Adding clicks to bricks: A study of the consequences on customer loyalty in a service context

With the explosion of the Internet many firms are incorporating technology into their marketing and operations and are adopting a multichannel strategy. The impact of this strategy has been especially high in the services area, which has traditionally relied on close, personal contact between customers and employees. This study explores how overall customer loyalty is built as a consequence of the value provided by each channel (offline and online). It also analyzes the moderating role of complexity of services used and customers’ Internet access in the service value–loyalty link. The model is tested with a sample of 302 multichannel financial services customers who use both the offline (traditional) and the online channel. Results show that offline perceived service value increases online perceived value; offline value has a stronger effect on overall loyalty than online value; and online service complexity and Internet adoption moderate the influence of service value on overall loyalty. Implications for management and theory are discussed.     

A web-based intelligent fault diagnosis system for customer service support

In traditional help desk service centres, service engineers provide a world-wide customer support service through the use of long-distance telephone calls. Such a mode of support is found to be inefficient, ineffective and generally results in high costs, long service cycles, and poor quality of service. With the advent of the Internet technology, it is possible to deliver customer service support over the World Wide Web. This paper describes a Web-based intelligent fault diagnosis system, known as WebService, to support customer service over the Web. In the WebService system, a hybrid case-based reasoning (CBR) and artificial neural network (ANN) approach is adopted as the intelligent technique for machine fault diagnosis. Instead of using traditional CBR technique for indexing, retrieval and adaptation, the hybrid CBR–ANN approach integrates ANN with the CBR cycle to extract knowledge from service records of the customer service database and subsequently recall the appropriate service records using this knowledge during the retrieval phase.     

A case-;study of requirements reuse through product families

Increasingly, software organisations are looking towards large-;scale reuse as a way of improving productivity, raising quality and reducing delivery timescales. Many in the reuse community have suggested notions of product-;line development and domain engineering life-;cycles. Achieving these in practice, however, requires a systematic process for “early” reuse (requirements reuse) as well as late reuse (code reuse). This paper discusses pratical experience of early reuse. We describe FORE (Family Of REquirements), an approach that we have developed in our work in the domain of aircraft engine control systems. The FORE approach concentrates on the definition of a generic product concept and the formalisation of its requirements. We describe the FORE approach in general terms, and then show how it has been applied in an industrial case-;study. We make an initial evaluation of the FORE approach (and early reuse in general) in terms of how it has changed an existing requirements engineering process. We compare the FORE approach to related work in early reuse, and draw some conclusions about how the approach may scale to other problems.     

Online customer service and emotional labor: An exploratory study

The recent growth of service industries as well as the rise of e-commerce has increased the number of online customer service workers. Research on face-to-face service work has shown that these workers are expected to display certain emotions in the course of their work, a phenomenon known as emotional labor. However, little is known about emotional communication among online customer service workers. We explored emotional labor in an online context by examining the degree of emotional presence in mediated service interactions and its relationship with workers' acting strategies (i.e., surface acting, deep acting). Further, we examined if emotional presence and acting strategies predict job satisfaction as well as burnout. Data collected from 130 online customer service workers indicated that they perceive the highest emotional presence in phone conversations, followed by email and chat. Although there was little relationship between emotional presence and acting strategies, those who engage in surface acting are less satisfied with their job and more likely to experience burnout. In addition, those who feel a higher degree of emotional presence over the phone tend to experience higher job satisfaction and less burnout. These findings suggest that online customer service workers also engage in emotional labor.     

Saving reuse from the noose: reuse of analogous specifications through human involvement in reuse process

Analogy is proposed as an alternative paradigm for the reuse of specifications during requirements analysis. First, critical determinants of analogies between software engineering problems are discussed in relation to a specification retrieval mechanism. Second, the process of specification reuse is examined. Specification reuse by analogy is knowledge-intensive, hence an important role is proposed for the analyst during specification reuse: analyst involvement would appear necessary to categorize a new problem, select between candidate reusable specifications, and customize the selected specification to the new domain. Finally, a specification reuse tool is proposed that recognises the collaborative nature of reuse by analogy. This tool assists and advises the analyst during reuse founded on cognitive models of analyst behaviour during analogous reasoning and reuse. The prototype version of this intelligent reuse advisor (Ira) is outlined.     

Modeling the customer in electronic commerce

This paper reviews interface design of web pages for e-commerce. Different tasks in e-commerce are contrasted. A systems model is used to illustrate the information flow between three subsystems in e-commerce: store environment, customer, and web technology. A customer makes several decisions: to enter the store, to navigate, to purchase, to pay, and to keep the merchandize. This artificial environment must be designed so that it can support customer decision-making. To retain customers it must be pleasing and fun, and create a task with natural flow. Customers have different needs, competence and motivation, which affect decision-making. It may therefore be important to customize the design of the e-store environment. Future ergonomics research will have to investigate perceptual aspects, such as presentation of merchandize, and cognitive issues, such as product search and navigation, as well as decision making while considering various economic parameters. Five theories on e-commerce research are presented.     

