CONSTRUCTS OF LOYALTY IN GREEN CHILD CARE
A Holistic Framework Concerning CRM, Loyalty, Satisfaction, Perceived Quality, Relationship Strength and Their Related Constructs; A Single Case Study in the Green Child Care Market.
MSc E.M. Strik*
University of Groningen
Supervisor and First Examiner Dr. C.K. Streb
University of Groningen
Second Examiner TBD
Date of Submitting:
August 2012
* Corresponding author Student number: 1343629
Address: Eekholt 2, 1112 XH Diemen, the Netherlands Telephone number: 0031 6 1758 7185
Email: etelkastrik@hotmail.com
Abstract
In the last decade the child care market has grown exponentially and competition is therefore increased a lot. This article investigates to aspects within the child care market: (i) The interrelationship between Customer Relationship Management (CRM), satisfaction, perceived quality, relationship strength and loyalty and (ii) The influence of 11 constructs on satisfaction, perceived quality and relationship strength. The article exists of two parts, one review part and one explorative research part. In the review a conceptual model regarding Customer Relationship Management (CRM), satisfaction, perceived quality, relationship strength and loyalty is developed.
On the basis of this conceptual model eleven constructs are indicated. The constructs are: reliance, commitment, communication, conflict handling, commercial friendship, contact frequency, price, relationship duration, responsiveness, empathy and tangibles. The explorative research is a single case study with an interview. Four different interview guidelines were developed and each interview guideline is used to interview four parents of the day care center Pinkeltje. The results show that parents perceive more interrelationships than the literature suggests. Also more influence of each construct on satisfaction, perceived quality and relationship strength is indicated. Reliance and communication are believed as having the greatest influence on all three determinants. Implications are discussed, limitations of the study are indicated and possible areas for further research are noted.
Index
Introduction ……… 4
Market Development ……… 5
Systematic Literature Review ………... 7
Theoretical Framework ……….. 10
Interrelationships ………... 12
Conceptual Model ……….. 15
Constructs ………. 16
Propositions ……….… 21
Method ……….. 23
The Qualitative Research Design ……… 23
The Single Case Study ………. 24
The Researcher’s Role ……….… 24
Setting and Participants ……….… 26
Data Collection / Procedure ………... 26
Data Analysis ………. 26
Verification ………. 27
Results ………... 29
Interrelationships ……… 29
Relationship Strength ……….… 31
Satisfaction ………. 33
Perceived Quality ………... 36
In Conclusion ……….. 38
Discussion ………. 40
The Influence of the Constructs ………... 40
The Propositions ……….. 40
Limitations ……… 45
Recommendations for Future Research ……….. 45
Conclusion ………. 46
References ……….. 47
Attachments ……….. 57
Introduction
The child care sector has changed a lot the past decade. The child care sector has developed itself from a welfare sector to a market sector (Plantinga, 2009). The market has grown exponentially and competition has increased. In order to enhance revenues in a competitive environment child care organizations have to gain competitive advantages over its rivals (Porter & Millar, 1985). With Customer Relationship Management (CRM) competitive advantage could be created through win-win relationship strategies (Storbacka & Lehtinen, 2001). The several determinants of CRM are in literature extensively described. I have chosen the determinants which are mentioned most often in relation to CRM; loyalty, satisfaction, perceived quality and relationship strength. These determinants are in this research defined as the key factors of CRM. Concerning the use of CRM in the childcare market, there is little known. The constructs which managers focus are important to enhance the profitability of the organization. In order to gain more insight in the constructs which an organization can focus on, one must first make an integral framework of the key factors of CRM.
Once this integral framework has been made, the related constructs can be revealed. Therefore, this paper seeks to contribute to (1) the development of a holistic framework that integrates CRM and its key factors (loyalty, satisfaction, perceived quality and relationship strength) in order to (2) expose the main constructs of these key elements in the green child care market. It reviews the literature on these key elements and constructs and proposes the main constructs for a green day care centre. A profound knowledge of the impact of each construct may help organizations to optimize the allocation of limited resources, priority setting and strategy development (Martensen, Gronholdt and Kristensen, 2000).
The paper is structured as follows; first the background of the development of the general marketing is described. Then the background developments of the child care market are outlined with a special attention to the green child care market. After this, the systematic literature review is described;
what literature is going to be used for the theoretical framework and which search-terms led to the current literature. The theoretical framework follows, and outlines previous findings on CRM, loyalty, satisfaction, relationship strength, perceived quality and the interrelationships between these concepts. The holistic framework is shown and is used as basis in order to indicate the related constructs. Propositions are being made concerning the importance of the constructs for a green child care organization. The empirical part of the study describes the single case study within a green day care center. The methodology section outlines the setting, sample, measurement instruments, data collection and procedures and data analysis. The results describe the qualitative data; major themes and patterns are shown and related to the research question. Also the validity of the findings
is monitored. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results, managerial implications, research limitations and recommendations for future research.
Market Development
From CRM to Mass-Marketing to CRM
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) does already exist for a long time. Formerly, the grocer, baker or butcher knew every customer, their wishes and demands and adapted his communication or even his products to these wishes. During the last decades this changed by op-scaling; the mass production of standardized products developed. Marketing-campaigns focused on reaching as many people as possible (Kotler, 1989). This kind of marketing, mass-marketing, assume that consumers are all the same and that the product is the key concept. In the seventies direct-marketing was introduced. The direct mail concept was based on the mass-marketing (Ling and Li, 1998).
Organizations were communicating with huge groups of consumers by post. Then, globalization, technological developments, the increasing number competitors and an increasing demand forced companies to change their management systems in order to adapt to the new competitive environment (Sassen, 1998). Reactions to these developments were mainly concepts which focused on decreasing costs and improve quality of the product/service (for example BPR, supply chain management). Through new technologies, companies were more and more able to process the large amount of information (Bradley, Hausman and Noland, 1993). One of these technologies was Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) (Bancroft, Seip and Sprengel, 1998; Markus and Tanis, 2000;
Ross, 1998; Jang, Suh and Lee, 2000; Nah, Lau and Kuang, 2001; Chorafas, 2001). The introduction of an ERP system provided companies with improvements in quality and efficiency of business processes (Chorafas, 2001). If all companies in a sector had implemented an ERP system, the value of such a system is then reduced to ‘be able to stay in the market’, instead of having a competitive advantage. The distinction between companies is then based on the quickness of reaction at the demand and wishes of the market, with innovative products or services (Chen, 2001). Meanwhile, the consciousness evolved that customers were not the same and that there were differences in demand and wishes. Organizations started to associate products with particular customers and the product oriented approach (mass-marketing) organizations previously used, changed to a more customer oriented approach (Dyché, 2002; Lin, Su and Chien, 2006).
