Implications of customer participation in outsourcing non-core services to third parties

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaat De Pourcq ◽  
Katrien Verleye ◽  
Bart Larivière ◽  
Jeroen Trybou ◽  
Paul Gemmel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Waiting Time ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Customer Participation ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Content Type

PurposeFocal service providers increasingly involve customers in the decision-making about outsourcing parts of the service delivery process to third parties. The present study investigates how customers' outsourcing decisions affect the formation of the waiting experience with the focal service provider, by which the objective waiting time, environmental quality and interactional quality act as focal drivers.Design/methodology/approachTo test our hypotheses in the context of cancer care, we gathered process data and experience data by means of a patient observation template (n = 640) and a patient survey (n = 487). The combined data (n = 377) were analyzed using Bayesian models.FindingsThis study shows that opting for a service triad (i.e. outsourcing non-core services to a third party) deduces customers' attention away from the objective waiting time with the focal service provider but not from the environmental and interactional quality offered by the focal service provider. When the type of service triad coordination is considered, we observe similar effects for a focal service provider-coordinated service triad while in a customer-coordinated service triad the interactional quality is the sole experience driver of waiting experiences that remains significant.Originality/valueBy investigating the implications of customer participation in the decision-making about outsourcing parts of the service delivery process to third parties, this research contributes to the service design, service triad and service operations literature. Specifically, this study shows that customer outsourcing decisions impact waiting experience formation with the focal service provider.

From third party to significant other for service encounters: a systematic review on third-party roles and their implications

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliane Abboud ◽  
Nabila As'ad ◽  
Nicola Bilstein ◽  
Annelies Costers ◽  
Bieke Henkens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Significant Other ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Systematic Knowledge

PurposeDyadic interactions between customers and service providers rarely occur in isolation. Still, there is a lack of systematic knowledge about the roles that different types of nontechnological third parties – that is, other customers, pets, other employees and other firms – can adopt in relation to customers and service providers during encounters. The present study aims to unravel these roles and highlight their implications for customers, service providers and/or third parties.Design/methodology/approachThis research relies on a systematic review of literature in the Web of Science using a search string pertaining to the research study’s objectives. In total, 2,726 articles were screened by title and abstract using clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, thereby extracting 189 articles for full-text eligibility. The final sample consisted of 139 articles for coding and analysis.FindingsThe analyses reveal that other customers, pets, other employees and other firms can adopt five roles: bystander, connector, endorser, balancer and partner. Each role has different implications for customers, service providers and/or third parties. Additionally, the five roles are associated with distinct constellations of the customer, the service provider and the third party. These roles and constellations are dynamic and not mutually exclusive.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the service encounter literature by providing a thorough understanding of the various third-party roles and their implications for customers, service providers and/or third parties during encounters. As such, this research sheds light on the conditions under which third parties become “significant others” in service encounters and identifies avenues for future research.

Studying the interrelationship between third party logistic service provider enablers using ISM methodology

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-200
Author(s):  
P.C. Jha ◽  
Remica Aggarwal ◽  
Surya Prakash Singh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Service Reliability ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistic Service ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose The purpose of this research is to first explore various third party logistic service provider supply chain enablers. Thereafter the interrelationship amongst the various supply chain enablers has been studied using ISM Methodology. Despite the complex relationships third party logistic service providers (3PLs) share with their clients or firms, they often attract a demand owing to the flexibility and competitive edge they provide to their client firms in adapting to the rapidly changing market conditions, focusing on their core competencies and developing long-term growth strategies for them. Choosing and evaluating the right third-party logistic service provider is an important responsibility for logistic managers. This largely depends on selecting appropriate 3PLs supply chain enablers that assess the 3PLs on different fronts. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents an ISM approach for studying the interrelationships between various 3PLs enablers and accordingly constructing a hierarchical structure of them. Findings The results suggest that delivery, service reliability and risk and uncertainty factors have the highest importance. Research limitations/implications Selection of the 3PLs is a critical issue when they are required to be selected by the company at the global level. This often requires doing a comparative study for both domestic as well as global service providers. Choosing appropriate supply chain enablers as the basis for selection of 3PLs therefore will serve as a research topic to be further explored both by researchers as well as company managers. Further studying the inter-relationships amongst various supply chain enablers will provide basis to managers to justify their choice. Originality/value The novelty of the research lies in the application of methodology to the case of third-party logistic service provider selection

