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The Customer Contact Model for Organization Design

Author

Listed:
  • Richard B. Chase

    (University of Arizona)

  • David A. Tansik

    (University of Arizona)

Abstract

The literature on organization design has been dominated by descriptive models in its dealing with structure and operations. This paper takes an alternative view advocating the use of a normative model to be used in the design of service organizations. This model sees the extent of customer contact with the service organization as a major variable affecting system performance and advocates reconfiguring the structure of the service organization to reflect this impact. The discussion describes a taxonomy used to classify firms along the contact dimension and develops 13 propositions which convey critical distinctions between high and low contact services. Application of the model for managerial decision making involves the use of decoupling and the paper identifies factors which favor/disfavor decoupling in light of existing and desired service delivery objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard B. Chase & David A. Tansik, 1983. "The Customer Contact Model for Organization Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(9), pages 1037-1050, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:29:y:1983:i:9:p:1037-1050
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.29.9.1037
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    Cited by:

    1. Schipper, Lisette & Luijkx, Katrien & Meijboom, Bert & Schols, Jos, 2015. "The 3 A's of the access process to long-term care for elderly: Providers experiences in a multiple case study in the Netherlands," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 17-25.
    2. Luv Sharma & Aravind Chandrasekaran & Elliot Bendoly, 2020. "Does the Office of Patient Experience Matter in Improving Delivery of Care?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 833-855, April.
    3. Shu-Hua Chien & Jyh-jye Chen, 2008. "Supplier involvement and customer involvement effect on new product development success in the financial service industry," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 185-201, February.
    4. Atkinson, Mariam K. & Saghafian, Soroush, 2019. "Who Should See the Patient? On Discretionary Patient-Provider Assignments in Hospitals," Working Paper Series rwp19-037, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    5. Krishnan S. Anand & M. Faz{i}l Paç & Senthil Veeraraghavan, 2011. "Quality-Speed Conundrum: Trade-offs in Customer-Intensive Services," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(1), pages 40-56, January.
    6. John Levesque & Cédric Dalmasso & Sophie Hooge, 2022. "Understanding the Impacts of Digital Transformation in the Service Industry: the Mutation of the Back-Office Function in the Insurance Sector," Post-Print hal-04068150, HAL.
    7. Quynh Duong Phuong & Aki Harima, 2019. "The impact of cultural values on Vietnamese ethnic entrepreneurs in Germany," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 15(2), pages 85-116.
    8. Ryan W. Buell & Tami Kim & Chia-Jung Tsay, 2017. "Creating Reciprocal Value Through Operational Transparency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1673-1695, June.
    9. Boon-itt, Sakun & Wong, Chee Yew & Wong, Christina W.Y., 2017. "Service supply chain management process capabilities: Measurement development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Lee, Lorraine S. & Fiedler, Kirk D. & Smith, Jeffery S., 2008. "Radio frequency identification (RFID) implementation in the service sector: A customer-facing diffusion model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 587-600, April.
    11. Mackelprang, Alan W. & Jayaram, Jayanth & Xu, Kefeng, 2012. "The influence of types of training on service system performance in mass service and service shop operations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 183-194.
    12. Cho, Woohyun & Windle, Robert J. & Dresner, Martin E., 2017. "The impact of operational exposure and value-of-time on customer choice: Evidence from the airline industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 455-471.
    13. de Blok, Carolien & Meijboom, Bert & Luijkx, Katrien & Schols, Jos, 2013. "The human dimension of modular care provision: Opportunities for personalization and customization," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 16-26.
    14. Karim Ullah & Wafi Al-Karaghouli & Shafiullah Jan, 2017. "Collaborative Islamic Banking Service: The Case of Ijarah," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(2), pages 187-202, June.
    15. Chowdhury, Sanjib & Miles, Grant, 2006. "Customer-induced uncertainty in predicting organizational design: Empirical evidence challenging the service versus manufacturing dichotomy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 121-129, January.
    16. Richard Reed & Susan Storrud-Barnes, 2009. "Systematic performance differences across the manufacturing-service continuum," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 3(4), pages 319-339, December.
    17. Cruz-Ros, Sonia & Gonzalez-Cruz, Tomas F., 2015. "Service firm capabilities and performance: Contingent analysis of customer contact," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1612-1621.
    18. Ryan W. Buell & Tami Kim & Chia-Jung Tsay, 2014. "Creating Reciprocal Value Through Operational Transparency," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-115, Harvard Business School, revised Sep 2015.
    19. Vasiliki Kostami & Sampath Rajagopalan, 2014. "Speed–Quality Trade-Offs in a Dynamic Model," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 104-118, February.
    20. Liu, Zuoming & Jayaraman, Vaidy & Luo, Yadong, 2017. "The unbalanced indirect effects of task characteristics on performance in professional service outsourcing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 281-293.
    21. Sofia Salgado Pinto, 2008. "THE SPECIFICATION of HIGH INTERACTION SERVICE PROCESSES," Working Papers de Gestão (Management Working Papers) 022008, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    22. Saccani, N. & Johansson, P. & Perona, M., 2007. "Configuring the after-sales service supply chain: A multiple case study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1-2), pages 52-69, October.
    23. Jingjun (David) Xu & Izak Benbasat & Ronald T. Cenfetelli, 2014. "Research Note ---The Influences of Online Service Technologies and Task Complexity on Efficiency and Personalization," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 420-436, June.

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