Thesis (MTech(Business Administration)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / The retail and distribution industry in Botswana's deregulated economy is one of the largest and most difficult sectors in which to operate, mainly because of levels of competition amongst Botswana companies and the global competitive industry, in general. Hill (2000:539) postulates that competition in free market economies generally tends to be tense depending on differences between distribution systems such as retail concentration, channel length and channel exclusivity. At the same time the retail industry grapples with other complex social and structural problems as they face ever increasing marketing problems that relate to attracting and maintaining customers (Luh, 2006:1). In view of the intense competition, it is more expensive to obtain a new customer than to retain and maintain an existing customer. Consequently, retailers should develop competitive and sustainable ways to maintain the customers that they have and should develop strategies to retain any new customers that the business acquires (Naylor and Frank, 2000:37). Botswana practices a free market and a heavily deregulated economy, which causes an increase in competition (Luh, 2006:1) and creates greater expectations from customers in pursuit of satisfaction and value (Peter and Donnelly, 2007:179) for their money. In Botswana, petrol and diesel prices are regulated by government, there is therefore no competition between the rivals based on prices. The competition landscape therefore shifts to amongst others, namely; service provision, location of the petrol station, and fuel brand in general. Petrol and diesel retail outlets should focus on areas of operations that will give them a sustainable competitive advantage over their competitors without altering the price of products. Mehta, Lalwani and Li Han (2000:21) posit that increased competition between retail businesses forces rivals to focus on good customer service as the only critical factor in the operation of their business (Zairi, 2000: 332). Customer loyalty is therefore, the most effective way to keep customers and to maintain profitability through repeated purchases (Luh, 2006:2). Loyalty is used to describe the behaviour of repeat customers, their ratings of the business, positive testimonials, and business from existing customers, as well as overall perception, about the business from the existing customers. The study focuses on the petroleum industry in an environment where there are several competitors, relative .to the size of the country, offering goods and services that are close substitutes. The industry in Botswana is characterised by five competitors that offer heavily substitutable products (BP Report, 2006:1-4). These rivals are BP, Shell, Caltex, Engen and Total.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The study identifies and examines evidence on how customer loyalty is influenced by hotel product innovation. This examination helps to understand differentiation and the competitive benefits of innovation in product and loyalty for such innovation. The innovation influence provides rationale to extend product innovation as a strategy to differentiate, compete, and gain loyalty in the hotel industry. With increased competition in the hospitality industry, the examination of hotel product innovation becomes imperative for both practical and theoretical relevance. This examination was done using a survey method to collect data from 242 travellers who visited Cape Town, stayed in a graded hotel, and visited Kirstenbosch Gardens during the period of the study. This quantitative survey was supported by data triangulation approach with respondents chosen using systematic random sampling. The semi-structured questionnaire comprised mainly closed-ended and a few open-ended questions. The study found that hotel product innovation has greater influence on customer loyalty and hotel choice. However, not all product innovations have the same level of influence, and not all influences are statistically significant. Therefore, the degree of influence was found to be a useful enabler of competitive and loyalty strategy in the hospitality industry.

The thesis examines the development of the satisfaction of customers of the E.ON energy corporation during 2005 ? 