Prof. J. Walters

M. Phil. (Information Management) / Customer relationship management has been exposed as a strategic failure, unveiling only customer dissatisfaction. A new method for managing customers is consequently required. The effect of the knowledge economy has brought about a change in global orientation, in the focus on customer wants and needs to increase satisfaction. There was then a shift in focus from information to knowledge. In such an economy, the customer knowledge management strategy, as a combination of information and knowledge management techniques, is one best suited to allow organisations to manage their customer knowledge effectively. The purpose of this study was thus on determining whether South African organisations manage customer knowledge within their organisations. A literature review was conducted to determine the reason for the failure of customer relationship management practices, and define customer knowledge management in the context of the knowledge economy. Traditional and electronic sources from which customer knowledge could be collected were identified and measured according to their advantages and disadvantages. Customer knowledge management techniques were discussed, along with the strategic requirements for the system’s success. These specifics were measured within South Africa’s developing economy. Knowledge practitioners in South Africa participated in a quantitative online questionnaire, administered on LinkedIn. Aspects such as education, years of exposure to knowledge management, information and communication technologies, social networking and customer knowledge applications and practices, were examined. The results revealed electronic knowledge-sharing practices in organisations, despite the lack of supportive forces. In conclusion, the collections of customer knowledge are being applied, but not yet formally managed in organisations. A second conclusion is that knowledge practitioners have limited understanding of the customer knowledge management concept, pressed upon by hindrances in external social factors. Taking this into consideration, recommendations are made to strategise the applications of customer knowledge in a number of industries further.

No abstract available Copyright / Dissertation (MCom (Business Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Business Management / unrestricted

In the first chapter this thesis summarizes all different viewpoints of marketers and other experts in business concerning customer loyalty definition. The second chapter discusses a role customer loyalty plays in business of companies. By selecting appropriate definition of customer loyalty, the purpose of this thesis would be to describe all benefits associated with customer loyalty and suggest solution for their expression in economic terms. These topics are discussed in Chapter 3 and 4. In addition in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 management of customer loyalty and its determinants will be introduced. By selecting those determinants, which are hidden behind customer motivations to purchase company's products or services, and by managing them, company is able to build customer loyalty and enjoy all associated benefits in a form of increased profitability of its business. Finally in the last chapter loyalty programs and their management are discussed, because they are often used as tools to encourage customer loyalty. All these findings are demonstrated in a case study of Palac Flora, a shopping mall in Prague, which introduced its loyalty program a couple of years ago. The final part of this thesis is devoted to conclusion and bibliography.

The thesis is divided into four main parts. The first part starts with the business`s macro environment analysis, which describes the economic factors, political factors, technological factors of the transport market. Further, an analysis company, which includes financial analysis, staffing analysis, analysis of business microenvironment and SWOT analysis. Another section is the strategy of the company, including marketing strategy, market segmentation and human resource management. The last part is about the vision for the future, this part is a draft plan of the reorganization.

This Master´s thesis deals with the analysis of the factors influencing the customer satisfaction of RM Servis, authorised Peugeot car dealer. The aim was to set up useful method of measuring customer satisfaction, loyalty, and customer value. This would enable the company to follow the current situation, and to focuse on improvements. I have also included the suggestions on how to improve the overall customer satisfaction, and a calculation of an impact of the implementation on the profitability.

Master's Thesis deals with firm's IT support used in the engineer's office. Implementation of CRM system enables to monitor and lead customer relationship in more effective way. This support leads to optimization of firm's processes.

Title: Evaluation of the quality of services from the perspective of parents in street hockey - category mini-mite team and mite team Objectives: The main goal of this thesis is to evaluate the level of quality of services provided by extra-league street hockey clubs throughout the Czech Republic from the perspective of parents as customers in the categories of mini-mite teams and mite teams with subsequent delivery of recommendations to improve these services to increase the overall level of service and the attractiveness of the stated sport for children. Methods: The obtained data are collected based on a standardized SERVQUAL questionnaire, used to measure the quality of services provided and respondents' satisfaction. The questionnaire was distributed to 12 extra-league street hockey clubs in a form of online questionnaire through representatives of these clubs who directly send it to the parents of 357 children falling into the category of mini-mite team and mite team. Results: Based on the survey, it was possible to identify gaps within the basic five categories (according to the SERVQUAL methodology - material security, reliability, responsible approach, sense of security, empathy), where the highest gap reached belonged to the category reliability, followed by material security. The...

The digital world is constantly growing. This contributes to increasing expectations and demands in the technical aspect. Digitization is powerful, but it further contributes to a number of challenges, such as the coordination of physical and digital stores. During the corona pandemic, the digital transformation has accelerated for companies to adapt to customers. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to understand how swedish retailers can manage technological touchpoints in customer journeys in the furniture sector. Further the purpose is to investigate how retailers can use technological touchpoints to change the quality and customer engagement in the customer journey.  To be able to answer the empirical findings, six semi-structured interviews were obtained through a multiple case study. The theory from previous research and the empirical results were then discussed in the analysis. The conclusion of the thesis resulted in the management of digital touchpoints is different depending on whether it concerns companies using physical stores or e-commerce. This thesis has identified that retailers in the furniture sector manage technological touchpoints to create a seamless customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, more easily engage customers and to be able to integrate with customers in several ways. Digital touchpoints have made it easier for companies to measure results and to be able to improve the customer journey. One identification was that customer engagement has increased in relation to the increased digitalization, but also that the researched companies believe that digitization is vital for increasing customer engagement. Due to the technology, opportunities are created to be able to develop the quality of the customer journey. Further, by being able to measure the customer journey, the companies gain an insight into what should be constantly improved.

Includes bibliographical references / A customer's overall experience of interaction with a firm can be influenced by a variety of antecedents including employee behaviour, and can affect a variety of constructs including a customer's intention to remain loyal to a firm. The study contributes to the customer experience literature by constructing and empirically testing a theoretical model that integrates the construct of employee engagement as an influencing variable on customer experience in a business-to-business environment. Employee engagement is characterised by the level of engagement an employee depicts through attributes such as vigour, dedication and absorption. The study sampled 106 employee respondents and 1,216 customer respondents of a South African mining and construction firm. The combined dataset of both employee and customer responses was empirically tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The research finds a relationship exists between employee engagement and customer experience of employee performance. Additionally, customer experience of employee performance was significantly statistically associated with overall customer experience, a construct focusing on customer experience comparative to competitors and alternate suppliers. The enhancement of understanding of the antecedents of employee engagement and the effect of customer experience on customer loyalty may assist in the development of interventions to address the gaps in the employee-customer encounter. The principle implication emanating from this study is that customer experience, as a construct, should not be ignored, as the inclusion of a customer experience construct may enhance and complement the prediction of customer behaviour, not only in a business-to-business environment. Establishing the positive and negative levels of the required competencies of employees assists in guiding the supervisory performance discussion, subsequent training suggestions and required on-the-ground coaching.