The customer has to be seen as the central concept in realizing a business strategy. With the obtained information of the customer, the company is able to realize its own business strategy (Chalmeta, 2006). This explains the focus on building stronger firm-customer relationships (Ndubisi, 2007). There are more and more organizations which are capitalizing on strong firm-customer
relationship to obtain information about their wishes, demands, how to serve them best and how to keep them away from competitors (Ndubisi, 2004). Therefore, from 2000 onwards, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become a popular successor of ERP. With CRM companies are able to distinguish themselves again. In a CRM system, like before, the customer is the key factor.
Child Care Market
From the beginning of the 19th century day care centers in the Netherlands exist. In 1875 in Amsterdam the first ‘storage location’ was opened. After Amsterdam, soon Dordrecht, Rotterdam and other cities followed (Van Rijswijk-Clerckx, 1981). These crèches were most of the time visited by children of single mothers or poor families where both parents had to work. In the fifties and sixties wages increased and mothers stayed at home to take care of the children (Schreuder, 2005). Also single mothers received welfare from the government and the necessary of crèches decreased. At the end of the sixties feministic action groups demanded more crèches, so that women could also work and become (financially) independent. Nevertheless, till 1990 the day care centers were a marginal and urban facility (Schreuder, 2005). Just 4% of the children, especially of high educated and progressive families, visited the day care center. Under the pressure of the increase in the amount of working mothers, the minister of Welfare (Hedi d’Ancona) developed in 1989 an incentive policy to promote extension in the amount of child care centers. The incentive policy endured till 2003. The extension was steady and therefore, long waiting lists were developed (Schreuder, 2005).
D’Ancona introduced in her incentive policy the three-party-financing. The municipality, the employers and the parents had to contribute financially in the child care costs. In 2005 the Wet Kinderopvang was implemented. The government compensated till 63% of the child care costs (Schreuder, 2005).
Since the change in policy in 2005, the demand of child care has increased enormously. The day care centers were not able to meet the demand. Again waiting lists were developed. Day care centers expanded as much as they could, both by opening more locations and by a more efficiently use of the buildings. The expanding of locations takes in some municipalities a lot of time and therefore, some day care centers have just opened new locations. Meanwhile, the government has changed the amount of compensation to parents. Because of these changes, the demand to child care is decreased. Mothers are, again, home to take care of their children, or find other solutions (often in the informal segment of child care, for example a nanny of the grandparents). All the changes in the demand and policies among child care have the consequence that there is a surplus in the offer.
More than ever, competition is a huge aspect. Child care organizations have to profile themselves and meet the wishes and demands of the customers. In order to know what the customer want and meet their wishes and demands, CRM can be used.
Green Day Care Centers
The market for green day care centers is relatively new. It is developed based on the presumption that nature has a positive influence on the well being of people and especially that of children.
Literature reveals that contact with nature contributes to the healthiness, cognitive, motor and social-emotional development of children and the development of the sense of responsibility (Langers, Blitterswijk, Van Brinkhuijsen and Westerink, 2008). Within the day care market a few day care centers have started to distinguish themselves with the aspect of green day care. This aspect can be seen as a competitive advantage compared to conventional day care centers. Although, not all customers see the benefits of green day care and prefer a day care center nearby or a bit cheaper.
Parents need to experience child care as an investment in their child, not just as babysitting (Schreuder, 2005). There could be a lot of profit gained in the development of young children and child care centers play a major role in this development (Langers et al., 2008). The ministry of Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) aspires a greener lifestyle for children; green has to be a more structural part in the lifestyle of children (Langers et al., 2008). Therefore, green day care centers could be the solution for the nearby future. The current green day care centers are small to medium-sized organizations and it is important for them to know what the main constructs are to focus on in order to increase their sustainability, profitability and growth.
Systematic Literature Review
In order to develop a holistic framework and indicate the main construct of the key factors, the available literature has to be systematically reviewed. A systematic literature review is a means of evaluating and interpreting all available research relevant to a particular research question or topic or phenomenon of interest (Kitchenham, 2004). Brereton, Kitchenham, Budgen, Turner and Khalil (2007) divided the systematic literature review process into three phases; planning, conducting and reporting. The current review is undertaken by the suggested division of Brereton et al. (2007). The planning of the review is described in the introduction, the conduction of the review is outlined in the current section and the document review is indicated in the next section; theoretical framework.
Conduction of the Review
For the present review the Web of Science database was consulted. The Web of Science covers a wide range of relevant publications and is user-friendly, especially for the conduction of a review.
The general search terms were ‘CRM’, ‘Customer Relationship Management’, ‘Customer Satisfaction’
and ‘Child Care’. Table 1 shows the amount of hits of the individual and combined search terms. The unrefined amount of hits, the refinement of subject area’s to ‘Business Economics’, the refinement of
publication years to ‘2005-2012’, the refinement to ‘Service Industry’ and the refinement to ‘Source Titles’ are showed. The refinement to Business Economics was needed to search only in this aspect and exclude all other areas. The refinement in publication years indicates the importance of up to date material. There is a lot of literature available on these subjects and in order to narrow the amount of hits, I chose to limit the results to the timeframe ‘2005-2012’. Because the research is focused at the service industry, it is important that the literature, which is going to be used in the review, subjects the service industry. The last, and most important, is the refinement on source titles.
In order to achieve a certain scientific level we consulted the internal ranking of ‘top’ and ‘very good’
journals by the Systems, Organization and Management (SOM) Research Institute of the University of Groningen (Attachment 1). This refinement allowed us to identify the best and most relevant publications.
After searching with ISI Web of Knowlegde a total of 96 hits remained. Next, the manual coding process was applied. All articles were manually checked if they were relevant for the research. A total of 22 articles were identified as being relevant (Table 2). Each of these articles was read and new literature was extracted from them. The current literature list exists of 149 sources. From the 149 sources, a total of 117 are articles (the other sources -32- are books, seminars, etc.). 72 of the articles are published in top and very good journals, whereas 45 articles are published in other journals.
