Customized products and cloud service information system development research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hung Chien-Wen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study presents a cloud service customized product information system to enable businesses to provide customized product marketing on the Internet to meet consumer demand for customized products. The cloud service of the information system development strategic framework proposed in this study contains three elements: (1 e-commerce services, (2 promotion type modules, and (3 cloud services customized promotional products. In this study, a mining cloud information system to detect customer behavior is proposed. The association rules from relational database design are utilized to mine consumer behavior to generate cross-selling proposals for customer products and marketing for a retailing mall in Taiwan. The study is composed of several parts, as follows. A market segment and application of association rules in data exploration techniques (Association Rule Mining and sequence-like exploration (Sequential Pattern Mining, efficient analysis of customers, consumer behavior, identification of candidates for promotional products, and using cloud service delivery and evaluation of targets to evaluate candidates for promotional products for production. However, in addition to cloud service customized promotional products, the quantity of promotional products sales varies for different customers. We strive to achieve increased customer loyalty and profits through the use of active cloud service customized promotional products.

Customer/User Workshops in Product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Eva; Binder, Thomas

1997-01-01

In a recent product development project, we have taken part in establishing and organising a series of workshops with a group of customers/users of a future product line through out the development project. The workshops is a kind of informal meetingplace for engineering, marketing, customers...... and discuss experiences with this kind of collaborative fora. We have tried to demonstrate that having an on-going dialogue with users/customers also during detailed design in not only a means to keep 'the voive of the customer alive'. We have found that the workshops have an important impact on securing...

Towards product customization : An integrated order fulfillment system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, L.; Lee, C.K.M.; Xu, Q.

To stay competitive, manufacturing companies nowadays pursue product customization: and configure-to-order(CTO) has been recognized as an ideal business model to implement product customization. Due to the complexities resulting from the large number of customized products, an increased attention

I want products my own way, but which way? The effects of different product categories and cues on customer responses to Web-based customizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chia-Chi; Chen, Hui-Yun

2009-02-01

Mass customization is a strategy that has been adopted by companies to tailor their products in order to match customer needs more precisely. Therefore, to fully capture the value of mass customization, it is crucial to explore how customers react to mass customization. In previous studies, an implied premise has been that consumers are keen to embrace customized products, and this assumption has also been treated by firms as a prerequisite for successful mass customization strategies. However, an undesirable complexity may result from difficult configuration processes that may intimidate and confuse some customers. Hence, this study explores strategies that marketers can employ to facilitate the customization process. Specifically, this study investigates how to enhance customer satisfaction and purchase decision toward customized products by providing cues compatible with the product category. It is hypothesized that for search products, customers rely more on intrinsic cues when making configuration decisions. On the other hand, for experience products, customers perceive extrinsic cues to be more valuable in assisting them to make configuration decisions. The results suggest that consumers tend to respond more favorably toward customized search products when intrinsic cues are provided than when extrinsic or irrelevant ones are provided. In contrast, when customizing experience products, customers tend to depend more on extrinsic cues than on intrinsic or irrelevant ones.

Product customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lueg, Rainer

2015-01-01

This case study deals with the extension, customization, and profitability of two new product lines of a bicycle manufacturer. It can serve both as a discussion basis in class as well as an exam for advanced Master students in management, marketing, and ccounting. The case illustrates how variance...... application of financial analysis can lead to dysfunctional decisions that run counter to a company’s business model....

Transforming Multidisciplinary Customer Requirements to Product Design Specifications

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xiao-Jie; Ding, Guo-Fu; Qin, Sheng-Feng; Li, Rong; Yan, Kai-Yin; Xiao, Shou-Ne; Yang, Guang-Wu

2017-09-01

With the increasing of complexity of complex mechatronic products, it is necessary to involve multidisciplinary design teams, thus, the traditional customer requirements modeling for a single discipline team becomes difficult to be applied in a multidisciplinary team and project since team members with various disciplinary backgrounds may have different interpretations of the customers' requirements. A new synthesized multidisciplinary customer requirements modeling method is provided for obtaining and describing the common understanding of customer requirements (CRs) and more importantly transferring them into a detailed and accurate product design specifications (PDS) to interact with different team members effectively. A case study of designing a high speed train verifies the rationality and feasibility of the proposed multidisciplinary requirement modeling method for complex mechatronic product development. This proposed research offersthe instruction to realize the customer-driven personalized customization of complex mechatronic product.

Investigation into some characteristics of the mass-customized production paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

Tapper, Jerome; Sundar, Pratap S.; Kamarthi, Sagar V.

2000-10-01

In recent times, while markets are reaching their saturation limits and customers are becoming more demanding, a paradigm shift has been taking place from mass production to mass- customized production (MCP). The concept of mass customization (MC) focuses on satisfying a customer's unique needs with the help of new technologies such as Internet, digital product realization, and re-configurable production facilities. In MC the needs of an individual customer are translated into design, accordingly produced, and delivered to the customer. In this research three hypothesis related to MCP are investigated by the data/information collected from ten companies, which are engaged in MCP. These three hypothesis are (1) mass-customized production systems can be classified into make-to-stock MCP, assemble-to-order MCP, make-to-order MCP, engineer-to-order MC, and develop-to-order MCP, (2) in mass-customized production systems the process of customization eliminates customer sacrifice, and (3) mass-customized production systems can deliver products at mass-production cost. The preliminary study indicates that while the first hypothesis is valid, MCP companies rarely fulfill what is stated in the other two hypotheses.

Achieving Customer Satisfaction through Integrated Products and Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raja, Jawwad; Bourne, Dorota; Goffin, Keith

2013-01-01

Complex products such as manufacturing equipment have always needed maintenance and repair services. Increasingly, leading manufacturers are integrating products and services to generate increased revenues and achieve customer satisfaction. Designing integrated products and services requires...... a different approach to new product development and a clear understanding of how customers perceive the value they obtain from actual usage of products and services—so-called value-in-use. However, there is a lack of research on integrated products and services and how they impact customer satisfaction....... An exploratory study was undertaken to understand customers' views on integrated products and services and the value-in-use derived from such offerings. As value-in-use and its impacts are complicated concepts, a technique from psychology—Repertory Grid Technique—was used to gather data in 33 interviews...

Supplier Value of Customer-Initiated Product Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sommer, Anita Friis; Dukovska-Popovska, Iskra; Steger-Jensen, Kenn

2013-01-01

Increased market demand and shortened product life cycles generate industrial customer requests for collaborative product development. Manufacture-to-stock suppliers struggle to manage the request process to obtain profitability. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if request management...... is profitable for suppliers, and to examine possible relations between profitability of requests and the requesting customer. Through a case study, request management is identified as a profitable process due to long-term accumulated profit from developed products. Request profitability is not identified...... as related to profitability or turnover of existing customers, and thus profitability of requests cannot be predicted based on these customer data. Results from a coupled interview study indicate that request management has a large potential for future exploitation, and an outline of the supplier value...

Innovations in Mechatronic Products and Mass Customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Habib, Tufail; Jørgensen, Kaj Asbjørn; Nielsen, Kjeld

2011-01-01

as a product type and new inventions have resulted in drastic changes in design and development of mechatronic products. Conventional mechanical systems are enhanced by mechatronic systems. In this paper, the particular structure and properties of mechatronic products compared to conventional mechanical......Mass Customization (MC) has been recognized as a successful strategy in the design and development of products tailored to customer needs. Global competition demands new products with added functionalities, as in the case of mechatronic products. These products are becoming more and more important...

Perceived quality, perceived risk and customer trust affecting customer loyalty of environmentally friendly electronics products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalinthorn Marakanon

2017-01-01

Full Text Available At present, industrial business competition causes producers to be aware of quality, price, and variety in developing new products to meet the consumers' needs. This research reviewed the literature on green marketing and proposes a new conceptual framework of customer loyalty. It uses four constructs—perceived quality, perceived risk, customer trust, and customer loyalty—in the context of environmentally friendly electronics products in Thailand. This research employed an empirical study using the questionnaire survey method to verify the hypotheses. Data were obtained from 420 consumers who bought and used environmentally friendly electronic products, particularly mobile phones, computers, and laptops using a purposive sampling method. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA and structural equation modeling (SEM. The results showed that perceived risk and customer trust had a direct effect on customer loyalty while perceived quality had an indirect effect on customer loyalty via customer trust. Furthermore, perceived quality had direct effects on perceived risk and customer trust. The results from the final SEM model were used to confirm the proposed relationships among the variables.

Customer Relationship Management Influence on Customer Value, Product Quality and Service Quality in Improving Customer Satisfaction and Its Implication on the Customer Loyalty

OpenAIRE

Harryani, Sri

2017-01-01

The purpose of this research is to determine the influence of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on the Customer Value (CV), Product Quality (PQ) and Service Quality (SQ) in improving Customer Satisfaction (CS) that will have implications on the Customer Loyalty (CL). The research focuses on corporate banking, where customers serve as the research sample. The data in this research using the primary data and secondary data. Source primary data used questionnaire and source the secondary da...

CUSTOMER SERVICES AND PRODUCT QUALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NEAMŢU Liviu

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Objective level of product is a combination of material elements. They are supplemented by satisfying highly heterogeneous and complex motivations, representing highly diverse subjective functions associated to product until individualization for each type of consumption. Thus it observes highly surprising developments of subjective function associated with a product and which determines in the consumer's opinion the quality level of the product. The present study examines the role of associated services covering the subjective function of the product in view of the fact that the utility or subjective function is dependent on elements such as style, fashion and fads. Consumers will no longer accept products with average quality of related services. For a company that wants to stay in the market and achieve profitability, the only solution is moving towards a complete product package type goods-services. Associated services are thus an indicator of quality and the best customer loyalty insurance policy, there is a close relationship between the quality of services provided by a firm, customer satisfaction and company profitability.

Group decision support system for customer-driven product design

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zhihang; Chen, Hang; Chen, Kuen; Che, Ada

2000-10-01

This paper describes the work on the development of a group decision support system for customer driven product design. The customer driven is to develop products, which meet all customer requirements in whole life cycle of products. A process model of decision during product primary design is proposed to formulate the structured, semi-structured and unstructured decision problems. The framework for the decision support system is presented that integrated both advances in the group decision making and distributed artificial intelligent. The system consists of the product primary design tool kit and the collaborative platform with multi-agent structure. The collaborative platform of the system and the product primary design tool kit, including the VOC (Voice of Customer) tool, QFD (Quality Function Deployment) tool, the Conceptual design tool, Reliability analysis tool and the cost and profit forecasting tool, are indicated.

Customization: Ideal Varieties, Product Uniqueness and Price Competition

OpenAIRE

Oksana Loginova; X. Henry Wang

2009-01-01

We study customization in the Hotelling model with two firms. In addition to providing ideal varieties, the perceived uniqueness of a customized product contributes independently to consumer utility. We show that only when consumer preferences for uniqueness are high customization occurs in equilibrium.

Upgradable Software Product Customization by Code Query

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaucouleur, Sebastien

The professional press on enterprise systems warns its readers: Costly., A return on investment killer. , Be prepared!. What can create some much af- iction and turmoil in an otherwise very successful industry? Come and meet the dreadful upgrade problem. Enterprise systems are prime examples...... of a subset of software systems that we call software products: software that needs special support for customization. Through customization, external companies can modify part of the original product to better t the needs of a niche market. Upon the release of a new version of the original software product...

EMOTION BASED ANALYSIS OF TURKISH CUSTOMER OPINIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Kahya-Ozyirmidokuz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Firms should manage their customer feedback so they can adapt to rapid changes in the environment. They have to interact with their customers to understand them and to turn their opinions into useful knowledge. Understanding customers' feelings about a product gives firmS competitive advantage through continuous market monitoring. They can thus generate improving strategies about the system to change perceptions that drive the behaviours of the customers. Firms can view their customers' happiness as a key tool for decision-making. This study calculates online product happiness by using the average emotional valence values of customer opinions. We analyse Turkish opinions about a product over a period of 3 months. We find the averages of the online emotional valence values of the product per month. We also determined the increase in happiness over time. According to the opinion valence values, we found the relations between the documents.

The Impact of Product Quality, Service Quality, and Customer Loyalty Program perception on Retail Customer Attitude

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricko Achmadi Putra

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This journal examines the relationship between perception of product quality, perception of service quality, perception of Customer Loyalty Program on retail customer behavior, and sales volumes of cement products. This study examines three different cement brands, namely cement XYZ with the largest market share, cement PQR which is the main competitor, as well as cement ABC, a newcomer cement brand which is strong enough to enter the Indonesian cement market. The research is focused on the building material retailers with 100 respondents. The data collection will be done by survey through direct interview by using questionnaires. The analysis of this research uses descriptive analysis, analysis by ANOVA and also inferential analysis by using Structural Equation Model (SEM. The results of this study indicate that from the factors that influence the attitudes of retail customers of the three variables tested, only one dominant factor which influences the attitude of retail customers, which is the perception of the product quality. The results of this research also show that the perception of product quality also affects sale volume significantly, the greater the perception of the quality of cement products, the greater the volume of sales generated by the retail customer.

Improving product quality and reliability with customer experience data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brombacher, A.C.; Hopma, E.E.; Ittoo, A.; Lu, Y.; Luyk, I.M.; Maruster, L.; Ribeiro, J.T.S.; Weijters, A.J.M.M.; Wortmann, J.C.

2012-01-01

Advance technology development and wide use of the World Wide Web have made it possible for new product development organizations to access multi-sources of data-related customer complaints. However, the number of customer plaints of highly innovative consumer electronic products is still

Improving Product Quality and Reliability with Customer Experience Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brombacher, Aarnout; Hopma, Eva; Ittoo, Ashwin; Lu, Yuan; Luyk, Ilse; Maruster, Laura; Ribeiro, Joel; Weijters, Ton; Wortmann, Hans

2012-01-01

Advance technology development and wide use of the World Wide Web have made it possible for new product development organizations to access multi-sources of data-related customer complaints. However, the number of customer plaints of highly innovative consumer electronic products is still

Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Product Innovation Process

OpenAIRE

Li, Yelin; Thi, Thu Sang Nguyen

2012-01-01

In marketing, the common view is that customer relationships enhance innovativeness. Regularly it involves doing something new or different in response to market conditions. However, previous studies have not addressed how customer relationship management (CRM) plays its role in product innovation process. This thesis proposes and tests how key CRM activities influence and relate to each stage in product innovation process. The objective of this study is to test how customer relations managem...

A Research Review on the Key Technologies of Intelligent Design for Customized Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuyou Zhang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The development of technologies such as big data and cyber-physical systems (CPSs has increased the demand for product design. Product digital design involves completing the product design process using advanced digital technologies such as geometry modeling, kinematic and dynamic simulation, multi-disciplinary coupling, virtual assembly, virtual reality (VR, multi-objective optimization (MOO, and human-computer interaction. The key technologies of intelligent design for customized products include: a description and analysis of customer requirements (CRs, product family design (PFD for the customer base, configuration and modular design for customized products, variant design for customized products, and a knowledge push for product intelligent design. The development trends in intelligent design for customized products include big-data-driven intelligent design technology for customized products and customized design tools and applications. The proposed method is verified by the design of precision computer numerical control (CNC machine tools.

The decision optimization of product development by considering the customer demand saturation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing-song Xing

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impacts of over meeting customer demands on the product development process, which is on the basis of the quantitative model of customer demands, development cost and time. Then propose the corresponding product development optimization decision. Design/methodology/approach: First of all, investigate to obtain the customer demand information, and then quantify customer demands weights by using variation coefficient method. Secondly, analyses the relationship between customer demands and product development time and cost based on the quality function deployment and establish corresponding mathematical model. On this basis, put forward the concept of customer demand saturation and optimization decision method of product development, and then apply it in the notebook development process of a company. Finally, when customer demand is saturated, it also needs to prove the consistency of strengthening satisfies customer demands and high attention degree customer demands, and the stability of customer demand saturation under different parameters. Findings: The development cost and the time will rise sharply when over meeting the customer demand. On the basis of considering the customer demand saturation, the relationship between customer demand and development time cost is quantified and balanced. And also there is basically consistent between the sequence of meeting customer demands and customer demands survey results. Originality/value: The paper proposes a model of customer demand saturation. It proves the correctness and effectiveness on the product development decision method.

Optimizing the order processing of customized products using product configuration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvam, Lars; Bonev, Martin; Denkena, B.

2011-01-01

. Product configuration based on integrated modular product structure and product family architecture has been recognized as an effective means for implementing mass customization. In order to evaluate the effects of product configuration on order processing, a study has been conducted by the Department...... and its benefits for the order processing have been evaluated....

Benefits of mass customized products: moderating role of product involvement and fashion innovativeness.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Minjung; Yoo, Jungmin

2018-02-01

The objective of this study was to explore impacts and benefits of mass customized products on emotional product attachment, favorable attitudes toward a mass customization program, and the ongoing effect on loyalty intentions. This study further investigated how benefits, attachment, attitudes, and loyalty intentions differed as a function of involvement and fashion innovativeness. 290 female online shoppers in South Korea participated in an online survey. Results of this study revealed that perceived benefits positively influenced emotional product attachment and attitudes toward a mass customization program. In addition, attachment positively influenced attitudes, which in turn affected loyalty intentions. This study also found that benefits, attachment, attitudes, and loyalty intentions were all higher in highly involved consumers (high fashion innovators) than those in less involved consumers (low fashion innovators). This study concludes with theoretical and practical implications for mass customization programs.

Benefits of mass customized products: moderating role of product involvement and fashion innovativeness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minjung Park

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to explore impacts and benefits of mass customized products on emotional product attachment, favorable attitudes toward a mass customization program, and the ongoing effect on loyalty intentions. This study further investigated how benefits, attachment, attitudes, and loyalty intentions differed as a function of involvement and fashion innovativeness. 290 female online shoppers in South Korea participated in an online survey. Results of this study revealed that perceived benefits positively influenced emotional product attachment and attitudes toward a mass customization program. In addition, attachment positively influenced attitudes, which in turn affected loyalty intentions. This study also found that benefits, attachment, attitudes, and loyalty intentions were all higher in highly involved consumers (high fashion innovators than those in less involved consumers (low fashion innovators. This study concludes with theoretical and practical implications for mass customization programs.

IMPACT OF CREDENCE ATTRIBUTES OF AGRICULTURAL FOOD PRODUCTS ON CUSTOMER ATTITUDE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fareeha NISAR

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to enhance understanding on how a firm can generate value for its customers using a competitive advantage strategy by accumulating credible attributes to its products. There are certain product attributes that customers can only perceive. In the case of agricultural food products, the customers’ consciousness for safe, natural and organic products has enriched the perceived value of the product. To explore the relationship between the credence attributes and attitude of the customers for the agricultural food, a survey questionnaire has been administered to consumers of agricultural food products in the different regions of Punjab, Pakistan. The data analysis has been conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS to investigate the desired relationship in that particular region of the country. It can be concluded that the trust of customer is now very much depending on the presence of credence attribute that customer cannot describe but evaluate during the purchase of food items.

Customer Relationship Management: Upaya Pencapaian Profitabilitas Jangka Panjang

OpenAIRE

Triastity, Rahayu

2010-01-01

The rapidly and constantly changing business environment has forced businesses to reconsider their strategies in maintaining their customer base. Customers nowadays have a wide array of product choices, and worst – they are becoming increasingly disloyal. Such facts pose serious threats for some companies. For those who want to keep their customer base, an integrated approach of maintaining and managing customer relationship must be taken. This article proposes an integrated framework of mana...

Formal computer-aided product family architecture design for mass customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonev, Martin; Hvam, Lars; Clarkson, John

2015-01-01

With product customization companies aim at creating higher customer value and stronger economic benefits. The profitability of the offered variety relies on the quality of the developed product family architectures and their consistent implementation in configuration systems. Yet existing method...

Configuring Product Modularity and Service Modularity for Mass Customization Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bask, Anu; Hsuan, Juliana; Rajahonka, Mervi

, and how such configurations become the foundations for mass customization strategies. As a result we identify critical characteristics that are relevant for both product and services, and suggest a conceptual framework consisting of twelve dynamic mass customization strategies with paired product...

Innovative product design based on comprehensive customer requirements of different cognitive levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaolong; Zhao, Wu; Zheng, Yake; Wang, Rui; Wang, Chen

2014-01-01

To improve customer satisfaction in innovative product design, a topology structure of customer requirements is established and an innovative product approach is proposed. The topology structure provides designers with reasonable guidance to capture the customer requirements comprehensively. With the aid of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the importance of the customer requirements is evaluated. Quality function deployment (QFD) is used to translate customer requirements into product and process design demands and pick out the technical requirements which need urgent improvement. In this way, the product is developed in a more targeted way to satisfy the customers. the theory of innovative problems solving (TRIZ) is used to help designers to produce innovative solutions. Finally, a case study of automobile steering system is used to illustrate the application of the proposed approach.

Innovative Product Design Based on Comprehensive Customer Requirements of Different Cognitive Levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaolong Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available To improve customer satisfaction in innovative product design, a topology structure of customer requirements is established and an innovative product approach is proposed. The topology structure provides designers with reasonable guidance to capture the customer requirements comprehensively. With the aid of analytic hierarchy process (AHP, the importance of the customer requirements is evaluated. Quality function deployment (QFD is used to translate customer requirements into product and process design demands and pick out the technical requirements which need urgent improvement. In this way, the product is developed in a more targeted way to satisfy the customers. the theory of innovative problems solving (TRIZ is used to help designers to produce innovative solutions. Finally, a case study of automobile steering system is used to illustrate the application of the proposed approach.

Customer Knowledge in (CoCreation of Product. A Case Study of IKEA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grażyna Koniorczyk

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Customers knowledge is an attractive and effective source of ideas for proposals innovative products (services as well as changes in existing products (services. Contemporary firms recognize the need to co-create product (services with the participation of customers. The aim of this article is to define customer knowledge, value co-creation and customer co-creation concepts. The activities of IKEA were used to illustrate the issues presented in the article.

Customer Buying Behavior : - Online shopping towards electronic product

OpenAIRE

Wang, Dan; Yang, Liuzi

2010-01-01

ABSTRACT Online shopping in EU has been shown to a good potential market. The electronic equipment takes a high percent of the individuals shopping. Compared with other goods, online shopping of electronic goods adds great convenience to the life of the people. Buying electronic gadgets online gives customers an opportunity to find a great variety of product online, and customers can review a wide selection of products and find special offers and discount with the best deals online. In the co...

On the evaluation of product customization strategies in a vertically differentiated market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wong, Hartanto Wijaya; Lesmono, Dharma

2013-01-01

This paper presents a formal approach to evaluate the value of enhancing product customization in a vertically differentiated market. Different from most existing studies that tend to associate the level of customization with the number of product variants, we take a rather different view...... to the level of customization which we define as the degree to which consumers are involved along the value chain. Consequently, a higher level of customization is achieved when consumers are involved further upstream in the chain. The novelty of our approach stems from the integration of both marketing......- and production-related factors that enable us to: consider trade-offs between customization, lead times and manufacturing costs; and analyze how these trade-offs should be addressed in a market in which one group of consumers is highly concerned about product customization, whereas the other group is more...

Effects of product\\'s warranty on customers\\' preferences: empirical findings on reverse logistics models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arsalan Najmi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: IT products are now becoming the part of every one's life. Since Pakistan didn't manufacture IT products, so the customers had to purchase the products that are available in the markets. During such purchase, customers not only gave preference to brand or price or both but they also consider its warranty so that they are secured with the post purchase risks. Methods: This study was aimed to identify the impact of the warranty on customers' preferences towards brand and price. A conceptual framework was made on the basis of available literature and then data was collected. It was collected from 298 respondents through survey questionnaire and after applying Factor Analysis, One Way MANOVA was applied on the factors. Results and conclusions: The study found that the product's warranty has a significant impact on preferences towards brand, concern for price and price intentions whereas the impact on willingness to pay was found insignificant. The results conclude that Pakistani customers need a branded IT product on competitive prices, which give more in less along with the warranty so that they can enjoy the same quality of the product for a period of time whereas, they are not willing to pay any additional amount for the product just because of Warranty.

The Relationship between Customer Knowledge Management and Performance of Agricultural Product Innovation

OpenAIRE

Hu, Jia-jia

2012-01-01

This paper takes an overview of the CKM and the performance of agricultural product innovation from contents of agricultural product innovation and customer knowledge management (CKM), the relation between CKM and agricultural product innovation. On the basis of the overview, it builds the theoretical framework of CKM and agricultural product innovation. It points out that enterprises can satisfy demands of customers through acquisition, share, utilization and innovation of customer knowledge...

Reconfigurable manufacturing system for agile mass customization manufacturing

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Xing, B

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Manufacturing companies are facing three challenges: low cost production of product, high quality standard and rapid responsiveness to customer requirements. These three goals are equally important for the manufacturing companies who want...

The Addition of Spiritual Dimension on Customer Value to Investigate the Relationship of Customer Value, Customer Satisfaction and Behavior Intention on Islamic Banks Saving Products in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Adi Zakaria Afiff; Rifelly Dewi Astuti

2009-01-01

This study propose the addition of a spiritual dimension in the formation of customer value, in addition to the functional, social and emotional dimension of customer value that has already been empirically tested in previous studies, among customers who own saving products at Islamic banks in Indonesia. The study also investigate the relationship between customer value and customer satisfaction, and the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer behavioral intentions among these...

A web-based rapid assessment tool for production publishing solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Tong

2010-02-01

Solution assessment is a critical first-step in understanding and measuring the business process efficiency enabled by an integrated solution package. However, assessing the effectiveness of any solution is usually a very expensive and timeconsuming task which involves lots of domain knowledge, collecting and understanding the specific customer operational context, defining validation scenarios and estimating the expected performance and operational cost. This paper presents an intelligent web-based tool that can rapidly assess any given solution package for production publishing workflows via a simulation engine and create a report for various estimated performance metrics (e.g. throughput, turnaround time, resource utilization) and operational cost. By integrating the digital publishing workflow ontology and an activity based costing model with a Petri-net based workflow simulation engine, this web-based tool allows users to quickly evaluate any potential digital publishing solutions side-by-side within their desired operational contexts, and provides a low-cost and rapid assessment for organizations before committing any purchase. This tool also benefits the solution providers to shorten the sales cycles, establishing a trustworthy customer relationship and supplement the professional assessment services with a proven quantitative simulation and estimation technology.

New layer-based imaging and rapid prototyping techniques for computer-aided design and manufacture of custom dental restoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, M-Y; Chang, C-C; Ku, Y C

2008-01-01

Fixed dental restoration by conventional methods greatly relies on the skill and experience of the dental technician. The quality and accuracy of the final product depends mostly on the technician's subjective judgment. In addition, the traditional manual operation involves many complex procedures, and is a time-consuming and labour-intensive job. Most importantly, no quantitative design and manufacturing information is preserved for future retrieval. In this paper, a new device for scanning the dental profile and reconstructing 3D digital information of a dental model based on a layer-based imaging technique, called abrasive computer tomography (ACT) was designed in-house and proposed for the design of custom dental restoration. The fixed partial dental restoration was then produced by rapid prototyping (RP) and computer numerical control (CNC) machining methods based on the ACT scanned digital information. A force feedback sculptor (FreeForm system, Sensible Technologies, Inc., Cambridge MA, USA), which comprises 3D Touch technology, was applied to modify the morphology and design of the fixed dental restoration. In addition, a comparison of conventional manual operation and digital manufacture using both RP and CNC machining technologies for fixed dental restoration production is presented. Finally, a digital custom fixed restoration manufacturing protocol integrating proposed layer-based dental profile scanning, computer-aided design, 3D force feedback feature modification and advanced fixed restoration manufacturing techniques is illustrated. The proposed method provides solid evidence that computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies may become a new avenue for custom-made fixed restoration design, analysis, and production in the 21st century.

Mass customization and build to order production - in manufacturing networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, Carsten

2003-01-01

in the manufacturing as information processing is accountable for an increasing portion of the value creation. In order to improve the information processing some manufacturers have applied product models, thereby giving the customer access to the manufactures knowledge base. This project will introduce solution......Mass Customization and Build to Order Production – In Manufacturing Networks Mass customization and globalization have radically changed the environment for manufacturers. A new context is emerging with intensified competition and accelerated technology development. In this environment evolution...... is not an option, but a necessity for survival. This leads to the question “what can manufacturing enterprises do to turn the development into their own advantage?” As competition intensifies customer are increasingly demanding sophisticated and adapted solutions. Conventional manufacturer are challenged...

Product bundling as a customer loyalty strategy; Kundenbindung durch Produktbuendel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolf, H.G. [Arthur Andersen Business Consulting GmbH, Duesseldorf (Germany)

2000-12-01

In the deregulated market in electricity, all marketers and energy-related service providers are competing not only for new customers, but also for customer loyalty. The article sets out concepts and strategies developed by a business consulting firm, for maintaing or enhancing customer loyalty in the end-use market segment, focusing on customized product bundling. A four-tier approach for product bundle development and implementation is discussed. (orig./CB) [German] Fuer Energieversorger und -dienstleister ergibt sich neben der Neukundengewinnung der strategische Zwang zur Bindung bestehender Kunden. An praktischen Ansaetzen fuer Privatkunden stehen neben Value-Added-Services und Incentives (Kundenclub, -karte) nicht zuletzt Produktbuendel (Bundles) zur Verfuegung. Zur erfolgreichen Entwicklung und Implementierung von Produktbuendeln wird ein vierphasiges Vorgehensmodell erlaeutert. (orig./CB)

Customer Directed Advertising and Product Quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. Esteban; J.M. Hernandez; J.L. Moraga-Gonzalez (José Luis)

2001-01-01

textabstractWe consider a market where a single seller must employ informative advertising to launch a new product of observable quality. The monopolist may use mass, targeted or customer directed advertising. We show that the choice of advertising strategy depends on the economic properties of the

Impact of product development efforts on product introduction and product customization abilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chaudhuri, Atanu; Dawar, Saloni

2014-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of efforts in new product development-manufacturing integration (NPDMI) on new product introduction (NPI) and product customization (PC) abilities and the moderating effects of product design complexity and importance of new product development order winners...... (NPIOW) on the above relationships. The results from the data on 136 Indian manufacturing plants show that NPDMI, product design complexity and NPIOW all have significant positive impact on NPI and PC abilities. Importance of NPIOW has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between NPDMI and PC...... ability change but product design complexity demonstrate no such effect on the above relationships....

The Addition of Spiritual Dimension on Customer Value to Investigate the Relationship of Customer Value, Customer Satisfaction and Behavior Intention on Islamic Banks Saving Products in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adi Zakaria Afiff

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This study propose the addition of a spiritual dimension in the formation of customer value, in addition to the functional, social and emotional dimension of customer value that has already been empirically tested in previous studies, among customers who own saving products at Islamic banks in Indonesia. The study also investigate the relationship between customer value and customer satisfaction, and the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer behavioral intentions among these Islamic banks customers. The results show that spiritual dimension is significantly related to the customer value together with all three other dimensions (functional, social and emotional of customer value. All dimensions have significant relationship with customer value. Finally the results also show that customer value positively influence customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction positively influence customer behavior intentions.

Production and Resource Scheduling in Mass Customization with Dependent Setup Consideration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Izabela Ewa; Bocewicz, G.; Do, Ngoc Anh Dung

2014-01-01

will contribute to the success of mass customization. This paper addresses the problem of production and resource scheduling for a production system with dependent setup and internal transportation such as AGVs in a mass customization environment. A constraint-programming-based methodology is developed to satisfy...

An Intelligent Method of Product Scheme Design Based on Product Gene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing Song Ai

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, in order to have some featured products, many customers tend to buy customized products instead of buying common ones in supermarket. The manufacturing enterprises, with the purpose of improving their competitiveness, are focusing on providing customized products with high quality and low cost as well. At present, how to produce customized products rapidly and cheaply has been the key challenge to manufacturing enterprises. In this paper, an intelligent modeling approach applied to supporting the modeling of customized products is proposed, which may improve the efficiency during the product design process. Specifically, the product gene (PG method, which is an analogy of biological evolution in engineering area, is employed to model products in a new way. Based on product gene, we focus on the intelligent modeling method to generate product schemes rapidly and automatically. The process of our research includes three steps: (1 develop a product gene model for customized products; (2 find the obtainment and storage method for product gene; and (3 propose a specific genetic algorithm used for calculating the solution of customized product and generating new product schemes. Finally, a case study is applied to test the usefulness of our study.

Identifying and prioritizing customer requirements from tractor production by QFD method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H Taghizadeh

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction Discovering and understanding customer needs and expectations are considered as important factors on customer satisfaction and play vital role to maintain the current activity among its competitors, proceeding and obtaining customer satisfaction which are critical factors to design a successful production; thus the successful organizations must meet their needs containing the quality of the products or services to customers. Quality Function Deployment (QFD is a technique for studying demands and needs of customers which is going to give more emphasis to the customer's interests in this way. The QFD method in general implemented various tools and methods for reaching qualitative goals; but the most important and the main tool of this method is the house of quality diagrams. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP is a famous and common MADM method based on pair wise comparisons used for determining the priority of understudied factors in various studies until now. With considering effectiveness of QFD method to explicating customer's demands and obtaining customer satisfaction, generally, the researchers followed this question's suite and scientific answer: how can QFD explicate real demands and requirements of customers from tractor final production and what is the prioritization of these demands and requirements in view of customers. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the customer requirements of Massey Ferguson (MF 285 tractor production in Iran tractor manufacturing company with t- student statistical test, AHP and QFD methods. Materials and Methods Research method was descriptive and statistical population included all of the tractor customers of Tractor Manufacturing Company in Iran from March 2011 to March 2015. The statistical sample size was 171 which are determined with Cochran index. Moreover, 20 experts' opinion has been considered for determining product's technical requirements. Literature

Value Creating Logic of Customer-Driven Product Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anders Peder; Sommer, Anita Friis

This paper focuses on how companies on business-to-business markets, characterized by complex customer problems, organize and manage the interaction process as part of the management of customer requests for new products. More specifically it is investigated how the intra-organizational activities...... the relationship between customer problems of high complexity and the organization of activities in the buyer-supplier interaction process. Building on value configuration theory and theory of problem complexity this research contributes to widen our understanding of how marketing and problem solving processes...... part of the problem solving process is configured, when taking the customer supplier interaction into consideration. The research takes an inter-and intra-organizational perspective by focusing on the dyad between a buyer and supplier. A single case study is applied in order to investigate...

