This Master's thesis is focused on complaint handling process in the chosen enterprise. The main goal of this thesis is optimization of the chosen customers' complaints using the appropriate Six Sigma methods. In the theoretical part the reverse logistics and its importance are described then Lean enterprise concepts and methods, which are used for the complaint handling process optimization, are explained. The first part of the practical part introduces the enterprise and its logistics and complaint handling process. The rest of the thesis contains the complaint handling process optimization using the DMAIC method.

We can consider the institution of ombudsman to be one of the traditional institutions of most democratic countries. The position of the ombudsman in the constitutional law system and his relation to other governmental authorities is relatively independent. The ombudsman is here primarily to help citizens who do not have any legal background and can be easily lost in the complicated system of governmental authorities. The Czech Parliament passed Act Number 349/1999 of the Law Collection, the Ombudsman Act, in 1999. The adoption of this act signified the implementation of another institute of law to the Czech legal system which should guarantee the abidance of human rights.

Globalisation, together with increased competition amongst retailers, has applied immense pressure on retailers to become more consumer-orientated. Retailers are, consequently, trying to differentiate their offerings by providing improved services to their consumers to obtain a competitive advantage. Service failure is, however, inevitable. An unfavourable service encounter (service failure) mostly leads to dissatisfaction. A consumer’s response to dissatisfaction is referred to as “consumer complaint behaviour”. Consumers’ complaint action can be categorised into three response behaviours namely: private action, public action and taking no action. Behind each complaint action lies specific motivations. Motivation research attempts to find the underlying why of an individuals’ behaviour. Marketers need to understand consumer motives as it provides them with the opportunity to anticipate and understand consumer complaint behaviour within the South African marketplace. Studies on the motives driving consumers’ complaint behaviour following an in-store service failure in the South African clothing retail context is lacking. This is surprising given the fact that an understanding of consumer complaint motives is critical in recovering service failures and handling complaints. An understanding of the motives for consumer complaint behaviour could help clothing retailers to understand the value of paying attention to and dealing with consumer complaints, specifically in a South African context. This research study, therefore, primarily focused on exploring and describing South African consumers non-complaint motives and complaint motives following an in-store service failure. The study used an explorative, quantitative research approach. A survey was conducted in South Africa which included consumers 19 years and older who reside in major urban areas across South Africa. Respondents completed an online self-administered questionnaire which included adapted versions of established scales. Lastly, the data was captured and coded and then analysed by statisticians of the University of Pretoria by making use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of this study indicated that the respondents were motivated to take action following an in-store service failure, rather than deciding to take no-action. Respondents would also rather partake in private action as opposed to public action. The EFA on the non complaint motives indicated that three factors are the underlying driving forces that keep consumers from taking action. These include protecting the self and convenience, the facto that it is not worth complaining, and willingness and ability to handle CCB. Through the descriptive statistical analysis, as well as the inferential statistical analysis (EFA), it became evident that the most important motive for deciding to partake in action, either private or public, were altruistic motives. Anger and the intention to harm the retailer appeared to be the least important motives for deciding to take action. From this study, it is recommended that clothing retailers and marketers in South Africa pay specific attention to use these motives, specifically altruism, to encourage customers to partake in public complaint behaviour. Apart from the useful considerations this study elicited for the industry, it also makes a valuable contribution towards the literature. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Consumer Science / MConsumer Science (Clothing Management) / Unrestricted

