2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
ISBN : 9780974211428
Customer Service In Eastern Europe: Does it matter who is asked?
By:
Aaron Martin, Indiana Wesleyan University
Joshua R. Millage
Shawn M. Carraher
Sarah C. Carraher
June 27-28, 2012
Cambridge, UK
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For our research paper we decided to examine the importance of customer service for any
entrepreneur or small business owner in any location or field. Because “businesses, large or
small, industrial or retail, new or established, can't survive without customers.”1 And having
good customer service is essential for small businesses in gaining those customers. Also
discussed will be the need for small businesses to create life-time customers opposed to one-time
customers. No matter how trendy, efficient, or useful your product or service is, you will go
nowhere if your customers are not satisfied. And if your customers are not satisfied you can be
sure that you will not have too many customers.
Customer service seems to be a lost art in much of today’s business world. Many
companies seem to be “out of stock” when it comes to good customer service. But “customers
are smart enough to know it is not "out of stock" everywhere. Some company has what they are
looking for, and they will find it.”2 From personal experience I have seen companies more
concerned with cutting cost than the happiness of their customers. If owners would train their
employees in customer service, it could take their small business a long way. Customer service is
very valuable and becoming more of a rarity today. If more owners would apply the old rule,
“the customer is always right,” to their business plan, it would take their business and possible
the economy, a long way. This can be hard, because if small businesses are honest, there are
some times that the problem is caused solely by the customer. But if businesses want to have
good customer service they still must do all they can do to satisfy the customer. 3 In this research
paper we hope to explain why customer service is so important to small businesses and why
1
Customer Service: Back to the Basics
Customer Service – Out of Stock
3
Customer Service Can Reap Rich Rewards
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more owners of these businesses need to focus on this topic when determining how to treat
customers.
The first questions that must be answered when doing this research paper is “What is
good customer service?” and “What are some examples of good customer service?” Customer
service used to be defined simply as “the customer is always right,” but today some innovative
businesses are “doing their best to figure out what the customer wants and to provide it before
any questions or problems arise.”4 Some businesses today are even saying customer service isn’t
most important anymore! They believe that “customer service brings them in the store the first
time. Customer satisfaction brings them back."5 But for this paper we will assume that good
customer service equals customer satisfaction.
No discussed will be some general statistics from 2011 on the topic of customer service
in the business world. These statistics show just how important customer service still is, such as
the fact that even in this poor economy, 60% of customers will often or always pay more for a
better experience. This statistic really shows how much customer service is a lost art, because
people will actually pay more money for the same thing just to enjoy better customer service.
This is bad overall, but can be good if a small business owner is one of those businesses that
provides good customer service and can differentiate themselves in that way. This also explains
why “80% of firms would like to use customer experience as a form of differentiation.”6 Since
nobody is doing it anymore, it can be used to stand out in the crowd of small businesses. And
“81% of companies with strong capabilities and competencies for delivering customer
4
Leadership (A Special Report) Beyond Satisfaction
Customer Service Doesn’t Work Anymore
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http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
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experience excellence are outperforming their competition!”7 This means that customer service
can actually help small businesses earn more money and a higher percentage of the customer
base by being better than the competition
Another eye-opening statistic about customer service is that “70% of customer
experience management best in class adopters use customer feedback to make strategic decision.
50% of industry-average organizations and 29% of laggards do.”8 This means that the businesses
that are focusing on customer service are growing and adapting to the world better than those
businesses that do not focus on customer service. So if a small business wants to experience
growth, a good step to achieve this would be to work on having superior customer service.
Having good customer service is also a key way to gain and keep customers because “a
dissatisfied consumer will tell between 9 and 15 people about their experience.” And “for every
customer complaint, there are 26 other customers who have remained silent .”9 So if a small
business has poor customer service, the customer may will most likely tell many other people
about the experience, and not even let the business know!
The next staggering statistic is that “86% of consumers quit doing business with a
company because of a bad customer experience, up from 59% 4 years ago!” and “91% of
unhappy customers will not willingly do business with your organization again.”10
On average “It takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for one negative experience.”11
This is why first impressions are so important with new customers, because if a small business
7
http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
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http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
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http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
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owner messes up once, it takes a lot of time to make things right. And the fact that “attracting a
new customer costs 5 times as much as keeping an existing one” solidifies the importance of
creating life-long instead of one time customers. If small businesses are successful at creating
life-long customers due to customer service, they will enjoy the benefits, because “happy
customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4 to 6 people about their experience.”12
There are many things that can justify good customer service, but next I will simply
highlight eight rules that can be followed by small business owners to improve their customer
service. The first rule that a business owner can do is simply answer the phone when it rings.