Unrefined Hits
Refined Business
Economics
Publication years
Service industry
Source titles
CRM 4.076 287 225 24 5
Customer Relationship Management 2.754 1.786 1.313 207 24
Customer Satisfaction 6.310 3.538 2.407 404 53
Child Care 80.897 1.058 574 5 0
CRM + Child Care 5 0 0 0 0
CRM + Customer Satisfaction 104 59 49 9 4
Customer Relationship Management +
Child Care 2 1 1 0 0
Child Care + Customer Satisfaction 14 2 1 1 0
Customer Relationship Management +
Customer Satisfaction 839 620 471 100 10
Total 96
Table 1.The amount of hits of all the search terms.
Article
1 Allmendinger, G. and Lombreglia, R. (2005). Four strategies for the age of smart services. Harvard Business Review 83(10), 131-145
2 Bell, S.J. and Smalley, K. (2005). Customer relationship dynamics, Service quality and customer loyalty in the context of varying levels of customer expertise and switching costs. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 33(2), 169-183.
3 Briggs, E., Landry, T.D. and Daugherty, P.J. (2010). Investigating the influence of velocity performance on satisfaction with third party logistics service. Industrial Marketing Management 39(4), 640-649.
4 Dyer, J.H. and Hatch, N.W. (2006) Relation-specific capabilities and barriers to knowledge transfers, Creating advantage through network relationships. Strategic Management Journal 27(8), 701-719.
5 Eggert, A., Ulaga, W. (2010). Managing customer share in key supplier relationships. Industrial Marketing Management 39, 1346-1355.
6 Florida, R. and Goodnight J. (2005). Managing for creativity. Harvard Business Review 83(7-8), 124-131.
7 Gelbrich, K. and Roschk, H. (2011). A Meta-Analysis of Organizational Complaint Handling and Customer Responses. Journal of Service Research 14(1), 24-43.
8 Liu, G., Liston-Heyes, C. and Wai-Wai, K. (2010). Employee Participation in Cause-Related Marketing Strategies, A Study of Management Perceptions from British Consumer Service Industries. Journal of Business Ethics 92(2), 195-210.
9 Gountas, S., Ewing, M.T. and Gountas, J.I. (2007). Testing airline passengers' responses to flight
attendants' expressive displays, The effects of positive affect. Journal of Business Research 60(1), 81-83.
10 Homburg, C. and Furst, A. (2005). How organizational complaint handling drives customer loyalty, an analysis of the mechanistic and the organic approach. Journal of Marketing 69(3), 95-114.
11 Juttner, U., Godsell, J. and Christopher, M.G. (2006). Demand chain alignment competence - delivering value through product life cycle management. Industrial Marketing Management 35(8), 989-1001.
12 Kalaignanam, K. and Varadarajan, R. (2012). Offshore outsourcing of customer relationship management, conceptual model and propositions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 40(2), 347-363.
13 Kapletia, D. and Probert, D. (2010). Migrating from products to solutions, An exploration of system support in the UK defense industry. Industrial Marketing Management 39(4), 582-592.
14 Libai, B., Muller, E. and Peres, R. (2009). The Diffusion of Services. Journal of Marketing Research 46(2), 163-175.
15 Lin, Y., Su, H.Y. and Chien, S. (2006). A knowledge-enabled procedure for customer relationship management. Industrial Marketing Management 35(4), 446-456.
16 Nagar, V. and Rajan, M.V. (2005). Measuring customer relationships, The case of the retail banking industry. Management Science 51(6), 904-919.
17 Orr, L.M., Bush, V.D. and Vorhies, D.W. (2011). Leveraging firm-level marketing capabilities with marketing employee development. Journal of Business Research 64(10), 1074-1081.
18 Reimann, M., Schilke, O. and Thomas, J.S. (2010). Customer relationship management and firm
performance, the mediating role of business strategy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 38(3), 326-346.
19 Roberts, J. (2010). Trust and early year’s childcare, parents’ relationships with private, state and third sector providers in England. Journal of Social Policy 40(4), 695-715.
20 Rodriguez-Pinto, J., Rodriguez-Escudero, A.I. and Gutierrez-Cillan, J. (2008). Order, positioning, scope and outcomes of market entry. Industrial Marketing Management 37(2), 154-166.
21 Ryals, L.J. and Humphries, A.S. (2007). Managing key business-to-business relationships - What marketing can learn from supply chain management. Journal of Service Research 9(4), 312-326.
22 Ryu, S. and Eyuboglu, N. (2007). The environment and its impact on satisfaction with supplier
performance, An investigation of the mediating effects of control mechanisms from the perspective of the manufacturer in the USA. Industrial Marketing Management 36(4), 458-469.
Theoretical Framework CRM
Payne and Frow (2004) defined CRM as ‘a strategic approach that is concerned with creating improved shareholder value through the development of appropriate relationships with key customers and customer segments. CRM unites the potential of relationship marketing strategies and IT to create profitable, long-term relationships with customers and other key stakeholders. CRM provides enhanced opportunities to use data and information to both understand customers and co- create value with them. This requires a cross-functional integration of processes, people, operations, and marketing capabilities that is enabled through information, technology, and applications.’ Kumar and Ramani (2004) defined CRM as ‘a process of achieving and maintaining ongoing relationships with customers across multiple customer touch points that entails differential and tailored treatment of individual customers based on their expected response to specific marketing activities, such that the contribution of each customer to the overall profitability of the firm is maximized. Thus, every consumer is considered as an individual person and the activities the organization performs are predominantly directed to and based on existing customers (Blomqvist, Dahl and Haeger, 1993).
From 2000 onwards literature reveals several CRM approaches. Pepper, Rogers and Dorf (1999) have for example focused on one-to-one marketing with his four steps; identify, differentiate, interact and customize. Handen (2000) presented the five necessary dimensions; strategy, organization, technology, segmentation and process, in order to effectively build a CRM project. Brown (2000) introduced a CRM model; the strategic customer care 5 pillar model, Curry and Curry (2000) have developed a guide how to gain profits of CRM and Dyché (2002) guided an enterprise with the adoption and implementation of its own CRM solution. In other words, there is not one universal accepted approach or model. As regards the outcomes of CRM, literature reveals several positive outcomes with formulating CRM strategies. Lin and Su (2003) have shown in their research that CRM can create valuable opportunities in the marketing segment, positively affect customer value and enhance customer satisfaction in the light of business excellence (Lin and Su, 2003). CRM applications enhance the flow of information between the organization and its customers. Partly by increasing customers’ positive feelings towards the service encounter, CRM increases loyalty (Rigby, Reichheld and Schefter, 2002; Rigby, Darrell and Ledingham, 2004; Gustafsson, Johnson and Roos, 2005), satisfaction, relationship strength (Lin and Su, 2003; Ennew and Binks, 1996; Barnes and Howlett, 1998), and perceived quality (Paguio, 2010; Abdullateef, Muktar, Sanuri and Yusoff, 2011).
