Defining and measuring the quality of customer service has been a major challenge
for business-to-business marketers. This research addresses the question whether an
established instrument for consumer markets (SERVQUAL) can be used for
understanding the role of customer service in the European nylon intermediates
industry. To accomplish this objective, an in-depth literature review is accomplished
followed by several expert panels adopting the instrument slightly. Based on a survey
sample of 110 industry members collected with the ¿drop and collect technique¿ the
appropriateness of the tool to verify the anticipated structure is examined using
reliability tests as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.
The findings suggest that even though various criteria for reliability and validity are
met, the five-dimensional structure of the instrument cannot be recovered. The
research questions the usefulness of the instrument for the European nylon
intermediates industry despite it being originally anticipated to be applicable.
However, the research emphasises that the instrument is a useful indicator for
understanding the role of customer service based on individual items rather than on
the instrument¿s dimensionality. It is demonstrated how the implementation in the
nylon intermediates industry enables an organization to develop a greater awareness
of customer service quality and how an enterprise gains an initial instrument to
comprehend and improve this element of the offering. The thesis concludes by
linking the results of the research with the discussion on service-dominant logic.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/5654 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Fischer, Jens-Hendrik |
| Contributors | Wright, Gillian H. |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, School of Management |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, DBA |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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