Service outsourcing contract design under asymmetric information

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Xia ◽  
Jiqing Xie ◽  
Guangsi Zhang ◽  
Weijun Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Asymmetric Information ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Demand Forecasting ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Incentive Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Third

PurposeUpstream suppliers attempt to outsource product after-sales services to midstream third-party service providers while selling the product directly to downstream sellers, forming a networked supply chain. However, a problem of information asymmetry in the market demand among supply chain members exists. The authors investigate the impact of demand information asymmetry among third-party service providers, upstream suppliers and downstream sellers in the supply chain on the supplier's contract selection under the networked framework.Design/methodology/approachThe authors establish a model in which the supplier can use a wholesale price contract and facilitate a signaling game between the third-party service provider and the seller. Conversely, the supplier could use a menu contract to establish an incentive mechanism to solve information asymmetry. The authors propose heuristic algorithms to quickly estimate a supplier's optimal profit.FindingsThe results show that when the demand forecasting bias is relatively small, the use of a menu contract by the supplier could eliminate information asymmetry; when the demand forecasting bias is large enough, the signaling mechanism between the third-party service provider and the seller could alleviate the double marginalization effect in the supply chain. Although it is common to solve the asymmetric information problem by establishing incentive mechanisms, the authors found that in the latter case, the supplier is better off when no incentive mechanisms are implemented in the networked supply chain.Originality/valueThis study compares screening and signaling effects and compares firms' profits in both cases.

An empirical investigation of tourist’s choice of service delivery options

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1892-1913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Kumar Kaushik ◽  
Zillur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Technology Readiness ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Delivery Options

Purpose This paper aims to offer and examine a conceptual model of tourist innovativeness toward self-service technologies (SSTs) to confirm whether tourists prefer service delivery by SSTs over employees in an offline hospitality environment. Design/methodology/approach Tourists’ perceived usefulness (PU) of SSTs and need for interaction (NI) with service employees have been taken as crucial mediating variables to examine the effects of perceived ease of use and technology readiness index personality dimensions toward SST and employee-based service adoption. Findings Findings reveal that both “NI” and “PU” play significant roles in Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model (TRAM) when tourists select one of two service delivery options – SSTs and service employees. Research limitations/implications The foremost limitation of the study is its dependence on domestic tourist samples. However, such samples were chosen because tourists comprising these samples tend to use similar service delivery options more, in turn increasing their use of SSTs available in sample hotels. Practical implications The study gives a deeper understanding of TRAM with an extremely crucial mediating variable (NI) in an offline service context. It also provides useful insights to service providers and policy makers for developing new strategies and policies to enhance user experience. Social implications This study recommends the usage of numerous SSTs by tourists. Originality/value During extensive literature review carried out in this research, no study was found that proposed such an effective framework in an offline service context.

scholarly journals A comparison of high-speed internet service in Ghana: an analytical hierarchy approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Frimpon ◽  
Ebenezer Adaku
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Internet Service ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sub Saharan

Purpose The rising proportion of internet users in Sub-Saharan Africa and the lack of analytical techniques, as decision support systems, in choosing among alternative internet service providers (ISPs) by consumers underpin this study. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for evaluating high-speed internet service offered by ISPs in a sub-Saharan African country. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample size of 150, pairwise comparisons of two ISPs along five criteria of cost, usability, support, reliability and speed were performed by ten person groups of university students working in various organizations in Ghana and undertaking an online Six Sigma Course. Geometric means were employed to aggregate the scores in 15 groups, and these scores were then normalized and used as input into an analytical hierarchy process grid. Findings The results show that consumers of internet services highly emphasize the cost attribute of internet provision in their decision making. On the other hand, it was realized that consumers least emphasize the support provided by ISPs in their decision making among alternative ISPs. Originality/value This study has sought to provide an analytical framework for assessing the quality of service provided by alternative ISPs in a developing economy’s context. The evaluating criteria in this framework also reveal the key consumer requirements in internet service provision in a developing economy’s environment. This, to a large extent, will inform the marketing strategies of existing ISPs in Ghana as well as prospective ones intending to enter the Ghanaian market. Besides, the National Communication Authority, a regulator of communication services provision in Ghana, will be informed about the performances of the ISPs along five performance criteria. This is expected to aid in their regulatory functions.

