Purpose - The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the possibilities to extend or change the base of IKEA’s SL classification and give recommendations concerning potential improvements.  Method - This thesis has an inductive research strategy since data has been collected to build theory rather than the other way around (Bryman and Bell, 2007). The data has been collected by qualitative research, mainly through interviews with employees at the different IKEA organisations. Empirics - The empirical data gathered describes the service level in practice at IKEA. In order to get an overview of the conflicting interests in the different functions, the chapter is divided into four themes; how IKEA works with SL, the purpose of SL, customer service and suggestion to the design of the SL classification. Theory - The theory has been based on our empirical findings in order to find the best solution for IKEA. The theory includes different classification models, the relationship between customer service and SL and is finished with a section on how to measure availability. Conclusions - The conclusion that could be drawn was that the purpose of the classification was not perceived in the same way within the company and that both internal and external information is needed. A new model is presented that takes into account the different products, buying situations, and customer reactions on OOS, which are important parameters for consumer perception of availability and customer service. By using this model IKEA will be able to fulfil the two, sometimes conflicting purposes; to secure the sales and increase customer satisfaction.

Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO), state owned monopoly that generates, transmits, and distributes and sales electric power nationwide, has been undergoing various continued utility management practices. One of the major improvements, as part of the transformation, was the introduction of Prepayment (Metering) System, over that of the conventional metering service, which had been forcing the Corporation to follow lengthy service processes, in order to support the realization of its long term strategic vision of providing quality electric service and being competitive in an energy export. However, despite the introduction of this new type of service-prepayment customer service, the Corporation has not been able to attract more than only about five percent out of the two million total customers. Therefore, this study tried to assess and analyze the existing practice (quality) of prepayment customer service both from the employee and the Corporation’s perspectives, and thereby propose possible marketing strategies that are capable of improving the customer service quality for the subsequent adoption of prepayment service. SERVQUAL, as a methodological approach to service quality measures, was employed to measure the prepayment service quality by comparing customers’ perception of the received service against their expectations. Accordingly, the study revealed, despite its limitations, that there has been a substantial gap between customers’ expectations and perception of the service rendered, for which different possible marketing strategies were suggested for improvement.

Organizations have to understand the customer very well if they want to exist in business. Thisunderstanding of the customer will help organizations to act accordingly. More specifically hotelservices are characterized by frequent interaction with the customers. Thus, these frequentcontacts with the customers may lead to experience dissatisfaction/ frustration when things gowrong. Accordingly, it is important to find out the reasons for such negative emotions andmeasures to be taken to mold these behaviors.For this reason, the aim of our master‟s thesis is to identify reasons for customer aggression andconsiderable mechanisms to put in place for, how customer service employees mold the behaviorof aggressive customers through emotional labor while delivering services in hotels. This impliesthat major motives are mentioned based on some of the routine interactions, from the serviceitself and others outside the service delivery process. In addition, customer service employees‟(CSEs) key mechanisms used to react positively to such emotions due to customers‟dissatisfaction/ frustrations are assessed. Moreover, to fulfill the aim of the research, the hotelindustry has been chosen from which sample customers and service employees are also selected.In this regard, survey questions from a sample of customers and interviews held with selectedcustomer service employees (CSEs) were used as data collection tools from one of the hotelslocated in Umeå. The result of the findings helps to identify the most common types of reasonsfor customer aggression during interaction; lack of assistance from CSEs, noisy customeraround, lack of punctuality and billing errors are the common reasons for customer aggressionfrom the respondents‟ point of view. While interview results revealed that customer‟s ownpersonal reasons due to the prior emotional state of the customer (Antecedent State) are causes ofaggression during service provision. On the other hand, in molding such behaviors, emotionallabor is found to be fundamental tool in services, where surface acting emotional labor is themost widely used mechanism while delivering services to mold the customer aggression, angerand dissatisfaction into happier and more satisfying situations for the customers.We believe the study complements the existing research by extending and bridging on customeraggression and in response emotions to be applied to mold such behavior in hotel services. Keywords: Hotel industry, Emotional labor, Aggression, Anger, Customer serviceEmployees (CSE)

