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Tomas Palaima and Viltė Auruškevičienė
The aim of this study is to develop a structural model and test it in the parcel delivery services business‐to‐business market in order to identify how services quality influences…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to develop a structural model and test it in the parcel delivery services business‐to‐business market in order to identify how services quality influences relationship quality and to determine the interactions between constructs of relationship quality.
Design/methodology/approach
A structural model was developed using frameworks suggested by Gwinner et al., Hennig‐Thurau et al. and Bingguang et al. Online survey research was employed to survey the respondents. Structural equation modeling was employed to estimate structural model and test hypotheses.
Findings
The research demonstrated that services quality does not have direct influence on commitment, but impacts it indirectly through various relational benefits. The results imply that services quality is not enough for commitment‐based loyalty to develop. Relational benefits are essential. The results demonstrated that special treatment benefits, social benefits and confidence benefits are intricately related and have effect on each other. Main findings of the study demonstrated that in parcel delivery services industry there exist context‐specific relationships between constructs of relationship quality. The research found out that the interactions between constructs of relationship quality in parcel delivery services industry are different. Moreover, the empirical study confirmed the existence of industry‐specific direct and indirect loyalty drivers.
Research limitation/implications
The developed relationship quality model is intentionally limited to parcel delivery services industry in order to examine industry‐specific relationships between the constructs. The model could be extended in order to model competition and effects of change in relationship quality on customer life‐time‐value.
Practical implications
The model can be used by managers of parcel delivery companies to assess loyalty and commitment of clients.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to identify how services quality influences relationship quality, test relationships between constructs of relationship quality and examine context‐specific relationship in the parcel delivery market.
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Tomas Palaima and Aelita Skaržauskienė
Effective decision making and learning in a world of growing dynamic complexity requires leaders to become systems thinkers – to develop tools to understand the structures of…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective decision making and learning in a world of growing dynamic complexity requires leaders to become systems thinkers – to develop tools to understand the structures of complex systems. The paper aims to clarify the relationship between systems thinking and leadership performance. The relevance of systems thinking as a competence was disclosed in the context of leadership in the complex world.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper followed a quantitative research approach. First, exploratory factor analysis was employed to assess dimensionality of scales. Second, relationships between variables were explored using Spearman's correlation. Third, multiple linear regression was run to test the hypothesized model of relationships. The total sample of 201 consists of subsamples in two industries: retail trade (103 respondents) and manufacturing (98 respondents).
Findings
Based on the analysis and synthesis of the scientific literature, a conceptual model of relationship between intelligence competencies (such as systems thinking) and leadership performance is developed. The theoretical model is supported by empirical evidence from the two industries perspectives: the paper compares the impact of systems thinking on leadership performance in manufacturing and retail trade enterprises. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that systems thinking was associated with higher leadership performance.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. First, the model was tested empirically only in two industries: in retail trade and in manufacturing. Second, the sample of this research was limited only to national level, therefore there is no possibility to compare results across different countries. In order to generalize the research findings, further research should include more companies from different industries.
Practical implications
The paper discloses the benefits of systems thinking in organization and includes implications for the development of systems thinking and other leadership competencies.
Originality/value
This paper establishes a link between systems thinking and leadership performance. Theoretical insights that systems thinking is most important dealing with conceptual strategic problems of an organization were confirmed empirically.
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Rolv Petter Amdam, Petras Baršauskas and Alfredas Chmieliauskas