Ismlamic banking theory verses practice. Case study of Iran Pakistan Essay

Ismlamic banking hypothesis stanzas practice. Contextual investigation of Iran Pakistan and UK - Essay Example A portion of the Quranic refrains (Yusuf Ali, 2000) with respect to these perspectives have been referenced underneath to expound the need and terrorizing towards the Islamic monetary framework. â€Å"To those of powerless understanding make not over your property, which God hath made a methods for help for you.†¦?† (Yusuf Ali, 4:5, 2000). Private possession is insisted, yet in addition, saw as a trust, â€Å"Believe in God and His Apostle, and spend (in good cause) out of the substance whereof He has made you Heirs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Yusuf Ali, 57:7, 2000). Islam urges endeavor or endeavors to make riches, which is described as God’s abundance, â€Å"And when the Prayer is done, at that point may ye scatter through the land and look for the Bounty of God†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Yusuf Ali, 62:10, 2000). Muslims are committed to satisfy agreements and stay faithful to their obligations, â€Å"O ye who accept! Satisfy all obligations....† (Yusuf Ali, 5:1, 2000). â€Å"†¦And satisfy (each) commitment, for (each) commitment will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Yusuf Ali, 17:34, 2000). All trade ought to be made with the willing assent of the gatherings concerned, â€Å"O ye who accept! Eat up not your property among yourselves in vanities: however let there be among you traffic and exchange by common great will.†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Yusuf Ali, 4:29, 2000). The utilization of riches and the activity of the opportunity of big business are compelled by the commitment not to hurt others, yet this must likewise be found in the point of view of the positive commitment to think about others and offer with them (Siddiqi, pp. 11-19, 2001). This is represented by the notable obligation to pay the zakat or poor duty. In any case, that isn't all: the significant thing is the soul of agreeable, accommodating conduct as ordered by the Islamic perspective on life as a test, â€Å"He who made Death and Life, that He may attempt whi ch of you is best in deed† (Yusuf Ali, 67:2, 2000). These writings from the Quran (Yusuf Ali, pp. 1-576, 2000) are the significant wellsprings of direction for all the frameworks that Muslims

10 ways to improve efficiency as a recruiter to get ahead

10 different ways to improve productivity as a scout to excel Consideration scouts as the people who are at the cutting edges for guaranteeing that organizations and associations are set up with the best and most brilliant representatives accessible, your employments are basic to their success.LinkedIn distributed an article that gave convincing reasons why selection representatives today are vital to associations: â€Å"Now, in today’s financial condition and marketplace,â recruiters are a higher priority than at any other time, particularly for those organizations that can discover and make sure about the administrations of an accomplished pursuit firm with a broad reputation of success.† The writer reasons that whiz up-and-comers can be hard to track down and court, as they for the most part get numerous proposals from top-level associations and regularly should be charmed and appropriately enlisted so as to get them to truly consider joining an organization.The Balance as of late discharged an article that features tips for g uaranteeing that enrollment specialists play out their jobs as viably as conceivable utilize these tips to augment your productivity and success.1. Improve your applicant pool.A better ability pool will carry better ability to your association. So as to ensure you’re scanning for the best potential applicants paying little mind to the position you’re recruiting for, ensure you do the accompanying: contribute time to produce associations with school and college vocation situation workplaces and official hunt firms, utilize proficient affiliation assets and system at proficient industry occasions, look out for solid potential up-and-comers on online employment loads up, and exploit accessible assets on LinkedIn and other online internet based life outlets.2. Recruit the sure thing.As an enrollment specialist you need to heed your gut feelings. Untested new potential ability that catches your eye could be a brilliant bet, yet it is a hazard would you like to risked your n otoriety for a move of the bones? At the point when you go over genuine ability with a demonstrated reputation, foundation, and range of abilities you’ll know it, and these are the sorts of people you ought to go after.hbspt.cta.load(2785852, '9e52c197-5b5b-45e6-af34-d56403f973c5', {});3. Glance in-house first.Always work to ensure that your organization is utilizing its current staff assets to its fullest potential before searching outside for ability. Why? Since in-house up-and-comers have just been attempted and tried in some way or another and right now have a vibe for how the association works. Besides, you know how they’ll fit into the company’s culture, which is consistently a central issue mark when bringing another person on board. On this, on the off chance that you go â€Å"outside first† and existing staff gets the inclination that new open doors that emerge aren’t open to them, they may begin searching for their next huge open doors el sewhere.4. Help fabricate your company’s rep.Sure, a major an aspect of your responsibilities as a spotter is to chase for and source top ability from great distances abroad, however in the event that your organization has a rep similar to a phenomenal work environment, top ability will rush to you-production your activity a lot simpler and leaving you alone progressively viable and efficient.5. Get different workers involved.Although it’s significant for any selection representative worth their check to have a broad system of contacts and expert insiders in the business they’re recruiting for, on the off chance that you use the systems and contacts of individual workers your universe will grow exponentially-freeing you up to a universe of new and conceivably important candidates.6. Offer more.This one appears glaringly evident, however it bears rehashing on the grounds that it’s such a center precept of human conduct and enrollment brain research. On the off chance that you need to draw top ability in any industry, you must be more than serious in regards to the compensation bundle being advertised. Make a point to keep steady over industry patterns in regards to pay, and ensure that your organization is at the leader of the pack as far as offerings.7. Utilize your advantages to your advantage.Beyond the compensation bundle, does your organization offer any extra advantages to draw in potential up-and-comers? Everything from repayment for proceeding with training to relax limits and free tidbits/suppers can help draw in top ability and influence them your way when settling on a vocation choice, and no one can really tell how significant an advantage might be to somebody who’s thinking about working at your organization so make certain to play the entirety of your advantage cards when recruiting.8. Recruit for strengths.Hiring resilient individuals may appear another conspicuous point, yet you’d be astounded by what nu mber of scouts disregard this essential reality and pursue an irregular up-and-comer who might be a positive disruptor of business as usual in their associations which could reverse discharge fabulously. What does The Balance suggest? â€Å"Hire for qualities; don’t hope to create frail zones of execution, propensities, and gifts. Expand on what is extraordinary about your new worker in the first place.†9. Take advantage of your organization website.A extraordinary site will pull in new ability to your organization, making your activity simpler. In the event that there’s a reasonable, all around planned, and easy to use vocation area with data on open openings for work, stunningly better. Any commendable potential up-and-comer will look at your company’s site likely before a meeting yet without a doubt after one. A frail or messy site won't be a check mark in the star section for competitors pondering whether to work at your company.10. Check references.E ven if you’re totally stunned by the resume of a potential up-and-comer and are anxious to get them on board as fast as could reasonably be expected, take a delay and make certain to dedicate the time expected to do a broad reference check. This is consistently time all around spent, and you may become familiar with some data about an up-and-comer that could influence your underlying decision.Bottom line: The more effectively you carry out your responsibility as a selection representative, the more your organization benefits-both for the time being and the since a long time ago run. Utilize the tips introduced here to take your enlisting endeavors to the following level. Good karma, and glad chasing!

Operation MARKET GARDEN - September 1944 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Activity MARKET GARDEN - September 1944 - Essay Example With a great deal of American, Commonwealth and British soldiers positioned in London, the bound together Anglo-American order tried to discover a method for entering Germany. A portion of the Allied pioneers accepted that the section into Germany should be possible in the event that it was propelled from the south of the Europe through Italy into Germany. Be that as it may, pressures from the bombarding of London by intermittent German airforce assaults over Britain made a case for a critical activity to prevent the Germans from shelling London. General Montgomery went under extraordinary weight by the British government to look for a military intercession over the English channel to terrain Europe. The Americans who overwhelmingly dwarfed the British and Commonwealth troops had order over the joint Allied order. They didn't support the immediate attack of Germany through the northern boondocks. They bolstered an invasion through a more fragile point in the German resistance lines. With his impact and regard, Montgomery arranged an activity intended to lead the Allies to enter A german area. This prompted what became know as Operation Market Garden. In the activity, the Allied powers were to hold onto a progression of key positions like extensions and cause various Allied soldiers to parachute behind foe lines to prompt entrance. The arrangement of the activity was to break the Nazi outskirts and free the remainder of Europe by December 1944. Notwithstanding, because of huge scope operational disappointments and the solid and productive control of the outskirts by the Nazis, the activity neglected to live to desire and it the Allies had to utilize an alternate methodology a while later1. Be that as it may, the activity accompanied such a significant number of significant exercises that are pertinent to present day military fighting. It very well may be applied to various circumstances and can be utilized to plot a few speculative cases. The way that there are various methodologies and frameworks to the Operation Market Garden implies that it could be assessed and

How to Identify the Best Essay Writing Samples

How to Identify the Best Essay Writing SamplesThe best essay writing samples are so good because of their dedication to excellence. They are so good because they have come up with a new design every time a new material comes up. Yes, every material comes up in the subject of the essay writing samples. Every essay writing samples to come up with a new design every time there is a new issue of writing presented.If you want to make sure that you get the best essay writing samples, you need to learn how to identify the new material. You should always keep an eye out for new ideas that come up and when you get to identify these new ideas, you should make use of the appropriate essay writing samples to use in order to make use of these new ideas. This way, you would not be able to limit your usage of essay writing samples. The best essay writing samples are those which help you come up with the most efficient essay writing ideas.There are cases in which the new material presented by the es says is so good that it totally changes the way you want to write your essays. This is the case of a change in topic, the change in topic can produce the best possible essay. You need to examine this new topic carefully in order to come up with the best possible solution for this topic.In some cases, when you identify the new material and put them in a good perspective, it will help you bring about the changes in problem areas in your essays. This is the case of your addressing a certain issue in a more comprehensive way.There are also cases in which the new material is provided with different time intervals. This is a case where you have the idea of assigning them with specific period of time so that the reader could understand that. You could assign them to certain times so that they would relate with the content as soon as possible. The best essay writing samples can give you this opportunity.There are also some essays writing samples which include the opinion of the reader on th e subject, this is a case where you have to use essay writing samples in order to derive some new ideas on the topic. You can use the essay writing samples to give your opinion on the topic and provide the reader with the option of changing their opinion on the subject. The best essay writing samples can help you decide on the best possible solution to the topic.The best essay writing samples can also come up with the best solutions to the subject. It is very important that you study the essay writing samples carefully so that you can identify the new materials that can help you come up with the best possible solutions.

