Customer Loyalty and Customer Satisfaction Essay

Customer Loyalty can be difficult to define given the different views that are presented within the literature. Zithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1996) determine that loyalty includes a customer’s intention to stay with an organisation and that loyalty includes four elements: repurchase intentions, recommending the service provider to other customers, less complaints and tolerance of price increases. Oliver, (1999) provides a different definition and describes loyalty as a customer’s overall attachment to a product, service, brand or organisation. A better appreciation of the factors that influence the loyalty of customers, particularly their attitudes and changing needs can help companies to develop strategies to prevent customer defection (Coyles & Gokey, 2002). Customer loyalty is important as it can have a powerful impact on a firm’s performance and it is considered to be a source of competitive advantage (Lam, et al., 2004). There is a strong level of agreement that customer loyalty and satisfaction are linked; however, there is an absence of consensus as to what constitutes customer satisfaction (Caruana, 2002); in addition, despite the fact that many loyal customers are satisfied, this does not always translate into customer loyalty (Kuo & Ye, 1999, Jones & Sasser, 1995) and studies have shown that satisfied customers may express a desire to switch to a competitor but it may prove to be difficult due to a lack of suitable alternatives (Pantouvalkis & Lymperopoulos, 2008, citing Mittal & Lassar, 1998). In contrast however, Reicheld & Sasser, (1990), indicate that high customer satisfaction should provide increased loyalty, which makes it less likely that a customer will decide to switch to a competitor. In addition to customer satisfaction, it has been suggested by numerous Researchers that there are other key antecedents to customer loyalty including perceived value, service quality, corporate image, reputation, trust and switching costs (Ishaqa, 2012, Lam et al, 2004, Bitner, 1995); however, although Researchers have posited that there is a connection, it can be argued that the connections is not fully understood, due to the number of potential antecedents (Wang & Wu, 2012); hence the relevance of this research. Perceived value- Perceived value can be defined in simple terms as the benefits received and the sacrifices made by the customer, although some studies have also proposed that perceived value is multi dimensional (McDougall & Levesque, 2000). It is also important to consider how perceived value can be increased and this may be achieved by delivering a better service, providing customisation of services (Coelho & Henseler, 2012) or reducing the customer’s cost perceptions (Ravald & Gronroos 1996). A customer’s perception of value could motivate them to continue to utilise the services of a service provider (Wang, 2010) and customers may also stay loyal to a company if they feel they are receiving greater value than they would from a competitor (Lam, et al, 2004, citing Bitner & Hubbert, 1994, Bolton & Drew, 1991; Sirdeshmukh et al, 2002). Another consideration of why a customer may stay loyal, rather than move to a competitor is the anticipated switching costs, including the cost involved in changing to an alternative, loss of loyalty benefits and developed routines and procedures (Lam, et al., 2004). In situations where switching costs are high, customers may stay with a service provider regardless of the perceived value (Wang, 2010) Service quality- Some studies have examined service quality as an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Rust & Oliver 1994; Spreng & MacKoy 1996), which as indicated earlier, is posited by some studies to link to perceived value. Parasuraman et al, 1988, developed the SERVQUAL model which can be adapted to suit the needs of an organisation and defines service quality as comprising of five dimensions including reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. As part of the model the customer will compare their expectations with the perceived performance of services, or according to Santos, (2003), where the customer will make an overall judgement of the service offered. Whilst the SERVQUAL model is said to provide a good indicator of overall service quality (Buttle, 1996), it has been questioned whether or not the model can be applied to a range of industries and if the five dimensions are sufficient (Hu, et al, 2009, citing Buttle, 1996, Carman, 1990, Cronin & Taylor, 1990). Some Researchers have also argued that  the SERVQUAL model has shortcomings, as the model only measures the quality of interaction and tangibles such as dà ©cor, etc., but not the actual quality of the service outcome (Sureschander, et, al, 2001). Brady & Cronin, (2001) proposed a model which includes the quality of interaction, physical environment and the outcome. Given the fact that for this study the outcome relates to the quality of homes, or the end product, it will be important to determine how this influences service quality perceptions, in addition to considering the SERVQUAL model. Also, according to Barber & Goodman, (2011), since the SERVQUAL model was developed, the debate on how to define and measure customer expectations, perceptions and performance and to understand how to address the gap has not been addressed. It is important to understand where gaps exist with the services provided and customer expectations, as meeting customer expectations is a significant driver of customer satisfaction, which can increase loyalty intentions (McDougall & Levesque, 2000). The reality is that different customers have different service needs and expectations (McKnight, 2009) and it is important that this research also provides an insight into how customer expectations can be met. Corporate image- Several authors propose that service quality is determined by an evaluation of the corporate image of the organisation (Martà ­nez Garcà ­a & Martà ­nez Caro, 2008) and the relationship between satisfaction and corporate image have been reported in a number of studies (Razavi et al, 2012, citing Lai et al, 2009, Leblanc, 2001; Kandamplully and Hu,2007) Gronroos, (1984), indicated that image, including corporate image is built mainly via the customer’s experience and the manner in which the service is delivered. Bitner, (1992), proposed that the physical environment is instrumental, yet in later years these views have been extended to include a wider definition, including the business name, architecture, products and services and general impression of quality (Nguyen & Leblanc, 2001).