When people call a business they want to “talk to a live person, not a fake recorded robot.”13 The
second rule that can be done to help insure good customer service is, “don’t make promises
unless you can keep them.”14 If a small business owner isn’t sure whether or not they can do
something by a deadline, they shouldn’t say that can. Nothing annoys customers more than a
broken promise. Customers would rather be told that a small business cannot do something than
they would want to be disappointed by a false promise.
The third rule is to actually “listen to your customers.”15 When customers talk, small
business workers need to listen and respond appropriately. This is especially true when the
customer has to interact with a worker. In these cases, “the interaction between customers and
service workers offers a potential means by which a firm can achieve true customer loyalty.”16
They need to respond by trying to fix the problem, not by ignoring what the customer says
completely. The previous idea ties into the fourth rule of good customer service which is to
11
http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
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8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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Journal of Service Management
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“deal with complaints.”17 Instead of saying that you can’t always please everybody, small
businesses need to have the attitude that they may be able to help each and every single
customer, or at least make a valiant effort to show that they tried their hardest. Even if a specific
problem of a customer cannot be resolved, and earnest effort to solve the problem looks a whole
lot better for a small business than not trying to do anything at all.
The fifth rule in having good customer service is that small business owners need to “be
helpful – even if there’s no immediate profit.”18 We found a true story that perfectly represents
why small businesses should do this, and how it could create profit later.
“The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the
small piece that clips the pieces of our watch band together. When I explained the
problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He
found it, attached it to our watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you
think I'll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many
people do you think I've told this story to?” - Susan Ward -
19
This type of thing can happen in any small business if they are helpful and provide good
customer service. Businesses must look for consistent long-term profit, and not be after shortterm one-time profit. The sixth rule to insure good customer service is to “train your staff (if you
have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.”20 A small business owner can be
very committed to having good customer service, but if they do not train their workers to be just
as concerned the business will not have good service. Entrepreneurs and small business owners
17
8 Rules for Good Customer Service
8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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need to train and re-train employees so they know how to handle almost any situation when a
customer needs assistance. One thing that small business owners never want is to have a worker
say that they cannot help a customer, but somebody else will be back soon that can. This looks
the employee and business as a whole look bad because of the lack of training provided.
The seventh rule for small businesses to follow to have good customer service is “take
the extra step.”21 Small businesses should never do the bare minimum to assist a customer, but
they should always go above and beyond the call of duty. Customers may not say so, but they
will notice and may share their experience with others. The eight and last rule to insure that a
small business has good customer service is to “throw in something extra.”22 This “extra” thing
does not have to be big; it just has to be genuine. Customers will always love to get more than
they thought they were getting, so doing this will greatly increase your value of customer
service. Following these eight steps to good customer service can greatly help small businesses
and “over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever
did!”23
Customer Service itself can be broken into three additional factors which are “emotions,
trust, and control.”24 These factors are the main things that determine how customers view and
think about small businesses. Focusing on these three factors will provide small businesses with
the “opportunities to shape new offerings that lead to more positive service results.”25 The first
thing discussed will be emotions, which “influence what we remember, how we score
21
8 Rules for Good Customer Service
8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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8 Rules for Good Customer Service
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MIT Sloan Management Review
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MIT Sloan Management Review
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encounters, and the decisions we make.”26 When small business are dealing with customers,
they need to be aware of the emotions that they make the customers feel. The desired emotions
are obviously positive ones such as a good surprise, happiness, or satisfaction. Workers should
try at all cost to avoid emotions such as anger, annoyance, or irritation. Small businesses must
realize that experience that are emotionally charged are remembered the most by the customers.
The next factor that must be focused on when dealing with having good customer service
is trust. It is very important for customers to be able to trust a small business because “trust is a
… variable that is essential to any robust and enduring relationship.”27 If a customer has no trust
in a business, they will never know what to expect or whether or not the workers of the business
will follow through with their promises. Without trust there is only negative feelings, but with
trust comes a sense of ease in the customer. The last factor that must be considered when dealing
with good customer service is control. Both the business and the customer needs to feel as if they
are in control of the circumstances of their interactions. Customers need to feel like they are in
control of what they want, and will be served the way they should be. And the business itself
needs to feel as if they have control over the knowledge needed to please the customer, and
control in the actions of pleasing the customers. Realizing the importance of three factors of
emotions, trust, and control can greatly increase a small business’s customer service.
