There has been considerable research interest in the nature of service failure and recovery over the past few decades. In this context, the role of frontline service employees has emerged as a crucial factor in successful service recovery. Interestingly, while management and organizational behaviour literatures have looked at the favorable influence positive psychological capacities (optimism, hope, self-efficacy, and resilience) have on employee performance, this literature has not yet been used to shed light on how such capacities in frontline service employees might impact service recovery. By bringing this literature into the service recovery context, this research aims to examine how, and to what extent, these internal positive psychological capacities in frontline employees affect service recovery and complaint handling. Using emotion contagion theory, the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the theory of cognitive appraisal, and justice theory, the study develops a number of hypothesized relationships, centered on the proposition that employee positive psychological capacities influence service recovery and complaint handling through both an emotional and a behavioral path. Specifically, it is posited that frontline employee positive emotions influence customer perceived interactional justice through the emotional path, while the behavioral path influences frontline employee problem solving, thus influencing customer perceived distributive and procedural justice. Data to examine these questions was collected using two studies. The first, based on a survey of service providers, investigates the influence of positive psychological capacities on positive emotions and problem solving competencies of frontline employees. The second uses an experimental design with service customers as subjects, investigating the influence of employee problem solving levels and positive emotions on customer perceptions of justice. Data analysis supports both paths with a stronger influence for the behavioural paths. The study brings new insight to service managers and service recovery.

Inappropriate managerial responses to critical service events (CSEs) in restaurants contribute to an increased rate of customer defection and restaurant failure. Some restaurant managers lack employee-training strategies that may enhance service recovery from CSEs. This case study explored what employee-training strategies participants deemed essential to enhance service recovery to CSEs. The population for this study was restaurant managers from a U.S. regional chain in South Carolina with at least 3 years of employee-training experience. Organizational learning theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection included semistructured face-to-face interviews with restaurant managers and an exploration of company archival documents related to CSEs. Using Yin's 5 step data analysis method (i.e. compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding), 3 major themes emerged: customer needs and requests, which included the importance of listening to customers and affirming their requests; employee actions and attitudes, which included opinions about the ideal employee demonstrating a great attitude when correcting mistakes; and training, which included multiple methods to improve employee performance through continuous training. Recommendations for action included how to instruct employees to listen, apologize, solve problems, and thank customers. Restaurant managers may apply these results to improve service quality and customer experiences. Social implications include strategies to create positive experiences for employees and customers enhancing community employment and business sustainability.

A field experiment examines within a financial services firm the impact of a customer satisfaction survey-based intervention that enables front-line employees to identify and contact less-than satisfied customers (less than 9 on a 10-point scale) to proactively prevent potential customer defections. The impact is measured using operational data from 28,000 new customers and their associated defection behavior over a period of eight years. The experiment applies binomial Z-tests of proportions to assess the difference in defection rates of targeted and non-targeted customers before and after the intervention. The research finds that the use of closed loop satisfaction measurement reduces customer defections (by 40%, p>.001). Further, the research finds that the primary reduction is for non-targeted customers rather than for targeted customers, contrary to expectations. The research also provides additional support for the 'service recovery paradox' wherein customers who are less-than satisfied who are satisfactorily resolved have reduced defection rates compared to customers that are satisfied (by 47%, p=.016). The primary limitation of the research is its reliance on data from a single company. Another limitation is the potentially confounding impact of the Great Recession on defections during the study period, which could threaten the validity of the analysis. Consequently, additional tests were performed to control for this and other potentially confounding factors. These tests show that the Great Recession and the host company's cost cutting reactions did impact defections and therefore data from these periods were eliminated from the analyses. The primary theoretical contributions are the use of actual customer defections to measure the impacts and the use of a proactive rather than a reactive intervention. The contribution from a practitioner perspective is the relatively low cost of this intervention for improving customer retention.