Essay on Henry A. Murray Personology - 1888 Words

Henry A. Murray: Personology nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Personology is the science of people. It is used to interpret and organize the lives of humans. The central ideas of the science must be to â€Å"understanding of what we mean by the concept â€Å"person,† and for development of methods of understanding the lives of persons as the â€Å"long unit for psychology†Ã¢â‚¬  (Barresi amp; Juckes 1988 pg 1). It is important to take accounts when studying personology from first person perspective instead of a third person perspective. Henry A. Murray believed that personality psychology had to deal with the life course of person and came up with the word â€Å"personology† (Barresi amp; Juckes 1988). He developed the phrase because he felt that personality†¦show more content†¦The test calls for the participant to look at a series of pictures involving one or more humans in ambiguous scenes and create a narrative in response to the picture. The test giver then has to use the narratives and identify what the central motivation is behind them which are usually outside the participant’s consciousness. Murray was so interested in a student from Harvard University that took his TAT test. He did a whole case study about it. The student was much like Murray in that he was making terrible grades. Murray looked at the stories that Grope gave in response to the pictures and realized that Grope’s personality outclassed everyone else’s because of his dream of power, fame, and glory. Murray believed that because of his outlandish view of a successful future is linked to a fear of failure. Murray found from Grope’s autobiography that a rejecting mother and ambitious parents who praised him for his early displays of success were very important things in Grope’s background. Grope perceived his current failure at Harvard as temporary and all he needed was fire (internal or external) to get him started. After Harvard, Grope entered into Summer The ater. Murray believed that it suited his desire to have attention and admiration from everyone. Murray’s was very interested in the life of Herman Melville. Murray and Melville strongly identified with each others experiences. Murray never completedShow MoreRelatedHenry A. Murray Personology1969 Words   |  8 PagesHenry A. Murray: Personology Personology is the science of people. It is used to interpret and organize the lives of humans. The central ideas of the science must be to understanding of what we mean by the concept person, and for development of methods of understanding the lives of persons as the long unit for psychology (Barresi Juckes 1988 pg 1). It is important to take accounts when studying personology from first person perspective instead of a third person perspective. Henry A. MurrayRead MoreMaslows and Murrays theories1064 Words   |  5 Pageselement cannot be separated from its system in order to study it. Two of the organismic theorists have developed theories to understand humans’ psychological developments through their needs: Abraham Maslow, with his hierarchy of needs theory; and Henry Murray, and his psychogenic needs theory. They both focused on developing their theories to understand human personality and its development. However dissimilarities are found between the two theories, they both share the concept of having steps of developmentsRead MoreEssay about Comparison and Contrast of Maslow and Murray1912 Words   |  8 PagesOrganismic theorists Abraham Maslow and Henry Murray tried to define the psychological developmental growth of humans via their theories of Hierarchy of Needs and Psychogenic Needs, respectively. Although each personality theorist’s idea attempts to define human psychological development there are quite a few dissimilarities between the two concepts; however, as much dissimilarity that may exist between the hierarchy of needs and psychogenic needs, both Maslow and Murray endeavored towards the same goal:Read MorePsychology : Your Super Ego 1092 Words   |  5 PagesConscientiousness is linked to higher GPA, religious faith, quality friendships, and dressing neatly. A recent study showed that more conscientious adolescents to experience stress. Personology and life story perspectives believe that in order to understand a person we must focus on their whole life story. Henry Murray believed that we must study the whole person in order to understand them. He believed we all have unique life experiences that make up our identities. The social cognitive perspective

Questions On Strategic Human Resource Management Essay

Table of Contents Executive Summary Topic Introduction Body/ Findings Analyse the factors involved in measuring the impact of given HRM strategy Evaluate the available tools used for measuring the effectiveness of HRM strategy Assess key research findings regarding the connection between HRM strategy and organizational performance Evaluate the rationale for ethical codes of conduct/ behaviour in HRM strategy Recommend ways to effectively manage ethical dilemmas regarding whistle blowing, multinational workforce, equal opportunities and diversity Analyse different training methods including specialised training methods Analyse the importance of further education and professional development in the context of NZ organizations Conclusions Recommendations References Appendices Executive Summary Strategic Human Resource Management is an approach to the management of human resources that provide a strategic framework to support long- term business goals and support. This approach is concerned with structure, culture, values, quality commitment and matching resources to future needs. It is to ensure that a company has right people to do right jobs with the required skills, knowledge and abilities at right time. People should be motivated and committed to achieve current and future strategic needs of firm as it enhances the productivity and effectiveness of the organization. The organization has more chances of getting successful by achieving goals andShow MoreRelatedQuestions On Strategic Human Resource Management Essay2125 Words   |  9 PagesStrategic Human Resource Management Version 7 Credits 20 Assignment 1 Group Assignment Learning Outcome 1: Section A: Contingency Model: Contingency theory functions under the notion that organisation and management should act according to the different situations of an individual. Moreover, in this type of model in management there is no perfect approach in the methods of leadership, because each workplace is unique, the intervention or approaches depends on the current situation the managementRead MoreStrategic Human Resource Management1738 Words   |  7 PagesSTRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance. Strategic management The word ‘strategy’, deriving from the Greek noun strategus, meaning ‘commander in chief’, was first used in the English language in 1656. The development and usage of the word suggests that it is composed of stratos (army) and agein (to lead). In a management contextRead MoreTable Of ContentsPrefacexiiiPART ONEThe Strategic Human1743 Words   |  7 PagesTable of Contents Preface xiii PART ONE The Strategic Human Resource Management Model 2 Chapter 1 Strategic Importance of Human Resource Management Chapter Objectives Challenges Facing Canadian Organizations Spotlight on Ethics: What Is a â€Å"Right† Behaviour? Objectives of Human Resource Management Strategic Human Resource Management The Organization of Human Resource Management The Human Resource Management Profession of the Future The Framework Used in This Book Spotlight on HRM: Will the 21stRead MoreHuman Resource Management And Business Strategy Essay1307 Words   |  6 Pagesbetween human resource management and business strategy is one of the most m important demands that are placed upon modern strategic human resource management. In both the management and the academic literature, it is generally acknowledged that the strategic deployment and management of personnel can contribute to the success and continuity of the firm. Some go even further by stating that a firm’s human resources form the basis of the firm’s competitive advantage. In this view, the human resourcesRead MoreHuman Resource Management And Organizational Strategy752 Words   |  4 Pagesfrom Bill Gate’s strategic vision for his company. Different from other entrepreneurs, he values the employees, and favoring intelligence over experience in his employees. In modern society, human capital is the most dynamic resources for a company. How to attract excellent human resource and utilize their ability to reach organizational goal is something managers should think about. Strategic human resource management could explain the relationship between human resource management and organizationalRead MoreHuman Resource Management : The Management Of An Organization1250 Words   |  5 PagesHuman resource management is the management of an organization to build and maintain the relation between the employee and the organization in order to meet business objectives and employee expectations. The process of hiring and developing employees so that they bec ome more valuable to the organization. Human resource management is the governance of an organization s employee. HRM is sometimes referred to simply as human resource. HRM is the process of recruitment, selection of employee, providingRead MoreSummary of Human Resource Management1577 Words   |  7 Pagesvery important that human research management to transform from being primarily administrative and operational to strategic partner. The reason is it important is because the human resource department plays a crucial role in determining the culture of an organization. Human resources promote and implement policies and procedures. The key areas are hiring practices, compensation, management relations and employee conduct and behavior. The decisions made by the human resources department will effectRead MoreRole of Human Resource Management673 Words   |  3 PagesPart 1 Human resource management has several areas in common between organizations; they deal with the legal activities of the client, ensure that job desc riptions are accurate, interview, train, manage EEO and Affirmative action, and ensure compliance to a wide spectrum of regulations. Recruitment and training have been part of HRM for decades, and overall considerably between clients. HRM usually does the advertising, screening, and initial testing; then once hired, basic training and orientationRead MoreThe Field Of Human Resource Management Essay1543 Words   |  7 PagesExecutive Summary Several studies in the field of Human Resource Management concentrate on the importance of a Human Resources Business Partner to the organisation’s performance. Bredin (2008) notes a shift from traditional to strategic Human Resources Management and the implications for the organisation. Ulrich (1997) suggested how Human Resource Management and the role of a Human Resources Business Partner can contribute to an organisation’s competitive advantage. The objective of this literatureRead MoreEssay The Challenge of Developing Successful Leaders 1237 Words   |  5 Pagesorganizations fail to cultivate the human resources that they already have because; they are unaware of their employees’ potential, they have not implemented a program for mentoring and development, or they may not have the funds to invest in training and development to further their employees’ capabilities. The Society for Human Resources relates that â€Å"developing the next generation of corporate leaders† is one of the major concerns of the majority of human resource executives (â€Å"Future HR Challenges Questions On Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Strategic Human Resource Management Version 7 Credits 20 Assignment 1 Group Assignment Learning Outcome 1: Section A: Contingency Model: Contingency theory functions under the notion that organisation and management should act according to the different situations of an individual. Moreover, in this type of model in management there is no perfect approach in the methods of leadership, because each workplace is unique, the intervention or approaches depends on the current situation the management is facing. To achieve the maximum potential of the working body, leaders or officers must determine and understand the most effective management style for each circumstance. Moreover, contingency is a plan on how to implement actions in dealing with different possible outcomes. Lastly, contingency theory in the work environment determines and prevent undesirable conflicts by handling persons in the altruistic way as possible. Harvard Model: The Harvard Framework has two distinct features. First, the line managers have greater responsibilities in the assurance of the alignment of individual policies and competitive strategy. Second, the objectives of the personnel is to set policies that oversee how individual activities are made and carried out in ways that make them more productive. In addition, in this type of framework, employees are important stakeholders in an institute. Employees have their own individual needs and worries along with other groups such as, shareholdersShow MoreRelatedQuestions On Strategic Human Resource Management Essay7145 Words   |  29 Pagesin the context of NZ organizations Conclusions Recommendations References Appendices Executive Summary Strategic Human Resource Management is an approach to the management of human resources that provide a strategic framework to support long- term business goals and support. This approach is concerned with structure, culture, values, quality commitment and matching resources to future needs. It is to ensure that a company has right people to do right jobs with the required skills, knowledgeRead MoreStrategic Human Resource Management1738 Words   |  7 PagesSTRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance. Strategic management The word ‘strategy’, deriving from the Greek noun strategus, meaning ‘commander in chief’, was first used in the English language in 1656. The development and usage of the word suggests that it is composed of stratos (army) and agein (to lead). In a management contextRead MoreTable Of ContentsPrefacexiiiPART ONEThe Strategic Human1743 Words   |  7 PagesTable of Contents Preface xiii PART ONE The Strategic Human Resource Management Model 2 Chapter 1 Strategic Importance of Human Resource Management Chapter Objectives Challenges Facing Canadian Organizations Spotlight on Ethics: What Is a â€Å"Right† Behaviour? Objectives of Human Resource Management Strategic Human Resource Management The Organization of Human Resource Management The Human Resource Management Profession of the Future The Framework Used in This Book Spotlight on HRM: Will the 21stRead MoreHuman Resource Management And Business Strategy Essay1307 Words   |  6 Pagesbetween human resource management and business strategy is one of the most m important demands that are placed upon modern strategic human resource management. In both the management and the academic literature, it is generally acknowledged that the strategic deployment and management of personnel can contribute to the success and continuity of the firm. Some go even further by stating that a firm’s human resources form the basis of the firm’s competitive advantage. In this view, the human resourcesRead MoreHuman Resource Management And Organizational Strategy752 Words   |  4 Pagesfrom Bill Gate’s strategic vision for his company. Different from other entrepreneurs, he values the employees, and favoring intelligence over experience in his employees. In modern society, human capital is the most dynamic resources for a company. How to attract excellent human resource and utilize their ability to reach organizational goal is something managers should think about. Strategic human resource management could explain the relationship between human resource management and organizationalRead MoreHuman Resource Management : The Management Of An Organization1250 Words   |  5 PagesHuman resource management is the management of an organization to build and maintain the relation between the employee and the organization in order to meet business objectives and employee expectations. The process of hiring and developing employees so that they bec ome more valuable to the organization. Human resource management is the governance of an organization s employee. HRM is sometimes referred to simply as human resource. HRM is the process of recruitment, selection of employee, providingRead MoreSummary of Human Resource Management1577 Words   |  7 Pagesvery important that human research management to transform from being primarily administrative and operational to strategic partner. The reason is it important is because the human resource department plays a crucial role in determining the culture of an organization. Human resources promote and implement policies and procedures. The key areas are hiring practices, compensation, management relations and employee conduct and behavior. The decisions made by the human resources department will effectRead MoreRole of Human Resource Management673 Words   |  3 PagesPart 1 Human resource management has several areas in common between organizations; they deal with the legal activities of the client, ensure that job desc riptions are accurate, interview, train, manage EEO and Affirmative action, and ensure compliance to a wide spectrum of regulations. Recruitment and training have been part of HRM for decades, and overall considerably between clients. HRM usually does the advertising, screening, and initial testing; then once hired, basic training and orientationRead MoreThe Field Of Human Resource Management Essay1543 Words   |  7 PagesExecutive Summary Several studies in the field of Human Resource Management concentrate on the importance of a Human Resources Business Partner to the organisation’s performance. Bredin (2008) notes a shift from traditional to strategic Human Resources Management and the implications for the organisation. Ulrich (1997) suggested how Human Resource Management and the role of a Human Resources Business Partner can contribute to an organisation’s competitive advantage. The objective of this literatureRead MoreEssay The Challenge of Developing Successful Leaders 1237 Words   |  5 Pagesorganizations fail to cultivate the human resources that they already have because; they are unaware of their employees’ potential, they have not implemented a program for mentoring and development, or they may not have the funds to invest in training and development to further their employees’ capabilities. The Society for Human Resources relates that â€Å"developing the next generation of corporate leaders† is one of the major concerns of the majority of human resource executives (â€Å"Future HR Challenges

