| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of the master’s thesis is to verify the production of perceived value of customer involvement in services as a source of competitiveness for a company. Scholarly literature analysis and results of previous research reveal that coproduction is already viewed as a source of competitive advantage, but researches proving that are not yet available. The research started with discussion of the concepts of coproduction and competitiveness. To find out what customers the company needs, customer activeness levels have been examined, and to determine their perceived value of involvement, benefits and costs relating to the involvement have been analysed. It has been found that the research should focus on service involvement of active customers who perceive not only functional and social, but also emotional values of involvement. Coproduction can be viewed as a source of competitive advantage, because active interaction with customers facilitates emergence of new ideas, improvement of processes, enhancement of quality, customer loyalty etc. To verify the conclusions reached during the scholarly literature analysis a questionnaire survey of service company executives has been carried out. The participants in the survey were executives of beauty-SPA, vehicle repair, and catering service companies, who make competitive decisions or are in charge of their implementation. The survey revealed that Lithuanian business representatives agree that coproduction can be regarded as a source of competitiveness, but they admit they are not ready to introduce customer participation activation measures into their businesses yet. To reveal the reasons for that expert interviews were conducted. The interviews confirm the questionnaire survey results: executives see no use in inclusion of active customers into coproduction process. This research has also enabled disclosure of reasons for such decisions of the executives. The research for the master’s thesis has revealed that Lithuanian service companies agree that coproduction is beneficial for a company and is a potential source of competitive advantage. However, according to the survey results, due to potentially high financial costs, increasing time allocation requirements, risk, low number of active customers, lack of familiar success stories, and specific requirements for the job the executives are reluctant to make use of coproduction. |