Inom forskningsområdet tjänståterställning arbetar forskare och företag med att identifiera servicefel samt hitta effektiva sätt att lösa kunders problem. Trots detta skapar klagomålshantering problem för företag och det finns många utvecklingsmöjligheter. Att få kunskap om hur kunder upplever klagomålssituationer fysiskt och psykiskt kan därmed vara betydelsefull information för företag. Inom detta forskningsområde saknas det innovativa fältstudier som involverar verkliga beteenden. Det saknas även fältexperiment med elektrodermal aktivitet (EDA) som mätinstrument. EDA mäter autonom sympatisk upphetsning som är integrerad med emotionella och kognitiva tillstånd, vilket möjliggör mätning av individers omedvetna känslor. Därav grundas denna studie på ett fältexperiment där deltagarnas fysiska och emotionella reaktioner har kunnat dokumenteras och göras kvantifierbara genom EDA. Syftet med denna studie är att förklara hur kunders emotionella och fysiska reaktioner påverkas när de klagar på en produkt medan de exponeras för fysiska temperaturstimuli. Denna studie har ett positivistiskt forskningsperspektiv, en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi och en deduktiv ansats. Det empiriska materialet består av insamlad data från enkäter och EDA-band. Resultatet från studien visar att ju allvarligare ett problem är, desto större negativ påverkan har det på kundnöjdhet, lojalitet samt word of mouth (WOM). Det visar även att det finns ett samband mellan interpersonell värme, kundnöjdhet och lojalitet, men inte WOM. Resultaten indikerar även att fysisk värme inte kan dämpa emotionella reaktioner samt att fysisk kyla har en effekt på emotionella reaktioner. Slutligen kan det konstateras att fysisk värme ökar interpersonell värme samt att fysisk kyla inte ökar interpersonell värme. / Within the research area of service recovery, researchers and companies try to identify service errors and find effective ways to solve customers' problems. Despite this, complaint handling creates problems for companies and there are many opportunities for development. Gaining knowledge about how customers experience complaint situations physically and psychologically can therefore be important information for companies. In this area of research, there is a lack of innovative field studies involving real-world behaviors. There is also a lack of field experiments with electrodermal activity (EDA) as a measuring instrument. EDA measures autonomic sympathetic arousal that is integrated with emotional and cognitive states, allowing measurement of individuals' unconscious emotions. Hence, this study is based on a field experiment where the participants physical and emotional responses have been documented and made quantifiable through EDA. The purpose of this study is to explain how customers emotional and physical reactions are affected when they complain about a product while exposed to physical temperature stimuli. This study has a positivist research perspective, a quantitative research strategy and a deductive approach. The empirical material consists of collected data from surveys and EDA measurement. The results from the study show that the more serious a problem is, the greater the negative impact is on customer satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth (WOM). It also shows that there is a relationship between interpersonal warmth, customer satisfaction and loyalty, but not WOM. The results also indicate that physical warmth cannot dampen emotional responses and that physical cold has an effect on emotional responses. Finally, it can be stated that physical warmth increases interpersonal warmth and that physical coldness does not increase interpersonal warmth.

Background: Service recovery is a process that companies meticulously work on to effectively address issues encountered by their consumers. The advancement of technology has led to an increase in consumers expressing their opinions online, making it easier for them to voice their dissatisfaction with a company. As consumers place significant importance on the experiences of previous customers with a product they are considering purchasing, it has become even more crucial for companies to manage negative online reviews in a smart and efficient manner. This study examines how companies can best utilize service recovery to manage negative online reviews. For the first time, this study focuses on the four elements: empathy and satisfaction, response, design and emojis, and communication, within the framework of service recovery.  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how consumers perceive that companies use service recovery to manage negative customer online reviews.  Methodology: This bachelor thesis aims to fill the gap in the existing literature by describing how consumers perceive companies to use service recovery to deal with negative online customer reviews. To reach this goal, a qualitative research approach has been used, where, among other things, six different semi-structured interviews have been conducted. To conduct the interviews, an interview guide has been developed and used. Purposive sampling was also used to select those participants who have some kind of experience with the subject and who can contribute relevant information to this study.  Findings: There were three different main findings in the bachelor thesis according to how to manage negative customer online reviews; operational actions, emotional responses and communication dynamics.  Conclusion: Participants in the study were positively affected by personal communication and genuine apologies from the companies, while automated and generic responses were perceived negatively. Prompt responses to criticism were important to maintaining customer satisfaction, while delays increased dissatisfaction. Emotional aspects, such as feeling understood and that the company took responsibility, contributed to a positive experience. Using emojis could create a relaxed and positive tone, but excessive use risked being perceived as dishonest. Finally, personal and engaged responses were appreciated, demonstrating corporate responsibility and helping to restore customer confidence.

