| Infusing Technology into Customer Relationships: Balancing High-Tech and High-Touch (2005) | |||||||||||
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| Nowadays it is expected that self-services have the potential to transform the service economy in a similar way that mass production transformed manufacturing by allowing services to be delivered at low cost in large volumes. This focus on self-service also affects the development of new services. For example, in order to promote their self-service activities, banks have created online-only products and airlines offer exclusive discounts for passengers booking online. In this context, practice as well as literature place emphasis on the key role of technology with the increased use of terms such as ?self-service technology? (SST) or ?technology-based self-service? (TBSS).Motivated by these developments the authors carried out a survey to examine the status quo and future trends in the area of SST. The survey was conducted among 44 internationally renowned companies. It analyzed various aspects including future investments in SST, driving forces behind the deployment of SST in customer relationships as well as benefits and shortcomings linked to the utilization of SST.The results of the survey point at one key challenge: SST constitutes a ?double-edged sword? for companies which are not able to find the right balance between high-tech and high-touch. This is caused by the fact that self-services? strengths are simultaneously their main weaknesses. On the one hand, utilization of SST makes tremendous cost savings possible. On the downside of this service automation are, however, weak social bonds and a loss of client control. These are the key inhibitors of self-services according to the surveyed companies.Based on critical success factors following from the survey findings, the authors develop a conceptual framework aiming at dismantling the outlined self-service phenomenon. These critical success factors address the areas of (1) strategy, (2) technology, (3) integration and (4) change, which have to be considered for the successful development and design of services in self-service environments. | |||||||||||
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