CRM is almost always mentioned together with loyalty and satisfaction. Therefore, these two are key concepts of CRM. CRM is a relationship tool and relationship strength is a good indicator of the level of the relationship. As a result, relationship strength should also be seen as a key factor of CRM.
Perceived quality is closely related to loyalty and satisfaction and with CRM the level of perceived quality can be indicated. With this reason perceived quality is a key factor of CRM. In the next section first the key factors (figure 1) are separately discussed, where after the interrelationships between the key factors are outlined.
Loyalty
Loyalty, and thereby retention, is the cornerstone of CRM (Gustafsson et al., 2005, Rigby et al, 2002;
Rigby et al., 2004). Loyalty is, especially in a services context, defined as ‘observed behavior’
(Liljander and Strandvik, 1995). The actual behavior of customers drives the performance of an organization. Several studies have shown the positive links between loyalty and firm profitability (Anderson, Fornell and Lehman, 1994; Reichheld, 1996; Hallowel, 1996; Morgan and Hunt, 1994;
Crosby, Evans and Crowles, 1990; Silvestro and Cross, 2000). Effective CRM strategies vary substantial among service firms and are highly influenced by the drivers of loyalty and retention.
Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction has an important place in the marketing literature. It has long been seen as a central concept and it was one of the most important goals of all business activity. In the American Marketing Association’s official definition of marketing, satisfaction is a key concept (Anderson et al., 1994). Satisfaction can be defined as ‘an evaluative, affective, or emotional response’ (Oliver, 1989) and is a key aspect of the relationship between buyer and seller (De Wulf, Odekerken-Schröder and Iacobucci, 2001; Crosby et al., 1990). Satisfaction is important for relationship continuity (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Satisfaction is a backward looking dimension; it is a function of performance to date (Gustafsson et al., 2005). Rust and Zahorik (1993) researched the relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability and found support for their hypothesis of a positive relationship between these two concepts. Boulding, Kalra, Staelin and Zeithaml (1993) distinguished two conceptualizations of customer satisfaction; transaction-specific customer satisfaction and cumulative customer satisfaction. In the transaction-specific view, customer satisfaction is a post- choice evaluative judgment of a particular purchase occasion (Oliver, 1977; Oliver, 1980; Oliver,
Figure 1. The determinants of CRM.
1993; Hunt, 1977). The cumulative view is based on the total purchase experience and thus, an overall evaluation judgment (Johnson and Fornell, 1991; Fornell, 1992). The difference between the two views is that the first one provide a diagnose of a specific product or service encounter, whereas the second more a fundamental indicator is of the past, current and future performance of a firm.
The cumulative customer satisfaction is the driver behind investments in customer satisfaction (Anderson et al., 1994). In this research the concept satisfaction is the cumulative variant of satisfaction.
Perceived Quality
Steenkamp (1989) defined perceived quality as ‘a global judgement of a supplier’s current offering’.
Zeithaml (1988) performed an extensive review of literature on quality. His conclusion of the definition of perceived quality was, ‘Perceived quality can be defined as the consumer’s judgment about a product’s overall excellence or superiority.’ Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) defined perceived quality as ‘a global judgment, or attitude, relating to the superiority of the service’. Overall perceived service quality (SERVQUAL) is determined by the difference between expected performance and perceived performance (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). The difference between these two concepts can be measured at the level of reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, and tangibles (Parasuraman et al., 1985). These determinants were based on Oliver’s (1980) disconfirmation model. After empirical testing, Parasuraman et al. (1988) had modified the ten dimensions to 5 dimensions (with 22 items); tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Lee, Lee and Yoo (2000) showed in their research that from these five dimensions reliability is the most important factor and empathy the least important factor. Not all researchers agreed with Parasuraman et al. (1988). In contrast, Cronin and Taylor (1992) conceptualized service quality just as performance, instead of the difference between performance and expectation. They also proposed a model which only concerns performance (SERVPERF). The SERVPERF showed in their research a perfect fit in four different industries, whereas SERVQUAL did not. Also Teas (1993) is not convinced of the work of Parasuraman (1988). Teas (1993) argued that the SERVQUAL is not measuring what it should measure. He has researched the Evaluated Performance (EP) model, and showed that this model had a higher criterion and construct validity than the SERVQUAL. Beside Cronin and Taylor (1992) and Teas (1993), also Lee et al. (2000), Babakus and Boller (1992), Brown, Churchill and Peter (1993) and Boulding et al. (1993) perceived service quality, but perception scores alone do. Jain and Gupta (2004) measured service quality with both the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF scales. Their conclusion is that the SERVPERF scale a more convergent and discriminant valid explanation provides, but also a deficient in its diagnostic power. The SERVQUAL outperforms the
SERVPERF on a higher diagnostic power to indicate areas for managerial interventions, concerning service quality deficiencies (Jain and Gupta, 2004).
Relationship Strength
Barnes (1997) and Shemwell and Cronin (1995) have defined relational strength as ‘the extent, degree, or magnitude of the association between a customer and service provider. It could also be described as relationship closeness, intensity, quality and depth (Barnes, 1997). Literature revealed several constructs which underpins relationship strength. Commitment (Doney and Cannon, 1997;
Chan and Ndubisi, 2004; Palmatier, Dant, Grewal and Evans, 2006; Grossman, 1998; Czepiel, 1990), trust (Veloutsou, Saren and Tzokas, 2002; Doney and Cannon, 1997; Morgan and Hunt, 1994;
Palmatier et al., 2006; Czepiel, 1990), communication (Ndibusi and Chan, 2005; Crosby et al., 1990;
Morgan and Hunt, 1994), conflict handling (Ndubisi and Chan, 2005; Dwyer, Schurr and Oh, 1987), contact frequency (Dagger, Danahar and Gibbs, 2009) and relationship duration (Dagger et al., 2009).
Strong customer relationships do not occur spontaneously, they are developed over time (Czepiel, 1990; Cooil, Keiningham, Aksoy and Hsu, 2007). Due to shared experiences, both parties are more and more capable of adjusting (Bell, Auh and Smalley, 2005; Altman and Taylor, 1973). Over time commitment and trust are developed (Czepeil, 1990; Palmatier et al., 2006; Doney and Cannon, 1997). One thing which is important for organizations is to create mutual rewards in building customer relationships; both the organization and the customer must experience benefits of the relationship (Rapp and Collins, 1990).