Discussed next will be some more specific area of good customer service that can be used
to help an entrepreneur or small business owner improve their success as a business. The main
topics covered will include; gaining and keeping employees through good customer service,
differentiating through good customer service, and different forms and channels of good
26
27
MIT Sloan Management Review
MIT Sloan Management Review
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customer service. This will help show some of the benefits from customer service and why it
can help business owners and customers alike.
First focused on will be how to gain and keep customers through good customer service.
Small businesses who can “provide high-quality customer service without compromise have two
things the business world envies: dedicated, trustworthy employees and loyal, satisfied
customers.”28 A small business with “good customer service keeps customers coming back,
(but) bad customer service drives the customers away, taking their friends, family and
workmates with them.”29 Good customer service can become a methodology that small business
owners use to create life-long customers from the people that they interact with. This is “a
process that begins with the customer’s favorable assessment of service quality; continues with
positive feelings toward the establishment; and ends with loyalty behavior, including repeat
purchases and favorable recommendations.”30
The first part of this process is having a good first impression like previously discussed.
This can make or break a small businesses opportunity to have a good long-term relationship
with a customer. If a business can start out on the right foot with customers it can have a long
lasting effect on how the customer views that business. Next the customer must continue to feel
as though they are being served well. It cannot just be a one-time thing; the small business must
consistently practice good customer service. If this happens the customer will be satisfied and
pleased with the good or service they received. This will cause them to tell others of the good
experience and recommend the business that proved them with such good service. The small
business or entrepreneur that has good customer service will gain a loyal customer, and some
28
Customer Service: Back to the Basics
Customer Service Management - Turning Customer Loyalty into Profitability
30
Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
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free marketing from that customer as they share their positive experience when interacting with
your business with others.
“Treating customers well is a given for successful service brands, but some major
companies believe it is enough to differentiate them from rivals.”31 So the next thing discussed
will be how providing good customer service can help small businesses positively differentiate
themselves in today’s economy. Good “customer service is a key differentiator between good,
bad and indifferent companies.”32 It is important for small businesses to differentiate themselves
through good customer service, because “providing quality service leads to competitive
advantage, organizational growth, and enhanced profitability!”33 Especially “in an increasingly
competitive global arena, the quality and value of customer service can give an organization its
competitive edge.”34 Having good customer service will really stand out to the people who
interact with a small business, and leave them wanting more business from that location.
In this study we examine the customer service of small food entrepreneurs in Eastern
Europe and various types of customer service oriented performance.
METHOD
Subjects
The data for this study is drawn from 177 Eastern European food entrepreneurs. The
sample consisted of 57.1% males and 42.9% females. Their average age was 32 (SD = 20.54).
Instruments
31
Customer Service is not a Strategy
Customer Service Management - Turning Customer Loyalty into Profitability
33
Allied Academies International Conference, Academy of Information and Management Sciences
34
Great Expectations: Improving Customer Service
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The primary instrument utilized was the customer service selection instrument developed
by McBride (1988, 1997; McBride, Mendoza, & Carraher, 1997) as modified by Carraher and
associates (1998), with the modifications having been recommended by McBride et al. (1997).
Results of the principal components analyses supported the five dimensional solutions for this
sample. Due to problems with the use of coefficient alpha reliability estimates (Sethi & Carraher,
1993), limited information factor analysis as suggested by Schoenfeldt and Mendoza (1994) was
employed before calculating alphas. These ranged from .74 (openness to experience) to .86
(extraversion). Carraher and associates (2002) found the six-month, test-retest reliability
estimates to range from .73 (openness to experience) to .84 (extroversion).
In addition to demographic items, many of the questions contained in the inventory
consisted of experiential, attitudinal, and behaviorally-based items (e.g. "When you were a
member of a small group, how much do you participate? How comfortable are you in new places
and situations?”). A five-point Likert scale was utilized.
