Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2008.

Background: The number of acquisitions is continuously increasing andthey are often an important source for competitive advantage. Meanwhile, acquisitions can be a hazardous investment and many do not succeed in creating the expected value. When seeking value creation, corporations can occasionally rebrand in the company. However, the challenges associated with corporate rebranding are sometimes inevitable. Therefore, a developed understanding of the challenges associated with corporate rebranding is required by investigation. Purpose: The purpose of the research is to investigate the corporate rebranding, from the aspect of customer satisfaction, brand equity and customer mindset. Moreover, the relationship between customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and brand equity will be examined. Execution: A quantitative research method is applied where empirical data is collected through structured interviews with customers of Circle K. The findings will be utilised for the data interpretation and analysis, as well as for the conclusion of the research. Conclusion: Rebranding does not result into a negative customer mindset or brand equity. However, the research shows that the rebranding has a positive influence on the customer satisfaction, and that there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. In turn, the customer loyalty is proven to affect the brand equity positively. The customer satisfaction of the new brand decreased compared to the original brand. Conversely, the difference in customer loyalty between the original and new brand cannot be proven and therefore there is no negative connection between loyalty to the original brand and loyalty to the new brand.

Recentes pesquisas no campo do Marketing têm apresentado resultados demonstrando que estratégias baseadas em elevar o Valor Vitalício dos Clientes (CLV) podem ter um impacto positivo no valor ao acionista. Em consequência disso, o Customer Equity, equivalente à soma dos CLVs dos clientes, também chamado de valor da base de clientes de uma empresa, vem se estabelecendo como métrica capaz de comprovar o impacto do Marketing no valor das empresas. A lógica que sustenta esta relação está no fato de que o valor das ações está baseado na expectativa de fluxo de caixa futuro, que provêm da base de clientes. O cálculo do CLV dos clientes também apresenta uma importante utilidade gerencial como balizador da correta alocação de recursos de Marketing, indicando os clientes mais lucrativos no longo prazo. A partir do modelo de Kumar e Shah (2009), esta dissertação realiza o cálculo do Customer Equity de uma empresa do setor financeiro a partir de informações individuais das transações dos clientes. O CLV é calculado individualmente, permitindo identificar o perfil dos clientes mais rentáveis no longo-prazo. Também é testada a relação entre Customer Equity e capitalização de mercado ao longo de 31 meses, sem comprovação de associação significativa entre as variáveis, mas havendo um sinal de relação positiva entre elas. Os resultados são discutidos, e, por fim, são analisadas implicações gerenciais e sugestões de pesquisas futuras. / Recent research in the field of Marketing have presented results demonstrating that strategies based on raising the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) can have a positive impact on shareholder value. As a result, the Customer Equity, the sum of the customer’s CLVs, also called a customer’s base value of a company, has established itself as a metric able to demonstrate the impact of Marketing on the value of companies. The logic that underlies this relationship is in the fact that the value of the shares is based on expected future cash flows that stem from the customer base. Calculating customer’s CLV also has an important management utility of indicate the proper allocation of Marketing resources, identifying the most profitable customers in the long run. From the model of Kumar and Shah (2009), this paper performs the calculation of the Customer Equity of a financial institution from individual details of customer’s transactions. The CLV is calculated individually, allowing to identify the profile of the most profitable customers in the long run. Is also tested the relationship between Customer Equity and market capitalization over 31 months, without being proven a significant association between variables, but having a sign of a positive relationship between them. The results are discussed, and finally, managerial implications and suggestions for future research are analyzed.

The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive overview of the customer satisfaction and Customer Relationship Management and to analyze the client satisfaction in the company ESSOX s. r. o. In the end I suggest specific recommendations to improve the quality of provided services.

Nowadays with the development of Internet, there is a shift from offline to online travel agencies. Challenges like customer loyalty go hand in hand with advantages such as fast speed and convenience. This paper aims to identify what are the determining factors that have an impact on customer loyalty to online travel agencies through an empirical study of Expedia, an online travel booking platform. According to the research of previous literature, this paper proposes seven factors that have an influence on customer loyalty in the environment of online travel agencies. Then a new framework is outlined and seven hypotheses are generated to address the research questions that are put forward. This study adopts an online questionnaire, a quantitative strategy, as the method to collect data. After analysis, the results support five outlined hypotheses and two are not supported. Finally, the findings will provide some managerial implications to improve the customer loyalty to Expedia and also be helpful for the whole online travel agency market.