Research points to possible effects of industry type in which a firm operates (Barnes, 1997). The importance and degree may vary between different types of service (Gwinner, Gremler and Bitner, 1998). One service type may be more conducive in fostering strong customer-firm relationships than others (Lovelock, Patterson and Walker, 2007). Dagger et al. (2009) showed that customers have a closer relationship with the family doctor than with a fast-food outlet. There are a number of typologies for grouping services available in the literature (Lovelock, 1983; Silvestro, Fitzgerald, Johnston and Voss, 1992; Kellogg and Chase, 1995). There are a few with an empirical underpinning and one of them is the typology of Bowen (1990). Child care is, according to Bowen’s typology, a high contact, customized service.
Interrelationships Loyalty
Bloemer, Ruyter and Wetzels (1999) researched the drivers of loyalty in the banking sector. The results were that (1) satisfaction had a direct influence on loyalty and (2) perceived quality had a
direct and indirect influence (through satisfaction) on loyalty. In the literature loyalty and customer satisfaction are often mentioned together. Although the two are highly correlated, they are also two clear distinct constructs (Oliver, 1989; Hallowell, 1996; Bennett and Rundle-Thiele, 2004;
Athanassapoulos, Gounaris and Strathakopoulos, 2001; Silvestro and Cross, 2000). Customer satisfaction is a good basis for loyalty (Pont and McQuilken, 2005; Bloemer et al., 1999) and has a strong positive effect on loyalty intentions (Fornell, Johnson, Anderson and Bryant, 1996; Fornell, 1992). Johnson, Gustafsson, Andreassen, Lervik and Cha (2001) concluded that satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on loyalty. In his research among different types of service encounters, it is showed that the total effect of satisfaction on loyalty is greater in those industries where customers have greater choice among competitors (Johnson et al., 2001). The effect of perceived quality on loyalty is apart from Bloemer et al. (1999) researched by many researchers. They concluded that service quality has a direct relationship with loyalty (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1996; Bloemer et al., 1999; Gremler and Brown, 1996; Dick and Basu, 1994; De Ruyter, Wetzels and Bloemer, 1998).
Strong relationships are associated with greater customer loyalty and retention (Palmer and Bejou, 1994; Gwinner et al., 1998). If an organization has a strong relationship with its customers, the customers are more loyal to the organization compared to the situation of a weak relationship between the organization and the customer. The interrelationships with loyalty are shown in figure 2.
Satisfaction
Literature is revealing contrary results concerning the direction of causality between satisfaction and perceived service quality (Lee et al., 2000). Parasuraman et al. (1988) concluded that events of satisfaction results in the perception of service quality. Also Bitner (1990) and Bolton and Drew (1991) proposed that customer satisfaction leads to service quality. In contrast to this view, other researchers posited that the direction of causality the other way around is; service quality leads to customer satisfaction (Lee et al., 2000; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982;
Spreng and MacKoy, 1996; Fornell, 1992; Bearden and Teel, 1983; Woodside, Frey and Daly, 1989;
Figure 2. The interrelationships with loyalty.
Figure 4. Satisfaction has an influence on relationship strength.
Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Oliver and DeSarbo, 1988; Bolton and Drew, 1991; Cadotte, Woodruff and Jenkins, 1987; Tse and Wilton, 1988). Customers perceive service quality directly after the purchase or use of the particular service. This perceived quality is compared with the (predictive) expectations and this comparison will lead to (dis)satisfaction (Oliver, 1989; Lee et al., 2000).
Customers can perceive quality without actually purchase a product or service. Satisfaction, on the other hand, is based on experience. Customers require experiences in order to determine the level of satisfaction (Oliver, 1993). Therefore, based on literature the conclusion can be drawn; the relationship between satisfaction and perceived quality is mutual (figure 3).
In order to achieve a strong and, thus long, relationship with a customer, the customer has to be satisfied. Dissatisfied customers will end the relationship (Liljander and Strandvik, 1995; Storbacka, Strandvik and Grönroos, 1994; Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1993; Oliver, 1989; Woodruff, Ernest and Jenkins, 1983). Zeithaml et al. (1993) proposed the ‘tolerance-zone’; the difference between the desired and adequate level of service of consumers. Customers are willing to absorb some negative experiences before expressing them in dissatisfaction (Kennedy and Thirkell, 1988). In other words, if satisfaction levels reach a certain threshold, changes in satisfaction will have impact on customer behavior; if it stays below the threshold it will have little impact (Cooil et al., 2007).
Bügel, Buunk and Verhoef (2009) researched the investments-model in relationships in five different branches. He concluded that satisfaction has a positive influence on the relationship. Based on literature, I can say that satisfaction has an influence on relationship strength (figure 4).
Conceptual Model
Based on literature the interrelationships reveal the next conceptual model (figure 5). The elements CRM, loyalty, relationship strength, satisfaction and perceived quality are included.
Figure 3. The relationship between satisfaction and perceived quality is mutual.
Constructs
In order to expose the most important constructs on which organizations can focus with their CRM programs, a conceptual framework concerning the key factors of CRM had to be made. Constructs which determines the key factors are mentioned severe in literature. Parasuraman et al. (1988) finally proposed 5 constructs which underpins perceived quality; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Several researchers have mentioned frequent constructs which support relationship strength; commitment, trust, communication, conflict handling, contact frequency and relationship duration (Doney and Cannon, 1997; Chan and Ndubisi, 2004; Palmatier et al., 2006; Veloutsou et al., 2002; Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Ndibusi and Chan, 2005; Crosby et al., 1990; Dwyer et al., 1987; Dagger et al., 2009; Grossman, 1998; Czepiel, 1990). In this section these constructs will individually be described. Also their role within the three determinants of loyalty will be discussed (summarized in table 3). After the discussion of these issues propositions are being made concerning the importance of the constructs
Trust, Assurance and Reliability
Trust (Ndubisi, 2007), assurance (Parasuraman et al., 1985) and reliability (Juran and Gryna, 1988;
Deming, 1981) are distinguished constructs in literature. Assurance is the ability to create trust and confidence (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Reliability is defined as ‘the ability to deliver the promised service dependably and accurately’ (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Moorman, Deshpande and Zaltman (1993) have defined trust as ‘a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence’. Trust can also be seen as ‘the belief that a partner’s word of promise is reliable and a party will fulfill his/her obligations in the relationship (Schurr and Ozanne, 1985; Scheer and Stern, 1992; Anderson and Narus (1990). Betrayal of the trust could lead to renunciation. Crosby et al.
