The Swedish car manufacturer, Volvo Cars, are a pioneer in the automotive industry regarding vehicle safety. Ever since they invented the three-point seat belt, the safety aspect has been their main priority. Today, a car is equipped with new technology and is highly dependent on software solutions. This implies that software features are used to increase the safety of the car. The level of uncertainty increases with the new features, which highlights the importance of creating a robust product to avoid potential problems. During the last decade, the DCOV approach (Define – Characterize – Optimize – Verify) evolved to create a product that is insensitive to variation and appreciated by the customers. Volvo Cars are currently developing a camera monitoring system (CMS) that is supposed to replace the conventional rear-view mirror with an exterior camera and an interior display. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to develop a robust design for the CMS that satisfies the customers. By using the DCOV approach, the aim is to identify potential risks and failure modes to avoid hardware and software related problems, and at the same time, develop a product that is based on the voice of the customer. This thesis demonstrates the problems with the conventional mirrors and the parking assistance cameras, which are associated with the folding function, the mirror adjustment, and the wide-angle module. The analysis of customer surveys indicates that blind spot indicators are appreciated by the customers while the mirror size is a critical factor. The mirrors need to be large enough to provide a good rear-view visibility, but small enough to maintain good forward visibility. A parameter diagram, robustness checklist and a system failure mode and effect analysis (S-FMEA) were conducted to identify risks, noise factors and failure modes with the CMS. It resulted in 44 failure modes where six of them were considered as critical, which means a high level of severity or frequent occurrence. The six critical failure modes were identified at the S-FMEA meetings with the business units Manufacturing, Display systems, Electromagnetic compatibility and CMS camera. Three business units were software related, which shows the difficulties with the transition from a hardware related rear-view mirror to the CMS. The recommendations for Volvo Cars are divided into two categories, where the first is associated with the CMS and should be seen as a continuation of this thesis. Volvo Cars should complete the S-FMEA and the included actions. By conducting the recommendations for the CMS, it will be properly tested to resist noise factors and manage potential variation. The long-term recommendations are proposals for future actions, which include a CMS for the inner mirror and investigate BLIS options. If the recommendations are considered, it will increase the possibility of creating a robust design, based on the voice of the customer. The result of this study highlights the power of the DCOV approach, as it clearly shows that it is possible to reduce the warranty costs. If the folding function is excluded, and the CMS software becomes easy to update, the warranty costs could be reduced by SEK 5 million.

The main objective of this research is to measure the relation between different dimensions, or constructs of service quality with customer satisfaction and brand loyalty; thereby identifying the most important factors of service quality that affect customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, in the context of subscription video on demand (SVOD) services in the Swedish market. This study utilised a mixed methods approach divided into two stages, whereof the first involved multiple focus groups for collecting qualitative data. The second stage consisted of quantitative data collection through online questionnaires from 122 valid respondents, ranging from the age of 18 to 29 by a non- probability sampling method. SPSS was used to analyse the data with three statistical analysis methods: bivariate correlations, for establishing evidence of construct validity; a reliability analysis to test Cronbach alpha for internal consistency; and multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. The research findings indicate that there is a positive, significant relationship between customer satisfaction and certain constructs of service quality. Also, findings indicate that the statistical relationship between the constructs of service quality and brand loyalty are partially mediated by customer satisfaction. As a result, companies operating in the Swedish SVOD-industry need to focus on improving the significant factors of service quality, as they may increase customer satisfaction of 18 to 29-year-old customers, and further create long-term relationships as a way of gaining competitive advantage.

