Central argument: The primary payoff to the firm for incurring these costs associated with the three
dimensions of justice is that it enjoys relationships with stakeholders who positively reciprocate, and
that the cooperation of such stakeholders collectively generates rents.
- A company can create value by sharing it with stakeholders. Of course, the amount of value a
firm can create in this way is subject to decreasing marginal returns. That is, firms can
allocate too many resources to stakeholders. In an efficient market, firms create rent by trying
to maximise their utility while conforming to the norms and values of society.
Conclusion
Rather than being purely self-interested, people behave reciprocally, rewarding others whose actions
they perceive as fair, and willingly incurring (increasing) costs to punish those they perceive as unfair.
Economists show that employers who are perceived as distributively fair by their employees generate
comparatively more value through the positive reciprocal behaviour of those employees. The
literature on organisational fairness distinguishes two additional types of fairness judged by
employees. Drawing on both bodies of work, we use stakeholder theory to propose how perceptions
of fairness lead to reciprocity that (1) extends to all stakeholders of the firm and (2) affects firm
performance. Specifically, we discuss how stakeholders' perceptions of a firm's distributive,
procedural, and interactional justice affect their behavior towards the firm.
Based on the assumption of reciprocity, firms should distribute (surplus) value in the form of material
resources, procedural justice and/or interactional justice to a broad group of stakeholders in order to
create value. In distributing this value, the firm creates a pattern of positive reciprocity among its
stakeholders that supports the creation of additional rent.
Week 4
Lecture 6
The pyramid principle
Minto, B. (1998). Think your way to clear writing. Consulting to Management, 10 (1), 33
SCQA: Situation (what we all know), Complication (why do we pay attention to it), Question (which
question should therefore be answered), Answer
Ensure that your pyramid is Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive (MECE)
Mutually Exclusive; means that all items in each category belong only to that category.
Collectively Exhaustive: means that all the possibilities have been covered.
Ensure that each category of your pyramid doesn’t contain too many subcategories
- Ensure a vertical logic by answering the questions why and how
2 types of logic:
The concept of deduction = a coherent and logic way of reasoning which automatically leads to a
conclusion. → lean on previous findings.
The concept of induction = a chain of non-related statements which make it possible to draw a
certain conclusion
,Growing with personal or self-services?
Self-service: depended on the complexity of the task. Also depending on costs, benefits and context.
Scherer, A., Wünderlich, N. V., & Von Wangenheim, F. (2015). The value of self-service. MIS quarterly,
39(1),177-200.
Abstract: Our findings suggest that the ratio of self-service to personal service used affects customer
defection in a U-shaped manner, with intermediate levels of both selfservice and personal service use
being associated with the lowest likelihood of defection. We also find that this effect mitigates over
time. We conclude that firms should not shift customers toward self-service channels completely,
especially not at the beginning of a relationship
Theories used
- Service Dominant Logic (Vargo & Lusch):
- Concept: Value creation is a collaborative process between the customer and the
service provider, involving a unique combination of their resources.
- Implication: Emphasizes the co-creation of value through the active involvement and
collaboration of both the customer and the service provider.
- Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel):
- Concept: Media can be characterized based on their ability to convey communicative
cues, provide immediate feedback, support language variety, and allow
personalization.
- Implication: Richer media (e.g. face to face), offering more communication cues and
personalization, tend to be more effective for complex and ambiguous tasks compared
to leaner media.(e.g. emails, bulk mail, posters)
- Channel Expansion Theory (Carlson and Zmud):
- Concept: The perceived richness of a communication medium depends not only on its
inherent characteristics but also on the user's unique experience with it.
- Implication: Users' perceptions of a medium's richness are influenced by their
individual experiences, suggesting that the effectiveness of a communication channel
is subjective and context-dependent.
Two value propositions are compared
1. Technology based self-services
- Customer interacts only with technology.
- No direct communication with service representatives.
- Customers contribute to value creation.
, - Lean, standardized, lacks personalized attention.
2. Personal services
- Service provider representative present.
- Direct interaction and communication with customers.
- Human presence leads to sociable behavior.
- Offers social benefits like familiarity and friendship.
When discussing how both self-service and personal service channels can impact a customer’s
relationship to a service provider, we will thus keep (1) the individual characteristics and resources of
a customer, (2) the resource requirements of a task, and the (3) unique capabilities of a service channel
in mind.
Media Richness Theory (MRT)
guides communication strategy by
considering a channel's ability to
convey cues, provide feedback, and
support variety of language, all of
which influence the quality of
outcomes for complex tasks.
Channel Expansion Theory explores
how users shape their perceptions of
the richness of a communication
channel based on their unique
experiences and knowledge,
influencing their use and capabilities
of the medium.
The value proposition: what the firm
offers
The value-in-context: when the
customer can benefit
Hypothesis: supported
H1: The ratio of self-service versus personal service use influences a customer’s likelihood of
defection in a U-shaped manner, with high levels of self-service or personal service usage being
associated with the highest chance of defection and intermediate levels of self-service and personal
service usage being associated with the lowest chance of defection.
→ Best of both world hypothesis
Conclusion: Customers who use both self-service and personal service channels moderately within
three months are less likely to leave, supporting our main hypothesis (H1). On the other hand, those
who use self-service rarely or heavily over the same period are more likely to leave. This highlights