How E-Services Satisfy Customer Needs

2011 ◽  
pp. 198-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziv Baida ◽  
Jaap Gordijn ◽  
Hans Akkermans ◽  
Hanne Sæle ◽  
Andrei Morch
Keyword(s):  
Web Site ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Customer Needs ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
Energy Utilities ◽  
Financial Losses

We outline a rigorous approach that models how companies can electronically offer packages of independent services (service bundles). Its objective is to support prospective Web site visitors in defining and buying service bundles that fit their specific needs and demands. The various services in the bundle may be offered by different suppliers. To enable this scenario, it is necessary that software can reason about customer needs and available service offerings. Our approach for tackling this issue is based on recent advances in computer and information science, where information about a domain at hand is conceptualized and formalized using ontologies and subsequently represented in machine-interpretable form. The substantive part from our ontology derives from broadly accepted service management and marketing concepts from business studies literature. In earlier work, we concentrated on the service bundling process itself. In the present chapter, we discuss how to ensure that the created bundles indeed meet customer demands. Experience of Norwegian energy utilities shows that severe financial losses can be caused when companies offer service bundles without a solid foundation for the bundle-creation process and without an in-depth understanding of customer needs and demands. We use a running case example from the Norwegian energy sector to demonstrate how we put theory into practice.

How E-Services Satisfy Customer Needs

2010 ◽  
pp. 486-517
Author(s):  
Ziv Baida ◽  
Jaap Gordijn ◽  
Hans Akkermans ◽  
Hanne Sæle ◽  
Andrei Morch
Keyword(s):  
Web Site ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Customer Needs ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
Energy Utilities ◽  
Financial Losses

We outline a rigorous approach that models how companies can electronically offer packages of independent services (service bundles). Its objective is to support prospective Web site visitors in defining and buying service bundles that fit their specific needs and demands. The various services in the bundle may be offered by different suppliers. To enable this scenario, it is necessary that software can reason about customer needs and available service offerings. Our approach for tackling this issue is based on recent advances in computer and information science, where information about a domain at hand is conceptualized and formalized using ontologies and subsequently represented in machine-interpretable form. The substantive part from our ontology derives from broadly accepted service management and marketing concepts from business studies literature. In earlier work, we concentrated on the service bundling process itself. In the present chapter, we discuss how to ensure that the created bundles indeed meet customer demands. Experience of Norwegian energy utilities shows that severe financial losses can be caused when companies offer service bundles without a solid foundation for the bundle-creation process and without an in-depth understanding of customer needs and demands. We use a running case example from the Norwegian energy sector to demonstrate how we put theory into practice.

Finding e-Service Offerings by Computer-Supported Customer Need Reasoning

2011 ◽  
pp. 1019-1038
Author(s):  
Ziv Baida ◽  
Jaap Gordijn ◽  
Hans Akkermans ◽  
Hanne Saele ◽  
Andrei Z. Morch
Keyword(s):  
Service Management ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Customer Needs ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
Energy Utilities ◽  
Financial Losses

We outline a rigorous approach that models how companies can electronically offer packages of independent services (service bundles). Its objective is to support prospective Website visitors in defining and buying service bundles that fit their specific needs and demands. The various services in the bundle may be offered by different suppliers. To enable this scenario, it is necessary that software can reason about customer needs and available service offerings. Our approach for tackling this issue is based on recent advances in computer and information science, where information about a domain at hand is conceptualized and formalized using ontologies and subsequently represented in machine-interpretable form. The substantive part from our ontology derives from broadly accepted service management and marketing concepts from business studies literature. In earlier work, we concentrated on the service bundling process itself. In the present chapter, we discuss how to ensure that the created bundles indeed meet customer demands. Experience of Norwegian energy utilities shows that severe financial losses can be caused when companies offer service bundles without a solid foundation for the bundle-creation process and without an in-depth understanding of customer needs and demands. We use a running case example from the Norwegian energy sector to demonstrate how we put theory into practice.