Este estudo teve como objetivo principal pesquisar as visões das necessidades do cliente no setor automobilístico através da medição da qualidade percebida. O estudo concentrou-se em concessionárias de veículos automotivos, considerando a influência da montadora. Para que os objetivos propostos pudessem ser alcançados tornou-se necessário mesclar estratégias de pesquisa quantitativas e qualitativas. Para tanto se optou por um estudo exploratório com clientes das concessionárias e entrevistas individuais pautadas em um roteiro de questões abertas para as entrevistas com a montadora e alta administração das concessionárias. Adotou-se a Técnica do Incidente Crítico para elaboração dos questionários de satisfação os quais foram aplicados a clientes, vendedores e gerentes das concessionárias e diretoria e gerência da montadora. Realizaram-se também entrevistas individuais com a alta administração das concessionárias e da montadora a fim de identificar os aspectos de maior relevância e as ferramentas adotadas na identificação e manutenção da qualidade percebida quanto aos serviços de vendas prestados pelas concessionárias. Os resultados permitiram identificar que cada uma das partes pesquisadas entende a qualidade percebida em relação ao serviço de vendas de maneira distinta. Para o cliente a dimensão da qualidade de maior importância é a Competência, enquanto que os vendedores e gerentes das concessionárias acreditam ser a Confiabilidade e a montadora entende que para cliente o mais importante é a Cortesia. Este estudo identificou também que o aspecto avaliador mais mencionado tanto pela montadora quanto pelas concessionárias foi o Atendimento. A análise comparativa entre o aspecto avaliador priorizado e a dimensão da qualidade de maior correlação com a satisfação geral obteve resultados distintos entre a montadora e as concessionárias. Para a montadora, devido à discordância entre os dois entrevistados, não foi possível realizar a análise comparativa, já para as concessionárias, a análise comparativa ocorreu entre o aspecto Atendimento e a dimensão Competência. / The major objective of this study was to search the perceptions of customer needs in the automobile sector using the perceived quality measure. The study based on automotive dealers, considering the car assembler influence. In order to achieve the proposed objectives it was necessary to join quantitative and qualitative research strategies. For such, it was chosen an exploratory study involving dealer customers and individual interviews based on a script of open questions directed to car assembler and dealer interviewees. The Critical Incident Technique was used to create the customer satisfaction questionnaires which were applied to dealer customers, salesmen and managers and car assembler high management. Individual interviews had been conduced among dealers and car assembler high management in order to identify the major aspects and tools used to identify and maintain the perceived quality of sales services offered by dealers. The results obtained showed that each part searched understands the perceived quality of sales service in a different way. To the customer, the most important quality dimension is Competence whereas dealer sales and managers believe it is Reliability and car assembler understands that the most important to customer is Courtesy. This study has also identified that the aspect of evaluation most mentioned both by car assembler and dealers was Attendance. The comparative analysis between the priorized aspect of evaluation and quality dimension most correlated to the customer satisfaction in general has reached different results among car assembler and dealers. For car assembler, due to different opinions between the two interviewed, it was not possible to carry out the comparative analysis, whereas for dealers this analysis has occurred between the Attendance aspect and Competence dimension.

Service quality is an integral part of the product/service offering provided to a customer. Along with continuously identifying customer expectations and perceptions about service quality, it is imperative for service providers to also investigate whether the service quality increases customer satisfaction and their behavioural intentions. This PhD study theoretically contributes by evaluating one comprehensive service quality model, SERVQUAL designed by Parasuraman et al. (1988), for its potential applicability. The study further contributes by identifying a gap in the literature that the original SERVQUAL model does not entirely represent LCC service quality therefore, LCCSQUAL is proposed: a revised conceptual model with twenty-five variables that reflect the industry-specific attributes of LCC services in the Middle East. LCCs became a common feature in the West after the appearance of Southwest airline in 1971, however in the Middle East; LCCs are a relatively new phenomenon. LCCs are growing rapidly due to the current development of the aviation industry, deregulation and open skies policies in many parts of the Middle East. Most research to date has focused on LCCs in Western or Asian culture, whereas limited research has been conducted in the Middle East region, hence, this study will focus on highlighting the historical development of the Middle East’s aviation industry and the phenomenal growth of the region’s LCCs. This research is first of its kind in the Middle East to be conducted on the LCC service quality as well as in a new cultural background and therefore, it is important to consider that passengers’ are influenced by their culture while making decisions, however; the original SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al. in (1985) does not include culture as one of the influences in consumer. This PhD study, therefore, bridges another gap in the knowledge by testing the LCCSQUAL in Middle Eastern culture. This PhD followed a multi methodology using both inductive and deductive approaches consisting of qualitative (interviews and a focus group discussion) and quantitative (a self-administered survey questionnaire) methods at Dubai International airport, which has a dedicated LCC terminal. A total of 540 questionnaires was distributed; however, only 516 were finally employed for quantitative analysis. For qualitative analysis, nine in-depth interviews with senior executives of LCC airlines and seven LCC passenger interviews was conducted along with one focus group interview with seven Emirati ladies, first time LCC travellers. Content analysis and NVivo 10 were utilised for qualitative findings and descriptive analysis, Spearman’s rank correlation, factor analysis and cross tabulation were employed to examine the quantitative results. Comparing the results of both methodologies indicated that, passengers experienced wider gaps in the tangibility, reliability and responsiveness dimensions of LCC service quality in the Middle East. The findings of the study concluded that LCC passengers have higher expectations of the LCC services due to receiving luxury services for a long time in the Middle East region. The revised model; LCCSQUAL was tested in the Middle Eastern culture with additional variables and is recommended to be further developed to be culture and country specific. Factor analysis results also highlighted that there are gaps between the expectations and perceptions of the passengers travelling with LCC. This study concludes with several recommendations to LCC management, such as, on-time performance, well-trained staff and crew members, providing clear information to the passengers and providing quality services with low fares.

