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Η παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζει βιβλιογραφικά την Διαχείριση Πελατειακών Σχέσεων (Customer Relationship Management) ως μια νέα μεθοδολογία που προσβλέπει στην επισήμανση και την προσέλκυση των καταναλωτών, μέσα από τη διαδικασία ανάπτυξης διαπροσωπικών σχέσεων (επιχείρηση – πελάτης). Η εργασία θα εξετάσει τις μεθόδους και τεχνικές διαχείρισης πελατειακών σχέσεων και θα επιδείξει χαρακτηριστικές λειτουργίες διαχείρισης πελατειακών σχέσεων υλοποιημένες σε ένα πραγματικό σύστημα CRM, σε αυτό της τράπεζας Αττικής. / This thesis examines the methods and techniques of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and demonstrates characteristic operations of Customer Relationship Management materialized in a real CRM system, that of bank of Attica.

Service recovery is an under-researched area in theoretical and empirical terms (Smith, Bolton, and Wagner 1999). In particular, limited knowledge exists regarding the factors which have an impact on the service recovery performance of frontline employees (Boshoff and Allen 2000). This research draws on goal orientation theory, perceived organisational support theory and the literature on psychological job outcomes and service recovery, in order to investigate the drivers of service recovery performance. The major goals of this study are to determine the effect of learning goal orientation on service recovery performance and the impact of perceived organisational support on learning goal orientation. Additionally, the effect of both learning goal orientation and perceived organisational support on emotional exhaustion is investigated. These simultaneous relationships are empirically tested for the first time. Following a review of the key literature, an integrative conceptual framework comprising a set of hypotheses is proposed and empirically tested in the UK. A total of 740 frontline service employees from the catering industry (representing a response rate of about 32%) provide the data for the analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is employed to assess the fit of the seven measurement components of the model and structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to test the hypothesised path model. The findings provide academic insights that may open new fruitful avenues for further research. In particular, two unexpected results contradict the extant theory: job satisfaction has a negative impact on service recovery performance and emotional exhaustion has a positive impact on service recovery performance. The new empirical results reveal that learning goal orientation has a positive impact on service recovery performance. Additionally, perceived organisational support has a positive effect on learning goal orientation. Moreover, whereas perceived organisational support has a negative impact on emotional exhaustion, learning goal orientation is unrelated to emotional exhaustion. Finally, the findings provide several managerial implications for service marketing practitioners by offering them practical guidelines to develop and implement effective service recovery programmes. Suggestions are provided in terms of the best practices when recruiting and training frontline service employees.

In the age of rapidly changing and competitive environments, companies are forced to build strong and long-lasting relationships with their customers. Over the last decades, marketing theory and practice developed a plethora of attempts to describe relevant factors, underlying correlations and complex constructs, explaining the relationship between buyer and seller. For several disciplines, which are part of, describe or influence the relationship between buyer and seller such as a) marketing, b) customer purchase behaviour and c) sales management and personal selling, it appears that trust has a strong impact and therefore is an important variable for building long-lasting relationships. Although there is an extensive source of literature available on appropriate response to trust and its influence on buyer seller relationships, few of these writings contain guidance specifically related to financial services. The objectives of this study are I) to determine general differences regarding the impact of trust in a finance and insurance advice setting, ii) to determine difference of the general importance of trust towards three dimensions, iii) to analyse through which antecedents client-trust is build towards these three dimensions and iv) to identify the role of trust in future interactions between a financial service company and its clients. To achieve these objectives, quantitative research was undertaken in Germany by conducting a mail survey to 1.394 existing clients of an independent financial advisory institution. The phases of research cover a broad literature review combined with informal background research to identify variables that build trustlinvoke the trust building process to examine differences and/or additional variables to the descriptions in the literature. Prospective clients seem to generally support variables provided by the literature findings. The main research phase involves a mail survey to 1.394 existing clients with 321 responses. It is aimed at identifying relevant answers to the issues i)-iv) as described above. The results of the mail survey suggest differences between different client segments according to e. g. their educational background as well as their stage on the life cycle of financial services. Additionally, to validate the empirical findings, interviews were performed with 20 independent financial advisors which are aimed at identifying relevant answers to the above mentioned issues ii)-iv) from an advisor's point of view. The results suggest differences within the group of advisors according to e. g. demographic criteria. The results indicate that trust seems to be an important factor for the relationship between client, advisor and financial service provider.N evertheless,d ifferencesc oncerningt he influenceo f trust on the interpersonal relationship between the client and the financial advisor as well as its influence on the organisational relationship between client and financial service organisation can be observed and have to be addressed in the future. Moreover, also the differences related to the relevance of trust for the internal relationship between the financial service advisor and its organisation needs further attention. A framework of three dimensions of relationship marketing activities is introduced which may assist financial service companies to Implement a trust based relationship marketing approach. This should cover 1) an internal relationship marketing dimension, ii) an external relationship marketing dimension and iii) an interactive relationship marketing dimension. As a result, the company should become more trustworthya nd further more be enabledt o build strongerr elationshipsw ith their clients.

Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η βαθύτερη κατανόηση της έννοιας της προσήλωσης των πελατών, η συμβολή της στη διαδικασία αποκόμισης αξίας για αμφότερους πελάτες και επιχειρήσεις διαμέσου των προγραμμάτων επιβράβευσης, αλλά και η μελέτη εκείνων των σχεδιαστικών χαρακτηριστικών και παραγόντων που συνθέτουν ένα άρτια διαμορφωμένο πρόγραμμα επιβράβευσης. / The purpose of this study is the deeper understanding of the concept of commitment to customers, the contribution to the process of obtaining value for both customers and companies through the reward programs, and the study of those design characteristics and factors that constitute a well designed reward program.

Previously, an organisation's attributes (corporate appeal, product and services, social responsibility, vision and leadership, workplace environment, and financial performance) were used as determinants of corporate reputation. In other words, corporate reputation was measured using a multidimensional single construct. However, there are arguments suggesting that, in order to obtain more accurate conclusions, an organisation's attributes need to be treated as antecedents whereby organisation's attributes are used to predict corporate reputation. Thus, this study is aimed at testing the impact of an organisation's attributes that is product, corporate personality and corporate responsibility on corporate reputation, and the mediating effect of corporate reputation in influencing stakeholders' purchase intention. Malaysia national car brands are used as a case reference for this study. Using a quantitative research approach, this study found that not all attributes contribute to positive reputation and intentions. The impact of each attribute varies across different stakeholder groups and across brands. Using a sample of 419 automobile customers and 300 Malaysia national car dealers, this study shows that only corporate personality has a positive and significant influence on corporate reputation and it is consistent across both groups and brands. Corporate responsibility, on the other hand, is found to have a positive influence on corporate reputation assessed by customers, but is not significant for dealers. The effect of customers' and dealers' satisfaction on the products is rather mixed. Results from this study provide empirical evidence that reputation should not be measured using a multidimensional single construct in order to draw a more accurate conclusion. This study also contributes to practice as it provides a distinct view for corporations to establish good rapport and to assist in developing effective strategies for the relevant groups of stakeholders. Recommendations are also discussed to provide focus for future research.

Call centres have been described as an enabling resource for enhanced customer service, as a cost saving strategy, and a combination of both. Call centres are people intensive, resource demanding environments with complex management challenges. The call centre industry is growing rapidly and South Africa is fast becoming a desired destination for outsourced call centres. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of outsourced call centre management specifically regarding their roles and challenges experienced when executing their daily activities. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges outsourced call centre managers encounter and provide suggestions to help address major challenges faced in relation to effective call centre management. The methodology used was of a qualitative nature as data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Inductive reasoning was applied in this study. The call centre managers were purposively selected for the study based on their experience within the industry. The data gathered was transcribed, coded and organised into themes, categories and sub-categories. The study had five objectives and once analysed the following results were obtained: profiles of call centre management was determined, people management surfaced as a major challenge for call centre managers, numerous strategies are in place to deal with challenges, however they are limited due to company policies, cost efficiency was not the main reason organisations outsource their call centres and finally call centre managers perceive their roles to be the overall responsibility of the call centre, its employees and performance. The results revealed that scientific management principles and continuous improvement are major focus areas within the call centre environment. This is mainly driven by the fact that outsourced call centres have contractual obligations that need to be met otherwise they face financial penalties. The findings also revealed that being a manager in an outsourced call centre today is a dynamic and challenging task with many pressures both internally and externally. The study recommends that outsourced call centre managers be empowered and supported by the relevant support divisions as they assume a great responsibility while operating in a dynamic environment and they play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of outsourced call centres. The main limitation of this study is that it relies on outsourced contact centres situated in the Gauteng area that only services one telecommunication organisations customer queries limiting the ability to generalise to other populations. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