2010 on the basis of a MAC CASA survey. The outcome is assessed in comparison with implemented marketing measures, the development of prices, and other factors relating to the period in question. The assessment is followed by recommendations aimed at improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabio David Rizzo Campanha.pdf: 633468 bytes, checksum: b9161a79b1b362c02ec58906e764aee0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-02 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The following dissertation s main objective was to understand the various aspects of customer loyalty as a strategic resource that leads service-providing companies to obtain superior results considering the point of view of their managers. This topic was considered important due to the limited available studies concerning themes related to both loyalty and strategic resources and due to the importance of service-providing sector for the country s economy. This study was based on theoretical concepts related to customers loyalty, resource-based view (RBV) and competitive advantages. This way, an exploratory qualitative research was conducted in the Greater São Paulo area with seven executives from marketing or customer loyalty department of service-providing companies from various segments whose services are targeted to individuals. Data was acquired by in-depth interviews based on a semi-structured interview guide, and content analysis was employed for analysis and data interpretation. The outcome revealed that customer loyalty is an important issue, but that it is not necessarily considered a priority in companies business strategy. It was also identified characteristics of strategic resources in loyalty, such as perceived value, exclusivity and the"empowerment" of opportunities and reduction of threats. However, it was observed that the loyalty strategies are not necessarily non-imitable. Besides, evidence of competitive advantage through customer loyalty was also found, given a general view of the executives that loyalty actions have high potential to increase the customers profitability. / A presente dissertação teve por objetivo principal entender os diversos aspectos da fidelização de clientes como um recurso estratégico que levem as empresas prestadoras de serviços a obterem resultados diferenciados considerando o ponto de vista de seus gestores. Esse tema foi considerado importante devido a pouca disponibilidade de estudos que analisam a fidelização e recursos estratégicos conjuntamente e a representatividade do setor de serviços na economia do país. Abordou-se como fundamentação teórica conceitos relacionados à fidelização de clientes, visão baseada em recursos (RBV) e diferenciais competitivos. Realizou-se uma pesquisa do tipo qualitativa exploratória junto a sete executivos das áreas de marketing ou fidelização de clientes de empresas prestadoras de serviços localizadas na Grande São Paulo. Foram conduzidas entrevistas em profundidade com base em roteiro semiestruturado e utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo para a análise e interpretação dos dados. Como resultado, pôde-se observar durante o desenvolvimento da pesquisa que a fidelização de clientes é um assunto relevante,mas que não necessariamente é considerado prioritário na estratégia de negócios da empresa. Identificou-se também características de recursos estratégicos na fidelização, tais como a percepção de valor, a exclusividade e a potencialização de oportunidades e redução de ameaças. Contudo, observou-se que as estratégias de fidelização não necessariamente são não imitáveis. Constatou-se indícios de geração de vantagem competitiva por meio da fidelização, dada uma visão generalizada dos entrevistados de que ações de fidelização possuem elevado potencial para ampliar a rentabilidade dos clientes.

大陸地區電子商務時代的到來讓機票購買變得在線化，推動了機票在線平台的集體成長。為了應對競爭，大陸地區的多家機票在線平台都通過各種方式去提高其顧客忠誠。本研究以大陸地區機票在線平台為行業背景，旨在探究顧客滿意、服務品質、轉換成本、促銷這4個因素對顧客忠誠的影響作用以及顧客信任對顧客忠誠的調節作用。為了研究顧客忠誠的影響因素和調節因素，本文採用了問卷調查法，對大陸地區機票在線平台的顧客進行調研。通過網路問卷的發放，筆者收集了156個樣本。研究發現，顧客滿意、服務品質、轉換成本、促銷都分別對機票在線平台顧客忠誠有顯著的積極影響。此外，顧客信任作為調節因素加強了顧客滿意對顧客忠誠的影響、服務品質對顧客忠誠的影響、轉換成本對顧客忠誠的影響，但在促銷對顧客忠誠的影響中並未存在調節效應。基於研究之發現，本文對機票在線平台的經營提出了一些建議，希望能夠為提高平台的顧客忠誠提供參考。 / The arrival of the e-commerce era in mainland China has made the purchase of air ticket become online and has promoted the collective growth of the online ticket platforms. In order to meet the competition, many online air ticket platforms try to improve their customer loyalty through a variety of ways. Taking the online air ticket platforms in mainland China as the industry background, this study aims to explore the effect of customer satisfaction, service quality, switching costs and promotion on customer loyalty, as well as the moderating effect of customer trust on customer loyalty. To study the influencing factors and moderating factor of customer loyalty, a questionnaire survey was conducted for the customers of mainland China online ticket platforms. Through the issue of the questionnaire online, the author collected 156 samples. The study found that customer satisfaction, service quality, switching costs and promotion all have a significant positive impact respectively on customer loyalty of online ticket platform. In addition, customer trust, as a moderator, strengthens the impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty，the impact of service quality on customer loyalty and the impact of switching costs on customer loyalty, but there is no moderating effect in the impact of promotion on customer loyalty. Based on the findings of this study, the paper puts forward some suggestions on the operation of the online ticket platforms, hoping to provide reference for improving the customer loyalty of the platforms.

