In recent years, e-commerce has become an essential part of the global retail framework. The retail industry has undergone an essential conversion due to the rise of the Internet and the ongoing development of digitalization. The Internet is more easily accessible with a rapid increase globally, and the number of potential online buyers is gradually increasing. This accessibility of the Internet has become evident in Sweden, which has been ranked as one of the top three most digitalizing countries among the member states of the European Union. In the year 2020, sales in e-commerce increased sharply in Sweden. It has been assessed that the change in consumer behavior has led to the increased use of e-commerce, and this continuous change will proceed in the future. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine e-service quality in online apparel stores in Sweden using the E-S-QUAL model. In addition, this study investigates if each of the four dimensions in the E-S-QUAL model has an effect on customers’ e-satisfaction in online apparel stores. The research investigates how much each of the independent variables is affecting customers’ e-satisfaction. This will be researched using Swedish university students. The research follows a quantitative research design, and the data was based on the answers from an online questionnaire which resulted in 62 responses. Random- and snowball sampling was used to collect the data, and a survey research design was followed in the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS, where regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis. From the analysis, it was found that all of the four dimensions have an effect on customers’ e-satisfaction. However, the results show that the two dimensions efficiency and privacy have the highest impact on customers’ perception of e-service quality and thereby are affecting customers’ level of e-satisfaction the most.

<p>The dissertation explores the infusion of Self-Service-Technology (SST) into the casual dining restaurant experience. Casual, sit-in dining restaurants deliver hospitality or service through human servers, however, the introduction of Self-Service-Technology has shifted the norm and expectations of the dining experience. The purpose of these studies is to examine the effect implementation of SST has on the dynamic between restaurant consumers and hospitality employees. Three distinct studies were conducted to examine consumer adoption of, and resistance to, SST, as well as an assessment of different service delivery scenarios involving SST, and employees’ and consumers’ perspectives of SST and hospitality values. In Study 1, many restaurant consumers expressed that relative advantage and compatibility drive their adoption of SST. However, for some, functional and psychological barriers inhibit adoption. Despite customers’ enthusiasm to adopt SST, study 2 shows that they still significantly favor traditional, human service. In study 3, SST represents a paradox for both consumers and employees. Consumers state that hospitality traditions and value matter, yet their behaviors regarding SST run counter to traditional hospitality philosophy. For employees, SST represents a conflict between feeling insecure about their current role and adapting to a new role involving SST in the service delivery experience. </p>

This study examines the strategic and operational outcomes of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different service operational environments. Using a sample of 354 service organisations, this study utilises a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to investigate the effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives. The results show clear strategic and operational benefits of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives. The study concludes that the quality improvement efforts of service organisations should be viewed from a system-wide perspective. This systematic orientation leads to benefits which are not always achievable based on a piece-meal implementation orientation.

To improve the quality of services delivered to customers, hotels can benefit from the experiences of manufacturing firms and employ quality and process improvement philosophies/tools with proven track records in the manufacturing industries. This article presents a framework which integrates the tools of Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Benchmarking (BM), Reengineering (RE) and Continuous Improvement (CI) within the context of a Rapid Assessment Methodology (RAM). Application of the framework is illustrated and the potential benefits a hotel can derive from the implementation of the framework are discussed.

The notion of affective commitment has become important in the organizational sciences. This study focused on the antecedents and the consequences of affective commitment. The antecedents include organizational commitment to employees, perceived organizational support, employee empowerment, and job satisfaction; the consequence is represented by employee perceived service quality. Previous studies suggest that affective commitment has positive effects on employees' organizational behaviors, for instance, intention to quit and job performance. In today's competitive environment, retaining committed employees is not impossible but challenging, especially in the service industry. The objective of this study was to develop a theoretical model of affective commitment and to test the relationships between affective commitment and its antecedents and consequence. The data set for this study contained related research information from more than 4000 employees at a U.S. resort organization. To minimize the effect of large sample size, the opinions on the scope of affective commitment from 400 randomly selected hourly employees were analyzed. Using structural equation modeling technique in a two-stage approach, the theoretical model was evaluated and the hypotheses were tested. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to further identify whether employee empowerment could be used as an indicator to predict affective commitment. Additionally, 400 randomly selected cases were used to validate the model. The validation process confirmed that the initial theoretical model could be used to generalize to the population. Results from the statistical analysis indicated that affective commitment was positively related to its antecedents and consequence: organizational commitment to employees, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, and employee perceived service quality. In addition, organizational support to employees was found to have a positive effect on employee perceived service quality. Surprisingly, the expected relationship between employee empowerment and affective commitment was not statistically significant, neither was the expected relationship between employee empowerment and employee perceived service quality. The findings brought some insight into the study of affective commitment. The managerial implications were explored. Additionally, limitations and future research suggestions were discussed. / Ph. D.