This longitudinal comparative study using a multidisciplinary approach, applies a processual analysis (Pettigrew, 1985; Pettigrew, 1990; Pettigrew, 1997) from a knowledge sharing perspective, to the implementation of what the literature shows to be a relatively under researched area of Customer Relationship Management( CRM) systemsi n contemporary (2001-2004) situations within Birmingham City Council and IBM. A specific focus is given to areas neglected in previous CRM studies - sub-cultures, psychological contracts, how tacit/non-codified knowledge is surfaced and shared, and with what effects on implementation. It investigates how the system stakeholders and the information system (IS) itself evolved through encountering barriers, sharing knowledge, finding new uses and inventing workarounds. A rich picture emerges of how sub-cultural silos of knowledge linked with psychological contracts and power-based relationships influence and inhibit adoption and acceptance of the CRM system. A major contribution of this processual study is to focus on the relatively neglected 'R' in CRM systems implementations. Hitherto, there has been little attempt to analyse the micro elements in the implementation of CRM systems using the lens of a multidisciplinary approach in a longitudinal study. The investigation of knowledge sharing (in particular non-codified knowledge sharing) across the key sub-cultures in the implementation process of CRM systems remains understudied. Scholars such as Lawrence and Lorch (1967), Boland and Tenkasi (1996), Newell et al. (2002) and Iansiti (1993) write of 'knowing of what. others know', 'mutual perspective taking', 'shared mental space' and 'T- shaped skills', as aids to tacit /non-codified knowledge sharing. However, they do not address fully the micro processes that lead to the above. This research aims to fill this knowledge gap, by investigating the micro elements (including in our study the psychological contracts) that lead to 'mutual perspective taking', enabling tacit/noncodified knowledge sharing across the key sub-cultures and their impacts on the adaptation and acceptance of a CRM system. This processual study lays a strong foundation for further research along the route of investigating multiple micro level elements in the process of implementation of a CRM system in order to enhance understanding of such phenomena in a contemporary situation. This qualitative study compares the CRM implementations at IBM. COM and Birmingham City Council. It penetrates the knowledge sharing issues faced by practitioners in a system integration environment. We highlight and discuss the importance of psychological contracts and their interdependencies on sub-cultural interactions and knowledge sharing. We have been able to relate and discuss real life issues in the light of existing academic theories, in order to enhance our understanding of the relatively neglected knowledge sharing phenomena in a CRM environment. The processual analysis framework extensively used and further developed in this research provides keys to its further use in enhancing the richness of future IS implementation studies at a micro level. The research contributes to the study of IS development by providing an integrative approach investigating the existing academic understandings at a micro level in a contemporary situation. A major contribution is also a detailed insight into the process of Boland and Tenkasi's (1996) 'mutual perspective taking' through the investigation of psychological contracts and their interdependencies on sub-cultural interaction and knowledges haring. An interesting finding has been that the distinctive contexts of the two cases have had lesser effects than the distinctive nature of CRM Systems and the implementation processes adopted. The study shows that irrespective of sectoral backgrounds the two organisations studied in this research failed to address adequately a range of common issues related to human behaviour, psychology, organisational characteristics, sub-cultural interactions and knowledge sharing. According to our research findings these factors have greater explanatory power for the results achieved than the distinctive contexts in which the two organisations operated.

Thesis (M. Tech. (Faculty of Management Sciences, Dept. of Human Resources Management) -- Vaal University of Technology / The buzzwords in South African business today is quality service and customer satisfaction. Service quality is an important determinant of customer satisfaction. It is therefore important to measure customer satisfaction and to solicit internal customers perceptions on service received. This research was primarily undertaken to evaluate the quality of services rendered by administrators to Sasol Technology R&D employees. The research is supported by a detailed study of quality and customer service. An adapted internal service quality scale (INSERVQUAL) was used to measure service quality. A thirty item scale was developed, for the empirical study. The instrument was then subjected to a scale purification process through exploratory factor analysis. Both the expectation and perception elements were used in measuring service quality. The five dimensions of service quality namely Accessibility and Tangibility, Assurance, Empathy, Reliability and Responsiveness were identified as internal service quality dimensions. Aspects of Accessibility and Tangibility were incorporated as a single dimension in this study. A six- point Likert scale was used in the questionnaire. The low end of the scale represented a negative response, whilst the high end represented a posit,ive response. With a response rate of 63% from internal customers, the researcher was able to provide evidence that service quality dimensions may influence an employee's perception of the administrators' service quality. The finding in this study also suggests the need for further research to examine customers' expectations in other related services as well as in different culture contexts. The testing of the modified internal customer model of internal marketing developed and described in this study indicates that Access, Assurance, Empathy, Reliability and Responsiveness dimensions may be a useful approach to enhancing service quality.

Call centres have been described as an enabling resource for enhanced customer service, as a cost saving strategy, and a combination of both. Call centres are people intensive, resource demanding environments with complex management challenges. The call centre industry is growing rapidly and South Africa is fast becoming a desired destination for outsourced call centres. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of outsourced call centre management specifically regarding their roles and challenges experienced when executing their daily activities. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges outsourced call centre managers encounter and provide suggestions to help address major challenges faced in relation to effective call centre management. The methodology used was of a qualitative nature as data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Inductive reasoning was applied in this study. The call centre managers were purposively selected for the study based on their experience within the industry. The data gathered was transcribed, coded and organised into themes, categories and sub-categories. The study had five objectives and once analysed the following results were obtained: profiles of call centre management was determined, people management surfaced as a major challenge for call centre managers, numerous strategies are in place to deal with challenges, however they are limited due to company policies, cost efficiency was not the main reason organisations outsource their call centres and finally call centre managers perceive their roles to be the overall responsibility of the call centre, its employees and performance. The results revealed that scientific management principles and continuous improvement are major focus areas within the call centre environment. This is mainly driven by the fact that outsourced call centres have contractual obligations that need to be met otherwise they face financial penalties. The findings also revealed that being a manager in an outsourced call centre today is a dynamic and challenging task with many pressures both internally and externally. The study recommends that outsourced call centre managers be empowered and supported by the relevant support divisions as they assume a great responsibility while operating in a dynamic environment and they play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of outsourced call centres. The main limitation of this study is that it relies on outsourced contact centres situated in the Gauteng area that only services one telecommunication organisations customer queries limiting the ability to generalise to other populations. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)