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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/EUM0000000001269. When citing the article, please cite: Colin Armistead, Graham Clark, (1991), “A Framework for Formulating After-sales Support Strategy”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 11 Iss 3 pp. 111 - 124.

Asserts that managing service quality demands an integrated approach. Contends that top management commitment, robust operating systems, human resources management, and understanding and measuring customer needs, are essential to creating a competitive advantage. Identifies the key elements to achieving quality in the intangibles of service operations. Asserts standards of service quality must be set where possible. Concludes it will become increasingly important that organisations understand how to manage all the elements of their output, not just quality of manufactured products, but also the documentation, mode of delivery, as well as all the customer contacts in the daily operations.

Discusses a survey mailed to some 3,000 managers to ascertain how service managers approach the management of resource capacity to satisfy the demand for their type of business, and how this process impacts on their ability to maintain a constant delivery of the most important features of service quality. Reviews the results in respect of important features of service quality, management of service delivery process recovery from mistakes and the and the management of service quality.

Asserts that service is about people ‐ people who deliver good service to their customers. Contends that these service providers perform best when they are led and encouraged by supportive front‐line managers, and that most quality failures are management failures. Discusses the role of the front‐line manager and suggests ways in which he can give a clear lead. Considers that excellence through system design can only be achieved by managers with a front‐line mentality. Asserts it is the task of the manager to ensure that peer group influence conforms to the objectives of the service organization and that managers must take measures to encourage customer‐service teams. Concludes that quality of service can only be obtained through front‐line managers.

For some time there have been models for considering manufacturing strategy which focus on the product but which essentially ignore dimensions of aftersales support. This article presents a framework for formulating and reviewing an after‐sales support strategy and links it to a manufacturing strategy model to produce a comprehensive strategy for customer satisfaction over the lifetime of a manufactured product.

Matching supply and demand in services by capacity management has a direct influence on the ability of the service delivery system to achieve service quality and resource productivity targets. Examines some propositions for the influences of capacity management on quality and resource productivity and for managing capacity. In addition to the chase and level strategies for managing capacity in services suggested by Sasser a coping strategy for capacity management is described which aims to improve the overall delivery of service quality while achieving resource productivity targets. Coping is necessary for all organizations at some time. Some research results derived from the experience of a range of service organizations indicate a less than satisfactory handling of the coping situation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of work conditions and job characteristics with respect to three subjective well-being (SWB) indicators: life satisfaction, job satisfaction and satisfaction with work-life balance. From a methodological point of view, the paper shows how social sciences can benefit from the use of voluntary web survey data.

The paper makes use of a large sample of individual data obtained from voluntary web surveys collected as part of the WageIndicator project. The sample includes extensive information on the quality of working conditions together with different well-being indicators. The propensity score adjustment weights are used to improve the sample performance.

The results shed light on the importance of certain job characteristics not only in determining job satisfaction, but also in other SWB domains. The findings support the theory of spillover perspectives, according to which satisfaction in one domain affects other domains.

As a voluntary web-survey, WageIndicator is affected by selection bias. The validity of the sample can be improved by weighting, but this adjustment should be made and tested on a country-by-country basis.

The paper provides analysis of the quality of a web survey not commonly used in happiness research. The subsequent presentation of the effects of working conditions on several satisfaction domains represents a contribution to the literature.

In reviewing their service offering, organisations may decide standardised services need to be more flexible whilst exclusive or customised services need to adopt a more consistent house style. In this paper, the emotional challenge to the service providers is identified as a key issue in changing the service provision if the transition is to be smooth. This paper uses a service operations taxonomy that describes four forms of service organisations. Professional service and mass service have distinct characteristics. Using the extended concept of distinct professional and mass service shops enables the management issues to be clearly identified. This paper brings together two concepts; the need to contain organisational anxiety and the need to identify what is appropriate in different circumstances. These are linked to the transition to professional and mass service shops using case examples. To explore anxiety and the containment of anxiety, a psychodynamic perspective, drawing on Kleinian tradition, is adopted.

Many companies have customer service departments which act as a barrier between the company and the customer. Is customer service represented at the top? How credible is a customer satisfaction index? What effect does this have on customer service? This article discusses a tool for assessing the degree of customer focus within an organization’s culture and provides a series of checklist questions.

The controversial Prebisch thesis in international economics of development asserts that (i) less‐developed countries (LDCs) experience a long‐run deterioration in their terms of trade with developed countries (DCs), and (ii) these experiences are the cause of the ever‐widening gap in their per capita incomes with DCs. By surveying the controversy and discussing the connection between trends in terms of trade and international economic inequality, this paper attempts to disprove some widely held notions derived from misinterpretations and from broad generalisations with indirect inferences. We conclude that there is need for case studies; in order to evaluate and select appropriate policy options.