Configurations of low‐contact services

Verma, Rohit; Young, Scott T.

doi:10.1016/s0272-6963(00)00044-9

Cited by 40 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…For example, Sandada and Matibri (2016) used a modified service quality model for airline services and evaluated only dimensions directly related to the service process (tangible elements of the trip and employee attitudes). On the other hand, low-contact services assume a low level of interaction and customers have a relatively passive role (Bowen and Youngdahl 1998;Verma and Young 2000) since they are the recipients of services developed through and based on technical performance and successful service activation. In these cases, quality perception is more output-oriented.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Quality and Corporate Image in Mobile Services: The Role of Technical and Functional Quality

Babić-Hodović

Arslanagić-Kalajdžić

Imsirpasic³

2017

South East European Journal of Economics and Business

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Quality and Corporate Image in Mobile Services: The Role of Technical and Functional Quality

Babić-Hodović

Arslanagić-Kalajdžić

Imsirpasic³

2017

South East European Journal of Economics and Business

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“…The proper configuration of the service delivery process and the notion of ''strategic alignment'' can be evaluated on the basis of the ''fit'' between business strategy and processes, and the ''fit'' between business strategy and operational objectives (Verma and Young 2000;Johansson and Olhager 2004;Johnston and Clark 2005). Moreover, it has been recognized that alignment issues have been well investigated by scholars, with regard to the fit between the notions of strategic alignment which is constrained by other factors such as market dynamics, operations capability, and technology availability.…”

Section: Conceptual Development Theoretical Lensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alignments between strategic content and process structure: the case of container terminal service process automation

2017

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During the last three decades, technological innovations in cargo handling equipment have made it possible to automate operational processes in container terminals. Despite the increasing trend in terminal automation, little work has been done to develop theoretical guidelines for evaluating the benefits of this industrial practice. We assess terminal automation by focusing on whether strategic content and process structure are aligned. In this study, we explore the reasons that these results are mixed in the context of service automation. Have market competitiveness and operational performance been enhanced by automation in seaports? We focus on two key strategic elements and their proper alignment to produce the best performance for a port. The first element is the overall business strategy and strategic content adopted by the port. In this study, we look at Porter's (Competitive strategy, Free Press, New York, 1980) generic strategic classification of low cost, differentiation, or focus strategies. The second element is the process structure of the port, which may have been impacted by technological innovation. Using the framework of contingency theory, we explore the interface of strategic content and process structure and how this interface impacts the service process automation. A multiple case study is conducted on a sample of 20 container terminals, selected from the list The original version of this article was revised: the author name Qingcheng Zeng was misspelt and the authors sequence was incorrect. We come up with three important findings. First, a port's strategic market position determines the choice of overall business strategy. If a port is strategically positioned as an international gate, then it should adopt an overall cost-leadership strategy, whereas a transshipment terminal should adopt an overall differentiation strategy. Second, we find that the process structure adopted is associated with the level of automation, and a differentiation strategy is dependent on the level of flexibility, speed, and reliability. Higher market uncertainty requires higher flexibility, while lower market uncertainty requires greater speed and reliability. Third, the level of process automation depends on throughput volume and stability. Closer relationships with maritime supply-chain partners help increase throughput volume and reduce throughput uncertainty.

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“…High-contact processes deal with customer-induced variability, while low-contact processes, the technical core, are focused on possible economies of scale and maximising process efficiency. The view that processes devoid of customer contact can be made as efficient as assembly lines in manufacturing operations is widely supported by the existing OM literature (Levitt, 1972;McLaughlin et al, 1991;Silvestro et al, 1992;Collier and Meyer, 1998;Verma and Young, 2000).…”

Section: Reduce Customer Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Process design principles in service firms: Universal or context dependent? A literature review and new research directions

Ponsignon¹,

Smart²,

Maull³

2012

Total Quality Management & Business Excellence

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The aim of this article is to assess whether process design principles derived from best practices are universally applicable to service organisations or context dependent. This is achieved through a comprehensive review of the Business Process Management (BPM) and Operations Management (OM) literatures. Our comparison of the existing bodies of knowledge in these disciplines reveals major inconsistencies in how the topic of process design in service environments is addressed. Drawing on the more mature, contingencyoriented OM literature we challenge the BPM discipline which prescribes that process design principles derived from best practices are universally applicable irrespective of the context in which the service organisation operates. The results strongly suggest that in the business process design area one size does not fit all service organisations and that some design principles fit better under certain contextual conditions. We then use these findings to 2 develop a contingency conceptual framework and associated research propositions linking the firm's service strategy context to the use of particular business process design principles. This extends existing theory and provides a platform for future process design research in service organisations that is more closely aligned with the needs of practitioners.

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Configurations of low‐contact services

Cited by 40 publications

References 40 publications

Perceived Quality and Corporate Image in Mobile Services: The Role of Technical and Functional Quality

Perceived Quality and Corporate Image in Mobile Services: The Role of Technical and Functional Quality

Alignments between strategic content and process structure: the case of container terminal service process automation

Process design principles in service firms: Universal or context dependent? A literature review and new research directions

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