Extracting product features and opinion words using pattern knowledge in customer reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Htay, Su Su; Lynn, Khin Thidar

2013-01-01

Due to the development of e-commerce and web technology, most of online Merchant sites are able to write comments about purchasing products for customer. Customer reviews expressed opinion about products or services which are collectively referred to as customer feedback data. Opinion extraction about products from customer reviews is becoming an interesting area of research and it is motivated to develop an automatic opinion mining application for users. Therefore, efficient method and techniques are needed to extract opinions from reviews. In this paper, we proposed a novel idea to find opinion words or phrases for each feature from customer reviews in an efficient way. Our focus in this paper is to get the patterns of opinion words/phrases about the feature of product from the review text through adjective, adverb, verb, and noun. The extracted features and opinions are useful for generating a meaningful summary that can provide significant informative resource to help the user as well as merchants to track the most suitable choice of product.

Extracting Product Features and Opinion Words Using Pattern Knowledge in Customer Reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Su Su Htay

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the development of e-commerce and web technology, most of online Merchant sites are able to write comments about purchasing products for customer. Customer reviews expressed opinion about products or services which are collectively referred to as customer feedback data. Opinion extraction about products from customer reviews is becoming an interesting area of research and it is motivated to develop an automatic opinion mining application for users. Therefore, efficient method and techniques are needed to extract opinions from reviews. In this paper, we proposed a novel idea to find opinion words or phrases for each feature from customer reviews in an efficient way. Our focus in this paper is to get the patterns of opinion words/phrases about the feature of product from the review text through adjective, adverb, verb, and noun. The extracted features and opinions are useful for generating a meaningful summary that can provide significant informative resource to help the user as well as merchants to track the most suitable choice of product.

Extracting Product Features and Opinion Words Using Pattern Knowledge in Customer Reviews

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Khin Thidar

2013-01-01

Due to the development of e-commerce and web technology, most of online Merchant sites are able to write comments about purchasing products for customer. Customer reviews expressed opinion about products or services which are collectively referred to as customer feedback data. Opinion extraction about products from customer reviews is becoming an interesting area of research and it is motivated to develop an automatic opinion mining application for users. Therefore, efficient method and techniques are needed to extract opinions from reviews. In this paper, we proposed a novel idea to find opinion words or phrases for each feature from customer reviews in an efficient way. Our focus in this paper is to get the patterns of opinion words/phrases about the feature of product from the review text through adjective, adverb, verb, and noun. The extracted features and opinions are useful for generating a meaningful summary that can provide significant informative resource to help the user as well as merchants to track the most suitable choice of product. PMID:24459430

Evaluation and decision of products conceptual design schemes based on customer requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Hong Zhong; Li, Yan Feng; Liu, Yu; Wang, Zhonglai [University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sichuan (China); Liu, Wenhai [2China Science Patent Trademark Agents Ltd., Beijing (China)

2011-09-15

Within the competitive market environment, understanding customer requirements is crucial for all corporations to obtain market share and survive competition. Only the products exactly meeting customer requirements can win in the market place. Therefore, customer requirements play a very important role in the evaluation and decision process of conceptual design schemes of products. In this paper, an evaluation and decision method based on customer requirements is presented. It utilizes the importance of customer requirements, the satisfaction degree of each evaluation metric to the specification, and an evaluation metric which models customer requirements to evaluate the satisfaction degree of each design scheme to specific customer requirements via the proposed BP neural networks. In the evaluation and decision process, fuzzy sets are used to describe the importance of customer requirements, the relationship between customer requirements and evaluation metrics, the satisfaction degree of each scheme to customer requirements, and the crisp set is used to describe the satisfaction degree of each metric to specifications. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by an example of front suspension fork design of mountain bikes.

Evaluation and decision of products conceptual design schemes based on customer requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Hong Zhong; Li, Yan Feng; Liu, Yu; Wang, Zhonglai; Liu, Wenhai

2011-01-01

Within the competitive market environment, understanding customer requirements is crucial for all corporations to obtain market share and survive competition. Only the products exactly meeting customer requirements can win in the market place. Therefore, customer requirements play a very important role in the evaluation and decision process of conceptual design schemes of products. In this paper, an evaluation and decision method based on customer requirements is presented. It utilizes the importance of customer requirements, the satisfaction degree of each evaluation metric to the specification, and an evaluation metric which models customer requirements to evaluate the satisfaction degree of each design scheme to specific customer requirements via the proposed BP neural networks. In the evaluation and decision process, fuzzy sets are used to describe the importance of customer requirements, the relationship between customer requirements and evaluation metrics, the satisfaction degree of each scheme to customer requirements, and the crisp set is used to describe the satisfaction degree of each metric to specifications. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by an example of front suspension fork design of mountain bikes

Customized Pull Systems for Single-Product Flow Lines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gaury, E.G.A.; Kleijnen, J.P.C.; Pierreval, H.

1998-01-01

Traditionally pull production systems are managed through classic control systems such as Kanban, Conwip, or Base stock, but this paper proposes ‘customized’ pull control. Customization means that a given production line is managed through a pull control system that in principle connects each stage

Assessing customer satisfaction for improving NOAA's climate products and services

Science.gov (United States)

Meyers, J. C.; Hawkins, M. D.; Timofeyeva, M. M.

2009-12-01

NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) Climate Services Division (CSD) is developing a comprehensive climate user requirements process with the ultimate goal of producing climate services that meet the needs of NWS climate information users. An important part of this effort includes engaging users through periodical surveys conducted by the Claes Fornell International (CFI) Group using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The CFI Group conducted a Climate Services Satisfaction (CSS) Survey in May of 2009 to measure customer satisfaction with current products and services and to gain insight on areas for improvement. The CSS Survey rates customer satisfaction on a range of NWS climate services data and products, including Climate Prediction Center (CPC) outlooks, drought monitoring, and ENSO monitoring and forecasts, as well as NWS local climate data services. In addition, the survey assesses the users of the products to give the NWS insight into its climate customer base. The survey also addresses specific topics such as NWS forecast category names, probabilistic nature of climate products, and interpretation issues. The survey results identify user requirements for improving existing NWS climate services and introducing new ones. CSD will merge the survey recommendations with available scientific methodologies and operational capabilities to develop requirements for improved climate products and services. An overview of the 2009 survey results will be presented, such as users' satisfaction with the accuracy, reliability, display and functionality of products and services.

Dynamic Pricing Competition with Strategic Customers Under Vertical Product Differentiation

OpenAIRE

Qian Liu; Dan Zhang

2013-01-01

We consider dynamic pricing competition between two firms offering vertically differentiated products to strategic customers who are intertemporal utility maximizers. We show that price skimming arises as the unique pure-strategy Markov perfect equilibrium in the game under a simple condition. Our results highlight the asymmetric effect of strategic customer behavior on quality-differentiated firms. Even though the profit of either firm decreases as customers become more strategic, the low-qu...

A portfolio of products from the rapid terrain visualization interferometric SAR

Science.gov (United States)

Bickel, Douglas L.; Doerry, Armin W.

2007-04-01

The Rapid Terrain Visualization interferometric synthetic aperture radar was designed and built at Sandia National Laboratories as part of an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) to "demonstrate the technologies and infrastructure to meet the Army requirement for rapid generation of digital topographic data to support emerging crisis or contingencies." This sensor was built by Sandia National Laboratories for the Joint Programs Sustainment and Development (JPSD) Project Office to provide highly accurate digital elevation models (DEMs) for military and civilian customers, both inside and outside of the United States. The sensor achieved better than HRTe Level IV position accuracy in near real-time. The system was flown on a deHavilland DHC-7 Army aircraft. This paper presents a collection of images and data products from the Rapid Terrain Visualization interferometric synthetic aperture radar. The imagery includes orthorectified images and DEMs from the RTV interferometric SAR radar.

Customization Issues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Kaj Asbjørn; Brunø, Thomas Ditlev; Taps, Stig B.

2014-01-01

Implementation of mass customization and product configuration in companies requires fundamental considerations about how products can fulfil the demand from customers. In order to support such decision-making, a multi-level model for customization is developed. This model identifies four different...... levels of customization, ranging from the structure level at the bottom, through the performance level and the experience level, to the learning level at the top. The model also has a dual view with customers/demand at one side and product/supplier at the other side. It is a rather general model, which...... can be applied to many types of products, and typically, product designers must decide how far up in levels the customization should aim. In this paper, the four-level customization model is applied to wheel chairs....

Developing food products in accordance with customer demands

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juhl, Hans Jørn; Kristensen, Kai; Poulsen, Carsten Stig

1994-01-01

Development of food products is considered as a design problem. Through development of a theoretical model QFD is applied to integrate market information on customer satisfaction with information from a sensory analysis. The aim is to translate th information from these two datasets into design a...... quality and systematized in the most efficient manner. In the empirical part of the paper we analyze data on customer requirements in a LISRE setting in order to improve the understanding of the market....

Whatever the customer wants, the customer gets? Exploring the gap between consumer preferences and default electricity products in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaenzig, Josef; Heinzle, Stefanie Lena; Wüstenhagen, Rolf

2013-01-01

In liberalized electricity markets, residential customers can choose their preferred provider and select among a variety of different electricity products, including green power options. Successful product design and marketing strategies for green electricity may provide electricity providers with a competitive advantage, while at the same time contributing to energy policy objectives. This requires, however, a thorough understanding of customer preferences. We investigate the relative importance of different product attributes in creating customer value, and find that price and electricity mix are the two most important attributes. The German electricity customers we surveyed in 2009 expressed an implicit willingness to pay a premium of about 16% for electricity from renewable sources. We conclude that consumers are willing to pay a significant price premium for an upgrade from the current default electricity mix in Germany to a more environmentally friendly default electricity mix, and discuss implications for marketing strategy and energy policy. Our findings are based on a dataset of 4968 experimental choices made by 414 German residential consumers, collected in a stated preference survey. - Highlights: ► Study is based on 4968 experimental choices made by 414 German retail consumers. ► Apart from price, the electricity mix is the most important product attribute. ► Majority of consumers prefer nuclear-free electricity. ► Respondents are willing to pay a premium for green electricity. ► German default electricity mix does not correspond to current customer preferences.

CASE-BASED PRODUCT CONFIGURATION AND REUSE IN MASS CUSTOMIZATION

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wang Shiwei; Tan Jianrong; Zhang Shuyou; Wang Xin; He Chenqi

2004-01-01

The increasing complexity and size of configuration knowledge bases requires the provision of advanced methods supporting the development of the actual configuration process and design reuse.A new framework to find a feasible and practical product configuration method is presented in mass customization.The basic idea of the approach is to integrate case-based reasoning (CBR) with a constraint satisfaction problem(CSP).The similarity measure between a crisp and range is also given,which is common in case retrieves.Based on the configuration model,a product platform and customer needs,case adaptation is carried out with the repair-based algorithm.Lastly,the methodology in the elevator configuration design domain is tested.

The right stuff ... meeting your customer needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, P; Carrington, S

1999-11-01

Meeting (and exceeding) your customers' needs is a requirement for competing in the current business world. New tools and techniques must be employed to deal with the rapidly changing global environment. This article describes the success of a global supply chain integration project for a division of a large multinational corporation. A state-of-the-art ERP software package was implemented in conjunction with major process changes to improve the organization's ability to promise and deliver product to their customers.

Estimating customer preferences for new pricing products. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goett, A.A.

1998-10-01

This report summarizes the results of a review of various methods to analyze customer preferences for electric service pricing products. The purpose of this study was to evaluate different techniques for analyzing preferences for electric service and pricing products in a competitive retail electricity market. In this market, competing providers will offer a variety of electric services under different price structures, and customers will face the decision of choosing a single electric service provider and pricing plan. The service and price characteristics that utilities offer will largely determine their market shares and profitability. Understanding preferences will be critical to quantifying the effects of service and pricing attributes on market share and profitability in the deregulated retail electricity market

Innovative Processes and Products for Mass Customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blecker, Thorsten; Edwards, Kasper; Hvam, Lars

solution. The first part of the paper describes the product configuration software and service platform KoViP, developed by the CAD software provider ISD, Dortmund, in cooperation with the ITM chair of the University of Bochum and funded by the EU and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The main...... goal of KoViP was to create a modular, easy configurable, standard software platform and a suite of standard services for the knowledge acquisition and maintenance as well as for the implementation of product configurators in SMEs producing mass customized products. The second part of the contribution...

Utilizing Mass Customization Methods for Modular Manufacturing System Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Steffen; Jacobsen, Alexia; Nielsen, Kjeld

2011-01-01

Markets today have become dynamic and demand rapid product changes, product variety, and customized products. In order to operate under and taking advantages of such conditions requires, amongst other aspects, manufacturing processes robust to product changes - a contradiction to traditional...... manufacturing systems developed as dedicated engineer-to-order solutions, tailored to production of a specific product or a limited product assortment. In response, modular manufacturing concepts are evolving, which are aimed at possessing the needed responsiveness and aimed at being the manufacturing paradigm...... of Mass Customization (MC). Research focus has been on the basic principles and enabling technologies, while modular architectures and system design have received less attention. A potential to fill these gaps by applying selected design theories and methods of MC have been seen. Based on a communality...

Is Mass Customization Sustainable?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Thomas Ditlev; Jørgensen, Kaj Asbjørn; Nielsen, Kjeld

2011-01-01

Mass customizers are like other companies currently experiencing an increasing customer demand for environmentally sustainable products as well as an increasingly strict legislation regarding environmental sustainability. This paper addresses the issue whether the concepts mass customization...... and sustainability are fundamentally compatible by asking the question: can a mass customized product be sustainable? Several factors could indicate that mass customized products are less sustainable than standardized products; however other factors suggest the opposite. This paper explores these factors during...... three life cycle phases for a product: Production, Use and End of Life. It is concluded that there is not an unambiguous causal relationship between mass customization and sustainability; however several factors unique to mass customized products are essential to consider during product and process...

New products from the power merchant to customer with time measurements and load management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solem, Gerd; Doorman, Gerard; Grande, Ove S.

2003-01-01

The main aim is to develop products from the power merchants that improve the consumer flexibility. For the development of the products the basis is that the consumption is measured by hours and that a connection to a load management scheme is present. Calculations for four products are made where the risk exposure is different for the customer and the supplier. The four products are ''Spot price with mark-up'', ''The combination of constant price and spot price'', ''Constant price with disconnection'' and ''Effect subscription''. The customers are exposed to the spot price in the first two products and may through disconnection reduce the costs by adapting to the market signals. Remote disconnection of parts of the consumption may be offered as a service jointly by the network companies and the power suppliers through a two-way communication but it is not realistic that the customers may pay much for this. ''Spot price with mark-up'' implies that the customer carries the entire risk while constant price may place considerable risk at the power supplier by long high consumption combined with high spot prices. '' Constant price with disconnection'' gives the power supplier the possibilities of reducing the risks. A disconnection possibility that is committing to the customers may be part of the product specification. The customers may be offered a discount calculated out from the costs for alternative price securing. Also '' Effect subscription'' reduces the merchant risks considerably at the disconnection of the consumption. The ''combined product of constant and spot price'' may be interesting from the supplier's viewpoint due to considerable risk reductions compared to solely using the constant price. The product gives the customers a guaranteed price for a part of the product and has an additional possibility of adapting the consumption to the market signals. The network company routines for handling of the hour values are a large challenge. It is important to

Photovoltaics manufacturer's overview of interactions with customers of photovoltaic products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darkazalli, G.

1982-11-01

Communications between the customer and manufacturer of photovoltaic products often require time-consuming interaction before each has the necessary information. Customers appear not to know what information is needed by the supplier to size photovoltaic systems properly nor are they adequately able to estimate their own system needs. Customers can make unrealistic measurement demands and do not provide feedback to the supplier on system performance in the field.

The effect of proposed software products' features on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of potential customers

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Azham; Mkpojiogu, Emmanuel O. C.; Yusof, Muhammad Mat

2016-08-01

This paper reports the effect of proposed software products features on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of potential customers of proposed software products. Kano model's functional and dysfunctional technique was used along with Berger et al.'s customer satisfaction coefficients. The result shows that only two features performed the most in influencing the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of would-be customers of the proposed software product. Attractive and one-dimensional features had the highest impact on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of customers. This result will benefit requirements analysts, developers, designers, projects and sales managers in preparing for proposed products. Additional analysis showed that the Kano model's satisfaction and dissatisfaction scores were highly related to the Park et al.'s average satisfaction coefficient (r=96%), implying that these variables can be used interchangeably or in place of one another to elicit customer satisfaction. Furthermore, average satisfaction coefficients and satisfaction and dissatisfaction indexes were all positively and linearly correlated.

Customer Satisfaction Index Model on Three Level Of Socioeconomic Status In Bogor Case Study: Customer Satisfaction on Branded Cooking Oil Product

OpenAIRE

Budi Setiawan

2014-01-01

Customer satisfaction index models have been developed in many countries, including Indonesia. Those models were commonly not focused on the socioeconomic status (SES) of the customer, sothis condition could be a research gap. The aims of this research is to analyze the customer satisfaction index model of branded cooking oil product in Bogor, Indonesia based on SES established from the household monthly routine consumption. Questionnaires were used as primary data collection instrument in th...

New Sustainable Tourism Product Development for Russian Customers

OpenAIRE

Racheeva, Polina

2015-01-01

Sustainable tourism is a new concept for tourism sector; it is tourism that reduces negative tourism impacts and brings benefits instead. The current problem of sustainable tourism is lack of attractive tourism products. Their development is crucial since customers seek for experiences at a destination. Russians are an important segment for Finnish tourism, therefore their consumer behaviours has to be studied. The aim of this research is to find how to develop a tourism product for susta...

Companies and the customers who hate them.

Science.gov (United States)

McGovern, Gail; Moon, Youngme

2007-06-01

Why do companies bind customers with contracts, bleed them with fees, and baffle them with fine print? Because bewildered customers, who often make bad purchasing decisions, can be highly profitable. Most firms that profit from customers' confusion are on a slippery slope. Over time, their customer-centric strategies for delivering value have evolved into company-centric strategies for extracting it. Not surprisingly, when a rival comes along with a friendlier alternative, customers defect. Adversarial value-extracting strategies are common in such industries as cell phone service, retail banking, and health clubs. Overly complex product and pricing options, for example, may have been designed to serve various segments. But in fact they take advantage of how difficult it is for customers to predict their needs (such as how many cell phone minutes they'll use each month) and make it hard for them to choose the right product. Similarly, penalties and fees, which may have been instituted to offset the costs of undesirable customer behavior, like bouncing checks, turn out to be very profitable. As a result, companies have no incentive to help customers avoid them. Tactics like these generate bad publicity and fuel customer defections, creating opportunities for competitors. Virgin Mobile USA, for example, has lured millions of angry cell phone customers away from the incumbents by offering a straightforward plan with no hidden fees, no time-of-day restrictions, and no contracts. ING Direct, now the fourth-largest thrift bank in the United States, offers accounts with no fees, no tiered interest rates, and no minimums. In industries where squeezing value from customers is commonplace, companies that dismantle these harmful practices and design a transparent, value-creating offer can head off customer retaliation and spur rapid growth.

The impact of the customer relationship management on organizational productivity, customer trust and satisfaction by using the structural equation model: A study in the Iranian hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaghoubi, Maryam; Asgari, Hamed; Javadi, Marzieh

2017-01-01

One of the challenges in the fiercely competitive space of health organizations is responding to customers and building trust and satisfaction in them in the shortest time, with best quality and highest productivity. Hence the aim of this study is to survey the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) on organizational productivity, customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust in selected hospitals of Isfahan (in Iran). This study is a correlation descriptive research. Study population was the nurses in selected hospitals of Isfahan and the sampling has been conducted using stratified random method. Data collection tool is a researcher-made questionnaire of CRM and its effects (organizational productivity, customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust) which its validity and reliability has been confirmed by researchers. Structural equation method was used to determine the impact of variables. Data analysis method was structural equation modeling and the software used was SPSS version 16 (IBM, SPSS, 2007 Microsoft Corp., Bristol, UK) and AMOS version 18 (IBM, SPSS, 2010 Microsoft Corp, Bristol, UK). Among the dimensions of CRM, diversification had the highest impact (0.83) and customer acquisition had the lowest (0.57) CRM, had the lowest impact on productivity (0.59) and the highest effect on customer satisfaction (0.83). For the implementation of CRM, it is necessary that the studied hospitals improve strategies of acquiring information about new customers, attracting new customers and keeping them and communication with patients outside the hospital and improve the system of measuring patient satisfaction and loyalty.

Risk identification and evaluation of customer collaboration in product development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuefeng Zhang

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify risk factors that caused by customer collaboration in new product development systematically, and propose an approach to judge which risk factors are critical and catch substantial attention. Design/methodology/approach: This study identifies risk factors according to the results of case studies of enterprises in china. On this basis, an improved rough number approach is put forward to evaluate the importance of risk factors. Findings: Firstly, classify risk factors into three aspects. Then, present a risk factor set, which include thirty-seven risk factors. At last, determine which risk factors are critical by using an improved rough number approach. Originality/value: Considering there are few researches studying comprehensive risk factors of customer collaboration and assessing them, this paper explores a risk factor set of customer collaboration in product development stage, and proposes a novel approach, which can help to solve the problem of subjective, vague and lack of prior information of evaluation, to evaluate risk factors.

A CBR-Based and MAHP-Based Customer Value Prediction Model for New Product Development

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yu-Jie; Luo, Xin-xing; Deng, Li

2014-01-01

In the fierce market environment, the enterprise which wants to meet customer needs and boost its market profit and share must focus on the new product development. To overcome the limitations of previous research, Chan et al. proposed a dynamic decision support system to predict the customer lifetime value (CLV) for new product development. However, to better meet the customer needs, there are still some deficiencies in their model, so this study proposes a CBR-based and MAHP-based customer value prediction model for a new product (C&M-CVPM). CBR (case based reasoning) can reduce experts' workload and evaluation time, while MAHP (multiplicative analytic hierarchy process) can use actual but average influencing factor's effectiveness in stimulation, and at same time C&M-CVPM uses dynamic customers' transition probability which is more close to reality. This study not only introduces the realization of CBR and MAHP, but also elaborates C&M-CVPM's three main modules. The application of the proposed model is illustrated and confirmed to be sensible and convincing through a stimulation experiment. PMID:25162050

OpinionSeer: interactive visualization of hotel customer feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yingcai; Wei, Furu; Liu, Shixia; Au, Norman; Cui, Weiwei; Zhou, Hong; Qu, Huamin

2010-01-01

The rapid development of Web technology has resulted in an increasing number of hotel customers sharing their opinions on the hotel services. Effective visual analysis of online customer opinions is needed, as it has a significant impact on building a successful business. In this paper, we present OpinionSeer, an interactive visualization system that could visually analyze a large collection of online hotel customer reviews. The system is built on a new visualization-centric opinion mining technique that considers uncertainty for faithfully modeling and analyzing customer opinions. A new visual representation is developed to convey customer opinions by augmenting well-established scatterplots and radial visualization. To provide multiple-level exploration, we introduce subjective logic to handle and organize subjective opinions with degrees of uncertainty. Several case studies illustrate the effectiveness and usefulness of OpinionSeer on analyzing relationships among multiple data dimensions and comparing opinions of different groups. Aside from data on hotel customer feedback, OpinionSeer could also be applied to visually analyze customer opinions on other products or services.

Service Design based Co-creation framework for customer oriented product development in B2B context

OpenAIRE

Singh, Nidhi Rakesh

2016-01-01

In today’s ICT marketplace, customers have easy access to a lot of information about a company and its competitors’ products. Customers are using this information to only purchase a product which completely matches their requirement. In this challenging competitive landscape, developing products without fully understanding customer requirements does not re-main an option for companies anymore. Companies are using different approaches to under-stand customers’ requirements and to become more c...

Co-creation: Customer Integration in Social Media Based Product and Service Development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lorenzo Romero, Carlota; Constantinides, Efthymios; Brünink, Leonine A.

2014-01-01

Due to the rising level of global competition as well as a fast-growing number of innovations organizations are nowadays forced to find new ways to attract, gain and sustain loyal customers in order to stay competitive. Co-creation, the active involvement of customers in the process of new product

Customer Satisfaction Index Model on Three Level Of Socioeconomic Status In Bogor Case Study: Customer Satisfaction on Branded Cooking Oil Product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budi Setiawan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Customer satisfaction index models have been developed in many countries, including Indonesia. Those models were commonly not focused on the socioeconomic status (SES of the customer, sothis condition could be a research gap. The aims of this research is to analyze the customer satisfaction index model of branded cooking oil product in Bogor, Indonesia based on SES established from the household monthly routine consumption. Questionnaires were used as primary data collection instrument in this study, while data analysis was carried out with variance based structural equation modeling (SEM which is also known as Partial Least Square (PLS model, and Kruskall Wallis nonparametric test. Perceived quality, perceived value and customer expectation as were significantly influencing the customer satisfaction construct in the structural model. This study also concluded that there is different level of overall customer satisfaction on the three levels of customer’s SES

The impact of the customer relationship management on organizational productivity, customer trust and satisfaction by using the structural equation model: A study in the Iranian hospitals

Science.gov (United States)

Yaghoubi, Maryam; Asgari, Hamed; Javadi, Marzieh

2017-01-01

Context: One of the challenges in the fiercely competitive space of health organizations is responding to customers and building trust and satisfaction in them in the shortest time, with best quality and highest productivity. Hence the aim of this study is to survey the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) on organizational productivity, customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust in selected hospitals of Isfahan (in Iran). Materials and Methods: This study is a correlation descriptive research. Study population was the nurses in selected hospitals of Isfahan and the sampling has been conducted using stratified random method. Data collection tool is a researcher-made questionnaire of CRM and its effects (organizational productivity, customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust) which its validity and reliability has been confirmed by researchers. Structural equation method was used to determine the impact of variables. Data analysis method was structural equation modeling and the software used was SPSS version 16 (IBM, SPSS, 2007 Microsoft Corp., Bristol, UK) and AMOS version 18 (IBM, SPSS, 2010 Microsoft Corp, Bristol, UK). Results: Among the dimensions of CRM, diversification had the highest impact (0.83) and customer acquisition had the lowest (0.57) CRM, had the lowest impact on productivity (0.59) and the highest effect on customer satisfaction (0.83). Conclusions: For the implementation of CRM, it is necessary that the studied hospitals improve strategies of acquiring information about new customers, attracting new customers and keeping them and communication with patients outside the hospital and improve the system of measuring patient satisfaction and loyalty. PMID:28546971

Customers' preferences with regard to attributes of electric power products; Kundenpraeferenzen fuer leistungsrelevante Attribute von Stromprodukten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burkhalter, Andreas; Kaenzig, Josef; Wuestenhagen, Rolf [Univ. St. Gallen (Switzerland). Inst. fuer Wirtschaft und Oekologie

2009-06-15

This article addresses whether standard electricity products in Switzerland meet the preferences of private customers. To determine customers' preferred electricity product we conducted an online survey with choice experiments implying 9420 choice decisions by 628 respondents in Switzerland. Using hierarchical Bayes estimation we determined customer preferences and the importance of individual product attributes in product choice. This procedure makes it possible to calculate part worth utilities for product attributes and to derive customers' implicit willingness to pay. The ''electricity mix'' had the most important influence on choice decisions, followed by ''monthly electricity costs'' and the ''location of the electricity generation''. The current Swiss electricity mix which consists of mainly nuclear and hydro power was only rated second to last in a comparison of five alternative mixes. Customers clearly prefer electricity mixes containing green energy. Findings of this study reveal strategic options for product design, positioning, and marketing for a liberalized electricity market. (orig.)

Maximizing Product Innovation through Adaptive Application of User-Centered Methods for Defining Customer Value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tonje Overvik Olsen

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Establishing deep understanding of customers is a prerequisite to improve success rates of innovations under today’s transient business conditions. This paper summarizes methods and tools to increase customer understanding in new product development. A case study of developing an office chair was conducted, utilizing four such methods (web based survey, interview, observation and workshops to provide directions for later application. Results indicate that methods revealing emotionally-related customer information (workshops and observation are resource-intensive and provide less amount of information directly applicable to the product development team. The opposite is the case for methods providing more functionally-related information (web based survey and interview. The overall conclusion is that the latter methods are more suitable for product improvements, while the former may provide valuable information for creating more differentiated products.

Framework for product knowledge and product related knowledge which supports product modelling for mass customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Jesper; Hansen, Benjamin Loer; Hvam, Lars

2003-01-01

on experience from product modelling projects in several companies. Among them for example companies manufacturing electronic switchboards, spray dryer systems and air conditioning equipment. The framework is divided into three views: the product knowledge view, the life phase system view and the transformation...... and personalization. The framework for product knowledge and product related knowledge is based on the following theories: axiomatic design, technical systems, theory of domains, theory of structuring, theory of properties and the framework for the content of product and product related models. The framework is built......The article presents a framework for product knowledge and product related knowledge which can be used to support the product modelling process which is needed for developing IT systems. These IT systems are important tools for many companies when they aim at achieving mass customization...

Sustainability Evaluation of Mass Customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunø, Thomas Ditlev; Nielsen, Kjeld; Taps, Stig B.

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the issue whether the concepts mass customization and sustainability are fundamentally compatible by asking the question: can a mass customized product be sustainable? Some factors indicate that mass customized products are less sustainable than standardized products; however...... other factors suggest the opposite. This paper explores these factors during three life cycle phases for a product: Production, Use and End of Life. It is concluded that there is not an unambiguous causal relationship between mass customization and sustainability; however several factors unique to mass...... customized products are essential to consider during product development....

Customer Perception On Products Pricing Service Quality Towards Customers Quality Relationships And Loyalty Of Domestic Airlines Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasniaty

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Aviation services industry is an important industry that holds Indonesia. Indonesia has approximately 17 thousand islands scattered with a long coastline over 5000 kilometers. Air transport is an essential component for connecting approximately 250 million people with a population growth of 1.49 percent annually. Air transport services become business areas that are needed by todays modern society. This study aims to quantify the relationship between customer perceptions on the concept or product price service quality and relationship quality on customer loyalty of domestic airline in Indonesia. This study took a sample of 300 respondents. The data analyzed using SEM Structural Equation Modeling. The results of this study is theoretical findings suggests that the product has a significant positive effect on trust customer satisfaction and loyalty but positive effect is insignificant on commitment. The price has significant positive effect on trust commitment satisfaction but positive effect is insignificant on loyalty. Service quality has a significant positive effect on trust commitment satisfaction but positive effect is insignificant on loyalty. Trust has significant positive effect on satisfaction and loyalty. Commitment has significant positive effect on loyalty but positive effect is insignificant on loyalty. Satisfaction has significant positive effect on satisfaction and loyalty.

Influence of Customer Focused Mission Statement on Customer Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chijioke Nwachukwu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of customer‑focused mission statements on customer satisfaction in selected cell phone manufacturing companies in the United States. The study employed content analysis for the mission statement and data from America customer satisfaction index (ACSI. In analysing our data, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression techniques were used. The result showed that product and service, technology, philosophy, self‑concept, and public image mission statement components are strongly positively correlated with customer satisfaction. Customer, survival, growth and profitability and market mission statement components are insignificantly negatively correlated with customer satisfaction. The study, therefore, recommends that companies that want to remain competitive by enhancing customer satisfaction should formulate mission statements from a customer perspective so that they include product and service, technology, philosophy, self‑concept, and public image components. The main limitation of the study represents the sample size and structure. This study empirically investigated the correlation and association of nine mission statement components with customer satisfaction.

The effects assessment of firm environmental strategy and customer environmental conscious on green product development.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Ming-Tien; Chuang, Li-Min; Chao, Shu-Tsung; Chang, Hsiao-Ping

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study is to examine why both parties (industry and consumer market) have mutual interests in protecting the environment but they still are hesitant to act green. The study used two-stage sampling from consumer market to depict ideal green product characteristics and reliable toy companies, and visit these companies for the second sample collection to examine whether the organizational eco-innovation strategy with customer value has a positive effect on green product development. In other words, the customer's benefit is an important factor for new product development strategy for green toys. This research shows that the willingness to buy green toys increases if most people in society buy green toys. This represents that customers are environmentally conscious and care about protecting the environment, or buying green toys is the result of a new economic trend and childhood education. The willingness to buy green toys increases if customers think that green products implies an enhancement on new product development to toy manufacturers. Further, if manufacturers are able to manage the difficulty of cooperation with all parties in the supply chain and difficulties related to production, they are willing to adopt customers' perceived value on green toys for their new product development strategy. It is rare to find academic research discussing the perspectives of both consumers and manufacturers in the same study because the research topic is very broad and many conditions must be considered. This research aims to find the effect of consumer-perceived value and company eco-innovation on green product development.

Generative innovation practices, customer creativity, and the adoption of new technology products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tanev, Stoyan; Frederiksen, Marianne Harbo

2014-01-01

to adopt a new practice. The emphasis on adoption merges together innovation and entrepreneurship by shifting the focus from the inventor and the designer, through the entrepreneur, to the ultimate recipient of the innovative outcomes. Looking at customers as co-creators is critically important......: i) the increasing degree of complexity of everyday technological products requires a higher degree of creativity by customers to adopt; and ii) customer creativity is not only a function of user-technology interaction, it is a function of the various actors in the interactive environment surrounding...

Improving Internal Customer Service

Science.gov (United States)

1990-09-01

34Companies are recognizing that treating customers and associates like people has a very high value" (21:20). 2 Customer service has become more that... customer service is also a strategy with the focus towards people , not product (24:1). Customers are demanding quality service for several reasons...34 (39:45). External Customers . External customers are an organization’s ultimate consumers . They purchase the end product or service an organization

Applications of Mass Customization Production Mode in Chinese Steel Industry

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZhouShichun; DingJianhua; ChenChao

2005-01-01

In this paper, the conflict between individual needs of market and the efficient mass production requirement of manufacture under the background of market globalization is discussed, a trend that the main production mode for domestic steel industry should be the mass customization is pointed out, and the problems to be solved for domestic enterprise are analyzed. Summarizing the practice of Baosteel Co. LTD on the new production mode, the achievements and experiences are presented.

Mass Customization Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friedrich, Gerhard

Topics of the IMCM’08 & PETO’08 and this book are: Mass customization in service, mass customizing financial services, mass customization in supply networks, implementation issues in logistics, product life cycle and mass customization. The research field of mass customization is more than 15 years...