Purpose - Collaborative consumption, such as car sharing, speci fi cally implicates customer-to-customer interaction, which must be regulated by service providers (companies, peers and self-regulating communities), comprising different challenges for business organizations. While in conventional business relations, consumers are protected from undesirable customer behavior by laws, regulations (power) in the context of collaborative consumption are rare, so that trust becomes more relevant. It is the purpose of the study to investigate possible mechanisms to prevent undesirable customers in collaborative consumption. Design/methodology/Approach - In between subject designs, samples of 186 and 328 consumers fi lled in experimental online questionnaires with vignettes. Analyses were made of differences among car sharing companies, private persons and car sharing communities in terms of the power of providers, trust in providers and trust in other users of the shared goods, undesirable customer behavior and consumer - provider relations. Findings - Companies, private persons and self-regulating communities differ in terms of perceived power and trust. Participants speci fi cally perceive mainly coercive power with the car sharing company, but with the private person and the community, reason-based trust in other users is perceived as prevalent. Nevertheless, undesirable customer behavior varies only marginally over the models. Originality/value - The present study is the first to investigate measures to prevent undesirable customer behavior over different collaborative consumption models. This enables appropriate identification of market segments and tailoring of services. The study identifies opportunities for companies in contrast to private persons and self-regulating communities and, in doing so, provides important stimulation for marketing strategy and theory development.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology. / This thesis is prompted by the discussions around Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the financial industry and life insurance companies in particular. The study seeks to gain better understanding of the influence that CRM has on Customer Loyalty in a selected South African life insurance company. While CRM has been approached by academics and practitioners from different perspectives, literature seems to be viewed as inconsistent and fragmented on this concept. The concept of CRM is a new approach by management in South Africa and it is due to this fact that there are not sufficient studies on it. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the influence of Customer Relationship Management on customer loyalty in Metropolitan. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire was distributed amongst selected Metropolitan customer service offices nationally and a selected number of customers were approached to participate in the study. The findings show that Customer Relationship Management has an influence on customer loyalty and that Metropolitan does employ the principles of Customer Relationship Management.

Recentes pesquisas no campo do Marketing têm apresentado resultados demonstrando que estratégias baseadas em elevar o Valor Vitalício dos Clientes (CLV) podem ter um impacto positivo no valor ao acionista. Em consequência disso, o Customer Equity, equivalente à soma dos CLVs dos clientes, também chamado de valor da base de clientes de uma empresa, vem se estabelecendo como métrica capaz de comprovar o impacto do Marketing no valor das empresas. A lógica que sustenta esta relação está no fato de que o valor das ações está baseado na expectativa de fluxo de caixa futuro, que provêm da base de clientes. O cálculo do CLV dos clientes também apresenta uma importante utilidade gerencial como balizador da correta alocação de recursos de Marketing, indicando os clientes mais lucrativos no longo prazo. A partir do modelo de Kumar e Shah (2009), esta dissertação realiza o cálculo do Customer Equity de uma empresa do setor financeiro a partir de informações individuais das transações dos clientes. O CLV é calculado individualmente, permitindo identificar o perfil dos clientes mais rentáveis no longo-prazo. Também é testada a relação entre Customer Equity e capitalização de mercado ao longo de 31 meses, sem comprovação de associação significativa entre as variáveis, mas havendo um sinal de relação positiva entre elas. Os resultados são discutidos, e, por fim, são analisadas implicações gerenciais e sugestões de pesquisas futuras. / Recent research in the field of Marketing have presented results demonstrating that strategies based on raising the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) can have a positive impact on shareholder value. As a result, the Customer Equity, the sum of the customer’s CLVs, also called a customer’s base value of a company, has established itself as a metric able to demonstrate the impact of Marketing on the value of companies. The logic that underlies this relationship is in the fact that the value of the shares is based on expected future cash flows that stem from the customer base. Calculating customer’s CLV also has an important management utility of indicate the proper allocation of Marketing resources, identifying the most profitable customers in the long run. From the model of Kumar and Shah (2009), this paper performs the calculation of the Customer Equity of a financial institution from individual details of customer’s transactions. The CLV is calculated individually, allowing to identify the profile of the most profitable customers in the long run. Is also tested the relationship between Customer Equity and market capitalization over 31 months, without being proven a significant association between variables, but having a sign of a positive relationship between them. The results are discussed, and finally, managerial implications and suggestions for future research are analyzed.

