The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) has been used in a variety of service contexts in recent years to explore ser- vice research issues and has been instrumental in advanc- ing our understanding of these issues. Despite the popularity of this methodology, no published research syn- thesis systematically examines this research. The primary purpose of this study is to review the use of the CIT method in service research to (a) help current and future research- ers employing the CIT method to examine their method- ological decisions closely and (b) suggest guidelines for the proper application and reporting of the procedures in- volved when using this method. The study provides an overview of the CIT method, reports the results of a re- search synthesis conducted of 141 CIT studies appearing in service marketing and management publications, dis- cusses implications for service research, and suggests guidelines for researchers employing this method.

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The Critical Incident Technique in Service Research

This is a theoretical discourse on contributions to the marketing discipline primarily from service-dominant (S-D) logic, relationship marketing, and the many-to-many network approach. The study combines a literature review with theoretical insights. Framed within a relational context it specifically addresses interaction and its role in the co-creation of value through resource integration. As a consequence, the article also deals with elevating midrange theory in the direction of more abstract and general theory, grand theory. The article advances a model and five propositions which outline interaction in a network of parties as the most crucial antecedent to resource integration. The actors involved set up a dialog and transfer knowledge and other resources for organizational learning and resource creation and renewal. Resource integration is generalized to actor-to-actor (A2A) interaction through which the actors link their resources for mutual benefit. The integration assumes that resources can differ in terms of quality and quantity and require complementarities, or can be similar leading to an increase in the joint volume but sometimes to redundancy, or there can be mixed forms. In all of these situations interaction and co-creation in networks strive to improve service systems through a better matching between resources, processes, and outcomes.

Marketing as Value Co-creation Through Network Interaction and Resource Integration

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a popular planning method often used to transform customer demands/requirements into the technical characteristics of a new or improved product or service. In order to better capture (and represent) the multifarious relationships between customer requirements and technical characteristics, and the relative weights among customer requirements, in this study a hybrid analytic network process (ANP)-weighted fuzzy methodology is proposed. The goal is to synthesize renowned capabilities of ANP and fuzzy logic to better rank technical characteristics of a product (or a service) while implementing QFD. To demonstrate the viability of the proposed methodology a real-world scenario, where a new equipment to squeeze the polyethylene pipes to stop the gas flow without damaging the pipes, is developed. The ranking of technical characteristics of the product is calculated using both crisp and fuzzy weights for illustration and comparison purposes.

Use of ANP weighted crisp and fuzzy QFD for product development

The purpose of this paper is to use “positive organizational behavior” and “transformative service research” paradigms to introduce “employee well-being” as a focal construct in the process by which internal service quality (ISQ) drives employee satisfaction, commitment and performance.,A field-survey using a structured questionnaire is employed to test all the hypotheses with 250 employees and their 25 supervisors in a manufacturing unit in Guangdong province of the People’s Republic of China.,All the eight hypotheses are supported. ISQ has a positive effect on employee satisfaction, commitment and employee well-being, which in turn positively influence employee performance. Employee well-being also positively moderates (strengthens) the effects of employee satisfaction and commitment on employee performance.,This paper uses data from a single factory in China and focuses on a few key constructs, which may restrict the generalizability of its findings. Moreover, no significant differences were found among the supervisor-workers units.,Managers in non-service industries should focus on improving ISQ and employee well-being in their organizations because both these constructs have significant direct and indirect effects on employee performance.,This paper extends past research on ISQ by showing that it affects employee performance via satisfaction and commitment, and that employee well-being moderates the effects of employee satisfaction and commitment on performance.

Internal service quality as a driver of employee satisfaction, commitment and performance: Exploring the focal role of employee well-being

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J.D.P. Kasper

Papers

Service Marketing and Management

Competitive Reactions to Product Quality Improvements in Industrial Markets

Internal service quality in a manufacturing firm: a review of critical encounters