Consideration Under the Contract Law

Question: Discuss about the Consideration Under the Contract Law. Answer: Introduction: The matter in this case is related with consideration under the contract law. In this regard, the contract law provides that elements like offer, acceptance and consideration should be present for making an agreement between the parties legally enforceable. However in this case, Jane was going to give his Lotus Super 7 sports car to Jack for free although the market value of such a car is around $25,000. Jack has accepted the offer made by Jane and in this way the issue arises if the parties have formed a legally enforceable contract. For the purpose of making a contract valid, or in other words the enforceable, it is required that among other elements, consideration should also be present. Each party to the contract should provide consideration in return of the promise received by it. Past consideration is not treated as good consideration (Re McArdle, 1951). For this purpose, consideration is the benefit that has been received by the parties to the contract. The law also provides t hat past consideration is also not a good consideration. According to the law, consideration can be anything of value and therefore it should be something real and not illusionary (Thomas v Thomas, 1842). In this way, a contract can be enforceable only if it is supported by a valid consideration. But in the present case, the promise made by Jane to give his car to Jack for free is not supported by any consideration. Therefore, it can be said that this promise cannot be enforced by Jack as it is not supported by a valid consideration. On the other hand if Jane had made an offer to sell her Lotus Super 7 sports car to Jack at a price of 25,000 and at the same time, the price of such a car in the market is also around 21,000, the question arises if this offer has been accepted by Jack, is there a valid and the enforceable contract between the parties. In such a case, the elements that are required for creating a valid contract like offer, acceptance and consideration will be present (Atiyah, 1990). At the same time, the parties have the intention of creating a legal relationship and the parties also have the capacity to contract. In this case, if the offer made by Jane is accepted by Jack, it can be said that all the essential elements are present. An offer has been made by Jane and it has been accepted by Jack. The consideration is also present in this case as Jack had accepted to pay $25,000 as the price of the car. The law of contract requires that each party to the contract should receive the benefit and similar ly should also suffer a detriment (White v Bluett, 1853). In this way, this benefit or detriment has been called as consideration. As in this case, a valid consideration has been provided, it can be said that a valid contract is created which can be enforced by the law. Another issue may arise if Jane makes an offer to sell the car at a price of $2500 while in reality; the market price of the car is around $25,000. Therefore it needs to be considered if the offer is accepted by check, is it a valid contract between the parties. The issue arises as a result of the extremely low price of the car as compared to its current market value. In such cases, it needs to be noted that the parties have been provided the freedom of contract and therefore, generally the courts do not go into the issue of the adequacy of consideration (Beale, 2002). It has been left up to the parties to decide what ever consideration they may deem fit for the promise that has been received by them. In this regard, it is only required that they should be a real consideration, it should not be illusionary (Beatson, Burrows and Cartwright, 2010). Consideration can be anything that has some value in the eyes of law. Hence it is not required that the consideration should also be adequa te although the inadequacy of the consideration may be used by the court for the purpose of deciding the presence of unconscionability, force or fraud. In this way, the parties are free to decide any consideration so long as it is real and valid consideration (Re Wragg Ltd., 1897). For example in Chappell v Nestle (1960) it was stated that even the empty wrappers may amount to a valid consideration. Chappell Co Ltd v Nestle Co Ltd [1959] UKHL 1 is a significant case of the English contract law that deals with the issue of consideration. In this case, the traditional doctrine has been confirmed by the House of Lords according to which the consideration need not be adequate but it needs to be sufficient. In this case, the copyright for 'Rockin' shoes was owned by Chappell Co. on the other hand, Nestl company was giving the records of this song to the persons who sent the wrappers of the chocolate bars of the company. According to the Copyright Act, 1956 it has been mentioned that a royalty of 6.25% has to be paid on the ordinary retail selling price. In this regard, it was claimed by this the ordinary retail selling price of the record was 1s 6d. On the other hand, it was argued by Chappell Co that the price should be more. Therefore the question was if the wrappers of the chocolate bar can also be considered as a partial consideration for the records. In this case, it was stat ed by the majority in the House of Lords that although the chocolate wrappers had trivial economic value and ultimately they were thrown away, but still they were a part of the consideration in this case. On these grounds it can be said that the price of $2500 is a valid consideration even if the market value of the car is around $25,000. While in ordinary language, adequacy and sufficiency are considered to have the same meaning but in legal terms, the term adequacy is related with the circumstances under which the price that has been paid by a person for something is disproportionate to the value of what has been received by such a person in return. Therefore, for instance, if A has paid $50 as the consideration for a house, it can be said that clearly, adequate consideration has not been provided by A for the house. But in these cases, it is the general opinion of the courts that the value of the goods and services provided under the contract has to be decided by the parties to the contract themselves and it is not for the courts to decide the adequate consideration. As a result of this position, even if adequate consideration is not present in a contract, it will not have any impact on the validity of the contract. The consideration is stated to be sufficient if it is sufficient enough for supporting a simple cont ract in the eyes of law. This requires that the consideration supplied by the party should enjoy some value under the law. There are many examples where the consideration is not treated as having any real value in the eyes of the judiciary. Therefore, moral duty, natural love and affection and prayers are not considered as having an economic value. The result is that these are not treated as sufficient consideration that can support the formation of a valid contract. In such a case, it will only be repeating the obligation that the promisee is already obliged to do. According to the law, a particular consideration has to be treated as insufficient if the plaintiff has performed a duty that the plaintiff was already obliged to do. Therefore it can be said regarding the presentation that the consideration of $2500 is adequate consideration even if the market value of the car is around $25,000. On the grounds of the facts of this case, it can be said that the issue is related with the enforceability of the promise made by the buyer to pay extra US$3 million. In this case, as a result of the devaluation of the US currency, the shipbuilder is set to suffer a loss. As a result, demands extra US$3 million otherwise the construction of the ship will be stopped. On the other hand, the buyer already had the charter for the tanker and therefore it became very significant that the tanker should be delivered on time. Under these circumstances, it has to be seen if the buyer may be successful in recovering the excess amount paid to the shipbuilder. A case with similar facts is that of Williams v Roffey Bros and Nicholls Contractors) Ltd (1990). In this case, one party had created a contract with the other for performing some carpentry work. However the midway, it became clear that the other party will not be able to finish the work on time. On the other end, the plaintiff had entered into a contract with a third-party according to which if the work was not completed on time, the plaintiff was required to pay a penalty. Therefore in order to avoid paying penalty to the third party, the party agreed to pay extra money so that the work may be completed on time. The brief facts of this case are that the carpentry work for the flats was subcontracted by the defendant to the plaintiff. However as a result of the price decided by the parties for the work, financial difficulties were created for the plaintiff and it became difficult for the plaintiff to complete the work on time. These were the circumstances when the defendant agreed that additional payment will be made to the plaintiff for each flats completed on time. However later on the defendant refused to make these additional payments. As a result, the plaintiff sued the defendant for the recovery of his payment under the original contract and also under the further agreement created between the parties. However, it was argued by the defendant that the promise of making additional payment was not enforceable as it was not supported by any consideration. The Court stated that the rule provided in Pinnell's case is not applicable in the cases where the debt has arisen as a result of the pro vision of services. Therefore the promise to perform an existing duty can also be treated as good consideration if the other party is going to achieve practical benefits as a result of the performance of an existing contractual duty. An example in this regard can be given of the situation where A has made a contract with B for the performance of some work or to provide goods or services in return of the payment made by B and at some stage, before the work was completed, B has reasons to believe that A may not be able to complete the work on time, and B makes a promise that in return of an additional payment by A, it will perform these obligations under the original contract on time. It is also required that due to the promise made by B to complete the work on time, A is going to achieve practical benefit or to avoid a loss and at the same time, the promise is not the result of fraud or economic duress, it can be said that the benefit achieved by B will act as a good consideration for the promise made by B to make additional payment. Under these circumstances, the issue was if this contract to pay the extra money was valid and if consideration was present to support the promise of being the extra money (Atiyah, 2000). The court arrived at the conclusion that in this case the promise to pay the extra amount was legally enforceable. The court mentioned that the additional amount was recoverable. Therefore when a promise to pay additional amount has been made by one party to the other in return of a promise that they work will be completed on time and the party that had promised to pay extra amount was going to achieve an advantage or avoid a loss by the completion of the work on time, and the promised to pay additional amount was not due to economic duress or fraud, the benefit that such party is going to receive by the completion of the work on time may act as a good consideration. On these grounds, it can be said that the promise to pay extra US $3 million for the completion of the tanker on time was legally enforceable as the buyer was going to achieve a benefit by the completion of the tanker on time. This provided the consideration for the promise to pay the extra amount. As a result, the buyer cannot recover the excess amount from the shipbuilder. References Atiyah, P.S. 1990, Essays on Contract, Oxford University Press, New York Atiyah, P.S. 2000 An Introduction to the Law of Contract, Clarendon Beale, H., (ed) 2002 Cases, Materials and Text on Contract Law (Hart Beatson, J. Burrows A. and Cartwright, J. 2010 Anson's Law of Contract, 29th edn OUP Publishing, Oxford Chappell v Nestle [1960] AC 87 Re McArdle (1951) Ch 669 Re Wragg Ltd [1897] 1 Ch 796 Thomas v Thomas) (1842) 2 QB 85 White v Bluett (1853) 2 WR 75 Williams v Roffey Bros and Nicholls Contractors) Ltd (1990) 1 All ER 512

