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.

This thesis consists of two essays. Both essays are related to customer base concentration. In the first essay, I examine the impact of customer base concentration on selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs stickiness. With a sample of 65,549 firm-year observations from 9,460 unique firms on the US market from 1980 to 2012, I find that concentrated customer base accentuates SG&A costs stickiness, even after controlling for related variables such as asset intensity, employee intensity, firm size and firm age. Further findings indicate that the positive association between customer base concentration and SG&A costs stickiness is enhanced if supplier firms are in durable industry (SIC 3400-3990), or have more relationship-specific investments, but weakened if the duration of the relationship between a supplier firm and its customer base is longer. The findings are robust to alternative measures of major variables and to alternative testing models. In the second essay, I examine the impact of customer base concentration on investment efficiency. With a sample of 57,852 firm-year observations from 12,123 unique firms on the US market from 1980 to 2013, I find that concentrated customer base is positively associated with investment efficiency improvement. The findings are evidenced by the testing results that concentrated customer base strengthens the positive association between investment activities and investment opportunities. From shareholders’ perspective, concentrated customer base also strengthens the contribution of investment expenditure to shareholders’ value. In addition, I find that the positive association between customer base concentration and investment efficiency is influenced by some salient features of the supplier-customer relationship. Generally, such association is more pronounced if the supplier firm’s industry share is larger; if the supplier firm relationship-specific investment is greater; and if the supplier-customer relationship is longer. The findings are robust to a number of sensitivity tests. Keywords: customer base concentration; SG&A costs stickiness; investment efficiency; agency problem; information asymmetry

Arguably, two conflicting norms may have been activated simultaneously for communal consumers in a service failure. The first norm focuses on self-obligation, that is, because s/he is my good friend, I have to tolerate his/her mistakes. The second norm focuses on other-obligation, that is, because s/he is my good friend, s/he has to provide me with good services. The relative salience of these two conflicting norms may influence communal consumers' dissatisfaction level to be different from exchange consumers. Building on the psychological contract theory (Rousseau 1989), it is proposed that promise breach type would reconcile the original prediction and the reverse finding in study 1. Specifically, communal (vs. exchange) consumers would be less dissatisfied in an implicit promise breach, but the reverse pattern would occur in an explicit promise breach. Moreover, self-construal would moderate the interactive relationship between relationship type and promise breach type on consumer dissatisfaction. In particular, the discrepancy in dissatisfaction between communal and exchange consumers would be larger for interdependents (vs. independents) in both implicit and explicit promise breach conditions. Two additional experimental studies with different consumption contexts provide convergent evidence of the proposed hypotheses. These results have broad implications for theory and practice, and point to fruitful opportunities for future research. / This dissertation examines the impact of relationship type on consumer dissatisfaction in service failures. According to the communal-exchange relationship framework (Clark and Mills 1979), whereas the central norm of communal relationships is to demonstrate a concern for others, that of exchange relationships is to give benefits to others with an expectation of immediate return. It follows that communal (vs. exchange) consumers would be less dissatisfied in service failures because enduring mistakes made by a service provider is more compatible with the communal (vs. exchange) central norm. Surprisingly, this argument was not supported and a reverse result was found in study 1. / Wan, Chun Ying. / Adviser: Hui King Man. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-09, Section: A, page: . / Thesis submitted in: December 2008. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-144). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Business. / Customer contact personnel (CCP) are recognised as a key determinant in the attainment of customer satisfaction and service quality. While they are readily acknowledged as often representing the service in the eyes of the customer, almost no attention has been given to researching the determinants of service behaviour among CCP, from the perspective of CCP. The work of Shamir (1980), over fifteen years ago, acted as a catalyst for the development of the conceptual model of this thesis. Of particular interest was the inclusion of the first empirical examination of propositions concerning relative status and role conflict. The conceptual model of this thesis extended and developed this work by representing relative status as two constructs, perceived self-status and perceived recognition status, then further, developed the discussion to include the dependent variable of this thesis, service behaviour. Additionally, the conceptual model included other key variables suggested by the literature (uniform perceptions and customer orientation), that directly and indirectly influence service behaviour. Airline flight attendants were considered suitable respondents for this research as they hold a high boundary spanning position. The useable data from the survey of 446 respondents represented a 36% response rate. The data analysis undertaken included path analysis and structural equation modelling. Investigation of the data found that greater insight and better managerial diagnostics could be obtained by splitting the sample dependent on the relative status perspective respondents held concerning their perceived self-status, and refining the conceptual model by dividing the dependent variable, service behaviour, into positive and negative service behaviour. The research findings indicated that the customer orientation of CCP had the greatest influence on service behaviour. Importantly, perceived self-status had a moderating influence on service behaviour, with the direction dependent on the status perspective of `not superior' or `superior'. All other variables of the model were generally found to have significant direct or indirect effects on service behaviour, again influenced by direction if they were mediated through perceived self-status. The structural equation modelling also provided acceptable fits to the data. Although, the study examined relationships that essentially had never previously been empirically tested and therefore, in their research infancy, the findings considerably aid our understanding of antecedents of service behaviour among CCP. Further, the findings have significant implications for management in service organisations where their frontline service personnel occupy a service role that is considered subordinate, both to the customer and the company.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2009. / Thesis advisor: Daniel Larose. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Data Mining." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-39). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Research Project (M.B.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2006 / Theses (Faculty of Business Administration) / Simon Fraser University MBA-SPEC-MIS Program. Senior supervisor : Dr. Jennifer C. Chang.

