This paper aims to explore the price plans offered by Thai mobile operators and analyse the role of demand characteristics in the development of new price plans. The paper also shows how demand affects a firm's degree of innovativeness in terms of the number of new price plans. The empirical qualitative analysis is based on an original data set from several secondary data sources and includes all the price plans offered in the history of the Thai mobile communications market between 2002 and 2010. The results show that mobile operators have introduced several innovative price plans to attract and retain their consumers. Although a greater number of price plans can increase competition among operators, some have complex combinations that may lead to confusion for consumers. A price comparison programme should therefore be implemented by the telecom regulator to ensure that consumers receive correct and complete information about the price plans. Most studies, by far, have not extensively discussed this mobile communications market in detail and the effect of innovation on competition between firms in the mobile communications industry, in particular the development of innovation in developing countries.

Exploring mobile pricing strategies and innovations in the Thai mobile communications market

Although there is vast literature about the contemporary mobile services m-services phenomenon, there is a lack of focus on the strategic processes through which m-services are developed. The dynamic capability framework which lends itself as an appropriate theoretical means of exploring this research gap also lack empirical testing within the m-service research space. The purpose of this paper is to begin to address these gaps in the literature by drawing how a Ghanaian m-services developer develops capabilities to create m-services. This case study gathered qualitative data through key informant interviews, participant observation and a review of accessible company documents, and e-mail correspondence. Drawing on literature on dynamic capabilities, this study draws three conclusions. First, there are four types of m-service capabilities that can be developed i.e. informational, interactional, transactional, and transformational m-service capabilities. Further, the type of m-service capability determines the type of m-service that can be provided. Second, political change determines the type of m-service capability that an m-service provider develops. Third, the extent to which an m-service impacts on its intended market is dependent on the extent of market readiness for that particular m-service type. This study's contribution lies in the operationalisation of the dynamic capability framework in the m-service context. This paper is the first to adapt the dynamic capability framework within the m-service setting to unearth an understanding of how m-service providers create capabilities to develop m-services.

Mobile Service Capabilities: Evidence from a Ghanaian Mobile Service Provider

This thesis focuses on the creation of a high-performance service operations organization. As organizations increasingly compete on service quality, increased attention has been given to measuring, tracking, and improving customer satisfaction. This thesis 1) provides a novel framework for service quality improvement and 2) explores concepts in game theory, relational contracts, and incentive mechanism design that impact service quality in the modern organization. The framework introduced in this thesis is comprised of four distinct steps. In the first step, service quality is quantitatively measured and drivers of service quality are determined both through qualitative methods and through statistical analysis on a customerby-customer basis. In the second step, key drivers of service quality are addressed through process redesign and operational improvement. In the third step, the alignment of service operations incentive mechanisms with employee behavior consistent with high service quality is analyzed and considered in the context of building a high-performance service organization. Finally, the role of organizational learning and the relational contracts that may help to sustain a culture of experimentation, learning, and improvement are considered. These concepts are applied to a host organization, Atlantic Energy, by way of case study throughout this thesis; this acts to provide a concrete example of the application of these concepts and shows an example of the effectiveness of the framework when compared to traditional methods in service operations improvement. Thesis Supervisor: Deborah Nightingale Title: Professor of the Practice, Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Division Thesis Supervisor: Georgia Perakis Title: William F. Pounds Professor of Management Science, MIT Sloan School of Management

Principal-agent alignment and relational incentive contracts in high-performance service operations

In light of the global economy, it is undeniable that small businesses such as family-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) affect economic performance globally. They offer a key basis of flexi...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/09721509211047648

Family Firms, Enterprise Development and Tacit Knowledge Transformation: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Innovation in Malaysia:

Consumer innovativeness is highly regarded tool being used by the marketers for successful diffusion of innovation with the intention to ensure overall profitability and to attain competitive advantage. This study has been conducted to measure consumer innovativeness of rural mobile telecom services among rural consumers, the study followed the quantitative research approach, empirical based and each construct is measured and quantified to understand the magnitude of relation among the other constructs. The various constructs are service attributes satisfaction, innovation and uniqueness, satisfaction, loyalty, product involvement, opinion leadership, venturesomeness, price insensitivity related to rural consumer innovativeness have been considered for this study. The existing rural mobile consumers in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been considered as the target population to collect samples followed survey research method, in turn, the Questionnaire as data collection method, sample design is stratified random sample based on various pockets in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In Data analysis both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics are used in this research.The results of the study open the discussion on impact of consumer innovativeness for rural telecom services, which may be helpful for telecom service providers to reach and serve the rural consumers effectively and profitably.

http://researchersworld.com/ijms/vol5/splissue3/Paper_18.pdf

Role of Demographic Variable Education Level of the Rural Consumer on Consumer Innovativeness in Rural Mobile Telecom Services

Innovativeness in consumers accelerates the innovative behaviour resulting into successful adoption and diffusion of innovation. Despite extensive literature available on consumer innovativeness (C...

A Logit Model to Predict Innovativeness among Mobile Telecom Service Users

The Mobile Value-Added Services (MVAS) make a significant share in non-voice revenue in the Indian telecom sector. The MVAS are considered as growth drivers, source of revenue and key differentiators at the time when the industry is facing a sluggish growth due to decline in minutes of use per connection per month, average revenue per user per month, intense competition, and fall in voice tariffs. The present study is an attempt to analyze customer satisfaction for MVAS by using parametric and non-parametric test procedures. M-Commerce, M-Education, M-Health and M-Entertainment have been identified as important determinants that affect customer satisfaction in MVAS. Multiple regression analysis has been used to predict the customer satisfaction and also examine the relative importance of each determinant in affecting the customer satisfaction. Validity, assumptions and generalization of results have also been examined so as to make inferences about the population.

