CREATING SUSTAINABLE SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE POST-MODERN CONTEXT A case study of Svenska Handelsbanken

Abstract

Today it is arguably so that we live in a post-modern society. This is said to have effects on the customers’ behaviour and, if so, the companies must adapt to this. At the same time it can be seen that the service sector is becoming larger and sometimes mature and oversupplied. Further, new technology has also increased the possibilities for service companies to offer their service through impersonal communication channels. All this has led to companies adapting a more relational, rather than transactional, approach towards the customer. Consequently, the purpose of the study is to develop a model that explains how and in what ways a service company can create sustainable relationships and illustrate how service offerings could be delivered to customers within a post-modern context.

In order to visualise this relationship process a theoretical model has been developed. Our model is based on theories regarding post-modernism, service marketing, relationships, resources & capabilities and service quality. This model indicates that the prerequisite for a relationship to exist is that the customers perceive that there is service quality in the company’s offering. This will in turn enable the customer to feel the existence of relationship quality, which in turn leads to loyalty and consequently, a sustainable relationship. Further, by merging the approach of the resource based view with services marketing we seek to determine what resources in the company that contributes to the customer’s perception of high service quality.

To be able to test this model, a case study using Svenska Handelsbanken as case company was conducted. Numerous interviews were carried out with both employees at the bank, as well as customers. These interviews enabled us to determine the customers’ perception of the bank’s service quality, as well as how the bank utilised their different resources in order to create service quality in their relationship to the customers, in the post modern context.

Through our empirical findings and analysis it has been establish that there exist two main forms of relationships, the personal and impersonal. Further, it could also be seen that the customer chooses to have either an impersonal or a personal service delivery based on their perception of uncertainty and involved risk. It was also found that the customer perception of service quality clearly affects the relationship, and it is our understanding that the criteria attitudes and behaviour, reliability and trustworthiness and reputation and credibility are most important for the customers. All the post-modern conditions were identified to affect the service company and it is understood that the condition loss of commitment represents the biggest threat to the relationship.

Our overall conclusion is that a service company must focus on each individual’s needs in order to satisfy the customer and, thus, enable a relationship. This is done by placing the employee, supported by the other company resources, as close to the customer as possible, both in terms of physical and mental distance.