The maritime sector plays an important role in economies across the globe. Ports in particular are the backbone of the economy of countries endowed with shorelines as they facilitate foreign trade through the importation and exportation of goods to and from their domestic markets. South Africa’s latest addition to its complimentary ports system, the Port of Ngqura, is positioned as a container transshipment hub and a gateway port to Africa with its world-class infrastructure and deep-water container berths at 18 metres, the deepest on the African continent. Ports, whose main mandate is the container commodity, struggle to retain customers as the container industry is a fickle one. As a result, the retention of transshipment container cargo customers remain a challenge for ports. In recent years, ports have to compete more aggressively for their participation in major logistics networks and these days, the ports of the same region are increasingly competing with each other. There are clusters of ports with the same type of supply located within a region competing with other clusters of ports in other regions. The main objective of this study was to propose a customer retention framework for the Port of Ngqura to be used as part of the marketing strategy to possibly retain customers, grow market share and to increase profits. The study focused on the effect of components such as value proposition, customer service quality, customer satisfaction, customer relationship management and customer loyalty on customer retention. After the exercise of testing statistical reliability, the researcher established that the measuring instrument for the component of value proposition was deemed unreliable and therefore, does not necessarily lead to customer retention for the Port of Ngqura. Nunnally (1978) recommends that instruments used in basic research have reliability of 0.70 or higher. The Cronbach Alpha score for the value proposition measuring scale was 0.41, which is below the recommended 0.70. The measuring instruments of the remaining four components of customer service quality, customer satisfaction, customer relationship management and customer loyalty as influencers of customer retention proved to be reliable due to the Cronbach Alpha score being above the recommended 0.70 for all four measuring instruments. In conclusion, this study showed the importance of customer retention and more importantly, how the mentioned reliable four components affect customer retention at the Port of Ngqura. Recommendations were presented by the author on how to integrate the components of customer retention into a retention framework that can contribute to the profitability of the port. The findings of this study led to the recommendation of the need for the Port of Ngqura to firstly, incorporate customer retention into overall marketing strategy and to thus be aggressive as customer relationship building is crucial in retaining customers and growing market share in today’s competitive port environment. Secondly, the port needs to segment its target customers, it is recommended that the target market be well defined, understood and segmented based on industry (shipping line, clearing and forwarding agency, fruit, automotive or wool) and amount of volumes and revenue brought to the Port of Ngqura. Thirdly, leadership involvement as at the strategic level of Transnet Group and Transnet National Ports Authority, executive leaders need to be involved in the implementation of customer retention for marketing of the port as they are the ones that have a high delegation of authority when it comes to decision making. It is also recommended that the measurement of success be clearly defined and linked to the objectives for the implementation of customer retention. The marketers and the Port of Ngqura, using customer relationship strategies, should devise ways of measuring loyalty to the port and the brand, the reputation of the port, service quality and customer satisfaction. Employee training is the most critical recommendation as they must be well trained and equipped to execute their duties, they must be knowledgeable about the maritime industry as well as the business of their customers, fully understand their customers’ needs and have customer empathy. Ports can also improve service quality by focusing on port and terminal efficiency by conducting benchmark studies with high ranked ports like the Port of Singapore as they are known for high levels of efficiency in the market. By improving service quality, the port will improve customer satisfaction and achieve customer loyalty and ultimately, retention.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att bidra till ökad medvetenhet, förståelse och kunskap om Co-Creation. Genom att fokusera på flygindustrin som är mycket bekant för författaren är syftet med studien och forskningen att bättre förstå hur flygbolagen ser på samverkan och fördelar eller potentiella nackdelar med att använda Co-Creation för att driva ett mer integrerat samarbete mellan kunderna och leverantörer. Datainsamling har skett genom en blandad metoddesign som fångade både kvantitativ och kvalitativ data. Deltagarna i studien är alla från flygindustrin. Totalt deltog 43 studieobjekt i denna studie. Resultaten illustrerar att det för närvarande finns en begränsad nivå av samverkansaktivitet inom flygindustrin, men de flesta deltagarna bedömer att det finns stora fördelar med Co-Creation. Resultatet indikerar att respondenterna anser att Co-Creation är absolut nödvändigt för att driva innovation, skapa en samarbetsmiljö och ett verktyg för leverantörer att bättre förstå både flygbolagens behov och krav samt passagerarnas behov och krav. Denna studie kommer att gynna både leverantör och flygbolag genom att samarbete och partnerskap kan baseras på gemensamma värderingar, överenskommelser och mål. Resultatet kan ytterligare ses representera leverantörsrelationer mer generellt och därigenom gynna alla som bättre vill förstå hur Co-Creation kan användas för att förbättra och expandera leverantörs- och