Quality of service and customer satisfaction: a conjoint analysis for the Nigerian bank customers

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 841-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Yusuf Dauda ◽  
Jongsu Lee
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Transaction Cost ◽  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Waiting Time ◽  
Consumer Preference ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Banking Service ◽  
Nigerian Banking

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the perceptions of Nigerian banking customers regarding customers’ evaluation of their banks service quality based on their banks actual performance on current banking service delivery. Design/methodology/approach A survey has been used to collect primary data and 1,245 usable questionnaires were used in the analysis. A conjoint analysis with stated preference data were used to construct the consumers’ behavior, while discrete choice method was employed to evaluate the preferences. More information was obtained by in cooperating heterogeneity into the model by the random coefficient and the test variance with the primary attributes and social demographics and individual characteristics. Findings Discrete choice analysis shows that bank management should focus on: reduction of transaction errors, transaction cost, waiting time and initial online learning time. This four attributes have strong impact on customer’s satisfaction depending on quality performance. Relative to other services the reduction in waiting time and transaction cost are the most important services to the Nigerian banking customers. Other findings of willingness to pay and consumer preference for other attributes reveal more information for improved banking policies. Research limitations/implications The sample only focussed on the urban areas and did not consider rural dwellers. Future research should aim to improve on these by including a variable in the utility set up that captures the distance of the respondent to the main city. Practical implications Nigerian banking customers do not care about a friendly smile as customer care. Rather, they value more on the waiting time and transaction cost showing that convenience and cost dimensions have strong and direct effect on service quality. Other dimensions identified includes, reliability, product portfolio, security and privacy, ease of use, accessibility, and competence and credibility. Originality/value This study has drawn on a sample of 1,245 Nigerian banking customers and evaluating how the survey respondents perceive their respective banks’ performance by their evaluation of the current banking service delivery.

Service Delivery Strategies for Alleviating Pandemic Suffering While Maintaining Profitability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omkar Palsule-Desai ◽  
Vikrant Vaze ◽  
Gang Li ◽  
Srinagesh Gavirneni
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Customer Segmentation ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Product Assortment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Service Option ◽  
Delivery Strategies

The postpandemic world requires a renewed focus from service providers on ensuring that all customer segments receive the essential services (food, healthcare, housing, education, etc.) that they need. Philanthropic service providers are unable to cope with the increased demand caused by the social, economic, and operational challenges induced by the pandemic. For-profit service providers offering no-pay services to customers, allowing them to self-select a service option, is becoming a popular strategy in various settings. Obtaining insights into how to efficiently balance societal and financial goals is critical for a for-profit service provider. We develop and analyze a quantitative model of customer utilities, vertically differentiated product assortment, pricing, and market size to understand how service providers can effectively use customer segmentation and serve the poor in the lowest economic strata. We identify conditions under which designing the service delivery to be accessible to the poor can simultaneously benefit the for-profit service provider, customers, and the entire society. Interestingly, we observe that the increasing customer valuation of the no-pay option because of a superior quality service offered by a service provider need not benefit customers. Our work provides a framework to obtain operational, economic, and strategic insights into socially responsible service delivery strategies.

scholarly journals Understanding technology mediation and new service provider roles in health care

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasia Daskalopoulou ◽  
Kathy Keeling ◽  
Rowan Pritchard Jones
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Health Care Service ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Advance Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Care Service Providers