E-commerce has made life simple and innovative of individuals and groups; customer expectationin online shopping is different from the physical market where he has access to see the product.The primary goal of this research is to analyze the customer expectation and usability of the onlineshopping in Bangladesh. The theoretical framework discusses in brief about the customerexpectation and effect of retention on customer satisfaction. The study on customer expectation andonline shopping usability has been done from the perspective of a firm performing online business.To understand the customer satisfaction and loyalty level of online Bangladeshi shoppers, Ipursued with the collection of quantitative data with the help of survey. This study has no limitsregarding different product categories. From marketing and strategic point of view I will point outthose factors that might affect the customers, while purchasing goods online. Price, time savingand convenience were identified as important factors which lead to certain buying behavior inonline shopping. To measure the customer satisfaction and loyalty of online shoppers inBangladesh, the survey results are calculated with the help of SPSS software. The results of thesurvey reveal that while a moderate percentage of Bangladeshis are satisfied with online shoppingonly less than half of them stay loyal to their online sellers. However, on the long run, thesecustomers will be loyal and can be retained only when online businesses constantly satisfy them byproviding detailed product information on websites, superior customer service, quality and timelydelivery of goods and importantly effective website designs. This study does not control thedifferences across product categories. The study, focus on overall online shopping experience ofBangladeshi consumers. This research contributes to the study of online shopping customersatisfaction and loyalty in Bangladesh, and identifies the factors that might, influence the customer,while doing online shopping. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

The purpose of this research was to evaluate consumer response based on two distances (12 and 24 inches) between tables in a fast-casual restaurant. An onsite survey was conducted to measure customers’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to questions on pleasure, privacy, stress, arousal, comfort, control, customer satisfaction, and future dining intentions based on their experience with the table spacing. Results showed that table spacing has an effect on diner’s pleasure, feelings of privacy, and sense of comfort and control. The results confirmed a strong correlation between customer satisfaction and future behavioral intentions.

Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2017-02-13T17:03:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Bruno Machado Fontes.pdf: 2751604 bytes, checksum: ae32f0022e2e0e1bcdb5f0e231f2eb31 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-13T17:03:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Bruno Machado Fontes.pdf: 2751604 bytes, checksum: ae32f0022e2e0e1bcdb5f0e231f2eb31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-08 / CAPES / With increasing market competitiveness, customer satisfaction has become a loyalty strategy adopted by companies. The main objective of this research was to measure the degree of satisfaction of customers' Farm Hotel located in region of Vale do Caf? (RJ). In addition to the study, the most important aspects were identified to the satisfaction of the customers' Farm Hotel located in region of Vale do Caf? (RJ), and also, to analyze the results, methods Client Window and Cross-tabulations were used. Thus, through a cross-sectional study of qualitative and quantitative research, with steps of bibliographic research and field interviews. The findings show that: the variables that had a higher degree of importance were Cleaning, Comply promised, Sympathy staff, Food and Ready service employees to solve problems and desires of customers. Regarding the satisfaction of the customers, in a scale Likert of 5 points, was obtained an average of 4.26 in relation to all the attribute studied. In relation to general satisfaction of customers' Farm Hotel, was obtained an average grade of 8.79 in a scale of 0 - 10. With the results of the survey, it was also possible to draw a Socio-economic profile of customers, to better understand the needs and desires and so provide quality care, resulting in high levels of satisfaction. / Com o aumento da competitividade do mercado, a satisfa??o dos clientes tornou-se uma estrat?gia de fideliza??o adotada pelas empresas. O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa foi mensurar o grau de satisfa??o dos clientes dos Hot?is Fazenda localizados na regi?o do Vale do Caf? (RJ). Em adicional ao estudo, foram identificados os aspectos mais importantes para a satisfa??o dos clientes frequentadores de Hot?is Fazenda, na regi?o do Vale do Caf? (RJ), e ainda, para an?lise dos resultados, foram utilizados os m?todos Janela do Cliente e Tabula??es Cruzadas. Sendo assim, atrav?s de um estudo transversal, de car?ter qualitativo-quantitativo, com etapas de pesquisa bibliogr?fica, e entrevistas de campo. As descobertas revelam que: as vari?veis que tiveram maior grau de import?ncia foram Limpeza, Cumprir o prometido, Simpatia dos funcion?rios, Alimenta??o e Pronto atendimento dos funcion?rios para resolver os problemas e desejos dos clientes. Com respeito a satisfa??o dos h?spedes, em uma escala Likert de 5 pontos, obteve-se uma m?dia de 4,26 referente a todos os atributos pesquisados. Em rela??o a satisfa??o geral dos clientes sobre os Hot?is Fazenda, obteve-se uma nota m?dia de 8,79 em uma escala de 0 - 10. Com os resultados da pesquisa, tamb?m foi poss?vel tra?ar um perfil Socioecon?mico dos clientes, para compreender melhor suas necessidade e desejos e ent?o prover um atendimento de qualidade, resultando em altos ?ndices de satisfa??o.