Ethics, Fraud, and Internal Audit at Ut Southwestern

There are many taxpayer supported medical schools in this country, most receiving their fees for services through Medicare and Medicaid. The Department of Health and Human Services requires that medical students who have graduated to the resident status have a teaching physician physically present when performing key portions of patient service to be able to bill those services to Medicare. In fact, the patient chart must be legibly signed by the attending physician that they were present and supervising the specific service in order to bill Medicare (â€Å"Guidenlines for teaching,† 2011).According to an article in the Dallas News, a former employee by the name of Jack Mooney was hired in 1991 by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as a reimbursement manager to make sure that all medical billings submitted to Medicare and Medicaid were properly documented and billed (Dunklin & Moffeit, 2010). For example, that the teaching physicians were physically present wh en residents were performing services to meeting the required mandates for Medicare billing. He discovered that was not the case and took the information to his supervisors.Stricter policies were put into place for the departments to follow to make sure that all employees were following the necessary guidelines. In 1997, when Mr. Mooney was the director of UT Southwestern’s billing compliance office, he was still seeing and documenting the same problems. Mooney left the college in 1998 shortly after filing a federal whistle-blower lawsuit. The earliest documentation that can be found of UT Southwestern’s Internal Audit departments involvement comes in a 2003 when they approve of some of the college’s compliance policies, but noted that they do not have a policy in place to review reimbursement claim documents.Dallas News notes that six faculty meetings were held during 2007 and 2008 in which billing concerns were discussed. The Internal Audit Annual Reports for those years do not report any ongoing audits, but do report that they provide the billing compliance committee â€Å"independent consultation and guidance to help billing compliance activities address institution risks† (Rubel, 2008). In 2010 we finally see an internal audit performed of UT Southwestern’s billing compliance programs. The report stated that â€Å"the audit identified a significant finding in the Hospital Billing Compliance program†.As of 2010, the program had not yet implemented the 2005 Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Supplemental Compliance Program Guidance for Hospitals. Although this guidance is voluntary, it is highly recommended by the OIG to help hospitals in â€Å"preventing the submission of erroneous claims and in combating fraud and abuse in the Federal health care programs (â€Å"OIG supplemental compliance†). The guidance specifically states that â€Å"hospitals should have in p lace procedures regarding resident rotation and monitoring†.The audit report recommends that the compliance program implement the OIG guidance, consolidation of the billing compliance groups (there are currently four), development of a single risk assessment plan with a corresponding audit plan, a monitoring system for both the risk assessment audit plan and the billing compliance audit report. Also of note in the audit report are repeated failures by the same department to meet billing practices. It is noted that these â€Å"recurring systematic failures increase the risk of exposure to potential civil damages and penalties, criminal sanctions, and administrative remedies, such as program exclusion†.The audit recommends that the failures be addressed at the department level and to develop a formal training plan to improve billing compliance. According to the report, all significant findings are tracked by the University of Texas System Audit Office to make sure that al l agreed upon recommendations have been implemented. These reports are unavailable for review and there has been no further comment on the billing compliance audit in the 2011 Internal Audit Annual Report. This issue was first brought to light 20 years ago by someone that was hired to review billing compliance.We know that 7 years ago the internal audit department was aware of the issue, but as far as we can tell, no significant audit of the hospitals billing department, in relation to Medicare billing requirements, was completed until 2010. Was the hospital fraudulently obtaining money from the government? Not in so far as anyone has determined. Was the audit department aware of the issue? Yes, as far as we can tell. Did the internal auditors follow the IIA’s mandatory guidance? Yes in the completion of the audit in 2010 but it is my personal opinion, given the facts provided, that the audit should have been ompleted years earlier. ?References Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2011). Guidenlines for teaching physicians, interns, and residents. Retrieved from website: http://www. cms. gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads/gdelinesteachgresfctsht. pdf Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. (n. d. ). OIG supplemental compliance program guidance for hospitals (Vol. 70, No. 19). Retrieved from website: http://oig. hhs. gov/fraud/docs/complianceguidance/012705HospSupplementalGuidance. df Dunklin, R. , & Moffeit, M. (2010, May 30). Feds probe alleged fraud at ut southwestern, parkland. Dallas News. Retrieved from http://www. dallasnews. com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20100530-feds-probe-alleged-fraud-at-ut-southwestern-parkland-. ece Rubel, R. (2008, November 03). Internal audit annual report fiscal year 2008. Retrieved from http://www. utsouthwestern. edu/media/footer_required_documents/audit-2008. pdf Rubel, R. (2010, February 24). Billing compliance audit report. Retrieved from http://res. dallasnews. com/localnews/responsivedocs_audit_2010. pdf

