It is well known that service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value are becoming the most important factors of business success for either manufacturers or service…
Abstract
It is well known that service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value are becoming the most important factors of business success for either manufacturers or service providers. However, many different conclusions have been reached and related studies are rather fragmented, especially with regard to customer value. Furthermore, there are few related studies with service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value and their influences on customers’ future behaviors in the telecommunication industry as the focus. In this paper, attention is paid to the measurement model of service quality in China’s mobile phone market based on the well‐known SERVQUAL model, but with modification on the basis of focus group discussions and expert opinions to reflect the specific industry attributes and the special culture of China. Emphasis is then paid to the study of the dynamic relationships among service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction and their influences on future behaviors after the key drivers of customer value and customer satisfaction are identified. All of them are based on the development of structural equation models by using PLS‐GRAPH Package.
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In today’s turbulent environments, competition has gone far beyond the traditional product‐based competition and taken on an increasingly new look, with its nature and rules…
Abstract
In today’s turbulent environments, competition has gone far beyond the traditional product‐based competition and taken on an increasingly new look, with its nature and rules changing fundamentally. Accordingly, firms are competing with one another at multiple levels at the same time and as a result building and enhancing multi‐layer competitive advantage is becoming the focus of competition for any firm to succeed. Tries to develop an effective framework for companies to deal with the challenges of turbulent environments by integrating existing theories and techniques together and applying them as a whole Finally, provides an integrated framework with a practical example of Haier Group as a perspective of organizational learning, where there is successful competition in a turbulent environment and where the model is implemented practically.
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Unlike previous studies which emphasize market oriented performance from the perspective of firms or customers, but mainly internally, the paper proposes that firms should…
Abstract
Unlike previous studies which emphasize market oriented performance from the perspective of firms or customers, but mainly internally, the paper proposes that firms should prioritize customer‐focused performance defined totally externally from the perspective of targeted customers, which are the fundamental drivers of purchasing or repurchasing behaviors of customers and consequently the key to successful competition in the customer‐centered era. Then, the role of customer‐focused performance in the overall business performance system is examined. After the components and dynamics of customer‐focused performance are analyzed, much attention is given to its key determinants in perspective of a resource‐based view, which aims mainly at bridging the current gaps between strategic management and service management. In addition, important propositions are presented and future implications are discussed.
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Bee Lan Oo, Derek Drew and Hing‐Po Lo
In order to compete successfully, international contractors need to have an understanding not only of the make‐up of the different competitive environments within each country…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to compete successfully, international contractors need to have an understanding not only of the make‐up of the different competitive environments within each country, but also of contractors' competitive behaviour within those environments. Contractors' mark‐up decision making in public sector contracting is directly compared in two construction markets – Hong Kong and Singapore.
Design/methodology/approach
Regression analysis is used to compare the lowest percentage mark‐up in both markets against four mark‐up decision factors that fall into two groups – market‐environment factors (i.e. number of bidders, market conditions) and project‐specific factors (i.e. type and size of project). Data were gathered using a designed bidding experiment.
Findings
In line with de Neufville et al.'s “good year‐bad year” study, the effect of market conditions was found to be independent of the number of bidders in both markets; contractors' mark‐up decreases as the number of bidders increases, with lower mark‐up in recession. In addition, this study provides evidence that contractors' mark‐up behaviour varies in different markets: Hong Kong contractors' mark‐up behaviour is more straightforward, in that only the market‐environment factors are significant. However, Singapore contractors' mark‐up behaviour is affected by project type in addition to the market‐environment factors. Project size was not found to be significant in either market.
Originality/value
The empirical findings provide a valuable insight into contractors' mark‐up behaviour, especially those contractors intending to bid for jobs in these two internationally renowned construction markets.
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Yonggui Wang, Hing‐Po Lo, Quan Zhang and Youzhi Xue
This study seeks to address three research questions: how technology capability impact business performance? Does the linkage between technology capability and business…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to address three research questions: how technology capability impact business performance? Does the linkage between technology capability and business performance depend on specific contexts? Why do some high‐tech firms of strong technological capability fail?
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on various theoretical perspectives to develop hypotheses that propose a direct relationship between technological capability and business performance (both new product development and overall business performance), the mediating role of customer value, the possible moderating effects of business environment and other important contingent factors such as learning orientation. A conceptual framework is devised and tested that examines these relationships in general and in various contexts, which is believed more important and useful for firms to manage their technological capability more effectively.
Findings
Findings from high‐tech firms in China confirm the validity of the framework and afford various insights on the role of various contingent factors in the proposed relationships.