Using a Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment Model to Identify Improvement Points in Airport Cargo Terminals

2005 ◽  
Vol 1935 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-140
Author(s):  
Gin-Shuh Liang ◽  
Tzeu-Chen Han ◽  
Tsung-Yu Chou
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Quality Function Deployment ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Practical Investigations ◽  
Fuzzy Relation ◽  
Quality Function ◽  
Customer Needs ◽  
Fuzzy Relation Matrix ◽  
Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment

The main purpose of this paper is to present a fuzzy quality function deployment model to achieve service quality assurance before implementing service action. First, customer needs with their importance and satisfaction levels acquired from practical investigations are constructed. Then, by combining the experts’ opinions, service management requirements are developed for satisfying the observed customer needs. In addition, a fuzzy relation matrix for linking service management requirements to customer needs is constructed on the basis of cross-functional expertise. The aggregated fuzzy assessments of different service management requirements are also ranked to prioritize and determine their importance. Finally, the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport cargo terminal in Taiwan is used to demonstrate the proposed approach.

Finding beauty in the banal: An exploration of service work in the artful classroom

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 521-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Bathurst ◽  
Janet Sayers ◽  
Nanette Monin
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Reflective Learning ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
Valuable Role

AbstractArtists derive inspiration from daily life. According to John Dewey (1934), common experiences are transformed into works of art through a process of compression and expression. Our paper adopts Dewey's frame to demonstrate that experience in the artful classroom plays a valuable role in management education. We asked students to reflect on their work experience and then to provide an artful expression of their reflections. For this exercise we defined artfulness as a process which relies on the discursive practices of satire, and in particular irony and parody. Offering a service management class as an exemplar we demonstrate the use of these rhetorical techniques as reflective learning tools. A class of students were first prompted to consider their common experiences as both customers and service providers, and were then asked to create an ironic artefact. Our paper, which analyses a cartoon sequence produced by students in response to this assignment and in which they parody the fast-food service experience, illustrates how a business studies classroom can be transformed into an artful space.

Finding beauty in the banal: An exploration of service work in the artful classroom

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 521-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Bathurst ◽  
Janet Sayers ◽  
Nanette Monin
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Reflective Learning ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
Valuable Role

AbstractArtists derive inspiration from daily life. According to John Dewey (1934), common experiences are transformed into works of art through a process of compression and expression. Our paper adopts Dewey's frame to demonstrate that experience in the artful classroom plays a valuable role in management education. We asked students to reflect on their work experience and then to provide an artful expression of their reflections. For this exercise we defined artfulness as a process which relies on the discursive practices of satire, and in particular irony and parody. Offering a service management class as an exemplar we demonstrate the use of these rhetorical techniques as reflective learning tools. A class of students were first prompted to consider their common experiences as both customers and service providers, and were then asked to create an ironic artefact. Our paper, which analyses a cartoon sequence produced by students in response to this assignment and in which they parody the fast-food service experience, illustrates how a business studies classroom can be transformed into an artful space.

The Creation of an Ontology to Examine Customer Needs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Nix ◽  
Mark Lemke ◽  
Rob Stone ◽  
Ryan Arlitt
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Rater Reliability ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Customer Needs ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Categorization Scheme ◽  
Customer Need

Customer needs are one of the first items gathered and examined in the design process. Currently there are few methods of examining the collected customer needs to help designers track how much of the customer need space has been explored. None of the current prominent design texts provide an universally accepted categorization scheme to help categorize and examine collected customer needs. This paper ventures into the process of building an ontology that can be used to categorize and examine customer needs. The finalized ontology presented here went through 11 iterations and multiple inter-rater reliability tests throughout the creation process. The paper then discusses the possible uses of this scheme and how it can be utilized early in the design process to ensure that a thorough exploration of the customer need space is represented in the designers’ list of customer needs.

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