Background: Brand managers are always trying to find ways to increase brand profitability and creating a stronger competitive advantage. Part of the marketing activities implemented by brand managers is geared towards building brand equity. Managers have now recognized the importance of the customer in creating brand equity and therefore implement co-creation as a way of creating value together with the customer. Co-creation allows for the firm to bring the customer closer. Two dimensions of brand equity which are brand loyalty and brand experience were chosen for this study. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the effects of perceived co-creation benefits on brand loyalty and brand experience (CBBE). Methodology: To meet the purpose, the study proposes an explanatory design with a quantitative approach. After reviewing relevant literature, three benefits were found important for the customers and in connection to the purpose of a researched model based on six hypotheses was developed. The empirical data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire which was distributed online with a total of 119 responses which were recorded and passed the qualification question whether they follow a brand on social media. Findings: The authors found evidence that perceived co-creation benefits have an effect on CBBE. It was found that particularly hedonic benefits have a significant effect on brand loyalty. Another finding was that social integrative benefits also has an effect on brand experience.

Many of the water sectors in developing countries are facing challenges and obstacles in providing potable water to their customers. These challenges resulted from many reasons such as; shortage of water, huge population, low water tariff, regulations, unplanned development, shortage of financing, absence of commercial orientation and others. Therefore, these sectors are requested to work innovatively to overcome these problems and find out proper solutions. One effective option to address these challenges is appropriate pricing of water. Setting up appropriate water price aims to recover service cost, reduce rate of subsidy and achieve financial sustainability. This research was carried out to determine how to achieve financial sustainability in the water sector in the Sultanate of Oman. The study is based on three main issues, improving the water tariff structure, the role of the customer and his expectation to increase the chance of financial sustainability. Two stages of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were adopted in order to answer the research question. 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with PAEW key staff and other relevant parties outside PAEW. 610 quantitative surveys were returned from a total of 1600 PAEW customers to get their views about the role of the customer and his expectations of PAEW in order to increase the chance of financial sustainability. Findings from qualitative data showed the appropriate water tariff is the cost reflective tariff which increases the chance of financial sustainability and cost recovery. The quantitative findings present the willingness of customers' participation and his expectation. Customer participation is expressed in three main roles: leakage and defect reporting, payment and conservation. In all of these, the research outcomes prove the role of the customer and the importance of these roles to increase the chance of financial sustainability. Customer expectations are expressed in customer service, billing system and water service. The outcomes reflect the customer expectations in terms of satisfaction and identify the gap that should be filled by PAEW to make the customer satisfied and loyal.

Syfte och forskningsfrågor: Vårt syfte är att utreda och analysera relationsskapande i banksektorn, vilket sker både genom fysisk personlig interaktion och via kundmedverkan online. Avsikten är att bidra till kunskap om vad som påverkar skapande och utvecklande av konsumentrelationer med denna utgångspunkt. 1. Vilka är centrala faktorer för skapande och utvecklande av relationer inom banksektorn? 2. Vilka aspekter är framträdande i kundens roll i det traditionella- respektive virtuella servicelandskapet? Metod: Studien av kvalitativ karaktär och har genomförts utifrån ett växelspel mellan deduktion och induktion, vilket resulterade i en abduktiv forskningsansats. Datainsamlingen har utförts genom fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med representanter från banksektorn, som har stor kompetens inom ämnet. Slutsats: Studien har resulterat i kunskap kring att det är väsentligt för banker att finnas tillgängliga både fysiskt, genom personliga möten, och via plattformar online. Vi har konstaterat att olika aspekter, beroende på vilket sätt banken möter kunden, fysiskt eller virtuellt, är viktiga för att utveckla och bibehålla kundrelationer. Vi har identifierat sju nyckelfaktorer för att relationen mellan banken och kunden ska bli så gynnsam som möjligt för båda parterna: proaktivitet, anammande av fintech-tjänster, sömlösa- och lättnavigerade plattformar, utbildande av kunder, aktivt arbete med sociala medier, tillvaratagande av CRM-system samt anpassande av den fysiska miljön för kundens välbefinnande. / Purpose and research questions: Our aim is to investigate and analyze the creation of relations within the banking sector, which occurs through physical personal interaction and online customer participation. The intention is to contribute with knowledge regarding what influences the creation and development of consumer relations. 1. Which are the key factors for creation and development of relations within the banking sector? 2. Which are the prominent aspects of the customer's role in the traditional and virtual servicescape? Method: The study is of qualitative character and was completed through an interaction between deduction and induction, which resulted in an abductive approach. The empirical data was gathered through five semistructured interviews with knowledgeable representatives from the banking sector. Conclusion: The study has resulted in knowledge, that it is essential for banks to be available both physically, through personal meetings, and through online platforms. We have found that different aspects, depending on the way the bank meet their customer, physically or virtually, is important for developing and maintaining the customer relations. We have identified seven key factors to make the relation between the bank and the customer as beneficial as possible for both parties: proactivity, acceptance of fintech services, seamless- and easy-navigated platforms, educating the customers, active social media channels, usage of CRM systems, and adaptation of the physical environment to satisfy the customers well-being.