Bakgrund: De allt högre förväntningarna på leverantörer från kunderna när det gäller service har tvingat leverantörer att uppnå de krav som ställs på dem. Förändringar av kunders förväntningar på service har bidragit till att konkurrensen mellan många leverantörer blivit hårdare. För att en leverantör ska få leverera krävs det att kundens krav på leveransservice uppfylls. Dagligvarubranschen har genomgått stora förändringar. Den största förändringen skedde under 1960-talet när de flesta småbutikerna försvann och ersattes av större dagligvarubutiker med större sortiment. Denna förändring är ett resultat av en ökad kundanpassning, vilket i sin tur har lett till högre krav på anpassning från leverantörerna. Utan dagligvarukedjorna kan inte leverantörerna få sina varor distribuerade, exponerade och marknadsförda i butikerna. Av den anledningen har leverantörernas samarbete med dagligvarukedjorna blivit allt viktigare. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka vilka leveransserviceelement som är viktiga för svenska dagligvarukedjor. Vidare är syftet att utröna vilka leverensservicekrav dagligvarukedjorna ställer på sina leverantörer. Metod: Vi valde att arbeta med det positivistiska synsättet eftersom vi ville återge den information vi fått utan att ägna oss åt lösa spekulationer. Vi undersökte istället alla påståenden och iakttagelser kritiskt utifrån de fakta som kunde anses tillämpbara med all rimlig sannolikhet. Vi valde att dra slutsatser genom ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Undersökningen baserades då på befintliga teorier om leveransservice med syftet att se om teorierna stämde med verkligheten. Uppsatsen skrevs med en kvalitativ ansats eftersom undersökningen syftar till en djupare förståelse för intervjuobjektens livsvärld och deras uppfattning om leveransservice. Undersökningen utfördes genom telefonintervjuer som spelades in för att inte data skulle falla bort under samtalen. Eftersom ett fåtal aktörer dominerar marknaden valdes ett icke sannolikhetsurval. Resultat: Många av de element som dagligvarukedjorna anser vara viktiga i relationen med sina leverantörer kan härledas till teorier och tidigare studier men det framkommer också att två övriga element är viktiga för dagligvarukedjorna. De element som kan härledas till teorier och tidigare studier är; leveranstid, servicegrad, flexibilitet, leveransprecision och information. Dagligvarukedjorna värderar dock två element som inte kan härledas till de teoretiska leveransserviceelementen och dessa är; förpackningssätt och plats. När det gäller leveransservicekraven i dagligvarubranschen visar det sig att vissa krav kan härledas till teorier men några av kraven som dagligvarukedjorna ställer på sina leverantörer förekommer varken i teorier eller tidigare forskning.

High level of inventory has been a problem for the underwear industry in Taiwan for a long period of time. This is mainly because the product life cycle of female underwear is relatively short, which makes it difficult for the underwear firms to gauge the demand for the new released product accurately. Pre-order strategy has become increasingly popular as the seller can obtain advance demand information and use the information to improve the inventory planning. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of implementing pre-order strategy for female branded underwear in Taiwan and to explore the necessary conditions. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted online. The questionnaire was built upon four major constructs: product, brand, customer service and sales promotion, with thirty-one variable included. The results revealed almost 60% women would consider pre-order if the pre-order sales is implemented with attractive sales promotions. Others would not consider because they cannot try on and the time must be spent for returning dissatisfied product. Fourteen variables were found to be significantly important in influencing female consumers¡¦ pre-order intention with means over 4. Female consumers were most concerned with after-sales services: a full money back guarantee, and an easy return procedure. Other than after-sales services, product quality, the knowledge and attitude of salespersons, delivery services, and brand credibility were also found to be important. In addition, lower price in pre-order period and free underpants were found to be most attracting. The only variable that appeared to be less influential was the celebrity endorsement, which was the only factor rated below neutral mean (<2.5). The findings of this research provide useful information to underwear firms for promoting pre-order sales. Underwear firms must be aware of those necessary conditions in implementing pre-order strategy.

Abstract In recent years, because of some alterations in the government policies and market-place structures, it seems that Real Estate Broking (REB) will be a main stream in the Real Estate Marketing. It is expected that the development of REB will be promising and prospective. However, there are few logistically developed standard operation procedures (SOPs) for customer service. In some large-scale companies with well-developed management systems, there are some service procedures based on empirical practices. However, these procedures have not been documented and served as guides for newcomers to the field. These result in raising the complexity and lowering the overall service quality of REB. In addition, because of the lack of SOPs, it can hardly earn a trust and satisfy the increasing varieties of need from customers. SOPs help in the transportation of profession, confidence, safety, and efficiency for the REB processes to customers from the service providers. They also provide brand-image awareness to consumers and good relationships between the customers and providers. Also, service mistakes from the providers can be minimized and achieve the uniformity and efficiency of operations. The necessity for constructing related SOPs becomes evident. This study was based on practical broking procedures and related academic treatises to develop SOPs for the REB. The investigations divided the customer-service procedures into three phases and incorporated a feedback mechanism of ¡§Customer Satisfactory Management¡¨ and an application of ¡§Information Science and Personnel Management¡¨ to construct a conceptual frame for the procedures. The study also provided revisions and integrity of the constructed frame by analyzing some practical cases. The developed SOPs are expected to be a basis for improving the service quality of the REB and a reference for constructing a mechanism for consumer service.