Dear Diary Essay Example

Dear Diary Essay It was a sunny day as the weather forecast had been told it would be 25 degree. I was wearing my summer dress as I was doing my Geography homework outside in the garden. It started to get a bait chilly so I popped inside to get a cardigan as I ran outside the light from the sun was dark, I stared at the sky until I realised that there was a murky, gloomy, black cloud above me.I ran inside in hand with my Geography book, as I looked at the trees it was moving heavily; I guess that it would be the strong wind. I remembered my book; peeped inside to the thunder page and look at the part ‘What causes makes a thunder storm’ it said lighting, tornadoes I flipped the page to the tornado part and opened the diagram, Formation of Tornadoes it said the hot heat coming from the sun is downdraft, the moist air must be updraft, the downdraft mixed with the updraft must of caused a thunder cloud that is called a super cell.I started to get worried because there was a loud sound which was obviously lighting. I ran to my mum I showed her the page I was reading from, I putted the radio on to hear any weather updates; it said that there will be a tornado arriving any time. We grabbed the radio and all our special belonging. I started to read the Red Cross safety; go to the lowest floor, then to a room with no windows or shelves so we entered the bathroom.I turned on the radio again to see if the tornado was close to our town, we had to wait 10mins before they said it was in the town and was travelling 158-206mph, I heard loud sounds I felt petrified, I tried to focus on my Geography book so I started to read the tornado diagram again; it said after the lighting and the strong wind, the warm air is sucked in and wind from different directions make it rotate which is called air mass after it would make a rotating funnel drop from the clouds.I stopped reading as I could hear crashing windows and cars, things falling and flying. I felt really scared and closed my eyes a s minutes passed I thought I was dead, I walked out of my broken house and saw the lost scenery; there was people screaming and crying as some was in pain, I felt relieved that I had survived a natural disaster and my family was safe but my emotion was sympathy because my neighbours was crying,I was very heart broken as there was severe damages to the whole town and my home; the walls and roof was torn of the house, every car plus mobile homes was demolished furthermore small and large trees was uprooted or snapped. The weak pavement was blown off roads. I started to cry because every think was ruined and everyone else cried with me.