Introducing web service accessibility assessment techniques through a unified quality of service context

This paper introduces novel web service (WS) accessibility assessment techniques through a unified Quality of Services (QoS) context. The goal is to enable future QoS-aware service selection systems to select and provide accessible web services, ones that are properly designed so as to allow their consumption from end-user applications, used from people with disabilities. In this line, a WS accessibility assessment Framework (WSaaF) has been developed, on the basis of WS accessibility guidelines, dealing with accessibility issues that can appear both on the presentation level of content delivered through WSs and on the content level itself. The WSaaF and its guidelines follow the rationale behind W3C WCAG 2.0-based accessibility standardization of web content. It provides the basis toward building future accessible WSs, a task that can be further facilitated by the use of an appropriate Tool (WSaaT), developed with the aim to provide automatic assessment of services, against guidelines of the proposed framework. Then, the WS accessibility attribute is introduced, as a metric that can be used in conjunction to ones typically utilized so far, within QoS-aware service selection systems. As a result, a novel unified QoS framework is proposed, incorporating the notion of accessibility in the service selection process. The proposed unified QoS framework can eventually lead to the provision of services, which are selected from appropriate repositories and better suit the special needs of people with disabilities.     

A strategic approach to customer satisfaction in the telecommunication service market

As is the case in most other service industries, customer satisfaction is of paramount importance in the telecommunications industry. owever, customer satisfaction management in the telecommunication industry is difficult because of the diversity of services and customer segments that exist. This diversity makes it implausible to have a uniform customer satisfaction questionnaire that can be administered to all the different service/customer segment combination. Therefore, we first carried out a segmentation study to identify key customer segments for Korea Telecom, and then focused on one service/customer group in developing the questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed using the SERVPERF approach to measuring service satisfaction. We then developed a decision support system to manage and analyze the customer satisfaction data. The system consists of data input, tracking ability, and statistical modeling capabilities. The computer software was designed as an “open” decision support system that was intended to be used by a wide and general audience within Korea Telecom to review and make active use of customer satisfaction data.     

Reuse of knowledge assets from repositories: A mixed methods study

Reuse of information retrieved from an electronic knowledge repository and how this complements person-to-person interactions are poorly understood. I developed a research model that examined factors influencing how individuals benefit from reuse of knowledge assets. Using a mixed method approach, two empirical studies were conducted to test the model. The results showed that two key factors helped users to overcome difficulties in reusing knowledge assets: seeking assistance from and sharing a common perspective with the author of the asset. The study explains when and how individuals receive benefits from knowledge reuse. When individuals reuse complex knowledge assets in domains with which they are unfamiliar, they apparently gain more benefit by contacting the author; sharing a common perspective with the author also facilitates asset reuse. Thus both electronic repositories and person-to-person interaction mechanisms complement one another in facilitating knowledge sharing.     

Trends in software reuse research: A tertiary study

ContextThe reuse of software has been a research topic for more than 50 years. Throughout that time, many approaches, tools and proposed techniques have reached maturity. However, it is not yet a widespread practice and some issues need to be further investigated. The latest study on software reuse trends dates back to 2005 and we think that it should be updated.ObjectiveTo identify the current trends in software reuse research.MethodA tertiary study based on systematic secondary studies published up to July 2018.ResultsWe identified 4,423 works related to software reuse, from which 3,102 were filtered by selection criteria and quality assessment to produce a final set of 56 relevant studies. We identified 30 current research topics and 127 proposals for future work, grouped into three broad categories: Software Product Lines, Other reuse approaches and General reuse topics.ConclusionsFrequently reported topics include: Requirements and Testing in the category of Lifecycle phases for Software Product Lines, and Systematic reuse for decision making in the category of General Reuse. The most mentioned future work proposals were Requirements, and Evolution and Variability management for Software Product Lines, and Systematic reuse for decision making. The identified trends, based on future work proposals, demonstrate that software reuse is still an interesting area for research. Researchers can use these trends as a guide to lead their future projects.     

