Abstract
This paper addresses service productivity and its connection to service quality and profitability. Compared to service quality, service productivity as well as the joint quality-productivity consequences for profitability have received little attention. It has become obvious that profitable service operations and the service quality and productivity concepts require new mindsets and deeper insights into the nature of services, relationships, and measurement. Here, profitability will be represented by relationship marketing (RM) which stresses loyalty, customer retention, and long term relationships as keys to profitability. The paper is particularly focused on the relationships between service providers and customers as these stand out in the service encounter and the service production process. The customers’ role in creating both quality and productivity is crucial in services, whereas it is less salient in goods manufacturing.
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© 1998 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
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Gummesson, E. (1998). Productivity, Quality and Relationship Marketing in Service Operations. In: Bruhn, M., Meffert, H. (eds) Handbuch Dienstleistungsmanagement. Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-96503-5_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-96503-5_35
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