Service Quality Essay Example

Service Quality Essay Example Service Quality Essay Service Quality Essay University of Nottingham The Dark Side of Customer Relationship Management in the Luxury segment of the Hotel Industry Akshay Jaipuria MA Management Abstract Today, service organizations are shifting their focus from â€Å"transactional exchange† to â€Å"relational exchange† for developing mutually satisfying relationship with customers. Extended relationships are reported to have a significant impact on transaction cost and profitability, and customer lifetime value. Serving the customers, in true sense, is the need of the hour as the customer was, is and will remain the central focus of all organizational activities. The hotel industry, especially the luxury segment hotels needs to be purely customer-centric and focus on the customer needs and duly fulfill them. Customers will not blindly accept poor service quality from a luxury hotel. They expect high quality of service in return for the money they spend on luxury hotels. This paper is an attempt to explain the dark side of CRM in the luxury segment of the hotel industry with the help of the ‘gap model’ available in literature which suggests that gaps in service occur at various instances. The author explains that the gap model is a useful tool to explain the dark side partly. There is more to the dark side like privacy issues, unwillingness of customers to build a relationship with the service provider and changing tastes and preferences of the customer. Ritz- Carlton Hotel Company, L. L. C. has been chosen as a single case study and the research questions have been addressed for the industry at large using Ritz- Carlton as a classic example of superior service quality to the customers. Some simple measures to reduce the dark side have been mentioned, which addresses the third and last research question. The project would contribute as a useful guide to luxury hotels, giving them some valuable information on what the customer expectations are and if they are duly met then service gaps shall not occur. This paper shall provide scope for luxury hotels to improve their overall service quality and strengthen their position in the industry. The relevant existing theory has been reviewed and the subject has been explored, using the ‘gap model’ (Parasuraman et al 1998) mainly. Based on the research findings and analysis, recommendation has been given to reduce the dark side at Ritz-Carlton and luxury hotels in general. Table of Contents Abstract0 Table of Contents2 Acknowledgments4 Chapter 1: Introduction5 Chapter 2: Literature Review7 2. 1 What is Customer Relationship Management? 7 2. 2Customer satisfaction, loyalty and business performance9 2. 3CRM and Service Quality13 2. 3. 1 Customer’s perception of quality:13 2. 3. 2 The Perceived Service Quality approach16 2. 3. 3 Gaps between customer expectations and perceptions:17 2. . 4 Service Guarantee24 2. 3. 5 Service Recovery26 2. 3. 6 Complaints management28 2. 4 Do all customers want a relationship with their service provider? 29 2. 5 Synopsis31 Chapter 3: CRM and Hotel Industry32 Chapter 4: Methodology and Research Design34 4. 1 Overview34 4. 2 Research objectives34 4. 3 Research design35 4. 4 Case study: An introduction36 4. 5 History of case study37 4. 6 Types of Case Study37 4. 7 Choice of cas e: Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company38 4. 8 Components of the Case Study38 4. 9 Data collection39 4. 9. 1 Documentation41 4. 9. Focus Groups41 4. 9. 3 Interviews43 4. 10 Data Analysis49 4. 11 Key issues of Data collection: Reliability and Validity50 4. 12 Synopsis51 Chapter 5: Case study52 5. 1 Ritz-Carlton: An Overview52 5. 2 Ritz-Carlton and the â€Å"Gold Standards† of Service Quality54 5. 2. 1 The Credo54 5. 2. 2Motto55 5. 2. 3 Three Steps of Service55 5. 2. 4 Service Values55 5. 2. 5 Employee Promise56 5. 3Ritz-Carlton: Current Reality57 Chapter 6: Research Findings59 6. 1 Focus groups findings59 6. 1. 1 Does the gap model explain the dark side of CRM? 59 6. 1. Is there more to the dark side of CRM than what is explained in the gap model? 61 6. 1. 3 How can the dark side of CRM be reduced? 62 6. 2 In-depth interview findings63 6. 2. 1 Customer Interviews64 6. 2. 2 Employee Interviews67 Chapter 7: Analysis of Research Findings70 7. 1 Does the gap model explain the dark side of C RM? 70 7. 1. 1 Ritz-Carlton and the ‘Gap model’70 7. 1. 2General Inference for the luxury hotel sector75 7. 2 Is there more to the dark side of CRM than what is explained in the gap model? 76 7. 2. 1 Willingness to build a relationship76 7. . 2 General Inference for the Hotel Industry79 7. 3 How can the dark side of CRM be reduced? 79 Chapter 8: Conclusion and Further research83 References85 Appendices93 Appendix 1Consent Form93 Appendix 2CRM and ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’94 Appendix 397 Appendix 4100 Appendix 5108 Acknowledgments Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance. Will Durant (1885-1981) U. S. author and historian I would like to thank all those who helped me through the project phase of the MA Management program. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Prof. Dave Wastell for his enlightenment of my knowledge of CRM and the hotel industry, valuable advice and kind support throughout the process of dissertation completion Most importantly, I would like to thank my parents and sister who were always there to motivate me. I would also like to thank my close friends at Nottingham for being around to discuss my ideas and giving me emotional support when I was stressed. I would like to thank all the focus group members for giving their valuable time and thoughts to my project. I would like to thank all the customers and employees of Ritz-Carlton for sharing their valuable thoughts which helped me shape this project. Lastly, I would like to thank the academic and library staff at University of Nottingham for their support throughout this year. Chapter 1: Introduction In the mid-twentieth century, mass production techniques and mass marketing changed the competitive landscape by increasing product availability for consumers. However, the purchasing process that allowed the shopkeeper and customer to spend quality time interacting with each other was also fundamentally changed. As a result, customers lost their uniqueness becoming an â€Å"account number†. Shopkeepers lost track of their customers’ individual needs as the market became full of product and service options. Many companies today are striving to re-establish their connections to new as well as existing customers to boost long-term customer loyalty (Chen and Popovich, 2003). The world has come full circle from selling to marketing and from seller’s market to buyer’s market. The customer today has the option to buy what he thinks he should and from whom, being in his best interest. Product development, technological improvement, cost optimization and excellent service facility are very important for any organisation but their importance is only if the customer appreciates it. For example, both diamond and coal are carbon but they are priced differently due to different valuations by the customer. Therefore, any business begins and ends with the customer (Sugandhi, 2002). Thus, service organizations are shifting their focus from â€Å"transactional exchange† to â€Å"relational exchange† for developing mutually satisfying relationship with customers. Extended relationships are reported to have a significant impact on transaction cost and profitability, and customer lifetime value. Serving the customers, in true sense, is the need of the hour as the customer was, is and will remain the central focus of all organizational activities. The paper explores â€Å"The Dark Side of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the Luxury segment of the Hotel Industry† using the ‘gap model’ of Parasuraman et al (1985) and suggests generic strategies to reduce the dark side. The researcher was motivated to choose the hotel industry because of his deep rooted passion for luxury hotels. The importance of this research is that it helped the researcher familiarize himself with the use of primary with a blend of secondary research to analyze a given situation. This piece of work shall contribute to the academic community as there is not much literature available on the dark side of CRM for the luxury hotels. It shall also benefit the management of luxury hotels to understand what the customer expects in terms of service quality. The aim of this research is to highlight the dark side of CRM in the luxury segment of the hotel industry using The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company as a classic example of high service quality. The research objectives are as follows: 1. Does the gap model explain the dark side of CRM? 2. Is there more to the dark side of CRM than what is explained in the gap model? 3. How can the dark side of CRM be reduced? This paper is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one is an introduction to the paper. Chapter two provides the reader with necessary literature available on CRM. Chapter three provides information on CRM and the hotel industry. Chapter four discusses the research design including interviews and focus groups that have been used for primary research. Chapter five provides an overview of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company . Chapter six provides a summary of the research findings. Chapter seven is an analysis of the research findings addressing the research questions, one of which provides recommendations to reduce the dark side. Chapter eight is a conclusion of the paper. The following chapter provides the literature review. Chapter 2: Literature Review Modern marketers are rediscovering the ancient mantras for success in corporate world and blending them with contemporary marketing practices. Long term survival and competitive advantage can only be attained by establishing an emotional bond with the customers. A shift is taking place from marketing to anonymous masses of customers to developing and managing relationships with more or less well known or at least some identified customers (Gronroos, 1994). This section shall provide general literature on CRM and its link with customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and business performance followed by literature on CRM and service quality in details. The ‘gap model’ shall be introduced and literature on service guarantee, service recovery, and complaint management shall be provided. This would lead to the privacy issues related with CRM. 2. 1 What is Customer Relationship Management? Customer Relationship Management (CRM) â€Å"is the core business strategy that integrates internal processes and functions, and external networks, to create and deliver value to targeted customers at a profit. It is grounded on high-quality customer data and enabled by IT† (Buttle, 2004). CRM is a business strategy to identify, cultivate, and maintain long-term profitable customer relationships. It requires developing a method to select your most profitable customer relationships (or those with the most potential) and working to provide those customers with service quality that exceeds their expectations. McDonald, 2002) An organization’s survival depends largely on harmonious relationships with its stakeholders in the market. Customers provide the ‘life-blood’ to the organization in terms of competitive advantage, revenue and profits. Managing relationships with customers is imperative for all types and size of service organizations. A sound base of satis fied customers allows the organization to move on the path of growth, enhance profitability, fight out competition and carve a niche in the market place. Bennett (1996) described that CRM seeks to establish long term, committed, trusting and cooperative relationship with customers, characterized by openness, genuine concern for the delivery of high quality services, responsiveness to customer suggestions, fair dealings and willingness to sacrifice short term advantage for long term gains. Schneider and Bowen (1999) advocated that service business can retain customers and achieve profitability by building reciprocal relationships founded on safeguarding and affirming customer security, fairness and self esteem. It requires that companies view customers as people first and consumers second. Trust, commitment, ethical practices, fulfillment of promises, mutual exchange, emotional bonding, personalization and customer orientation have been reported to be the key elements in the relationship building process (Levitt,1986; Gronroos, 1994; Morgan,1994; Gummesson,1994; Bejou et al,1998 ). CRM refers to all business activities directed towards initiating, establishing, maintaining, and developing successful long-term relational exchanges (Heide, 1994; Reinartz Kumar, 2003). One of the results of CRM is the promotion of customer loyalty (Evans Laskin, 1994), which is considered to be a relational phenomenon, (Chow Holden, 1997; Jacoby Kyner, 1973; Sheth Parvatiyar, 1995; cited by Macintosh Lockshin, 1997). The benefits of customer loyalty to a provider of either services or products are numerous, and thus organizations are eager to secure as significant a loyal customer base as possible (Gefen, 2002; Reinartz Kumar, 2003; Rowley Dawes, 2000). Recent developments in Internet technology have given the Internet a new role to facilitate the link between CRM and customer loyalty (Body and Limayem, 2004). It is common knowledge that a dissatisfied and unhappy customer will share his unfortunate experience more than a satisfied customer. It is also observed that a fraction of unhappy customers choose to complain while others simply switch their loyalty to others service providers. Loss of customer is loss of business along with the opportunity for business growth and profitability. Feedback collection from the customer is essential for the supplier to ascertain customer satisfaction and scope for improvisation (Sugandhi, 2002). The fundamental reason for companies aspiring to build relationships with customers is economic. For survival in the global market, focusing on the customer is becoming a key factor for companies big and small. Establishing and managing a good customer relationship is a strategic endeavor. Having a CRM software installed does not ensure a successful customer relationship. For this to happen business processes and company culture have to be redesigned to focus on the customer. CRM software can be only a tool to implement a customer strategy. It is known that it takes up to five times more money to acquire a new customer than to get an existing customer to make a new purchase. Improving customer retention rates increases the size of the customer base. Thus, customer retention is essential. (Baumeister, unknown). 2 Customer satisfaction, loyalty and business performance The rationale for CRM is that it improves business performance by enhancing customer satisfaction and driving up customer loyalty (see figure 4). There is a compelling logic to the model, which has been dubbed the ‘satisfaction-profit chain’ (Anderson and Mittal, 2000). Satisfaction increases because customer insight allows companies to understand their customers better, and create improved customer value propositions. As customer satisfaction rises, so does customer repurchase intention (Anderson, 1994). This in turn influences actual purchasing behaviour, which has a significant impact on business performance. [pic] Figure 4: Customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and business performance (Buttle, 2004) Customer satisfaction has been the subject of considerable research and has been defined and measured in various ways (Oliver, 1997). Customer satisfaction may be defined as the customer’s fulfillment response to a consumption experience, or some part of it. Customer satisfaction I a pleasurable fulfillment response while dissatisfaction is an unpleasurable one (Buttle, 2004). Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are two ends of a continuum, where the location is defined by a comparison between expectations and outcome. Customers would be satisfied if the outcome of the service meets expectations. When the service quality exceeds the expectations, the service provider has won a delighted customer. Dissatisfaction will occur when the perceived overall service quality does not meet expectations (Looy, Gemmel Dierdonck, 2003). Sometimes customer’s expectations are met, yet the customer is not satisfied. This occurs when the expectations are low (Buttle, 2005). For example, the customer expects the flight to be late and it gets late. Customer satisfaction is considered to be one of the most important outcomes of all marketing activities in a market-oriented firm. The obvious need for atisfying the firm’s customer is to expand the business, to gain a higher market share, and to acquire repeat and referral business, all of which lead to improved profitability (Barsky, 1992). Studies conducted by Cronin and Taylor (1992) in service sectors such as: banking, pest control, dry cleaning, and fast food; found that customer satisfaction has a significant effect on purchase intentions in all four sectors. Similarly, in the health-care sector, McAlexander et al. (1994) found that patient satisfaction and service quality have a significant effect on future purchase intentions. Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2000) Customer loyalty can be defines as â€Å"customer behavior characterized by a positive buying pattern during an extended period (measured by means of repeat purchase, frequency of purchase, wallet share or other indicators) and driven by a positive attitude towards the company and its products or services† (Looy, Gemmel Dierdonck, 2003). Practitioners and researchers have not clearly identified a theoretical framework, identifying factors that could lead to the development of customer loyalty (Gremler and Brown, 1997). However, there is a consensus amongst practitioners and academics that customer satisfaction and service quality are prerequisites of loyalty (Gremler and Brown, 1997; Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Those technical, economical and psychological factors that influence customers to switch suppliers are considered to be additional prerequisites of loyalty (Selnes, 1993; Gremler and Brown, 1997). Recent studies also indicate that the firm’s image may influence customer enthusiasm: value, delight, and loyalty (Bhote, 1996). (Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2000) Loyalty behaviors, including relationship continuance, increased scale or scope of relationship, and recommendation (word of mouth advertising) result from customers’ beliefs that the quantity of value received from one supplier is greater than that available from other suppliers. Loyalty, in one or more of the forms noted above, creates increased profit through enhanced revenues, reduced costs to acquire customers, lower customer-price sensitivity, and decreased costs to serve customers familiar with a firm’s service delivery system (Reicheld and Sasser, 1990). Yi’s â€Å"Critical review of customer satisfaction† (1990) concludes, â€Å"Many studies found that customer satisfaction influences purchase intentions as well as post-purchase attitude† (p. 104). Customer loyalty can be viewed in two distinct ways (Jacoby and Kyner, 1973). The first views loyalty as an attitude. Different feelings create an individual’s overall attachment to a product, service, or organization (see Fornier, 1994). These feelings define the individual’s (purely cognitive) degree of loyalty. The second view of loyalty is behavioural. Examples of loyalty behaviour include continuing to purchase services from the same supplier, increasing the scale and or scope of a relationship, or the act of recommendation (Yi, 1990). The behavioural view of loyalty is similar to loyalty as defined in the service management literature. In brief, there are two dimensions to customer loyalty: behavioural and attitudinal (Julander et al. , 1997). The behaviour dimension refers to a customer’s behaviour on repeat purchases, indicating a preference for a brand or a service over time (Bowen and Shoemaker, 1998). Attitudinal dimensions, on the other hand, refer to a customer’s intention to repurchase and recommend, which are good indicators of a loyal customer (Getty and Thompson, 1994). Moreover, a customer who has the intention to repurchase and recommend is very likely to remain with the company. (Kandampully Suhartanto, 2000 and Hallowell, 1996) Customer attitude being difficult to measure, for financial and practical purposes, customer retention is widely used as an indicator of customer loyalty. Researchers have combined both views into comprehensive models of customer loyalty. Dick and Basu (1994) came up with a two-dimensional model of customer loyalty identifying four forms of loyalty according to relative attitudinal strength and repeat purchase behavior. The true loyal are those who have high levels of repeat purchase behavior and a strong relative attitude. Spuriously loyal customers tend to be more motivated by impulse, convenience and habit i. e. if the conditions are right. Latent loyalty applies to those customers who are loyal simply because they have no other choice. Lastly, there will always be some customers who shall not be loyal to any particular brand. 2. CRM and Service Quality Service quality is essential for an organization’s survival and growth. Interest in service quality emerged in 1970s. Ever since, the topic has attracted substantial attention among researchers and practitioners (Gronroos, 2001). Service quality is a form of attitude representing a long-run, overall, evaluation, which is different from customer satisfaction, a more short term, transaction specific judgment. The level of customer satisfaction is a result of the customer’s comparison of the service quality expected in a given service encounter with perceived service quality. This implies that satisfaction assessments require customer experiences while quality does not (Caruana, Money and Berthon, 2000). 2. 3. 1 Customer’s perception of quality: Quality of a particular service is whatever the customer perceives it to be. Service quality as perceived by the customer may differ from the quality of the service actually delivered. Services are subjectively experienced processes where production and consumption activities take place simultaneously. Interactions, including a series of moments of truth between the customer and the service provider occur. Such buyer-seller interactions or service encounters have a critical impact on the perceived service. The Nordic Model, originated by Christian Gronroos and developed by others, adopts a disconfirmation of expectations approach. This claims that customers have certain expectations of service performance with which they compare their actual experience. If the expectations are met, this is confirmation; if they are over performed, this is positive disconfirmation; if they are underperformed this is negative disconfirmation. According to Gronroos (1984), the quality of service as perceived by customers has two dimensions; a technical or outcome dimension and a functional or process-related dimension. What customers receive in their interaction with a firm is clearly important to them and their quality evaluation. This is one quality dimension, the Technical Quality of the outcome of the service production process. However, as there are numerous interactions between the service provider and customers, including various series of moments of truth, the technical quality dimension will not count for the total quality which the customer perceives he has received. The customer will also be influenced by the way in which technical qualitys include the accessibility of ATM, a website, appearance and behavior of waiting staff, how service employees perform their task, what they say and how they do it. Interestingly, other customers simultaneously consuming the same or similar services may influence the way in which customers will perceive a service. Thus, the consumer is also influenced by how he receives the service and how he experiences the simultaneous production and consumption process. This is the second quality dimension, the Functional Quality of the process, closely related to how the moments of truth of the service encounters themselves and are taken care of and how the service provider functions. Illustrated in figure 1, there are the two basic quality dimensions, namely, What the customer receives and How the customer receives it; the technical result or outcome of the process (technical quality) and the functional dimension of the process (functional quality. An organization’s image is an important variable that positively or negatively influences marketing activities. Image is considered to have the ability to influence customers’ perception of the goods and services offered (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996). Thus, image will have an impact on customers’ buying behaviour. Image is considered to influence customers’ minds through the combined effects of advertising, public relations, physical image, word-of-mouth, and their actual experiences with the goods and services (Normann, 1991). Similarly, Gronroos (1983), using numerous researches on service organizations, found that service quality was the single most important determinant of image. Thus, a customer’s experience with the products and services is considered to be the most important factor that influences his mind in regard to image. For instance, if the service provider shares a positive or favorable image in the minds of the customers, minor mistakes will probably be overlooked or forgiven. However, if the image is negative, the impact of any mistake will often be considerably greater than it otherwise would be. This entire combination shall lead to total quality. [pic]Figure 1: Two service quality dimensions (Gronroos, 2001) 2. 3. 2 The Perceived Service Quality approach Gronroos (1982) introduced a service oriented approach to quality with the concept of Perceived Service Quality and the model of Total Perceived Service Quality. This approach is based on research into consumer behavior and the effects of expectations concerning goods performance on post-consumption evaluations. In previous sections, the two basic quality dimensions (the what and the how) in the minds of the customers has been discussed. However, the quality perception process is more complicated. It is not the experiences of the quality dimensions alone that determine whether quality is perceived as good, neutral or bad. Figure 2 illustrates how quality experiences are connected to traditional marketing activities resulting in a Perceived Service Quality. Good perceived quality is obtained when the experienced quality meets the expectations of the customers i. e. the expected quality. If expectations are unrealistic, the total perceived quality will be low, irrespective of the experienced quality measured in an objective way being good. As illustrated in figure 2, the expected quality is a function of factors, namely, marketing communication, word of mouth, company/local image, price, customer needs and values. Marketing communication includes advertising, direct mail, sales promotion, websites, internet communication and sales campaigns. These are directly under the control of the company unlike the image and word of mouth factors which are indirectly controlled by the company. Image of the company plays a central role in customer perception of service quality. Thus, it is imperative that image be properly managed. External impact on these factors could possibly occur, but they are a basically a function of the previous performance of the firm, supported by for instance advertising. Lastly, the needs of the customers as well as the values that determine the choice of customers also impact on their expectations. Thus, the level of total perceived quality is not determined simply by the level of technical and functional quality dimensions, but rather by the gap between the expected and experienced quality. [pic] Figure 2: Total Perceived Quality (Gronroos, 2001) 2. 3. 3 Gaps between customer expectations and perceptions: There exists a gap between expected service quality and perceived service quality. In an attempt to explain such gap, Parasuraman et al (1985), came up with a ‘gap model’ which is intended to be used for analyzing sources of quality problems and help managers understand how service quality can be improved. The model is illustrated in figure 3. Figure 3: The Gaps Model (Source: Parasuraman et al, 1988) Firstly, the model demonstrates how service emerges. The upper portion of the model includes phenomena related to customers, while the lower portion includes phenomena related to the service provider. The expected service is a function of the customer’s past experience and personal needs and of word of mouth communication. It is also influenced by the market communication activities of the firm. The service experienced, which in this model is termed as perceived service, is the outcome of a series of internal decisions and activities. Management perceptions of customer expectations guide decisions regarding service quality specifications to be followed by the company when service delivery (i. e. the execution of the service express) occurs. The customer experiences the service delivery and production process as a process-related quality component and the technical solution received by the process as an outcome-related quality component. As illustrated, marketing communication can influence the perceived service and also the expected service. This basic model demonstrates the steps that have to be considered during analyzing and planning service quality. The five discrepancies (so-called quality gaps) between the various elements of the structure are a result of inconsistencies in the quality management process. The ultimate gap (Gap 5) i. e. the gap between expected and perceived (experienced) service is a function of other gaps that possibly occurred in the process. The five gaps are discussed below: 1. The Management Perception Gap (Gap1): This gap occurs when the management perceives the quality expectations inaccurately due to inaccurate information from market research and demand analyses, inaccurately interpreted information about expectations, nonexistent demand analysis, bad or nonexistent upward information from the firm’s interface with its customers to management and numerous organizational layers which stop or change the information that may flow upward from those directly involved in customer contacts. Necessary action to open up or improve the various internal information channels has to be taken in such situations. 