Electronic service quality (ESQ) and customer orientation (CO) have become key tools to succeed in the competitive marketplace. Thus, the purpose of this research was to study how CO as perceived by the customers impacts their perception about the firm’s ESQ and to study the impact of this perceived ESQ on the outcomes at the customer level. There has been minimal research conducted on the components of ESQ in the fitness industry. Therefore, this research was focused on fitness firms wherein the participants for this study were the everyday gym goers. A quantitative survey was conducted in order to collect the data, and regression analysis was used to test the validity of the proposed model. The findings showed that there is a positive relationship between perceived CO and perceived ESQ, and a positive relationship between perceived ESQ and customer level outcomes such as customer satisfaction, customer trust and word-of-mouth.

This thesis deals with application of the customer perspective from Balanced Scorecard and customer relationship management in the selected company Socialbakers a.s. First, this thesis studies theoretical basis of the chosen issue. The second part deals with practical use of customer perspective metrics. The current state of measurement and management in this area in Socialbakers a.s. is described and evaluated. Then knowledge gained from relevant literature is used to suggest improvements for this area.

Ett hårdare konkurrensklimat vad gäller antalet produkter och tjänster påmarknaden i kombination med de möjligheter nya marknadsföringskanaler ger, harresulterat i att många företag idag väljer att anta experimentellamarknadsföringsstrategier för att lyckas profilera sig på marknaden. Syftet med våruppsats är att ur ett konsumentperspektiv undersöka medvetenheten kring hurföretag marknadsför produkter och tjänster genom att stimulera de mänskligasinnena samt undersöka reaktioner och åsikter om detta. För att svara vårt syfte haren kvalitativ undersökning gjorts och metoden vi valt är fokusgrupp samtkvalitativa intervjuer. Resultatet visar att det råder en medvetenhet hoskonsumenter kring företags arbetssätt samt över lag en positivitet gentemotexperimentella metoder. Konsumenter har en högre acceptansnivå till att blimanipulerade via subtil sinnesmarknadsföring än via traditionell sådan, så länge defår ett utbyte i form av en upplevelse eller känsla. Slutsatser från studien är att detråder en medvetenhet hos konsumenter om sinnesmarknadsföring i praktiken.Konsumenter ställer sig överlag positiva till den här typen av marknadsföring ochser detta som en tillfredställande och värdeskapande upplevelse. Studien visarockså att det finns en gräns som går att överskrida för vad konsumenter anser varaokej sinnesmarknadsföringsmetoder.