Pengaruh Customer Perceived Value Terhadap Customer Satisfaction PT. Xyz

OpenAIRE

Sucahyo, Martinus Wilman

2017-01-01

Penelitian ini membahas tentang Customer Perceived Value terhadap Customer Satisfaction PT. XYZ. Dalam penelitian ini, Customer Perceived Value diukur melalui dimensi Core Product Value, Service Value dan Relationship Value. Masing-masing dimensi ini akan diuji pengaruhnya terhadap Customer Satisfaction, baik secara simultan maupun secara parsial, serta dimensi mana yang paling berpengaruh terhadap Customer Satisfaction. Sampel penelitian berjumlah 100 pelanggan PT. XYZ. Data penelitian diola...

Relationship on the Relational Benefit Effect of Oil Products on Customer Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Muxue

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In order to find out the relationship of relational benefit effect of oil products on customer satisfaction, the local fractional algorithm is proposed in this paper for data analysis. It is investigated the adjustment effect of alternative brand competitiveness and customer characteristics to this mechanism. The results show that the proposed algorithm can thus improve overall system performance substantially.

Using fuzzy models to migrate from customer relationship management (CRM) to customer experience management (CEM)

OpenAIRE

Dr. Anna Maria Gil-Lafuente; Carolina Luis-Bassa

2011-01-01

Relationship Marketing has made rapid progress during the last ten years. Since the development of the customer-centric model, reinforced by the emergence of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) strategies, companies have focused on finding models and tools that allow them to get to know better their clients. The management of customer relationship with the company has evolved from seeking the customer satisfaction to seek customer loyalty, and later on to create a brand advocate consumer f...

How Complaining Customers Make Companies Listen and Influence Product Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, John K.; Gasparin, Marta; Varnes, Claus

2016-01-01

processes, mobilised a heterogeneous group of consumers into a loosely connected hybrid collective. The spokesperson acted on behalf of the hybrid collective and put growing pressure on a multinational company, influencing its decision making. In this case, the complaining customer did not exit, nor did he......The analysis in this paper shows how complaining customers can make companies listen to them by spurring the mobilisation of various actors into a hybrid collective strong enough to influence companies’ product development. Customers as sources of innovation have been analysed previously...... in the literature, whereas the process of how complaining users mobilise support to influence companies has received less attention and is not well understood. This study uncovers the processes that made it possible for a 17-year-old Norwegian to become pivotal in constructing a problematisation, which emerged...

THE INFLUENCE OF PRODUCT QUALITY , PRICE PERCEPTION AND BRAND IMAGE ON SATISFACTION AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY HOLCIM CONCRETE READYMIX IN JAKARTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sita Budiastari

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to find a picture of the effect of product quality , price perception and brand image on satisfaction and customer loyalty ready mix concrete in Jakarta . This research is a quantitative study with descriptive and causal methods undertaken at Holcim Beton in 2013 with a sample of 100 customers in Jakarta and its surrounding the industrial and commercial segments project . Data collection by questionnaire respondents and analyzed using path analysis with SPSS version 20.0. The results of the study concluded that ( 1 product quality does not effect to customer satisfaction ( 2 Perception price positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction, ( 3 Brand Image does not have an influence on customer satisfaction, ( 4 all independent variables , quality of products , Perception price and a positive brand image and significant consequences for the dependent variable Customer satisfaction, with the value of determination of 50%, while 50% are influenced by other variables ( 5 Product Quality and significant effect on customer loyalty through customer satisfaction, ( 6 Perceived Price does not effect on loyalty through customer satisfaction, ( 7 brand image have effect and siginikan loyalty through customer satisfaction, ( 8 Dependent variable of product quality , price perception and brand image together and significant effect on customer loyalty through customer satisfaction, with value of determination of 77.4 %, and 22.6 % are influenced by other factors. The findings recommend that Holcim aims to improve product quality , perceived price and brand image to increase loyalty through customer satisfaction . It is also recommended to Holcim for increase of services and information to customers in order for increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Changing Information Management in Product-Service System PLM: Customer-Oriented Strategy

OpenAIRE

Smirnov , Alexander; Shilov , Nikolay; Oroszi , Andreas; Sinko , Mario; Krebs , Thorsten

2017-01-01

Part 11: Product, Service, Systems (PSS); International audience; Increasing competition and appearance of new information and communication technologies makes companies to introduce new production and marketing models. The paper shares the experiences of improving PLM information management at an automation equipment manufacturer caused by implementation of product-service systems and their customer-driven configuration. Though the research results are based on the analysis of one company, t...

Customer Developing In Using the Islamic Banking Product at Bank Syariah Mandiri Tbk, Tegal Branch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Makmur Sujarwo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This research is aimed to find out the influences of perception, attitude, motivation, religiousness and learning towards the customer's decision in choosing the islamic banking product. This research sample is the customer's Bank Syariah Mandiri Tegal. The total samples are 105 people from Tegal, Tegal Regency and Brebes Regency. The respondent's answers towards closed questions related to the studied variable in this research, then were analyzed by using double linear regression test, while the answers to the opened questions were analyzed qualitatively. The analysis result showed that the motivation and learning variables give positive and significant affect towards the customer's decision in choosing islamic banking product. Meanwhile, the perception, attitude, and religiousness variables do not give any affect towards the customer's decision.

CEM: Increasing productivity through the management and monitoring of experiences provided to customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Arineli

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Dealing with intangible and so subtle experience is unusual and a huge challenge for management that is not used to measure what has no numbers, but maybe they need to see beyond the obvious and accessible statistics. Recently, several studies point to the importance of customer experience management (CEM. However, if the CEM is a strategy to focus on operations and processes of a business around the customers’ experiences with the company, it is essential to seek grants to structure it and find out its effectiveness. This study examines the issues involved in offering superior customer experiences on fashion retail stores in Brazil, identifying the relation between productivity and CEM. Through a research with managers of three important Brazilian clothing retail chains, it was possible to analyze the aspects that impact on the customer experience and their relevance. A questionnaire was applied to evaluate 23 variables that make up the experience of the customer and their impact on increasing productivity. Some statistical techniques were used for data processing and it was possible to realize that only 4 of the 23 items were not relevant for customer experience. It can be concluded that CEM is effective in increasing productivity and can be used as a guideline matrix management in decision-making to promote superior customer experiences. Specific characteristics of each segment suggest different impacts in every aspect. Therefore, it is crucial that each segment review its own variables that will structure the CEM. Even assuming that it is defiant see beyond the obvious, maybe this is the necessary opportunity to create real competitive advantage and longevity for companies that want to stand out and be successful over time.

Customer Innovation Process Leadership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindgren, Peter; Jørgensen, Jacob Høj; Goduscheit, René Chester

2007-01-01

Innovation leadership has traditionally been focused on leading the companies' product development fast, cost effectively and with an optimal performance driven by technological inventions or by customers´ needs. To improve the efficiency of the product development process focus has been on diffe......Innovation leadership has traditionally been focused on leading the companies' product development fast, cost effectively and with an optimal performance driven by technological inventions or by customers´ needs. To improve the efficiency of the product development process focus has been...... on different types of organisational setup to the product development model and process. The globalization and enhanced competitive markets are however changing the innovation game and the challenge to innovation leadership Excellent product development innovation and leadership seems not any longer to enough...... another outlook to future innovation leadership - Customer Innovation Process Leadership - CIP-leadership. CIP-leadership moves the company's innovation process closer to the customer innovation process and discusses how companies can be involved and innovate in customers' future needs and lead...

The Effects of Customer Value and Switching Barrier to Customer Loyalty at PT. Telkomsel Manado

OpenAIRE

Mintje, Saniati Muliani M.

2013-01-01

Customer value is customer's perceived preference for and evaluation of those product or service. It is one of factor that can attract customers. While, switching barrier is difficult of switch product or service by a customer who is not satisfied with the existing service. It is a factor that can keep customers. so, with definition of Customer Value and Switching barrier above, it can concluded that, by creating Customer value and Switching Barrier it can create customer loyalty. The Pur...

Consumer Preferences for Mass Customization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B.G.C. Dellaert (Benedict); S. Stremersch (Stefan)

2004-01-01

textabstractIncreasingly, firms adopt mass customization, which allows consumers to customize products by self-selecting their most preferred composition of the product for a predefined set of modules. For example, PC vendors such as Dell allow customers to customize their PC by choosing the type of

How to strengthen customer loyalty, using customer segmentation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MELNIC Elena Lidia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Do you provide exceptional customer service?”, “Is the customer service in your company extraordinary?” “How to convert satis fied customers into loyal customers?” - are the most frequent questions of today’s managers and have driven the research on this article to getting the answer to a highly important marketing topic “How to strengthen customer loyalty using customer segmentation?”. Anyone who has bought a product or a service has probably suffered at least once from a company’s apparent indifference to what should be its first concern: the customer experiences. If this is the case, the company is in a wrong direction, since loyalty is the most powerful tool in today competitive market. To strengthen the bonds with these high-profit customers, innovative companies are deploying enterprise-wide strategies built on consumer segmentation.

Effects of Customer Engagement Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Żyminkowska

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Aim/purpose - Research addressing the customer engagement behavior (CEB has rapidly developed in the marketing discipline, contributing to the knowledge on network organization. However, insights into the specific outcomes of CEB remain largely nebulous. Few comprehensive conceptual frameworks of CEB effects exists in the literature to-date. The empirical verification of CEB outcomes, particularly at the firm level, is still missing. Design/methodology/approach - In this article we first provide an overview of the CEB conceptualizations and its effects. Next we develop the CEB firm-level performance outcomes framework. Finally we explore CEB process, forms and outcomes in Stanley Black & Decker, applying qualitative methodological approach (case research incl. participant observation. Findings - We propose the logically arranged CEB effects in the conceptual model integrated with marketing metrics which are related to the recent advances in customer equity and customer asset management. Research implications/limitations - In empirical research we focused on the CEB effects related to one type of customer behaviors, i.e. Stanley Black& Decker customers' involvement in the product development and innovation which is a limitation in obtain-ing the comprehensive empirical picture of all CEB forms and its outcomes. Further empirical research (incl. quantitative one is necessary to verify our conceptual model. Originality/value/contribution - Our model of firm-level performance effects of CEB extends existing proposals and contributes to the knowledge on effective CEB management process in network organizations.

The Effort to Create Customer Engagement on Customer E_Banking (Empirical Studies on Bank BNI Regional Semarang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alimuddin Rizal Rivai

2016-12-01

Full Text Available                     This study focused on testing the effect of variable customer value, support systems and knowledge of the customer's products to customer satisfaction and its impact on customer engagement. This study selects the object user's e-banking customers of Bank BNI Regional Semarang. The number of samples in this study of 100 respondents, using purposive sampling technique sampling. Processing data using SPSS version 16.0. Based on a statistical test using linear regression approach, then of seven hypothesis there are two hypotheses were rejected. The hypothesis is rejected is the influence of customer value on customer engagement, and support systems to customer engagement. While five other hypotheses, namely: the influence of the customer value, support systems, knowledge products to the satisfaction of the customer, as well as the effect of product knowledge and customer satisfaction on customer involvement is proven. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that to build customer engagement should be created customer satisfaction. While such satisfaction can be created through providing better customer value, the support system is up to date and easy, and provides knowledge products to customers continuously and thoroughly.

The Service for the Customers of Coal Products in the Context of the Conception of Relationship Marketing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trushkina Nataliia V.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at developing approaches to the service for various groups of customers of coal products in the context of the conception of relationship marketing. Content of the term of «service of the customers of coal products» has been clarified. An analysis of the dynamics of volume and structure of coal consumption in Ukraine was carried out. It has been proven that in organizing the marketing processes in terms of coal enterprise activities, it is appropriate to apply the conception of relationship marketing, essence of which is formation of a partnership based on a customer-oriented approach to the service for customers of coal products. A feature of this approach, unlike the existing ones, is the allocation of different groups of consumers of coal products, taking into consideration the volume of their annual demand and the specifics identified. It has been suggested that a systemic, process, and functional approaches to the organization of processes of service for the consumers of coal products be used in a single complex through the implementation of management functions.

Three-dimensional body scanning system for apparel mass-customization

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Bugao; Huang, Yaxiong; Yu, Weiping; Chen, Tong

2002-07-01

Mass customization is a new manufacturing trend in which mass-market products (e.g., apparel) are quickly modified one at a time based on customers' needs. It is an effective competing strategy for maximizing customers' satisfaction and minimizing inventory costs. An automatic body measurement system is essential for apparel mass customization. This paper introduces the development of a body scanning system, body size extraction methods, and body modeling algorithms. The scanning system utilizes the multiline triangulation technique to rapidly acquire surface data on a body, and provides accurate body measurements, many of which are not available with conventional methods. Cubic B-spline curves are used to connect and smooth body curves. From the scanned data, a body form can be constructed using linear Coons surfaces. The body form can be used as a digital model of the body for 3-D garment design and for virtual try-on of a designed garment. This scanning system and its application software enable apparel manufacturers to provide custom design services to consumers seeking personal-fit garments.

Measurement of distances between anatomical structures using a translating stage with mounted endoscope

Science.gov (United States)

Kahrs, Lueder A.; Blachon, Gregoire S.; Balachandran, Ramya; Fitzpatrick, J. Michael; Labadie, Robert F.

2012-02-01

During endoscopic procedures it is often desirable to determine the distance between anatomical features. One such clinical application is percutaneous cochlear implantation (PCI), which is a minimally invasive approach to the cochlea via a single, straight drill path and can be achieved accurately using bone-implanted markers and customized microstereotactic frame. During clinical studies to validate PCI, traditional open-field cochlear implant surgery was performed and prior to completion of the surgery, a customized microstereotactic frame designed to achieve the desired PCI trajectory was attached to the bone-implanted markers. To determine whether this trajectory would have safely achieved the target, a sham drill bit is passed through the frame to ensure that the drill bit would reach the cochlea without damaging vital structures. Because of limited access within the facial recess, the distances from the bit to anatomical features could not be measured with calipers. We hypothesized that an endoscope mounted on a sliding stage that translates only along the trajectory, would provide sufficient triangulation to accurately measure these distances. In this paper, the design, fabrication, and testing of such a system is described. The endoscope is mounted so that its optical axis is approximately aligned with the trajectory. Several images are acquired as the stage is moved, and threedimensional reconstruction of selected points allows determination of distances. This concept also has applicability in a large variety of rigid endoscopic interventions including bronchoscopy, laparoscopy, and sinus endoscopy.

How Customers Choose Hotels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hera Oktadiana

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In the advancement of hospitality industry, thus it is important for hotel sales and marketing to understand the customer behavior in order to create effective marketing. Factors that influence customer behavior as individuality consist of personal and interpersonal factors. Personal factors include the needs, wants, motivation, perception, learning, personality, lifestyle, and self-concept. Meanwhile, interpersonal factors come from culture and sub-culture, group references, customers through stages before deciding to purchase. Begin with the awareness about the needs, customers then find information about the product or service that could be used to solve the problems. After having the information, customers select the best product and service before deciding to purchase. After purchasing, the last stage is evaluation of product and service, whether it is satisfying or not.

Chest-wall reconstruction with a customized titanium-alloy prosthesis fabricated by 3D printing and rapid prototyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Xiaopeng; Gao, Shan; Feng, Jinteng; Li, Shuo; Gao, Rui; Zhang, Guangjian

2018-01-08

As 3D printing technology emerge, there is increasing demand for a more customizable implant in the repair of chest-wall bony defects. This article aims to present a custom design and fabrication method for repairing bony defects of the chest wall following tumour resection, which utilizes three-dimensional (3D) printing and rapid-prototyping technology. A 3D model of the bony defect was generated after acquiring helical CT data. A customized prosthesis was then designed using computer-aided design (CAD) and mirroring technology, and fabricated using titanium-alloy powder. The mechanical properties of the printed prosthesis were investigated using ANSYS software. The yield strength of the titanium-alloy prosthesis was 950 ± 14 MPa (mean ± SD), and its ultimate strength was 1005 ± 26 MPa. The 3D finite element analyses revealed that the equivalent stress distribution of each prosthesis was unifrom. The symmetry and reconstruction quality contour of the repaired chest wall was satisfactory. No rejection or infection occurred during the 6-month follow-up period. Chest-wall reconstruction with a customized titanium-alloy prosthesis is a reliable technique for repairing bony defects.

Assessing the antecedents of customer loyalty on healthcare insurance products: Service quality; perceived value embedded model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fadi Abdelmuniem Abdelfattah

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This research aim to investigate the influence of service quality attributes towards customers’ loyalty on health insurance products. In addition, this research also tested the mediation role of perceived value in between service quality and customers’ loyalty on health insurance products. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the literature review, this research developed a conceptual model of customers loyalty embedded with service quality and perceived value. The study surveyed 342 healthcare insurance customers. Apart from assessing the reliability and validity of the constructs through confirmatory factor analysis, this research also used structural equation modelling (SEM approach to test the proposed hypothesis. Findings: The results from the inferential statistics revealed that the healthcare insurance customers are highly influenced by service quality followed by the perceived value in reaching their loyalty towards a particular health insurance service provider. Research limitations/implications: The sample for this study is based on health insurance customers only and it is suggested that future studies enlarge the scope to include others type of customers of different insurance products. Practical implications: In order to encourage the customers to more loyal towards their service providers, this research will add value for the mangers to understand the items of service quality and considering the perceived value of the target customers in order to optimize their loyalty. As whole, the outcome of this research will assist managers for better understanding of the customers’ loyalty antecedents under the perspective of healthcare insurance products. Originality/value: This paper has tried to provide a comprehensive understanding about customers’ loyalty under the perspective of service quality and perceived values context in the Malaysian health care insurance industry. Since there was a lack of such research in

Competitive Effects of Mass Customization

OpenAIRE

Oksana Loginova

2010-01-01

Earlier theoretical literature on mass customization maintains that customization reduces product differentiation and intensifies price competition. In contrast, operations management studies argue that customization serves primarily to differentiate a company from its competitors. Interactive involvement of the customer in product design creates an affective relationship with the firm, relaxing price competition. This paper provides a model that incorporates consumer involvement to explain t...

Research on the time optimization model algorithm of Customer Collaborative Product Innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guodong Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To improve the efficiency of information sharing among the innovation agents of customer collaborative product innovation and shorten the product design cycle, an improved genetic annealing algorithm of the time optimization was presented. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the analysis of the objective relationship between the design tasks, the paper takes job shop problems for machining model and proposes the improved genetic algorithm to solve the problems, which is based on the niche technology and thus a better product collaborative innovation design time schedule is got to improve the efficiency. Finally, through the collaborative innovation design of a certain type of mobile phone, the proposed model and method were verified to be correct and effective. Findings and Originality/value: An algorithm with obvious advantages in terms of searching capability and optimization efficiency of customer collaborative product innovation was proposed. According to the defects of the traditional genetic annealing algorithm, the niche genetic annealing algorithm was presented. Firstly, it avoided the effective gene deletions at the early search stage and guaranteed the diversity of solution; Secondly, adaptive double point crossover and swap mutation strategy were introduced to overcome the defects of long solving process and easily converging local minimum value due to the fixed crossover and mutation probability; Thirdly, elite reserved strategy was imported that optimal solution missing was avoided effectively and evolution speed was accelerated. Originality/value: Firstly, the improved genetic simulated annealing algorithm overcomes some defects such as effective gene easily lost in early search. It is helpful to shorten the calculation process and improve the accuracy of the convergence value. Moreover, it speeds up the evolution and ensures the reliability of the optimal solution. Meanwhile, it has obvious advantages in efficiency of

Product manufacturing, quality, and reliability initiatives to maintain a competitive advantage and meet customer expectations in the semiconductor industry

Science.gov (United States)

Capps, Gregory

Semiconductor products are manufactured and consumed across the world. The semiconductor industry is constantly striving to manufacture products with greater performance, improved efficiency, less energy consumption, smaller feature sizes, thinner gate oxides, and faster speeds. Customers have pushed towards zero defects and require a more reliable, higher quality product than ever before. Manufacturers are required to improve yields, reduce operating costs, and increase revenue to maintain a competitive advantage. Opportunities exist for integrated circuit (IC) customers and manufacturers to work together and independently to reduce costs, eliminate waste, reduce defects, reduce warranty returns, and improve quality. This project focuses on electrical over-stress (EOS) and re-test okay (RTOK), two top failure return mechanisms, which both make great defect reduction opportunities in customer-manufacturer relationship. Proactive continuous improvement initiatives and methodologies are addressed with emphasis on product life cycle, manufacturing processes, test, statistical process control (SPC), industry best practices, customer education, and customer-manufacturer interaction.

Smart Product Design and Production Control for Effective Mass Customization in the Industry 4.0 Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zawadzki Przemysław

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a general concept of smart design and production control as key elements for efficient operation of a smart factory. The authors present various techniques that aid the design process of individualized products and organization of their production in the context of realization of the mass customization strategy, which allows a shortened time of development for a new product. Particular attention was paid to integration of additive manufacturing technologies and virtual reality techniques, which are a base of the so-called hybrid prototyping.

Frontline CALS - Extranet Enabled Support of Customer Relations Based on Product State Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Michael Holm; Franck, Lesley Robert; Pedersen, Mogens Kühn

1999-01-01

commerce called Frontline CALS. Frontline CALS integrate three bodies of knowledge, i.e. Continuous Acquisition and Lifecycle Support, Electronic Commerce, and the Customer Consumption Chain in order to construct a concept that enhances the service quality for customers with time critical operations....... The essence of Frontline CALS is that it combines a product and a customer view with the aim of enhancing the service quality offered by the dealers in collaboration with the producer. The article further provides empirical insight from an early prototype implementation of a Web Service System intended......The electronic economy has proliferated during the past decade. Many initiatives are launched in order to support customer's interaction with the company, however, often fragmented. A more holistic approach is provided in this article. The article suggests a business model in the era of electronic...

Production-logistic system in the aspect of strategies for production planning and control and for logistic customer service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Łukasz Hadaś

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The authors made multi-dimensional review of production and logistic strategies in order to prove their coherence in shaping internal and external supply chain. The paper is concluded with definition of production-logistic system as an object of modeling in transformation of business systems of manufacturing companies. Material and methods: The paper is based on analysis of state of the art presented in the literature on the subject of production and logistics strategies. Publications of key importance were selected to identify genesis and basic assumptions of strategies and their functioning. Comparative synthesis of logistic and production strategies identified is developed with respect to authors' experience in application of predefined tools and methods characteristic for strategies identified. Results: The result of the work conducted is consolidation of production and logistic strategies according to multi-variant customer service and original definition of production and logistic system. Conclusions: Production system and logistic system can and should be treated as equal elements in context of material flows management in internal and external supply chains. Such approach enables modeling of both systems as coherent elements realizing selected strategy of customer service.     

Switchboard simulation to improve productivity and customer service.

Science.gov (United States)

LaCourse, E D

1996-01-01

An application of classical industrial engineering/operations research techniques (i.e., multichannel queueing analysis) and detailed workload distribution data. An analytic simulation model developed on a personal computer (PC) is used with interactive analysis to develop switchboard coverage requirements and optimal staffing schedules by time of day and day of week. This represents a tangible example of how classical techniques can be used with newer approaches and a close working relationship between the analyst and line management, to solve a practical problem of optimizing both productivity and customer service quality.

Decision support for customers in electronic environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

František Dařena

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the rapid spread of computer technologies into day-to-day lives many purchases or purchase-related decisions are made in the electronic environment of the Web. In order to handle information overload that is the result of the availability of many web-based stores, products and services, consumers use decision support aids that help with need recognition, information retrieval, filtering, comparisons and choice making. Decision support systems (DSS discipline spreads about 40 years back and was mostly focused on assisting managers. However, online environments and decision support in such environments bring new opportunities also to the customers. The focus on decision support for consumers is also not investigated to the large extent and not documented in the literature. Providing customers with well designed decision aids can lead to lower cognitive decision effort associated with the purchase decision which results in significant increase of consumer’s confidence, satisfaction, and cost savings. During decision making process the subjects can chose from several methods (optimizing, reasoning, analogizing, and creating, DSS types (data-, model-, communication-, document-driven, and knowledge-based and benefit from different modern technologies. The paper investigates popular customer decision making aids, such as search, filtering, comparison, ­e-negotiations and auctions, recommendation systems, social network systems, product design applications, communication support etc. which are frequently related to e-commerce applications. Results include the overview of such decision supporting tools, specific examples, classification according the way how the decisions are supported, and possibilities of applications of progressive technologies. The paper thus contributes to the process of development of the interface between companies and the customers where customer decisions take place.

Study on Customer Experience Dimension Based on Online Shopping reviews of MI’s Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Lin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study has selected sorts of comments about MI’s products from its customers’ as research objects, then we used the theory of Rooting to analyze those objects, and explored the Customer Experience Dimensions’ type, characteristics and the way to impact others. The results come as follows: First of all, the Customers Experience Dimensions are consisted of nine major categories defined as Value Perception Experience, Sensory Experience, Quality Assurance Experience, Parts Experience, Purchase Experience, Service Experience, Brand Comparison Experience, Compensating Experience, Brand Reliance Experience respectively. Secondly, we put these nine major categories above all to compare the conclusions with the previous research, then we analyzed and integrated them, and finally obtained seven major categories containing Purchasing Website, Product Rendering, Delivery Experience, Transaction Convenience, Safety and Security, Brand Reliance, Marketing Communications respectively. In addition, we have conducted a further investigation to draw three types about the Customer Experience named Function Experience, Purchasing and Service Experience, and Brand Experience. Last but not the least, this paper has definitely provided the basis theory of how does the Customer Experience affect the Brand Loyalty for future research, as well as guided a definite orientation.

Customer familiarity with new industrial product technology and its influence on adoption: The case of De Beers diamond extraction equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nabbie, A.

2013-05-01

Full Text Available An investigation was conducted into the influence of industry customers familiarity with new technology on their decisions when purchasing discontinuous industrial products. This was done in the context where the supplier and customer organisations are entities in the same company. Even in this favourable context, continuous products remained successful despite a better solution being available. Literature on this close type of relationship is sparse, mostly because information on such internal processes is generally regarded as competitive. The case investigated was the DebTech division of De Beers, and their experience with products that they design and manufacture for the global diamond mining industry. Product developer and customer data from applicable projects was analysed, and interviews and observations were conducted. The results indicate that familiarity with the product technology favourably influences perceptions of newness, safety, and the ease of integration of a product. Familiarity increases customers propensity to recommend and purchase new-technology products.

Operator-Oriented Product and Production Process Design for Manufacturing, Maintenance and Upgrading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rhijn, G. van; Bosch, T.

2017-01-01

The nature of production in the manufacturing industry is changing, and companies face large challenges. Customers expect fast delivery times, proven sustainability, flexibility, and frequent product upgrades. To stay competitive and manage rapid technological demands, a parallel, iterative and

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS STRATEGIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rozitta Chittaie

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Changing in the current competitive environment, increasing simplicity of penetrating into the competitive market, and rapid growing of information technology are essential motives for performing activities in an environment. Nowadays, some companies step into rapid and instant development of their markets in order to improve customer relationship. These companies through adopting customer relationship management (CRM systems can earn and retain their customers' loyalty. As a result, designing customer relationship management strategies can lead to market protection, customer value increase, and greater customer satisfaction opportunities for continuous promotion of the enterprise. Regarding the complexity and the variety of strategies associated with managing a business, information-related capability seems to be an essential capability for earning profit from companies' activities and competition among peers. Hence, relation and information are employed for managing the firms are vital tools for seizing opportunities and tackling future issues. Giving the information only employed to support a company’s performance, making crucial decision about surrounding environment, increasing competitive ability of the enterprise will be difficult for company. Furthermore, since increase of competitive ability is accompanied by making greater profit on the deal, methods of raising competitive ability is an interesting and critical issue. Therefore, companies through information technology, cost reduction, and development of low-level relations with customers can achieve greater profitability. This paper probes into customer relationship management and business strategies. The implications of CRM strategies are discussed in detail.

Large Scale Product Recommendation of Supermarket Ware Based on Customer Behaviour Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Kanavos

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this manuscript, we present a prediction model based on the behaviour of each customer using data mining techniques. The proposed model utilizes a supermarket database and an additional database from Amazon, both containing information about customers’ purchases. Subsequently, our model analyzes these data in order to classify customers as well as products, being trained and validated with real data. This model is targeted towards classifying customers according to their consuming behaviour and consequently proposes new products more likely to be purchased by them. The corresponding prediction model is intended to be utilized as a tool for marketers so as to provide an analytically targeted and specified consumer behavior. Our algorithmic framework and the subsequent implementation employ the cloud infrastructure and use the MapReduce Programming Environment, a model for processing large data-sets in a parallel manner with a distributed algorithm on computer clusters, as well as Apache Spark, which is a newer framework built on the same principles as Hadoop. Through a MapReduce model application on each step of the proposed method, text processing speed and scalability are enhanced in reference to other traditional methods. Our results show that the proposed method predicts with high accuracy the purchases of a supermarket.

Loss-Averse Retailer’s Optimal Ordering Policies for Perishable Products with Customer Returns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate the loss-averse retailer’s ordering policies for perishable product with customer returns. With the introduction of the segmental loss utility function, we depict the retailer’s loss aversion decision bias and establish the loss-averse retailer’s ordering policy model. We derive that the loss-averse retailer’s optimal order quantity with customer returns exists and is unique. By comparison, we obtain that both the risk-neutral and the loss-averse retailer’s optimal order quantities depend on the inventory holding cost and the marginal shortage cost. Through the sensitivity analysis, we also discuss the effect of loss-averse coefficient and the ratio of return on the loss-averse retailer’s optimal order quantity with customer returns.

Micro-enterprises’ digital marketing tools for building customer relationships

OpenAIRE

Nikunen, T. (Tuulia); Saarela, M. (Martti); OIkarinen, E.-L. (Eeva-Liisa); Muhos, M. (Matti); Isohella, L. (Lari)

2017-01-01

Abstract The digital marketing environment is changing rapidly, and, for micro-enterprises, digital marketing is currently a vitally important opportunity. Attracting customers, engaging customers’ interest and participation, retaining customers, learning customers’ preferences and relating to customers are key strategies in building strong customer relationships. However, many enterprises ignore longer-term aspects of managing customer relationships. The study sought to contribute to a mo...

Survey of customer expectation and satisfaction: preliminary research of a modular product design approach for sheep cage design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rochman Yuli Agusti

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study aims to produce a modular sheep cage design. Feeding, maintenance and integrated waste management are taking into account in the design. The modular and integrated product design provides advantages such as (1 easy way of making and modifying the product, (2 enabling the utilization of existing facilities such as shade, (3 giving the user a sense of convenience as the waste can be processed and not being a source of pollution. The Modular Quality Function Deployment (QFD method is applied to identify modules associated with the customer needs of the product. A survey about customer expectation and satisfaction was conducted in order to evaluate the gap of both. The highest value of gap between customer expectation and satisfaction of products indicates that the customer needs are the focus of the problems. The most important customer needs are considered in modification and improvement of design. These are (1 the cage is not easy to fall down, (2 the sheep cage can last for long time, (3 it uses a strong frame, (4 the roof section materials is not easy to leak, and (5 It can be used even if one part of the cage is damaged.

A Survey Study on Customer Experience in Banking Cash Management Products and, Participation Banking Example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cüneyt DİRİCAN

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Banking as a safe bridge of risk management balances relation between deposit and loan. In the growing trend of interest-free banking Turkey practice, Participation Banking is working to fix the expectations of customers with reasonable solutions. For corporate customers with comprehensive cash management expectations, producing appropriate and fast solutions are important for a positive and sustainable customer experience. Cash Management covers collection of trade receivables and short -term debt payments. In this study, in the light of the financial ratios of participation banking within the banking industry, a participation bank customers' experiences and expectations in cash management products and services were evaluated with the survey methodology and its importance were also examined.

Customer relationship management system

OpenAIRE

Selenis, Laimonas

2004-01-01

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of the biggest problems for many companies today. By analyzing history records (profiles) of its customers, organization can effectively adapt its business activity to users needs and create better products and services. Proper analysis of customer profiles can help to predict the behaviour of the customers. After grouping customer profiles by similar attributes, company can easier handle its interactions with similar users. Such group profiling c...

Micro-Enterprises’ Digital Marketing Tools for Building Customer Relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuulia Nikunen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The digital marketing environment is changing rapidly, and, for micro-enterprises, digital marketing is currently a vitally important opportunity. Attracting customers, engaging customers’ interest and participation, retaining customers, learning customers’ preferences and relating to customers are key strategies in building strong customer relationships. However, many enterprises ignore longer-term aspects of managing customer relationships. The study sought to contribute to a more in-depth understanding of micro-enterprises’ current strategies in terms of new digital marketing tools that foster stronger customer relationships. Based on interviews of two digital marketing service providers, this paper describes how their micro-enterprise clients use digital marketing tools through the five elements of building customer relationships. The findings highlight the importance of a practical understanding of digital marketing tools, as the digital marketing environment changes rapidly. The human capital and digital tool knowledge of micro-enterprises’ owner-managers have a great impact on these firms’ digital marketing and, ultimately, their success.

Method for matching customer and manufacturer positions for metal product parameters standardization

Science.gov (United States)

Polyakova, Marina; Rubin, Gennadij; Danilova, Yulija

2018-04-01

Decision making is the main stage of regulation the relations between customer and manufacturer during the design the demands of norms in standards. It is necessary to match the positions of the negotiating sides in order to gain the consensus. In order to take into consideration the differences of customer and manufacturer estimation of the object under standardization process it is obvious to use special methods of analysis. It is proposed to establish relationships between product properties and its functions using functional-target analysis. The special feature of this type of functional analysis is the consideration of the research object functions and properties. It is shown on the example of hexagonal head crew the possibility to establish links between its functions and properties. Such approach allows obtaining a quantitative assessment of the closeness the positions of customer and manufacturer at decision making during the standard norms establishment.

Assessing Customer Evaluation and Revenue Consequences of Component Sharing Across Brands in the Vertical Product Line

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.C. Verhoef (Peter); K.H. Pauwels (Koen)

2005-01-01

textabstractComponent sharing may look great in the boardroom, but not in the showroom. Indeed, savings on R&D and production costs could be offset by a plunge in customer brand attractiveness and willingness to pay. This paper investigates the impact of component sharing on customer evaluation of

Customer benefit and power plant development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drenckhahn, W.; Riedle, K.