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Parents have the authority to challenge school decisions regarding the identification, evaluation, placement and provision of a free appropriate public education to their child with a disability through either the hearing process or the complaint investigation process under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. This study explored the differences between parents who had initiated hearings and complaints and their perceptions of the processes. A document review, structured telephone interview and focus group meetings were used to gather data. The subjects were twenty-nine parents who had initiated complaints and thirty-one parents who had initiated hearings. The subjects were randomly selected from the population of all parents who had initiated hearings or complaints with the Maine Department of Education during 1996. Quantitative data were analyzed using chi-square tests, t-tests, and descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed through a sorting process to aggregate data and identify consistent themes. Findings of the study reveal that families with higher annual household income tend to use the hearing process, to withdraw or mediate their disputes and to be represented by counsel. No differences were found on parent satisfaction, marital status, or the ability of parents to participate in school activities. Parents reported a high level of anger, frustration and confusion regarding both processes. Parent and school relationships, poor communication and compliance issues were identified as causes for the initiation of a complaint or hearing. The hearing group cited expense, the legalistic nature of hearings, and stress as major problems while the complaint group cited lack of accountability and enforcement as major problems. Both groups recommended increased parent training and support and improved monitoring and enforcement by the Maine Department of Education. The results of this study support the conclusion that the hearing process is primarily available to those families with higher incomes and that both the hearing and the complaint processes tend to be associated with poor parent and school relationships. Additional research is needed to identify methods to improve parent and school relationships after the initiation of due process and to ensure that all parents have access to alternatives for the resolution of parent and school conflict. / Ph. D.

Yes / Before 2012, there was no law on sexual harassment in Malaysia. However, when the Employment Act 1955 was amended in 2012, employers must inquire into sexual harassment complaints, failing which a criminal penalty will be imposed. Unfortunately, the new law did not allow a complainant to claim damages from the harasser or the employer. After more than two decades of campaigns by women's rights groups and NGOs, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 (hereinafter 'the ASHB 2021') was finally enacted and passed in July this year. Given the novelty and absence of any academic research, this paper seeks to examine the provisions of the Bill critically to understand its scope, coverage and broader implications for sexual harassment victims. The paper employs a qualitative research methodology, adopting a doctrinal approach and content analysis of the primary source, the ASHB 2021, that would provide a deeper understanding of the legislation. The authors contend that despite being regarded as a victim-centric law, the Bill is half-baked and inadequate to protect sexual harassment victims due to its failure to include significant provisions on the sexual harassment definition, the protection against victimisation and employers' obligations to prevent and address such conduct. / The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, which facilitated the writing and publication workshop and funded this paper.

A small but important set of studies on complaint speech acts have been focused on certain aspects of native speaker (NS) and non-native speaker (NNS) complaints such as strategy use and native speaker judgment, (Du, 1995; House & Kasper, 1981; Morrow, 1995; Murphy & Neu, 1996; Olshtein & Weinbach, 1987; Trosborg, 1995). However, few researchers have comprehensively researched complaint interactions. Complaining to the person responsible for the complainable (as opposed to complaining about a third party or situation) is a particularly face-threatening speech act, with social norms that vary from culture to culture. This study was an investigation of how Japanese and Americans express their dissatisfaction to those who caused it in their native language and in the target language (Japanese or English). The data analyzed are from the role-play performances of four situations by ten dyads in each of four groups (native speakers of Japanese speaking Japanese to a Japanese (JJJ), native speakers of English speaking English to an American (EEE), native speakers of Japanese speaking English to a native speaker of English (JEE), and native speakers of English speaking Japanese to a native speaker of Japanese (EJJ). The complaint categories used in this study represent a pared-down version of Trosborg's (1995) categories based on two criteria: (a) hinting or mentioning complainable and (b) negative assessment of the complainer's action or of the complainer as a person. The following characteristics of the complaint interactions were analyzed: (a) the length of interactions in terms of the number of turns, (b) complaint strategies used by complainers, (c) initial complaint strategies used by complainers, (d) the comparison of S1Hint and S2Cmpl as the initial position, (e) interaction flow in terms of complaint severity levels, 6) strategies employed by complainees, and (f) flow of complaint interactions between complainers and complainees. The results indicate some differences between the groups of native speakers of English and Japanese in the length of their interactions and the use of strategies by complainers and complainees. In general, complaint sequences in English were shorter, and the complaint strategies used by the JJJ group were less indirect than those used by the EEE group. Several prototypical complaint sequences are described. Concerning the use of strategies, the JEE and EJJ groups used strategies more in line with those employed by target language speakers, rather than by speakers of their own language. An attempt is made to account for the different characteristics of English and Japanese complaints in terms of linguistic resources. Pedagogical implications are also highlighted. / CITE/Language Arts