Performance was measured on the job. Three trained raters evaluated the performance of
each respondent in order to allow a comparison in the ratings. Each of the raters had graduate
training in psychology and assessments and received additional training in order to accurately
and consistently identify differing levels of service-oriented performance. Additionally
individuals were asked to rate their own levels of customer service, their customers were asked
to rate them, and their competitors were asked to rate them.
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Results
Key:
Extnew - Extroversion
Connew - Conscientiousness
Esnew - Emotional Stability
Agnew - Agreeableness
Oenew - Openness To Experience
Table 1 Coefficientsa
Model
1
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
B
Beta
Std. Error
t
Sig.
4.806
.000
(Constant) 1.065
.221
extnew
.038
.063
.041
.612
.541
connew
.143
.043
.185
3.312
.001
esnew
.082
.046
.111
1.768
.079
agnew
.329
.065
.424
5.044
.000
oenew
.135
.050
.199
2.696
.008
2
a. Dependent Variable: Service Oriented Performance R = .769 R =.592 F =
48.14 Sig = .0000001
This table is showing what aspects are most important to good customer service
according to professionals. Professionals in rating customer service conclude that
Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience are statistically significant. This
means that they believe that businesses that are good in these areas will be more likely to have
good customer service.
Table 2 Coefficientsa
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Model
1
ISBN : 9780974211428
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
B
Beta
Std. Error
t
Sig.
1.507
.134
(Constant) .691
.458
extnew
.363
.129
.266
2.807
.006
connew
.305
.089
.269
3.424
.001
esnew
-.004
.095
-.004
-.044
.965
agnew
.040
.135
.035
.300
.765
oenew
-.008
.104
-.008
-.074
.941
a. Dependent Variable: Service Orientation Self Ratings R = .438 R2 = .192 F =
7.919 Sig. = .000
This table is showing the most important characteristics of good customer service
according to the business itself. The business’s self-rating concludes that Extroversion and
Conscientiousness are statistically significant. This means that when businesses look at
themselves, they think these are the most important characteristics when focusing on having
good customer service.
Table 3 Coefficientsa
Model
1
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
B
Beta
Std. Error
t
Sig.
1.905
.058
(Constant) .823
.432
extnew
.001
.122
.001
.007
.994
connew
-.021
.084
-.018
-.247
.805
esnew
.087
.090
.077
.969
.334
agnew
.311
.127
.260
2.437
.016
oenew
.347
.098
.332
3.541
.001
2
a. Dependent Variable: Service Orientation Customer Ratings R = .583 R = .34 F
= 17.23 Sig = .0000001
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This table is showing what the actually customers see as the most important areas for
businesses to focus on when trying to achieve good customer service. The customer ratings show
that Agreeableness and Openness to Experience are both statistically significant. This means that
the customers think that businesses need to be agreeable and open to new experiences in order to
have good customer service.
Table 4 Coefficientsa
Model
1
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
B
Beta
Std. Error
t
Sig.
8.224
.000
(Constant) 1.956
.238
extnew
-.141
.067
-.155
-2.101
.037
connew
.028
.046
.036
.596
.552
esnew
.057
.050
.080
1.159
.248
agnew
.493
.070
.646
7.022
.000
oenew
.091
.054
.137
1.692
.093
2
a. Dependent Variable: Customer Service Competition R = .713 R = .509 F =
34.564 Sig. = .0000001
This table is showing what competing businesses think is most important for their
competitors to have good customer service. They show that Agreeableness is positively
statistically significant, but extroversion is negatively statistically significant due to a negative tscore. This means that the competitors believe that being agreeable will be beneficial and lead to
good customer service, but being extroverted may be detrimental to business and cause bad
customer service.
Table 5 Correlations
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Prof
Prof
ISBN : 9780974211428
self
Cust
Comp
Pearson Correlation 1
.577**
.791**
.897**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
.000
N
172
172
172
**
Self
Pearson Correlation .577
1
.337**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
N
172
177
176
**
**
Cust
Pearson Correlation .791
.337
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
N
172
176
176
**
**
Comp Pearson Correlation .897
.432
.664**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
.000
N
172
175
174
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
172
.432**
.000
175
.664**
.000
174
1
175
As can be seen in Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 not only are there varying amounts of variance
explained by the personality variables the various “measures” of customer service were not
surrogates for one another. In order for them to serve as true surrogates, requires that the
correlations be .9 or above. The closest to this level is the correlation between the ratings by the
professionals and the ratings by the competition however the variables seen as being influential
did not agree with one another.