Predicting Customer Satisfaction Towards Mobile Value-Added Services: An Application of Multiple Regression

Mobile telecom service industry in India enjoyed a high growth rate during the last decade but is now struggling to maintain a sustainable growth rate due to deterioration of key operating metrics, leverages, financial metrics, high operating costs, and disparity of teledensity between rural and urban India. The purpose of this study is to provide a conceptual framework of rural entrepreneurship with the aim to enhance adoption and consumption of mobile telecom services in bottom-of-pyramid markets. On the basis of extensive review of literature and three case studies drawn from Asian telecom firms, viz., Village Phone Program – Bangladesh and Smart Communication Inc. Philippines, and Celtel International – Nigeria, various partners such as mobile telecom operators, microfinance agencies, rural entrepreneurs, local community and regulating bodies have been identified as the major stakeholders in the suggested model.

Rural Entrepreneurship: An Innovative Approach to Rural Mobile Telecom Services Marketing

The Mobile Value-Added Services (MVAS) make a significant share in non-voice revenue in the Indian telecom sector. The MVAS are considered as growth drivers, source of revenue and key differentiators at the time when the industry is facing a sluggish growth due to decline in minutes of use per connection per month, average revenue per user per month, intense competition, and fall in voice tariffs. The present study is an attempt to analyze customer satisfaction for MVAS by using parametric and non-parametric test procedures. M-Commerce, M-Education, M-Health and M-Entertainment have been identified as important determinants that affect customer satisfaction in MVAS. Multiple regression analysis has been used to predict the customer satisfaction and also examine the relative importance of each determinant in affecting the customer satisfaction. Validity, assumptions and generalization of results have also been examined so as to make inferences about the population.IntroductionThe Indian mobile market is one of the fastest growing markets and is forecasted to reach 868.47 million users by 2013 as the number of wireless subscribers rose from 261.07 million in 2005 to 584.32 million in 2007 (Telecom Regulator y Authority of India - TRAI Annual Report, 2011). The overall growth rate in teledensity also rose from 7% in 2003 to 53% in 2010. In spite of the robust growth seen in the Indian telecom industry in the last two decades, the industry has been facing a sluggish growth for the last five years due to decline in Minutes of Use per connection per month (MOU) and Average Revenue Per User per month (ARPU). The MOU went down from 465 minutes in 2007 to 369 minutes in 2010, whereas ARPU declined from 362 in 2005 to 100 in 2011 for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and from 256 to 66 for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) (Cellular Operators Association of India - COAI Report, 2011). Intense competition among the major telecom operators in the country has led to a fall in the voice tariffs and consequently resulted in lowering of the revenues of telecom market (Chen and Cheng, 2010). At a time when the industry is facing a steep fall in voice tariffs, Mobile Value-Added Services (MVAS) are considered as growth drivers, source of revenue and key differentiators (Kuo and Chen, 2006). Hence, it is imperative for marketers to analyze customers' preferences and satisfaction of MVAS, as they have a huge impact on the customers' usage pattern, and open a pathway for service providers to become significant differentiators across the operators by inculcating innovation in services. The Indian MVAS are forecasted to reach 48,000 crores by 2015 with an annual growth rate of 28%, from the current size of 12,000 crores (ASSOCHAM, 2011). Trends in mobile phone penetration, continuous growth in teledensity, need for differentiations in telecom services, increasing consumer demand and awareness, and advances in information and communication technology act as drivers for uninterrupted growth of MVAS in the country. High quality Value-Added Services (VAS) should be contemplated by marketers by analyzing customer satisfaction and preferences with an aim to sustain profitability in the telecom sector in a highly competitive scenario (Chen and Aritejo, 2008).The present study aims to predict the CS for MVAS. On the basis of the most relevant literature, M-Commerce, M-Education, M-Health and M-Entertainment have been identified as the main determinants of VAS in mobile telecommunication that affect customer satisfaction. These four determinants have also been used as specific constructs for the study (Nokia Telecommunication Market Study Report, 1999; and PwC Report, 2011).Literature ReviewMVAS refers to additional services provided by the telecom operators excluding voice communication that allow customers to get entertained and informed through their mobile phones. The VAS in mobile telecom are in the form of voice mail, digital or any other method that is directly or indirectly paid by the end-users. …

Predicting Customer Satisfaction towards Mobile Value-Added Services: An Application of Multiple Regression

What motivates consumers to become innovative is an important phenomenon in consumer behavior and is gaining special attention through the concept of motivated consumer innovativeness. The present ...

Lokesh Jasrai

Papers

A Logit Model to Predict Innovativeness among Mobile Telecom Service Users

Predicting Customer Satisfaction Towards Mobile Value-Added Services: An Application of Multiple Regression

Rural Entrepreneurship: An Innovative Approach to Rural Mobile Telecom Services Marketing

Predicting Customer Satisfaction towards Mobile Value-Added Services: An Application of Multiple Regression

Developing a New Segmentation Typology for Telecom Service Users With the Motivated Consumer Innovativeness (MCI) Scale