<p>Visokoškolske ustanove od 2005. godine prolaze kroz proces organizacione transformacije, koji je između ostalog podrazumevao radikalne, sveobuhvatne i diskontinualne promene određenih elemenata upravljanja i organizacije (na nivou kurseva, studijskih programa,<br />odeljenja i ustanove u celini). Glavna komponenta organizacione transformacije, koja je između ostalog pokrenuta uspostavljanjem tržišnih mehanizama i postupaka za obezbeđenje kvaliteta, je promena svesti i ponašanja zaposlenih. Promene u eksternom okruženju visokoškolskih zahtevaju od svih učesnika ponašanje koje se odlikuje efikasnošću, fleksibilnošću i agilnošću. Odraz ovakvog načina poslovanja ima direktan uticaj na menadžment visokoškolskom ustanovom i primenu savremenih menadžment koncepata i tehnika kao preduslov opstanka, rasta i razvoja ustanova, ali i obezbeđenja konkurentnosti i ugleda u nacionalnom i evropskom obrazovnom prostoru. U Srbiji je organizaciona kultura, kao menadžment koncept, prisutna, poslednjih dvadesetak godina, ali joj se ne pristupa na način koji odgovara važnosti ovog problema, a koji zahteva interes obrazovnih ustanova, njenih zaposlenih, studenata i ostalih zainteresovanih strana. Izgradnja adekvatne organizacione kulture je dugoročan proces, koji mora biti dobro osmišljen, počivati na misiji i viziji, i uvažavati realno stanje i raspoloživost resursa. Efikasna kultura daje posebnost ustanovi, specifičan imidž, po kojem je ona prepoznata u okruženju, a interno pokreće i motiviše zaposlene da daju sve od sebe, što za krajnji rezultat ima postizanje akademske i poslovne izvrsnosti ustanove. Sa druge strane, izvor problema u obrazovnim ustanovama nije samo u finansijama, organizacionoj strukturi, zahtevima koje postavljaju standardi za akreditaciju visokoškolskih ustanova, već u pogrešnim pretpostavkama, verovanjima, vrednostima i normama ponašanja nastavnog i nenastavnog osoblja. Kriza mnogih ustanova i problema sa kojima se one suočavaju može se uspešno rešiti i objasniti upravo pomoću organizacione kulture. Sem toga zadovoljstvo, motivisanost, lojalnost i zadržavanje aktuelnih studenata i privlačenje novih studenata i zainteresovanih strana u velikoj meri zavisi od odnosa sa zaposlenima, a pogotovo sa nastavnim osobljem, koje je pod jakim uticajem organizacione kulture. Cilj ove disertacije je da istraži organizacionu kulturu i zadovoljstvo korisnika u visokoškolskim ustanovama. Za istraživanje su korišćeni odgovori od ukupno 638 studenata i 93<br />zaposlenih. Istraživanje rezultovalo je dubljim sagledavanjem značenja i značaja organizacione kulture i zadovoljstva korisnika, u kontekstu internih i eksternih promena kroz koje poslednjih deset godina prolazi sistem visokog obrazovanja u Srbiji. Uzimajući u obzir nedovoljnu istraženost ovog problema, rezultati empirijskih istraživanja mogu predstavljati osnovu za neka buduća istraživanja u ovoj oblasti, kao i za uvođenje određenih promena u visokoškolskim ustanovama.</p> / <p>Since 2005 higher education institutions in Serbia, are going through a process of an organisational transformation, which among other things involved a radical, comprehensive and discontinuous changes of certain elements of management and organisation (at the level of courses, academic programs, departments and institutions as a whole). The main components of the organisational transformation, which among other things were initiated by the establishment of market mechanisms and quality assurance, require the changes in mindset and behaviour of employees. Changes in the external environment of higher demand from all participants behaviour that is characterised by efficiency, flexibility and agility. This has a direct impact on the management of higher education institution and requires the implementation of modern management concepts and techniques as a prerequisite for survival, growth and development of the institution, in order to ensure the competitiveness and reputation in the national and European educational space. In Serbia, the organisational culture as a management concept is present for about twenty years. Unfortunatelly, organisational culture was not approached in a way that matches the importance of this problem and interests of the educational institution, its employees, students and other stakeholders. Building adequate organisational culture is a long-term process, which must be well designed, based on the mission and vision, the real situation and the availability of resources. Effective culture provides institutional distinctiveness, a specific image, by which is recognised in the external environment, and internally drives and motivates employees to do their best, and as such results in achieving academic and business excellence. On the other hand, the problems in educational institutions are not only the financies, organisational structure, the requirements set by the standards for accreditation of higher education institutions but the wrong assumptions, beliefs, values and norms of behaviour of teaching and non-teaching staff. The crisis of many institutions and the problems they face can be explained by the organisational culture. Besides, satisfaction, motivation, loyalty and retention of current students and attraction of new students and stakeholders is dependent on the relationship with employees, especially with the teaching staff. While, the behaviour of employees is under the strong influence of organisational culture. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the organisational culture and customer satisfaction in higher education institutions. In studing this problem were used responses from 638 students and 93 employees. This research resulted in the deeper reassessment of the meaning and importance of organisational culture and customer satisfaction in the context of the transition of the higher education system in Serbia. The results of empirical research can be the basis for future researchs in this area, as well as for the introduction of certain changes in higher education institutions.</p>