Future research and discussion
Future research will help truly reveal the most important characteristics for businesses to
focus on when trying to have good customer service.
There are four main ways that small businesses can outshine their competition when it
comes to good customer service. The first way that small businesses can differentiate
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themselves is “determine what makes (the) offer special.”35 This will include research of the
small business’s competition and what they are doing in regards to customer service. Then that
small business owner needs to take a look at what he or she is doing, and determine how they can
provide better customer service. This could involve improving what the business is already
doing, coming up with new ideas, or just simply going above and beyond what is expected by the
customer.
Determining how to have better customer service than competition could also mean
making a list ideas, which leads to the second way small businesses can create a competitive
advantage which is to “study the customer service ideas on (their) list and examine their
feasibility.”36 This could also tie in to only making promises when it is known that they can be
kept. If there is an idea to improve customer service, but the small business owner or workers are
not sure whether or not it can always be guaranteed, it should be dropped from consideration. If
a small business truly wants to differentiate itself from the competition, their guarantees must
follow through one-hundred percent of the time.
Once a small business tests the feasibility of its different ideas, the owner must “choose
one or two of your shiny customer service ideas and implement them.”37 Implementing them can
mean more than just doing them. Small businesses owners need to make these “shiny ideas”
known to their workers, and especially known to their customers. This can be done by putting the
customer service guarantees on ads, catalogues, up in the store, or simply letting customers know
when they enter the business. And it is also important to just choose one or two and do them very
35
4 Ways To Provide Customer Service That Outshines Your Competitors
4 Ways To Provide Customer Service That Outshines Your Competitors
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4 Ways To Provide Customer Service That Outshines Your Competitors
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well. It is hard to have numerous ideas and implement them all effectively. Small businesses
need to simply choose one or two and implement those customer service ideas perfectly.
The fourth and last thing that small businesses can do to differentiate themselves from
competition is “stay proactive and keep gathering customer service ideas.”38 Customers’ tastes
and preferences can and will change with the times, so small business owners and their workers
must stay on top of this. Customer service techniques cannot be stagnant, because life is not
stagnant. In order for a business to successfully differentiate itself though customer service, it
must be innovative in the ideas and techniques to create good customer service. Following these
four things can help any small business differentiate itself from the competition through good
customer service.
The different channels and forms of communication and interaction that good customer
service can be utilized through will now be focused on. Recently “there has been growth in
customer contact services, that is, personal communication channels such as face-to-face, mail,
phone and the web that impact on the way a customer may interact with a business.”39 This
growth of different points of contact can help give small businesses more opportunities to be
proactive in their interactions and responsiveness to customers. But they must also realize that
“technological service provision cannot substitute for personnel who listen, empathize, reassure,
solve problems and meet individual customer requests.”40 Next, some of the actually channels
that good customer service can be utilized will be looked at.
The most obvious channel of customer service is face-to-face, in the store contact. This is
the most frequent place that the opportunity arises to have good customer service. This involves
38
4 Ways To Provide Customer Service That Outshines Your Competitors
European Journal of Marketing
40
Mt Eliza Business Review
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the owner or workers of a small business actually interacting with customers to help meet needs
or solve issues. Another channel of customer service which is being used less and less
frequently is mailing. This can be used to send out customer response surveys, or simply give out
thanks for recent purchases or heads up on special deals. The next form of customer service
discussed will be the communication channel of the phone. This is a part of customer service that
can have some serious negative value to customers if not done right. Customers do not want to
talk to a robot, they want a human. Small businesses need to actually have helpful workers that
can answer the phone and answer questions or complaints as needed.
The last form and channel that customer service can be used through is over the web.
This can consist of a few things. One is email, where customers can email a company with a
question or complaint, and they can respond quickly and informatively. And a huge area of focus
for customer service in recent years would be social media. Facebook and Twitter can be huge
opportunities for small businesses to differentiate themselves. They can connect with customers
directly through the website, and answer questions or resolve issues as needed. These types of
websites have become more and more popular in recent years, and need to be utilized by small
businesses as a source to have good customer service. There are not many small businesses that
use social media either, so it can also be a significant way for business to differentiate
themselves in the market.
Future research should continue to explain differences in the sources of data and allow
us to better understand the customer orientation construct.
