Introduction The number of the people who needs dialysis escalates rapidly year each. The rising cost of dialysis is relative. Because Bureau National Health Insurance endures the co-payment of hemodialysis, patients have freedom of choice. Two critical factors that influence patient¡¦s decision in medical care are access and quality. Facing pressure from competition, many hemodialysis service providers believe that high quality service will retain patients to return as well as maintain a healthy physician-patient relationship. Therefore, they apply many quality management tools, which also include service pathways. There are few investigations that discuss service pathways. Thus, this research constructs a model to analyze the effect of service pathways in hemodialysis service providers. Method From Nov. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2004, the researcher interviewed hemodialysis nurses to develop flow chart, customer encounter, and check list for hemodialysis. We also collected the check list records of the hemodialysis patients to examine the effect. Conclusion First, the construction of total service pathways comprised three critical interlocking phases: flow chart, customer encounter, and check list. After that we shall evaluate and correct them continuously. Secondly, the researcher found that most patients are routine members, and come from long-term care center and respiratory care ward (RCW). Thirdly, the indicators influencing hemodialysis results and error incidents were steady. Finally, in the value-added services dimensions, the indicators of nurses¡¦ performance on greeting and asking patients if they want to have a meal were significant, but the indicators of telephone and inpatient interview were unfavorable.

The basic premise of this dissertation is that other customers, as part of the service environments, have direct or indirect influences on target customer¡¦s interpersonal attraction and then affect overall service experience. These effects received increasing attention in recent service marketing literature. However, most of studies dedicated their attention to the effect of other customers¡¦ behaviors; thus, an obvious limitation of existing literature is the neglect of other customers¡¦ characteristics. This research gap became the major research motivation of this dissertation. Moreover, this dissertation introduced an important but rarely discussed psychological response ¡V target customer¡¦s interpersonal attraction. Based on relevant literature, the author proposed a overall framework which considered the effects of other customers¡¦ behaviors, observable similarity, and physical appearance on target customer¡¦s interpersonal attraction evaluation. Moreover, the author also explored the relationship between target customer¡¦s interpersonal attraction evaluation and his/her overall satisfaction, purchase intention, and anxiety perception. Four scenario-based experiments were conducted to verify proposed hypotheses. In Experiment 1, the effects of other customers¡¦ appropriate / inappropriate behaviors and observable similarity were examined. The results indicated significant main effects and an interaction effect. Other customers¡¦ observable similarity had an alleviating effect on interpersonal attraction. Experiment 2 tested the relationships between other customers¡¦ behaviors, physical appearance, and interpersonal attraction. Results were similar to findings of Experiment 1. Other customer¡¦s physical appearance had an alleviating effect. A supplementary survey reported that people tend to justify physically-attractive persons¡¦ inappropriate behaviors. Experiment 3 concerned about the negative effects of physical appearance on interpersonal attraction by manipulating other customers¡¦ appraisals toward target customer¡¦s product choice. The last experiment empirically verified the stabilizing effect proposed by marketing scholars. The author found that other customers¡¦ anxiety-reducing behaviors could lower target customer¡¦s perceived anxiety and produce higher interpersonal attraction. In all four experiments, target customers¡¦; interpersonal attraction had positive correlation with overall satisfaction, purchase intention, or anxiety perception. Interpersonal attraction at least partially mediated manipulated factors¡¦ effects on satisfaction. This dissertation¡¦s last chapter provided summary of experiment findings, theoretical and managerial implications, research limitations, and future research directions.

Denna studie handlar om kompetensutvecklingen kring kundbemötande för medarbetare på ett svenskt internationellt företag. Kundbemötande är av betydelse för företag i anseende av marknadsvärde och konkurrens. Det är därför viktigt för företag att dess personal är kompetent när det kommer till kundhantering. Studiens syfte är att bidra med kunskap om kundtjänstmedarbetares kompetens om kundbemötande. Därmed vill studien åskådliggöra hur medarbetarna hanterar kunder samt hur kompetens kring detta tas till vara och utvecklas inom företaget. Studien har reflekterat över angränsande tidigare forskning och har tagit stöd i detta till våra teoretiska utgångspunkter men även metodologiska val. Denna studie använder Tannenbaum, Beard, McNall och Salas (2011) modell för informellt lärande för att illustrera och tolka kundtjänstmedarbetarnas lärandeprocess. Semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem informanter har använts som datainsamlingsmetod för att komma fram till studiens resultat.  På den observerade arbetsplatsen återger informanterna att de lär sig om kundbemötande främst genom egna erfarenheter med en process som går att tolka som informellt lärande med hjälp av Tannenbaum et al. modell. De beskriver även hur de introduceras till företagets värdegrund vid anställning. Denna skildrar hur företaget vill att medarbetare agerar som medmänniskor. Informanterna menar därför att det finns ett underförstått sätt som företaget vill att kundbemötande ska ske på.