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Abstract
Achieving a high level of customer orientation is an important organizational goal.Past research indicates that customer orientation is related to positive outcomes for the firm. Customer orientation has typically been measured by self-reports from service employees. Customer orientation has been shown to have a positive impact on performance. Improving customer satisfaction has been identified as one of the major challenges in the whole construction industry in the recent decade. Customer satisfaction has gained very much attention in the last few decades in all areas of production. Innovation management and customer orientation have been widely recognized as key factors in enhancingthe business performance.
Keywords:Customer orientation, customer Satisfaction, customer loyalty, innovation
1. Introduction
Customers are often seen as the basis of a company's profitability (21,22,44). This has led to acustomer-centric view in marketing theory as well as in practice. The efficientallocation of limited resources to maximize value requires focusing on relationshiporientedcustomers and strong, long-lasting customer retention (48).According to Grönroos (1990), customerperceived service quality has two dimensions:the functional dimension (process), which denotes "how" in the customer-sellerinteraction and the technical dimension (outcome), which relates to "what" in theactual service provision. Evidence supports the notion that service management isconcerned with not only the technical but also the functional quality (20,28,45). Kang and James (2004)found that the technical and functional dimensions of service quality are bothimportant predictors of customer satisfaction. Lassar et al. (2000) reported that bothdimensions influence overall satisfaction, although they found stronger evidence forthe effect of functional quality.Improving customer satisfaction has been identified as one of the major challenges in the whole construction industry in the recent decade. A number of reports have highlighted the need for a change, greater efficiency and stronger client focus in the construction industry (13). It is stated that improved contractor performance leads to increased customer satisfaction and improvement in the reputation of contractors and, hence, their competitiveness in the market (56).Pinto and Rouhiainen (2001) define a shiftin customer focus from striving to maximize the company's profits in a project by optimizing the utilisation of the company's resources in order to attain a goal of superior service to the customer towards maximizing the value of the customer's project by meeting the goals mutually agreed upon.
Customer orientation has been shown to have...