Background: Swedish healthcare is frequently claimed to be top class. A view not only communicated by politicians and the media, but also shared by an average citizen - for decades. Certain statistical indicators seem to support this: Sweden historically scores very high in life expectancy, stroke and cancer survival and infant mortality. At the same time, it is being reported that Swedish healthcare is suffering from a number of problems. While statistics looks reassuring, it focuses on results rather than processes, and does not take patient perceptions into account. Patient perspective seems to be somewhat overlooked in general in favour of more operations-focused research.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to address the shortage of relevant literature and describe patient experience surrounding service failure in the fairly unique institutional context of Swedish public healthcare. Patient experience will include patient perceptions on service failure and recovery, as well as patient expectations and post-failure responses.   Method: The study employed a qualitative approach with 13 semi-structured interviews.   Conclusion: The study located reasons for service failure, which are fairly consistent with both previous research on this matter and the reported struggles of Swedish healthcare. It was also found that service recovery is not a common occurrence. Determinants for patient expectations and variability in patient post-failure responses were also uncovered.

孤兒保單不僅普遍存在於壽險公司，同時它對壽險公司造成的負面影響也相當大，包括：增加保單的脫退率、減弱壽險公司與保戶的關係、迫使孤兒保戶投向競爭者….等等，可見得壽險公司對於孤兒保單的議題不得不去重視並應有效的加以管理。 本研究探討台灣壽險業保險孤兒服務稀少的缺失、服務修復策略與顧客行為反應之關係，以試圖找出最有效的保險孤兒服務修復策略，並根據研究結果,提供給壽險業管理者採取適當的服務修復策略。研究方法共分兩階段：深入訪談及問卷調查。第一階段首先是進行深入訪談，主要是為了對研究主題作一探索性的研究，並將訪談結果作為問卷發展及設計的依據，第二階段問卷調查則為本研究之重點，問卷調查方式採立意抽樣，發出問卷418份，回收問卷289份，回收率為69﹪，最後共蒐集到230份由合格受訪者所填寫的問卷，其中有效問卷為225份，無效問卷有5份。 本研究之限制主要有兩點：採非隨機抽樣及問卷調查所蒐集到的樣本單位數不多。研究結果之發現說明如下。 一、 保險孤兒經驗 14.3％的受訪者其保險孤兒之狀態已獲得解決,僅4.2％的受訪者其孤兒經驗低於1年,顯示壽險公司並沒有將消除保險孤兒視為急迫性的服務缺失。服務稀少及服務接觸品質不佳的情況的確占大多數（占84.2％），並且專屬業務員的失職的確已影響到受訪孤兒的服務。 二、缺失歸因及缺失嚴重性受訪孤兒普遍將缺失歸因於業務員（占67.7％）。受訪者中認為服務稀少的缺失之嚴重性程度嚴重者占大多數（占43.0％），「新業務員不聞不問的孤兒」有高達63.4％認為這種缺失是嚴重的。 三、保險的重要性及保險知識 受訪者普遍認為保險產品是重要的。對保險商品的了解則顯示為中等（絕大多數表示普通49.3%），僅有不到五分之一的受訪孤兒對抱怨反應管道表示了解及非常了解 。 四、保險孤兒的行為反應 六成以上的受訪孤兒對壽險公司及業務員的服務修復作法感到不滿意；64.0％的受訪者呈現負面口碑，僅12.9％的受訪者呈現正面口碑；69.8％的受訪者沒有再購意願，僅16.4％的受訪者有可能再光顧。 五、孤兒保戶期望的服務修復孤兒保戶最高期望的3項服務修復作法依序分別是：「業務員將保單權利義務向我說明清楚」、「我要解約時，提供對我有利的其他選擇（如換約、展期保險…）」及「我可自由更換適合我的服務員（如熟識、業務員人格特質等考量）」。最低期望的2項依序分別是：「別家壽險公司的業務員耐心傾聽或表示關切」、「別家壽險公司的業務員樂於出面幫忙」。文獻推論而得的服務修復策略與因素命名的結果僅「即時性更正」及「更正服務」相似，其餘的服務修復策略於文獻推論而來的較以「行動」為主要區別，而因素命名普遍是與修復「服務提供對象」有關。 六、假設驗證結果之發現 （一）一旦有服務需求發生時，保戶看待服務缺失的嚴重性拉高。 （二）影響期望的服務修復的因素 缺失嚴重性越高，保戶期望的服務修復程度及項目數越高及越多；保戶認知保險的重要性程度越高，保戶期望的服務修復程度及項目數越高及越多。 （三）影響服務修復滿意度的因素 期望的與實際的服務修復之差距顯著影響服務修復滿意度；並且此差距越大服務修復滿意度越低。另外期望的與實際的服務修復之差距較缺失嚴重性的認知對服務修復滿意度的影響大；同時期望的與實際的服務修復之差距也較缺失歸因之差異對服務修復滿意度的影響大。 （四）影響保戶口碑行為的因素 服務修復滿意度顯著影響保戶口碑行為；並且服務修復滿意度越低保戶口碑行為越負面。另外服務修復滿意度較缺失歸因之差異對保戶口碑行為的影響大。 （五）影響保戶再購意圖的因素 服務修復滿意度顯著影響保戶再購意圖；並且服務滿意度越低保戶再購意圖越負面。另外服務修復滿意度較缺失歸因之差異對保戶再購意圖的影響大。 七、有效的服務修復策略 「更正服務」因素及「業務員良好的報怨處理技巧」因素皆對「服務修復滿意度」產生顯著的影響，並且「更正服務」因素較「業務員良好的報怨處理技巧」因素對「服務修復滿意度」的影響更大。因此，對於壽險公司而言，致力於更正服務的缺失及提升業務員良好的報怨處理技巧可以大大的提高保戶「服務修復滿意度」，故「更正服務」因素及「業務員良好的報怨處理技巧」因素是最有效的保險孤兒服務修復策略，尤其是「更正服務」因素。 / Life insurers need to be concerned about issues related to orphan policyholders in order to manage them well. Evidence shows that there is a widespread orphan policyholder’s in life insurance industry. They also have many negative influences on insurers, such as increasing their rate of lapse, weakening the insurer/orphan relationships, etc. This study proposes suitable service recovery strategies for orphans to managers. It examines relationships among service failures towards orphans, service recovery strategies and customers’ behaviors in Taiwan’s life insurance market. Customers’ behaviors include secondary satisfaction, word-of-mouth (W-O-M) and repurchase intentions. The research methods include in-depth interviews and surveys. The first step is an exploratory study of the theme of orphan policies by conducting in-depth interviews with both managers and orphans. The results of the in-depth interviews consider the sources for developing and designing a survey. The survey is the second step, and is the focus of this