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(1994)
Babu, K Sharath; Kumar, B Raj; Synergy 8.2; Customer Service Management - Turning
Customer
Loyalty into Profitability; (Jul 2010): p. 93-98.
Bakker, Arnold; Gracia, Esther, Grau, Rosa; Cornell Hospitality Quarterly; Nov. 2011, Vol. 52
Issue 4, p. 458-465.
Bove, Liliana; Johnson, Lester; Journal of Service Management 11. 5 (2000): p. 491-511.
Buckley, M.R., Carraher, S.M., Carraher, S.C., Ferris, G.R., & Carraher, C.E. (2008). Human
resource issues in global entrepreneurial high technology firms: Do they differ? Journal
of Applied Management & Entrepreneurship, 13 (1), 4-14.
Buckley, M., Fedor, D., Veres, J., Wiese, D., & Carraher, S.M. (1998). Investigating newcomer
expectations and job-related outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 452-461.
Buckley, M., Mobbs, T., Mendoza, J., Novicevic, M., Carraher, S.M., & Beu, D. (2002).
Implementing realistic job previews and expectation lowering procedures: A field
experiment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61 (2), 263-278.
Carland, J. & Carland, J. (1993). The role of personality in new venture creation.
Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Change, 2(2), 129-141.
Carland, J & Carland, J. (1995). The case of the reluctant client. Journal of the International
Academy for Case Studies, 1(2), 76-79.
Carland, J. & Carland, J. (1997). A model of potential entrepreneurship: Profiles and
educational implications. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 8 (1), 1-13.
Carland, J. & Carland, J. (2003). Pawn takes queen: The strategic gameboard in entrepreneurial
firms. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 2, 93-104.
Carland, J. & Carland, J. (2004). Economic development: Changing the policy to support
entrepreneurship. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 10(2), 104-114.
Carland, J. & Carland, J. (2006). Eminent domain: What happens when the state takes part of
your land? The Entrepreneurial Executive, 11, 95-113.
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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
ISBN : 9780974211428
Carland, J.A.C., & Carland, J.W. (1991). An empirical investigation into the distinctions
between male and female entrepreneurs managers. International Small Business Journal,
9 (3), 62-72.
Carland, J.A., Carland, J.W., & Stewart, W.H. (1996). Seeing what’s not there: The enigma of
entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business Strategy 7 (1), 1-20.
Carland, J., Carland, J.A., & Abhy, C. (1989). An assessment of the psychological determinants
of planning in small businesses. International Small Business Journal, 23-34.
Carland, J., Carland, J., & Carland, J. (1995). Self-actualization: The zenith of
entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 30-39.
Carland, J.W., Carland, J.A., & Hoy, F. (1992). An entrepreneurship index: An empirical
validation. Babson Entrepreneurship Conference, Fontainebleau, France.
Carland, J.W., Carland, J.A., Hoy, F., & Boulton, W.R. (1988). Distinctions between
entrepreneurial and small business ventures. International Journal of Management, 5 (1),
98-103.
Carland, J.W. III, Carland, J.W., Carland, J.A., & Pearce, J.W. (1995). Risk taking propensity
among entrepreneurs, small business owners and managers. Journal of Business and
Entrepreneurship, 7 (1), 12-23.
Carland, J.W., Hoy, F., Boulton, W.R., & Carland, J.A.C. (1984). Differentiating entrepreneurs
from small business owners: A conceptualization. Academy of Management Review, 9
(2), 354-359.
Carland, J.W., Hoy, F., & Carland, J.A.C. (1988). Who is an entrepreneur? is the wrong
question. American Journal of Small Business 12 (4), 33-39.
Carraher, S.M. (1991). A validity study of the pay satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ). Educational
and Psychological Measurement, 51, 491-495.
Carraher, S.M. (1991). On the dimensionality of the pay satisfaction questionnaire.
Psychological Reports, 69, 887-890.
Carraher, S.M. (2005). An Examination of entrepreneurial orientation: A validation study in 68
countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. International Journal of Family
Business, 2 (1), 95-100.
Carraher, S.M. (2008).
Youth entrepreneurship:
Strategic exercises for developing
entrepreneurship among elementary school students. International Journal of Family
Business, 5 (1), 67-68.
Carraher, S.M. (2008). Using E-Bay to teach global and technological entrepreneurship.
International Journal of Family Business, 5 (1), 63-64.
