Dans la majorité des entreprises de services, le rôle du « Personnel en contact » est devenu un élément de différenciation; vu qu'il est souvent en interaction avec le client. D’autre part, la place importante accordée au Marketing relationnel dans le secteur des services ne cesse d’évoluer. Cette évolution, affirmée par plusieurs auteurs et particulièrement par Berry (1983), nous ramène à une nouvelle orientation du marketing qu’est le Marketing interne. Cette recherche vise à définir et étudier ce nouveau phénomène.Un examen de littérature a permis de construire un modèle étudiant, d’une part, l’impact du Marketing interne sur les attitudes et comportements du personnel en contact et, d’autre part, sur la performance de l’entreprise de services. Pour valider la revue de littérature, la recherche s’appuie sur la combinaison de deux méthodes d’investigation : une étude qualitative et une étude quantitative auprès deux populations différentes : le personnel en contact et les clients. Les résultats obtenus montrent que le Marketing interne a un impact sur la satisfaction au travail et l’orientation client du personnel en contact ainsi que sur la performance de l’entreprise. Le rôle de la satisfaction au travail apparaît aussi comme un élément déterminant favorisant la relation entre le marketing interne et la satisfaction des clients. / In the majority of the service firms, the role of the “contact employees” became an element of differentiation; considering that it’s often in interaction with the customer. On the other hand, the important place granted to relational Marketing in the sector of the services does not cease evolving. This evolution, underlined by several authors and particularly by Berry (1983), brings back to us to a new orientation marketing which is Internal Marketing. This research intends to study this new phenomenon.A review of literature has built a model studying, on the one hand, the impact of internal marketing on attitudes and behaviors of service employees and, on the other hand, on the business performance of services companies.To validate the literature review, research based on the combination of two methods of investigation: a qualitative and a quantitative study with two different populations: the service employees and customers. The results obtained show that Internal Marketing has an impact on job satisfaction and employees customer orientation and on the performance of the company. The role of job satisfaction also appears to be a key factor promoting the relationship between internal marketing and customer satisfaction.

Cloud computing based technology is becoming increasingly popular as a way to deliver quality education to community colleges, universities and other organizations. At the same time, compared with other industries, colleges have been slow on implementing and sustaining cloud computing services on an institutional level because of budget constraints facing many large community colleges, in addition to other obstacles. Faced with this challenge, key stakeholders are increasingly realizing the need to focus on service quality as a measure to improve their competitive position in today's highly competitive environment. Considering the amount of study done with cloud computing in education, very little has been done in examining the needs and the satisfactions of the instructor customer. The purpose of this study was to examine the expectations and perceptions of instructors’ usage of cloud computing based technology on overall quality of service (QoS). An extension and adaptation of the SERVQUAL model tailored to the higher education environment was introduced for this study. Using the established service quality (SERVQUAL) dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy), the study investigated the relationship between instructors’ views (perception and expectation) and overall service quality received on their use of cloud computing based technology. A total of 301 online instructors at large Texas community colleges completed a Web-based survey containing previously validated and adapted items. The participants in this study completed four parts of the survey instruments that were used to measure service quality of academic cloud computing technology: Service Quality Expectations, Service Quality Perceptions, Perceived Service Quality and Demographic. The survey questions were answered using a seven-point Likert scale and the survey results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The results indicated that the difference between instructors’ perception and expectation affected their perceived service quality of cloud computing based systems. The differences between the expectation and perception on all five SERVQUAL dimensions load to the instructors’ perceived service quality; gender but not age, income or education has significant effect on instructors’ overall perceived service quality. The results of the study create an awareness of instructors’ needs and offer useful feedback to college administrators and institutional planners in their efforts to improve service quality of educational technology initiative in higher education.

The primary aim of this thesis was to explore the role culture plays in service delivery, more specifically on consumers' perceptions of service quality and its potential impact on complaint behaviour. A key premise of the thesis was that prominent models of service quality are conceptualized largely in western contexts without considering conceptual meaning in various contexts or nuances of meaning. Furthermore, there may indeed be unique aspects of culture in each context not yet identified in the extant literature. With this in mind, a qualitative approach was employed in order to gain an in-depth understanding of consumers' perceptions. The thesis was conducted in three stages culminating in three separate papers. Stage 1 involved a student sample of Trinidad and Tobago nationals currently enrolled at university in the North West region of the UK. Generally this stage served as a pilot for the larger cross-national study. Interview data and subsequent thematic analyses culminated in a holistic, multi-dimensional hierarchical framework labelled Conceptualization of Service Quality in Cultural Context (CSQCC). Within this framework two key cultural triggers called Culture of Closeness and Culture of Servitude where found to have an overarching influence on all variables in the model. As well as uniquely including culture, the CSQCC also encompasses human resources and operational variables not included in traditional service quality models namely Employee Work Ethic/Attitudes, Organizational Responsibility and Customer Responsibility. Stage 2 which included samples of British and Trinidad and Tobago nationals, all currently living in their country of birth were part of the larger study sample. Findings from both country contexts indicate that the general structure of the CSQCC identified in Stage 1 is upheld demonstrating universality in terms of the range of factors consumers utilize in their evaluations of service quality, at least in Britain and the UK. Notwithstanding the similarities, the importance weightings for the universal aspects of the CSQCC framework appear to vary. Furthermore, cultural triggers again were found to have an overarching influence consumers' perceptions, two such triggers were identified for British nationals-British Reserve and Culture of Cordiality, and for Trinbagonian nationals two additional triggers-Festive Culture and Culture of Entitlement. Data for Stage 3 was collected at the same time at Stage 2 and involved a cross-national analysis of consumer complaint behaviour. Based on the empirical data a Cultural Framework of Consumer Complaint Behaviour (CFCCB) was proposed inclusive of consumers' behavioural processes and post-interaction behavioural outcomes. There are four key processes-cognitive, motivational, environmental and emotive-with emotions playing a central role. The unique cultural triggers identified in Stages 1 and 2 were also found to influence these behavioural processes which in turn impact behavioural outcomes. To the best of the researcher's knowledge such a holistic model as the CFCCB has not been previously conceptualized. There is no such thing as "culture-free" behaviour; culture and human behaviour are deeply intertwined, and thus multinationals and global firms need to be environmentally sensitive, identify the cultural triggers in potential markets, and assess their likely impact on service quality delivery.