Ce travail comprend une analyse détaillée des pratiques managériales des communautés virtuelles dans le secteur banquier. Nous nous sommes intéressés aux dynamiques managériales de la co-production parce que la plupart des études liées à la coproduction concernent les produits et les consommateurs. De plus, la littérature actuelle sur la coproduction manque des investigations empiriques dans les services financiers. Nous avons commencé par proposer des définitions pour pouvoir comprendre et analyser les concepts que nous mobilisons. La participation des clients a été définie comme la mesure dans laquelle le client est impliqué dans la production et le dévouement du service (Dabholkar, 1990). La coproduction est également définie comme engageant les clients en tant que participants actifs dans le travail de l'organisation (Lengnick Hall et al, 2000). Nous avons identifié quatre courants importants qui expliquent chronologiquement la participation du consommateur au développement de nouveaux produits/services: Marketing des services, l’approche managériale, la participation basée sur l’innovation, l’approche qui critique la participation du consommateur. La question de recherche centrale est "Comment et pourquoi les banques engagent-elles leurs clients dans un processus de co-production?" Nous avons identifié quatre dimensions au début de la recherche pour pouvoir comprendre les dynamiques managériales. Les dimensions étaient l’objectif, le processus, les résultats et les problèmes de la participation du consommateur. Nous avons décidé d’étudier cinq différentes institutions financières Européennes. Nous avons réalisé une conception de recherche des études de cas multiples afin de répondre à cette question dans un contexte financier. Nous avons identifié différents types de communautés chacune ayant des fonctions et des objectifs différents : communautés de recherche, communautés d'innovation, communauté de coopération ouverte avec des activités. Ces trois types de communauté ont des processus différents. La deuxième découverte est liée à l'évolution de ces communautés avec le temps. Certaines communautés (ING et Cetelem) ont évolué; Nous voyons une transformation de ces communautés selon les besoins et les priorités des institutions financières. Quant aux caractéristiques de ces institutions, processus et problèmes, l'analyse de ces banques montre que trois dynamiques importantes alimentent la construction et la gestion d'une communauté dans un contexte financier: client-centricité, soutien managérial et besoin d'innovation. D’après nos observations, le problème principal porte sur la gestion de la communauté. Il est difficile de gérer une communauté ouverte où n'importe qui peut venir et publier des idées et des critiques négatives. Les problèmes techniques, bureaucratiques et budgétaires existent aussi. La recherche, l'innovation et la coproduction de nouveaux produits et services sont les motifs les plus courants. Cependant, les motivations des communautés ouvertes étaient plus liées aux affaires. Le principal motif d'ouverture des communautés était la réduction des coûts, outre la réduction des coûts, l'augmentation de la fidélité des consommateurs, le contact plus étroit avec les clients, leur engagement et l'attribution de nouvelles tâches à la communauté. Comme indiqué plusieurs fois par Von Hippel (2006) et Kozinets (1999), les communautés en ligne sont des mécanismes efficaces pour l’étude du marché. En plus, les communautés sont également importantes pour accroitre la notoriété de la marque (Seraj 2012), la visibilité et la meilleure communication interne et la coopération (Ramasvamy et Gouillart 2010), le partage du savoir-faire et l'élimination des barrières entre les différents départements. / This work investigates managerial dynamics of customer participation and its evolution in financial context. We are interested in managerial dynamics because most of the studies related in co-production is about consumers and the current literature on co-production lacks empirical investigations in financial services. Despite its increasing popularity in the last decade co-production is not a new phenomenon. Customer participation has existed since a very long period of time especially in services marketing and is still evolving in different industries. The following definitions have been adopted for this research. Customer participation has been defined as "the degree to which the customer is involved in producing and delivering the service" (Dabholkar 1990, p. 484). Lengnick–Hall et al (2000) define co-production as “engaging customers as active participants in the organization’s work”. A comprehensive analysis of marketing literature about co-production and consumer participation issues leads us to four different approaches: a services marketing approach focusing on largely customer participation, a managerial approach that puts the customer at the center of co-creation process, an innovative approach where the customer actively takes part in innovation, a critical approach focusing on working consumer concept. The central question for the research is “How and why do banks engage their customers in co-production? Four constructs have been selected in order to answer this question: motives, processes problems and outcomes. Five European banks have been selected for the study. A detailed