Applying self-determination and conservation of resources theories, our study investigates the additive and interactive effects of management commitment to service quality, customer orientation, and hindrance and challenge stress in the employee engagement process. The role of employee engagement as a central intervening variable that transmits the effects of job resources and demands is critically evaluated. The current work assessed the aforesaid relationships based on data gathered from a time-lagged sample of frontline hotel employees and their direct supervisors using robust maximum likelihood estimation in MPlus 7.4. The findings reveal that management commitment to service quality and customer orientation exert significant impacts on job performance and turnover intentions through employee engagement and hindrance stress. The interaction between management commitment to service quality and customer orientation mitigates both challenge and hindrance stress. Our study provides discussions for theoretical and practical implications.

Secteur bancaire en Serbie est souvent vu comme un phénomène de groupe, ce qui peut influencer les individus qui en font partie. La perception individuelle, les valeurs et les pensées sont souvent influencées par le contexte culturel dans lequel nous habitons. Les valeurs représentent un certain type de système qui influence la manière dont nous générons et recevons certaines informations, qui motive nos actions et qui fait que nous adoptons un modèle comportemental. Elles nous différencient d’autres systèmes de valeur. L’étude a pour but d’enquêter sur les effets de la culture nationale sur la perception des salariés dans les banques serbes à l'égard de la qualité du service. L’étude inclue une analyse documentaire de la culture générale, de la culture nationale ainsi que des dimensions culturelles. Elle comprend également la culture des organisations et la qualité du service, tout en explorant des lacunes de la littérature, ce qui préconise la réalisation de recherches plus approfondies. Afin de combler les lacunes, un modèle de recherche a été développé. Ce dernier a illustré une relation possible entre les dimensions de la culture nationale et celles du service bancaire de qualité. Le modèle a été utilisé comme cadre de référence au cours de la recherche sur le terrain. Cette recherche empirique a été menée dans huit banques en Serbie. Les principaux résultats obtenus indiquent qu’il existe une influence majeure de la culture nationale sur la qualité du service bancaire. Aussi, l'étude a révélé que les banques en soi influencent la perception globale qu'a l'employé du service bancaire de qualité. / Culture is often seen as a group phenomenon, which influences individuals in it. The individual’s perception, values and thoughts are often influenced by the cultural context in which they are living in. The values represent certain type of system, which influences how we generate and receive certain information, motivates our actions and behavioral pattern, and differentiate us from the members of other value systems. This study investigates the effect of national culture on the employee’s perception in Serbian banks, towards the service quality. The study includes a literature review about culture in general, national culture and cultural dimensions, organizational culture, service quality, exploring gaps in the literature which calls for further research. In addressing one of the gaps, a research model has been developed, which illustrated the possible relationship between the national culture dimensions and bank’s service quality dimensions. The model has been utilized as framework and guided us during the empirical research. The empirical research was conducted in eight banks in Serbia. The main findings suggest that there is significant influence of national culture on bank’s service quality. Secondly, study found that banks per se have influence on employee’s perception regarding bank’s service quality.

