Marrying service providers and their clients: A relationship approach to services management

The synthesis presented in this paper highlights growing recognition of commitment as a predictor of successful long‐term relationships between service providers and their clients. This paper explores the concept of commitment, its various components such as service value, investments and alternatives, and determines its potential as a powerful relationship measurement tool. Commitment incorporates and overtakes quality and value as the primary concern of service managers. These developments are illustrated by changes taking place in the legal services market.

[1]  F. Dwyer,et al.  Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships: , 1987 .

[2]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: Implications , 1994 .

[3]  H. Kelley,et al.  The social psychology of groups , 1960 .

[4]  H. Håkansson International Marketing and Purchasing of Industrial Goods: An Interaction Approach , 1982 .

[5]  Yoram Wind,et al.  Industrial Source Loyalty , 1970 .

[6]  M. Cunningham,et al.  Source loyalty in the freight transport market , 1976 .

[7]  H. Becker Notes on the Concept of Commitment , 1960, American Journal of Sociology.

[8]  F. Webster The Changing Role of Marketing in the Corporation , 1992 .

[9]  D. Maister Managing the Professional Service Firm , 1997 .

[10]  David T. Wilson,et al.  Interaction and Network Approach to Business Marketing: A Review and Evaluation , 1995 .

[11]  D. Ford Understanding business markets : interaction, relationships and networks , 1997 .

[12]  Martin Christopher,et al.  Relationship Marketing: Bringing Quality, Customer Service and Marketing Together , 1993 .

[13]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[14]  D. Ford The Development of Buyer‐Seller Relationships in Industrial Markets , 1980 .

[15]  Barton A. Weitz,et al.  The Use of Pledges to Build and Sustain Commitment in , 1992 .

[16]  Jan B. Heide,et al.  ALLIANCES IN INDUSTRIAL PURCHASING - THE DETERMINANTS OF JOINT ACTION IN BUYER-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS , 1990 .

[17]  James A. Narus,et al.  A Model of Distributor Firm and Manufacturer Firm Working Partnerships , 1990 .

[18]  R. Duncan Characteristics of Organizational Environments and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty. , 1972 .

[19]  Ruth N. Bolton,et al.  A Multistage Model of Customers' Assessments of Service Quality and Value , 1991 .

[20]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension , 1992 .

[21]  G. Schwartz,et al.  Love and Commitment , 1980 .

[22]  James B. Wilcox,et al.  True vendor loyalty or simply repeat purchase behavior , 1977 .

[23]  O. Williamson Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations , 1979, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[24]  C. Lovelock Classifying Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights , 1983 .

[25]  Keith G. Provan,et al.  Embeddedness, Interdependence, and Opportunism in Organizational Supplier-Buyer Networks , 1993 .

[26]  V. Zeithaml Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence: , 1988 .

[27]  W. Mobley,et al.  An evaluation of precursors of hospital employee turnover. , 1978, The Journal of applied psychology.

[28]  R. Teas,et al.  Expectations as a Comparison Standard in Measuring Service Quality: An Assessment of a Reassessment , 1994 .

[29]  C. Rusbult American Psychological Association, Inc. A Longitudinal Test of the Investment Model: The Development (and Deterioration) of Satisfaction and Commitment in Heterosexual Involvements , 2022 .

[30]  Wesley J. Johnston,et al.  Relationship management: Managing the selling and the buying interface , 1986 .

[31]  Robert E. Spekman Strategic supplier selection: Understanding long-term buyer relationships , 1988 .

[32]  J. Carlzon Moments of Truth , 1987 .

[33]  V. Mummalaneni The influence of a close personal relationship between the buyer and the seller on the continued stability of their role relationship , 1987 .

[34]  David Ford,et al.  Buyer/seller relationships in international industrial markets , 1984 .

[35]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Evaluating service encounters: The effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. , 1990 .

[36]  O. Williamson Credible Commitments: Using Hostages to Support Exchange , 1983 .

[37]  Kenneth L. Bernhardt,et al.  Comments on Christian Grönroos' Strategic management and marketing in the service sector , 1984 .

[38]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research , 1985 .

[39]  Ian R. Macneil The new social contract: An inquiry into modern contractual relations , 1980 .

[40]  J. Carman Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions , 1990 .