Figure 5. Conceptual model.
(1990) defined the concept as ‘uncertainty’, Bitner (1995) as ‘making and keeping promises’, Morgan and Hunt (1994) as ‘shared values’, Dwyer et al. (1987) as ‘opportunistic behavior’, Anderson and Narus (1984) as ‘actions with positive outcomes and Wilson (1995) as ‘mutual goals’. The resources of the organization (employees, material, technology and systems) have to be used in order to gain, maintain and strengthen the customer’s trust in the organization (Grönroos, 1990). Trust can be seen as the basis of relationship stability Gabarino and Johnson, 1999). Trust is promoting long term relationships two-ways; it reduces uncertainty and adds opportunistic behavior (Hausman, 2001).
Trust will lead to a better relationship (Ndubisi, 2007).Trust influences loyalty through satisfaction (Harris and Goode, 2004). Trust is a determinant of perceived quality (Parasuraman et al., 1988).
The three constructs mentioned in the literature will in this research be combined into one construct;
reliance.
Commitment
Commitment is a relationship quality variable (Ndubisi, 2007) and can be used to mark out particular forms of actions or action characteristics of (groups of) people (Wong and Sohal, 2002). Therefore, individual and organizational behavior can be analyzed (Becker, 1960). Kiesler (1971) defined commitment as ‘a fix or bind of an individual to a behavioral disposition. In contrast, Moorman et al.
(1993) defined it as ‘an enduring desire to maintain a valued relationship’. Grundlach, Achrol and Mentzer (1995) and Morgan and Hunt (1994) postulated that commitment is a high level of obligation to try to succeed the relationship and to make it beneficial and satisfying for both parties.
Literature states that higher commitment is seen in individuals who believe that having a relationship entails more value. Due to past benefits, highly committed customers are willing to reciprocate effort (Mowday, Porter and Steerd, 1982). Organizations benefit of this reciprocity. Commitment is the foundation of building relationships (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991) and is the driver of relationship quality (Wong and Sohal, 2002). Customers who are committed experience relationship closeness (Verhoef, Franses and Hoekstra, 2002; Geyskens, Steenkamp and Kumar, 1999) and this will lead to confidence about the relationship (Gill, Swann and Silvera, 1998). Commitment is a forward looking construct, it is capturing the strength of the relationship and the resultant commitment proceed forwards (Gustafsson et al., 2005). There are two different dimensions of relationship commitment;
affective commitment and calculative commitment. Affective commitment can be created by personal interaction, trust and reciprocity. It is a more emotional factor, whereas calculative commitment a more colder and rational factor is. Calculative commitment can be created by a lack of choice or switching costs (Gustafsson et al., 2005; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Bendapudi and Berry, 1997; Fullerton, 2003; Morgan and Hunt, 1994). High overall commitment will lead to a better relationship (Ndubisi, 2007). Commitment is an essential ingredient of a successful relationship
between organization and customer (Grundlach et al., 1995; Morgan and Hunt, 1994). The commitment construct is modeled by Johnson et al. (2000) as mediating the effects of satisfaction on loyalty.
Communication
Communication is a relationship quality variable (Ndubisi, 2007) and defined as ‘the ability to provide timely and trustworthy information (Ndubisi, 2007). Anderson and Narus (1990) defined it as
‘an interactive dialogue between the organization and its customers during the preselling, selling, consuming and post-consuming stages’. Communication can be seen as keeping contact with valued consumers, providing them with timely and trustworthy information on service (changes), and communicating proactively if there is a problem. The organization is responsible for building awareness, developing preferences of the customers, convincing buyers who might be interested and encouraging possible customers to purchase the service (Ndubisi and Chan, 2005). Another part of communication is telling dissatisfied customers if and what the organization can do to solve the dissatisfaction. Effective communication will lead to a better relationship (Ndubisi, 2007).
Conflict or Complaint Handling
Nbubisi (2007) showed that conflict handling a construct is of relationship strength. Dwyer et al.
(1987) determined conflict handling as ‘a supplier’s ability to avoid potential conflicts, solve manifest conflicts before they create problems, and discuss solutions openly when problems do arise’. In the eighties the complaining aspect was seen as a natural consequence of low satisfaction instead of visualizes it as an opportunity to increase satisfaction (Johnson et al., 2000). Consequently, there was little focus on complaint handling. However, the last decade researchers became aware of the importance and power of the mechanism regarding increasing satisfaction (Heskett, Sasser and Hart, 1990; Johnson et al., 2000). Johnson et al. (2000) researched this relationship and, like other researchers (Fornell et al., 1996; Bolton, 1999), he did not find an effect of conflict handling on satisfaction. In the restaurant and hotel setting, service recovery is generally ineffective (Bolton, 1999). Although research reveals these results, it will maybe be different in the child care business.
Parents have lots of daily contact with the service provider. If there is a complaint, it is important how the handling of the complaint is done. If the child care service takes care of the complaint positively and resolute it immediately, the satisfaction level will be at the same level, instead of decrease. In this way complaints handling and resolving may be a driver of satisfaction. A good conflict handling will lead to a better relationship (Ndubisi, 2007). Complaint handling is a mechanism which can be used to increase satisfaction (Johnson et al., 2000).
Commercial Friendship
Price and Arnould (1999) developed their commercial friendship construct. Commercial friendship is an idea that captures relational influences like integrity, sincerity and expertise (Moorman et al., 1993), employee friendliness and listening (Ganesh, Arnold and Reynolds, 2000). Customers who develop commercial friendship will provide detailed information in order to enable service customization (Han, Kwortnix and Wang, 2008). In high service contexts such as a hospital, beauty salon or hotel, in which there are high levels of contact, employee importance and customization, commercial friendship has an influence on satisfaction (Han et al., 2008). Commercial friendship has a positive influence on relationship strength (Moorman et al, 1993).
Contact Frequency
Frequency of contact, or frequency of interaction (Nicholson, Compeau and Sethi, 2001; Homburg and Stock, 2004), is the number of interactions per periods between exchange partners (Crosby et al., 1990; Dagger et al., 2009; Doney and Cannon, 1997; Palmatier et al., 2006). Contact frequency has been used to reflect or capture interaction intensity (Crosby et al., 1990), relational experience (Bolton, Kannan and Bramlett, 2000) and relationship depth (Bolton, Lemon and Verhoef, 2004). In order to measure contact frequency, often the occurred number of actual transactions over time has been used (Homberg and Stock, 2004; Bolton et al., 2000).
