The aim of this research is to examine the effect of customer satisfaction and switching costs of customer loyalty through an empirical study of the health care and service industry in Taiwan. The significance of the research will affect hospital management throughout Taiwan and academics majoring in the field of customer loyalty and satisfaction. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005

This research portfolio consists of three papers that together investigate the intangible returns generated from customer relationship management (CRM) programmes. / Thesis (DBA(DBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia,

Bibliography: leaves 134-145 and 157-158. / 158 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Evaluates an intervention in the marketplace. Examines the impact of a loyalty program on brand loyalty in a series of seven studies/replications across two countries and five product categories. Supports the use of Dirichlet norms to assess the impact of marketplace interventions, or at least loyalty initiatives. The comparisons against Dirichlet predictions seemed to work as expected in being able to show the impact, or lack of impact, of these marketing interventions. Provides a methodological and analytical framework for further studies of this kind. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Graduate School of Management, 2000?

The purpose of this research was to investigate how a process of integrating internal and external customers and technology could be developed and implemented in the building components industry. The research problem revolved around the customer orientation concept, which other industries claim to have implemented successfully. The research problem was conceptualised as lack of internal and external customer orientation.

The thesis extends previous loyalty research by comparing the performance of brands in subscription markets, specifically financial services and insurance, on a cross-category basis. Large investments are made in these industries on cross-selling initiatives with the hope of bringing about brand growth through increased loyalty. This research found very little variation between the loyalty scores for major brands in each market, suggesting that cross selling attempts are likely to play only a minor role in brand performance. / thesis (MBusiness-Research)--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007

Store image and customer satisfaction become increasingly important factors in modern retailing - a market characterized by fast growth and intense competition. 7-11, Taiwan; Family-Mart and Hi-Life are already present as the top three in Taiwan retail market. This development will demand even more focus on the relationship between store image and customer satisfaction in order to stay in business and even more to create some new coalitions for future market. Therefore, chain convenience stores have to find a new way how to stand firm under this intense competition. The only way is to strengthen customers' perception through store image and provide the various services and products to satisfy customers' demands than increase customer satisfaction / Thesis (DBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2005

The aim of this research is to examine the effect of customer satisfaction and switching costs of customer loyalty through an empirical study of the health care and service industry in Taiwan. The significance of the research will affect hospital management throughout Taiwan and academics majoring in the field of customer loyalty and satisfaction. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005

This study crafts a schema for understanding the relationship between what organisations say they do and the way they operationalise what they think: the premise-to-received practice. The study navigates its way through an exhaustive volume of relevant work on organisation and organising. The case is argued for adoption of the symbolic interpretive paradigmatic perspective. It is particularly suitable for investigating enacted premise and received practice contexts. A research design is applied in putting these paradigmatic assumptions into motion. The study reports on interpretations emerging from analysis of 'lived experiences' from the two organisational contexts under investigation.A focus for the study was the Public Sector (Western Australia) reform strategy, known as 'customer focus'. The study's title 'Customer Focus: Enacted premise and received practice', locates interest in the relationship between organisational intentions and actions using customer focus as the lens for grounding organisational experiences. This study investigates the apparent reified social construct of organisation though a customer focus lens.Similar studies have focused on interpretation schemata in order to understand key organisational events that support the methodology and assumptions used in this, study. Such studies owes allegiance to the constructivist ontology, based on the' belief of the existence of multiple realities whereby the research act is epistemologically interpretive, aimed at generating understanding.Following the tenets of constructivist and interpretive knowledge, a qualitative methodology was used. Viewing organising as explicitly communicative, the research strategy adopted a symbolic interpretive theoretical perspective. Consistent with hermeneutics and grounded theory principles (not methods), the study sought further understanding of the relationship ++ / between organisational intentions and actions. The research design emphasised an interpretive approach by eliciting data from individual points of view within the work setting. A sample of six organisations was selected, and sixty-one interviews were conducted. Focus interviews were conducted with Top Management Teams. Individual interviews were conducted with Workers.Two sets of meanings were construed. One, Top Management Teams, enacted involvement, commitment, communication and relationships. This was related to Top Management Teams practice of control. The other, Workers, enacted the same meanings in the customer focus strategy, involvement, commitment, communication and relationships. This was related to Workers received practice of equivocality.This study reports on two major findings. First, there was harmony in the enacted thinking on the meaning for customer focus across Top Management Teams and Workers. Second, the harmony in the enacted thinking on the meanings for customer focus across the two groups were discordant with the way respondents operationalise what they report they think. Top Management Teams were unaware of the discord between the way they say they think (involvement, commitment, communication and relationships) and the way they operationalise what they think (practices of control). The discord between premise and practice in Top Management Teams was received in practice by Workers as equivocality. Equivocality emerged as discordant with Worker premise taken for customer focus as meaning to create shared understanding.The study emerged a non-alignment between what organisations say they do (Top Management Team enacted premise) and the way they operationalise what they think (Worker received practice).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-128).