2005-01-01

In recent years, many aspects of the power market and customer needs in plant operation have been changing more rapidly than manufacturers could launch new products on the market. As a result, flexibility is required not only in the operation of power plants, but also in drawing up product specifications and in the ensuing engineering. The familiar major objectives of development work, such as low specific investment cost and high efficiency, remain important. Also in the context of reducing CO 2 emissions and trading with CO 2 certificates, improving the efficiency of power plants is a measure that, over and above today's cost optimum, represents the 'action of least regret' with a view to sustainably meeting the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. (orig.)

The Role of Knowledge Acquisition in Facilitating Customer Involvement in Product Development: Examining the Mediation Effect of Absorptive Capacity

Science.gov (United States)

Dahiyat, Samer E.; Al-Zu'bi, Zu'bi M. F.

2012-01-01

Knowledge management has often been linked to product development, innovation, and customisation. In particular, effective exploitation of customer knowledge, through engaging customers in a process of co-creation of products, exemplifies such a link. Accordingly, this research aims to identify those dimensions of knowledge management activities…

Customer satisfaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær; Kristensen, Kai

2007-01-01

& Westlund, 2003) as well as the structure of the framework (Eskildsen et al., 2004). We know however very little about how the structure of the individual markets with respect to, for instance, how the transparency of products and services affects customer satisfaction. The aim of this article is to analyze...... the effect of the transparency of products and services on customer satisfaction with respect to Danish mobile phone companies, banks and supermarkets from 2004 based on the authors' experiences from the various analyses conducted within the EPSI rating initiative....

Customer Satisfaction Using Data Mining Approach

OpenAIRE

ORALHAN, Burcu; UYAR, Kumru; ORALHAN, Zeki

2016-01-01

Customers and products are the mainassets for every business. Companies make their best to satisfy customersbecause of coming back to their companies. After sales service related todifferent steps that make customers are satisfied with the company service andproducts. After sales service covers different many activities to investigatewhether the customer is satisfied with the service, products or not? Hence,after sales service is acting very crucial role for customer satisfaction,retention an...

Assessment of business customers satisfaction with the products and service of Pnevmostroimashina, jsc, on the B2B market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. M. Kapustina

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The paper is dedicated to development of a methodology for assessment of customer satisfaction with the products and services on the b2b market. The study of customer satisfaction is aimed at building strong and mutually beneficial supplier-customer relationship. The authors focus on the importance of customer satisfaction continuous monitoring intended for improvement of the company’s market performance. The research based on the works by Kano N., Lamben J.-J., Carter R., Parashuraman A., Zeitaml V. A., Berry L. L. and others, describes an algorithm study of consumers and offers a methodology to evaluate customer satisfaction with the industrial products. Based on the analysis of the economic crisis effects on the machine-building industry, the authors determine the performance of “Pnevmostroimashina”, JSC, on the road and construction equipment market and illustrate an example of practical use of the customer satisfaction assessment technique in the company. At the end of the paper some recommendations for development of an efficient customer satisfaction measurement procedure are introduced.

Hedging customers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhar, Ravi; Glazer, Rashi

2003-05-01

You are a marketing director with $5 million to invest in customer acquisition and retention. Which customers do you acquire, and which do you retain? Up to a point, the choice is obvious: Keep the consistent big spenders and lose the erratic small ones. But what about the erratic big spenders and the consistent small ones? It's often unclear whether you should acquire or retain them and at what cost. Businesses have begun dealing with unpredictable customer behavior by following the practices of sophisticated investors who own portfolios comprising dozens of stocks with different, indeed divergent, histories and prospects. Each portfolio is diversified so as to produce the investor's desired returns at the particular level of uncertainty he or she can tolerate. Customers, too, are assets--risky assets. As with stocks, the cost of acquiring them is supposed to reflect the cash-flow values they are likely to generate. The authors explain how to construct a portfolio based on the notion that a customer's risk-adjusted lifetime value depends on its anticipated effect on the riskiness of the group it is joining. They also show how this approach was used to identify the best prospects for Myron Corporation, a global leader in the personalized business-gift industry. The concept of risk-adjusted lifetime value has a transforming power: For companies that rely on it, product managers will be replaced by customer managers, and the current method of accounting for profit and loss--which is by product--will be replaced by one that determines each customer's P&L. Once adjusted for risk, those P&Ls will become the firm's key performance and operational metric.

Impact of PT. Central Proteinaprima Customer Relationship Management Towards Customer Loyalty in Sidoarjo Area

OpenAIRE

Santoso, Ivandy

2015-01-01

Customer Relationship Management is considered as an important factor that can impact customer loyalty in purchasing a product. In Sidoarjo, PT. Central Proteinaprima, a fish feed company, also competes with other companies to attract customer loyalty. This research is conducted with the aim to find out the effect of customer relationship management on customer loyalty. The data was gathered using simple random sampling by distributing questionnaires to 150 respondents in Sidoarjo...

Opinion Summarizationof CustomerComments

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Miao; Wu, Guoshi

Web 2.0 technologies have enabled more and more customers to freely comment on different kinds of entities, such as sellers, products and services. The large scale of information poses the need and challenge of automatic summarization. In many cases, each of the user-generated short comments implies the opinions which rate the target entity. In this paper, we aim to mine and to summarize all the customer comments of a product. The algorithm proposed in this researchis more reliable on opinion identification because it is unsupervised and the accuracy of the result improves as the number of comments increases. Our research is performed in four steps: (1) mining the frequent aspects of a product that have been commented on by customers; (2) mining the infrequent aspects of a product which have been commented by customers (3) identifying opinion words in each comment and deciding whether each opinion word is positive, negative or neutral; (4) summarizing the comments. This paper proposes several novel techniques to perform these tasks. Our experimental results using comments of a number of products sold online demonstrate the effectiveness of the techniques.

Turn customer input into innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulwick, Anthony W

2002-01-01

It's difficult to find a company these days that doesn't strive to be customer-driven. Too bad, then, that most companies go about the process of listening to customers all wrong--so wrong, in fact, that they undermine innovation and, ultimately, the bottom line. What usually happens is this: Companies ask their customers what they want. Customers offer solutions in the form of products or services. Companies then deliver these tangibles, and customers just don't buy. The reason is simple--customers aren't expert or informed enough to come up with solutions. That's what your R&D team is for. Rather, customers should be asked only for outcomes--what they want a new product or service to do for them. The form the solutions take should be up to you, and you alone. Using Cordis Corporation as an example, this article describes, in fine detail, a series of effective steps for capturing, analyzing, and utilizing customer input. First come indepth interviews, in which a moderator works with customers to deconstruct a process or activity in order to unearth "desired outcomes." Addressing participants' comments one at a time, the moderator rephrases them to be both unambiguous and measurable. Once the interviews are complete, researchers then compile a comprehensive list of outcomes that participants rank in order of importance and degree to which they are satisfied by existing products. Finally, using a simple mathematical formula called the "opportunity calculation," researchers can learn the relative attractiveness of key opportunity areas. These data can be used to uncover opportunities for product development, to properly segment markets, and to conduct competitive analysis.

Rapid Production Ramp-up for International Collaborative Supply Network in Electronics Goods Industry (X-Box, PS II, I-Pod, Etc) A Review of Existing Practices, Issues, and Challenges

OpenAIRE

Hu, Ning

2006-01-01

The fierce competition of international consumer electronics market has brought more pressures on the manufacturing section especially in the context of globalization. The global producers have to find effective solution to cope with the challenges such as shorter and shorter product life, less and less customer loyalty and resources limitation. The fact that rapid production ramp up and supply network collaboration could benefit their performance has been recognized by many business giants s...

Customer Value Sebagai Sumberdaya Informasi Bagi Perusahaan

OpenAIRE

Pujihastuti, Isti

2007-01-01

Buy a product or services is a process and are influenced many factors. ext. customer's satisfaction. The concept of customer satisfaction suggests strong relationship to customer value in a hierarchical model. Starting at the bottom of the hierarchy, customer learn to think about products and performances attribute. When purchasing and using a product, they learn concequence experiences, reflected in value in use and possession value, that is the next level up in the hierarchy. The top level...

Utilizing QFD model to determine quality characteristics of the products and priority needs of customers in the medical industry products (Case Study: Plasma seat product in mashhad`s Sahateb medical equipment company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zeinab Armoun

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Quality Function Deployment (QFD as one of the quality engineering methods; originates from market study and product or service customers identification, where by determining their needs; tries to involve them in all stages of product or service development. This study uses QFD method to apply customers’ criteria in production of Coach Plasma in Mashhad`s Sahateb Company. Coach Plasma is used for healthy bloodletting. The proposed study of this paper designed and distributed a questionnaire, which includes identification & determination of customers’ needs and investigation of their satisfaction of manufactured products, while looking for technical and engineering characteristics related to their needs. The Coach Plasma costumers are categorized into two groups of local and external customers. Data collection was done based on available documents, experts opinions, structured interview with managers and questionnaire. Customers’ needs were studied in QFD teams. Collecting essential information such as needs importance degree and competitive benchmarking of customer`s needs, the weight of each need has been evaluated. In this research, House of Quality was used from first matrix of QFD leading to estimation of engineering & technical characteristics in order to enter to the quality deployment matrix. Take a look at obtained results, we could mention the role of each of these external factors in satisfaction of Sahateb Company customers and technical characteristics of the company in providing these factors and the prioritization of the customer's needs.

Customer satisfaction and competencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gritti, Paola; Foss, Nicolai Juul

We empirically address how customer satisfaction and loyalty in the banking industry may affect profitability. This helps to identify the strategy and competencies necessary to benefit from customer relationships which are important sources for improved performance in the banking. We do......, loyalty is a mediator between financial and not-financial customer value and two sources of customer satisfaction, namely relationships with the front office and the branch, on the one hand, and the products offered, on the other....... this by analyzing data collected on 2,105 customers of 118 branches of one of the biggest banks of an Italian banking group. We find that customer satisfaction impacts loyalty, which in turn has a direct effect on financial and non-financial customer value/total customer value/complex customer value. Moreover...

New technologies for customizing products for people with special necessities: project FASHION-ABLE

OpenAIRE

DURÁ-GIL, JUAN V.; Ballester Fernandez, Alfredo; Cavallaro, Marco; Chiodi, Andrea; Ballarino, Andrea; Brondi, Carlo; von Arnim, Volkmar; Stellmach, Dieter

2016-01-01

Mass-customization of wearable products are offered as a higher added value to the broad public and have to compete with ready-to-wear offer. However, people with specific requirements are not covered by the current mass-customised products. This is the case of the elderly, disabled, diabetic and obese population groups when wearing textiles, clothing, footwear and textile-based orthotic goods. Further, at present, available knowledge and flexibility of production equipment and machinery of s...

Demographics-based differences in the relationship between perceived CSR and customer loyalty in the dairy products market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moisescu Ovidiu-Ioan

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the demographics-based differences in the relationship between customers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR and their loyalty towards brands/companies in the dairy products market, considering the socio-cultural and economic particularities of one of the largest countries of Central-Eastern Europe. For this purpose, a survey was implemented among a sample of 1461 dairy products consumers from the urban area of Romania, investigating perceived CSR and customer loyalty by using 28, and, respectively, 6 Likert-type items. Results show that customers’ loyalty towards dairy brands/companies is positively and significantly influenced by how customers perceive companies’ responsibility towards their customers, in all investigated demographic segments. However, there are other facets of perceived CSR (community development, the environment, economic success, sponsorship, public authorities in which case the relationship with customer loyalty is only significant in certain demographics-based market segments

27 CFR 40.236 - Release from customs custody.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Release from customs... on Tobacco Products § 40.236 Release from customs custody. The release of tobacco products from customs custody, in bond, for transfer to the premises of a tobacco products factory, shall be in...

UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMERS - PROFILING AND SEGMENTATION

OpenAIRE

Mircea Andrei SCRIDON

2008-01-01

In any industry, the first step to finding and creating profitable customers isdetermining what drives profitability. This leads to better prospecting andmore successful customer relationship management. Any company cansegment and profile their customer base to uncover those profit drivers usingthe knowledge of their customers, products, and markets. Or they can usedata-driven techniques to find natural clusters in their customer or prospectbase. Whatever the method, the process will lead to ...

Mass Customization: more technology, less publicity and customer satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mônica Heloísa Braga Vasques

2007-11-01

Full Text Available This article refers to mass customization as an individual marketing strategy, centered on costumer's order, by means of technology, emphasizing the sensibility, the flexibility and the elasticity. Such an approach is based on the mass customization advantages and its principles of flexibility: the postponement, the resenquencing and the process standardization. Moreover, the article refers to the Hewlett-Packard, (PCs success, due to its power of integrating the designs of products, processes and supply network. We can, thus, think about the end of the advertisement. So, the old message: “Buy it now!” is not worthwhile anymore. The intelligence, nowadays, by means of technology, creates a "fatal", customized relationship with each customer. And it sells much more.

Patterns to Enable Mass-Customized Business Process Monitoring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jochem Vonk; dr Marco Comuzzi; dr. Samuil Angelov

2012-01-01

Mass-customization challenges the one-size-fits-all assumption of mass production, allowing customers to specify the options that best fit their requirements when choosing a product or a service. In business process management, to achieve mass-customization, providers offer to their customers the

Patterns to enable mass-customized business process monitoring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Comuzzi, M.; Angelov, S.A.; Vonk, J.; Ralyté, J,; Franch, X.; Brinkkemper, S.; Wrycza, S.

2012-01-01

Mass-customization challenges the one-size-fits-all assumption of mass production, allowing customers to specify the options that best fit their requirements when choosing a product or a service. In business process management, to achieve mass-customization, providers offer to their customers the

Influence of Customer Quality Perception on the Effectiveness of Commercial Stimuli for Electronic Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrido-Morgado, Álvaro; González-Benito, Óscar; Martos-Partal, Mercedes

2016-01-01

Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality, and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers' quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality-linked to the brand-and intrinsic quality-related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i) cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name) is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii) different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe's largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due to the use of a brand name

Enhancing customer value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabel, B.

1996-01-01

A discussion on how Westcoast Gas Services Inc., is striving to meet customer satisfaction was presented. A strategic business unit called storage, transportation and service is a customer-centered, energy service enterprise dedicated to providing value-added service. The company is placing emphasis on better coordination of sales and marketing activities, especially in areas of customer relationship management and product development. Deregulation was responsible for the changing marketplace. It resulted in increased competition, energy alliances and multi-fuel opportunities. Some of the ways Westcoast Gas Service plans to survive and prosper in this new world of competition were outlined. Among the ideas mentioned were consumer orientation, superior information about consumers and competitors, quick adaptation to changing market conditions, anticipation of consumer needs, and appropriate product development

The Effect of Supply Disruptions on Customer Service Levels: a Case for Delivering Fertilizer Products using Maritime Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Siswanto, N.; Kurniawati, U.; Wiratno, S. E.; Rusdiansyah, A.

2018-04-01

Delivering a product to customers can have a series of activities. It starts with the production of the product and then transporting it to the customers. However, uncontrollable and undesirable chance of disruption can occur during the delivery either at the production facility/supply side or in the process of transporting the product. Many researches has been conducting in the process of delivering the product. However not many considers these disruptions, although the disruptions has negative impacts on company such as reduce the profit, produce unbalanced inventory, and affect its reputation. This research will focus on the effect of supply disruption on customer service levels in the maritime transportation problem in order to maintain inventory level both in the supply and destination warehouses during predetermined planning horizon. The system considered consists of one loading port and two discharge ports for distributing one product. By using discrete event simulation, the result showed that supply disruption affects unbalanced inventory in the destination warehouses so that it will also influence company’s service level. The results show that there is a significant decreasing both in delivery service level, about 14%, and production service level, about 15% when the disruption occurs. A scenario to increase production rate is simulated to improved the service level.

9 CFR 590.930 - Imported egg products; retention in customs custody; delivery under bond; movement prior to...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Imported egg products; retention in..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION INSPECTION OF EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Imports § 590.930 Imported egg products; retention in customs custody; delivery under bond...

What You Know About Customer-Perceived Quality: The Role of Customer Expectation Distributions

OpenAIRE

Roland T. Rust; J. Jeffrey Inman; Jianmin Jia; Anthony Zahorik

1999-01-01

We show that some of the most common beliefs about customer-perceived quality are wrong. For example, 1) it is not necessary to exceed customer expectations to increase preference, 2) receiving an expected level of bad service does not reduce preference, 3) rational customers may rationally choose an option with lower expected quality, even if all non-quality attributes are equal, and 4) paying more attention to loyal, experienced customers can sometimes be counter-productive. These surprisin...

Customer-Centricity for Financial Inclusion

OpenAIRE

Kilara, Tanaya; Rhyne, Elisabeth

2014-01-01

Every business depends on winning customer loyalty by providing value. This is also true when customers are from the base of the social and economic pyramid (BOP). Financial service providers who are serving or who want to serve this important customer segment need to invest in understanding the customers' needs and develop products that meet those needs. An important part of becoming cust...

Smart Automation, Customer Experience and Customer Engagement in Electric Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asad Ullah

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A major challenge to cleaner and more sustainable transportation is the lack of adoptability of electric vehicles (EVs by customers. Therefore, most of the vehicles we see on the road use fossil fuel instead of sustainable green energy sources. One way to improve customer acceptance is to market EVs as a socially desirable product, rather than only environmentally friendly. The silver lining to promote is the potential of information and communications technology (ICT features in EVs, which can lead to a deeper connection between the EVs and their users. These engaging technologies can bring customers closer to the company, resulting in generating big data, which can lead to even deeper insights into customer preferences. Because the technology of vehicle connectivity and automation is just taking off, it is important to understand how these technologies in EVs can enhance customer experiences and result in sustainable customer engagement. Unfortunately, this important research area remains neglected. This research, therefore, is focused on building a conceptual framework for understanding the influence of electric vehicle (EV automation and connectivity on customer experience, and ultimately, customer engagement.

FY 2002 Customer Satisfaction Survey Report

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2002-01-01

.... In addition, the survey queried customers in six areas: Customer Service Experiences, Global Customer Service Performance, DTIC Products and Services, DTIC Online Services, User Demographics, Communication/Access and Information Requirements...

Developing customer databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, S K; Shenbaga, S

2000-01-01

There is a growing consensus among pharmaceutical companies that more product and customer-specific approaches to marketing and selling a new drug can result in substantial increases in sales. Marketers and researchers taking a proactive micro-marketing approach to identifying, profiling, and communicating with target customers are likely to facilitate such approaches and outcomes. This article provides a working framework for creating customer databases that can be effectively mined to achieve a variety of such marketing and sales force objectives.

Empirical research on Kano's model and customer satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Feng-Han; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Lee, Yu-Cheng; Hsiao, Cheng-Fu; Zhou, Jie; Wang, Jiangtao; Shang, Zhiwen

2017-01-01

Products are now developed based on what customers desire, and thus attractive quality creation has become crucial. In studies on customer satisfaction, methods for analyzing quality attributes and enhancing customer satisfaction have been proposed to facilitate product development. Although substantial studies have performed to assess the impact of the attributes on customer satisfaction, little research has been conducted that quantitatively calculate the odds of customer satisfaction for the Kano classification, fitting a nonlinear relationship between attribute-level performance and customer satisfaction. In the present study, the odds of customer satisfaction were determined to identify the classification of quality attributes, and took customer psychology into account to suggest how decision-makers should prioritize the allocation of resources. A novel method for quantitatively assessing quality attributes was proposed to determine classification criteria and fit the nonlinear relationship between quality attributes and customer satisfaction. Subsequently, a case study was conducted on bicycle user satisfaction to verify the novel method. The concept of customer satisfaction odds was integrated with the value function from prospect theory to understand quality attributes. The results of this study can serve as a reference for product designers to create attractive quality attributes in their products and thus enhance customer satisfaction.

The Influence of Facility and Service Quality towards Customer Satisfaction and its Impact on Customer Loyalty in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rianto Nurtjahjo

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Hotel developments currently grow very rapidly. The emergence of new hotels increases the competition in the hospitality industry. This research aimed to determine the influence of the facilities, the quality of service to customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta. Data collection was done by distributing questionnaires directly to 360 customers in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta. The analysis technique used path analysis. The results of this research indicate that the variables of facilities, service quality and customer satisfaction significantly affect customer loyalty variables simultaneously or partially. In addition, facilities and quality of service variable have a significant effect on customer satisfaction variables.

Reconfiguring Variety, Profitability, and Postponement for Product Customization with Global Supply Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonev, Martin; Myrodia, Anna; Hvam, Lars

2016-01-01

At present, many industrial companies offering high product variety focus on systematically reducing the complexity of their product range and busi-ness processes. Related challenges are often named to increase time to market, reduce the effectiveness in product development, and lower process...... efficiency. For manufacturers with global supply chains additional uncertainties arise in de-fining the right manufacturing strategy with respect to production location and postponement. To better understand related managerial implications, this paper discusses a case study a global manufacturer providing...... customized industrial ap-plications. In particular, the study investigates the relationships between product variant profitability and manufacturing strategy relative to postponement and lo-cation. The results indicate that an improved configuration of these factors through substitution and supply chain...

UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMERS - PROFILING AND SEGMENTATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mircea Andrei SCRIDON

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In any industry, the first step to finding and creating profitable customers isdetermining what drives profitability. This leads to better prospecting andmore successful customer relationship management. Any company cansegment and profile their customer base to uncover those profit drivers usingthe knowledge of their customers, products, and markets. Or they can usedata-driven techniques to find natural clusters in their customer or prospectbase. Whatever the method, the process will lead to knowledge andunderstanding that is critical to maintaining a competitive edge

From Engineer-To-Order to Mass Customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haug, Anders; Ladeby, Klaes Rohde; Edwards, Kasper

2009-01-01

customization. Second, the individual transitions from mass production and ETO to mass customization are analyzed by: relating the transition to classifications from relevant literature; describing the motivations and risks associated with the transition; and defining some of the most important transition......Purpose - Most mass customization literature focuses on the move from mass production to mass customization. However, in some literature engineer-to-order (ETO) companies are also claiming to have become mass customizers, although it can be questioned if these companies conform to popular...... definitions of mass customizers. The purpose of this paper is to ask the question: under which conditions is it reasonable to label ETO companies as mass customizers? Design/methodology/approach - First, definitions of mass customization are examined and related to ETO companies that move towards mass...

Custom-made titanium devices as membranes for bone augmentation in implant treatment: Modeling accuracy of titanium products constructed with selective laser melting.

Science.gov (United States)

Otawa, Naruto; Sumida, Tomoki; Kitagaki, Hisashi; Sasaki, Kiyoyuki; Fujibayashi, Shunsuke; Takemoto, Mitsuru; Nakamura, Takashi; Yamada, Tomohiro; Mori, Yoshihide; Matsushita, Tomiharu

2015-09-01

The purpose of this study was to verify the modeling accuracy of various products, and to produce custom-made devices for bone augmentation in individual patients requiring implantation. Two-(2D) and three-dimensional (3D) specimens and custom-made devices that were designed as membranes for guided bone regeneration (GBR) were produced using a computer-aided design (CAD) and rapid prototyping (RP) method. The CAD design was produced using a 3D printing machine and selective laser melting (SLM) with pure titanium (Ti) powder. The modeling accuracy was evaluated with regard to: the dimensional accuracy of the 2D and 3D specimens; the accuracy of pore structure of the 2D specimens; the accuracy of porosity of the 3D specimens; and the error between CAD design and the scanned real product by overlapped images. The accuracy of the 2D and 3D specimens indicated precise results in various parameters, which were tolerant in ISO 2768-1. The error of overlapped images between the CAD and scanned data indicated that accuracy was sufficient for GBR. In integrating area of all devices, the maximum and average error were 292 and 139 μm, respectively. High modeling accuracy can be achieved in various products using the CAD/RP-SLM method. These results suggest the possibility of clinical applications. Copyright © 2015 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Company Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Suchánek

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of this article is customer satisfaction and its impact on company performance through satisfaction with its products, including a comparison with the competition. Research was conducted in search of factors which affect customer satisfaction on the one hand and the performance of the company on the other hand. We constructed a model explaining what specific factors (affecting customer satisfaction have an impact on the performance of a company. This model can help management to better run the business and achieve higher performance. The article is based on research that focused on companies in the food industry in Czech Republic and on their customers. First, we found the financial performance of surveyed companies (based on indicators ROA, ROE and assets turnover and on this basis they have been divided on companies efficient and inefficient. Furthermore factors were identified (based on previous research of authors that have an impact on customer satisfaction (among these factors include product quality, customer requirements for product, comparison with competitive products, etc.. With the use of non-parametric statistical methods, logistic regression and discriminant analysis was analyzed, what factors affecting customer satisfaction also affect business performance.

STRATEGI CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MARKETING TERHADAP LOYALITAS PELANGGAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sri Setyo Iriani

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Competition in the banking industry had rapidly gave freedom to our customers in determining the choice touse their services, so if the value received was not as expected, then the customers were easy to move to anotherbank, which was considered in accordance with their wishes. Thus, banks were implementing various strategies,both offensive and defensive oriented. Defensive strategy was oriented to maintain customers by buildingrelationships with customers so that customers will be loyal to the bank. This study aimed to examine the effectof customer relationship marketing strategy on customer loyalty of BNI and BCA in East Java. Total samplewas 210 clients, 105 clients each of BNI and BCA. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaires. Theresults showed that there was influence of customer relationship marketing strategy on customer loyalty of BNIand BCA, because each customer provided high ratings on all indicators of the bank’s CRM strategy in whichthey saved money. Trust was the most decisive for customers in a comprehensive evaluation of the closeness ofthe relationship with the bank. Furthermore, customers of both banks showed high behavioral loyalty to eachbank.

Rapid analytical extraction of volatile fermentation products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jansen, N B; Flickinger, M C; Tsao, G T

1979-10-01

With renewed interest in production of liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks from carbohydrates, numerous authors have utilized gas-liquid chromatography (GC) for quantification of volatile products. Poor separation and short column life will result if residual sugars present in the medium are not separated from the volatile compounds before injection. In our current investigation of 2,3-butanediol production from xylose, we have developed a rapid GC assay for 2,3-butanediol, acetyl methyl carbinol (acetoin), 2,3-butanedione (diacetyl), and ethanol. This method extracts the fermentation products at high pH from residual xylose before injection into the GC. This routine is a modification of the method of Kolfenbach et al. and is more rapid than the method of separation of diacetyl and acetoin from carbohydrates by distillation reported by Gupta et al. Their erroneous reports of yields of 640 mg diacetyl + acetoin/g sugar are 30% higher than the theoretical maximum for Enterobacter cloacae (ATCC 27613) and points out the need for a reliable, accurate assay for these products.

27 CFR 44.227 - Customs procedure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Customs procedure. 44.227..., WITHOUT PAYMENT OF TAX, OR WITH DRAWBACK OF TAX Drawback of Tax § 44.227 Customs procedure. The customs... having inspected the articles and supervised the lading thereof on the export carrier, the customs...

Delivering customer solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergsma, J.

1997-01-01

Convergence of the energy industries began with customer's demands for the best energy choice and value. In a converged energy market customers buy year-round home comfort, rather than gas heat or electric air conditioning. Union Gas has been facilitating cogeneration development to its customers since the mid 1980's. A brief description of the corporate context of Union Gas and Centra Gas was provided. Convergence at the retail level was discussed in detail. The essence of converge at the retail level is that an energy service provider will tailor products and services to meet a customer's specific needs for choice, value and best prices. Consequently, a residential customer will have the choice to select an environmentally preferred fuel source for home comfort, plus billing options, merchandise and repair services, all for one price, and from one utility

Influence Preceived Customer Value and Customer Satisfaction Against Customer Loyality (Case Studies in the Tourism Industry Three Star Hotel in Jepara)

OpenAIRE

Istanto, Yuni

2013-01-01

Marketing in the twenty-first century experienced remarkable changes, with the inclusion of progress in the fieldof global information technology through the internet media. In this era many products / services that arepresented through the media, so that the consumer or customer before making a purchase will create aperceived value that customers (CPV) (Kotler, 2009: 134) about the product / service to be bought. The conceptof value is one of the basic elements of the theory of marketing (Am...

Customer Satisfaction in Farmer-to-consumer Direct Marketing

OpenAIRE

Lulfs-Baden, Frederike; Spiller, Achim; Zuhlsdorf, Anke; Mellin, Matthias

2008-01-01

The importance of direct marketing for high quality farm products has increased during the past few years. This paper analyzes the impact of customer satisfaction and its driving forces for farmer-to-consumer direct marketing and is based on a customer survey among 1,537 customers in 33 organic and conventional on-farm stores in Germany. The results emphasize the role of store atmosphere, customer service and product quality as the main factors which influence customer satisfaction.

27 CFR 27.185 - Customs release.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Customs release. 27.185... Distilled Spirits From Customs Custody Free of Tax for Use of the United States § 27.185 Customs release. (a) Upon receipt of appropriate customs entry and a photocopy of a permit, Form 5150.33 or previous...

Influence of Customer Quality Perception on the Effectiveness of Commercial Stimuli for Electronic Products

Science.gov (United States)

Garrido-Morgado, Álvaro; González-Benito, Óscar; Martos-Partal, Mercedes

2016-01-01

Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality, and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers' quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality—linked to the brand—and intrinsic quality—related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i) cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name) is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii) different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe's largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due to the use of a brand

Customer requirement modeling and mapping of numerical control machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhongqi Sheng

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In order to better obtain information about customer requirement and develop products meeting customer requirement, it is necessary to systematically analyze and handle the customer requirement. This article uses the product service system of numerical control machine as research objective and studies the customer requirement modeling and mapping oriented toward configuration design. It introduces the conception of requirement unit, expounds the customer requirement decomposition rules, and establishes customer requirement model; it builds the house of quality using quality function deployment and confirms the weight of technical feature of product and service; it explores the relevance rules between data using rough set theory, establishes rule database, and solves the target value of technical feature of product. Using economical turning center series numerical control machine as an example, it verifies the rationality of proposed customer requirement model.

The Influence of Facility and Service Quality Towards Customer Satisfaction and Its Impact on Customer Loyalty in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta

OpenAIRE

Nurtjahjo, Rianto; Fitriyani, Annisa; Hudda, Irma Nur

2017-01-01

Hotel developments currently grow very rapidly. The emergence of new hotels increases the competition in the hospitality industry. This research aimed to determine the influence of the facilities, the quality of service to customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta. Data collection was done by distributing questionnaires directly to 360 customers in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta. The analysis technique used path analysis. The results of this research i...

Mplications Of Establishing Location Physical Evidence And Customer Satisfaction Level Of Customer Loyalty In Ritel Modern In Makassar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miah Said

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Currently retailing business in Makassar from time to time increasingly in demand by the whole society. They tend to combine marketing activities and households in the shop with a variety of other recreational activities or simply stroll. This phenomenon is at least encouraging marketers to reach and use the market opportunity to market the product in the achievement of the goals and objectives of the company. This study will examine about Implications Siting Physical Evidence and Consumer Satisfaction Level Of Customer Loyalty In Modern Retail Company In Makassar. Where the author chose a modern retail company minimarkets supermarket hypermarket who offer products such as food and beverage for the daily needs in the area of Makassar as the object which is currently growing so rapidly. The research approach used was survey research methods which is a method of collecting primary data obtained directly from the original source through oral and written questions. While this type of research is Explanatory Research which explains the causal relationship between the study variables with hypothesis testing. Collecting technique uses scale Lkert variables 1 to 5. The technique of collecting data through interviews with managers and employees in each of the modern retail companies to obtain information or documentation in the form of consumer data that is still active in the purchase of existing products through questionnaires containing a list of questions which was distributed to respondents to obtain the data directly Maholtra 20061. The population in this study is a modern retail enterprise customers who have 3 cards of customers minimarket supermarkets hypermarkets in the city of Makassar. Further sampling is done by using random sampling techniques. As for determining the number of samples is done by using Slovin opinion of the Umar Husein 2001 782. In this study the type of data is qualitative and quantitative data obtained in the form of

Hidden foreign trade and corruption on customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Богдан Миколайович Головкін

2017-12-01

Full Text Available According to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA, the volume of the "shadow" economy in Ukraine is 1.1 trillion hryvnias or 45.1 % of the gross domestic product. Estimates of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine show that only 50 % of payments to the state budget comes from the clearance of goods, while the rest comprise a corruption component of 40 billion UAH for a year. Much of the large companies move non-declared goods across the state border and do not pay taxes. However, at the official level in Ukraine, it is still not accepted to talk about the servicing of the shadow foreign trade by the customs administration and the collection of corrupt rents from illegal trade in the state. Understanding the essence of the problem gives grounds to assert that the corruption risks in the work of customs are laid down in imperfect customs legislation, high tariff rates of duties and taxes, discrete powers of customs inspectors, the regime of customs procedures in the customs control zone, low level of their automation and physical contact of declarants from customs officers. In the customs case, the main type of corruption is bribery and abuse of influence related to the assistance of illegal and criminal activity in the foreign economic sphere. Subjects of foreign economic activity reduce costs and receive revenues through customs fraud or smuggling. Without corruption, this activity is impossible. On the illegal movement of goods and vehicles, smuggling and counterfeiting through the customs border, a criminal corruption business was created for all bodies and services that carry out various types of state control and law enforcement activities in the customs sphere. The most profitable are corruption schemes related to the illegal import / export of three groups of highly liquid products: tobacco products, counterfeit IT products, petroleum products, cars with foreign registration. For an independent study, illegal

Utility of Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) For The Rapid Manufacture of Customized Electric Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Love, Lonnie J [ORNL

2015-08-01

This Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Manufacturing Development Facility (MDF) technical collaboration project was conducted in two phases as a CRADA with Local Motors Inc. Phase 1 was previously reported as Advanced Manufacturing of Complex Cyber Mechanical Devices through Community Engagement and Micro-manufacturing and demonstrated the integration of components onto a prototype body part for a vehicle. Phase 2 was reported as Utility of Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) for the Rapid Manufacture of Customized Electric Vehicles and demonstrated the high profile live printing of an all-electric vehicle using ONRL s Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) technology. This demonstration generated considerable national attention and successfully demonstrated the capabilities of the BAAM system as developed by ORNL and Cincinnati, Inc. and the feasibility of additive manufacturing of a full scale electric vehicle as envisioned by the CRADA partner Local Motors, Inc.

