Books by Klaus Schoefer

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: The idea of understanding consumer behaviour as a sequential decision-making process is one that is common in marketing. The decision-making process itself is presented as a logical flow of activities, working from problem recognition to purchase to post-purchase evaluation. This decision-making process is affected by a number of other more complex influences. Some of these influences relate to the wider environment in which the decision is being made while others relate to the individual who makes the decision. In this context, ?.. [o]ne of the most widely accepted notions in consumer behavior is that word-of-mouth communication (hereafter WOM) plays an important role in shaping consumers' attitudes and behaviors.? More specifically, WOM communications between consumers are a topic of interest in both the pre-purchase and post-purchase decision-making literature. Research into the diffusion of innovations has focused on modelling the role of WOM in product adoption at various stages of the diffusion process. WOM has also been studied as a mechanism through which consumers convey both informational and normative influences in the product evaluation. Finally, WOM has been identified as an important post-purchase complaining option. Although WOM plays an important role in consumer pre-purchase and post-purchase decision-making, research into this phenomenon has been fragmented. Importantly, relatively little attention has been directed at understanding key issues with respect to WOM recommendation sources and the factors that influence their use. The aim of the present work is to add to this small body of empirical research. The main part of this paper is divided into two chapters. Chapter 2, that follows an introduction to the work, is a theoretical one. It is a review of the literature on consumer decision-making and the individual and environmental influences on it. Emphasis is being placed on WOM communication and its role in understanding consumer behaviour. Chapter 3 focuses on the choice of WOM recommendation sources. Empirical research is presented which explores the influences on the choice over WOM recommendation sources. Finally, concluding remarks and recommendations for further research can be found in chapter 4. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction1 Chapter 2: Literature Review3 2.1Consumer Decision-Making3 2.1.1The Decision-Making Process4 2.1.1.1Problem [¿]

Inhaltsangabe:Zusammenfassung: Die Entwicklung der Managementlehre und deren Techniken, sowie Ansätze zur effizienten Führung und Koordination eines Unternehmens sind Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung. Es wurden im Lauf der Zeit viele verschiedene Konzepte entwickelt, die helfen sollen, eine Organisation wie eine Unternehmung zu erklären und zu verstehen, und die zu einer erfolgreichen Unternehmensleitung durch den Manager beitragen sollen. Die Darstellung einiger ausgewählter Ansätze in ihrer Entstehungsgeschichte, ihren Hauptaussagen und ihren wesentlichen Kritikpunkten, sowie die daraus resultierenden Konsequenzen für eine praktische Anwendung sind der Inhalt dieser Arbeit. Da eine große Anzahl von Theorien zum Thema Unternehmensführung existieren, ist es notwendig eine Eingrenzung der Themenbereiche vorzunehmen. Nachdem zunächst einige begriffliche Grundlagen, die im Verlauf der Arbeit regelmäßig verwendet werden, zur Erleichterung des Verständnisses aufgeführt werden, folgt ein kurzer historischer Überblick über die Entstehungsgeschichte des Managements. Danach werden die drei Hauptkonzepte vorgestellt: die Klassiker, die Neo-klassiker sowie die modernen Ansätze. Innerhalb der inhaltlichen Darstellung der einzelnen Hauptkonzepte wird neben deren Entstehungsgeschichte, ihrer Darstellung und ihren Kritikpunkten auch auf praktische Anwendungen im Management eingegangen. Außerdem sollen inhaltliche Verbindungen oder Unterschiede aufgezeigt werden. Eine Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse beschließt die Arbeit. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Inhaltsverzeichnis: InhaltsverzeichnisII AbkürzungsverzeichnisIV AbbildungsverzeichnisV 1.Einleitung1 1.1Problemstellung1 1.2Abgrenzung des Themas und Gang der Untersuchung1 2.Begriffliche Grundlagen2 2.1Management2 2.2Organisation2 3.Entstehung des Managements und der Managementlehre4 3.1Ökonomisch-gesellschaftlicher Hintergrund4 3.1.1Industrielle Revolution4 3.1.2Wandel der Produktionsformen5 3.1.3Konsequenzen der Industrialisierung6 3.2Etablierung des Fachs an den Hochschulen7 3.2.1Geschichtliche Entwicklung7 3.2.1.1Anglo-amerikanischer Raum7 3.2.1.2Deutschsprachiger Raum8 3.2.2Status und Einordnung des Fachs9 4.Die Entwicklung von Lehrmeinungen11 4.1Klassische Ansätze12 4.1.1Scientific Management12 4.1.2Administrativer Ansatz14 4.1.3Bürokratiemodell von Max Weber15 4.1.4Psychotechnik17 4.2Neo-klassische Ansätze18 4.2.1Brückenschlag durch Chester I. [¿]

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Although many firms may aspire to offer ?zero defects? service, the possibility of service failures cannot be wholly eliminated simply because of the variety of factors that may impact on the delivery process. Consequently, the manner in which firms respond to service failures is increasingly seen as a factor that may separate the more successful firms form the others. This response, termed service recovery, is defined as the process by which the firm attempts to rectify a service failure. Some researchers suggest that a firm?s response to failures can either reinforce customer relationships or exacerbate the negative effects of the failure. In fact, some assert that it is often a firm?s response to a failure, rather than the failure itself, that triggers discontent. Recoveries are critical because customers perceiving poor recovery efforts may dissolve the buyer-seller relationship and purchase elsewhere. Such customer turnover can be costly, especially given that it costs more to win new customers than it does to retain current ones. As a consequence, service failure and recovery encounters have been recognised as critical moments of truth for organisations in their efforts to satisfy and keep customers. Although there is a substantial literature on customer (dis)satisfaction and complaining behaviour, relatively little progress has been made in developing a theoretical understanding of how consumer evaluate a company?s response to service failure and recovery encounters. Using perceived justice theory as a conceptual foundation, the current research develops and tests a model that (1) explains how customers evaluate service failure and recovery encounters and (2) how these evaluations affect customer satisfaction and subsequent post-purchase behaviour and attitudes. The study employed a two-stage research strategy. The first phase of the research included an extensive literature review and exploratory research involving semi-structured interviews and experiments. This first stage resulted in the development of a research model establishing the links between the antecedents and outcomes of customer satisfaction judgments involving service failure and recovery encounters. In the second phase, the proposed conceptual model was evaluated through a self-administered, cross-sectional survey. Respondents were requested to recall a time when they complained to a travel and tourism services provider about a failed [¿]