Outsourcing refers enterprises to take advantage of external resources for their own professional services, so as to achieve lower costs, improve efficiency and give core competencies to enhance their own ability as well as a management model. The term of service outsourcing is the production and management services of owners, who utilize commercial activities to the owners of the service providers. Within the low-profit time, enterprises pursue growth to some scale and, due to the restriction of the market can not break through, the use of outsourcing is able to save costs and enhance operating efficiency immediately. Service outsourcing is the most fashionable in today's global services sector, and the service outsourcing industry will become the new essential trend of economic growth. This study surveyed by the outsourcing theory of McHugh et al. (1995) conducts research on small passenger car rental industry; on the analysis of elements of cost, service, responsibility with competitiveness, the theater theory of Goffman (1959) delves into the relationship between performance of employees, customer performance and service entities and the impact of the relationship for satisfaction degree. At the same time reviewing the quality relationship literature and the adoption of Crosby et al. (1990), it researches the two dimensions of trust and satisfied to see the quality relationship to explore the public and private institutions, enterprise organization units within the public service reform with a small bus to outsourcing. As a result, through contact with the service quality experience, it will explore the effectiveness of service outsourcing. For this study, it sent out 350 questionnaires including 307 valid questionnaires using data analysis and simple regression analysis on the false description of the research to verify the results of discovery; Services outsourcing and relationship quality have some significant positive relationship; The contact experience and the quality relationship have a positive correlation. From the factor analysis of "cost", "professional", "quality", and "efficiency" in service outsourcing, and followed by Goffman (1959) theory of theater management to analysis of the "performance drivers", "customer performance", "vehicle equipment", and "field service". Furthermore, on the basis of the quality relationship, it researches the factors for the "trust" or "satisfied" and the finding result are as follows; Both of contact experience and service quality relationship have some significant positive impact, and the result implies that the public and private business organizations can go along with outsourcing and services providers ¡V such as minibus and driver leasing industry, and then the better relationship will enhance the effectiveness of service outsourcing, and achieve cost savings.

This master’s thesis investigates the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) in Chicago, a non-profit organization, in order to aid it with customer defection. The chosen literature contributes to a better understanding of customer behavior, and thus, customer defection, by examining customer retention, customer defection, switching behaviors, and different gaps that can occur in the relationship between a service supplier and its customers. Through a systematic combining approach and empirical findings gained through semi-structured interviews with both executives and defected customers, this study reveals that the main reason for customer defection is a perceived lack of value in their membership to the SACC, along with the sentiment that their business-oriented expectations are not being met. As for the SACC, the Board members have a varied range of views as to the value of defected customers, though overall, acquisition is prioritized over customer defection strategies.

The growth of franchising has been an important trend in the hospitality industry, since it was introduced into the restaurant sector by Howard Johnsons in the 1930s. In recent years, because of intense competition quick service restaurants have experienced significant external and internal pressures. Such pressures have caused disputes and abuses of the system and have affected external suppliers, customers, and suppliers, as well as franchisees within the franchise system. Because the franchisor-franchisee relationship has yet to be fully explored, knowledge of the factors that produce a high-quality relationship between franchisor and franchisee are critical to the advancement of knowledge in the hospitality industry. Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory is offered of an effective theoretical model of antecedents that can predict the effectiveness the franchisor-franchisee relationship. This study presents a model based on a subset of the Leader-Member Exchange theory. Using the survey responses of franchisees in the restaurant industry, this study identifies the key factor that affect the franchisee's commitment, the franchisee's satisfaction with purchasing or operating franchise outlets, the effects of the franchisor's brand name on the quality of the relationship, the franchisee's perception of the franchisor's support, the franchisee's motivation to become a franchisee, and the franchisee's performance. The results of this study generally support the hypothesized model and provide strong support for the idea that the quality of the relationship between franchisee and franchisor plays a role in ensuring that the contractual relationship will lead to franchisee job satisfaction and financial success for both. The proposed model provides franchisors with valuable information for establishing an effective management strategy to improve the relationship between franchisor and franchisee and thus improve the rate of success of both franchisor and franchisee. Similarly, the model can assist both the franchisor and franchisee in understanding their policies in strategic terms and in integrating their different activities to provide the firm with the quality relationship required for maintaining advantage. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