Originality/value
The paper provides a framework that examines companies' technological capability relationships.
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In today's turbulent environment, customers are playing a more important role in competition, which can be reflected by customers as co‐producer, value co‐producer, or…
Abstract
In today's turbulent environment, customers are playing a more important role in competition, which can be reflected by customers as co‐producer, value co‐producer, or co‐developer of knowledge and competencies, etc. Accordingly, business priority should be given to what customers really value. Unlike previous studies, which emphasize market performance mainly from the internal or firm's perspective, this paper proposes that firms should prioritize customer‐focused performance, defined totally from an external perspective of targeted customers. The paper examines the important role of customer‐focused performance and its interactive relationships with other dimensions of the overall performance system, and goes further to analyze the components and dynamics of customer‐focused performance. Finally, attention is given to the dynamic competence building and leveraging process and its key elements, which determines the customer‐focused performance in perspective of resource‐based views. Important propositions are presented and future implications discussed.
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Yonggui Wang, Hing Po Lo, Renyong Chi and Yongheng Yang
In the modern customer‐centred era, customer value is a strategic weapon in attracting and retaining customers. Delivering superior customer value has become a matter of ongoing…
Abstract
In the modern customer‐centred era, customer value is a strategic weapon in attracting and retaining customers. Delivering superior customer value has become a matter of ongoing concern in building and sustaining competitive advantage by driving customer‐relationship‐management (CRM) performance. However, related studies are rather divergent, the key dimensions of customer value remain unclear, and there is no agreement on the evaluation of CRM performance. This paper develops an integrative framework for customer value and CRM performance based on the identification of the key dimensions of customer value. Emphasising the customer equity‐based view, the paper explores the decomposed effects of customer value on CRM performance in terms of relationship quality and customer behaviours. In doing so, a structural equation model is developed using the partial least square method supported by an empirical investigation of customers in China.
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Bee Lan Oo, Hing‐Po Lo and Benson Teck‐Heng Lim
Winning a bid will carry implications for capacity level of a construction firm. This paper aims to examine the impact of a winning bid on contractors' bid pricing strategies.
Abstract
Purpose
Winning a bid will carry implications for capacity level of a construction firm. This paper aims to examine the impact of a winning bid on contractors' bid pricing strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
In identifying the specific types of bidding trends before and after a winning bid, the variations in bids are expressed as a function of time relative to winning bid – the “event” of interest in this study – using a piecewise mixed effects model. The bids analysed comprised series of bids with a winning bid in between, recorded from Hong Kong building contractors.
Findings
The results show that there is a relationship between bid price and bidding success. The bidders in general bid low for time periods before a winning bid and they are less competitive in time periods after a winning bid. However, by considering the individual bidders' characteristics that relate to differences in bidding competitiveness, it is shown that there is remarkable heterogeneity among the bidders in bid pricing decision for pre‐ and post‐winning periods. Nevertheless, the statistically significant bidding trends before and after a winning bid strengthen the notion that systematic changes in bidding behaviour over time do occur in reality in response to changes in firm capacity level.
Originality/value
This empirical investigation provides strong evidence on the systematic changes in bidding behaviour over time in response to changes in firm capacity level, supporting the need to incorporate firm capacity level in the future development of a suitable theoretical framework on construction bidding.
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Regan Lam, Suzan Burton and Hing‐Po Lo
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a method for estimating the tradeoffs that banking customers make between different attributes of a service, thus allowing businesses…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a method for estimating the tradeoffs that banking customers make between different attributes of a service, thus allowing businesses to estimate the likely impact on customer loyalty of changes in different attributes of a service.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected using a mail survey that was sent to small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) decision makers in Hong Kong. The data were then analyzed using a choice modeling approach in the form of ordinal logistic regression.
Findings
Both affective components, such as relational bonds, and cognitive components, such as perceived service quality, are shown to influence customers' switching behavior. The specific tradeoffs that customers make between these attributes are also estimated.
Research limitations/implications
This study is the first to quantify the effect of different variables on SME customer loyalty in a largely disloyal services sector. The study also demonstrates and quantifies the tradeoffs that customers make between various cognitive and affective attributes.
Practical implications
The tradeoff analysis shows how improvement in one attribute can have an impact that is equivalent to a change in another attribute. This provides additional strategic options for financial services marketers to cost‐effectively achieve a higher level of loyalty.
Originality/value
The study is the first to show how choice modeling can be used to calculate the tradeoffs that customers make in their purchase decisions, thereby providing financial services marketers with an effective way to estimate the impact of alternative strategies on customer loyalty.