PurposeService research holds that as services become more technology dominated, new service provider roles emerge. On a conceptual level, the potential impact of different roles has been discussed with regard to service provider readiness, job performance and overall experience. However, as yet, there is sparse empirical support for these conceptual interpretations. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the new service provider roles that emerge due to the increase of technology mediation in services.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows a qualitative methodology. Insights are drawn from in-depth interviews with 32 junior and senior health-care service providers (across 12 specialties) and 5 information governance/management staff.FindingsThis analysis illustrates that new service provider roles include those of the enabler, differentiator, innovator, coordinator and sense-giver. By adopting these roles, health-care service providers reveal that they can encourage, support and advance technology mediation in services across different groups/audiences within their organizations (e.g. service delivery level, peer-to-peer level, organizational level). This paper further shows the relationships between these new service provider roles.Originality/valueThis study contributes to theory in technology-mediated services by illustrating empirically the range of activities that constitute each role. It also complements prior work by identifying that service providers adopt the additional role of sense-giver. Finally, this paper provides an understanding of how by taking on these roles service providers can encourage, support and advance technology mediation in services across different groups/audiences in their organization.

Examining customer willingness to pay more for banking services: the role of employee commitment, customer involvement and customer value

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Emeka Izogo ◽  
Mathias Egede Elom ◽  
Mercy Mpinganjira
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Employee Commitment ◽  
Customer Participation ◽  
Interactive Marketing ◽  
Banking Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Involvement

PurposeAlthough scholars highlighted the need to close the interactive marketing gap and enhanced understanding of willingness to pay more in settings where customer participation in the service delivery process is paramount, research addressing this issue is scare. This study investigates the effect of perceived employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on customer value and willingness to pay more. The study also examines the extent to which customer value mediates the effect of employee commitment and customer involvement on willingness to pay more for banking services.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis was based on a sample of 211 Nigerian bank customers procured through a mall-intercept survey technique. The partial least squares structural equation modelling procedure and the Preacher–Hayes Bootstrapping technique aided hypotheses testing.FindingsThis study demonstrates that elements of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement have significant positive effect on the components of customer value. It also shows that customer value components have significant effect on customers' willingness to pay more. Additionally, the study shows that components of customer value mediate the effect of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on willingness to pay more.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to closing gaps in interactive marketing literature by uncovering how willingness to pay more for services is influenced by customer perceptions of employee commitment (affective and calculative) service delivery, customer involvement and customer value (hedonic and utilitarian).Practical implicationsIt is important for managers to put in place measures that will help them know the kind of commitment cues their employees are emitting to customers as well as levels of customer involvement during service encounters.Originality/valueThis study breaks new ground in three unique ways. First, the study represents the first attempt to examine the combined effect of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on consumer value perceptions. Second, the study also demonstrates that hedonic value has a more pronounced effect on willingness to pay more for banking services than utilitarian value. Finally, the study shows the extent to which customer value (hedonic vs utilitarian) mediates the effect of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on willingness to pay more.

A fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS methodology to evaluate 3PL in a supply chain

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pravin Kumar ◽  
Rajesh K. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Fuzzy Ahp ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service Providers ◽  
Hierarchy Process

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the use of an integrated approach of fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP) and TOPSIS in evaluating the performance of global third party logistics service providers for effective supply chain management.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the integration of fuzzy AHP with TOPSIS is proposed in determining the relative importance (weight) of criteria and then ranking of 3PLs.FindingsFindings show that the logistics cost and service quality are two most important criteria for performance rating of 3PLs. Deciding the relative importance of various criteria for 3PLs evaluation is a complex task. The superiority of one criterion over the other varies from person to person and firm to firm. Therefore, to capture the variability in decision fuzzy extended AHP is very useful tool. Finally, the preference raking of alternatives are found using TOPSIS.Research limitations/implicationsFuzzy AHP is a complex methodology and requires more numerical calculations than the traditional AHP and hence it increases the effort. But in this paper single stage fuzzy AHP is used to simplify the process. Fuzzy AHP is integrated with TOPSIS for preference ranking of 3PL, which provides a good methodology to rank 3PLs.Originality/valueThere is a lack of research in the literature to deal directly with the uncertainty of human decisions in evaluating the relative importance of multiple criteria. Therefore, fuzzy AHP is an appropriate methodology to find the relative importance of the criteria to rank the 3PLs using TOPSIS.

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