The purpose of this research was to formulate and develop broad guidelines for a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for a mining supply company. This research has specific reference to Bond Equipment (Pty) Ltd. based in Klerksdorp, North West Province, South Africa. These guidelines must assist management to steer the company forward on a strategic way. The guidelines will also guide management to apply the BSC to lower levels in the company, each department and every employee will have its own BSC. This research also includes the improvement of the company`s vision and mission. The BSC must be aligned with both the vision and mission of the company to ensure the successful implementation of a BSC. The BSC is not just an effective measurement and management tool but it is also an effective tool to enhance communication between different departments within the business. Questionnaires were used to gather data from the sample group within the company. A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed to management, professionals and employees that worked for the company for more than 2 years. The head of departments of the company were informed of the research being conducted. Thirty-five questionnaires were received back. The data of the study was analysed and out of these results, broad guidelines were identified for the formulation of a BSC for the company. Three aspects from each quadrant were selected by the participants of the study. The data of the vision and mission of the company were also analysed and possible improvements were identified. The results of the study revealed that the vision and mission must be improved to match the new strategy of the company. Bond Equipment (Pty) Ltd has to diversify and focus not only on quality but also on customer service. The three broad guidelines selected from each quadrant by the participants will form an integral part in the final design of the BSC to all levels of the company. Proposed measurement tools were also recommended to the management of Bond. These measurement tools will assist management to manage the company in accordance with the vision and mission. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The purpose of this research was to formulate and develop broad guidelines for a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for a mining supply company. This research has specific reference to Bond Equipment (Pty) Ltd. based in Klerksdorp, North West Province, South Africa. These guidelines must assist management to steer the company forward on a strategic way. The guidelines will also guide management to apply the BSC to lower levels in the company, each department and every employee will have its own BSC. This research also includes the improvement of the company`s vision and mission. The BSC must be aligned with both the vision and mission of the company to ensure the successful implementation of a BSC. The BSC is not just an effective measurement and management tool but it is also an effective tool to enhance communication between different departments within the business. Questionnaires were used to gather data from the sample group within the company. A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed to management, professionals and employees that worked for the company for more than 2 years. The head of departments of the company were informed of the research being conducted. Thirty-five questionnaires were received back. The data of the study was analysed and out of these results, broad guidelines were identified for the formulation of a BSC for the company. Three aspects from each quadrant were selected by the participants of the study. The data of the vision and mission of the company were also analysed and possible improvements were identified. The results of the study revealed that the vision and mission must be improved to match the new strategy of the company. Bond Equipment (Pty) Ltd has to diversify and focus not only on quality but also on customer service. The three broad guidelines selected from each quadrant by the participants will form an integral part in the final design of the BSC to all levels of the company. Proposed measurement tools were also recommended to the management of Bond. These measurement tools will assist management to manage the company in accordance with the vision and mission. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Problem: Showrooming phenomenon refers to the customer behavior of physically experiencing the product in a physical store before purchasing it from online stores. It is becoming increasingly prevalent today and has attracted the interest of academia. However, the majority of the existing studies explored this phenomenon from the perspective of retailers. The concern for different retailers’ gain and loss in showrooming process caused debate on how to define and interpret this phenomenon. Moreover, there are few existing studies that investigating this behavior from the consumers’ lens.  There seems to be a need for research focused on the customers’ showrooming experience and understand this phenomenon from their lens.   Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what is showrooming phenomenon from customer’s perspective through investigating customers' personal showrooming experience in order to shed more light on the positive side of showrooming.   Method: Based on a social constructionism philosophy, this qualitative study utilizes a grounded theory strategy. In order to gather data through grounded theory method, in-depth interviews and a grounded analysis have been conducted. The analysis is conducted in three steps. First, in initial coding, codes and concepts are identified. Second, in axial coding, concepts are grouped into categories. Finally, in selective coding, categories are connected and grouped based on the intrinsic relationship between different categories. Also, the paradigm is built in these final step.   Conclusions: This study builds the paradigm model of showrooming phenomenon through exploring the experiences of showroomers. In the paradigm, the different conditions in the process are identified, including the core phenomenon, causal condition, contextual condition, intervening condition, action, consequences. Through building the model, this study explores the incentives and consequences of showroomers, the different influential factors during showrooming process, and the interpretations and perceptions from customer’s perspective.

In today’s competitive business environment, banks operate in a severe rivalry due to various factors, including globalisation, fast technological developments and homogeneous nature of banks services. For this reason, building valuable brands is crucial in differentiating banks and adding value to the banking services. The research problem that emerged was: investigating the major bank marketing communication tools to examine their impact on building bank brand equity. The researcher went about in achieving this purpose by: identifying the major marketing communication tools used by banks that help build bank brand equity via the customer-based brand equity (CBBE) dimensions from customers’ perspective; and testing and analysing the hypotheses in order to develop the final research model. In order for this purpose to be attained, two research questions were answered: what are the major bank marketing communication tools that help build bank brand equity? Which hypotheses regarding the impact of the major bank marketing communication tools on building bank brand equity via the CBBE dimensions are supported in this study? This research was carried out in the Egyptian banking sector from the customer perspective. Mixed-method research was used. The first phase was the qualitative research approach, which consists of conducting and analysing semi-structured interviews. These interviews were carried out with fifteen bank customers based on judgmental sampling technique. The purpose of these interviews were to identify the major bank marketing communication tools that help build bank brand equity via the CBBE dimensions; to help develop a proposed conceptual framework; to help develop the research hypotheses; and to help develop the intended questionnaire survey. According to the findings, advertising, personal selling and direct marketing were the most popular marketing communication tools in the Egyptian society for banks. Once the needed insights were emerged, the second phase, the quantitative phase, was conducted. The researcher distributed and collected large-scale questionnaire survey. These questionnaires were carried out with 465 bank customers based on a quota sampling technique. These questionnaires were then analysed by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test and analyse the research hypotheses; and to help develop the final research model. Findings showed that the major bank marketing communication tools consist of personal selling, direct marketing and advertising respectively according to their importance on building bank brand equity. Given the fact that all CBBE dimensions are interrelated, not all of them directly impact bank brand equity. Only brand loyalty and brand perceived quality were found to have a significant positive direct effect on bank brand equity. When conducting this study, the researcher faced several limitations. The data were collected only in Cairo and Alexandria; only the major controllable marketing communication tools were assessed, and non-probability sampling was used.