The study examines how independent bookstores differentiated themselves from other bookstore retailers, to satisfy their customer needs and then to achieve customer engagement. The research proposes two questions as following: How do independent bookstores in Uppsala differentiate themselves in the book retailing industry? How do customers engage with independent bookstores? In order to answer these questions, qualitative research method was employed in this study. This research took all of the seven independent bookstores in Uppsala as a sample, interviewed owner/managers of each of them, and collected 85 questionnaires from their customers on the basis of the servicescape theory. The researchers employed the approach of qualitative data analysis. The analysis of the findings was based on Raffaelli’s 3C’s model, servicescape theory, and customer engagement theory. The conclusion of this study illustrates the actions of independent bookstores of differentiating themselves in the six dimensions of servicescape theory and indicates that both independent bookstore and their customers lay emphasis on the differentiation of functionality and employees. Furthermore, the customer engagement could be enhanced through the differentiation.

The management of operations for a customer contact center (CCC) presents significant challenges. Management's direction is to reduce costs through operational efficiency metrics while providing maximum customer satisfaction levels to retain customers and increase profit margins. The purpose of this correlational study was to quantify the significance of various customer service representative (CSR) characteristics including internal service quality, employee satisfaction, and employee productivity, and then to determine their predictive ability on customer satisfaction, as outlined in the service-profit chain model. The research question addressed whether a linear relationship existed between CSR characteristics and the customers' satisfaction with the CSR by applying ordinary least squares regression using archival dyadic data. The data consisted of a random sample of 269 CSRs serving a large Canadian bank. Various subsets of data were analyzed via regression to help generate actionable insights. One particular model involving poor performing CSRs whose customer satisfaction was less than 75% top box proved to be statistically significant (p = .036, R-squared = .321) suggesting that poor performing CSRs contribute to a significant portion of poor customer service while high performing CSRs do not necessarily guarantee good customer service. A key variable used in this research was a CSR's level of education, which was not significant. Such a finding implies that for CCC support, a less-educated labor pool may be maintained, balancing societal benefits of employment for less-educated people at a reasonable service cost to a company. These findings relate to positive social change as hiring less-educated applicants could increase their social and economic status.