Categories of drivers Essay Example for Free

Categories of drivers Essay Since the start of road transportation, there have been drivers of the varied kind. The modes of transportation changed from horses or horse driven carts to cars but these set of drivers have always remained since then. Drivers of automobiles can be categorized into three categories teenage drivers, old drivers which mainly comprises of senior citizens and drunk or substance abusive drivers. The safety on the road of a person is basically depended on the kind of driving one does. A person’s skill to drive depends upon a certain set of factors due which he gets categorized. Teenage drivers who use automobiles are mostly adrenalin driven and have a habit of being impatient on roads. Teenagers with attitude problems can indulge in major road mishaps and can cause severe damage to themselves along with the innocent car drivers on the road. A teenager cultivates his driving skills by looking at his parents or guardians and later on the pressure of his per group plays a massive factor in driving. It has been estimated about sixty five percent of passengers have had fatal injuries due to the reckless driving of an immature teenager. The habit of risk taking or trying to create impressions on their peer groups more often than not result in deadly crashes. If apart from impulsive behavior, a teenager also does any kind of alcoholic or drug abuse, then the combination of impulsive behavior with substance abuse not only makes them dangerous on the road, but also they risk of having the worst kind of crashes possible on road. As we age our reflexes and our ability to make life saving maneuvers also go down. This is a problem with all the old aged drivers in the world. These old drivers in their experience have a perfect mentality to drive safe, but because of ageing lots of occurrences physically take place like loss of good vision, or their loss of their ability for quick response time. These drivers won’t commit mistakes on purpose and would have a thinking of driving at lower speeds with an intention of attaining maximum safety. How much ever these drivers have good intentions, any physical bustle can cause them to crash anytime which sometimes makes a risky commodity on the road. The worst kind of a driver however is a driver who abuses alcohol or any substance and then drives a set of wheels. These are the kind of drivers who irrespective of their age which can comprise from being a teenager to being a senior citizen have the ability to kill and get killed depending on the amount of alcohol or drug they have consumed. These drivers knowing that they are not in right condition risk everyone’s life around and are equivalent of a deadly weapon on the road, as it become highly unpredictable about when they would crash and cost someone their lives. The following evidence will show the risk taken by these drivers and the amount of crashes that can take place because of their carelessness: ‘Nearly half a million people are injured in alcohol-related crashes each year. More than 15,786 of them die. That’s one death every 33 minutes. In 2000 in Kansas, 2,469 people were injured in alcohol-related crashes. That’s more than six persons injured each day’ (Courtesy: Kansas Department of Transportation, â€Å"Types of drivers†. Retrieved on November 24, 2008 from http://www. ksdot. org/burTrafficSaf/sns/Presentation/types. asp) It can only be understood that a safe and a good driver should always maintain patience while driving, as a small move from any of the three categories discussed above can cause them their lives for no fault of their own. Reference: 1) Kansas Department of Transportation, â€Å"Types of drivers†. http://www. ksdot. org/burTrafficSaf/sns/Presentation/types. asp Categories of drivers. (2016, Sep 04).