multiple case study analysis revealed three different community types: market research communities, Innovation communities, Cooperation communities. Another contribution is about the evolution of these communities in time. Some communities (ING and Cetelem) evolved according to needs and priorities of financial institutions. The analysis of these banks shows that three important dynamics feed building and managing a community in financial context: customer centricity, managerial support and the need for innovation. In addition, these three different community types have different processes. Problems of community management in financial industry are also investigated in detail in order to better answer “how” question. Besides financial, technical and organizational problems, the most important problem seems to be the management of open and harsh criticisms. The second important problem is the efficient community management in financial industry. In addition, internal dynamics, complexity and intangibility of financial services and resistance to change may also complicate effective community management. According to our findings, motives of financial institutions are not much different from motives of other companies. Research, innovation and co-production of new products and services are most common motives. However motives of open communities were different, they were more business related. Main motive for open communities was cost-cutting, besides cost-cutting, increasing consumers’ loyalty, having a closer contact with clients, engaging them and assigning the community new tasks are also important motives. According to our findings, there are also common and different outcomes for these three different communities. As stated several times by Von Hippel (2006) and Kozinets (1999) online communities are efficient mechanisms for marketing research. Our findings also supported their results. Besides, communities are also important in increasing brand awareness (Seraj 2012), visibility and better internal communication and cooperation (Ramasvamy and Gouillart 2010), know-how sharing and breaking down the barriers between different departments.

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現今服務業的在產業的比重已經越來越高，而服務業生產與消費不可分割的特性導致了顧客參與成為服務流程中不可避免的一件事情。Bitner, Faranda, Hubbert, and Zeithaml (1997)亦認為顧客在服務流程中扮演服務品質、價值與滿意度的貢獻者。本研究整合各學者對顧客參與服務流程的價值創造觀點，並加入顧客參與前因之探討，發展成一個整合的模型。透過對婚紗攝影顧客的問卷調查，得以驗證本研究模型之理論。 　　本研究結果證實了Chan, Yim, and Lam (2010)的觀點，發現顧客參與並無法直接對顧客滿意度產生影響，而是需要透過服務品質的提升與關係的建立，才能進一步提高顧客之滿意度。並發現產品客製化、顧客控制以及經驗價值對於顧客滿意度的提升則不顯著，顯示即使是對顧客有利的價值創造，亦不見得能轉換為顧客滿意度。最後，本研究在顧客參與前因的部分，發現顧客知覺支持不僅對於顧客參與有增強的作用，並且會直接影響到顧客滿意度。顧客自我效能感對於顧客參與也有好的預測效果。顧客角色明確在理論中對於顧客參與有正面之影響，在本研究中的效果卻不顯著。 　　本研究根據研究結果對高顧客參與類型的服務廠商提出以下幾點建議。首先，企業應將顧客視為服務品質、價值與滿意度的貢獻者。第二，服務廠商在資源分配上，應著重資源於服務品質的提升以及與顧客建立關係上。第三，服務廠商在服務生產開始之前能夠提供越完整的資訊越好，適時地在顧客參與過程中給予激勵，並且展現對顧客的重視，都有助於顧客參與程度的提升。最後，服務人員在服務流程中扮演重要的角色，服務廠商在人才的培育上應不遺餘力。 / The proportion of the service sector in the industry today has become increasingly high. And because the production and consumption of many services are inseparable, customer participation in the service process is an inevitable issue. Bitner, Faranda, Hubbert, and Zeithaml (1997) also consider that customers play roles in the service delivery system as contributors to their own satisfaction and the quality and value which they receive. This study integrates views of the value creation of customer participation in the service process from past researches. Using data collected from customers who bought wedding photography services, this study examines how customer participation drives customer satisfaction through customer values; moreover, this study examines the antecedents of customer participation. 　　The result shows that customer participation does not cause customer satisfaction directly, but rather through the upgrading of service quality and relationship building, which supports the view of Chan, Yim, and Lam (2010). The study also finds that product customization, customer control, and experience value do not have significant help for increasing customer satisfaction. At the part of antecedents of customer participation, the study shows: (1) perceived support for customers not only enhances the level of customer participation, and has a direct impact on customer satisfaction; (2) customer self-efficacy is a good predictor of customer participation behavior. The effect of customer role clarity for customer participation is not significant in this study, but we should still consider the effect to be positive due to past researches. 　　The findings have several implications for firms that need high level of customer participation. First, companies should not see customers only as productive resources, but as contributors to service quality, customer value and customer satisfaction. Second, service firms should allocate resources to focus on enhancing service quality and building relationships with customers. Third, the service firms should provide as complete information as possible before the service production starts, encourage customers during the service process, and let the customer feel valued, in order to increase the degree of customer participation. Finally, the service personnel play an important role in the process of service delivery, so that service firms should spare no effort to nurture service talents.