kundengagemang. / Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study has been to contribute to greater awareness, understanding and knowledge on Co-Creation. By focusing on the aviation supply industry which is very familiar to the author, the aim with the study and research is to better understand how airlines view Co-Creation and the benefits or potential drawbacks of using Co-Creation to drive more integrated collaboration between customers and suppliers. This is a study with data collection utilizing a Mixed Method Design Survey that captured both Quantitative as well as Qualitative information and input. The participants in the study are all from the aviation industry. In total 43 study objects participated in this research. The results illustrate that there is currently only a limited level of Co-Creation activity in the aviation supply industry, however the vast majority of participants’ assess that there are significant benefits with Co-Creation. The result indicate that airline respondents believe that Co-Creation is imperative to drive innovation, create a more collaborative environment and a tool for suppliers to better understand both the airlines needs and requirements as well as the needs and requirements of the airlines passengers. This study will benefit both supplier and airlines by collaborating and partnering can be based on common values, understandings and goals. The result can be further extrapolated to represent supplier customer relationships as a whole and further benefit anyone who would like to better understand how Co-Creation can be used in improving and expanding supplier and customer engagement. / <p>2017-08-16</p>

[pt] O objetivo principal deste trabalho consiste em identificar, dentre um conjunto de atributos de satisfação, lealdade e retenção, os elementos que têm maior impacto na retenção de clientes no serviço de telefonia celular. Foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo com uma amostra de 123 usuários do serviço de telefonia celular prestado por operadoras no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Inicialmente são discutidos os conceitos de satisfação, lealdade e retenção de clientes acompanhados pela identificação dos principais atributos destes elementos no serviço de telefonia celular. Logo após é apresentado o modelo integrativo de Gerpott, Rams e Schindler (2001) que serviu de base para este trabalho. Depois é apresentada a metodologia utilizada nesta pesquisa seguida pelos resultados obtidos na pesquisa de campo. A análise dos dados confirma a existência de uma relação causal de dois estágios entre a satisfação, lealdade e retenção de clientes, na qual a satisfação é um atributo chave da lealdade que, por sua vez, é um determinante central da retenção de clientes. O estudo também identifica que o atendimento aos clientes, os benefícios pessoais que o serviço de telefonia celular oferecem, e a avaliação que os clientes fazem sobre os preços cobrados pelo serviço são, dentre um conjunto de atributos de satisfação, lealdade e retenção, os elementos que têm o maior impacto na retenção de clientes no serviço de telefonia celular. / [en] The purpose of this study is to identify, among a group of elements of customer satisfaction, loyalty and customer retention, the elements which have the greater impact over customer retention in the mobile telecommunications service. A field research was conducted with a sample of 123 users of the mobile telecommunications service in Rio de Janeiro. Initially the concepts of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention are discussed, followed by the identification of some of their elements in the mobile telecommunications service. Then Gerpotts, Rams and Schindlers (2001) integrative model, which is used as a basis for this study, is presented. Next, the methodology used in this research is explained, followed by the presentation of the results obtained in the field research. Data analysis supports the existence of a two- staged causal relationship between customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention, with satisfaction having a significant impact over loyalty which in turn influences customer retention. This research also identifies that customer care, the personal benefits derived from the use of the mobile telecommunications service, and the evaluation that clients make about the price of such service are, among a group of customers satisfaction, loyalty, and retention attributes, the elements which have the greater impact over customer retention in the mobile telecommunications service.

In this paper I have examined what main factors that a loyalty program should include to make customers interested and engaged in a loyalty program, and to enhance their emotional loyalty towards a brand. A qualitative method was used to study the topic through interviews with four focus groups. The data from the focus groups was analyzed together with Magids theory about high impact motivators to reach emotional loyalty. The result of the paper showed that to make customers interested to be a member in a loyalty program it has to give them good financial benefits and rewards. However, to reach the emotional loyalty through a loyalty program the most important motivators were the non-financial rewards, rather than the financial rewards. To reach emotional loyalty the loyalty program had to be more personally designed, stand out, have exclusive membership benefits, create excitement for the customers and show ethical commitment.

The thesis deals with rules for right reporting of revenues, which result from International accounting standard IAS 18 -- Revenue. There is briefly characterized the harmonization of financial reporting in the introduction. After that follows the development and the history of IFRS. The third part contains the analysis of the standard IAS 18 -- Revenue and standard IAS 11 -- Construction contracts, including three according interpretations. The final section is focused on the research of ten annual reports with a view to explain the observance of IFRS standards in pracitice.