A Study of the Factors That Influence Customer Preference for Shopping Malls over Local Markets

-- P Ammani

Shopping malls are the most happening places these days where people spend their weekends to relax and shop. With the changing tastes and preferences of customers, shopping malls extend a global impact across metros, cities and towns. In this scenario, it is necessary to understand the preferences of youth, and the factors that govern them to visit shopping malls. The study was conducted on Hyderabad youth and the analysis revealed that shopping malls with their modern culture and environment have become a convenient hangout for the youth.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

An Analysis of the Competitive Marketing Strategies of the Hospitality Industry in UAE

--Shohab Sikandar Desai

Companies of all sizes around the globe are in a constant struggle to build their competitive capabilities to strengthen their position and outperform their rivals. The present study examines the competitive marketing strategies used by a sample of hotels from the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah who occupy different competitive positions in the hospitality industry as ‘market leaders’, ‘market challengers’, and ‘market followers’. The hospitality industry can serve as a useful example to throw some light on the success factors that might ensure superior performance of other related service organizations. Using a Chi-Square test, the study seeks to find out if there are differences in the sample characteristics and also whether the marketing strategies adopted by firms differ according to their competitive position.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Conceptualization and Measurement of Service Quality Dimensions in Business Markets: A Case of Indian IT Industry

--P S Raychaudhuri and Rahela Farooqi

The benefits of Information Technology (IT) implementation are available to the business market customers, consistently maintained with responsive after-sales service. In order to examine the factors affecting service quality provided by small and medium service providers and the proposed determinants of service quality (after-sales service performance, service improvements, technical preparedness and behavioral skills) and the resultant customer satisfaction, a study was conducted among the IT users in business organizations in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). The objectives include identification of customer requirements and service attributes that signify internal processes and customer interactions. Their perceptions of satisfaction from actual experience/performance arise out of confirmation/disconfirmation gap among the service attributes. An exploratory study was done to formulate the service quality construct and its dimensions through factor analysis from these attribute items, where customer satisfaction surrogate ‘low total cost of ownership’ was used as a criterion variable. In the present study, service improvements and technical preparedness emerge as new dimensions, apart from the applicability of dual aspects of perceived service quality—technical and functional dimensions. At the managerial level, these four dimensions tell us how to plan, implement and improve the various constituent items and service attributes at internal business process and subprocess levels in the organization.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Work-Life Balance Benefits: From the Perspective of Organizations and Employees

-- Niraj Kishore Chimote and Virendra N Srivastava

The purpose of this study is to find out the benefits of Work-Life Balance (WLB) from the perspective of organizations and employees. A survey was conducted on 100 call center employees in Gurgaon. A multiple regression analysis was conducted. While the organization perceives that effective WLB policies reduce absenteeism, the employees perceive that effective WLB policies result in job satisfaction and autonomy. The one sample t-test was conducted to find the significance of the benefit variables. The organizational perspective revealed that reducing absenteeism and turnover, improving productivity and image, and ensuring loyalty and retention are the benefits of WLB, whereas the employees’ perspective highlighted that job satisfaction, job security, autonomy, stress reduction and improving health are the benefits of WLB. However, correlation analysis indicated that both the perspectives are poorly correlated.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.