research. There were 418 questionnaires sent out and responses for received from 289 of these. Of these 289 questionnaires, 230 were completed by eligible respondents, and 225 of the 230 questionnaires were valid. The limits of this study are non-random samplings with insufficient sample sizes. The findings show below: 1. Orphans’ experiences There are 14.3﹪respondents that claim they are no longer orphans. Only 4.2% of the respondents declare that they have been orphans for less than a year. This reveals that insurers do not regard policyholders becoming orphans to be an urgent service failure. The majority of respondents rarely received services from their agents and if so, the services were of poor quality. 2. Failure attribution and severity The majority of respondents hold the agents’ responsible for service failures (67.7%) and consider failure severity to be serious（43.0﹪）. In addition, 63.4% of orphans whose assigned agents never kept contact with them after their original agents left thought that is a serious service failure. 3. Orphans’ behavior responses Over 60% of respondents show dissatisfaction with the service recovery from insurers and agents. W-O-M behaviors of respondents show a negative 64% and a positive 12.9%. Repurchase intentions of respondents show a negative 69.8% and a positive 16.4%. 4. Expected service recovery of orphan policyholders The first 3 highest expectations of orphans are that 1) The agent must make a clear description of rights and responsibilities of the policy that an orphan holds, 2) Offer options that are beneficial to orphans while willing to cancel the policy, and 3) The ability for the insured to have the right to choose an agent who is a better fit without restrictions. The first two lowest expectations of orphans are 1) Agents who work for competitors are willing to listen and show their concerns, and 2) Agents who work for competitors are willing to offer assistance in need.” To compare the names of service recovery that are reasoned by literature review to those that are given by factor analysis show that the former names tend to be distinguished by recovery action, the latter ones are related to subjects who offer service. 5. The result of hypothesis testing a. Orphans who have service needs consider service failure more serious than those who don’t have service needs. b. Factors that affect expected service recovery Orphans consider service failure more crucial, they expect a higher degree of service recovery and more actions of service recovery. c. Factors that affect the secondary satisfaction The gaps between expected and practical service recovery have significant influences on the secondary satisfaction. The bigger the gaps are, the lower an orphan’s secondary satisfaction tends to be. The gaps have more influence than failure severity on the secondary satisfaction. Besides, the gaps also have more influence than the difference of failure attribution on the secondary satisfaction. d. Factors that affect orphans’ W-O-M behaviors The secondary satisfaction has a great influence on an orphan’s W-O-M behavior. The lower secondary satisfaction, the more negative the W-O-M behavior. The gaps between expected and practical service recovery are more influential than the differences in the failure of attribution on orphans’ W-O-M behaviors. e. Factors that affect orphans’ repurchase intentions The secondary satisfaction greatly influences on an orphan’s repurchase intentions. The lower the secondary satisfaction is the greater the decrease in repurchase intentions. The gaps between expected and practical service recovery are more influential than the difference of failure attribution on orphans’ repurchase intentions. 6. Effective strategies of service recovery for orphan policyholders In order to enhance secondary satisfaction for policyholders, life insurers have to devote themselves to service correction and improvement of the agents’ complaint-handling skills. Evidence shows that the factors of service correction and agents’ excellent complaint-handling skills have significant effects on the secondary satisfaction. Thus, the factors of service correction and agents’ excellent complaint-handling skills are the most effective strategies of service recovery for orphan policyholders.