Service Apartment, as a new growth real estate sub-market had rapid growth in the past decade. Under the change of market condition and impact from its own characteristic, Service Apartment industry is facing a great challenge. In the marketplace, different organization would adopt different business strategies to confront the challenges. Apart from those common business strategies, Customer Relationship Management is one of the common strategies that has widely adopted by different organization and the effect was highly recognized. Therefore, some of the operators of Service Apartment also adopt Customer Relationship Management into the operation to improve the competitiveness and performance of the apartment. In view of Service Apartment is a new growth industry, we attempt to conduct a case study in a standard class Service Apartment in Hong Kong to identify the importance of CRM to the Service Apartment industry and evaluate the performance of CRM application from operator's and user's view point and hence to identify the potential improvement on the application. 4 / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School. / Total Quality Management (TQM) is known for its success in transforming Japan from economic ruin after World War II into a world economic power. Telkom South Africa (SA) wants to develop a customer centric culture that permeates the entire organisation through people, processes and systems, with the objective of making Telkom the customer's ICT service provider of choice. The research show that by applying TQM principles at Telkom SA will increase customer satisfaction and assist Telkom SA in becoming a leading employee and customer centric ICT solutions service provider. Certain TQM principles which apply to the manufacturing sector can equally be applied to a service organization like Telkom SA, while certain TQM principles have to be adapted to apply to a service organisation.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Mathematics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Impulsive buying is another form of consumption behaviour that seems to be occurring more frequently today. This behaviour has both positive and negative effects, therefore, caution should be taken when making consumption decisions. This study attempts to investigate impulsive buying behaviour among marketing students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It discusses factors that contribute to such behaviour, some of which were identified in a study conducted by Youn & Faber (2000). These factors include lack of control (impulsivity), stress and absorption. The study highlights cultural influences on impulse buying behaviour. It mentions the several differences between male and female consumers. According to Zhou & Wong (2003), retailers need to understand how they can attract and retain a significant share of consumer impulse purchases for market survival. Understanding consumer behaviour helps in the development of effective marketing communications (Bothma et. al 2002). A literature review conducted to gain insight and understanding on impulse buying behaviour. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from fifty University of KwaZulu- Natal marketing students. Findings on the study highlight vast unplanned consumption behaviours. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.