La prévention du vieillissement pathologique est au coeur de l’actualité et comprendre les différents facteurs déterminants du vieillissement réussi est une priorité. La pathologie du sommeil de par sa fréquence, son retentissement sur la mortalité, de ses conséquences sur la survenue de comorbidités et sur la qualité de vie, doit être prise en compte pour promouvoir le bien vieillir. Nos travaux ont permis de démontrer l’importance d’un des aspects qualitatifs du sommeil : la plainte de sommeil. Nous avons pu montrer un lien entre plainte de sommeil et plainte de mémoire et ce finalement, quel que soit l’outil utilisé. L’ajustement sur les paramètres respiratoires du sommeil n’interférait en rien sur la relation décrite. La qualité subjective du sommeil jouait un rôle dans la perception qu’avait chaque individu de son état de santé ou de sa satisfaction de vie. Ces résultats permettent d’insister sur l’importance du management correct de la plainte de sommeil et du traitement adapté de celle-ci. Le syndrome d’apnée obstructive du sommeil (SAOS) est une entité clinique largement sous diagnostiquée chez le sujet âgé. Cependant, il a été largement démontré l’intérêt de sa prise en charge adaptée notamment en termes de bénéfices sur la mortalité cardiovasculaire. Nos travaux se sont intéressés de façons plus spécifiques au SAOS et à l’impact potentiel de son traitement par Pression Positive Continue (PPC) sur les capacités cognitives. Nous avons pu démontrer que les sujets porteurs d’un SAOS sévère retiraient un bénéfice à long terme de leur traitement par PPC sur leurs capacités mnésiques. En effet, les sujets traités maintenaient leurs performances mnésiques notamment en terme de mémoire épisodique et de fonctions exécutives dans le temps, en comparaison aux sujets non traités et ce sur le long terme. D’autres travaux sont en cours, notamment chez les sujets présentant une pathologie dégénérative démentielle, afin de mettre en évidence l’impact du dépistage et du traitement d’un SAOS sévère sur cette population / One of our public health priorities is at present the prevention of pathological aging and this implies the comprehension of the different determinants of successful aging. Sleep disorders because of its frequency, its impact on mortality, its consequences on the occurrence of comorbidities and on quality of life, must be taken into account to promote successful aging. Our research has demonstrated the importance of one aspect of sleep: the sleep complaint. We have shown a significant link between sleep complaints and memory complaints. The adjustment on the respiratory sleep parameters have not modified the relationship described. The subjective quality of sleep played a role in the individual's self perception of health status or self perception of life satisfaction. Thus, these results show the importance of the management of sleep complaint in the elderly population which must be adapted and correctly treated. Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a clinical entity, frequently under diagnosed in the elderly population. However, the benefit of treatment has been widely demonstrated, especially in terms of cardiovascular mortality. Our studies have focused on the cognitive consequences of OSAS and the potential impact of its treatment by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) on cognitive abilities. We have shown that elderly subjects with severe OSAS could have a clinical benefit of long term treatment on their cognitive capacities, using CPAP therapy. Indeed, treated subjects could maintain their memory performances over time, particularly in terms of episodic memory and executive functioning, compared to untreated subjects. Further studies must be made to confirm these results. Subjects with dementia must be included to evaluate the benefit of the treatment of OSAS in this population