2. The Quality Specification Gap ( Gap 2): This gap signifies that service quality specifications are not consistent with management perceptions of quality expectations due to planning errors or insufficient planning procedures, bad management of planning, lack of clear goal-setting in the company and insufficient support for planning service quality from top management. The planning related problems vary depending on the size of the first gap. However, even if there is sufficient accurate information on customer expectations, planning of quality specifications may fail due to lack of real commitment to service quality among top management. Commitment, dedication and devotion to service quality among management as well as service providers are of highest importance and priority in closing the Quality Specification Gap. 3. The Service Delivery Gap (Gap 3): This gap means that quality specifications are not met by performance in the service production and delivery process due to specifications which are too complicated and/or too rigid, employees not agreeing with the specifications and therefore not fulfilling them, specifications not being in line with the existing corporate culture, bad management of service operations, lacking or insufficient internal marketing and technology and systems not facilitating performance according to specifications. The possible problems here are many and varied and usually the reasons for the existence of a Service Delivery Gap are complicated and so are the cures. The reason for this gap can be divided into three categories: management supervision, employee perception of specifications and rules/customer needs and wishes, and a lack of technological/operational support. Management and supervision related problems may be varied too. For instance, supervisors may not be encouraging and supportive of quality behavior or the supervisory control systems may be in conflict with good service or even with quality specifications. In an organization where control and reward systems are decided upon separately from the planning of quality specifications, which is the case often, there is inherent risk of a Service Delivery Gap occurring. Often non-essential or important activities are controlled, perhaps even rewarded; and activities that contradict quality specifications are encouraged by the control system. Control and reward systems partly determine the corporate culture, and goals and specifications that do not fit the prevailing culture tend not to be well executed. The cure here involves changes in the way managers and supervisors treat their subordinates and in the way supervisory systems control and reward performance. Since the way in which performance requirements of the specifications, on one hand and existing control and reward systems on the other hand, are in conflict with each other, an awkward situation may arise for personnel when a customer contact person realizes that a customer requires different behavior on the part of the service provider than that expected according to the company’s specifications. It must be noted that situations where the service provider is aware of the fact that the customer is not receiving what he expects and may feel that the demands and wishes of the customer are justified and perhaps could be fulfilled, however, the service provider is not allowed to perform accordingly, may ruin the motivation for quality-enhancing behavior among personnel. The skills and attitudes of personnel may cause problems if the wrong people are recruited. For instance, the firm may have employees who are unable to adjust to the specifications and systems that guide operations. Furthermore, the workload perceived by employees may be a problem. For example, there may be too much paperwork or some other administrative tasks involved, so that quality specifications cannot be fulfilled and a result of which, the service provider does not possess time to attend to customers as expected. Lastly, the technology or the systems of operating, including decision making may not be suitable to employees. The problem may be the employees, but it is quite probable that technology and operational and administrative systems have been introduced inappropriately. Perhaps the technology and systems do not support quality behavior, or they have been improperly introduced to the employees. To close the Service Delivery Gap, the problems need to be dealt with effectively and efficiently. 4. The Marketing Communication Gap (Gap 4): This gap occurs when promises given by market communication activities are not consistent with the service delivered due to market communication planning not being integrated with service operations, lacking or insufficient coordination between traditional external marketing and operations, the organization failing to perform according to specifications, whereas market communication campaigns follow these specifications and an inherent propensity to exaggerate, and, thus, promise excessively. The reasons for Marketing Communication Gap can be divided into two categories: the planning and executing of external market communication and operations and a company’s propensity to over-promise in all advertising and marketing communication. The cure in the first situation could be creating a system that coordinates planning and execution of external market communication campaigns with service operations and delivery. For instance, every major campaign could be planned in collaboration with those involved in service production and delivery for Dual goal to be achieved. First, promises in market communications become more accurate and realistic and second, a greater commitment to what is promised in external campaigns could be achieved. The second category of problems i. e. over-promising can be dealt with by improving planning of marketing communication and/or closer management supervision. 5. The Perceived Service Quality Gap (Gap 5): This gap signifies that the perceived or experienced service is not consistent with the expected service resulting in negatively confirmed (bad) quality and a quality problem, bad word of mouth, a negative impact on corporate or local image and lost business. However, this gap may also be positive, which leads either to a positively confirmed quality or over-quality. If a Perceived Service Quality Gap occurs, the reason could be any one or a combination of those discussed above or other additional reasons. Addressing these gaps could be a basis for developing service processes in which expectations and experience consistently meet and a good perceived service quality will enhance. Some of the possible strategies that could be adopted by organizations to close these quality gaps are tabulated in Table 1. Gaps |Possible strategies to close gaps | | | | |1 |Change of management (in extreme situations), otherwise normally, learn from front-line customer contact | | |staff, flatten the hierarchical structure, include expectations data in consumer records, market research| | |for improvement in the knowledge of the characteristics of service competition, etc. | | | |2 |Change in firm’s priorities, Commitment to develop service standard s wherever possible, feasibility | | |assessment of customer expectations, develop a standards documentation process, automation of processes | | |wherever possible and desirable, activities outsourced wherever competencies are lacking, development of | | |service quality goals, etc. | | | |3 |Investment in people: (recruitment, training and retention), investment in technology, redesigning | | |workflow, encourage self organized teams; improve internal communication, clear job specifications to | | |avoid ambiguity, reward service excellence, etc. | | | |4 |Brief the advertising agency of the company, external communication of what the customer can expect | | |through advertising, training employees not to over-promise, penalize employees who over-promise, | | |encourage customers to sample the service experience, excel at service recovery, encourage and manage | | |customer complaints, etc. | Buttle, 2004; Gronroos, 2001 and Looy, Gemmel Dierdonck, 2003) 2. 3. 4 Service Guarant ee An organization tries to balance its customers’ expectations with the delivered service. A service guarantee promises the customers a certain service quality and backs up such promise with a payout, making services more ‘tangible’, reducing the perceived risk of purchasing a service. â€Å"A service guarantee makes the customer a meaningful promise and specifies a payout and an invocation procedure in case the promise is not kept. Each of these elements is equally important in making a guarantee successful† (Looy, Gemmel Dierdonck, 2003) The key elements of this definition are discussed below: The Promise Through introduction of a service guarantee, an organization makes a credible promise to its customers. For example, PTT Telecom promise to connect new telephones within three working days and to fix telephone lines within a day and a half. This promise is a credible one in a European context, where shorter lead times are highly desirous by customers (Looy, Gemmel Dierdonck, 2003). In defining a promise, a company should be careful not to promise what would be expected anyway. This may negatively signal that service failures are likely to be expected. Some promises are limited in scope i. e. guarantee only less important service aspects or are highly conditional, excluding all major causes of service failure. For example, Lufthansa guarantees that its customers will make their connecting flights if there are no delays due to weather or air-traffic control problems. Ironically, these two problems cause in total 95 percent of all flight delays. Furthermore, the guarantee is applicable only if all flights including connecting flights are with Lufthansa (Lufthansa airlines, 1987). The presence of a service guarantee can support the perception of service reliability, which is one of the most critical determinants of customer satisfaction. However, sometimes a guarantee may give out a negative message, indicating that service failures may occur due to customers wondering why it is necessary to provide a guarantee. For example, Lufthansa promises its customers that their luggage will arrive with them. However, this created the perception that lost luggage is more a problem with Lufthansa than its competitors (Lufthansa airlines, 1987). The effectiveness of communicating a service guarantee also depends on the source of the message, especially if the form has a history of service problems, making it difficult for a service firm with bad service reputation to send out credible message. The Payout In a situation where promises are not kept, the customer shall receive a payout which will encourage the customer to communicate all service failures, which has a double effect: Service recovery: The customer who claims his payout is less likely to defect or spread a negative word of mouth. Hence, service recovery becomes a possibility. Service quality improvement: Each claim represents valuable information about quality errors and their possible causes, but the avoidance of future payouts functions as an incentive to all staff to participate in improvement projects. In order to achieve service recovery, the payout has to be meaningful to customers. It should not only make up for all the damage and inconvenience suffered bu t also make the customer ‘whole. ’ For example, the payout offered by the Dutch bus service organization, â€Å"Interliner,† makes their customer ‘whole’ by guaranteeing that their passengers will reach their connecting flights and buses. A refund would not adequately compensate the passenger who missed a connection. Therefore, any passenger who would have to wait for more than fifteen minutes for a connection due to delay by Interliner would be taken to his destination by taxi at Interliner’s expense (www. interliner. nl). A payout can also be too high. For example, in India atleast, Domino’s Pizza offers customers its pizza free of charge if they were not delivered within thirty minutes from ordering. The Invocation Procedure The final aspect of the service guarantee is the invocation procedure. Invocating a guarantee should be either easy or proactive. For example, supermarkets Hoogvliet (Netherlands) and Match (Belgium) promise short queues at their checkouts. If all tills are not manned and if some customer is the third one (Hoogvliet) or the fourth one (Match) in the queue, he does not have to pay (Hoogvliet) or receives a significant discount (Match). An example of unconditional satisfaction guarantee which is easy to invoke is that of Superquinn’s Goof Card System. Superquinn is the leading supermarketing chain in the Greater Dublin area. Periodically, customers who participate in the loyalty saving system called ‘Superclub’ receive a ‘Goof Card’. Each time Superquinn ‘goofs’ i. e. produces a service failure, the customer simply has to point it out to any member of staff, and he shall receive thirty bonus points worth ? 1. The guarantee offers unconditional satisfaction guarantee as customers are able to define the goof themselves, however, for further help to customers, Superquinn lists ten examples of goofs. The invocation of PTT Telecom’s guarantee for example is proactive as well. After each connection or repair, PTT Telecom makes an after-sales call to the customer trying to assess customer’s satisfaction. If there is a failure of promise, the customer is immediately informed of the payout (Looy, Gemmel Dierdonck, 2003). 2. 3. 