Recentes pesquisas no campo do Marketing têm apresentado resultados demonstrando que estratégias baseadas em elevar o Valor Vitalício dos Clientes (CLV) podem ter um impacto positivo no valor ao acionista. Em consequência disso, o Customer Equity, equivalente à soma dos CLVs dos clientes, também chamado de valor da base de clientes de uma empresa, vem se estabelecendo como métrica capaz de comprovar o impacto do Marketing no valor das empresas. A lógica que sustenta esta relação está no fato de que o valor das ações está baseado na expectativa de fluxo de caixa futuro, que provêm da base de clientes. O cálculo do CLV dos clientes também apresenta uma importante utilidade gerencial como balizador da correta alocação de recursos de Marketing, indicando os clientes mais lucrativos no longo prazo. A partir do modelo de Kumar e Shah (2009), esta dissertação realiza o cálculo do Customer Equity de uma empresa do setor financeiro a partir de informações individuais das transações dos clientes. O CLV é calculado individualmente, permitindo identificar o perfil dos clientes mais rentáveis no longo-prazo. Também é testada a relação entre Customer Equity e capitalização de mercado ao longo de 31 meses, sem comprovação de associação significativa entre as variáveis, mas havendo um sinal de relação positiva entre elas. Os resultados são discutidos, e, por fim, são analisadas implicações gerenciais e sugestões de pesquisas futuras. / Recent research in the field of Marketing have presented results demonstrating that strategies based on raising the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) can have a positive impact on shareholder value. As a result, the Customer Equity, the sum of the customer’s CLVs, also called a customer’s base value of a company, has established itself as a metric able to demonstrate the impact of Marketing on the value of companies. The logic that underlies this relationship is in the fact that the value of the shares is based on expected future cash flows that stem from the customer base. Calculating customer’s CLV also has an important management utility of indicate the proper allocation of Marketing resources, identifying the most profitable customers in the long run. From the model of Kumar and Shah (2009), this paper performs the calculation of the Customer Equity of a financial institution from individual details of customer’s transactions. The CLV is calculated individually, allowing to identify the profile of the most profitable customers in the long run. Is also tested the relationship between Customer Equity and market capitalization over 31 months, without being proven a significant association between variables, but having a sign of a positive relationship between them. The results are discussed, and finally, managerial implications and suggestions for future research are analyzed.

Knowledge Management and Customer Care are regarded to be able to strengthen the competitive capability of a company. Knowledge Management is supposed to increase the innovative power for problem solving whereas Customer Relationship Management is supposed to increase the customer satisfaction and thereby the customer loyalty. This case study followed a mixed approach to combine aspects from the Knowledge Management and the Customer Relationship Management. Matter of this study was a small-size organization that had a demand for a ticket system for the 2nd and 3rd level support as part of their customer service. Because of an increasing volume of incoming requests, it was necessary to change the system from e-mail clients to a ticket system. Additionally, the company wanted to assure that all agents are able to process all types of requests in order to keep up good service quality even if the experts are not available. For this reason, the concept of this study was not only to introduce a ticket system, but also to implement a Knowledge Base storing the knowledge how to solve the requests in shape of sample solutions. The aim of the study was to find out whether such an approach would be possible, what the success influencing factors would be and what effect such an approach would have on the overall Knowledge Management practices. For this purpose the study made use of qualitative research methods, like interviews and observations, throughout the whole project’s duration. As a result, the project was not able to deliver the desired insights completely. The introduction of the pure ticket system was very successful as the employees reported an improvement of their working processes. The Knowledge Base however was not used during the observation period at all. As a standard risk for projects, late hardware delivery, turned into a problem and used up the planed buffers, the remaining time for observation, whether the Knowledge Base would be used or not, was too short. Therefore, it is necessary to do a follow-up study and assess whether the effect only is late or there is no effect. It might even be necessary to prove the approach in another environment, as the studied company very much relies on the personalization approach for Knowledge Management. Because of the well developed communication culture at the studied company, the employees prefer direct communication for knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer. That inhibits knowledge codification as a Knowledge Management approach. This itself, of course is a valuable insight.