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A thorough understanding of transit customers’ preferences and travel behaviour is fundamental to offering a high-quality urban transportation system. The dominant approach in transit quality literature is rooted in understanding current transit users’ preferences. However, disregarding the heterogeneity in transit customers’ desired quality yields suboptimal conclusions regarding their preferences. Therefore, an effective transit system should strive to understand the broad spectrum of transit and non-transit users’ preferences to increase transit ridership. Towards that end, this research aims at deciphering the heterogeneity associated with transit customers’ service desired quality. The research utilized a primary dataset elicited from an online survey that was part of Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) Public Engagement efforts in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The research employed state-of-the-art discrete choice models (e.g., error components logit models, latent class choice models, nested logit models) along with multivariate statistical and spatial analysis. In this respect, this dissertation quantified and unveiled latent heterogeneity in transit customers’ preferences and its implications on their willingness to pay for service improvements through various techniques and specifications. Unlike the conventional classifications for transit customers, our research classifies transit customers into three latent segments: Direct Trip Enthusiastic (DTE), Cost-Sensitive (CS), and Real-time Information Supporter (RIS). The dissertation also investigated and further quantified the influence of subjective psychological factors in shaping transit customers’ preferences towards service attributes. For instance, environmental consciousness is found to be associated with less sensitivity to walking time while higher appreciation to at-stop real-time information provision. Furthermore, the research highlighted how the built environment and its contextual effects influence customers’ travel behaviour while accounting for variations in socioeconomic characteristics. The spatial analysis concluded that the built environment's influence is not equally efficacious over geography. Overall, this research presents a unique contribution to the knowledge of public transit research for practitioners, policymakers, and academia. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Titel: Konsumenters upplevda servicekvalité på svenska nöjesparker – Medförde pandemin nöjdare kunder? Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Patrik Burman och Theres Gauffin Handledare: Peter Ek Datum: 2023 – juni Syfte: År 2020 stängde alla nöjesparker i Sverige för att minska risken för smittspridning av COVID-19. Studiens syfte är att analysera och jämföra den upplevda servicekvalitén vid införande av restriktioner för att minska smittspridningen av COVID-19 på nöjesparker i Sverige. Är besökare mer eller mindre nöjda efter pandemin jämfört med före? Metod: Studien genomfördes som en kvantitativ deduktiv studie. Det empiriska materialet utgjordes av recensioner av Sveriges två största nöjesparker publicerade på Tripadvisor.com åren 2019, 2021 och 2022. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av innehållsanalys. Statistiska analyser utfördes för att generalisera resultaten till besökare på nöjesparker i Sverige. Resultat och slutsats: Den upplevda servicekvalitén på svenska nöjesparker var lägre efter pandemin jämfört med före, vilket resulterade i lägre kundnöjdhet. Bidragande orsaker var upplevelse av långa köer och trängsel vilket resulterade i lägre upplevt värde. Detta trots att nöjesparkerna begränsade det totala antalet besökare. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens bidrag är inom forskningsfältet för servicekvalité och kundnöjdhet. Studien bekräftar innehållsanalys av recensioner publicerade online som metod för att mäta upplevd servicekvalité. Studien visar vilka teman av servicekvalité som är viktiga för besökare på nöjesparker och hur bedömningen av dessa teman förändrats efter pandemin. Studien visar också på att upplevt värde förmedlar relationen mellan kundnöjdhet och servicekvalité. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Framtida studier kan undersöka om besökarnas upplevelse av väntetid och trängsel har förändrats efter pandemin. Metoden för denna studie skulle kunna kombineras med andra metoder för att stärka metodens validitet. / Title: Consumers perceived service quality at amusement parks in Sweden – Did the pandemic result in more satisfied customers? Level: Student thesis, final assignment for bachelor’s degree in business administration. Author: Patrik Burman and Theres Gauffin Supervisor: Peter Ek Date: 2023 - June Aim: Year 2020 the amusement parks in Sweden closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this thesis is to analyse and compare perceived service quality when restrictions are introduced in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19 at amusement parks in Sweden. Are visitors more or less satisfied after the pandemic compared with before? Method: The thesis is conducted as a quantitative deductive study. The empirical data was collected from reviews on the two largest amusement parks in Sweden published on Tripadvisor.com the years 2019, 2021 and 2022. The data was analysed using content analysis. Statistical analysis was performed in order to generalize the results to visitors at amusement parks in Sweden. Results and conclusions: The perceived service quality at amusement parks in Sweden was lower after the pandemic compared with before, which resulted in lower customer satisfaction. Contributing factors was the perception of long lines and crowding which resulted in less perceived value despite the restriction of the number of visitors. Contribution of the thesis: The contribution of the thesis is within the research field of service quality and customer satisfaction. The thesis confirms that content analysis of reviews published online is a suitable method for measuring perceived service quality. The thesis shows which themes of service quality are important to visitors at amusement parks and how their evaluation of these themes has changed after the pandemic. The thesis also shows that perceived value mediates the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality. Suggestions for future research: Future research can investigate if visitors’ perception of lines and crowding has changed after the pandemic. The method of this thesis can be combined with other methods in order to amplify the validity.