5 Service Recovery The real test of the customer orientation of a service provider takes place when service failure has occurred. Ideally, quality should be high throughout and failures should not occur in the service processes. However, in reality employees makes mistakes, systems break down, customers in the service process may cause problem for other customers, etc. Service recovery is a strategy for managing mistakes, failures and problems in customer relationships (Gronroos, 2001). As defined by Tax and Brown (2000) (in gronroos 2001), â€Å"Service recovery is a process that identifies service failures, effectively resolves customer problems, classifies their root cause(s), and yields data that can be integrated with other measures of performance to assess and improve the service system. † Service recovery includes all actions taken by company when there has been a service failure. Services fail for different reasons- sometimes technical service fails; sometimes functional service quality (Keaveney, 1995 in Buttle, 2004). Problems caused by a service failure are two-fold; factual and emotional problems (Gronroos, 2001). In a problematic situation when service recovery is called upon, customers are often frustrated, possess high expectations and tend to have a narrower zone of tolerance that normal (Tax et all, 1998). Therefore, service recovery could be risky (Smith and Bolton, 1998) and needs to be well managed. Service recovery performance can be better if the employees are more committed to the visions, strategies and service concepts of the firm. Moreover, empowered employees can be expected to perform better in recovery situations, inclined to deal quickly and effectively with service failures (Boshoff and Allen, 2000). When companies resolve problems quickly and effectively there are positive consequences for customer satisfaction, customer retention and word-of-mouth (Tax et al, 1998). Service recovery process should be developed and exercised to maximize fairness as perceived by the customer (Ruyter and Wetzels, 2000). In addition to mistake correction, quick response and adequate compensation are considered crucial elements of service recovery (Johnston and Fern, 1999). It has been discovered that customers who have been let down, then well recovered, are more satisfied than customers who have not been let down all (Hart et al, 1990). A well managed recovery has positive impact in development of a trusting relationship between a firm and its customer and may also deepen the customer’s commitment towards the service provider (Tax et al, 1998). Service recovery is an important factor influencing perceived service quality and is a criterion which can have a positive effect on functional quality. Satisfaction with the service can be increased through good service recovery (Spreng, Harrell Mackoy, 1995). According to Patrick Mene, Director of Quality at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company â€Å"1-10-100 rule of service recovery†, what costs the firm one pound, euro or dollar to fix immediately will cost ten the next day and hundred later on (Patlow, 1993). An example of quick service recovery is an incident that took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. A group of four MBA students from Europe had attended a seminar at the hotel and wished to spend a few hours of leisure time at the swimming pool before leaving for the airport. When they arrived at the swimming pool around mid afternoon, they were politely told that the pool area was closing because the area was to be prepared for an evening reception and dinner. The students explained that during their stay at the hotel, that was the only time they could spend at the pool before returning to the freezing temperature of their country and they had been looking forward to this opportunity. The waiter requested them to wait while he sorted out the situation. After a short while, a supervisor arrived to inform them that the hotel unfortunately had to close the entire pool area for evening preparation. However, he added that a limousine was waiting for them outside the main entrance to take them and their luggage to Biltmore Hotel where the pool area would be at their disposal. This limousine was at the Ritz-Carlton’s expense undoubtedly. This delighted the group and their already favorable perception of the hotel was improved further. They also engaged in considerable amount of positive word-of-mouth communication (Gronroos, 2001). 2. 3. 6 Complaints management Customers complain under one or both of the conditions: their expectations being underperformed to a degree that falls outside their zone of tolerance or unfair treatment. Complaints management process should be developed to take a positive view of customer complaints. Customers who complain provide an opportunity for the service firm to identify root causes of problems as well as win back unhappy or dissatisfied customers to retain their future value (Buttle, 2005). A complaints management process should allow company to capture complaints before customers spread a negative word-of-mouth or take their business elsewhere (Buttle, 1998). Up to two-thirds of customers who are dissatisfied do not complain to the organization (Richins, 1983). However, they may complain to their social networks. Dissatisfied customers are likely to inform twice as many people about their experience than customers with a positive experience (TARP, 1995 in Buttle, 2005). According to Wilson (1991), only 4 percent of the dissatisfied customers actually complain, providing valuable feedback to the company. The remaining 96 percent choose to simply leave the business and go elsewhere. Companies choose to deal with complaints efficiently to bring about customer retention, continuous improvement in service quality and build a customers of each such benefit are mentioned below Recognition: A customer may feel more valued and important when recognized and addressed by name Personalization: For example, over time, a hotel manager may understand a customer’s particular preferences or expectations Power: For instance, some of the power asymmetries in relationships between banks and their customers may be reversed when customers feel that they have personal relationships with their bank officers and managers. Risk reduction: Risk may be in the form of performance, physical, financial, social or psychological. High levels of perceived risk are uncomfor table for many customers. A relationship has the ability to reduce, or even eliminate risk. For example, a customer may develop a relationship with a garage to reduce the perceived performance and physical risk attached to having a car serviced. The relationship provides the assurance that the job has been skillfully accomplished and the car is safe to drive. Status: For example, customers may feel that their status is enhanced by a relationship with an organization, say, the Hilton. Affiliation: people’s social needs can be met through relationships. For example, many people join particular forums or associations to be a part of a community. However, there are some customers who would be satisfied with the service quality and perhaps decide to be loyal, but not want a relationship as such with the supplier for privacy issues. It is a known fact that suppliers wish to increase their sales to customers. In order to know and analyze their customers, companies collect extensive data on their customers through various channels. One popular rather common channel is through loyalty programs and cards. Examples include Tesco loyalty cards, Hilton hhonors program, British Airways frequent flyer cards, etc. The companies provide some benefits to customers and collect data like contact name, history of purchase, money spent in the past on company’s services, etc. However, if the data is mishandled or incorrectly handled, it can destroy the trust and loyalty in the relationship. (Vargas, 2006) Privacy and data protection are key concerns of customers, who are increasingly concerned about the amount of information that organizations have about them and the uses to which information is put. In reality, most customers are unaware of the quantity of information available to companies. Some customers may wish to simply not join any loyalty programs in order to secure their privacy and prevent intrusion into personal information. 2. 5 Synopsis This section has provided available literature about CRM. The gap model explained shall be a strong basis for explaining the dark side of CRM. Privacy issues shall be given importance as well. The customers’ perception of service quality is to be given supreme priority by the hotel industry. It is important how customers perceive the service quality to be. What they receive and how they receive corresponding to their expectations helps them judge the service quality to a large extent. Chapter 3: CRM and Hotel Industry The hotel industry today has been recognized as a global industry, with producers and consumers spread around the world. The use of hotel facilities such as: room, restaurant, bar, nightclub or health club; are no longer considered a luxury. For many people these services have become an integral component of lifestyle. Moreover, in the last two decades, demand for and supply of hospitality services beyond that of the traditional services intended for travelers have escalated the growth of the hospitality industry globally, leading to intense competition in the market-place. One of the greatest challenges facing hotel organizations today is the ever-growing volume and pace of competition. Competition has had major implications for the customer, providing increased choice, greater value for money and augmented levels of service. Additionally, there is little to distinguish one hotel’s products and services from another. Thus it has become imperative for hotel organizations to gain a competitive advantage. There are two strategies most commonly used by hotel managers in order to gain a competitive advantage, which are low-cost leadership through price discounting and developing customer loyalty by providing unique benefits to customers. Hotels that attempt to improve their market share by discounting price run the serious risk of having a negative impact on the hotel’s medium- and long-term profitability. As a result, it is quality of service rather than price that has become the key to a hotel’s ability to differentiate itself from its competitors and to gain customer loyalty. Getty and Thompson (1994) studied relationships between quality of lodging, satisfaction, and the resulting effect on customers’ intentions to recommend the lodging to prospective customers. Their findings suggest that customers’ intentions to recommend are a function of their perception of both their satisfaction and service quality with the lodging experience. However, satisfying customers alone is not enough, since there is no guarantee that satisfied customers will return to purchase. It is now becoming apparent that customer loyalty is significantly more important than customer satisfaction for success. Numerous examples illustrate that it is important that the hotel industry develop customer loyalty, as opposed to relying solely on pricing strategies. Researchers have shown that a 5 per cent increase in customer loyalty can produce a profit increase of 25 per cent to 85 per cent (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Hence a dedicated focus on customer loyalty is likely to become a necessary prerequisite for the future survival of hotel organizations. In the hotel industry, Customer relationship management (CRM) is more than the practice of collecting guest-centric data. It’s the art of using historical, personal, and experiential information to personalize a guest’s stay while generating incremental revenue opportunities. For instance, knowing a traveler is an avid sports fan creates the opportunity to market tickets to a game; knowing a guest had a less-than-memorable experience in the hotel restaurant gives you a chance to win them back the next time they are in town. With the latest offerings in CRM, hoteliers can develop comprehensive guest profiles from reservation information and demonstrate to guests that the property is in touch with their needs, drive guest-centric data down to the transaction level, allowing employees and guest-facing technology to deliver greater value to the guest, generate a realistic profile on the spending and stay patterns of guests, allowing the property to create guest-centric marketing for increased loyalty and spending, etc. Microsoft, 2006). To summarize, the shift in the sales and marketing landscape requires the hotel companies to be as advanced as technology will allow in managing their customer relationships. â€Å"There will be a sea change from management of customer data to management of customer relationships†. Hotel companies must carefully consider how they store, track, analyze and act upon every aspect of their relationships with their guests and booking customers. † The emphasis should be on using the data intelligently to predict consumer behavior, such as loyalty and usage patterns, and to use the customer knowledge to anticipate the customer needs or problems (EURHOTEC, 2000). Chapter 4: Methodology and Research Design 4. 1 Overview Methodology can be defined as (i) â€Å"a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline†, (ii) â€Å"a particular procedure or set of procedures or (iii) â€Å"the analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in a particular field†, the common idea being the collection, the comparative study, and the critique of the individual methods that are used in a given discipline or field of inquiry (Wikipedia, 2006). This chapter of the paper provides an overview of the research design (i. e. the case study) used for research about the hotel industry. The objectives of the research have been mentioned followed by a definition of research design and the qualitative approach of the case study. The researcher then presents his justification for choosing Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company as his case example leading to methods of data collection for the research conducted along with each method’s strengths and weaknesses. This chapter concludes with discussion on data analysis and the reliability and validity issues with data collection 4. 2 Research objectives A review of the present literature is a stepping stone in compiling the objectives behind the research. In this regard, the literature review enabled an understanding of how can the hotel industry improve its business performance through service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The service quality is provided by hotels to ultimately satisfy the customers and the hotel managers must know what their customer wants rather than blindly assuming. Even though the service quality may be satisfactory, there may be a gap between the expected service quality by the customer and their experienced service quality. The hotel management has to strive to bridge these gaps to improve service quality and customer satisfaction and attempt to bring about customer loyalty which in turn would impact business performance. The literature review also highlighted that there is possibly a ‘dark side of CRM’ which refers to privacy issues of the customer and doubts about customers willing to build relationships in the long run. There is also not ample literature available on the customer’s perspective i. e. how he customer feels about what the hotel provides him with, if the hotel actually provides them with what they promise to deliver, if the customers value all they receive and how much, the privacy issues and possibly customers’ reaction to certain experiences during their stay, just to name a few not so explored sides of CRM. Inspired by the above, the research objectives are as follows: 1. Does the gap model explain the dark side of CRM? 2. Is there more to the dark side of C RM than what is explained in the gap model? 3. How can the dark side of CRM be reduced? . 3 Research design A research design can be explained as the â€Å"detailed blueprint used to guide a research study toward its objectives† (Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2003). Research design provides the â€Å"glue that holds the research project together. A design is used to structure the research, to show how all of the major parts of the research project the samples or groups, measures, treatments or programs, and methods of assignment work together to try to address the central research questions† (Social research methods, 2006) The process of designing a research study requires some interrelated decisions to be made. The most significant decision is the choice of research approach which determines how the information will be obtained. The choice of research approach is dependant on the nature of the research to be conducted. Research approaches can be categorized into one of the three general categories of research i. e. exploratory, descriptive and casual (Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2003). Exploratory research: This type of research is undertaken when one is seeking insight into the general nature of a problem area, the possible decision alternatives and relevant variable that are to be considered. The research methods are loosely defined, highly flexible, unstructured and qualitative. The researcher begins without firm preconceptions as to what will be the outcome. The absence of structure allows a thorough pursuit of ideas and clues about the problem situation. Such research is conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined. Explor