The primary aim of this thesis was to explore the role culture plays in service delivery, more specifically on consumers' perceptions of service quality and its potential impact on complaint behaviour. A key premise of the thesis was that prominent models of service quality are conceptualized largely in western contexts without considering conceptual meaning in various contexts or nuances of meaning. Furthermore, there may indeed be unique aspects of culture in each context not yet identified in the extant literature. With this in mind, a qualitative approach was employed in order to gain an in-depth understanding of consumers' perceptions. The thesis was conducted in three stages culminating in three separate papers. Stage 1 involved a student sample of Trinidad and Tobago nationals currently enrolled at university in the North West region of the UK. Generally this stage served as a pilot for the larger cross-national study. Interview data and subsequent thematic analyses culminated in a holistic, multi-dimensional hierarchical framework labelled Conceptualization of Service Quality in Cultural Context (CSQCC). Within this framework two key cultural triggers called Culture of Closeness and Culture of Servitude where found to have an overarching influence on all variables in the model. As well as uniquely including culture, the CSQCC also encompasses human resources and operational variables not included in traditional service quality models namely Employee Work Ethic/Attitudes, Organizational Responsibility and Customer Responsibility. Stage 2 which included samples of British and Trinidad and Tobago nationals, all currently living in their country of birth were part of the larger study sample. Findings from both country contexts indicate that the general structure of the CSQCC identified in Stage 1 is upheld demonstrating universality in terms of the range of factors consumers utilize in their evaluations of service quality, at least in Britain and the UK. Notwithstanding the similarities, the importance weightings for the universal aspects of the CSQCC framework appear to vary. Furthermore, cultural triggers again were found to have an overarching influence consumers' perceptions, two such triggers were identified for British nationals-British Reserve and Culture of Cordiality, and for Trinbagonian nationals two additional triggers-Festive Culture and Culture of Entitlement. Data for Stage 3 was collected at the same time at Stage 2 and involved a cross-national analysis of consumer complaint behaviour. Based on the empirical data a Cultural Framework of Consumer Complaint Behaviour (CFCCB) was proposed inclusive of consumers' behavioural processes and post-interaction behavioural outcomes. There are four key processes-cognitive, motivational, environmental and emotive-with emotions playing a central role. The unique cultural triggers identified in Stages 1 and 2 were also found to influence these behavioural processes which in turn impact behavioural outcomes. To the best of the researcher's knowledge such a holistic model as the CFCCB has not been previously conceptualized. There is no such thing as "culture-free" behaviour; culture and human behaviour are deeply intertwined, and thus multinationals and global firms need to be environmentally sensitive, identify the cultural triggers in potential markets, and assess their likely impact on service quality delivery.

<p>En rad förändringar i de kommunala verksamheterna kan hänföras till tankarna kring behovet av ett nytt tänkande och åtgärder för modernisering av offentlig verksamhet, en förändringsvåg som ofta beskrivs med samlingsbegreppet New Public Management (NPM). Offentlig styrning har blivit allt mer lik den privata och med NPM har offentliga verksamheter tagit mer sikte på marknadskrafterna. En konsekvens av detta tänkande är att medborgarnas synpunkter på verksamheten tilldelas en allt större vikt.</p><p>Klagomålshantering har för många privata företag under en längre tid varit ett naturligt sätt att hantera kundernas synpunkter på verksamheten. I företag som är inne i en satsning på total kvalitet (TQM) betraktas klagomålshantering ofta som ett del- eller följdmoment till dessa ansträngningar. TQM, ett koncept med grunderna i den japanska tillverkningsindustrin, har som centrala ledord att kunden ska stå i centrum, arbeta med processer och basera beslut på fakta.Idag används TQM som ett uttryck för organisationens syn på kvalitet även av många offentliga organisationer.</p><p>Hur klagomålshantering ska betraktas i den kommunala verksamheten är dock inte självklart. Kundbegreppets innebörd i de kommunala verksamheterna, den stora variationen i tjänsteutbudet samt de nationella styrdokumenten, som i hög utsträckning påverkar utformningen påverkar möjligheterna till att utforma verksamheten, gör att både avsikten med att införa klagomålshanteringen och hur den används inte är lika uppenbart i den kommunala verksamheten som i privata företag.</p><p>I Norrköpings kommun togs i början av 2004 ett beslut att införa klagomålshantering i hela organisationen. Beslutet i kommunfullmäktige var ett led i utvecklingen av det systematiska kvalitetsarbete som har sina tankemässiga grunder i TQM konceptet. Det systematiska kvalitetsarbetet ges, som ett av fyra ledord, en framträdande plats i kommunens nya styrmodell som fastställdes i början av 2003.</p>