realidade estudada, constatou-se que na indústria hoteleira a introdução de programas de fidelidade permite aumentar valor para os clientes e para a própria cadeia. Uma das formas de aumentar valor para os clientes consiste na utilização de uma componente funcional e emocional, nomeadamente através de parcerias estabelecidas com entidades externas às cadeias hoteleiras, evidenciando a utilidade de pertença ao programa e aumentando o desejo de associação. Para as cadeias, o acesso a informações sobre os clientes e as suas necessidades vai permitir uma melhor segmentação e comunicação. Como resultado desta investigação concluiu-se que os programas de fidelidade devem de ter associado um serviço e/ou produto principal com elevado nível qualidade e que devem proporcionar situações do tipo "ganha x ganha". Um outro aspecto consiste no facto de os programas deverem ser adaptados às realidades onde os hotéis estão localizados e aos seus clientes, não devendo ser um programa estandardizado. Além disto, os programas devem ser sustentáveis para o hotel que os implementa, ou seja, devem permitir obter um retorno do relacionamento, embora seja difícil de medir.
The relationship strategies constitute one of the main factors of differentiation used currently by hotels and have as the main objective the customer satisfaction and the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) through the use of customer loyalty programmes is one of the ways of achieving this target, so this study aims to investigate the various forms of increasing the values of relationship between the Grupo Porto Bay and its clients, answering the question of this investigation. The methodology used was of a qualitative nature and posses' an explorative character and descriptive, having been driven by a case study on an organisation in the hospitality industry (Grupo Porto Bay). Open extensive interviews were made, direct observations and a collection of secondary data. The data collected from the case was analyzed through the use of techniques of data analysis and the process of triangulation. From the theoretical analysis and with the confrontation of the reality studied, it can be stipulated that in the hospitality industry the introduction of loyalty programs can increase the value for the clients but also for the chain. One of the ways to increase the value for the clients consists in the usage of one functional and emotional component, namely through established partnerships with external entities to the hotel chain, evidencing the utility to the programme and increasing the desire of association. For the chains, the access to information about the clients will permit a better segmentation and communication. As a result of this investigation it can be concluded that loyalty programmes should be associated to a service and/or a principal product of high quality and should proposition situations of the type "win x win". Another aspect is the fact that the programmes should be adapted to the realities where the hotels are located and its clients, not being a standardised programme. Apart from that, the programmes should be sustainable for the hotel, who implements them, or be it, should allow a return on the relationship, be it difficult to measure.