Corporate entrepreneurship has different strategies as referred to by researchers. An entrepreneurial orientation is one of these strategies. In the overall corporate entrepreneurial process, entrepreneurial orientation is referred to as entrepreneurial intensity. Corporate entrepreneurship is a process where organisations think differently to overcome barriers to improve the performance of the organisation. Entrepreneurial orientation is a process of decision making to develop new innovative products, services or processes to intensify the organisation’s performance. The South African banking system is supported with a well-managed regulated framework and is favourable in the global environment. South Africa is the financial gateway to the rest of Africa and the environment is highly competitive. During the last twenty years the banking industry went through exciting changes and turmoil when refering to the financial of 2008 crisis. Retail banks need to think differently and small competitors are more prominent than ever before. The lower end of the market created fierce competition between the retail banks in South Africa. The reason for this study is to focus on entrepreneurial orientations from a customer’s perspective. Customer perspective is critical for the survival of an organisation and banks are no different. Based on the literature, entrepreneurial orientation is the level of intensity of corporate entrepreneurship visible in the organisation. The results obtained in the empirical study enabled recommendations that can provide retail banks with useful information from a customer’s perspective that can assist retail banks in general. Recommendations found in the study include; retail banks need to reinvest in their own systems to mine useful information to assist customers, be more open to autonomy approaches and redesign job descriptions, re-look calculated risk areas that will have no influence on credit processes, regulate innovations better and involve the customer and be more unique to create a better customer experience. / MBA (Master of Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Corporate entrepreneurship has different strategies as referred to by researchers. An entrepreneurial orientation is one of these strategies. In the overall corporate entrepreneurial process, entrepreneurial orientation is referred to as entrepreneurial intensity. Corporate entrepreneurship is a process where organisations think differently to overcome barriers to improve the performance of the organisation. Entrepreneurial orientation is a process of decision making to develop new innovative products, services or processes to intensify the organisation’s performance. The South African banking system is supported with a well-managed regulated framework and is favourable in the global environment. South Africa is the financial gateway to the rest of Africa and the environment is highly competitive. During the last twenty years the banking industry went through exciting changes and turmoil when refering to the financial of 2008 crisis. Retail banks need to think differently and small competitors are more prominent than ever before. The lower end of the market created fierce competition between the retail banks in South Africa. The reason for this study is to focus on entrepreneurial orientations from a customer’s perspective. Customer perspective is critical for the survival of an organisation and banks are no different. Based on the literature, entrepreneurial orientation is the level of intensity of corporate entrepreneurship visible in the organisation. The results obtained in the empirical study enabled recommendations that can provide retail banks with useful information from a customer’s perspective that can assist retail banks in general. Recommendations found in the study include; retail banks need to reinvest in their own systems to mine useful information to assist customers, be more open to autonomy approaches and redesign job descriptions, re-look calculated risk areas that will have no influence on credit processes, regulate innovations better and involve the customer and be more unique to create a better customer experience. / MBA (Master of Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The main goal of this dissertation work was to analyze of practical use the System Balanced Scorecard in controlled processes of chosen company, to analyze actual stage of strategically management, to propose implementing System BSC and to determine strategically goals including its deployment into action planes. Based on these proposals to verify selected part of this model and following the results to propose possible changes.