Situational planning stradegy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Situational planning stradegy - Essay Example Despite these strengths the recent internal audit has unveiled some challenges and threats faced by the center. Under these circumstances, the first dilemma required to be answered is it worth revisiting the Community South Medical Center strategic plan or it will be prudent to follow the plan devised three years ago along with a yearly assessment. The recent shifts in patient care mix and shifting of good paying business from the locality to the other urban areas are two major factors that can affect the present positive trends in near future. Moreover, the overall aging trend of the population is a major concern which should be addressed rationally, especially in case of a for-profit organization of the center. Medicare and managed care have already shown a downward trend in previous three years and the shift of major businesses from the locality may even worsen the situation in the upcoming years and the center may witness a fall of employer sponsored health insurance. A change in strategic direction is therefore, deemed imperative to address the threats and capture the new opportunities. The strategic direction of Community South Medical Center is required to incorporate the changes that can ensure a sustainable profit graph in the coming years. The community analyst and future trend analyst are two major leadership positions in my strategic management team. These two can provided a better insight in to the state of affairs that the Community South Medical Center is facing and can provide useful input for setting the future direction of the center. The community analyst will specifically look for the shifts in healthcare mix and other communal trends like dominant aging trend of population and will provided a consolidated reported on the future impact of communal changes and a relative policy change that is required to be react these changes in a befitting manner. Future

Humanities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Humanities - Assignment Example Despite the strong image factor, the West still makes and sells this kind of music successfully across the globe. Thus, music is a Western construct because the West â€Å"makes† music according to its own definitions and classifications of it. Music and/or dance can do things that are different from visual art by using properties that the latter does not contain and by involving couple, group, or community performance. Barnett (2012) provided five propositions of what music is, which does not only set it apart from other forms of noise, but from visual art as well. Music is organized sound, which is different from the organized hues of visual art (Barnett, 2012, p.7). The audience consumes music through their ears, and sometimes through their ears and eyes, while visual art is entirely for the eyes. Moreover, dance is a performance that sometimes requires two or more people participating in its production. The social aspect of its production sets it apart from visual art that can be very single-artist-driven in construction. Dance can also serve several social functions. Dance and its accompanying music act as a â€Å"lens† through which people can find social celebration and community solidarity (Barnett, 2012, p. 23). Dance can refer to rituals and other dances that serve diverse individual and social functions. Individually, people can dance to express themselves or to heal or curse others. Dance and music are common staples in social events too, such as weddings, birthdays, and funerals. Thus, dance and music operate at a different level than visual arts and can also be very social in its production and outcomes. Tango is an important music and dance in Argentina culture, precisely because it originated from Buenos Aires, Argentina. The urban poor developed tango during the 1890s and because of the socioeconomic conditions of its makers, tango was danced more frequently in brothels during this time (Morales, 2003,