Price
Price tolerance, the maximum price increase customers are willing to pay or tolerate before switching to another service, is closely related with consumer surplus (Anderson, 1996). Consumer surplus is defined as ‘the excess of the price which a customer would be willing to pay, rather than go without having a thing over what he actually does pay is the economic measure of his satisfaction surplus (Marshall, 1980). Customers have, therefore, a greater price tolerance if they have a great satisfaction of the service (Anderson, 1996). In case of a low satisfaction level, the price tolerance is also low (Anderson, 1996). Johnson et al. (2000) concluded that price has a significant influence on satisfaction.
Relationship Duration
The length of time in which a relationship between exchange partners has existed is the relationship duration (Cooil et al., 2007; Palmatier et al., 2006). Literature reveals other terminology concerning relationship duration, for example relationship length (Cooil et al., 2007; Bolton et al., 2004), and relationship age (Verhoef et al., 2002; Kumar, Scheer, and Steenkamp, 1995). There are several
studies that searched the determinant relationship duration. In the social psychology results reveal that people who are in a long relationship do have more opportunity to acquire information about the exchange partner. Compared to individuals in early stages of relationship development, individuals who are involved a longer period of time have more motivation to gather information (Berscheid, Graziano, Monson and Dermer, 1976) and at the same time to integrate this information into coherent blueprints (Murray and Holmes, 1993). Studies in the marketing also show more stability in long-term relationships, due to the achievement of a higher degree of familiarity and relational fit (Anderson and Weitz, 1989; Verhoef et al., 2002), compared to younger ones (Anderson and Weitz, 1989). The longer the duration of a relationship, the more predictable the behavior of both parties (Nicholson et al., 2001; Doney and Cannon, 1997), the greater the investments of both parties (Grayson and Ambler, 1999; Doney and Cannon, 1997) and the greater the opportunity of accruing experience-based benefits (Hannan and Freeman, 1984).
Responsiveness
Responsiveness is ‘the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service’. It emphasizes the attitude of service personnel of being attentive to customer questions, complaints and requests (Parasuraman et al., 1985). A high level of responsiveness has a positive influence on perceived quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
Empathy
Empathy can be described as ‘treating customers as individuals’ (Parasuraman et al., 1985). A high level of empathy has a positive influence on both perceived quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985) and satisfaction (Smith, Bolton and Wagner, 1999).
Tangibles
Tangibles highlight the elements that represent the service physically (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
Customer perceptions of service providers may be influenced by tangibles of the service outlet (Parasuraman et al, 1985). Lentell (2000) researched the effect of tangibles on satisfaction. His conclusion was that tangibles in leisure centers are of great influence on the satisfaction level (Lentell, 2000).
Relationship Strength Satisfaction Perceived Quality
Reliance X X X
Commitment X
Communication X
Conflict handling X X
Commercial friendship X X
Contact frequency X
Price X X
Relationship duration X
Responsiveness X
Empathy X X
Tangibles X X
Propositions Based on literature, the next propositions can be made;
Table 3. The role of the constructs within the determinants of loyalty.
Proposition 1: Reliance is positively related to relationship strength, satisfaction and perceived quality.
Proposition 2: Conflict handling is positively related to relationship strength and satisfaction.
Proposition 3 : Commercial friendship is positively related to relationship strength and satisfaction.
Proposition 4: Price is positively related to satisfaction and perceived quality.
Proposition 5: Empathy is positively related to satisfaction and perceived quality.
Proposition 6: Tangibles are positively related to satisfaction and perceived quality.
Proposition 7: Commitment is positively related to relationship strength.
Proposition 8: Communication is positively related to relationship strength.
Proposition 9: Contact frequency is positively related to relationship strength.
There are differences in the amount of influenced determinants of loyalty by each construct. Of the constructs, almost 50% influences two determinants of loyalty, another 50% influences one determinant of loyalty and one construct has, according to the literature, an influence on all three determinants of loyalty. Based on this data, the following proposition can be made;
Proposition 12: The greater the amount of influenced determinants of loyalty, the higher the ranking of the construct in importance.
Proposition 10: Relationship duration is positively related to relationship strength.
Proposition 11: Responsiveness is positively related to perceived quality.
Method
Empirical research has always a research design. A research design connects the initial set of questions with some set of conclusions (Creswell, 1994). It is an action plan to get from ‘here’ to
‘there’. Nachmias & Nachmias (1976) defines the research design as: ‘A plan that guides the investigator in the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting observations. It is a logical model of proof that the researcher enables to draw inferences concerning causal relations among the variables under investigation. The research design also defines the domain of generalizability, that is, whether obtained interpretations can be generalized to a larger population or to different situations.’
The research design deals with four issues; the research questions, the relevant data, the collection of data and the way of analyzing the results (Philliber, Schwab and Samsloss, 1982).
Two widely discussed research designs are qualitative and quantitative designs. A qualitative study can be seen as an inquiry instrument concerning the understanding of a social or human problem (Creswell, 1994). The qualitative study is build upon a complex and holistic framework. It is formed with words and reports information containing detailed views of participants. It is also known as constructivist approach or naturalistic (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Examples of qualitative methods are ethnographies, grounded theory, case studies or phenomenological studies (Creswell, 1994).
Quantitative research designs are, in contrast, based on testing a theory. The theory is composed of variables and measured with numbers (Creswell, 1994). With the numbers, statistical procedures can be used in order to analyze the results and to determine if the predictions, which are developed in the first section of the research, are true. This design is termed as the traditional, the experimental or the positivist (Creswell, 1994). Examples of quantitative research methods are experiments or surveys (Creswell, 1994).
The Qualitative Research Design
For the current research the qualitative research design was used. Within the qualitative research, the world of informants is entered by the researcher in order to seek perspectives and meanings from the informant through ongoing interaction (Marshall & Rossman, 1989). According to various researchers, qualitative research has, compared to quantitative research, numerous unique characteristics. A first characteristic is that the researcher can be seen as the instrument in the collection of the data, instead of an inanimate mechanism (Eisner, 1991; Merriam, 1988; Lincoln &
Guba, 1985; Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990). Second, qualitative research focuses on both the occurring process as the outcome or product. Particularly, the understanding of how things appear, is the focus of interest of researchers (Merriam, 1988; Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990). Also the characteristic that
qualitative research focuses on perceptions and experiences of participants (Locke, Spirduso and Silverman, 1987; Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990; Merriam, 1988), is unique. Researchers aim to understand multiple realities, rather than one (Lincoln & Guba, 1988). Fourth, participants receive individual attention and the collected data are interpreted regarding the individuals of a case, instead of generalizations (Creswell, 1994). And the last, qualitative research obtain descriptive data, the participant’s words or pictures report the data, rather than numbers (Merriam, 1988; Marshall &
Rossman, 1989; Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990; Locke et al., 1987).