It is clear that there is a strong drive for organisations to adopt the shared service model with the intention to gain some economic benefits. This research also acknowledges the theory on supplier relationship management, as well as relationship quality management and how these two bodies of knowledge are connected to shared service and ultimately how they affect the relationship benefits between buyers and sellers in business to business environments. With the growing importance to distinguish one’s business from others to gain competitive advantage, relationships have become a crucial differentiator. It is important to appreciate whether the shared service model enhances relationships or not. This research therefore sought to examine the relationship quality measure elements such as trust, satisfaction and commitment as well as the relationship benefits; social, psychological and functional which are impacted by the introduction of a shared service. The research findings offer some important insights into how the introduction of a shared service model into an organisational structure impacts these relationship benefits. When comparing a shared service structure to that of a decentralised model it was evident that all elements of relationship quality and benefits changed. The results indicated that once the shared service became the central point of contact and communication for many of the suppliers, relationship quality and relationship benefits declined. Further, the results found were that many of the anticipated benefits of shared service were also not seen or experienced by the suppliers. This research involved two phases, a qualitative phase component and a quantitative phase. The qualitative phase involved face-to-face interviews with five significant suppliers to Sasol, companies in industries such as Civil, Manufacturing as well as industrial goods suppliers. The quantitative phase involved an electronic survey, distributed to all of Sasol’s suppliers. The data gathered from these interviews and surveys, together with the reviewed literature helped to measure the affects of shared service on supplier relationships. One hundred and forty questionnaires were processed and data was subjected to a variety of statistical analysis. This research will add to the limited knowledge of shared service as well as equip managers implementing shared service with some strategic insights. When implementing shared service it is imperative to look beyond mere cost savings and to also consider the relationship affects for all concerned when changing the relationship dynamics. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / ccgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The rapid and continuous deterioration of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria in the last four decades has been a major source of concern for the government and practitioners. Hence, the region has been the subject of continuous conflicts and violence between the host communities and the oil producing companies. Despite the effort of the government and practitioners, none have looked at the relationship elements and/or the quality of relationship between these two key stakeholders within the context of the Nigeria oil and gas industry. This research study makes a new contribution to the field of relationship marketing in the area of relationship quality by providing a detailed understanding of relationship elements, and determinants and dimensions of relationship quality. The research study focuses on the oil producing company to host community relationship in the Niger delta region of Nigeria, which was investigated in detail. A qualitative approach was adopted as it is considered appropriate for the research focus, which was to investigate and assess the understanding of different community actors in respect to the quality of relationship between the oil producing companies and host communities in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. In addition, explore how these actors described both the relationship elements and relationship quality constructs, and related this to their understanding of the relationship between the oil producing company and host community. Semi-structured interviews, as the primary method of data collection were conducted with different community actors. The literature review, as the secondary method of data collection were primarily used as a tool to double check and validate the interview findings. Sixteen community actors provided their views and opinions of the relationship between the oil producing companies with the host communities in the region. This research study extended the application of relationship quality frameworks that were conducted in a developed economic environment such as the United Kingdom and United States of America to a developing economic environment such as Nigeria through the replication of these frameworks and re-testing their constructs and propositions in order to develop a detailed and comprehensive framework of relationship quality in the context of a business-to-community (B2Com) relationship in a unique commercial context. In addition, this research study uncovered the importance of mutual goal and culture of the community people in addition to pre-identified constructs (i.e. mutual benefit, communication, control mutuality) as the key determinants of relationship quality for the oil producing company when engaging the host community in the relationship building process. This research study also explored the research on dimensions of relationship quality subjecting its main constructs (i.e. trust, satisfaction and commitment) to a rigorous qualitative test. Doing this, the finding further emphasised some consensus between these dimensions of relationship quality. In addition, the developed framework highlighted the importance of including the relationship elements (i.e. actor bonds, resource ties and activity links) when assessing the quality of the relationship between business and its community. In conclusion, this research document recommendations (such as, the local community forming a complete and harmonious whole when relating with external bodies, the need for international oil and gas companies in Nigeria to gain adequate and appropriate insight and understanding into the role(s) played by each of the actors within the Niger Delta community, and the importance of oil and gas practitioners developing and maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship in the region) for various stakeholders within the NOGI.