Fabrication of custom-shaped grafts for cartilage regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Seungbum; Hargreaves, Brian A; Gold, Garry E; Dragoo, Jason L

2010-10-01

to create a custom-shaped graft through 3D tissue shape reconstruction and rapid-prototype molding methods using MRI data, and to test the accuracy of the custom-shaped graft against the original anatomical defect. An iatrogenic defect on the distal femur was identified with a 1.5 Tesla MRI and its shape was reconstructed into a three-dimensional (3D) computer model by processing the 3D MRI data. First, the accuracy of the MRI-derived 3D model was tested against a laser-scan based 3D model of the defect. A custom-shaped polyurethane graft was fabricated from the laser-scan based 3D model by creating custom molds through computer aided design and rapid-prototyping methods. The polyurethane tissue was laser-scanned again to calculate the accuracy of this process compared to the original defect. The volumes of the defect models from MRI and laser-scan were 537 mm3 and 405 mm3, respectively, implying that the MRI model was 33% larger than the laser-scan model. The average (±SD) distance deviation of the exterior surface of the MRI model from the laser-scan model was 0.4 ± 0.4 mm. The custom-shaped tissue created from the molds was qualitatively very similar to the original shape of the defect. The volume of the custom-shaped cartilage tissue was 463 mm3 which was 15% larger than the laser-scan model. The average (±SD) distance deviation between the two models was 0.04 ± 0.19 mm. This investigation proves the concept that custom-shaped engineered grafts can be fabricated from standard sequence 3-D MRI data with the use of CAD and rapid-prototyping technology. The accuracy of this technology may help solve the interfacial problem between native cartilage and graft, if the grafts are custom made for the specific defect. The major source of error in fabricating a 3D custom-shaped cartilage graft appears to be the accuracy of a MRI data itself; however, the precision of the model is expected to increase by the utilization of advanced MR sequences with higher magnet

Evaluating the Release, Delivery, and Deployment Processes of Eight Large Product Software Vendors applying the Customer Configuration Update Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, S.R.L.; Brinkkemper, S.

2006-01-01

For software vendors the processes of release, delivery, and deployment to customers are inherently complex. However, software vendors can greatly improve their product quality and quality of service by applying a model that focuses on customer interaction if such a model were available. This

Empirical research on Kano’s model and customer satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Feng-Han; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Lee, Yu-Cheng; Hsiao, Cheng-Fu; Zhou, Jie; Wang, Jiangtao; Shang, Zhiwen

2017-01-01

Products are now developed based on what customers desire, and thus attractive quality creation has become crucial. In studies on customer satisfaction, methods for analyzing quality attributes and enhancing customer satisfaction have been proposed to facilitate product development. Although substantial studies have performed to assess the impact of the attributes on customer satisfaction, little research has been conducted that quantitatively calculate the odds of customer satisfaction for the Kano classification, fitting a nonlinear relationship between attribute-level performance and customer satisfaction. In the present study, the odds of customer satisfaction were determined to identify the classification of quality attributes, and took customer psychology into account to suggest how decision-makers should prioritize the allocation of resources. A novel method for quantitatively assessing quality attributes was proposed to determine classification criteria and fit the nonlinear relationship between quality attributes and customer satisfaction. Subsequently, a case study was conducted on bicycle user satisfaction to verify the novel method. The concept of customer satisfaction odds was integrated with the value function from prospect theory to understand quality attributes. The results of this study can serve as a reference for product designers to create attractive quality attributes in their products and thus enhance customer satisfaction. PMID:28873418

A Method for Customer-driven Purchasing : Aligning Supplier interaction and Customer-driven manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Bäckstrand, Jenny

2012-01-01

The role of a purchaser has traditionally focused on acquiring standard items at the lowest possible cost. The ability to reduce unit cost has been the key performance indicator for purchasers. Most traditional purchasing strategies thus focus on optimizing this situation, focusing on the supplier interface only and not on customer value. However, for many manufacturing companies, the demand from their customers has changed lately. Not only low‐cost standard products but also customized produ...

Customer Order Decoupling Point Selection Model in Mass Customization Based on MAS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

XU Xuanguo; LI Xiangyang

2006-01-01

Mass customization relates to the ability of providing individually designed products or services to customer with high process flexibility or integration. Literatures on mass customization have been focused on mechanism of MC, but little on customer order decoupling point selection. The aim of this paper is to present a model for customer order decoupling point selection of domain knowledge interactions between enterprises and customers in mass customization. Based on the analysis of other researchers' achievements combining the demand problems of customer and enterprise, a model of group decision for customer order decoupling point selection is constructed based on quality function deployment and multi-agent system. Considering relatively the decision makers of independent functional departments as independent decision agents, a decision agent set is added as the third dimensionality to house of quality, the cubic quality function deployment is formed. The decision-making can be consisted of two procedures: the first one is to build each plane house of quality in various functional departments to express each opinions; the other is to evaluate and gather the foregoing sub-decisions by a new plane quality function deployment. Thus, department decision-making can well use its domain knowledge by ontology, and total decision-making can keep simple by avoiding too many customer requirements.

Challenges and Opportunities for North American Hardwood Manufacturers to Adopt Customization Strategies in an Era of Increased Competition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L. Nicholls

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Much of the North American wood products industry was severely impacted by the recession of 2008–2009. In addition, many sectors within this industry face intense global competition. Against this backdrop, we examine economic opportunities for hardwood manufacturers to achieve greater competitive advantage via product customization, through a literature review and synthesis. We also discuss several related themes including agility, lean manufacturing, and clustering. We found that, in globally competitive environments, hardwood producers must be agile to adapt to economic conditions and dynamic customer demand. We discuss how some sectors of the hardwood industry have effectively exhibited customized production, and subsequently fared relatively well in the current economy. We conclude the synthesis by evaluating the importance of supply chains to achieving customization for hardwood producers. In the future, supply chains will need to be configured to rapidly respond to changing consumer demands, and pressure to provide more services will likely extend further back up the supply chain to hardwood sawmills. It is expected that sustainability practices, including green supply chain management, will impact operational and economic performance of hardwood firms as well.

The Effect of Product Quality and Delivery Service on Online-customer Satisfaction in Zalora Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Handoko, Laras Putri

2016-01-01

The number of online transaction in Indonesia has increased in recent years with fashion products currently dominate the e-commerce market as the most frequently purchased products. The aims of this study are to analyze the effects of product quality and delivery service on online-customer satisfaction withdrawing taking online fashion retailer Zalora Indonesia as its research object. This research is causal type of research which uses primary data obtained through questionnaires and uses Mul...

Modeling Customer's Satisfaction Behavior through Uninorms

OpenAIRE

Depaire, Benoit; Vanhoof, Koen; Wets, Geert

2006-01-01

During the last three decades, the focus of customer satisfaction research has shifted from what it was about the product or service that customers found satisfying to how and why customers became satisfied. This resulted into several models that try to explain the customer's satisfaction behaviour, among which the expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm is one of the most prominent models. This model identifies three elements which have an influence on the customer's satisfaction level: i.e perf...

Trends in the US hardwood lumber distribution industry: changing products, customers, and services

Science.gov (United States)

Urs Buehlmann; Omar Espinoza; Matthew Bumgardner; Bob. Smith

2010-01-01

Efficient and effective supply chains are the backbone of any industry, including the forest products industry. As the US secondary hardwood industry has undergone a profound transformation and large parts of the industry have moved offshore, the supply chain is adapting to these new realities. Remaining and new customers of US hardwood lumber distributors tend to be...

Mapping the Customer Experience Management Strategies for Customer Loyalty in Retail Hypermarket Jabodetabek

OpenAIRE

Jerry Marcellinus Logahan; Janita Sembiring Meliala; Iskandar Putong

2015-01-01

Today, competition in the global market has become increasingly difficult and and at the same time products and services provided by retail companies tend to be similar. So in such circumstances, customers expect not only satisfied with the products and services, but also the pursuit of the perfect shopping experience during the shopping process. The purpose of this study was to devise a customer experience management strategy at a hypermarket retailer Carrefour, Hypermart, Giant, and Lotte M...

CUSTOMER INTERACTION ON DIGITAL ECONOMY: A CASE STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mateus Tavares da Silva Cozer

2007-10-01

Full Text Available On a digital economy context, customer interaction is fundamental to any company to provide competitive advantage. This research intends to give concrete answers for the sea of information complexity which is the Internet. The main case is to build a model of digital customer interaction. Customization extends beyond targeted media to include the design and delivery of the product itself. Venkatraman (1998 defines dynamic customization based on three principles: modularity, intelligence and organization. The research is based on Interaction Model and its variables are: Products, Modularity, Artificial Intelligence, Market driven organization, and virtual communities. Two organizations were studied, one with physical product and another with virtual product, and the results were shown from a qualitative research.

27 CFR 19.99 - Spirits in customs custody.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Spirits in customs custody. 19.99 Section 19.99 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU... Conveyance of Spirits Or Wines on Plant Premises § 19.99 Spirits in customs custody. Spirits in customs...

Apply 3D model on the customized product color combination for the interior decoration

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Cheih-Ying

2013-03-01

The customized product color interface for the interior decoration is designed to simulate the display of various color combination sofas in the interior of the room. There are 144 color combinations of the spatial image resulted from four the interior rooms and 36 popular color sofas. The image compositing technique is adopted to appear the 144 color combinations of the spatial image on computer screen. This study tests the experience of using the interface by the questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS). The results show that the high grade of evaluation items including wonderful, easy, satisfying, stimulating and flexible for the experience of users. Therefore, the entrepreneur who wants to display the color primarily commodity could using the customized color combination interface with 3D models for consumers to take opportunity to find the appropriate products to meet with the interior room, so as to shorten communication time between entrepreneurs and consumers.

Practices around Customization of Standard Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dittrich, Yvonne; Vaucouleur, Sebastien

2008-01-01

More and more software systems are developed by customizing a standard product that provide the major part of the functionality. The customization of Enterprise Resource Planning systems is such a product based software development practice. Little empirical research on the specificities...... of these software development practices is available. We present an empirical study on customization practices based on video recordings, interviews and a survey. The observed and reported practices challenge some of the principles of software engineering. Based on the analysis, we discuss the specificity...

Becoming a Hidden Champion: From Selective use of Customer Intimacy and Product Leadership to Business Attractiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balas Rant Melita

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper sheds light on factors that support SMEs becoming market leaders on an international scale. Specifically, it studies the hidden champion type of companies, defined as SMEs that hold market leadership in narrow business segments on a regional or wider international scale. The market positioning of hidden champions is defined subjectively by CEOs in such a way that they create a high level of business attractiveness. This explorative study reveals that product leadership and customer intimacy are two blocks that build the business attractiveness of hidden champions. More specifically, the study on data from 93 niche leaders from Central and Eastern Europe showed that product leadership negatively moderates the business attractiveness-performance relationship, while the impact of the combination of product leadership and customer intimacy on the business attractiveness-firm performance relationship is not straightforward and depends on different combinations of these values.

MEASURING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN UAE HOTEL INDUSTRY

OpenAIRE

Hassan Abbas Dost Mohamad; Mohd Shukri Ab Yazid; Ali Khatibi; S. M. Ferdous Azam

2017-01-01

Tourism has become one of the most essential segments of economy for these Asian countries. Rapid economic growth, political stability, and aggressive tourism campaigns by the governments have strongly enhanced the growth of tourism in this region. This study is primarily designed to review the relationship of service quality and customer satisfaction that leads to customer loyalty in UAE hotels. The study focused on the country UAE and in particular UAE’s hotel sector. Thus, this study has a...

ASD Customer Satisfaction Survey

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — ASD implemented a customer satisfaction survey for our products and services. This feedback will provide a better understanding of how ASD products and services can...

The Dimensions of Customer Preference in the Foodservice Industry

OpenAIRE

Abdullah, Firdaus; Abang Abdurahman, Abang Zainoren; Hamali, Jamil

2013-01-01

Today's foodservice industry management must place a high priority on understanding the growing markets resulting from rapid urbanization and rising numbers of tourists. This industry has a huge impact on the global economy but it is affected by customers' ever-changing preferences. Managers need to gain and sustain strategic advantage in this highly competitive industry, thus a local customer preference assessment is crucial. This paper presents the dimensions of customer preference in the f...

Pengaruh Customer Relationship Marketing Dan Brand Trust Terhadap Customer Loyalty Pada PT. Asuransi Jiwasraya (Persero) Cabang Pekanbaru

OpenAIRE

Pasaribu, Verawati; Karneli, Okta

2017-01-01

The development of business nowadays claim theirself to give the best and to do the improvement not only for the service but also their product. The dinamyc competition enable the business not to find the new customer, but to defend them for a loyal so that they don't interest to the other business. One of the customer loyalty strategy is Customer Relationship Marketing and Brand Trust. This reserach analyzes the influence of Customer Relationship Marketing and Brand Trust to Customer Loyalty...

PENGEMBANGAN CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT BERBASIS SISTEM E-COMMERCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sugiarto Montana

2010-10-01

Full Text Available PT Dwisanjaya Abadi Mukti is a company engaged in distributing Pertamina lubricating agent with products for industrial and automotive lubricants. Therefore, companies need a Customer Relationship Management E-commerce-based systems, to address the issues of purchasing and service to customers that are still conducted manually. Systems analysis is done through observation interviews, and literature; analysis of survey findings; and identification of information needs from survey. The system is designed to give advantage to the user as to obtain the desired information quickly, to acquire new customers, improve customer relationships, and retain customers; other than that for the company this system reduces operating costs, more efficient time, accessible anytime and anywhere, improving work productivity, increase sales, increase the number of customers, and improve customer satisfaction.Keywords: customer relationship management, e-commerce, front end, back end

27 CFR 26.303 - Customs inspection and release.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Customs inspection and... Customs Custody to Internal Revenue Bond § 26.303 Customs inspection and release. The customs officer.... If the spirits are in a bulk conveyance, the customs officer shall record the elements of his gauge...

CUSTOMER EQUITY:MAKING MARKETING STRATEGY FINANCIALLY ACCOUNTABLE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Ashwin ARAVINDAKSHAN; Roland T. RUST; Katherine N. LEMON; Valerie A. ZEITHAML

2004-01-01

The article presents an overview of the literature on customer equity and how customer equity provides an opportunity for marketers to make marketing strategy financially accountable.Traditionally, Return on Investment (ROI) models have been used to evaluate the financial expenditures required by the strategies as well as the financial returns gained by them. However in addition to requiring lengthy longitudinal data, these models also have the disadvantage of not evaluating the effect of the strategies on a firm's customer equity. The dominance of customer-centered thinking over product-centered thinking calls for a shift from product-based strategies to customer-based strategies. Hence, it is important to evaluate a firm's marketing strategies in terms of the drivers of its customer equity. The article summarizes a unified strategic framework that enables competing marketing strategy options to be traded off on the basis of projected financial return, which is operationalized as the change in a firm's customer equity relative to the incremental expenditure necessary to produce the change.

Pengaruh Customer Service Quality, Customer Perceived Value, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust Dan Switching Barriers Terhadap Customer Retention.

OpenAIRE

Hardjanti, Adiati; Amalia, Dinna

2014-01-01

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh customer service quality, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, customer trust dan switching barriers terhadap customer retention. Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pengujian hipotesis (testing hypotesis). Pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini menggunakan teknik purposive sampling dan keseluruhan hipotesis diuji dengan metode structural equation modeling yang menggunakan Amos 7.0. Data dalam peneliti...

The main new driver of customer experience in Grocery retail - the Fresh opportunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ISMANĂ -ILISAN Camelia -Maria

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The main challenge of a modern retailer is how to delight customers in fresh products without risking profitability. To compete effectively, businesses must focus on the customer's shopping experience. To manage a customer's experience, retailers should understand what “customer experience” actually means. Customer experience includes every point of contact at which the customer interacts with the business, product, or service. Customer experience management represents a business strategy designed to manage the customer experience. This paper presents the results of a marketing research study conducted for reviewing perception versus reality of customer experience delivery in fresh products and product availability.

Customer-oriented flexitime schemes; Kundenorientierte Arbeitszeitflexibilisierung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiedemann, E. [Lech-Elektrizitaetswerke (LEW) AG, Augsburg (Germany)

1998-05-01

In a competitive market, only those enterprises will persist that offer not only high-quality products but quality in a very comprehensive sense as well. Total customer care is the keyword in this context and is indispensable when it comes to establishing and maintaining brand perception and loyalty. The features and benefits of products, activities and services have to be tailored to the individual needs of the target group and the individual customer. In addition, the price/performance ratio of products and services must be carefully designed so as to be acceptable to a large variety of customers. This applies both to the ``hardware`` such as product quality and efficiency, and the product-related activities such as product information and consultancy, customer service organization, reachability of service or call centers, and handling of complaints and claims. (orig./CB) [Deutsch] Im Wettbewerb kann heute nur bestehen, wer ueber das Produkt hinaus Qualitaet in einem sehr umfassenden Sinne liefert. Eine starke Orientierung am Kundeninteresse (neudeutsch: Total Customer Care) ist eigentlich selbstverstaendlich, wenn es um Aufbau, Ausbau und Pflege von Markenbeziehungen geht. Die Eigenschaften und der Nutzen von Marktleistungen muessen den individuellen Beduerfnissen und Erwartungen der Zielgruppe oder einer Einzelperson entsprechen. Darueber hinaus ist Voraussetzung, dass die angebotenen Leistungen aus der subjektiven Sicht der Kunden in einem fuer sie akzeptablen Preis-Leistungs-Verhaeltnis stehen. Dies betrifft nicht allein die `harten Fakten` wie Qualitaet oder Funktion. Es gilt auch fuer alle Leistungen rund um das Produkt, insbesondere Beratung, Erreichbarkeit, Kundenservice oder Reklamationsbearbeitung. (orig./RHM)

the customer at the final frontier of mass customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, Carsten; Jensen, Thomas

2002-01-01

, some of the factors influencing the use of this business paradigm are discussed and it is argued that the customer is the major limiting factor at the final frontier of mass customisation. Until recently mass customisation have mainly been turned towards the structural design of products, whereas...... this paper argues that there might be a need for an increased focus on the fulfilment of customer needs. As a result of this manufactures will have to hone the balance of trade-offs, as the paradigm of mass customisation becomes a commodity....

27 CFR 26.261 - Action by district director of customs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... director of customs. 26.261 Section 26.261 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX... customs. The district director of customs will direct the proper customs gauger to determine the taxable... revenue tax applicable thereto. When the rate of tax applicable to the product has been ascertained, the...

Customer Surveillance: Consumer Attitudes and Management Strategies

OpenAIRE

Plangger, Kirk Anton

2015-01-01

Due to technological advances, customer surveillance (i.e., the collection, capture, use, or storage of customers’ personal data) is becoming less expensive and more covert. Brands use these personal data that contain needs, preferences, characteristics, behavior, attitudes, or other customer attributes (i.e., market intelligence) to develop more competitive products and services. Customer surveillance also can put stress on customer relationships with brands, thus brands must conduct custome...

ORGANIZATION ETHICS REPUTATION AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY: Perception of Muslim Customer Sharia Banking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunaryo SUNARYO

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The majority of the Indonesian population is Muslim, in which the share of Sharia Banking is only three (3 percent of the total banking market share in the country. This indicates a low participation, possibly leading to a negative perception on ethic reputation and low awareness among the Muslim communities in using sharia banking products and services. The objectives of this paper are to analyze the influence of sharia banking organization ethics reputation on Muslims customer loyalty and to analyze the role of satisfaction as a mediating effect on sharia banking organization ethics reputation on Muslims customer loyalty for the sharia banking products and services. Survey with 315 respondents in the city of Malang, Indonesia was conducted to gather information to further understand the situation, to answer the questions raised and to meet the study objectives. Purposive sampling was used to select the relevant respondents. The Structural Equation Model (SEM is used to analyze the direct and indirect relationship between sharia banking organization ethic reputation, satisfaction and Muslims customer loyalty. The findings of this study showed that all independent variables significantly influenced the dependent variable, both directly and indirectly. Satisfaction as mediating factor has a high positive support to the relationship between organization ethic reputation Muslims customer loyalty. Hence, satisfaction plays an important role to support the perception of ethic reputation of the sharia banking organization in influencing Muslim customer loyalty. In addition, the study also suggests that ethic reputation of an organization also helps in maintaining customer loyalty.

Make a customer, not a sale : A study on customer's perception of loyalty programs

OpenAIRE

Anderson, Louise

2013-01-01

The Swedish food retail industry is one with fierce competition, small product differentiation and increasingly disloyal customers. Consequently in order to create and retain loyal customers many of the stores offer some kind of loyalty schemes. The effectiveness of loyalty programs have been questioned, but it is proposed that in order for a loyalty program to be successful it must offer benefits that are perceived as valuable by customers. Thus the purpose of this qualitative study is to in...

Business marketing: understand what customers value.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, J C; Narus, J A

1998-01-01

How do you define the value of your market offering? Can you measure it? Few suppliers in business markets are able to answer those questions, and yet the ability to pinpoint the value of a product or service for one's customers has never been more important. By creating and using what the authors call customer value models, suppliers are able to figure out exactly what their offerings are worth to customers. Field value assessments--the most commonly used method for building customer value models--call for suppliers to gather data about their customers firsthand whenever possible. Through these assessments, a supplier can build a value model for an individual customer or for a market segment, drawing on data gathered form several customers in that segment. Suppliers can use customer value models to create competitive advantage in several ways. First, they can capitalize on the inevitable variation in customers' requirements by providing flexible market offerings. Second, they can use value models to demonstrate how a new product or service they are offering will provide greater value. Third, they can use their knowledge of how their market offerings specifically deliver value to craft persuasive value propositions. And fourth, they can use value models to provide evidence to customers of their accomplishments. Doing business based on value delivered gives companies the means to get an equitable return for their efforts. Once suppliers truly understand value, they will be able to realize the benefits of measuring and monitoring it for their customers.

The Effect of Islamic Marketing and Corporate Image on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty (Study on Customers of PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia Malang Branch Office)

OpenAIRE

Setyono, Langgeng

2015-01-01

The aim of this research was to examine the effect of Islamic marketing and corporate image on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. This research used explanatory research and quantitative approach. Population in this research was customers of saving product in Bank Muamalat Indonesia Malang Branch Office. Questionnaires were distributed to 138 respondents by purposive sampling technique. Data analysis technique involved path analysis and descriptive analysis. Based on calculation of p...

Service Quality and the Mediating Effect of Corporate Image on the Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in the Malaysian Hotel Industry

OpenAIRE

Boon-Liat Cheng

2014-01-01

Service quality is vital to the success of  any service organization. The rapid growth of the Malaysian hotel industry in the 2000’s forced hotel operators to seriously recognize the importance of service improvement in order to gain competitive advantage. This study aims to examine the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction, and how customer satisfaction subsequently affects customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Malaysia. This study also investigates the mediating effect of c...

The Effort to Create Customer Engagement on Customer E_Banking (Empirical Studies on Bank BNI Regional Semarang)

OpenAIRE

Alimuddin Rizal Rivai; Wahyudi Wahyudi

2016-01-01

                    This study focused on testing the effect of variable customer value, support systems and knowledge of the customer's products to customer satisfaction and its impact on customer engagement. This study selects the object user's e-banking customers of Bank BNI Regional Semarang. The number of samples in this study of 100 respondents, using purposive sampling technique sampling. Processing data using SPSS version 16.0. Based on a statistical test using linear regression appro...

The Effect of Innovation Factors to Customer Loyalty by Structural Equation Model

OpenAIRE

M. Dachyar; Fatkhurrohman

2011-01-01

Innovation is being view from four areas of innovation, product, service, technology, and marketing. Whereas customer loyalty is composed of customer expectation, perceived quality, perceived value, corporate image, customer satisfaction, customer trust/confidence, customer commitment, customer complaint, and customer loyalty. This study aimed to investigate the influence of innovation factors to customer loyalty to GSM in the telecom companies where use of products and s...

Collaborative Services for Customized Production in Networked Companies

OpenAIRE

Fornasiero , Rosanna; Bastos , João; Azevedo , Américo; Zangiacomi , Andrea; Coscia , Eva

2013-01-01

Part 12: Services II; International audience; Increasingly, consumer demand of fashionable products is arising as significant challenge for company managers. In order to respond to this demand, companies are asked to supply small series of innovative and fashionable goods of high quality, affordable price and eco-compatibility in short periods of time and with high service levels. As a result of these rapidly evolving challenges, companies are forming collaborative networks in order to design...

Customer-based collection development an overview

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

This essential guide to customer-based/patron-driven collection development will allow librarians to navigate the rapid changes in what users expect of libraries. The traditional "top down" approach to collection development definitely has its drawbacks: even after spending a good deal of time, energy, and resources, librarians are sometimes frustrated to find that their library's collection is not being used as they anticipated. But there's another strategy that's gaining momentum. This book gathers together the best practitioners in the emerging field of customer-based collection development to find out what library users need and want and provide strategies to allow librarians to manage collections accordingly. Drawing on the experiences of professionals from a variety of academic and public libraries, Customer-based Collection Development: * Offers strategies for planning and implementing a customer-based collection program * Summarizes its potential impact on a library's budget * Discusses cataloguing im...

Are loyal customers profitable? : customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer profitability at the individual level

OpenAIRE

Helgesen, Øyvind

2000-01-01

Customer satisfaction is supposed to be positively related to profitability. This conception may be called “the paradigm of customer satisfaction”. Nevertheless, only a few studies have examined this fundamental relationship. Thus, evidence for this “much talked about relationship” is questioned. In this working paper the focus is on the individual customer with respect to the relationships between customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer profitability at the customer level. The f...

Customer Perceived Brand Equity in Measuring Consumption Preference towards Local and Imported Products: A serial Studies on Urban and Suburban Level of Indonesia Society in Greater Jakarta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sri Rahayu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This study generally aims to analyze how the preferences of Indonesian as a customer in consuming local and imported products. The specific purpose of this study is to confirm measurement tools of the customer perceived brand equity, which are product country image, culture, marketing mix, and product quality. The result of this study indicates that Indonesian consider much about the marketing mix and product quality, while not so much considering culture.The product country image on the other hand gives the opposite effect. It is significantly related but has negative impact to the customer preference. This study is expected to provide insight on factors that contribute to form customer preference, consumption, and behavior in consuming local and imported product. It is expected that this study can bring impact in increasing local product competitiveness so that local and imported product could compete equally.

Analisis & Perumusan Fitur Aplikasi Sms-marketing Berdasarkan Customer Relationship Management Model

OpenAIRE

Wijaya, Sidiq Wahyu Surya; Laksito, Arif Dwi

2015-01-01

The growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) in Indonesia is very rapid. However, in terms of Customer Relationship Management, it is still few of UMKM which actually implement it. In fact, it can ensure that all customers have/use a mobile phone, either a normal mobile phone or smartphone, which should be used for the purposes of customer relationship management (Customer Relationship Management). One of these is the use of SMS (Short Message Services) technplogy. Therefore, in ...

Customer First? The Relationship between Advisors and Consumers of Financial Products

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Vlam (Anita)

2011-01-01

textabstractCustomer First is an important issue of the recently introduced banking code in the Netherlands. It mainly concerns customer satisfaction and it is aimed at regaining trust of customers. Interestingly, the code does not address the urgency of improving customers’ financial literacy and

Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Hui; Subramony, Mahesh

2008-03-01

Pursuing a customer-focused strategy in manufacturing organizations requires employees across functions to embrace the importance of understanding customer needs and to align their everyday efforts with the goal of satisfying and retaining customers. Little prior research has examined what factors influence employee customer orientation in manufacturing settings. Drawing on the attraction-selection-attrition model, upper-echelons theory, and contingency theories of leadership, this study investigated the joint influences of functional roles' proximity to external customers and the senior leadership team's customer orientation on employee customer orientation. Hierarchical linear modeling results based on data obtained from 4,299 employees and 403 senior leaders from 42 facilities of a global manufacturer operating in 16 countries revealed that employees occupying customer-contact roles had the highest level of customer orientation, followed by employees occupying production roles, and then by those in support roles. In addition, there was a positive relationship between the senior leadership team's customer orientation and employee customer orientation for all 3 functional roles. The positive relationship between the senior leadership team and employee customer orientation was the strongest for employees in support roles, suggesting that lower levels of proximity to external customers may create a greater need for leadership in developing employees' customer-oriented attitudes. Copyright 2008 APA

The quest for customer focus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gulati, Ranjay; Oldroyd, James B

2005-04-01

Companies have poured enormous amounts of money into customer relationship management, but in many cases the investment hasn't really paid off. That's because getting closer to customers isn't about building an information technology system. It's a learning journey-one that unfolds over four stages, requiring people and business units to coordinate in progressively more sophisticated ways. The journey begins with the creation of a companywide repository containing each interaction a customer has with the company, organized not by product, purchase, or location, but by customer. Communal coordination is what's called for at this stage, as each group contributes its information to the data pool separately from the others and then taps into it as needed. In the second stage, one-way serial coordination from centralized IT through analytical units and out to the operating units allows companies to go beyond just assembling data to drawing inferences. In stage three, companies shift their focus from past relationships to future behavior. Through symbiotic coordination, information flows back and forth between central analytic units and various organizational units like marketing, sales, and operations, as together they seek answers to questions like "How can we prevent customers from switching to a competitor?" and "Who would be most likely to buy a new product in the future"? In stage four, firms begin to move past discrete, formal initiatives and, through integral coordination, bring an increasingly sophisticated understanding oftheir customers to bear in all day-to-day operations. Skipping stages denies organizations the sure foundation they need to build a lasting customer-focused mind-set. Those that recognize this will invest their customer relationship dollars much more wisely-and will see their customer-focusing efforts pay offon the bottom line.

Supply Chain Contracting for After-sales Service and Product Support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D. Li (Dong)

2015-01-01

markdownabstractAbstract Over the past decades, business model innovation in product and its service has been growing rapidly, especially for durable goods. Companies shift their strategies from selling physical products to delivering solutions and performance for customers. Within this context,

Customer satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Vukmir, Rade B

2006-01-01

This paper seeks to present an analysis of the literature examining objective information concerning the subject of customer service, as it applies to the current medical practice. Hopefully, this information will be synthesized to generate a cogent approach to correlate customer service with quality. Articles were obtained by an English language search of MEDLINE from January 1976 to July 2005. This computerized search was supplemented with literature from the author's personal collection of peer-reviewed articles on customer service in a medical setting. This information was presented in a qualitative fashion. There is a significant lack of objective data correlating customer service objectives, patient satisfaction and quality of care. Patients present predominantly for the convenience of emergency department care. Specifics of satisfaction are directed to the timing, and amount of "caring". Demographic correlates including symptom presentation, practice style, location and physician issues directly impact on satisfaction. It is most helpful to develop a productive plan for the "difficult patient", emphasizing communication and empathy. Profiling of the customer satisfaction experience is best accomplished by examining the specifics of satisfaction, nature of the ED patient, demographic profile, symptom presentation and physician interventions emphasizing communication--especially with the difficult patient. The current emergency medicine customer service dilemmas are a complex interaction of both patient and physician factors specifically targeting both efficiency and patient satisfaction. Awareness of these issues particular to the emergency patient can help to maximize efficiency, minimize subsequent medicolegal risk and improve patient care if a tailored management plan is formulated.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND RETAIL BANKING TRENDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PAUL OVIDIU HANDRO

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The concept of customer experience refers to the impact of all the interactions that the customer may have with a bank, taking into account the multitude of touchpoints by which he activates. Customer experience includes every element related to the promises made through branding, advertising, offers, products and services, but the most important is how they are delivered: easiness in using the services or products, promptness and efficiency in dealing with customers before and after purchase. [1] - [11] In the context of an environment influenced to a great extent by the evolution of technologies, but also by the accelerated dynamics regarding legislation (Payment Directive II, Directive 2014/92/EU and competition, a traditional commercial bank must be extremely careful and competent to build and plan the present and future experiences offered to customers. Given the complexity of the structure of a traditional bank, an essential point in the performance strategy must be the improvement of the Customer experienced experience in dealing with the bank. The positive experience becomes defining both for customer loyality and to attract new customers. The segregation of responsibilities and at the same time harmonization of flows between the various structures of traditional banks (front-office- FO; middle-office-MO; back-office-BO becomes the main challenge of the moment in order to provide the customer with the much desired positive experience. Affected at the global and European level by the dynamics of legislative changes, as well as by the business models that rely on the outsourcing of some positions, the back-office and middle office do not enjoy the same rhythm of evolution and support found in the front office, resulting in incoherent customer experiences and, at the same time, preventing the industry's capacity to attract, retain and delight the customers. In order to improve the level of customer experience, the banks must focus more on

Do teachers and students get the Ed-Tech products they need: The challenges of Ed-Tech procurement in a rapidly growing market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Morrison

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Ed-tech courseware products to support teaching and learning are being developed and made available for acquisition by school districts at a rapid rate. In this growing market, developers and providers face challenges with making their products visible to customers, while school district stakeholders must grapple with “discovering” which products of the many available best address their instructional needs. The present study presents the experiences with and perceptions about the procurement process from 47 superintendents representing diverse school districts in the U. S. Results indicate that, while improvements are desired in many aspects of the procurement process, the superintendents, overall, believe that, once desired products are identified, they are generally able to acquire them. Difficulties lie in tighter budgets, discovering products that are potentially the best choices, and evaluating the effectiveness of the products selected as options. These findings are presented and interpreted in relation to five major “Action Points” in the procurement process, and also with regard to implications for evaluating how educational technology impacts K-12 instruction.

27 CFR 479.117 - Action by Customs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Action by Customs. 479.117... OTHER FIREARMS Importation and Exportation Exportation § 479.117 Action by Customs. Upon receipt of a... of Customs may order such inspection as deemed necessary prior to lading of the merchandise. If...

Valuable Internet Advertising and Customer Satisfaction Cycle(VIACSC)

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Awais; Tanzila Samin; Muhammad Bilal

2012-01-01

Now-a-days it is very important for the business persons to attract their target customers towards their products through valuable mode of promotion and communication. Increasing use of World Wide Web has completely changed the scenario of business sector. Customized products and services, customers preferences, @ and dot com craze have elevated the importance of internet advertising. This research paper investigates valuable internet advertising which will help to enhance the value of intern...

Analysing Customer Opinions with Text Mining Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Consoli, Domenico

2009-08-01

Knowing what the customer thinks of a particular product/service helps top management to introduce improvements in processes and products, thus differentiating the company from their competitors and gain competitive advantages. The customers, with their preferences, determine the success or failure of a company. In order to know opinions of the customers we can use technologies available from the web 2.0 (blog, wiki, forums, chat, social networking, social commerce). From these web sites, useful information must be extracted, for strategic purposes, using techniques of sentiment analysis or opinion mining.

