International audiencePurposeThe starting point of the paper is the fact that customers participate in the logistics activities of the supply chain (SC) (Johnston, 1989; Granzin and Bahn, 1989). Having established that customers can and do participate in logistics, firms can consider transferring some of their logistics activities to/from their customer. The transfer can take two contrasting forms: outsourcing by the company of some logistics activities to its customers or insourcing by the company of some logistics activities from its customers. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a theoretical understanding of these company/customer transfers.Design/methodology/approachTo address this emerging issue, the authors build on the service management literature and on the study of two contrasting cases of transfer. The first (IKEA) examines the outsourcing of some logistics activities to the consumer. The second (AuchanDrive) examines the reverse process of insourcing.FindingsBased on the service management literature and the two case studies, the authors develop a theoretical model for the transfer of logistics activities between a firm and its customers. The findings confirm several elements, such as the importance of managing customer participation and adapting service production during a transfer. Most importantly, the findings show that a key issue for a firm during a transfer is the need to redesign its SC in terms of transport, warehousing and production. The main contribution of the research therefore is showing that customer participation in logistics is a key variable in SC design.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is based on the analysis of two cases. To generalise these results, further research needs to be conducted.Practical implicationsThis research proposes recommendations to help managers and organisations to transfer some logistics activities to or from their customers.Originality/valueThe originality of the framework is that it considers both the company and its customers. This comprehensive approach establishes a link between supply chain management research and marketing
Résumé L’objectif de cet article est de montrer comment les interactions avec les clients initialement inconnus mais présents lors de l’expérience de service, que nous appelons ‘co-clients’, influencent la satisfaction immédiate du consommateur envers le service délivré. Cette recherche exploratoire s’appuie sur une étude qualitative croisant plusieurs méthodes, menée sur deux services: un voyage en train et un cours de fitness. Elle identifie six rôles joués par les co-clients sur la satisfaction et quatre mécanismes d’influence sous-jacents. Les autres clients informent sur le service à venir, posent les règles sociales, sont un standard de comparaison, distraient, perturbent et aident à participer. L’influence de ces rôles sur la satisfaction se manifeste par la modification des attentes et de la performance perçue, directement ou via la participation, et à travers le sentiment d’équité. Elle est par ailleurs modérée par des variables situationnelles.
Cet article traite du concept de Socialisation Organisationnelle du Client (SOC). Il souligne son intérêt pour envisager de manière nouvelle la relation entre les entreprises de service et leurs clients. L'objectif de l'étude empirique exploratoire est de faire émerger les dimensions du concept. Cette étude s'appuie sur des entretiens de clients et de membres du personnel d'IKEA. Trois dimensions sont identifiées: 1) la connaissance et la maîtrise de son rôle par le client; 2) le degré d'intégration sociale et 3) la connaissance de l'organisation. Ces dimensions permettent de dresser un cadre d'actions à entreprendre pour améliorer la relation de service. D'un point de vue stratégique l'article propose l'engagement de l'entreprise dans un processus d'apprentissage avec ses clients.
Today, public organizations make extensive use of marketing methods and concepts to design, implement and assess the services they deliver to their beneficiaries. The quality of the services offered is at the heart of their concerns. Public sector marketing requires tools that are adapted to the specific characteristics of the context. The main contribution of this research is to propose the construction of a hybrid model to measure perceived public service quality (PSQ), mixing public and private dimensions. It is based on a quantitative study conducted on a sample of 760 inhabitants of the French town of Besançon. Points for practitioners Service quality is a cornerstone of government modernization. However, public service quality adds another dimension to the notion of service quality. In addition to those found in the private sector, dimensions specific to the public sector have a significant impact on how the beneficiaries perceive public services. In this article we develop a model to measure Public Service Quality that incorporates the public and private dimensions in a single conceptualization. This research provides practitioners with an operational measurement tool to survey their beneficiaries on public service quality.
The objective of this article is to show how co-clients – clients interacting with the customer during the service experience but unknown before it– impact customer satisfaction with service delivery. This exploratory research is based on a mix of qualitative methods in the context of rail transport and fitness classes. It identifies six roles that have an impact on satisfaction and four mechanisms by which these roles influence satisfaction. Co-clients give information about the forthcoming service, set the standards for social rules, provide a standard for comparison, distract, perturb and help to participate. Through these roles, other customers impact satisfaction by modifying customer expectations and perceived service performance, as well as perceived service equity. The authors propose situational variables that moderate this relationship.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.