Thanks to the Internet, the consumers have access to a world of information and can easily compare the goods and services of one supplier to the other, and so be a part of the value creating process. Price is still key, but since producers are already pushing their costs to the limit, what Chris Anderson calls the “race to the bottom” they have to compete in other manners, meaning they have to dive deeper than lowest of prices. However these free goods and services must have a value even though they do not have a price tag attached. The respondents found two types of value, social/collective value and individual/emotional value and this also induces that value is relative. People are making choices to consume a good or service he or she has to prioritize these resources among the available time, money and even space, thus this prioritization is made even when the good is free. The price-quality relationship is prevailing, but not in the fields where distribution and replication is free.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur förskollärare gör för att bygga trygga relationer till barnen i förskolan samt undersöka varför anknytning är en viktig del i relationsbyggandet. Tidigare forskning påvisar att trygga anknytningar mellan förskollärare och barn har en positiv effekt på barns sociala utveckling, både i det tidiga och senare stadiet i livet. Det är en kvalitativ undersökning där enkäter med fem öppna frågor har använts. Enkäterna har skickats ut via epost till förskolor samt på den sociala nätverkstjänsten Facebook i stängda grupper för förskollärare. Empirin analyserar vi utifrån John Bowlbys anknytningsteori. Resultatet visar att respondenterna är överens om att de aktivt tänker på hur de bygger relationer med barnen i förskolan. Resultatet visar även att vara lyhörd, närvarande, stöttande och se barns individuella behov är viktiga egenskaper att förhålla sig till som förskollärare när det handlar om att bygga trygga relationer till barnen i förskolan. Slutsatsen är att förskollärarens arbete kring relationer och anknytning till barnen i förskolan har betydelse för barns lärande och utveckling.

Die meisten Menschen sind daran interessiert, eine glückliche und befriedigende Partnerschaft zu führen. Die psychologische Forschung hat erbracht, dass vor allem die Kommunikation und das Problemlöseverhalten der Partner in Konfliktsituationen einen entscheidenden Einfluss darauf ausüben, ob eine Paarbeziehung gelingt oder nicht. Seit einiger Zeit werden auch Anpassungsprozesse an Belastungen als wichtige Einflussfaktoren gesehen. Mit dem Konzept des dyadischen Copings liegt ein elaborierter Ansatz zur Belastungsverarbeitung in Partnerschaften vor. Studien zum Effekt dyadischen Copings haben aufgezeigt, dass der partnerschaftliche Umgang mit Belastungen konkurrent und prospektiv mit der Beziehungsqualität zusammenhängt. Ein Manko der bisherigen Forschung zum dyadischen Coping ist die unzureichende Verknüpfung mit anderen Konzepten, die bedeutsam für die Qualität und die Entwicklung von Partnerschaften sind. In den letzten Jahren hat sich das Konzept der Bindung als ein fruchtbarer Ansatz für das Verständnis von Partnerschaften erwiesen. Bindung wird hier verstanden als die bewusst zugängliche kognitive Repräsentation zentraler Merkmale der Paarbeziehung. Der Bindungsstil steht mit zahlreichen partnerschaftsbezogenen Merkmalen in Verbindung, beispielsweise mit der Beziehungsqualität. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Studie wurde die Hypothese untersucht, dass dyadisches Coping eine Mediatorvariable darstellt und den Effekt des Bindungsstils auf die Beziehungsqualität partiell vermittelt. Daneben wurde explorativ der Frage nachgegangen, ob soziodemographische Merkmale einen vorhandenen Mediationseffekt beeinflussen, d.h. ob moderierte Mediationseffekte bestehen. Hierzu wurde eine Querschnittuntersuchung durchgeführt. Bindungsstil, dyadisches Coping und Beziehungsqualität wurden mittels Selbstbeurteilungsinstrumenten erhoben. In die Regressionsanalysen gingen 192 Personen ein, die sich aktuell in einer Paarbeziehung befanden. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen weitgehend die Annahme, dass dyadisches Coping den Effekt des Bindungsstils auf die Beziehungsqualität partiell vermittelt. Dies gilt insbesondere für das positive dyadische Coping. Dieses wirkte sowohl bei der Bindungsdimension sicher-ängstlich als auch bei der Dimension abhängig-unabhängig als Mediatorvariable. Hingegen fungierte negatives dyadisches Coping nicht als Mediator. Neben diesen beiden wurde auch die neu konstruierte Variable Ratio negatives/positives dyadisches Coping als ein möglicher Mediator untersucht. Für diese Variable zeigten sich Ergebnisse, die denen zum positiven dyadischen Coping vergleichbar sind. Als ein wichtiges Ergebnis ist ferner anzumerken, dass Mediationseffekte fast ausschließlich zu beobachten waren, wenn die Beziehungsqualität im Sinne objektivierbarer, struktureller Merkmale als Kriterium betrachtet wurde. Wurde die Beziehungszufriedenheit, d.h. die subjektive, evaluative Komponente, als Kriterium herangezogen, ergaben sich direkte Effekte des Bindungsstils und nicht vermittelte. Daneben zeigte sich, dass soziodemographische Merkmale einige der erzielten Mediationseffekte moderierend beeinflussen. Trotz der bestehenden Einschränkungen der Studie, die vor allem in dem Querschnittdesign zu sehen sind, lässt sich anhand der erzielten Ergebnisse sagen, dass Bindung und dyadisches Coping bedeutsame Einflussfaktoren der Beziehungsqualität darstellen. Ferner zeigt die Studie erstmals auf, dass dyadisches Coping, welches in erheblichem Maße Prozesse des Helfens und Unterstützens umfasst, den Effekt des eigenen Bindungsstils auf die eigene erlebte partnerschaftliche Beziehungsqualität vermittelt. Als solches weist die Studie auf ein mögliches neues Themenfeld der Forschung zu Bindung, Bewältigung und Unterstützung im Kontext von Partnerschaften hin. / Most people are interested in a happy, satisfying intimate relationship. Psychological research has shown that a couple's communication and problem solving behavior are the most influential ingredients of a happy partner relationship. However, recent research has provided support that stressful events and adaptive processes also influence the quality of a couple's relationship. One well-developed concept for describing adaptation to stress in couples is dyadic coping. Research has shown that dyadic coping predicts relationship quality concurrently as well as longitudinally. One limitation of the available research on dyadic coping is the lack of associations with other relevant determinants and processes influencing the success of a relationship. One such concept is attachment, which has received much attention in the recent years. Attachment, as it is understood here, comprises the conscious mental representation of central characteristics of an intimate relationship. Many studies have shown that attachment style is related to diverse relationship characteristics, e.g. relationship quality. This study investigated the hypothesis that dyadic coping partially mediates the effect of attachment style on relationship quality. Additionally, moderated mediation effects were tested, i.e. it was investigated whether certain sociodemographic characteristics would moderate the mediation effect. The study employed a cross-sectional design. Attachment style, dyadic coping, and relationship quality were assessed using self-report questionnaires. The study sample comprised 192 persons living in a lasting, intimate relationship. Regression analyses were conducted to test for mediation effects. The results confirm the general hypothesis that dyadic coping partially mediates the effect of attachment style on relationship quality. This effect occurs when positive dyadic coping is regarded as a mediating variable. This variable partially mediates the effect of the attachment dimensions secure-fearful and dependent-independent. Negative dyadic coping did not act as a mediator. In addition, a relational index, ratio negative/positive dyadic coping, was constructed. The results for this variable paralleled those found for positive dyadic coping. Importantly, the mediating effect of the variables positive dyadic coping and ratio dyadic coping emerged almost exclusively when relationship quality, i.e. the observable and structural aspects of a relationship, was used as the criterion variable. Almost no mediation effects occurred when relationship satisfaction, i.e. the subjective evaluative component, was used as the criterion. Furthermore, sociodemographic characteristics moderated some of the mediation effects. Although the study has some limitations, most importantly the cross-sectional design, the results underline that attachment style and dyadic coping are relevant determinants of the quality of an intimate relationship. Further, it shows that dyadic coping mediates the effects of the personal attachment style on the personal evaluation of the partner relationship. Thus, this study underlines the importance of studying adaptation processes in couples from an attachment and coping framework.