Managers of software development projects increasingly need to deal with factors such as competition, demand for quality, shorter product life cycles and constant technological changes in the market. Thus, it was realized that flexibility is a critical issue for software development projects, since it is necessary to improve the ability of responses to market changes, so that there are few reworks, minimized costs, responsiveness and capacity innovation. Aiming to contribute to this discussion, this study sought to investigate how the characteristics of flexibility are perceived by project managers in software development. The theoretical framework of the processes of software development Cockburn (2001), Abrahamsson et al. (2003), Vinekar (2006) and Laudon and Laudon (2010) were the basis for this study. The methodology has a descriptive and qualitative and adopted the search strategy multiple case study in which the cases are characterized by the processes of software development, and as a source of evidence, chose to project managers who work in Aracaju, considering that these professionals have a broader view of the development process. As results, in treating of flexibility with respect to the customer, all respondents stated that customer participation in the development process is important for the proper performance of the project as possible to anticipate potential changes. Regarding flexibility in the working group, four of the five managers interviewed said that team members do not react well to changes in the project, and that there is an effort in most projects to negotiate with the client possible changes in cost and time. Regarding the process flexibility, the five respondents agree on the advantages of a good definition of the processes within the organization. However, all processes are capable of adapting to achieve the required results. The findings in this study therefore demonstrate that the project managers, while focusing on the technical aspects of the software development process, associate to the level of success of the project to other factors, such as flexibility in the process, working groups and with respect to the customer. / Os gerentes de projetos de desenvolvimento de software precisam cada vez mais lidar com fatores como a competição, demanda por qualidade, menores ciclos de vida de produtos e mudanças tecnológicas constantes no mercado. Dessa forma, percebeu-se que a flexibilidade é uma questão crítica para projetos de desenvolvimento de software, uma vez que é necessário aprimorar a capacidade de respostas às mudanças de mercado, de forma que haja poucos retrabalhos, custos minimizados, agilidade de resposta e capacidade de inovação. Com o propósito de contribuir para tal discussão, esta dissertação investiga como as características de flexibilidade são percebidas por gerentes de projetos no desenvolvimento de software. O arcabouço teórico sobre os processos de desenvolvimento de software, tais como os fundamentados em Cockburn (2001), Abrahamsson et al. (2003), Vinekar (2006) e Laudon e Laudon (2010) serviram como base para este estudo. A metodologia teve caráter descritivo e qualitativo e adotou-se a estratégia de pesquisa estudo de casos múltiplos, na qual os casos foram caracterizados pelos processos de desenvolvimento de software e, como fonte de evidências, escolheram-se os gestores de projetos de software que atuam em Aracaju, por considerar que estes profissionais possuem uma visão mais abrangente do processo de desenvolvimento de tais sistemas. Como resultados obtidos, ao tratar de flexibilidade com relação ao cliente, todos os entrevistados declararam que a participação do cliente no processo de desenvolvimento é importante para o bom desempenho do projeto, pois possibilita antecipar possíveis mudanças. No tocante à flexibilidade no grupo de trabalho, quatro dos cinco gerentes entrevistados ressaltaram que os membros da equipe não reagem bem às mudanças no projeto, e que existe um esforço na maioria dos projetos em negociar com o cliente possíveis alterações de custos e prazos. No que concerne à flexibilidade dos processos de desenvolvimento, os cinco entrevistados concordaram sobre as vantagens de uma boa definição dos processos dentro da organização. Contudo, todos os processos são passíveis de adaptação para atingir os resultados necessários. Os resultados encontrados nessa pesquisa demonstram, portanto, que os gerentes de projetos, apesar de focarem nos aspectos técnicos do processo de desenvolvimento de software, associam o nível de sucesso do projeto a outros fatores, tais como a flexibilidade com relação ao cliente, nos grupos de trabalho e no processo de desenvolvimento.