Customer value and financial services distribution channels

OpenAIRE

Chakrabarty, Anita

2017-01-01

This research effort seeks to investigate the co-creation of customer value in distribution channels of financial services as perceived by customers. In financial services, an in-depth investigation of customer value is necessary because of its recognised strategic imperative for competitive advantage (Woodruff, 1997). The Service Dominant Logic further demonstrates the importance of customer value as the basis of customers’ evaluations of products or service offerings (Vargo and Lusch, 2004)...

Perancangan Customer Knowledge Management pada PT Pandawa Maju Perkasa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joni Suhartono

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In the era of global trade, more countries want a quality of product with optimal price. PT Pandawa Maju Perkasa engaged in export trade services requires an application that can bridge the communication between the customer and the company. It can also create appropriate knowledge to present the product to the customer. Knowledge of the product obtained will be shared to the customer as company's marketing activities. In addition, critics and suggestions are very necessary for the improvement of customer service of the company. Research in this study was done by analyzing business process, designing model of knowledge management system, and designing system model. The design of the system made consisted of making class diagrams, use case diagrams, sequence diagrams, and user interface. The design of the CKM system will help the company capture customer demand for the goods they want, the communication between the customer and the company can be well established, critics and suggestions facility made is used to improve services to customers. 

Beyond the Voice of the Customer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goffin, Keith; Varnes, Claus; van der Hoven, Chris

2012-01-01

are by their nature intangible. One of the most promising approaches to generating a deeper customer understanding is ethnographic market research, which adopts ideas from ethnography, the set of tools social scientists use to study tribal cultures. These techniques can provide deep customer insights......Although the importance of integrating the voice of the customer into new product development is almost universally accepted, the techniques used by many organizations to identify customers' needs have stagnated. The most commonly used techniques, focus groups and surveys (including both interviews...... and questionnaires), have significant limitations. Customers often struggle to articulate their needs in interviews, and focus groups often generate incremental ideas rather than breakthroughs. Companies in the service sector face an additional challenge, as their customers need to discuss services, which...

Mass customization threat or chance for the SME

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, Carsten; Barfod, Ari

2002-01-01

Customer satisfaction is at the focus for most manufacturers and mass customization can in some markets be one of many tools used to increase the customer perceived value of a product by combining low price with extensive variation and adaptation. As a result mass customization is on the agenda i...... in many SME’s but the question is, what it will take for a SME to be successful in achieving mass customization? This paper will discuss mass customization and its influence on “built to order” SME’s. Keywords: Mass customization, industrialization, SME...

customer relationship management and performance in the paint

African Journals Online (AJOL)

CIU

2000-05-05

May 5, 2000 ... engender high level of customer loyalty on organizational products in meeting the ... Key words: Customer relationship management, Performance, ... contact, commitment and after-sales service. ... also explain that by increasing customersatisfaction, customer .... To increase the market share, organizations.

A GENERALIZATION OF TRADITIONAL KANO MODEL FOR CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renáta Turisová

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The theory of attractiveness determines the relationship between the technically achieved and customer perceived quality of product attributes. The most frequently used approach in the theory of attractiveness is the implementation of Kano‘s model. There exist a lot of generalizations of that model which take into consideration various aspects and approaches focused on understanding the customer preferences and identification of his priorities for a selling  product. The aim of this article is to outline another possible generalization of Kano‘s model.Methodology/Approach: The traditional Kano’s model captures the nonlinear relationship between reached attributes of quality and customer requirements. The individual attributes of quality are divided into three main categories: must-be, one-dimensional, attractive quality and into two side categories: indifferent and reverse quality. The well selling product has to contain the must-be attribute. It should contain as many one-dimensional attributes as possible. If there are also supplementary attractive attributes, it means that attractiveness of the entire product, from the viewpoint of the customer, nonlinearly sharply rises what has a direct positive impact on a decision of potential customer when purchasing the product. In this article, we show that inclusion of individual quality attributes of a product to the mentioned categories depends, among other things, also on costs on life cycle of the product, respectively on a price of the product on the market.Findings: In practice, we are often encountering the inclusion of products into different price categories: lower, middle and upper class. For a certain type of products the category is either directly declared by a producer (especially in automotive industry, or is determined by a customer by means of assessment of available market prices. To each of those groups of a products different customer expectations can be assigned

Customer retention and new product marketing strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Day, T.

1997-01-01

Business strategies readily accessible for utilization by electric utility companies in the post-deregulation competitive environment were discussed. Among these strategies, shifting the company''s focus towards customers and their needs, is perhaps the most important. Utilities could use their corporate identity to capitalize on the introduction of new services. These services could include HVAC equipment servicing, building services, cable TV wiring and service and appliance repairs. The consumer would already identify the utility with some of these services and therefore, these sectors would be the most obvious areas for utility companies to enter. Attempting to make the transition into an unrelated field suggests squandering precious corporate expertise and abandonment of the corporate identity. This may not only result in failure in the new endeavour, but also in loss of credibility and customer goodwill in the old one

Design and health care: a study of virtual design and direct metal lasersintering of titanium alloy for the production of customized facial implants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilson Kindlein Junior

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The increase in life expectancy and a great number ofaccidents lead to higher demand for medical products,including corrective implants. Patients with tumors or traumas need to replace injured areas in order to restore their aesthetic and structural function. Currently, the available craniofacial implants present a standard geometry and seldom generate satisfactory results. Customized implants, on theother hand, are designed to conform exactly to individual patient’s anatomy. This way, the use of customized implantscan show beneficial effects to the patient and the surgicalteam. In this study, the design and manufacturing of customized implant prior to surgery were described. Implant shape and functional requirements were established by digitaldata based on CT-scans and mirroring operations. The designprocess of customized mandible prosthesis is illustrated as well as its manufacturing process (direct metal laser sinteringand quality control. Laser sintering process and its constraints for the production of customized implants in titanium alloy(Ti-6Al-4V with complex geometry and internal structures are reported.

How to Reduce Customer Struggles in Online Shopping in China

OpenAIRE

Wang, Fan

2012-01-01

This paper attempts to provide efficient approaches on reducing customer struggles in online shopping. It appears that online retailing in China needs more improvements based on the customer-centred perspective. Customer struggles relate to physical and psychological flounders, such as unqualified products, unsatisfied services, loss of money and information leakage. Factors that affect customer struggles online include price, diversity of products, quality of items, quality of services, and ...

Customer satisfaction measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maričić Branko R.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Customer satisfaction is important in business management as a basis for long-term profitability of a single line of products and services and the company as a whole. Customer satisfaction in modern market conditions is characterized by a large number of alternatives that can satisfy the same need or desire of consumers, and are a prerequisite for the retention, loyalty, and positive verbal communication between companies and vendors on one hand and consumers on the other. Companies are investing more and more investment and management efforts in improving customer satisfaction. Improving customer satisfaction and its measurement involves the taking of appropriate marketing strategies and tactics, as well as corrective measures. This paper presents the well-known attempts to measure customers' satisfaction at the macro and micro level of marketing analysis. The index of consumer satisfaction is an important indicator of achieved quality and market performance of companies and can be measured on a micro and macro level. National customer satisfaction indexes are useful framework for analyzing the competitiveness of national economies, industries and individual companies and are used for a variety of other aspects of observation and analysis. Standardization of consumer satisfaction indexes in different countries allows comparability of the data, giving a new quality of analysis in the era of globalization and internationalization of business.

Customer driven marketing strategy of LIC international in Bahrain: a product specific study

OpenAIRE

Pillai, Rajasekharan; Rao, M S; Thampy, Jaik; Peter, Jerrin

2011-01-01

Abstract Marketing of service product requires a slightly different strategy owing to the idiosyncratic nature of service items. The present study explores the customer oriented marketing strategy of LIC International in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The approach of the study was exploratory and personal interview was conducted to contribute major input source to the research. The company has been following a different marketing strategy in the study area different from the conventional approach in...

Customer Loyalty and Customer Relationship Management

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Pengwei; Li, Min; Jiao, Xiaojing; Zhou, Ruijin

The contemporary company attaches great importance to marketing relationship and customer relations is the core of this relationship. Further, customer satisfaction and loyalty is the core of the customer relationship management. Sometimes, high customer satisfaction causes low profit because enterprises do not realize that strengthening the loyalty of the aimed customer is the key of customer relationship management.

The Customer Interaction Process: Managing Customer, the Service Encounter and Service Recovery

OpenAIRE

TANASE, George Cosmin

2013-01-01

Service interactions are next to customer relationships one of the primary value processes of a service provider. Due to the fact that in service situations value is created via the throughput of the customer through the service production process, and this throughput is realized in service interactions, these interactions are one of the major value drivers of a service firms value. As one of a service providers primary value processes, the interaction process aims at managing the service int...

CUSTOMER VALUE NETWORK ANALYSIS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF CUSTOMER LIFE-TIME VALUE COMPUTATION

OpenAIRE

Monireh Hosseini; Amir Albadvi

2010-01-01

The constant changes in the world have exposed companies to a situation of tough competition. This situation, especially in e-commerce, complicates the decision-making process about target customers and the recommendation of products to them. On the one hand, understanding and measuring the customer lifetime value (CLV) is a critical factor for long-term success. On the other hand, the value network is a new concept that considers both tangible and intangible complex dynamic value exchanges b...

True or False Customer Engagement Behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haurum, Helle; Beckmann, Suzanne C.

2014-01-01

Customers’ engagement behaviours are considered an important source of value to the company. So far, the discussion has mainly been conceptual and focused on the company’s perspective. By adopting the customer’s perspective we investigated how customers perceive their service relationship...... encounters with a company, using in-depth interviews. We found the following key factors driving and explaining customers’ engagement behaviours: (1) transactions matter and inconsistent engagement behaviours are a reality, (2) mundane products and services are still highly relevant for customers, and (3......) different degrees of customer experience alignment with services and products exist. Moreover, the distinction between true and false engagement behaviours we suggest indeed is relevant and we could establish their mediating capabilities....

An examination of blood center structure and hospital customer satisfaction: what can centralized and decentralized blood centers learn from each other?

Science.gov (United States)

Carden, Robert; DelliFraine, Jami L

2005-01-01

The cost of blood and blood products has increased rapidly over the last several years while the supply of available blood donors has simultaneously decreased. Higher blood costs and donor shortages have put a strain on the relationship between blood suppliers and their hospital customers. This study examines the association between blood center centralization or decentralization and several aspects of hospital satisfaction. Centralized and decentralized blood centers have significant differences in various aspects of hospital customer satisfaction. Advantages and disadvantages of the two structures are discussed, as well as areas for future research.

Mass Customization - Threat or Chance for the SME

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, Carsten

2000-01-01

Customer satisfaction is at the focus for most manufacturers and mass customization can in some markets be one of many tools used to increase the customer perceived value of a product by combining low price with extensive variation and adaptation. As a result mass customization is on the agenda i...... in many SME's but the question is, what it will take for a SME to be successful in achieving mass customization? This paper will discuss mass customization and its influence on "built to order" SME's....

27 CFR 28.291 - Customs Form 6001.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Customs Form 6001. 28.291... OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS EXPORTATION OF ALCOHOL Proceedings at Ports of Export Customs Gauge § 28.291 Customs Form 6001. When spirits or wines are gauged as required in §§ 28.264, 28.285, or 28.290, the...

A framework for managing customer knowledge in retail industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sourav Mukherji

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Customer knowledge can be a critical source of competitive advantage in retail business. In this theoretical paper, three sources of customer knowledge are identified in the retail environment, namely customer transactions, customer interactions and customer communities of practice. Lessons for managing these three types of knowledge are derived from knowledge management practices of knowledge intensive service industries such as management consulting and software development. Finally, a decision model premised on consumer behaviour and purchase characteristics is proposed. The model would enable retailers to focus their knowledge management efforts to leverage the potential of customer knowledge for both productivity benefits and product innovation.

Impact of hotel service quality on the loyalty of customers

OpenAIRE

Jasinskas, Edmundas; Streimikiene, Dalia; Svagzdiene, Biruta; Simanavicius, Arturas

2016-01-01

The hotel business is rapidly developing due to growing demand for such services as well as the growing opportunities for travel. As a result, hotels face demanding customers, since the requirements for quality grow with an increased use of hotels’ services, in order to increase the competitive ability of a hotel, the issue of customer loyalty is also important. The aim of this article is to assess the impact of the quality of hotel services on the loyalty of customers. In t...

Effects of oncoming target velocities on rapid force production and accuracy of force production intensity and timing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Yoichi

2017-12-01

The present study aimed to clarify the effects of oncoming target velocities on the ability of rapid force production and accuracy and variability of simultaneous control of both force production intensity and timing. Twenty male participants (age: 21.0 ± 1.4 years) performed rapid gripping with a handgrip dynamometer to coincide with the arrival of an oncoming target by using a horizontal electronic trackway. The oncoming target velocities were 4, 8, and 12 m · s -1 , which were randomly produced. The grip force required was 30% of the maximal voluntary contraction. Although the peak force (Pf) and rate of force development (RFD) increased with increasing target velocity, the value of the RFD to Pf ratio was constant across the 3 target velocities. The accuracy of both force production intensity and timing decreased at higher target velocities. Moreover, the intrapersonal variability in temporal parameters was lower in the fast target velocity condition, but constant variability in 3 target velocities was observed in force intensity parameters. These results suggest that oncoming target velocity does not intrinsically affect the ability for rapid force production. However, the oncoming target velocity affects accuracy and variability of force production intensity and timing during rapid force production.

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM THROUGH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ispas Roxana

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In tourism, hotels play an important role and contribute to the economic growth in cities and other places endowed with attractions which are universally recognized. Two elements are essential in the tourism industry system: product quality and human resources. In terms of quality of the hotel services, that is the one that allows to the tourist enterprise to own a competitive advantage, gain competitive differentiation and reputation among customers by achieving a high degree of customer satisfaction. Hotel customer satisfaction would be impossible if the hotel management does not perform periodic evaluations on customer satisfaction and quality, which are the focus of this paper. Therefore, this paper focuses on customer satisfaction measured by the SERVQUAL model.

Scale-down of vinegar production into microtiter plates using a custom-made lid.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlepütz, Tino; Büchs, Jochen

2014-04-01

As an important food preservative and condiment, vinegar is widely produced in industry by submerged acetic acid bacteria cultures. Although vinegar production is established on the large scale, up to now suitable microscale cultivation methods, e.g. using microtiter plates, are missing to enable high-throughput cultivation and to optimize fermentation conditions. In order to minimize evaporation losses of ethanol and acetic acid in a 48-well microtiter plate during vinegar production a new custom-made lid was developed. A diffusion model was used to calculate the dimensions of a hole in the lid to guarantee a suitable oxygen supply and level of ventilation. Reference fermentation was conducted in a 9-L bioreactor to enable the calculation of the proper cultivation conditions in the microtiter plate. The minimum dissolved oxygen tensions in the microtiter plate were between 7.5% and 23% of air saturation and in the same range as in the 9-L bioreactor. Evaporation losses of ethanol and acetic acid were less than 5% after 47 h and considerably reduced compared to those of microtiter plate fermentations with a conventional gas-permeable seal. Furthermore, cultivation times in the microtiter plate were with about 40 h as long as in the 9-L bioreactor. In conclusion, microtiter plate cultivations with the new custom-made lid provide a platform for high-throughput studies on vinegar production. Results are comparable to those in the 9-L bioreactor. Copyright © 2013 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vape shop retailers' perceptions of their customers, products and services: A content analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Jennifer Y; Bluthenthal, Ricky; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Garcia, Robert; Garcia, Jocelyn; Unger, Jennifer; Baezconde-Garbanati, Lourdes; Sussman, Steve Y

2016-01-01

The popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has spurred the growth of vape shops, but little is known about the retailers who may play an important role in the introduction and dissemination of vape products. In this paper we examine how retailers profile their customers and their perceptions of vaping, and the services their shops provide. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of retailers (n=77) located across southern California. Open-ended questions were coded and analyzed using a content analysis approach. Three themes emerged from the content analysis: who vapes, why people vape, and the vape shop environment. Retailers profiled customers as friendly, health conscious, and interested in tobacco cessation or cessation maintenance. Retailers believed e-cigarettes were used recreationally or as products that help curb other addictive behaviors. While most retailers reported positive experiences with vaping, some reported potentially negative experiences including failed cessation attempts, dual use of e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes, and increased nicotine dependence. Retailers reported that they regularly answer questions about vaping and believe their shops function as social lounges that are tied to other recreational activities. Retailers attach certain characteristics to their clientele, perceive certain health benefits associated with vaping, and seek to establish their shops as places that provide guidance on vape products as well as shops with a recreational aesthetic. As vape shops grow in popularity, additional research on, and regulation of, these retailers will be necessary. Education campaigns are needed to inform retailers of the benefits and consequences of vaping.

Learning from and with Customers with Social Media: A Model for Social Customer Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannu Kärkkäinen

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Social media can enable and significantly increase the collaboration andlearning from customers in various ways, for instance by novel social waysof providing and receiving feedback from new products and concepts. Wehave created a model that can support managers and researchers to betteranalyse and understand the possibilities of social media approaches especiallyfrom the business-to-business (B2B customer interface standpoint. Weused the model to analyse found various types of business-to-business relatedsocial media approaches to create new understanding of the scarcelyresearched field of social media in the customer learning and the customerinterface of B2B innovation.

Focusing on customer service.

Science.gov (United States)

1996-01-01

This booklet is devoted to a consideration of how good customer service in family planning programs can generate demand for products and services, bring customers back, and reduce costs. Customer service is defined as increasing client satisfaction through continuous concern for client preferences, staff accountability to clients, and respect for the rights of clients. Issues discussed include the introduction of a customer service approach and gaining staff commitment. The experience of PROSALUD in Bolivia in recruiting appropriate staff, supervising staff, soliciting client feedback, and marketing services is offered as an example of a successful customer service approach. The key customer service functions are described as 1) establishing a welcoming atmosphere, 2) streamlining client flow, 3) personalizing client services, and 4) organizing and providing clear information to clients. The role of the manager in developing procedures is explored, and the COPE (Client-Oriented Provider-Efficient) process is presented as a good way to begin to make improvements. Techniques in staff training in customer service include brainstorming, role playing, using case studies (examples of which are provided), and engaging in practice sessions. Training also leads to the development of effective customer service attitudes, and the differences between these and organizational/staff-focused attitudes are illustrated in a chart. The use of communication skills (asking open-ended questions, helping clients express their concerns, engaging in active listening, and handling difficult situations) is considered. Good recovery skills are important when things go wrong. Gathering and using client feedback is the next topic considered. This involves identifying, recording, and discussing customer service issues as well as taking action on these issues and evaluating the results. The booklet ends by providing a sample of customer service indicators, considering the maintenance of a

Video-CRM: understanding customer behaviors in stores

Science.gov (United States)

Haritaoglu, Ismail; Flickner, Myron; Beymer, David

2013-03-01

This paper describes two real-time computer vision systems created 10 years ago that detect and track people in stores to obtain insights of customer behavior while shopping. The first system uses a single color camera to identify shopping groups in the checkout line. Shopping groups are identified by analyzing the inter-body distances coupled with the cashier's activities to detect checkout transactions start and end times. The second system uses multiple overhead narrow-baseline stereo cameras to detect and track people, their body posture and parts to understand customer interactions with products such as "customer picking a product from a shelf". In pilot studies both systems demonstrated real-time performance and sufficient accuracy to enable more detailed understanding of customer behavior and extract actionable real-time retail analytics.

48 CFR 252.229-7002 - Customs exemptions (Germany).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Customs exemptions... of Provisions And Clauses 252.229-7002 Customs exemptions (Germany). As prescribed in 229.402-70(b), use the following clause: Customs Exemptions (Germany) (JUN 1997) Imported products required for the...

In Search of Excellence in E-Customer Logistics Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ocicka Barbara

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The e-commerce market has been developing very rapidly and changing traditional distribution systems. The development of online channels is matched by a similar evolution of companies’ logistics systems. As a consequence, logistics processes management now significantly influences e-customer service quality, which has emerged as a competitive advantage. The main goal of this paper is to identify e-commerce business models, modern distribution channels and management tools that would facilitate a continuous improvement in e-customer logistics service. Based on the literature and interviews with e-commerce services providers, we provide a plethora of good and best practices useful for managers in the rapidly developing and highly competitive e-commerce business.

27 CFR 478.117 - Function outside a customs territory.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Function outside a customs... Importation § 478.117 Function outside a customs territory. In the insular possessions of the United States outside customs territory, the functions performed by U.S. Customs officers under this subpart within a...

An Engineer-To-Order Mass Customization Development Framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bossen, Jacob; Hansson, Michael Natapon; Madsen, Ole

2014-01-01

competitiveness and revenue, in which Engineer-To-Order companies may benefit from adopting Mass Customization concepts. As automated manufacturing systems tends to be software intensive, it become equally important to enable reusability for physical components and for software related artefacts. In parallel...... to Mass Customization, Software Product Line Engineering has emerged as a way for software developers to manage variability and reusability. This paper seeks to combine the concepts of Mass Customization and Software Product Line Engineering, by introducing a development framework applicable for Engineer...

Analisis Pengaruh E-Service Quality terhadap Customer Satisfaction yang Berdampak pada Customer Loyalty PT Bayu Buana Travel Tbk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hansel Jonathan

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of e-service quality on customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty of PT Bayu Buana Travel, Tbk. With non-probability technique (census, questionnaires were collected and used in data processing using Structural Equation Modeling with WarpPLS program and Importance Performance Analysis methods. Based on this research, it was found that e-service quality has an influence on customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction has an influence on customer loyalty, e-service quality has an influence on customer loyalty, and e-service quality and customer satisfaction has an influence on customer loyalty. The e-service quality attributes, such as the website providing accurate information, the website having a good reputation, all online payment be confirmed, the website easy to use, and the products/services on the website delivered according to the time, need to be improved and enhanced.

Models of Customer Behavior as a Basis of Marketing Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T A Ivanova

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the analysis of six main models of customer behavior in contemporary society and the specific tasks of marketing departments of companies at today's stage of development. The given models take into consideration: motives for choosing a product, the degree of product awareness and independence of choice, the degree of customer satisfaction with the product, lines and possibilities of making an impact on customer choice through marketing and promotion stimulation. The author believes that these models may serve as a basis in the formation of effective marketing strategies, as they describe the customers in all the stages of their actions in the process of buying products, accumulating and analyzing the experience of using them.

B2C Mass Customization in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Visich, John K.; Gu, Qiannong; Khumawala, Basheer M.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe an internet-based mass customization assignment in Operations Management/Supply Chain Management classes where students utilize the Web site of a company that offers a customized product. Students evaluate the user interface, judge the value proposition of the product they demonstrate, and discuss issues…

Customer Poaching and Advertising

OpenAIRE

Rosa Branca Esteves

2007-01-01

This article is a first look at the dynamic effects of customer poaching in homogeneous product markets, where firms need to invest in advertising to generate awareness. When a firm can recognize customers with different past purchasing histories, it may send them targeted advertiseraents with different prices. It is shown that only the firm that advertises the highest price in the first period will engage in price discrimination, and that poaching clearly benefits the discriminating firm, Th...

Level of customer orientation and customer protection in hotels in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ćirić Maja

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Hotels present an engine of tourism development. Their standard and orientation towards specific target groups of customers determine the strength of tourism offer. In addition, they contribute to the agricultural development, too, because they are the great buyers of agricultural products. According to official data, the existing potentials of Serbian tourism have been insufficiently valorised and Serbian hotels are in pretty poor condition- compared to international standards. Taking these facts into consideration, we can raise a question whether the key problems of Serbian hotels lie exclusively in inadequate accommodation capacities, or perhaps that there is a lack of customer- oriented business philosophy. Also the question is to what extent the legal regulations contribute to the protection of customer rights and their satisfaction. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to ascertain the level of customer orientation in Serbian hotels, so as to find out whether members of hotel staff are acquainted with the notion of customer orientation and determine the degree to which this approach has been applied in practice. Conclusions and recommendations for improvement of competitiveness of hotels in Serbia are derived on the basis of research conducted by interviewing the employees of a sample of hotels in Serbia.

Decisions of customers loyalty programs formation

OpenAIRE

Gudonavičienė, Rasa; Rutelionė, Aušra

2009-01-01

In order that company could be prosper, successful and competitive in the market it has to keep the customer loyal. Recently business companies have started to focus on the present customers more, seeking to keep them by using various loyalty programs. Well prepared and developed loyalty stimulation tools can be effective method to strengthen relations with customers, increase sales, identify the most popular and best saleable products, evaluate how to choose the best price decisions, form th...

Understanding the relationship between Kano model's customer satisfaction scores and self-stated requirements importance.

Science.gov (United States)

Mkpojiogu, Emmanuel O C; Hashim, Nor Laily

2016-01-01

Customer satisfaction is the result of product quality and viability. The place of the perceived satisfaction of users/customers for a software product cannot be neglected especially in today competitive market environment as it drives the loyalty of customers and promotes high profitability and return on investment. Therefore understanding the importance of requirements as it is associated with the satisfaction of users/customers when their requirements are met is worth the pain considering. It is necessary to know the relationship between customer satisfactions when their requirements are met (or their dissatisfaction when their requirements are unmet) and the importance of such requirement. So many works have been carried out on customer satisfaction in connection with the importance of requirements but the relationship between customer satisfaction scores (coefficients) of the Kano model and users/customers self-stated requirements importance have not been sufficiently explored. In this study, an attempt is made to unravel the underlying relationship existing between Kano model's customer satisfaction indexes and users/customers self reported requirements importance. The results of the study indicate some interesting associations between these considered variables. These bivariate associations reveal that customer satisfaction index (SI), and average satisfaction coefficient (ASC) and customer dissatisfaction index (DI) and average satisfaction coefficient (ASC) are highly correlated (r = 96 %) and thus ASC can be used in place of either SI or DI in representing customer satisfaction scores. Also, these Kano model's customer satisfaction variables (SI, DI, and ASC) are each associated with self-stated requirements importance (IMP). Further analysis indicates that the value customers or users place on requirements that are met or on features that are incorporated into a product influences the level of satisfaction such customers derive from the product. The

The Influence of Costumer Relationship Management Toward Customer Loyalty in PT Bank Negara Indonesia Manado

OpenAIRE

Saerang, David Paul E.; Pangkey, Monika

2014-01-01

New Economy Market is rapidly growing with internet, which is offering choice for customer. Internet technology makes it easier to discover what the customers want, understands the values that are important to individual customers, and implement cost-effective and results-driven CRM strategies. BNI as one of the major bank in Indonesia use the customer relationship management concept to maintain the existing customer to be a customer loyalty. The purpose of this research is to analyze how is ...

CUSTOMS POLICY, CUSTOMS BUSINESS, CUSTOMS REGULATION: TO PROBLEM OF CONCEPTION CORRELATIONS

OpenAIRE

A. D. Molokovich; K. N. Shabeka

2010-01-01

Theoretical and methodological comprehension of customs regulation place and role in provision of trade and transport activity under conditions of world integration processes is considered in the paper.The essence of such economic categories as «customs policy», «customs regulation», «customs and tariff regulation», «customs business» is ascertained with the help of justified argumentation, clear conception approaches.

A comparative Kano analysis on customer satisfaction based on customer and employment perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakineh Noorinasab

2012-08-01

Full Text Available These days, there is a tight competition among business units and all production units or service businesses attempt to use different techniques to increase their market shares. In such environment, customer normally says the last word, in fact, customer plays an important role and in many organizations, it is considered as part of their assets. The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid method to detect important criteria using Kano three-dimensional method and prioritize them using analytical hierarchy process. We implement the proposed model of this paper for one of Iranian banks called Bank Melli Iran. The study determines 25 different attributes, categorizes them in three different groups based on Kano model, and ranks them in terms of customers and employees' perspective. The results of the survey indicate that customer and employees mostly have similar views since there are 21 common attributes between them. However, the priorities of these 21 items are often different in terms of two groups of employees and customers.

A Review Of CEM: Customer Engagement as Innovation Co-Creator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elidjen Elidjen

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Competition is very tight causing companies looking for a competitive edge, both in the product packaging and in maintaining good relations with their customers. The management of good relationship is commonly referred to Customer Relationship Management (CRM. In general, CRM is focused on how to market something to customers and obtain value from them by using information technology. However, it ignores customers’ insight that can provide added value to the company's profits. That is what causes the need for Customer Experience Management (CEM to handle the experience of customers to improve value for customers so that customers become loyal. More useful definition of CEM is handling customer interactions to build brand equity and increase the long-term profitability. The five-element approach known as SMART (strategy, metrics; alignment, redesign and technology has a positive impact for the company. In the end customers can actualize themselves, through a company's brand and products.

Customized PEC modules. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soerensen, Martin B. (DTI, Taastrup (Denmark))

2012-07-01

The purpose of the project ''Customized PEC modules'' was to move from the production hand-made individual DSCs (dye-sensitized solar cells) in the laboratory to the production of DSC modules in a semi-automated process. At the same time allowing sufficient variation in the product's specification for real tailoring of the product to the application. The tailoring can be related to the module's electrical output and size, but also to the possibility of designing patterns for decoration or communication purposes by playing around with the shape, size and layout of the individual cells forming the module. This was to be accomplished mainly by screen printing of DSC components on glass substrates at Mekoprint. For reaching this goal the work was divided into a number of steps. The central part of the work done was in the initial conception activity and the following manufacturing activity. An activity regarding optimization included several tasks of optimization and adaptation of the existing laboratory process for manufacturing of the DSCs. Finally, work focused on international activities was done. All the steps needed for the production of customized DSC modules have been demonstrated in this project. In combination with the development of a high performing printable sealant and sealing method all the prerequisites for producing customized DSC modules have been demonstrated. (LN)

Customer Clustering Based on Customer Purchasing Sequence Data

OpenAIRE

Yen-Chung Liu; Yen-Liang Chen

2017-01-01

Customer clustering has become a priority for enterprises because of the importance of customer relationship management. Customer clustering can improve understanding of the composition and characteristics of customers, thereby enabling the creation of appropriate marketing strategies for each customer group. Previously, different customer clustering approaches have been proposed according to data type, namely customer profile data, customer value data, customer transaction data, and customer...

Characteristics of products generated by selective sintering and stereolithography rapid prototyping processes

Science.gov (United States)

Cariapa, Vikram

1993-01-01

The trend in the modern global economy towards free market policies has motivated companies to use rapid prototyping technologies to not only reduce product development cycle time but also to maintain their competitive edge. A rapid prototyping technology is one which combines computer aided design with computer controlled tracking of focussed high energy source (eg. lasers, heat) on modern ceramic powders, metallic powders, plastics or photosensitive liquid resins in order to produce prototypes or models. At present, except for the process of shape melting, most rapid prototyping processes generate products that are only dimensionally similar to those of the desired end product. There is an urgent need, therefore, to enhance the understanding of the characteristics of these processes in order to realize their potential for production. Currently, the commercial market is dominated by four rapid prototyping processes, namely selective laser sintering, stereolithography, fused deposition modelling and laminated object manufacturing. This phase of the research has focussed on the selective laser sintering and stereolithography rapid prototyping processes. A theoretical model for these processes is under development. Different rapid prototyping sites supplied test specimens (based on ASTM 638-84, Type I) that have been measured and tested to provide a data base on surface finish, dimensional variation and ultimate tensile strength. Further plans call for developing and verifying the theoretical models by carefully designed experiments. This will be a joint effort between NASA and other prototyping centers to generate a larger database, thus encouraging more widespread usage by product designers.

16 CFR 240.5 - Definition of competing customers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Definition of competing customers. 240.5... ADVERTISING ALLOWANCES AND OTHER MERCHANDISING PAYMENTS AND SERVICES § 240.5 Definition of competing customers. Competing customers are all businesses that compete in the resale of the seller's products of like grade and...

27 CFR 40.452 - Release from customs custody.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Release from customs... § 40.452 Release from customs custody. Cigarette papers and tubes which were made in the United States, exported, and subsequently returned to the United States, may be removed from customs custody for transfer...

Questionnaire survey of customer satisfaction for product categories towards certification of ergonomic quality in design.

Science.gov (United States)

Mochimaru, Masaaki; Takahashi, Miwako; Hatakenaka, Nobuko; Horiuchi, Hitoshi

2012-01-01

Customer satisfaction was surveyed for 6 product categories (consumer electronics, daily commodities, home equipment, information systems, cars, and health appliances) by questionnaires based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Analyzing weight of evaluation factors, the 6 product categories were reorganized into 4 categories, those were related to 4 aspects in daily living that formed by two axes: home living - mobility life and healthy life - active communication. It was found that consumers were attracted by the actual user test by public institutes for all product categories. The certification based on the design process standard established by authorities, such as EQUID was the second best attractor for consumers.

The value of customer preference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herig, C.; Houston, A.

1996-01-01

Customer preference (CP), or green pricing, may be the financial hedge for electric supply industry integration of photovoltaics. CP is currently defined as a voluntary contribution for energy generated with renewable resources. Several utilities have examined the CP financing of renewables through experimental or implemented programs and market research. This paper first expands the concept of customer preference to include both voluntary and involuntary customer contributions. It then categorizes the features of existing and proposed CP programs. The connections between these features and market research and marketing strategies for new product development from a competitive industry are analyzed

The value of customer preference

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herig, C.; Houston, A. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

1996-05-01

Customer preference (CP), or green pricing, may be the financial hedge for electric supply industry integration of photovoltaics. CP is currently defined as a voluntary contribution for energy generated with renewable resources. Several utilities have examined the CP financing of renewables through experimental or implemented programs and market research. This paper first expands the concept of customer preference to include both voluntary and involuntary customer contributions. It then categorizes the features of existing and proposed CP programs. The connections between these features and market research and marketing strategies for new product development from a competitive industry are analyzed.

[Evaluation of production and clinical working time of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) custom trays for complete denture].

