Towards a Conceptual Model of Customer Satisfaction for Manufacturing Organizations and Presenting a Three-Phases Approach

The purpose of this research is to deepening the conventional superficial view to the customer satisfaction, providing three-phase approach to measure customer satisfaction within the process of customer satisfaction management, and then designing a conceptual model for the manufacturing organizations. The study is of kind of mixed method research. The proposed model in this study is designed after reviewing the literature and analysis of more than 35 models and frameworks and interviews with experts and professors; then to validate and modify the model, the two-round Delphi technique and quantitative methods including scrolling is utilized. The results of this research include developing a conceptual model with 5 dimensions and 25 components for assessing customer satisfaction in manufacturing organizations. Also, the study showed that the current practices of survey (questionnaire) do not have enough efficiency to measure customer satisfaction. The proposed three-phase approach of the present research is consisted of three phase: the initial phase (questionnaire), the middle phase (expert panels), and the final phase (field visits) which complement each other and they are provided within the customer satisfaction management process. The main pillars of customer satisfaction in the final model developed in this study are consisted of 5 dimensions of quality and innovation, service and support, cost and utility, customer loyalty and corporate image. This model is applicable for manufacturing organizations (product-oriented), which are mainly placed in the group of large organizations. The research new approach towards measuring and managing customer satisfaction leads to the idea of recreating the intellectual system and the dominant notion in the field of customer satisfaction in manufacturing organizations. The proposed approach can improve the assessing style and method of customer satisfaction management from traditional paradigm of reactive and unilateral relationship (passive single-way) to the richer paradigm of bilateral and active relationship (proactive two-ways). In fact, this study is conducted to shift and change the focus from the customer satisfaction numeric index to the customer active participation in improving the quality of products.