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Article
Affiliation(s)

M. Eva Diz-Comesaña, Ph.D. in Business Management, Department of Business Organization and Marketing, University of Vigo.
Nuria Rodríguez-López, Ph.D. in Business Management, Department of Business Organization and Marketing, University of Vigo.

ABSTRACT

Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with technology and its influence on the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. This study examines the elements of the service encounter, and the changes automation originates in them and their relationships. The paper also examines changes in the elements and results of the operations subsystem, as a result of automation. We propose that the customer’s relationship with employees and/or technology and automated systems for the service impact the objectives and results of the operations subsystem, all of which could have an effect on the company’s competitive position. The empirical study is focused on four industries, namely, toll motorways, car parks, carwash and video/DVD rental companies, in an attempt to identify objectives that lead companies to implement automated processes affecting the customer’s relationship with the company. The hypotheses generated are contrasted with a structural equation modelling. The results confirm that the customer’s relationship with employees and automated systems for the service impacts the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. Also, the results show how automation can enable firms simultaneously to achieve acceptable levels of flexibility and productivity, two dimensions that have traditionally been considered opposites.

KEYWORDS

service encounter, automation, technology, operations subsystem objectives, elements of service delivery, cost, time reduction, flexibility

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