Creating a conversational context through video blogging: A case study of Geriatric1927

Web-based communication technologies such as YouTube can provide opportunities for social contact, especially between older and younger people, and help address issues of social isolation. Currently our understanding of the dynamics of social interaction within this context (particularly for older people) is limited. Elaborating upon this understanding will make it possible to proactively facilitate and support this form of intergenerational social contact. This study focuses on the experiences of an 80-year-old video blogger (vlogger), Geriatric1927, and a video dialogue that develops between himself and three of his younger viewers on a particular topic. Through a multimodal interactional analysis, we show how vloggers create a conversational context between one another through the YouTube website. In particular we describe how vloggers use different communicative modes to establish eye contact, take turns in conversation, share embodied gestures, share their understandings and negotiate simultaneous audiences. Despite a disconnected and ambiguous sense of the other, YouTube is able to facilitate a conversational context in which common ground is shared and social contact and intergenerational communication can occur.     

Knowledge cloud system for network collaboration: A case study in medical service industry in China

This paper introduces a new service model in cloud computing – the knowledge as a service (KaaS) that facilitates the interoperations among members in a knowledge network. In this study, the KaaS is modeled as a framework of a knowledge cloud system which aims for the development of collaborative networks in medical service industry. The framework is applied in a case study of radiotherapy dynamic treatment service. The collaborative activities supported by knowledge cloud system are analysed. This study has investigated the essential components for the success of a private knowledge network for business network collaboration. This study shows the best practices of the formation of collaborative network facilitating by the knowledge cloud system in medical service industry which can be transferred to other industries.     

Understanding the consequences of information systems service quality on IS service reuse

IS researchers have normally assumed that satisfaction is the key factor influencing IS customers’ reuse of services; however, a focus on customer satisfaction does not always guarantee customer retention. We synthesized customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction models from prior service quality research to provide a comprehensive model predicting the behavioral intentions of customers to reuse IS services. Five research hypotheses were empirically tested by using a field study of 263 users of an IS service department. Our findings placed IS service quality in a causal network leading to IS service reuse and highlighted the relative importance that service quality value played in predicting behavioral intention to reuse the service.     

A new standard of on-line customer service process: Integrating language-action into blogs

Blogging, which is a relatively new medium in personal communication and collaboration, can help enterprises overcome some difficulties in conventional customer service management. However, blog functions remain limited. This study proposes a novel standard for managing customer service processes, in which language-action is integrated into blogs to leverage blog characteristics. This standard comprises new specified dialogue patterns for collaboration, suggested customer service processes, and supporting system architecture. Furthermore, a scenario is provided that demonstrates use of this standard.     

Knowledge sourcing from repositories: The role of system characteristics and psychological climate

This paper draws on the knowledge management literature to develop hypotheses that relate key knowledge repository (KR) characteristics and psychological climate to KR knowledge sourcing behavior these hypotheses are tested using survey data from 110 technical support agents from seven companies. The results reveal that searchability (finding knowledge in the KR), actionability (applying retrieved knowledge to problem solving) and support for knowledge contribution are characteristics of a KR that predict its use. Moreover, two of these relationships are moderated by the degree to which a knowledge worker perceives a climate that is conducive to KR knowledge sourcing (high autonomy, high innovation, and low work pressure).     

A service recovery method to enhance customer satisfaction with a case study of motion sport game

Service recovery is a concept that involves regaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Although existing studies have addressed its importance, few service recovery methodologies have been developed. Thus, there is a need to develop a systematic framework that can first detect customer status and then provide appropriate recovery recommendations to ensure customer satisfaction. This study develops such a framework in relation to an individual health maintenance practice. While regular moderate exercise is known to promote good health and help prevent disease, the lack of exercise remains a crucial health issue. This study presents a logistic regression model that uses both physiological data (heart rate and blood pressure) and psychological data (ratings of perceived exertion) to detect the effectiveness of an individual's exercise and to provide sports‐related service recovery suggestions as needed. To implement and assess this service recovery model, the use of a motion gaming system is proposed.     

Analysis of the effects of software reuse on customer satisfactionin an RPG environment

This paper reports on empirical research based on two software products. The research goal is to ascertain the impact of the adoption of a reuse policy on customer satisfaction. The results show that when a systematic reuse policy is implemented, such as the adoption of a domain specific library: reuse is significantly positively correlated with customer satisfaction; and there is a significant increase in customer satisfaction. The results have been extended to the underlying populations, supposed normal     

客户标签在95598业务中的应用

基于电力客户标签体系在供电企业的研究成果,介绍了电力客户标签体系在95598业务中的若干典型应用:一是建立了基于“客户画像+满意度测评”的闭环管理模式,有力支撑了客户服务工作的常态化开展;二是构建了基于“话务引导”和“服务策略推送”的话务服务模式,实现了客户精准洞察,帮助95598客服人员迅速识别客户特征,缩短反应时间,针对性的为客户提供差异化、精细化服务。客户标签在供电企业的实际应用为以客户为中心的现代电力营销体系起到了中流砥柱的作用。