engleski

Service Competitiveness: Antecedents and Consequences of Superior Customer Value

1. INTRODUCTION The essential condition for the achieving of superior performance of a service providing company is the delivery of superior customer value, i.e. of value that is superior to the one offered by the competition. The aim of this work is, on one hand, to investigate the factors of competitiveness of service providing companies and, on the other hand, to investigate the process that occurs on the side of the customer based on service perception, at which centre we find superior customer value as a determinant of profitability. 2. THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN SERVICE COMPANIES Competitive advantage may be defined as “an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either through lower prices or by providing more benefits that justify higher prices” (Kotler, Armstrong, 218). Competitive advantage is rooted in the resources and skills of the company, whose significance is diverse for different services, and is achieved by following of either the differentiation strategy or the low cost strategy. High quality of service, innovations, customer responsiveness, efficiency and productivity particularly contribute to the achieving of competitive advantage. 3. SUPERIOR CUSTOMER VALUE AS AN IMPERATIVE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE The concentration of an organization on the market and the customers signifies putting at the centre of its attention superior customer value, defined as “the consumer's overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given” (Zeithaml, 1988, 14), which depends on the characteristics of the customers and the service setting. During every service encounter the customer does not perceive only the value, but also the quality of the service and satisfaction. While there is a general agreement that perceived value is determined by perceived quality and price, and customer satisfaction is the result of customer perceived value, there are disagreements in relation to which if these constructs has a direct consequential effect on behavioral intentions. Some of the researches presented indicate at the complexity of their influence on behavioral intentions. 4. CUSTOMER VALUE IN THE CONTEXT OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICE AND RESULTS OF A SERVICE PROVIDING COMPANY The delivery of customer value is the result of the management process of several practical areas in a company that has a very high perception of the value of a service that is “created by a well-designed service delivery system supporting a service concept that addresses customer needs and is executed with high productivity” (Voss, 1997, 20), and the result of which is customer satisfaction and loyalty. The service-profit chain is the concept basis of such an approach that links satisfaction, loyalty and productivity of the employees with satisfaction and loyalty of the customers and profitability. The links of the service-profit chain have been tested in several studies and partly confirmed, however it has been found that the relation between the constructs is more complex than the one initially presented in the model. 5. CONCLUSION In order to achieve superior customer value it is important to understand the widely defined factors of competitiveness, as well as the generally established links and relations that lead to profitability. Due to the diversity of the services it is important to take into account the distinctiveness of certain service contexts, and in today’s conditions of globalization, the compliance with international standards of practice and implementation. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heskett, J. L., Sasser, Jr., W.E., Schlesinger, L.A. (1997): The Service Profit Chain, The Free Press, New York. Hill, C.W.L., Jones, G.R. (2001): Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, Fifth Edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2006): Principles of Marketing, Eleventh Edition, New Yersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Voss, C.A., Blackmon, K., Chase, R. Rose, E.L. and Roth, A.V. (1997): «Service Competitiveness – An Anglo-US Study», Business Strategy Review (Spring 1997): 7-22 Zeithaml, V.A. (1988): «Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence», Journal of Marketing (July 1988): 2-22

service competitiveness; perceived customer value; service quality; customer

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