The Single Case Study
Present research utilized the single case study. A case study is the right method when the research questions contains ‘how’ or ‘why’, when the researcher have little control over things, and when the focus of the research is on a contemporary process within a real-life context (Yin, 1984). There are three kinds of case study; explanatory, exploratory and descriptive. Single (as well as multiple) case studies have been identified as a less desirable method of inquiry compared to experiments or surveys. In order to overcome this traditional criticism, great care is needed with designing and the way of doing the study (Yin, 1984). The criticism is based on the lack of rigor. Researchers of case studies can influence the direction of the findings and conclusion by biased views. Also they are able to allow equivocal evidence or be sloppy during the research (Yin, 1984). But the thing that is often forgotten, is the fact that bias can influence every method of research, not only case studies (Rosenthal, 1966; Gottschalk, 1968; Sudman & Bradburn, 1982). Another aspect of criticism is the lack of the possibility to generalize. The rebuttal answer on this criticism is that case studies are generalizable to theoretical propositions, rather than to a sample or population (Yin, 1984). The researcher’s goal is expanding and generalizing theories and not enumerating frequencies. A third concern regarding case studies is the long duration of the research and the massive and unreadable documents as a result (Yin, 1984). If case studies are done at an appropriate manner, based on literature, the result of massive and unreadable documents can be avoided. The long duration of case studies does not hold true, especially in case of interviews (Yin, 1984).
The Researcher’s Role
The researcher’s role in qualitative research is enormous; it is the primary instrument in collecting the data. Therefore, at the outset of the study it requires to identify personal values, assumptions and biases of the researcher. The contribution of the researchers can be positive and useful instead of detrimental (Locke et al., 1987). Day care center Pinkeltje is ran by my mother. She started in 1985 and at that moment I was two years old. I grew up between children and aspects concerning raising
and educating a child was a daily subject of discussion. At the age of 17, I started to work as a temporary worker in the day care. By then, also my father was in the business. Ten months ago (November 2010), I quitted my other job and started part time working at Pinkeltje. I am responsible for the yearly satisfaction-questionnaire, product development and improvement, strategy planning, marketing and HRM. I believe this experience and knowledge enhances my awareness and sensitivity to the challenges I will meet during the research. It will assist me in working with the participants and enables me to find out more about the perceptions and experiences of the participants. Due to previous experiences concerning living and working in a day care center, I bring certain biases to this study. Although, the biases may influence my view at and the understanding and interpretation of the data, every effort will be made concerning the assurance of objectivity.
Setting and Participants
The participants are parents of green day care center Pinkeltje. The study is conducted at the participant’s houses. Green day care center Pinkeltje has 2 locations, one in Balkbrug and one in Nieuwleusen. Pinkeltje have 29 parents in Balkbrug and 26 parents in Nieuwleusen. I have access to the database and have picked by chance parents for participation in the research. Because it was July, many parents were on vacation. Therefore, I continued picking parents of the database, till I had reached the amount of 16 who agreed to participate. I called them from the office of Pinkeltje and explained the reason why I was calling. I gave a short notification concerning the purpose and content of the study and asked them if they wanted to participate. If they agreed to participate, I planned a meeting whereas the interview took place. After this informed consent, I confirmed the meeting by email to each participant.
Data collection / Procedure
Within a case study, interviewing is one of the most important sources to gain information. The type I have used in present research is a focused interview; the respondent is interviewed for a short period of time and the researcher follows a certain set of questions (Yin, 1984). I have developed four interviews (attachment 2), every interview is administered by four participants. The purpose of the interviews in current study was (1) to corroborate the theoretical framework concerning the interrelationships between the determinants satisfaction, perceived quality and relationship strength (interview 1) and (2) to corroborate the theoretical framework concerning the influence of the constructs on satisfaction (interview 2), perceived quality (interview 3) and relationship strength (interview 4). The questions must worded carefully (Yin, 1984), so that the respondents comment fresh instead that they are influenced and leaded by the way the questions are asked. Literature
recommends using multiple sources of evidence. Within a case study design there are (besides interviewing) five sources to extract information of; documentation, archival records, participant- observations, physical artifacts, interviews and direct observations (Yin, 1984). Nevertheless, due to the little available time frame, the present study used only interviews to gain information about the research question. It is a great burden to use multiple sources of evidence. Every data collection technique has its own way of doing and it takes too long to master the skills of more than one data collection technique. Literature also recommends creating a case study data base. Developing a data base can be done by making notes, documents, tabular material and narratives (Yin, 1984). In present study, I have made handwritten notes during the interviews. The notes were stored in such a way that other persons could retrieve them efficiently at a later moment. I have used a classificatory system that is evident to outside parties.
The interviews took place in week 30 and 31 in 2012. The interview included a 30 minute recorded interview with the informant. Within interviewing, the aspect ethical considerations should be considered. In literature the importance of ethical considerations is discussed a lot (Spradley, 1980;
Marshall & Rossman, 1989; Merriam, 1988; Locke et al., 1982). The informants have their rights, values, desires and needs and the researcher have an obligation to these aspects. In order to protect the informant’s rights, I have employed a few safeguards. First, the decision of anonymity of the informant was a decision which rests with the informant. Second, the objectives of the research were communicated both verbally and in writing. In this way, the informants clearly understood the objectives and the usage of the data. Third, within reporting the data, the rights, wishes and interests of the informant were considered first. Fourth, a written summary of the verbalized transcriptions and interpretations were available for the informant. And last, written permission after the interview were received from the informants.
Data Analysis
Data collection and analysis is in qualitative research revealed by literature as a simultaneous process (Marshall & Rossman, 1989; Merriam, 1988). Another perspective is that of Schatzman and Strauss (1973); analysis of data of qualitative research entails primarily classifying persons, events and things and characteristics of these aspects. In order to address the propositions of the study, data has to be analyzed by examining, categorizing, tabulating, or another recombining tool (Yin, 1984). Literature reveals three techniques to analyze the data; pattern-matching, explanation-building and time-series analysis (Yin, 1984). Pattern-matching is the strategy which is most desirable for case studies. It compares a predicted pattern with an empirically based pattern. Patterns or themes can pull together several pieces of data (Miles & Huberman, 1994). There can be all kinds of patterns, for