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, L; Chen, H; Zhou, Y S; Sun, Y C; Pan, S X

2017-02-18

To compare the technician fabrication time and clinical working time of custom trays fabricated using two different methods, the three-dimensional printing custom trays and the conventional custom trays, and to prove the feasibility of the computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) custom trays in clinical use from the perspective of clinical time cost. Twenty edentulous patients were recruited into this study, which was prospective, single blind, randomized self-control clinical trials. Two custom trays were fabricated for each participant. One of the custom trays was fabricated using functional suitable denture (FSD) system through CAD/CAM process, and the other was manually fabricated using conventional methods. Then the final impressions were taken using both the custom trays, followed by utilizing the final impression to fabricate complete dentures respectively. The technician production time of the custom trays and the clinical working time of taking the final impression was recorded. The average time spent on fabricating the three-dimensional printing custom trays using FSD system and fabricating the conventional custom trays manually were (28.6±2.9) min and (31.1±5.7) min, respectively. The average time spent on making the final impression with the three-dimensional printing custom trays using FSD system and the conventional custom trays fabricated manually were (23.4±11.5) min and (25.4±13.0) min, respectively. There was significant difference in the technician fabrication time and the clinical working time between the three-dimensional printing custom trays using FSD system and the conventional custom trays fabricated manually (Pmanufacture custom trays by three-dimensional printing method, there is no need to pour preliminary cast after taking the primary impression, therefore, it can save the impression material and model material. As to completing denture restoration, manufacturing custom trays using FSD system is worth being

A flag-up algorithm and test for nonstationary customer-specific product graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fenger, Morten H. J.; Scholderer, Joachim

period. The results show that the test is clearly able to identify customers with evolving behavior, and that it can easily be deployed as part of a CRM system. It enables companies with loyalty programs to focus on nonstationary customers, i.e. customers who may represent opportunities for cross...

Customer Satisfaction in Internal Customer Service : Case: Abloy Oy Internal Customer Service

OpenAIRE

Turunen, Susanna

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT Turunen, Susanna Marita 2011. Customer Satisfaction in Internal Customer Service. Case: Abloy Oy Internal Customer Service. Master’s thesis. Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences. Business and Culture. Pages 73. Appendix 1. This thesis discusses and studies service quality and customer satisfaction in internal customer service. The main objective is to find out what the service quality level in the internal customer service at Abloy Oy is and whether there exists a diffe...

SPECIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY, CUSTOMER LOYALTY AND CUSTOMER VALUE oF THE HALAL HOTELS IN HIGH SEASON

OpenAIRE

Arpacı, Özgür; Batman, Orhan

2015-01-01

The importance of Halal products and services increases day by day with the developments in world economy and affects the whole products and services; this movement is effective on tourism sector, too. Today, hotels try to develop Halal services’ process alongside their current services, to meet their customers’ needs who demand Halal products and services to create customer loyalty. In this study, it is tried to figure out the relationship among perceived service quality, customer loyalty an...

Strategic value assessment and explorative learning opportunities with customers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijssen, E.J.; Hillebrand, B.; Jong, de J.P.J.; Kemp, R.G.M.

2012-01-01

This study recognizes that collaboration with customers for new product development may bring important financial benefits to firms, but at the same time may seriously hamper explorative learning. Many firms are approached by customers with requests to develop new products for them. While such

Strategic Value Assessment and Explorative Learning Opportunities with Customers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijssen, E.J.; Hillebrand, B.; Jong, de J.P.J.; Kemp, R.G.M.

2012-01-01

This study recognizes that collaboration with customers for new product development may bring important financial benefits to firms, but at the same time may seriously hamper explorative learning. Many firms are approached by customers with requests to develop new products for them. While such

27 CFR 447.56 - Authority of Customs officers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Authority of Customs... IMPLEMENTS OF WAR Miscellaneous Provisions § 447.56 Authority of Customs officers. (a) Officers of the U.S. Customs Service are authorized to take appropriate action to assure compliance with this part and with 27...

27 CFR 28.286 - Receipt in customs bonded warehouse.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Receipt in customs bonded... in Customs Bonded Warehouse § 28.286 Receipt in customs bonded warehouse. On receipt of the distilled spirits or wine and the related TTB Form 5100.11 or 5110.30 as the case may be, the customs officer in...

The interplay between customer participation and difficulty of design examples in the online designing process and its effect on customer satisfaction: mediational analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chia-Chi; Chen, Hui-Yun; Huang, I-Chiang

2009-04-01

In the current consumer-centric economy, consumers increasingly desire the opportunity to design their own products in order to express more effectively their self-image. Mass customization, based on efficient and flexible modulization designs, has provided individualized products to satisfy this desire. This work presents an experiment employed to demonstrate that customer participation leads to higher satisfaction. Specifically, the increment in customer satisfaction due to participation is greater when an easy example is provided than when either no example or a difficult one is provided. Additionally, self-congruity plays a mediating role on the customer participation-satisfaction relationship, and this mediating effect varies across different levels of the design example provided in the design process. When an easy design example is present, customer participation has a direct effect on satisfaction, in addition to the indirect effect of self-congruity. When a difficult example is provided, customer participation does not have incremental effects on either self-congruity or customer satisfaction. Finally, when no design example is shown to customers, contrary to our expectation, participation still enhances customer satisfaction due to an increased sense of self-congruity.

Closed Loop Supply Chains for Sustainable Mass Customization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kjeld; Brunø, Thomas Ditlev

2013-01-01

Closed loop supply chains reducing waste, energy consumption and natural resource depletion which all contribute to more sustainable production and products. For mass customization however, the challenges of closed loop supply chains are emphasized by the large variety of inbound end-of-life prod......Closed loop supply chains reducing waste, energy consumption and natural resource depletion which all contribute to more sustainable production and products. For mass customization however, the challenges of closed loop supply chains are emphasized by the large variety of inbound end...

Generating Customer Profiles for Retail Stores Using Clustering Tech

OpenAIRE

Pramod Prasad,; Dr. Latesh G. Malik

2011-01-01

The retail industry collects huge amounts of data on sales, customer buying history, goods transportation, consumption, and service. With increased availability and ease of use of modern computing technology and e-commerce, the availability and popularity of such businesses has grown rapidly. Many retail stores have websites where customers can make online purchases. These factors have resulted in increase in the quantity of the data collected. For this reason, the retail industry is a major ...

Exploring the concept of web site customization : applications and antecedents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teerling, M.L.; Huizingh, Eelko K.R.E.

2006-01-01

While mass customization is the tailoring of products and services to the needs and wants of individual customers, web site customization is the tailoring of web sites to individual customers’ preferences. Based on a review of site customization applications, the authors propose a model with four

Global products or customization to different countries: Conceptual framework and application at Wahler, A german company Of the automotive sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ailton Conde Jussani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Competition in global markets demands product strategies that can help firms deal with the dilemma of global products versus customization, in serving the markets of different countries. Global products lead to large scales, automation, lower costs, plus the easy transfer of people and technology among many subsidiaries, as well as between corporate headquarters and the subsidiaries. However, the lack of customization makes it difficult to gain share in countless market segments, in many countries, and it may even stop a firm from entering in certain countries. This study outlines a model designed to facilitate this type of decision-making. First, based on the literature, a conceptual model was drawn up and the decision-related elements were grouped into seven factors that aid product customization decisions: 1. Market Positioning; 2. Customers’ strategic importance; 3. Product life-cycle development; 4. Legal requirements; 5. Physical environment; 6. Infrastructure and compatibility; and 7. Suppliers’ strategic importance. The case method was used, given the complex nature of the problem, which calls for an in-depth analysis. The model was tested on one of the products made a German company with a Brazilian subsidiary. The components of the valve and the technological trends were analyzed. The case study showed that the influencing factors are interrelated. It became clear that the technological component is directly related with the seven decision factors, and this aspect is analyzed in depth. Nevertheless, further studies are necessary to validate the model, since the case method does not allow one to generalize the findings.

Feature level review table generation for E-Commerce websites to produce qualitative rating of the products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.R. Kumar Raja

2017-12-01

Full Text Available It is widely acknowledged today that E-Commerce business is growing rapidly. This is happened only because of people are completely depending on the ratings and reviews given by the customers who are already purchased and using the products. Online surveys, customer reviews on shopping sites are the key sources to understand customer requirements and feedback to help upgrade the product quality and achieve greater outcomes. Now the challenge is that whether those reviews came from product level or feature level will be the million dollar question. To overcome this problem we are proposing a new algorithm to give feature level rating for the product which is called Feature Level Review Rating Analysis (FLRRA algorithm.

Cluster Analysis of Customer Reviews Extracted from Web Pages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Shivashankar

2010-01-01

Full Text Available As e-commerce is gaining popularity day by day, the web has become an excellent source for gathering customer reviews / opinions by the market researchers. The number of customer reviews that a product receives is growing at very fast rate (It could be in hundreds or thousands. Customer reviews posted on the websites vary greatly in quality. The potential customer has to read necessarily all the reviews irrespective of their quality to make a decision on whether to purchase the product or not. In this paper, we make an attempt to assess are view based on its quality, to help the customer make a proper buying decision. The quality of customer review is assessed as most significant, more significant, significant and insignificant.A novel and effective web mining technique is proposed for assessing a customer review of a particular product based on the feature clustering techniques, namely, k-means method and fuzzy c-means method. This is performed in three steps : (1Identify review regions and extract reviews from it, (2 Extract and cluster the features of reviews by a clustering technique and then assign weights to the features belonging to each of the clusters (groups and (3 Assess the review by considering the feature weights and group belongingness. The k-means and fuzzy c-means clustering techniques are implemented and tested on customer reviews extracted from web pages. Performance of these techniques are analyzed.

Customer satisfaction: The role of transparency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær; Kristensen, Kai

2007-01-01

& Westlund, 2003) as well as the structure of the framework (Eskildsen et al., 2004). We know however very little about how the structure of the individual markets with respect to, for instance, how the transparency of products and services affects customer satisfaction. The aim of this article is to analyze...... the effect of the transparency of products and services on customer satisfaction with respect to Danish mobile phone companies, banks and supermarkets from 2004 based on the authors' experiences from the various analyses conducted within the EPSI rating initiative....

Simultaneous Co-Clustering and Classification in Customers Insight

Science.gov (United States)

Anggistia, M.; Saefuddin, A.; Sartono, B.

2017-04-01

Building predictive model based on the heterogeneous dataset may yield many problems, such as less precise in parameter and prediction accuracy. Such problem can be solved by segmenting the data into relatively homogeneous groups and then build a predictive model for each cluster. The advantage of using this strategy usually gives result in simpler models, more interpretable, and more actionable without any loss in accuracy and reliability. This work concerns on marketing data set which recorded a customer behaviour across products. There are some variables describing customer and product as attributes. The basic idea of this approach is to combine co-clustering and classification simultaneously. The objective of this research is to analyse the customer across product characteristics, so the marketing strategy implemented precisely.

Influence of customer quality perception on the effectiveness of commercial stimuli for electronic products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Álvaro eGarrido-Morgado

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers’ quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality –linked to the brand– and intrinsic quality –related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe’s largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due

Digital Tools to Support Knowledge Sharing and Cooperation in High-Investment Product-Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aromaa, S.; Leino, S.P.; Reyes-Lecuona, A.; Frangakis, N.; Berglund, J.; Bosch, T.; Rhijn, G. van; Granholm, G.

2018-01-01

The manufacturing industry needs to adapt their product-services to meet customer requirements in today’s rapidly changing markets. This paper presents how technologies can support knowledge sharing and collaboration during product-service processes. This work was part of the European Union

Get inside the lives of your customers.

Science.gov (United States)

Seybold, P B

2001-05-01

Many companies have become adept at the art of customer relationship management. They've collected mountains of data on preferences and behavior, divided buyers into ever-finer segments, and refined their products, services, and marketing pitches. But all too often those efforts are too narrow--they concentrate only on the points where the customer comes into contact with the company. Few businesses have bothered to look at what the author calls the customer scenario--the broad context in which customers select, buy, and use products and services. As a result, consultant Patricia Seybold maintains, they've routinely missed chances to deepen loyalty and expand sales. In this article, the author shows how effective three very different companies have been at using customer scenarios as the centerpiece of their marketing plans. Chip maker National Semiconductor looked beyond the purchasing agents that buy in bulk to find ways to make it easier for engineers to design National's components into their specifications for mobile telephones. Each time they do so, it translates into millions of dollars in orders. By developing a customer scenario that describes how people actually shop for groceries, Tesco learned the importance of decentralizing its Web shopping site and how the extra costs of decentralization could be outweighed by the higher profit margins on-line customers generate. And Buzzsaw.com used customer scenarios as the basis for its entire business. It has used the Web to create a better way for the dozens of participants in a construction project to share their drawings and manage their projects. Seybold lays out the steps managers can take to develop their own customer scenarios. By thinking broadly about the challenges your customers face, she suggests, you can almost always find ways to make their lives easier--and thus earn their loyalty.

A Study on Product Innovation Portfolio and Customer Value Creation: Bridging Entrepreneurial Risk-Taking Orientation and Marketing Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maklon Felipus Killa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the role of product innovation portfolio and customer value creation in bridg- ing the gap between entrepreneurial risk-taking orientation and marketing performance. Wood crafts companies located in Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Solo, all of which have been regarded as Indonesia’s creative cities, were used as samples. Sampling was done by using a combination of purposive and convenience sampling. The total data used for the analysis was from 172 respondents who filled in direct questionnaires. This research used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM with AMOS v.20 program for data analysis. The results showed that product innovation portfolio serves as mediator in the relationship between entrepreneurial risk-taking orientation and marketing performance. Furthermore, the results also found that customer value creation has a positive effect on marketing performance.

Modeling the customer in electronic commerce.

Science.gov (United States)

Helander, M G; Khalid, H M

2000-12-01

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.

Silo busting: how to execute on the promise of customer focus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gulati, Ranjay

2007-05-01

For many senior executives, shifting from selling products to selling solutions--packages of products and services--is a priority in today's increasingly commoditized markets. Companies, however, aren't always structured to make that shift. Knowledge and expertise often reside in silos, and many companies have trouble harnessing their resources across those boundaries in a way that customers value and are willing to pay for. Some companies--like GE Healthcare, Best Buy, and commercial real estate provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)--have restructured themselves around customer needs to deliver true solutions. They did so by engaging in four sets of activities: COORDINATION: To deliver customer-focused solutions, three things must occur easily across boundaries: information sharing, division of labor, and decision making. Sometimes this involves replacing traditional silos with customer-focused ones, but more often it entails transcending existing boundaries. JLL has experimented with both approaches. COOPERATION: Customer-centric companies, such as Cisco Systems, develop metrics for customer satisfaction and incentives that reward customer-focused cooperation. Most also shake up the power structure so that people who are closest to customers have the authority to act on their behalf. CAPABILITY: Delivering customer-focused solutions requires some employees to be generalists instead of specialists. They need experience with more than one product or service, a deep knowledge of customer needs, and the ability to traverse internal boundaries. CONNECTION: By combining their offerings with those of a partner, companies can cut costs even as they create higher-value solutions, as Starbucks has found through its diverse partnerships. To stand out in a commoditized market, companies must understand what customers value. Ultimately, some customers may be better off purchasing products and services piecemeal.

Market structure, market strategy and customer satisfaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær; Kristensen, Kai; Steensen, Elmer Fly

2007-01-01

The popularity of customer satisfaction measurements has grown considerably over the last few years but we know very little about how the structure of the individual markets with respect to the transparency of products and services as well as how consumer preferences affect customer satisfaction....... Here a total of 14540 customers have evaluated their preferred supplier with respect to banking, property insurance, supermarkets and mobile telecom. The analysis shows that market structure has a profound effect on customer satisfaction measurements and that this effect differs from industry...... to industry. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the implications of the findings in relation to the use of results from customer satisfaction studies....

A MANAGERIAL APPROACH OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION DRIVERS IN THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunhilde CUC

2010-01-01

Full Text Available More than ever customer satisfaction has become a key factor for all industry and business enterprises. The article explains about the customers satisfaction esspecialy in the textile industry. First part presents the concept of customer satisfaction and its place in current management models and tools. The following are the main theories on customer satisfaction with application on textile sector. The key factors affecting customer satisfaction is considered as: perceived service quality, perceived product quality and brand image. We intend also to explain why the ecological products have a more important role in the costumes perception.

Rapid prototyping for biomedical engineering: current capabilities and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Lantada, Andrés Díaz; Morgado, Pilar Lafont

2012-01-01

A new set of manufacturing technologies has emerged in the past decades to address market requirements in a customized way and to provide support for research tasks that require prototypes. These new techniques and technologies are usually referred to as rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies, and they allow prototypes to be produced in a wide range of materials with remarkable precision in a couple of hours. Although they have been rapidly incorporated into product development methodologies, they are still under development, and their applications in bioengineering are continuously evolving. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies can be of assistance in every stage of the development process of novel biodevices, to address various problems that can arise in the devices' interactions with biological systems and the fact that the design decisions must be tested carefully. This review focuses on the main fields of application for rapid prototyping in biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as on the most remarkable challenges and research trends.

Perceived derived attributes of online customer reviews

OpenAIRE

Elwalda, Abdulaziz

2015-01-01

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London The influence of online customer reviews (OCRs) on consumer behaviour has recently gained considerable attention, from both academic and business communities. Technology allows customers to freely and easily post their comments and opinions online about any product or service. These types of customer reviews can have a significant effect on customers’ purchase decisions and have beco...

The Study of Relationship among Experiential Marketing, Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty

OpenAIRE

Puti Ara Zena; Aswin Dewanto Hadisumarto

2012-01-01

Experiential marketing is one of the marketing approaches that gives a great framework to combine experience and entertainment elements into a product or service. Some of businesses in Indonesia have already used this approach and one of them is Strawberry Cafe which provides many kinds of free board games for the customer. The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of experiential marketing used by Strawberry Cafe related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The data were coll...

The effects of customer benefit and regulation on environmental product innovation. Empirical evidence from appliance manufacturers in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kammerer, Daniel

2009-01-01

Environmental product (EP) innovations and their determinants have received increasing attention from researchers during the past years. So far, empirical studies have shown inconsistent results, especially regarding the impact of regulation. In this paper, I seek to advance the understanding of EP-innovation by introducing and testing a novel research framework. First, a novel unit of analysis, the environmental issue level, is applied. EP-innovation is not studied in broad terms but specifically for four environmental issues that are relevant to the electrical and electronic appliances industry: energy efficiency, toxic substances, material efficiency, and electromagnetic fields. Second, the customer benefit, a concept from the green marketing literature, is included as an explanatory variable for EP-innovation for the first time. The argument is that green products which besides their public benefits have private environmental benefits for the customer (e.g., energy savings) will generate stronger consumer demand and can thus constitute the firm's motivation to implement those innovations in the first place. Third, EP-innovation is observed more comprehensively, measuring its extent and level of novelty. I apply this research framework to study EP-innovations of German manufacturers of electrical and electronic appliances. My results support the issue level as unit of analysis. The impact of customer benefit and regulation on EP-innovation is analyzed with logit regression and the results clearly show that both customer benefit and regulation play a key role for EP-innovation. They not only foster the implementation of EP-innovations but also their broad application and their level of novelty. (author)

Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention and Customer Profitability for Hotelier Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra-Dinora Orantes-Jiménez

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Since the entrance of strategies oriented to marketing relational in Hotelier Sector, the traditional way of travel agents and other representatives arranging hospitality services for hotel and travel reservations has changed. The strategies oriented to customer relationship management are a relatively new area of specialty loyalty marketing in the hotel and hotelier sector, with advancements being made constantly. The use of this type of strategy can allow hoteliers or companies to tailor special guest programs, services and promotions based on hotel guest preferences. The hotel can use the data collected in a program to identify the needs of particular customers across hotel chains to be able to use marketing that can be targeted at specific groups of people. It also gives hoteliers the opportunity to evaluate frequent guest programs, personalize their services and perform trend analysis. A program based in marketing relational is typically run by hotels and companies to collect guest information and transaction data for use and examining to allow hoteliers to see target groups that should be marketed too. Based on these transactions hotels are able to create and manage guest loyalty programs and reward schemes. This research approach is to appraise the impact of customer relationship management on customer profitability as mediated by customer loyalty and customer retention within the hotelier sector of Mexico, and specifically for those hoteliers classified like of three stars. A sample of 100 hotels three stars was interviewed as respondents in this study. The objective of the study was to find the impact relationship between effective customer relationship implementation, customer loyalty, and customer retention and customer profitability. The findings of the study add value to hotels three stars in Mexico, and provide some invaluable statistical results essential for hotel managers and owners to successfully enhance customer loyalty

Customization and Upgrade of ERP systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dittrich, Yvonne; Vaucouleur, Sebastien

An increasing number of software systems are developed by customizing a standard product that provides the major part of the functionality. The customizations of Enterprise  Resource Planning systems are examples of such a practice. Nonetheless, little empirical research on the specific...... characteristic of this kind of software development is available. Do the recommendations for “normal” software development also apply in this case? We present an empirical study on ERP customization practices based on video recordings, interviews and a survey. The observed and reported practices challenge some...

Toward Customized Care

Science.gov (United States)

Minvielle, Etienne

2018-01-01

Patients want their personal needs to be taken into account. Accordingly, the management of care has long involved some degree of personalization. In recent times, patients’ wishes have become more pressing in a moving context. As the population ages, the number of patients requiring sophisticated combinations of longterm care is rising. Moreover, we are witnessing previously unvoiced demands, preferences and expectations (eg, demand for information about treatment, for care complying with religious practices, or for choice of appointment dates). In view of the escalating costs and the concerns about quality of care, the time has now come to rethink healthcare delivery. Part of this reorganization can be related to customization: what is needed is a customized business model that is effective and sustainable. Such business model exists in different service sectors, the customization being defined as the development of tailored services to meet consumers’ diverse and changing needs at near mass production prices. Therefore, its application to the healthcare sector needs to be seriously considered. PMID:29524957

Utilities Power Change: Engaging Commercial Customers in Workplace Charging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lommele, Stephen; Dafoe, Wendy

2016-06-01

As stewards of an electric grid that is available almost anywhere people park, utilities that support workplace charging are uniquely positioned to help their commercial customers be a part of the rapidly expanding network of charging infrastructure. Utilities understand the distinctive challenges of their customers, have access to technical information about electrical infrastructure, and have deep experience modeling and managing demand for electricity. This case study highlights the experiences of two utilities with workplace charging programs.

Exploring Relationship between Brand Equity and Customer Loyalty on Pharmaceutical Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasmina Dlačić

2014-09-01

Full Text Available By maintaining continuous satisfaction and high level of the brand’s equity the customers express the intention of long-term buying of product and their choice spreads on other products in the organization’s portfolio. By developing a brand which represents value to the customers, the customers’ satisfaction will grow reinforcing relationship between satisfaction and brand development. Purpose of this paper is to obtain insight about the relationship between elements of brand equity and customer loyalty among self-medication products. The research results show that elements of brand equity do increase customer brand loyalty. But not all elements do contribute in the same manner.

Impact of Technical Support on Customer Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natasa Gajic

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Technical support through co-creation of value in automotive paint processes and activities is essential to the success of paint manufacturing companies. This study aimed to explore the impact of technical support on customer satisfaction through value-in-use in the automotive paint market. A quantitative questionnaire survey involving a convenience sample of 169 respondents was used for data collection. The questionnaire design bore on the SERVPERF instrument with embedded value-in-use attributes. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 21 statistical methods exploratory factor analysis (EFA and multiple regression analysis (MRA. The findings of this study revealed that the key value-in-use attributes were relationship quality (trust, knowledge required for providing help in getting maximum product benefits, sharing of knowledge, and a range of product and service offerings that satisfy customer needs. Trust had the greatest impact on customer satisfaction. The results also revealed that service quality dimension assurance exerted the greatest positive impact on customer satisfaction.

THE INFLUENCE OF PRODUCT QUALITY , PRICE PERCEPTION AND BRAND IMAGE ON SATISFACTION AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY HOLCIM CONCRETE READYMIX IN JAKARTA

OpenAIRE

Sita Budiastari

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research is to find a picture of the effect of product quality , price perception and brand image on satisfaction and customer loyalty ready mix concrete in Jakarta . This research is a quantitative study with descriptive and causal methods undertaken at Holcim Beton in 2013 with a sample of 100 customers in Jakarta and its surrounding the industrial and commercial segments project . Data collection by questionnaire respondents and analyzed using path analysis with SPSS ve...

Pengaruh Customer Relationship Management (Crm) Terhadap Customer Satisfaction Dan Customer Loyalty Pada Pelanggan Matahari Department Store

OpenAIRE

Ham, Meyske

2016-01-01

This study was conducted to determine the effect Benefits of Customer Relationship Management and Customer satisfation to Customer Loyalty in Customers Matahari Department Store. Customer relationship management (CRM) is part of a marketing strategy to get satisfaction and increase customer loyalty. CRM and customer satisfaction can encourage customer loyalty where customers do not easily switch to other companies. The population is all customers Matahari Department Store, and the sample are ...

Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Company Performance

OpenAIRE

Petr Suchánek; Maria Králová

2015-01-01

The subject of this article is customer satisfaction and its impact on company performance through satisfaction with its products, including a comparison with the competition. Research was conducted in search of factors which affect customer satisfaction on the one hand and the performance of the company on the other hand. We constructed a model explaining what specific factors (affecting customer satisfaction) have an impact on the performance of a company. This model can help management to ...

27 CFR 26.199d - Customs inspection and release.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Customs inspection and... Shipment of Bulk Distilled Spirits From Puerto Rico, Without Payment of Tax, for Transfer From Customs Custody to Internal Revenue Bond § 26.199d Customs inspection and release. On receipt of a properly...

Legitimacy and the Value of Early Customers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Tang; Song, Michael; Zhao, Y. Lisa

2014-01-01

To overcome resource constraints and achieve exponential growth, a new venture must rely on early customers of its products to communicate value and commitment to others. For this reason, founders of new ventures focus more on early customers as a key element of their founding strategy than on other

Data Mining Techniques for Customer Relationship Management

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Feng; Qin, Huilin

2017-10-01

Data mining have made customer relationship management (CRM) a new area where firms can gain a competitive advantage, and play a key role in the firms’ management decision. In this paper, we first analyze the value and application fields of data mining techniques for CRM, and further explore how data mining applied to Customer churn analysis. A new business culture is developing today. The conventional production centered and sales purposed market strategy is gradually shifting to customer centered and service purposed. Customers’ value orientation is increasingly affecting the firms’. And customer resource has become one of the most important strategic resources. Therefore, understanding customers’ needs and discriminating the most contributed customers has become the driving force of most modern business.

Service Quality and the Mediating Effect of Corporate Image on the Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in the Malaysian Hotel Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boon-Liat Cheng

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Service quality is vital to the success of  any service organization. The rapid growth of the Malaysian hotel industry in the 2000’s forced hotel operators to seriously recognize the importance of service improvement in order to gain competitive advantage. This study aims to examine the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction, and how customer satisfaction subsequently affects customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Malaysia. This study also investigates the mediating effect of corporate image  on the  relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.  A systematic  sampling approach was adopted  to collect data through self-administered questionnaires from 500 hotel guests. Preliminary data analysis, descriptive analysis, reliability test and regression analysis were adopted to ana-lyze  the  reliability  of  items and the  hypothesized  relationships  in the  proposed  research model.  The findings revealed that perception of service quality is significantly related to customer satisfaction, which in turn generates positive customer loyalty in the hotel industry. Besides, corporate image is found to be a partial mediator in the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Overall, the find-ings of this study would help hotel operators to formulate and implement effective marketing manage-ment strategies to cope with the keen competition in the hotel service industry.

Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemon, Katherine N.; Verhoef, Peter C.

2016-01-01

Understanding customer experience and the customer journey over time is critical for firms. Customers now interact with firms through myriad touch points in multiple channels and media, and customer experiences are more social in nature. These changes require firms to integrate multiple business

The Study of Relationship among Experiential Marketing, Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Puti Ara Zena

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Experiential marketing is one of the marketing approaches that gives a great framework to combine experience and entertainment elements into a product or service. Some of businesses in Indonesia have already used this approach and one of them is Strawberry Cafe which provides many kinds of free board games for the customer. The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of experiential marketing used by Strawberry Cafe related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The data were collected from 142 respondents but after screening, only 80 that met the requirements and could be analyzed. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM using LISREL software was used to analyze the data. This research found that itexperiential marketing used by Strawberry Cafe can affect customer loyalty.

Managing Customer Relationships in the Social Media : Case: Diamo oy

OpenAIRE

Laakso, Heidi

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to increase the amount of new likes of Diamo Oy in the social media network site Facebook, eventually aiming for the creation of new customer relationships, increased visibility of the company and into strictly increasing purchasing of their products. The theoretical part of the study consists of the role of content production in the social media field and customer relationship management, of which particularly customer acquisition and retention are discussed mor...

Diffraction analysis of customized illumination technique

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Chang-Moon; Kim, Seo-Min; Eom, Tae-Seung; Moon, Seung Chan; Shin, Ki S.

2004-05-01

Various enhancement techniques such as alternating PSM, chrome-less phase lithography, double exposure, etc. have been considered as driving forces to lead the production k1 factor towards below 0.35. Among them, a layer specific optimization of illumination mode, so-called customized illumination technique receives deep attentions from lithographers recently. A new approach for illumination customization based on diffraction spectrum analysis is suggested in this paper. Illumination pupil is divided into various diffraction domains by comparing the similarity of the confined diffraction spectrum. Singular imaging property of individual diffraction domain makes it easier to build and understand the customized illumination shape. By comparing the goodness of image in each domain, it was possible to achieve the customized shape of illumination. With the help from this technique, it was found that the layout change would not gives the change in the shape of customized illumination mode.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY THEIR ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ROMANESCU MARCEL LAURENTIU

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Any company should carry out at the same time certain activities with a view to attract customers and retention, investing various resources, depending on the level of development of the company, of the product/service and of the market. This article refers to the analysis strategies implemented by the managers with a view to attract new customers, but also for the maintenance of the existing, more exactly maintaining those customers who are included in the portfolio company. Conclusion resulting from this material makes a demarcation between the two strategies customer-facing and implemented by company managers, more exactly which is the most important strategy for developing their own business. This Article plays a model for the assessment of customer satisfaction, which is applicable within the framework of a company who wishes to be successful on the market action and be competitive.

Mass Customization of process plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvam, Lars

2006-01-01

This case study describes how F.L.Smidth A/S, a manufacturer of large processing plants for cement production, has applied the principles of mass customisation in the area of highly complex, custom engineered products. The company has based its sales process on a configuration system to achieve...

Customer-to-customer roles and impacts in service encounters

OpenAIRE

Lee, Linda

2016-01-01

This thesis investigates customer-to-customer roles and impacts in the context of service encounters. This topic is studied from two angles: customer interactions during group service encounters and customer perceptions post service encounters. The first angle is a focus on group service encounters that addresses the lack of research on customer-to-customer interactions that occur in customer-to-customer interaction-intensive contexts. These are contexts where the interactions between custome...

Membangun Customer Loyalty Nasabah Bank melalui Customer Satisfaction

OpenAIRE

Sumarto, Sumarto

2007-01-01

In the relation between bank and its customer, the bank should to capable to fulfill need and satisfy through services and create the value to the customer. So in the compete situation, to give customer satisfaction is main duty of bank in order that the customer loyal permanently. The customer satisfaction is primary cause for building customer loyalty. More and more loyal customer to the bank, that's indicate the service superiority of its bank. Base description above this research purpose...

Customer Satisfaction with the Loyalty Programs in Retail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kraljević Radojka

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The loyalty programs are often part of a comprehensive strategy for customer relationship and provide a good way to identify and maintain customers with greater value than others. The main objective of this paper is to show the role of loyalty programs affecting customer satisfaction in retail. The purpose of the empirical research was to discover the effects of loyalty programs on customer satisfaction. Research has shown (N= 53 that the loyalty program is not the determinating factor. All other examined factors such as product range, price, locationof the store and customers relationship proved to be the more relevant for consumer satisfaction.

The impact of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Triest, S.; Bun, M.J.G.; van Raaij, E.M.; Vernooij, M.J.A.

2009-01-01

We study the effects of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability in a business-to-business setting. Using data from a company providing hygiene services, we look at the impact of a hitherto unstudied type of expense targeted at individual customer

Performance improvement plan in customer technical services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lachambre, L.

1995-01-01

This presentation centred around the philosophy, goals, and initiatives associated with Gaz Metropolitain's performance improvement plan. Various aspects of the plan including customer surveys, new customer service policies, the creation of small working units, the decentralization of the Montreal service department, and customer-harmonized shift schedules were explored. Implementation of new service plans and contracts, the formation of improvement groups related to human resources, human resource and productivity management, leadership training, and the use of performance indicators were also explained

The Features of the Concept of Mass Customization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilona Skačkauskienė

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In order to achieve competitive advantage organizations are forced to analyse and discuss application possibilities of customized solutions. Unfortunately, the application of such solutions is associated with increases in costs, raising the time of delivery and decreasing the level of quality compared to mass-produced products. Circa 1990 the concept of mass customization was proposed which solved mentioned problems and which, compared to the mass production, has properties necessary for more efficient adaptation to changing market conditions without making concessions in price, quality and delivery time. This paper analyses the concept of mass customization aiming to define research area in order to adapt the concept for service organizations. The analysis of mass customization definitions presented in the literature was processed and summary presented, this enabled to identify the main dimensions which are characterizing mass individualization. The main types of mass customization were presented and analysed in this article as well. Comparative literature analysis, abstraction and synthesis methods were applied during the research. The results of analysis enabled to formulate guidelines of further research.

A Financial Data Mining Model for Extracting Customer Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark K.Y. Mak

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Facing the problem of variation and chaotic behavior of customers, the lack of sufficient information is a challenge to many business organizations. Human analysts lacking an understanding of the hidden patterns in business data, thus, can miss corporate business opportunities. In order to embrace all business opportunities, enhance the competitiveness, discovery of hidden knowledge, unexpected patterns and useful rules from large databases have provided a feasible solution for several decades. While there is a wide range of financial analysis products existing in the financial market, how to customize the investment portfolio for the customer is still a challenge to many financial institutions. This paper aims at developing an intelligent Financial Data Mining Model (FDMM for extracting customer behavior in the financial industry, so as to increase the availability of decision support data and hence increase customer satisfaction. The proposed financial model first clusters the customers into several sectors, and then finds the correlation among these sectors. It is noted that better customer segmentation can increase the ability to identify targeted customers, therefore extracting useful rules for specific clusters can provide an insight into customers' buying behavior and marketing implications. To validate the feasibility of the proposed model, a simple dataset is collected from a financial company in Hong Kong. The simulation experiments show that the proposed method not only can improve the workflow of a financial company, but also deepen understanding of investment behavior. Thus, a corporation is able to customize the most suitable products and services for customers on the basis of the rules extracted.