Theatre Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Theatre Critique - Essay Example The paper describes the music and the story which blended well together and it did not seem at any point that the music was juxtaposed forcefully within the play. Also the director was able to develop a strong coordination between the actors when no one was impressed with the acting skills of Tommy DeVito and Bob Gaudio since they seemed out of character at different points of the play. This, however, did not majorly impact the pleasurable experience. The paper emphasizes the attention that the director of the play had seemed to put a lot of effort within the play with his focus on detail. It seemed that the director had meticulously planned each part of play and the different part coordinated well in the final piece. In conclusion, the paper says that Jersey Boys is a play worth watching, especially when one wants to develop an understanding of the way successful plays are created. The most remarkable part of the play was the way the different elements of the theatre worked in synergy with each other. The actors completely understood the time era in which they were acting and this was evident in the way they developed stereotypical models of that era. From the lighting to the costumes, the play came together as a convincing performance. Each actor seemed to have a certain musical signature which helped bring out the character of that actor. This was particularly important in a musical play and for me, this attributed to the success of the play. In plays revolving around music, the audience comes to appreciate the music along with the acting. The director also seemed to have a good knowledge of the musical instruments of the pop era and used them sparingly throughout out the play, thus, developing the mood of the music as well as the era.

Camera Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Camera - Essay Example The high creativity and innovation of new cameras such as smart phones, which have numerous uses apart from taking photographs may lead to the decline of sales and profits reaped by camera companies (Kurtz 79). This indicates that the product has reached the decline stage, and it may become extinct if the innovation of new photo taking gadgets continues. Introduction Stage This is the stage when the product enters the market the first time, and firms reap low sales and profits because they conduct intense marketing to attract customers (Kurtz 30). The camera was first introduced in the market during the proto globalization period that began in the sixteenth century. Human intelligence increased during this period leading to the invention of various objects such as the wheel and the camera. The first camera, known as obscura, took inverted images that were not saved on any material. The object was as big as a house, and it allowed photographs of one person only. The camera had a hole through which light passed and formed inverted images of the objects in front of the gadget. The images taken by the camera were unclear and unattractive. The inventors of the product later developed portable cameras that increased the need for photography in the world (Joanne 65). Image of the first camera obscura (writtenshots.wordpress.com) Image taken using camera obscura (fineartamerica.com) Growth Stage The growth stage is the second phase of product development, which involves increases in sales and profits. Organizations reap higher benefits in this stage than in the introductory phase because of the incoming of new customers. During this stage, new firms begin producing the good so that they can reap the high profits and sales in the industry (Kurtz 84). In the introductory stage of the camera, Kodak was the only company that produced the product. However, new companies such as Nixxon and Sony entered the industry. The growth stage also involves the addition of features to the products to make them more attractive to existing customers. The additional features also help companies in attracting new users, and this enables them to recover they capital they invest in the production of the good. Eastman, the director of Kodak developed the camera by enabling the saving of images in films. The films were of limited length meaning that they would save a limited number of images. Users of the camera went back for film refilling to the companies where they bought the product when the existing space finished. The images saved on the films were also produced by the producing companies when there was no additional space in a film (Joanne 76). This meant that customers would wait for numerous days to view their pictures. The photographs taken using the film cameras were not also clear; although they were better than those of the obscura. The film camera (www.retrothing.com) Image taken using the film camera (www.shootingfilm.net) Instant cameras were also develop ed during the growth stage of the product life cycle. This is the camera that enabled consumers to recover their photographs immediately. Users did not have to wait for days or months to see their photographs like they did with the film camera (Joanne 93). The invention of this camera increased the sales of Kodak and other companies in the industry. This is because they attracted new customers and recovered sales from those who were dissatisfied by the extensive periods taken to produce