WEEK 10

 

Measuring and Designing Quality in e-Operations

 

Synopsis

Service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty have become very important issues for e-Services, and have served as the basis for the genesis of several new businesses on the web. During this session, we consider the measurement of the performance of e-Services, as viewed through the eyes of the customer.

 

Readings

 

(Required) Keeney, R., “The Value of Internet Commerce to the Customer,” Management Science, Vol. 45, No. 4, April 1999.

Handed Out in Class During Week 9 – Email me if you need a copy emailed

 

(Required) Zeithmal, V.A., “Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence”, Journal of Marketing, 52, 1988, p. 2-7, 13.

Handed Out in Class During Week 9 – Email me if you need a copy emailed

 

(Required) Schwartz, M., “Constructive Web Critics,” Computerworld, May 22, 2000

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO45111,00.html

 

(Required) “E-Commerce Crusader: Bizrate.Com's Farhad Mohit Sees Himself At The Forefront Of An E-Tailing Revolution,” Business Week, June 5, 2000.

http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_23/b3684047.htm

 

 

Related Readings – Not Required

 

Melymuka, K., “Ensuring E-Quality,” Computerworld, January 29, 2001

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO56986,00.html

 

Anthes, G.H., “The Quest for E-Quality,” Computerworld, December 13, 1999

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO37833,00.html

 

Alter, A., “It’s Time We Made Quality An E-Word,” Computerworld, October 11, 1999

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO37201,00.html

 

Alexander, S., “Business Metrics,” Computerworld, June 12, 2000

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO45781,00.html


Hanson, W., “Customer Support and Online Quality (Chapter 6),” in Internet Marketing, South-Western College Publishing, 2000.

 

Reichheld, F.F., and P. Schefter, "E-Loyalty" Harvard Business Review, July-August, 2000, p. 105-113.

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/prod_detail.asp?R00410

 

Collins, A., “Customer Service Counts,” Business 2.0, March 21, 2001

http://www.business2.com/content/channels/ebusiness/2001/03/21/28747

 

Philosophe.com – A thoughtful approach to web site quality

http://www.philosophe.com/

 

Netscape’s Website Testing Links – Quality and Capacity

http://directory.netscape.com/Computers/Programming/Software_Testing/E-Commerce_Testing

 

 

WWW Sites

BizRate.com

http://www.bizrate.com/

 

e-Wonders’ (ewonders.com) Rating Wonders

http://www.ratingwonders.com/

 

Gomez

http://www.gomezadvisors.com/

 

Gomez Networks – site performance evaluation service

http://www.gomeznetworks.com/

 

Gomez Advisors Scorecard Methodology

http://www.gomez.com/about/releases.asp?art_id=5068&subSect=methodology&topcat_id=0

 

Gomez Advisors Merchant Certification Program – Certification Criteria

http://www.gomez.com/Certification/signup.cfm

 

Forrester Research Power Rankings

http://www.forrester.com/ER/PowerRankings/0,2141,0,FF.html

 

AC Nielsen e-Ratings.com: Quality of Advertising Exposure

http://www.eratings.com/

 

World's Best Websites – Quality Criteria for Website Excellence Awards

http://www.worldbestwebsites.com/criteria.htm

 

Apple’s Mac-Friendly Ratings

http://ireview.mac.com/

 

Consumer Reports Online, E-Ratings: Online Shopping Guide (if you are a member)

http://www.consumerreports.org/Eratings/

 

WebWatchdog

http://www.webwatchdog.com/

 

OpinionLab.com

http://www.opinionlab.com/

 

The Watchfire Quality Index Methodology (a quality of conformance tool)

http://www.watchfire.com/resources/quality/methodology.asp

 

 

Assignment

 

Visit the web sites of:

 

 

Each of these web sites provides “expert shopper” and/or “customer” evaluations of customers’ perceptions of the quality/customer satisfaction of electronic transactions for a wide variety of e-Service companies.

 

Examine the content of the evaluation methodologies of each of these sites, and compare the three approaches, considering:

 

1. The content and analysis methods of the three methodologies for evaluating the quality of electronic transactions.

2. Usefulness -- how can the three methods be applied to manage the full scope of transactions in an e-Service business?

3. Completeness/Comprehensiveness -- are there any important e-Service attributes that these sites have overlooked? Are there any quality dimensions that you feel should be added or removed to have a comprehensive set of quality metrics for managing your "generic" e-Service?

4. Advantages/Risks -- Are there any benefits from employing such services, outside of the ability to measure and manage e-Service quality? Are there any potential risks in employing -- or just due to the existence of -- such services?

 

Submit a write-up of about 2-3 pages.