2 nd International Conference on Customer Management

2 nd International Conference on Customer Management Customer Problems, Problem Customers. Reims Management School, 19 September 2013 Traditionally, organisations have viewed their customers as external players who have to be satisfied. However, in recent years a more complex approach to the status of customers within organisations has developed. A significant amount of research has underlined the fact that although customers have to be satisfied, in a broader sense they are the source of a whole range of problems for organisations. By problem we understand here any question asked by a customer, either explicitly or otherwise, which will lead an organisation to query which response is to be made. Four areas of research appear representative of this change. The first research area is in the field of Marketing, and concerns customer complaints. This stream has highlighted the key role of complaints management in enhancing customer loyalty (Fornell and Wernerfelt, 1987). For organisations the challenge here is to use the problems encountered by customers to ensure their future satisfaction and to improve organisational processes (Tax et al., 1998). A second research area, in Services Marketing and Management, highlights the increasingly active role played by customers within organisations (Eiglier and Langeard, 1987). This stream observes in particular that as a player within the organisation, the customer can be inefficient. Several studies stress therefore the importance of socialising, training, educating or even motivating the customer (Bowen, 1986; Kelley et al, 1992; Goudarzi, 2005). Here, the challenge is to help customers to solve the problems they encounter when they contribute to service production. A third stream of literature, in the field of Consumer Behaviour, sheds light on the fact that customer behaviour is often far from exemplary (Moschis and Cox, 1989; Fullerton and Punj, 1997; Harris and Reynolds, 2003). The diversity of this behaviour, which we call deviant, in other words that does not correspond to behaviour that the organisation defines as normal, was indeed underlined during our first conference. Here, the challenge is principally to regulate problem behaviours. Finally, a fourth research area focuses on members of the organisation who are in contact with customers. Management call upon front office in particular to implement customer orientation programmes (Peccei and Rosenthal, 2000), and front office are directly exposed to the problems caused by customers (Harris and Reynolds, 2006). So here, the challenge is to put in place management procedures that make it possible to solve the problems caused by customers without creating too many problems for front office. At the intersection of these research fields, which interweave without being completely superimposed, appears the tension between those involved in customer relations, but also ambiguity over the very status of the customer, which may well be of concern for the fragile social order that is a feature of a customer-oriented bureaucracy (Korczynski, 2002). The 1

management of these tensions, contradictions and paradoxes is in itself one of the major managerial issues revealed by the topic of customer problems and problem customers. During this second conference, the scientific committee hopes to capitalise on the findings and questions that arose from the first conference (Jougleux, Rouquet and Suquet, 2013). However, they would like to broaden the discussion to include other aspects of customer management (complaints management, customer socialisation and training, analysis of conflictual working situations etc.). The challenge of this conference is to contribute to the construction of an overall, multi-disciplinary approach to customer management in organisations. With this in mind, the scientific committee calls for contributions in any discipline likely to shed light on the problems caused by customers: Management Sciences (Marketing, Logistics, Human Resources, Control ), Sociology of Organisations, Consumption and Work, Economics, Political Sciences, Ergonomics etc. Our focus will be on interdisciplinary dialogue, since our aim is precisely to discuss existing theoretical frames of reference and to develop theoretical innovations. Within the research areas we have delineated, we propose four research questions for researchers as a non-exhaustive list of areas for consideration. There can be studied from various perspectives, both in B2C and B2B contexts (customer-supplier relationships and networks in their widest sense). No methodological approach (ethnographic observation, quantitative survey by questionnaire, intervention research, case study etc.) is excluded on principle. Identification and Description of problems caused by customers The boundaries between what can be described as a normal relationship between an organisation and its customers and a problem relationship is far from clear. From which moment and which event can we consider that a customer creates problems for an organisation? When does a customer cease to be merely a demanding customer and become a problem customer? What are the different kinds of problem customers? What are the different kinds of problems caused by customers? Front office and the problems caused by customers Fronts offices appear to be absolutely key players to consider, but how can Human Resource Management or Working Organisation practices help to solve customer problems? What latitude needs to be given to staff to solve problems raised by customers that the organisation has not foreseen? Conversely, how should front office react to customers with problems? And, moreover, can the solutions proposed to customers be harmful to employees? What consequences are there for staff? Innovation and the problems caused by customers Organisations should not consider the problems created by customers only as a source of problems. They can indeed reveal faults in the product offer, highlight internal dysfunctions that need to be corrected etc. How can organisations best take advantage of the problems caused by customers? How can they capitalise on these problems to create innovation not only at organisational level but also in their range of products or services? 2