Pengaruh e-CRM dan Service Quality terhadap Customer Satisfaction dan Dampaknya terhadap Customer Loyalty pada PT XL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marshellina Marshellina

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This study aims to look at the influence and how much the influence of e-CRM (X1 and Quality of Service (X2 for Customer Satisfaction (Y that impact on Customer Loyalty (Z at PT XL. Data collection techniques were with questionnaires, the number of population in this study was approximately three millionrespondents, ie customers who use the product XL in West Jakarta, because the area most widely uses XL provider. Total sample was 100 respondents and the technique used was simple random sampling. The method used in this study was Pearson correlation and path analysis. Based on the results of data analysis, structural equation is Y = 0.310 + 0.330 X1 + X2 0.874 and Z = 0.005 X1 + X2 + 0.449 -0.070 + 0.903 Y, which Electronic Customer Relationship Management and the quality of service have yet to be effective in providing a positive influence for customer loyalty directly, but it must go through prior customer satisfaction as an intervening variable. Therefore, more companies should make improvements to the new way of communicating with customers via electronic media because it gives quite effective results for customer satisfaction in PT XL. Inaddition, PT XL should provide training and better development for the employees working in the company to improve the quality of service that can create customer loyalty.

The impact of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Triest, S.; van Raaij, E.M.; Bun, M.; Vernooij, M.

2007-01-01

We study the effects of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and cus-tomer profitability in a business-to-business setting. Using data from a company providing hygiene services, we look at the impact of a type of expenses targeted at individual customer relationships: the

Individual customizable in-store textile production

Science.gov (United States)

Kemper, M.; Bücher, D.; Gloy, Y.-S.; Gries, T.

2017-10-01

The target of every company is to satisfy customer demands. Especially the clothing industry has to serve individual customer requirements. Textile products always have been and still are the defining attributes of people’s appearance. Consumer’s demands towards commercial clothing companies have been changing rapidly during the recent years. Two global megatrends have supported this change: Individualization and digitalization. Individualization created demand for frequent collection changes, while still keeping availability high. Digitalization supported the quick distribution of new trends and forced a higher amount of request during peak periods. This paper outlines how a highly individual and customizable fashion product can be produced in a store environment. It focuses on the conceptual design, taking into account the interdisciplinary approach combining production technology with IT-systems, but also addresses the economical challenge with help of a value stream analysis.

Influence of Halal certification on customers' purchase intention ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. The purpose of this study isto investigate the relationship between HALAL awareness, marketing and religiosity that are postulated to influence customers' intention to purchase HALAL certified consumer products. Customers' who visited SABASUN Hypermarket Sdn. Bhd. in Kuala Terengganu were selected as ...

Housing management and the creation of customer value

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dogge, P.J.C.; Smeets, J.J.A.M.

2004-01-01

Creating customer value is the greatest challenge facing profit and non- profit landlords nowadays. By offering valuable products landlords can distinguish themselves from competitors in the housing market. In marketing literature two meanings exist for the phrase "customer value": value of a

Parallel Machine Scheduling with Batch Delivery to Two Customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueling Zhong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In some make-to-order supply chains, the manufacturer needs to process and deliver products for customers at different locations. To coordinate production and distribution operations at the detailed scheduling level, we study a parallel machine scheduling model with batch delivery to two customers by vehicle routing method. In this model, the supply chain consists of a processing facility with m parallel machines and two customers. A set of jobs containing n1 jobs from customer 1 and n2 jobs from customer 2 are first processed in the processing facility and then delivered to the customers directly without intermediate inventory. The problem is to find a joint schedule of production and distribution such that the tradeoff between maximum arrival time of the jobs and total distribution cost is minimized. The distribution cost of a delivery shipment consists of a fixed charge and a variable cost proportional to the total distance of the route taken by the shipment. We provide polynomial time heuristics with worst-case performance analysis for the problem. If m=2 and (n1-b(n2-b<0, we propose a heuristic with worst-case ratio bound of 3/2, where b is the capacity of the delivery shipment. Otherwise, the worst-case ratio bound of the heuristic we propose is 2-2/(m+1.

When to "Fire" Customers: Customer Cost-Based Pricing

OpenAIRE

Jiwoong Shin; K. Sudhir; Dae-Hee Yoon

2012-01-01

The widespread adoption of activity-based costing enables firms to allocate common service costs to each customer, allowing for precise measurement of both the cost to serve a particular customer and the customer's profitability. In this paper, we investigate how pricing strategies based on customer cost information affects a firm's customer acquisition and retention dynamics, and ultimately its profit, using a two-period monopoly model with high- and low-cost customer segments. Although past...

A study on different factors influencing customer satisfaction on industrial market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Shirani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Customer satisfaction plays essential role on the success of industrial products such as milk in todays’ marketing planning. In this paper, we present a conceptual model to measure the relative impact of various factors on customer satisfaction. The proposed study of this paper designs a questionnaire and distributes it among managers of a dairy producer named Pegah in city of Esfahan, Iran. Using Pearson correlation ratio as well as stepwise regression technique, the study has found positive and meaningful relationship between customer satisfaction and price, quality of product, distribution and compatibility with customer expectation. In addition, the study detects a negative and meaningful relationship between conflict and customer satisfaction.

A customer satisfaction model for a utility service industry

Science.gov (United States)

Jamil, Jastini Mohd; Nawawi, Mohd Kamal Mohd; Ramli, Razamin

2016-08-01

This paper explores the effect of Image, Customer Expectation, Perceived Quality and Perceived Value on Customer Satisfaction, and to investigate the effect of Image and Customer Satisfaction on Customer Loyalty of mobile phone provider in Malaysia. The result of this research is based on data gathered online from international students in one of the public university in Malaysia. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) has been used to analyze the data that have been collected from the international students' perceptions. The results found that Image and Perceived Quality have significant impact on Customer Satisfaction. Image and Customer Satisfaction ware also found to have significantly related to Customer Loyalty. However, no significant impact has been found between Customer Expectation with Customer Satisfaction, Perceived Value with Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Expectation with Perceived Value. We hope that the findings may assist the mobile phone provider in production and promotion of their services.

Customizing CAD system and its application for engineering design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Jeong Ho; Kwak, Byung Man

2003-01-01

The computer is an important tool to design an engineering system and CAD systems are widely used for various design practice. To meet the market requirements, the old mass production system is being changed into the mass customization system. As for CAD systems, it is increasingly required to extend, automate, and customize a wide range of functionality. This article describes the state-of-the-art of the principal technologies for customizing CAD systems. And we have implemented an application that enables the parametric design by directly inputting numerical values of parameters for a CAD model. Based on this application, we have developed another system that makes it possible sharing of part family data between SolidEdge and Pro/Engineer. Through customization of CAD systems, it is possible to improve the product quality using external knowledge-based systems or to integrate with external system such as CAE tools. This paper can be a guide for engineering designers who want to customize CAD systems

Sustainable Development of Slow Fashion Businesses: Customer Value Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sojin Jung

2016-06-01

Full Text Available As an alternative to the prevalent fast fashion model, slow fashion has emerged as a way of enhancing sustainability in the fashion industry, yet how slow fashion can enhance profitability is still largely unknown. Based on a customer value creation framework, this study empirically tested a structural model that specified the slow fashion attributes that contribute to creating perceived customer value, which subsequently increases a consumer’s intention to buy and pay a price premium for slow fashion products. An analysis of 221 U.S. consumer data revealed that delivering exclusive product value is significantly critical in creating customer value for slow fashion, and customer value, in turn, positively affects consumers’ purchase intentions. Further analysis also revealed that different slow fashion attributes distinctively affect customer value. This provides potential strategies on which slow fashion businesses can focus to secure an economically sustainable business model, thereby continuously improving environmental and social sustainability with the slow fashion ideal.

Designing Product Families

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Per Erik Elgård; Miller, Thomas Dedenroth

1998-01-01

Manufacturing companies that operate with products aimed at different market segments and applications are experiencing an increasing demand from customers who expect products to be tailored to their exact needs rather than accepting general products based on average customer needs. This trend ha......: Variety, Design Principles, and Product Maturity.......Manufacturing companies that operate with products aimed at different market segments and applications are experiencing an increasing demand from customers who expect products to be tailored to their exact needs rather than accepting general products based on average customer needs. This trend has...... led to a new business paradigm, "mass customization", where companies strive to provide highly customized products while still maintaining the efficiency of the classical mass production enterprise. One of the key factors in mass customization has been efficient use of product platforms...

Creativity and innovation by empowering the customer: The case of Mulino Bianco. Part II: The digital customer value added

Science.gov (United States)

Bujor, A.; Avasilcăi, S.

2015-11-01

The terms of creativity, co-creation, creative industries, innovation, and coinnovation are more and more used nowadays. While co-creation offers the possibility and encourages a more active involvement from the customers to create value rich experiences, innovation is responsible for the little improvements made for a better life, to grow a business, to improve products, services or company's productivity. Either customers, current and potential, or stakeholders’ involvement into innovation activities, through their creativity, represent an important way of value creation, of actions’ performance that increases the worth of goods, services, or business as a whole. More and more, different size businesses gather ideas for innovation from customers / stakeholders by involving them into the early stages of the innovation process. Actually, it has been shown that their ideas sketch their needs and wishes, and have been described as “need information”. Customers and stakeholders, in general, also offer ideas that have been called “solution information”, which represents, not only need information, but also customer-based proposals that describe how ideas can be transformed into marketable products. The term of creative industries refers to those goods that can technically be reproduced, industrially produced, and commercially sold, this being one of the many definitions found in the literature. Mulino Bianco was first launched in Italy, being one of the value brands of Barilla Group, which we can say, according to the Italian definition and classification, it belongs to creative industries: industry of food and taste. Even though Barilla Group's Research & Development department does its job very efficiently, developing and creating new products under different brands, lately a key strategy for the Group and for Mulino Bianco, by default, is customers’ pro-active involvement in products’ development or creation. One of the tools used for this is the

A Method for Proposing Valued-Adding Attributes in Customized Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cynthia S. Hentschke

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In most emerging economies, there has been many incentives and high availability of funding for low-cost housing projects. This has encouraged product standardization and the application of mass production ideas, based on the assumption that this is the most effective strategy for reducing costs. However, the delivery of highly standardized housing units to customers with different needs, without considering their lifestyle and perception of value, often results in inadequate products. Mass customization has been pointed out as an effective strategy to improve value generation in low-cost housing projects, and to avoid waste caused by renovations done in dwellings soon after occupancy. However, one of the main challenges for the implementation of mass customization is the definition of a set of relevant options based on users’ perceived value. The aim of this paper is to propose a method for defining value adding attributes in customized housing projects, which can support decision-making in product development. The means-end chain theory was used as theoretical framework to connect product attributes and costumers’ values, through the application of the laddering technique. The method was tested in two house-building projects delivered by a company from Brazil. The main contribution of this method is to indicate the customization units that are most important for users along with the explanation of why those units are the most relevant ones.

27 CFR 28.244a - Shipment to a customs bonded warehouse.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Shipment to a customs... Export Consignment § 28.244a Shipment to a customs bonded warehouse. Distilled spirits and wine withdrawn for shipment to a customs bonded warehouse shall be consigned in care of the customs officer in charge...

Optimal inventory reallocation to customer orders in ceramic tile companies characterized by the lack of homogeneity in the product (LHP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alemany, M. M. E.; Alarcon, F.; Oltra, R. F.; Lario, B. C.

2013-01-01

The lack of homogeneity in the product (LHP) is defined as the lack of uniformity required by the customer in the products. The LHP appears in companies where the final products obtained are not homogeneous, leading to the existence of different references (subtypes) of the same product. This lack of homogeneity is a problem when the client needs to be served through homogeneous units of a product and commit orders are based on planned quantities, whose final homogeneity characteristics are unknown at the time of acquiring the customer commitments. The frequent discrepancies caused by the LHP between planned homogeneous amounts and those actually obtained and available, can prevent the delivery of committed orders. To solve this problem, we propose a mathematical programming model for the reallocation of inventory in Make to Stock (MTS) ceramic tile companies characterized by the LHP that combines multiple objectives. The proposed mathematical model has been validated by its application to a real case of a ceramic company. The analysis of the obtained results indicates significant improvements in the number of orders completed on time and in sales revenue achieved. (Author) 33 refs.

The account manager: Link between the customer and the energy distribution company

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Gelder, J.W.

1993-01-01

The monopolistic utility companies are rapidly turning into customer-oriented and efficient organizations. To be able to put client-oriented ideas into practice the whole organization has to be changed. A new job is that of account manager, the satellite between customer and energy company. Views and experiences of two distribution companies and the Nederlandse Gasunie are given and discussed. 3 ills

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Rapid Clock Product Summary from NASA CDDIS

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This derived product set consists of Global Navigation Satellite System Rapid Clock Product Summary from the NASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS)....

King customer forever: Customer satisfaction and beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myuers James

2004-01-01

Full Text Available "King Customer!" So proclaimed the front cover of Business Week in a 1989 issue. At about the same time, "Rediscovering the Customer" was the title of a series of company vignettes in Fortune magazine. And a Wall Street Journal article asked, "For Customers, More Than Lip Service?" Combined, these three prestigious business publications reflected a new era in business firms perceptions of their customers and the role they should play in the formulation of company strategies and priorities. Had the "Era of the Customer" finally arrived in American business? .

27 CFR 28.261 - Notice to district director of customs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice to district director of customs. 28.261 Section 28.261 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX... Export § 28.261 Notice to district director of customs. On arrival at the port of exportation, of...

Understanding the Role of Online Reviews on Customers' Risk Perception

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jing

2013-01-01

Customer reviews play an important role in today's online shopping environment. Research into customer reviews has largely focused on the predictive effect of review characteristics on variables such as product sales. However, relatively little attention has been directed towards understanding how reviews impact a customer's decision to purchase a…

27 CFR 28.38 - Action by district director of customs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... director of customs. 28.38 Section 28.38 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND... of customs. On receipt of the appropriate TTB officer's authorization for destruction of the liquor, or his disapproval of the application for destruction, the district director of customs shall act...

27 CFR 28.269 - Certification by district director of customs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... director of customs. 28.269 Section 28.269 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX... Export § 28.269 Certification by district director of customs. (a) Exportation. When the district director of customs is satisfied that merchandise described on the application, notice, or claim, TTB Form...

Customer relationship management captures intellectual capital for increased competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. R. Van Zyl

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Today, with regards to tangible assets, the corporate playing field has become more or less level with competing organisations producing very similar products and services. The key differentiator for an organisation's offerings now depends upon an organisation's ability to capture and leverage intellectual capital (IC, and especially customer IC. Customers are an invaluable source of two kinds of IC: transactional and innovative. An organisation must implement customer relationship management (CRM initiatives in order to develop and maintain good relationships with customers and in so doing, be able to capture IC. This IC will enable an organisation to be more responsive to new and changing customer needs and preferences and to be better able to customize products and services according to more specific customer profiles: ultimately leading to increased market share, profitability and overall strategic competitiveness. The purpose of this article is to determine how good customer relationships allow for the capture and subsequent leveraging of customer IC for increased competitiveness. In order to fulfill this purpose, the concept of CRM is explored as well as how CRM allows for the capture of both transactional and innovative capital. The strategic benefits of the application of customer IC are then explored, together with an exposition of the CRM implementation challenges facing those organisations that wish to implement a CRM program to capture and leverage customer IC for increased competitiveness. This exploration involved an examination of contemporary literature, theories and business cases and subsequently revealed that CRM is a vital discipline/philosophy that must be implemented by any organisation wishing to achieve greater market efficiency and competitiveness. This competitiveness can only be achieved through the carefully managed unlocking, sharing and leveraging of both transactional and innovative customer intellectual capital.

Supplier/customer considerations in corporate financial decisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jayant R. Kale

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Earlier research focussed on firm characteristics and the interests of financial stakeholders (shareholders and bondholders as determinants of corporate policies. Subsequent research recognized that corporate policies are determined in a broader environment that includes nonfinancial stakeholders such as suppliers, customers, labour etc. In this paper, we summarize the theoretical and empirical research that includes supplier/customer considerations in the determination of corporate policies such as capital structure, dividends, takeovers, earnings management, and product quality. We highlight the significant effect that the inclusion of supplier/customer interests has on these corporate policies.

Customer Focused Product Design Using Integrated Model of Target Costing, Quality Function Deployment and Value Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Rezaei Dolatabadi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Target costing by integrating customer requirements, technical attributes and cost information into the product design phase and eliminating the non-value added functions, plays a vital role in different phases of the product life cycle. Quality Function Deployment (QFD and Value Engineering (VE are two techniques which can be used for applying target costing, successfully. The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated model of target costing, QFD and VE to explore the role of target costing in managing product costs while promoting quality specifications meeting customers’ needs. F indings indicate that the integration of target costing, QFD and VE is an essential technique in managing the costs of production process. Findings also imply that integration of the three techniques provides a competitive cost advantage to companies.

Customer relationship management and performance in the paint ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A paradigm shift from sellers' market to buyers' market has necessitated the need for the organizations to entrench customer relationship management in meeting the demands of the changing business environment. The need for effective retention of hard-core customers driven by product quality and relationship assets ...

A Mechanism of Modeling and Verification for SaaS Customization Based on TLA

Science.gov (United States)

Luan, Shuai; Shi, Yuliang; Wang, Haiyang

With the gradually mature of SOA and the rapid development of Internet, SaaS has become a popular software service mode. The customized action of SaaS is usually subject to internal and external dependency relationships. This paper first introduces a method for modeling customization process based on Temporal Logic of Actions, and then proposes a verification algorithm to assure that each step in customization will not cause unpredictable influence on system and follow the related rules defined by SaaS provider.

Rapidity correlations in inclusive two-particle production at storage ring energies

CERN Document Server

Dibon, Heinz; Gottfried, Christian; Nefkens, B M K; Neuhofer, G; Niebergall, F; Regler, Meinhard; Schmidt-Parzefall, W; Schubert, K R; Schumacher, P E; Winter, Klaus

1973-01-01

Inclusive two-particle production in the reaction pp to gamma +ch+ (anything) has been measured at the CERN ISR for four energies ( square root s=23, 30.5, 45, and 53 GeV) at two production angles of the charged particles (ch) and at eight production angles of the gamma -rays. The rapidity correlation of the two particles is weak and of short range. The peak correlation is sigma /sub inel/(d/sup 2/ sigma /sub gamma ch//d sigma /sub gamma /d sigma /sub ch/)-1=0.62+or-0.08, the correlation range (y/sub gamma /-y/sub ch/)=1.17+or-0.05, independently of s. The phi correlation extends over a wide gap in rapidity; its strength is increasing with increasing transverse momentum. (7 refs).

Development of customer information network system. Part 3. Development of power controller (customer side equipment) for advanced customer service and remote processing of conventional customer service; Juyoka joho network no kaihatsu. 3. Juyoka taio gyomu no enkaku shori to aratana juyoka service no tame no denryoku controller no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshimitsu, T. [Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan)

1996-06-01

To offer remote processing of the conventional customer service and advanced customer service using information network, customer side equipment, power controller, was manufactured as a trial. For inspecting the power meter by remote processing, watt-hour meter placed outside was moved into house, to integrate an indoor distribution board consisting of a breaker for contract, earth leakage breaker and branch breaker by adding functions of communication, equipment monitoring and control and functions of display and operation. When detecting fault, installed CPU (central processing unit) or DSP (digital signal processor) stops its operation and each breaker keeps its state as before the fault. Thus, there is no problem for power supply. This system has a battery to maintain and operate at least the display function in the case of outage. Advanced customer service functions could be added without a large cost. To increase understanding of customers concerning electric power saving and electric power itself, consuming electric energy and current are displayed at each branch. Outage of the whole house can be avoided by the rapid detection and removal of the earth leakage branch line. 14 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.

Modularisering i byggeriet: Fra en systemleverance og Mass Customization tilgang

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kudsk, Anders

it is based realize the vision of industrialized architecture through the use of system deliveries? An important element in Mass Customization, the establishment and use of product families, is modularization. Modules in construction lead most of us to think about the period with module and montage......The use of configurable system deliveries, based on the principles of Mass Customization, is described by many as a solution to the challenges of construction, which is characterized by low earnings, lack of development in productivity and poor quality. Technical University of Denmark (DTU), School...... in construction. These institutions have produced a series of publications describing the possibilities presented by the transfer to construction of Mass Customization, product platforms and the use of configuration systems, theories and methods developed in the production industry. With this point of departure...

The Impact of Customer Relationship Management to Customer Loyalty Through Customer Satisfaction in Cabal Dining Manado

OpenAIRE

Pandowo, Merinda; Pangemanan, Sifrid S.; Wattilete, Randy

2013-01-01

Customer relationship management is the one influencing customer loyalty, but to get customer loyalty we should know how to make customer satisfaction. This research is purposed to analyze the impact of customer relationship management to customer loyalty through customer satisfaction in Cabal Dining Manado. This research used the Path analysis as the method of this research. Population in this research is mainly in this research is people in Manado. The sample of this research is 100 respond...

Investigating the accuracy of microstereotactic-body-radiotherapy utilizing anatomically accurate 3D printed rodent-morphic dosimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bache, Steven T.; Juang, Titania; Belley, Matthew D.; Koontz, Bridget F.; Yoshizumi, Terry T.; Kirsch, David G.; Oldham, Mark; Adamovics, John

2015-01-01

Purpose: Sophisticated small animal irradiators, incorporating cone-beam-CT image-guidance, have recently been developed which enable exploration of the efficacy of advanced radiation treatments in the preclinical setting. Microstereotactic-body-radiation-therapy (microSBRT) is one technique of interest, utilizing field sizes in the range of 1–15 mm. Verification of the accuracy of microSBRT treatment delivery is challenging due to the lack of available methods to comprehensively measure dose distributions in representative phantoms with sufficiently high spatial resolution and in 3 dimensions (3D). This work introduces a potential solution in the form of anatomically accurate rodent-morphic 3D dosimeters compatible with ultrahigh resolution (0.3 mm 3 ) optical computed tomography (optical-CT) dose read-out. Methods: Rodent-morphic dosimeters were produced by 3D-printing molds of rodent anatomy directly from contours defined on x-ray CT data sets of rats and mice, and using these molds to create tissue-equivalent radiochromic 3D dosimeters from Presage. Anatomically accurate spines were incorporated into some dosimeters, by first 3D printing the spine mold, then forming a high-Z bone equivalent spine insert. This spine insert was then set inside the tissue equivalent body mold. The high-Z spinal insert enabled representative cone-beam CT IGRT targeting. On irradiation, a linear radiochromic change in optical-density occurs in the dosimeter, which is proportional to absorbed dose, and was read out using optical-CT in high-resolution (0.5 mm isotropic voxels). Optical-CT data were converted to absolute dose in two ways: (i) using a calibration curve derived from other Presage dosimeters from the same batch, and (ii) by independent measurement of calibrated dose at a point using a novel detector comprised of a yttrium oxide based nanocrystalline scintillator, with a submillimeter active length. A microSBRT spinal treatment was delivered consisting of a 180�

Investigating the accuracy of microstereotactic-body-radiotherapy utilizing anatomically accurate 3D printed rodent-morphic dosimeters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bache, Steven T.; Juang, Titania; Belley, Matthew D. [Duke University Medical Physics Graduate Program, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Koontz, Bridget F.; Yoshizumi, Terry T.; Kirsch, David G.; Oldham, Mark, E-mail: mark.oldham@duke.edu [Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710 (United States); Adamovics, John [Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 (United States)

2015-02-15

Purpose: Sophisticated small animal irradiators, incorporating cone-beam-CT image-guidance, have recently been developed which enable exploration of the efficacy of advanced radiation treatments in the preclinical setting. Microstereotactic-body-radiation-therapy (microSBRT) is one technique of interest, utilizing field sizes in the range of 1–15 mm. Verification of the accuracy of microSBRT treatment delivery is challenging due to the lack of available methods to comprehensively measure dose distributions in representative phantoms with sufficiently high spatial resolution and in 3 dimensions (3D). This work introduces a potential solution in the form of anatomically accurate rodent-morphic 3D dosimeters compatible with ultrahigh resolution (0.3 mm{sup 3}) optical computed tomography (optical-CT) dose read-out. Methods: Rodent-morphic dosimeters were produced by 3D-printing molds of rodent anatomy directly from contours defined on x-ray CT data sets of rats and mice, and using these molds to create tissue-equivalent radiochromic 3D dosimeters from Presage. Anatomically accurate spines were incorporated into some dosimeters, by first 3D printing the spine mold, then forming a high-Z bone equivalent spine insert. This spine insert was then set inside the tissue equivalent body mold. The high-Z spinal insert enabled representative cone-beam CT IGRT targeting. On irradiation, a linear radiochromic change in optical-density occurs in the dosimeter, which is proportional to absorbed dose, and was read out using optical-CT in high-resolution (0.5 mm isotropic voxels). Optical-CT data were converted to absolute dose in two ways: (i) using a calibration curve derived from other Presage dosimeters from the same batch, and (ii) by independent measurement of calibrated dose at a point using a novel detector comprised of a yttrium oxide based nanocrystalline scintillator, with a submillimeter active length. A microSBRT spinal treatment was delivered consisting of a 180�

Managing service excellence. Internal customer service training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McAnulty, P.C.

1991-01-01

WHO ARE OUR CUSTOMERS? Electric Users, regulators, vendors, suppliers, or our own employees? The answer is ALL exclamation point They are all customers. Regardless if they are external or internal customers, one must focus on quality of service delivery in order to maintain customer satisfaction. The most successful companies are quickly realizing that managing SERVICE EX NCE is our only future. For the next decade, the issue of service quality will exceed the issue of productivity. It is very easy to see that the business behind a utility is serving our electric consumers. However, internal customer service - service excellence to employees inside a company is the foundation for success. This paper describes a training program that is being implemented across Duke Power for employees on internal customer service. How we provide service to each other within a company impacts service quality to our external customers. This training refocuses behaviors and perceptions so to concentrate on quality service delivery to our internal customers - our employees. We all have positive and negative experiences with obtaining quality service by either external organizations or internal employees. Therefore, we start with a common foundation. Whether it be a supplier, vendor, or a station administrative group, we have experienced either excellent or poor customer service. All of us have potential in managing the delivery of excellent customer service. However, many of us may need new perspectives so to add depth with which we view and manage service excellence to our internal customers

Customer-driven manufacturing in the food processing industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donk, D.P. van

2000-01-01

Food processing industry copes with high logistical demands from its customers. This paper studies a company changing to more customer (order) driven manufacturing. In order to help decide which products should be made to order and which made to stock, a frame is developed and applied to find and

Analysis of Customer Loyalty through Total Quality Service, Customer Relationship Management and Customer Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Binsar Kristian P., Feliks Anggia; Panjaitan, Hotman

2014-01-01

This research talks about total quality service and customer relationship management effects toward customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty. Fast food restaurant KFC, always strives to continue to make improvements in total quality service, so that customer satisfaction can be maintained, which in turn will have an impact on…

29 CFR 794.131 - “Customer * * * engaged in bulk distribution”.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false âCustomer * * * engaged in bulk distributionâ. 794.131... Sales Made to Other Bulk Distributors § 794.131 “Customer * * * engaged in bulk distribution”. A sale to a customer of an enterprise engaged in the wholesale or bulk distribution of petroleum products will...

A STUDY ON THE EVALUATION OF CUSTOMERS' SATISFACTION - THE PERSPECTIVE OF QUALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dauw-Song Zhu

2010-06-01

Full Text Available As stated by the recent report published by Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA, driven by widespread consumer awareness, lifestyle trends and growing compatibility among equipments because of standardization, the world digital camera market is projected to reach 122 million units by the year 2010. The traditional one-way quality model is focused on one particular quality element; only when the element is present are customers satisfied, and viceversa. Using the traditional way to improve customer satisfaction, it is possible that the customer will not be satisfied with a certain quality element, or maybe the customer satisfaction target will be over-fulfilled (Tan & Shen, 2000. Kano's model provides an effective approach to categorizing the customer attributes into different types. Professor Kano has developed a methodology to identify which customer attributes are must-be, which are one-dimensional and which are attractive. Therefore, understanding the product quality attribute is beneficial to improvement of quality as well as product development. Therefore, the purposes of this article are 1. To classify customer attributes into Kano categories. 2. To apply IPA to analyze the correlation between importance and satisfaction toward product attributes. 3. To exam a significant difference between demographic characteristics and Kano's quality requirements. The findings are as follows: 1. Kano' model successful classifying product features of digital cameras. Kano's quality requirements are also correlated with importance and satisfaction of IPA analysis. 2. When quality have improved for all product features, after sales services, Image Stabilizer and Recording Mode will lead to most satisfaction for all users based on customer satisfaction coefficient. 3. Demographical characteristics have significantly influenced perceived quality requirement for digital camera users.

Standards and Customer Service: Employees Behavior towards Customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venelin Terziev

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Ensuring effective customer service requires targeted efforts in a number of areas, one of which is to develop service standards for each market segment. The development and implementation of standards requires the organization to accurately determine customer service types, the cost of providing alternative services, and measures for measuring and controlling the services provided. At the core of the developed and implemented standards is the development and establishment of the customer service policy, which should start with a consumer demand analysis. The definition of customer service level should allow for quantitative measurement because the vague and quantifiable policy does not provide opportunities for evaluation and control of the activities and expenses of customer service. When developing service standards, it is appropriate to apply an algorithm that focuses primarily on standards related to employee behavior towards customers. This paper explores the need and capability to develop customer service standards and provides an algorithm for developing standards for employee behavior toward customers.

AutoCAD platform customization VBA

CERN Document Server

Ambrosius, Lee

2015-01-01

Boost productivity and streamline your workflow with expert AutoCAD: VBA programming instruction AutoCAD Platform Customization: VBA is the definitive guide to personalizing AutoCAD and the various programs that run on the AutoCAD platform, including AutoCAD Architecture, Civil 3D, Plant 3D, and more. Written by an Autodesk insider with years of customization and programming experience, this book features detailed discussions backed by real-world examples and easy-to-follow tutorials that illustrate each step in the personalization process. Readers gain expert guidance toward managing layout

The impact of the logistics management in customer satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghoumrassi Amine

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Logistics management is one of nowadays tools to face economic challenges; it’s a mix of business and core activities of the organization. The supply and distribution activities integrated together form what’s known as logistics activities. The logistics activities within a business organization attempt to satisfy customers through achieving the time and location related market challenges and also through the cost of the service provided as well as the quality, taking into consideration customers needs and purchase power. Customer satisfaction is important because it provides marketers and business owners with a metric that they can use to manage and improve their businesses. Customer satisfaction is also a way to determinate the continuity of the business or of a product life by measuring the loyalty of the customers. If the customers are happy and satisfied, it will ensure the continuity of sales which means the continuity of the business. In the past customer satisfaction was more focused on requirements such as quality and reliability reducing costs of poor quality. In mid 50’s the production costs were continuously increasing, The way to maintain the company’s position within a changing market and increase profit starts by focusing on the service provided to the customer and on decreasing the cost, logistics activities became the backbone of these organizations that target the customer satisfaction while achieving competitive advantage. This study aims to show the impact of the logistics management on customer satisfaction in small and mid-sized Algerian industrial companies, by interviewing the companies managers and everybody in charge of the logistic process, the interview questions will be based on some literature review issues.

Teaching Customer-Centric Operations Management--Evidence from an Experiential Learning-Oriented Mass Customisation Class

Science.gov (United States)

Medini, Khaled

2018-01-01

The increase of individualised customer demands and tough competition in the manufacturing sector gave rise to more customer-centric operations management such as products and services (mass) customisation. Mass customisation (MC), which inherits the "economy of scale" from mass production (MP), aims to meet specific customer demands…

Interrelationships and consequential effects among technological innovation, service consistency, customer satisfaction and loyalty in banking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asare Yaw Obeng

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The key to long-term success in banking is consistent improvement and delivering of quality product and or value-added service that conform to the expectations of customers. IT-innovative products/services and processes (technological innovation facilitate these key elements of customer satisfaction and critical factors for retaining valued customers. The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of technological innovation on service consistency and the consequential effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty covering seven universal banks in Ghana. The results of the empirically tested model reveal new/improved product/process functionalities, service consistency and innovative product/process satisfaction contribute significantly to customer loyalty (p < 0.001. Service consistency has a marginal higher impact (β = .373 on customer loyalty than the others. Product/process quality contributes significantly (with β ranging from .345 to .742 and p < 0.001 to each of the above three antecedents than all other items.

Improving the Customer Configuration Update Process by Explicitly Managing Software Knowledge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slinger, S.R.L.

2006-01-01

The implementation and continuous support of a software product at a customer with evolving requirements is a complex task for a product software vendor. There are many customers for the vendor to serve, all of whom might require their own version or variant of the application. Furthermore, the

National customer satisfaction indices: The impact of market structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær; Kristensen, Kai

The popularity of customer satisfaction measurements has grown considerably over the last few years but we know very little about how the structure of the individual markets with respect to the transparency of products and services as well as consumer preferences affects customer satisfaction. Here...... a total of 14540 customers have evaluated their preferred supplier with respect to banking, property insurance, supermarkets and mobile telecom. The analysis shows that market structure has a profound effect on customer satisfaction measurements and that this effect differs from industry to industry....... The paper concludes with an evaluation of the implications of the findings in relation to the use of results from customer satisfaction studies....

Managers' perceptions of customers' satisfactions with their hospital cafeteria services.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, C M; Upton, E M

1991-01-01

It is important that hospital cafeterias deliver products that create customer satisfaction so that financial objectives are met. An exploratory descriptive survey of 12 selected hospital cafeterias used a self-administered questionnaire to determine how satisfied customers were with services provided. It also asked cafeteria managers to give their perceptions of their customers' relative satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the service. Principal components analysis, followed by varimax rotation, identified four underlying constructs of the 15 pre-selected foodservice characteristics used to measure relative satisfaction. A multiple regression model, controlling for country, hospital size and customer demographics, in which the dependent variable was overall rating, found that the independent variables, the underlying rating constructs--food and service--made a much greater impact on overall rating than environment and accessibility. Most cafeteria managers' predictions about their customers' satisfaction were within two standard deviations of their customers' mean scores of satisfaction. While the managers' close association with their service may have accounted for this, it does not necessarily follow that they have the power to implement policy and product improvements.

Customer-focused planning: Beyond integrated resource planning