Increasing and maintaining customer loyalty has been shown to enhance service firm profitability. This research focuses on the antecedents of customer loyalty in a large national North American banking organisation, in particular the relationship between employee loyalty and customer loyalty, and further within the organisation, the antecedents of the employee loyalty-customer loyalty relationship. Thus the current research investigates the chain of events from managerial actions to customer loyalty with the aim of identifying relevant managerial practices and their influences within the organisation that lead to customer loyalty. The research provides tangible evidence supporting the importance of providing organisational resources to increase employee loyalty as a means of increasing customer loyalty in service organisations. To achieve this goal, the study suggests that a comprehensive set of managerial practices will enhance an organisation's service climate, foster positive employee attitudes and behaviours in relation to service provision, that impact on employee loyalty, service quality, and ultimately customer loyalty. These practices include support provided by senior leadership, the provision of resources that facilitate effective work practices, a positive management orientation on customers, and the use of employee evaluation and remuneration based on service-oriented behaviours and attitudes. By instituting these managerial practices, management can increase employee perceptions of self-efficacy, employees' beliefs in the abilities to perform well in their jobs, increase employee satisfaction, which in turn drive employee loyalty. These managerial practices also enhance the favourable nature of the organisation's service climate so that customer perceptions of service quality are likely to be more positive. Overall the study provides evidence to support the existence of a chain of events from managerial actions to employee and customer loyalty intentions. Evidence also exists to support the relationship between employee loyalty and customer loyalty, so that higher levels of loyalty within service a service organisation can potentially lead to higher levels of customer loyalty. The implications of the research are that management within service organisations can impact customer loyalty by focussing directly on service delivery issues and by providing a favourable service climate. Managers can also influence employee beliefs about their abilities to do their jobs and the level of satisfaction employees have within those organisational roles. The study also suggests that a service organisation's service climate is an important mechanism by which management can communicate to both employees and customers that a customer orientation is a primary managerial imperative. Finally, the study provides valuable insight into the processes by which employees perceive managerial orientation and support, and how those perceptions influence customer perceptions of service quality and impact on their loyalty intentions towards service organisations.

This study serves two major purposes. First, it explores and validates attributes, dimensions and constructs that can be used to measure service quality in Ethiopian public higher education (EPHE) context. Second, it examines the interplay among the major service quality constructs and student related variables in search of a comprehensive theoretical framework for HE service quality. The study started its investigation by formulating a set of research questions that explore attributes, dimensions and constructs essential to measure service quality (RQ1), test for the measurement model fit (RQ2), examine the relationships or associations among the four service constructs and characteristics of students (RQ3), test for the structural model fit (RQ4), determine the causal relations among the variables in the structural model (RQs4.1 - 4.7), and assess service quality performances of EPHE institutions (RQ5). A mixed methods study with the qual-QUAN exploratory sequential design was employed to empirically answer the research questions. Fifteen interviewees took part in the qualitative phase. The interviews were analysed employing thematic analysis and narration of verbatim accounts. Three levels of themes that represent attributes, dimensions and constructs of service quality were identified and used to develop a questionnaire designed to measure service quality more objectively. The questionnaire was piloted at a pilot site involving 460 undergraduate students and its psychometric properties were determined. The main study was carried out in three universities selected from a target population of seven first generation public universities employing lottery sampling method. Concurrently, four programmes were chosen from a target population of 27 commonly offered programmes in the three sample universities employing systematic random sampling. Considering different batches and the four programmes as strata, 1412 undergraduate students were included in the main study using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics including factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were employed to address the research questions. The results from the qualitative and quantitative phases show that service quality can be measured by four constructs, of which three are multi-dimensional and one is a single dimensional construct. The four factor measurement model fit analysis resulted in an acceptable fit indices (i.e., CMIN/DF = 4.398, GFI = .915, CFI = .951, RMSEA = .049 and PCLOSE =.743) after some re-specifications and confirmed the structural validity of the instrument. Mixed results were obtained with regard to the correlations/associations between student characteristics and service quality constructs. After some re-specification, a structural model for the four service quality constructs and nine student related variables were identified with an acceptable fit indices (CMIN/DF=3.856, GFI=.901, CFI =.934 and RMSEA=.045, p=1.000). The path analyses also revealed that loyalty is a latent construct with 62% of its varaince predicted by the joint effects of percieved service quality, satisfaction and perceived gain. Each of these predicator latent constructs are also explained by some other control varaibles and latent constructs that have a predictive power ranging from 12% to 60%. Students perceived the current status of service quality in EPHE institutions as daunting in all constructs of service quality except perceived gain. Finally, conclusions pertinent to the measurement instrument and understanding of HE service queality are drawn, and recommendations that have theoretical and practical implications are forwarded. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)