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Cambridge, UK
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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
ISBN : 9780974211428
Carraher, S.M. & Buckley, M. R. (1996). Cognitive complexity and the perceived
dimensionality of pay satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81 (1), 102-109.
Carraher, S.M. & Buckley, M.R. (2008). Attitudes towards benefits and behavioral intentions
and their relationship to Absenteeism, Performance, and Turnover among nurses.
Academy of Health Care Management Journal, 4 (2), 89-109.
Carraher, S.M., Buckley, M.R., & Carraher, C. (2002). Cognitive complexity with employees
from entrepreneurial financial information service organizations and educational
institutions: An extension & replication looking at pay, benefits, and leadership.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 1, 43-56.
Carraher, S.M., Buckley, M. & Cote, J.
(1999). Multitrait-multimethod information
management: Global strategic analysis issues. Global Business & Finance Review, 4 (2),
29-36.
Carraher, S.M., Buckley, M., & Cote, J. (2000). Strategic entrepreneurialism in analysis: Global
problems in research. Global Business & Finance Review, 5 (2), 77-86.
Carraher, S.M., Buckley, M., Scott., C., Parnell, J., & Carraher, C. (2002). Customer service
selection in a global entrepreneurial information services organization. Journal of
Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 7 (2), 45-55.
Carraher, S.M. & Carraher, S.C. (2006). Human resource issues among SME’s in Eastern
Europe: A 30 month study in Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine. International Journal of
Entrepreneurship. 10, 97-108.
Carraher, S.M., Carraher, S.C., & Mintu-Wimsatt, A. (2005). Customer service management in
Western and Central Europe: A concurrent validation strategy in entrepreneurial
financial information services organizations. Journal of Business Strategies, 22, 41-54.
Carraher, S.M., Carraher, S.C., & Whitely, W. (2003). Global entrepreneurship, income, and
work norms: A seven country study. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 9, 31-42.
Carraher, S.M., Gibson, J. W., & Buckley, M.R. (2006). Compensation satisfaction in the
Baltics and the USA. Baltic Journal of Management, 1 (1), 7-23.
Carraher, S.M., Mendoza, J, Buckley, M, Schoenfeldt, L & Carraher, C. (1998). Validation of an
instrument to measure service orientation. Journal of Quality Management, 3, 211-224.
Carraher, S.M. & Parnell, J. (2008). Customer service during peak (in season) and non-peak
(off season) times: A multi-country (Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United
States) examination of entrepreneurial tourist focused core personnel. International
Journal of Entrepreneurship, 12, 39-56.
Carraher, S.M., Parnell, J., Carraher, S.C., Carraher, C., & Sullivan, S. (2006). Customer
service, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance:
A study in health care
organizations in Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the USA.
Journal of Applied Management & Entrepreneurship, 11 (4), 33-48.
June 27-28, 2012
Cambridge, UK
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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
ISBN : 9780974211428
Carraher, S.M., Parnell, J., & Spillan, J. (2009). Customer service-orientation of small retail
business owners in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, and
Slovenia. Baltic Journal of Management, 4 (3), 251-268.
Carraher, S.M., Scott, C., & Carraher, S.C. (2004). A comparison of polychronicity levels
among small business owners and non business owners in the U.S., China, Ukraine,
Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Mexico. International Journal of Family Business, 1 (1),
97-101.
Carraher, S.M. & Sullivan, S. (2003). Employees’ contributions to quality: An examination of
the Service Orientation Index within entrepreneurial organizations. Global Business &
Finance Review, 8 (1) 103-110.
Carraher, S.M., Sullivan, S. & Carraher, S.C. (2005). An examination of the stress experience
by entrepreneurial expatriate health care professionals working in Benin, Bolivia,
Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Paraguay, South Africa, and Zambia.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 9 , 45-66.
Carraher, S.M., Sullivan, S.E., & Crocitto, M. (2008). Mentoring across global boundaries: An
empirical examination of home- and host-country mentors on expatriate career outcomes.
Journal of International Business Studies, 39 (8), 1310-1326.
Carraher, S.M. & Welsh, D.H.B. (2009). Global Entrepreneurship. Dubuque, IA: Kendall
Hunt Publishing.
Carraher, S.M. & Whitely, W.T. (1998). Motivations for work and their influence on pay across
six countries. Global Business and Finance Review, 3, 49-56.
Chait, H., Carraher, S.M., & Buckley, M. (2000). Measuring service orientation with biodata.