Performance and the problems caused by customers The problems caused by customers have an impact on the organisation s performance. On one hand, not having to manage such problems may be a way to make savings. On the other hand, the ability of an organisation to respond to customer problems can enhance their satisfaction. How can we find the best balance? Are their different effective business models for the management of customer problems? Should organisations get rid of problem customers? References Bowen, D. (1986), Managing Customers as Human Resources in Service Organization, Human Resource Management, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 371-383. Eiglier, P. and Langeard, E. (1987), Servuction, le marketing des services, Paris, McGraw- Hill. Fornell, C. and Wernerfelt, B. (1987), Defensive Marketing Strategy by Customer Complaint Management: A Theoretical Analysis, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24, pp. 337 46. Fullerton, R.A. and Punj, G. (1997), Can consumer misbehavior be controlled? A critical analysis of two major control techniques, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 340-344. Goudarzi, K. (2005), La socialisation organisationnelle du client dans les entreprises de service, Thèse de Doctorat en Sciences de Gestion, Université Aix-Marseille III. Harris, L.C. and Reynolds, K.L. (2006), Deviant Customer Behavior: An Exploration of Frontline Employee Tactics, Journal of Marketing theory and practice, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 95-111. Harris, L.C. and Reynolds, K.L. (2003), The Consequences of Dysfunctional Customer Behavior, Journal of service research, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 144-161. Jougleux, M., Rouquet, A. and Suquet, J-B. (2013), «Les organisations face à la déviance des clients», Economie et Société, Série Gestion des Services, à paraître Kelley, S.W, Skinner, S.J. and Donnelly, J.H. (1992) Organizational socialization of service customers, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 197-214. Korczynski, M. (2002), Human Resources Management in service work, Palgrave, Hampshire. Moschis, G. and Cox, D. (1989), Deviant Consumer Behavior, Advances in consumer research, Vol. 16, pp.732-737. Peccei, R. and Rosenthal, P. (2000), Front-line responses to customer orientation programs: a theoretical and empirical analysis, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 562-590. Tax, S.S., Brown, S.S., and Chandrashekaran, M. (1998), "Customer Evaluations of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 62, pp. 60-76. Submission Procedure Language of Submission: Proposals for papers can be made in French or English. The languages used for papers and discussions will be French and English. Submission of Abstracts: Abstracts should be addressed to Charlotte Van Der Veken (charlotte.vanderveken@reimsms.fr) as an attachment (in Word format) to an email with the heading JIRGEC-2013. 3

Authors should indicate their surname, first name, position, institution and the title of the paper. Abstracts should have a maximum of 3000 characters (including spaces), and be structured as follows: - Purpose of the Paper - Design/Methodology/Approach - Results of the research - Implications and limits of the research - Originality of the paper Submission of Final Versions: Completed papers must be submitted to charlotte.vanderveken@reims-ms.fr as an attachment (in Word format) to an email with the heading JIRGEC-2013. Papers should have a maximum of 40 000 characters (including spaces), and should respect the Economies & Sociétés, série Economie & Gestion des services author guidelines. They will be reviewed double-blind by two members of the scientific committee. Selection of the Best Papers: Following the conference, the scientific committee will review the final versions of the papers presented within two months. They will give their opinion as to the possibility of publishing these versions (with or without modifications) in the conference s partner journal Economies & Sociétés, série Economie & Gestion des services Important date Submission of abstracts: 18 March 2013 Submission of papers: 1 June 2013 Scientific Committee report: 15 July 2013 Deadline for final corrected versions: 1 September 2013 Members of the Scientific Committee Molka Abbes, Reims Management School Marianne Abramovici, Université Paris-Est Abdelamjid Amine, Université Paris-Est Laurence Bancel-Charensol, Université Paris-Est Rachel Beaujollin-Bellet, Reims Management School Amina Becheur, Université Paris-Est Audrey Bonnemaizon, Université Paris-Est Anni Borzeix, Ecole Polytechnique Othman Boujena, Rouen Business School Christelle Camelis, Université de la Réunion Florence Charue-Duboc, Ecole Polytechnique Damien Collard, Université de Franche-Comté Véronique Cova, Aix-Marseille Université Pierre-Louis Dubois, Université de Montpellier Nathalie Fabbe-Costes, Aix-Marseille Université Faïz Gallouj, Université de Lille 1 Kiane Goudarzi, Aix-Marseille Université Patrick Hetzel, Université Panthéon-Assas 4

Muriel Jougleux, Université Paris-Est Anne Julien, Reims Management School Sylvie Llosa, Aix-Marseille Université Chiara Orsingher, Université de Bologne Gilles Paché, Aix-Marseille Université Fanny Reniou, Université Paris-Est Linda Rouleau, HEC Montréal Aurélien Rouquet, Reims Management School Mathias Szpirglas, Université Paris-Est Jean-Baptiste Suquet, Reims Management School Members of the Organizing Committee Marianne Abramovici, Université Paris-Est Muriel Jougleux, Université Paris-Est Aurélien Rouquet, Reims Management School Jean-Baptiste Suquet, Reims Management School Charlotte Van der Veken, Reims Management School Details of Organisation The conference is co-organised by the Reims Management School Centre de Recherche sur le Management des Clients (CMAC) and the Université Paris-Est Institut de Recherche en Gestion (IRG). It will take place on 19 September 2013 on the premises of Reims Management School. Registration fees for the day (including proceedings and lunch) will be 60 (reduced rate of 20 for doctoral students and). Further information may be obtained from Charlotte Van Der Veken, Reims Management School, research assistant of CMAC by email (charlotte.vanderveken@reims-ms.fr) or telephone (03 26 77 46 13) or visit the conference website: www.reims-ms.fr/events/gestion-clients-colloque1-2013/en Professional Partner Association This conference is organised in partnership with the Association pour le Management de la Réclamation Client (AMARC), which has more than 250 member companies (http://www.amarc.asso.fr/) 5