The objective of the current study was to provide an initial empirical test of the Schneider, Smith, and Sipe (2000) multilevel model of personnel selection. The Schneider et al. (2000) model expanded the traditional approach to validating selection systems to include the impact that selection systems have on the broader organizational system. The current project provided an empirical test of this model by extending the traditional individual-differences approach to validation research and including group- and organization-criteria (e.g., unit-level performance and customer satisfaction). Using a quasi-experimental design, archival data from a managerial development and selection program were analyzed to examine several relationships proposed in the Schneider et al. (2000) model. The current study provided limited support for the Schneider et al. (2000) model. There were several limitations in the current study associated with the use of archival data, but the current study provides an initial indication of practical problems associated with empirically testing the model. While intuitively appealing, testing the Schneider et al. model in applied settings may prove to be a practical challenge because of the nature and complexity of the data required to do so. Although the current study provided limited support for the model, there were some interesting findings that warranted additional examination. Findings from the current study may be informative for both researchers and practitioners. Ideas for future research related to the Schneider et al. (2000) multilevel model of personnel selection are also offered.

Using a large sample of 175 firms in the service-focused sector in Taiwan, the study examined the customer service-focused employee competency as the mechanism through which customer service-focused HR practices facilitate firm performance. In addition, it examined whether the fit of customer service-focused HR practices and customer service-focused strategy may promote firm performance. To confirm the hypotheses, the study collected data for each construct from different sources (i.e. executives, HR members, line managers) in the same firm, generating 2,120 respondents in total, 12.11 respondents per firm in average. This study utilized LISREL 8.3 to perform maximum likelihood (ML) structural equation modeling (SEM) to test mediation hypotheses and hierarchical moderated regression to test moderation hypotheses. Results showed that customer service-focused employee competency fully mediated the relationship between customer service-focused HR practices and firm performance. Firm performance was confirmed as the function of the fit of customer service-focused HR practices and customer service-focused strategy. Suggestions for further research were also discussed.

<p>Bakgrund: De allt högre förväntningarna på leverantörer från kunderna när det gäller service har tvingat leverantörer att uppnå de krav som ställs på dem. Förändringar av kunders förväntningar på service har bidragit till att konkurrensen mellan många leverantörer blivit hårdare. För att en leverantör ska få leverera krävs det att kundens krav på leveransservice uppfylls. Dagligvarubranschen har genomgått stora förändringar. Den största förändringen skedde under 1960-talet när de flesta småbutikerna försvann och ersattes av större dagligvarubutiker med större sortiment. Denna förändring är ett resultat av en ökad kundanpassning, vilket i sin tur har lett till högre krav på anpassning från leverantörerna. Utan dagligvarukedjorna kan inte leverantörerna få sina varor distribuerade, exponerade och marknadsförda i butikerna. Av den anledningen har leverantörernas samarbete med dagligvarukedjorna blivit allt viktigare.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka vilka leveransserviceelement som är viktiga för svenska dagligvarukedjor. Vidare är syftet att utröna vilka leverensservicekrav dagligvarukedjorna ställer på sina leverantörer.</p><p>Metod: Vi valde att arbeta med det positivistiska synsättet eftersom vi ville återge den information vi fått utan att ägna oss åt lösa spekulationer. Vi undersökte istället alla påståenden och iakttagelser kritiskt utifrån de fakta som kunde anses tillämpbara med all rimlig sannolikhet. Vi valde att dra slutsatser genom ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Undersökningen baserades då på befintliga teorier om leveransservice med syftet att se om teorierna stämde med verkligheten. Uppsatsen skrevs med en kvalitativ ansats eftersom undersökningen syftar till en djupare förståelse för intervjuobjektens livsvärld och deras uppfattning om leveransservice. Undersökningen utfördes genom telefonintervjuer som spelades in för att inte data skulle falla bort under samtalen. Eftersom ett fåtal aktörer dominerar marknaden valdes ett icke sannolikhetsurval.</p><p>Resultat: Många av de element som dagligvarukedjorna anser vara viktiga i relationen med sina leverantörer kan härledas till teorier och tidigare studier men det framkommer också att två övriga element är viktiga för dagligvarukedjorna. De element som kan härledas till teorier och tidigare studier är; leveranstid, servicegrad, flexibilitet, leveransprecision och information. Dagligvarukedjorna värderar dock två element som inte kan härledas till de teoretiska leveransserviceelementen och dessa är; förpackningssätt och plats. När det gäller leveransservicekraven i dagligvarubranschen visar det sig att vissa krav kan härledas till teorier men några av kraven som dagligvarukedjorna ställer på sina leverantörer förekommer varken i teorier eller tidigare forskning.</p>

This explorative study strives to  investigate the marketing strategies companies apply in the Duty-Free market and whether consumers perceive them accordingly. The theoretical concepts used for this research were: marketing strategies in the Duty Free market and consumer behavior to allow a comparative approach. In addition, three Variables have been considered and explored: the Offer, the Customer Service and the importance of the Atmosphere in consumers’ purchasing behavior. A model  was created to  connect  all the theoretical concepts and contributed to answering the research question. Perspectives of firms and consumers were investigated  through interviews and surveys. The  Atmosphere, the  Offer  and the  Customer  Service  were examined  as marketing strategy’s variables.  The  former is relevant in influencing customers’ behavior, the  offer  of exclusive products meets the needs and expectancies of customers, but the poor customer service degrades the purchasing experience. The marketing strategies of firms need to be shaped according to these conclusions.