Journal of Managerial Issues, 12, 109-120.
Crocitto, M., Sullivan, S.E. & Carraher, S.M. (2005). Global mentoring as a means of career
development and knowledge creation: A learning based framework and agenda for future
research. Career Development International, 10 (6/7), 522-535.
Dasu, Sriram; Chase, Richard; MIT Sloan Management Review 52. 1 (Fall 2010): p. 33-39.
Dunham, Kemba; Wall Street Journal [New York, N.Y] Leadership (A Special Report); Beyond
Satisfaction: What is customer service, anyway? And how do you measure it? 30 Oct. 2006: p. 4.
Funston, Rick; CMA Magazine 66.3, Great Expectations: Improving Customer Service (Apr
1992): p. 24-28.
Gray, Robert; Marketing, Customer Service is not a Strategy; (Jul 21, 2004)
Heaton, Mack. Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News 223.10; Customer Service – Out
of Stock (Nov 8, 2004)
June 27-28, 2012
Cambridge, UK
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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
ISBN : 9780974211428
Huang, L.Y. & Carraher, S. (2004). How effective are expatriate management and guanxi
networks: Evidence from Chinese Industries. International Journal of Family Business,
1 (1), 1-23 .
Lockwood, F., Teasley, R., Carland, J.A.C., & Carland, J.W. (2006). An examination of the
power of the dark side of entrepreneurship. International Journal of Family Business, 3,
1-20.
Lorenzo, Lori; Foley, Scott; Dipp, Jackie; Lane, Samuel; Le, Minh; Allied Academies
International Conference, Academy of Information and Management Sciences,
Proceedings 14.1. (2010): p. 49-53.
Office Solutions 17.12; Customer Service: Back to the Basics; (Dec 2000): p. 46-47.
Paridon, T. & Carraher, S.M. (2009). Entrepreneurial marketing: Customer shopping value and
patronage behavior. Journal of Applied Management & Entrepreneurship, 14 (2), 3-28.
Paridon, T., Carraher, S.M., & Carraher, S.C. (2006). The income effect in personal shopping
value, consumer self-confidence, and information sharing (word of mouth
communication) research. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 10 (2), 107-124.
Raphel, Murray; Direct Marketing 55.3; Customer Service Doesn’t Work Anymore (Jul 1992)
Scarpello, V. & Carraher, S. M. (2008). Are pay satisfaction and pay fairness the same
construct? A cross country examination among the self-employed in Latvia, Germany,
the U.K., and the U.S.A. Baltic Journal of Management, 3 (1), 23-39.
Sethi, V. & Carraher, S.M. (1993). Developing measures for assessing the organizational
impact of information technology: A comment on Mahmood & Soon's paper. Decision
Science, 24, 867-877.
Spencer-Matthews, Sarah; Lawley, Meredith; European Journal of Marketing 40. Improving
customer service: issues in customer contact management (2006): p. 218-232.
Stewart, W., Watson, W., Carland, J.C., & Carland, J.W. (1999). A proclivity for
entrepreneurship: A comparison of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and corporate
managers. Journal of Business Venturing, 14, 189-214.
Sturman, M.C. & Carraher, S.M. (2007). Using a Random-effects model to test differing
conceptualizations of multidimensional constructs. Organizational Research Methods, 10
(1), 108-135.
Sullivan, S.E., Forret, M., Carraher, S.M., & Mainiero, L. (2009). Using the kaleidoscope
career model to examine generational differences in work attitudes. Career Development
International, 14 (3), 284-302.
Walker, Rhett; Johnson, Lester; Mt Eliza Business Review 7.2, Managing the customer-service
provider relationship with technology-enabled services; (Summer 2004-Autumn 2005)
June 27-28, 2012
Cambridge, UK
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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
ISBN : 9780974211428
Ward, Susan; 8 Rules for Good Customer Service, Good Customer Service Made Simple; Small
Business Canada
Ward, Susan; 4 Ways To Provide Customer Service That Outshines Your Competitors; Small
Business Canada
Williams, M.L., Brower, H.H., Ford, L.R., Williams, L.J., & Carraher, S.M. (2008). A
comprehensive model and measure of compensation satisfaction. Journal of
Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 81 (4), 639-668.
http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
http://www.daniellemacinnis.com/customer-insight/how-much-do-you-care-about-yourcustomers-show-me-the-love/
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