Abstracts in English, Southern Sotho and Zulu / The primary objective of the study was to explore customers’ perceptions of the service quality provided in the hotel industry, in Pretoria. Considering the growth of the hotel industry in Pretoria, this study revealed that customers expect to receive a high level of service quality, which will lead to customer satisfaction and produce a positive perception of hotel service. An exploratory research design was adopted in this study and qualitative data were collected through interviewing customers of a hotel. In terms of limitations, this study was conducted at one selected hotel in Pretoria. Atlas.ti software was used to analyse collected data. The analysis of the data identified a number of specific themes that were relevant to shaping the perceptions of the respondents, in terms of service quality and their satisfaction with the service quality received. The themes supported existing literature in terms of the factors influencing perceptions of service and the specific influences within those themes were elaborated on, leading to recommendations for managing service quality perceptions in the hotel industry. / Maikemišetšomagolo a dinyakišišo e bile go utolla maikutlo a badiriši mabapi le boleng bja ditirelo tše di abiwago ka intastering ya dihotele ka Pretoria. Ka ge di hlokometše kgolo ya intasteri ya dihotele ka Pretoria, dinyakišišo tše di utollotše gore ba emetše go hwetša ditirelo tša boleng, tšeo di tlago feletša ka go kgotsofala ga badiriši le go tšweletša maikutlo a makaone a tirelo ya dihotele. Tlhamo ya dinyakišišo tša go utolla e dirišitšwe ka mo dinyakišišong tše gomme tshedimošo ya boleng e kgobokeditšwe ka go botšiša badiriši ba dihotele dipotšišo. Mabapi le mellwane, dinyakišišo tše di dirilwe ka hoteleng e tee yeo e kgethilwego ka Pretoria. Softewere ya Atlas.ti e šomišitšwe go sekaseka tshedimošo ye e kgobokeditšwego. Tshekatsheko ya tshedimošo e utollotše merero ye mmalwa ye itšego yeo e bego e le maleba mabapi le go beakanya maikutlo a baarabi, mabapi le boleng bja ditirelo le go kgotsofala ga bona mabapi le boleng bja ditirelo tšeo di hweditšwego. Merero e thekgile dingwalwa tše di lego gona mabapi le mabaka ao a huetšago maikutlo ka ga ditirelo gomme dikhuetšo tše itšego ka gare ga merero yeo di hlathollotšwe, gomme se sa feletša ka ditšhišinyo tša go laola maikutlo ka ga boleng bja ditirelo ka intastering ya dihotele. / Inhloso enkulu yalolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlola imibono yamakhasimende ngekhwalithi yesevisi enikezwa embonini yamahhotela, ePitoli. Uma kubhekwa ukukhula komkhakha wamahhotela ePitoli, lolu cwaningo luveze ukuthi amakhasimende alindele ukuthola izinga eliphakeme lezinsizakalo, okuzoholela ekwanelisekeni kwamakhasimende futhi kuveze umbono omuhle wensizakalo yamahhotela. Lolu cwaningo oluchazayo lwamukelwe kanti lakhelwe phezulu kwemininingwane ebhekelele ubunjalo besimo yaqoqwa ngokuxoxisana namakhasimende asehhotela. Ngokwemikhawulo, lolu cwaningo lwenziwe ehhotela elilodwa elikhethiwe ePitoli. Kusetshenziswe isofthiweye noma uhlelo lokusebenza elibizwa nge-Atlas.ti ukuhlaziya imininingwane eqoqiwe. Ukuhlaziywa kwedatha kukhombe izingqikithi ezithile ebezifanele ukwakhela imibono yabaphenduli, ngokuya ngekhwalithi yesevisi nokweneliseka kwazo ngekhwalithi yesevisi etholakele. Izindikimba zisekele imibhalo ekhona ngokwezinto ezinomthelela emibonweni yesevisi kanye nemithelela ethize kulezo zingqikithi yachazwa kabanzi, okuholela ezincomweni zokuphatha imibono yekhwalithi yesevisi embonini yamahhotela. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)