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ITM Master 1. Sem |
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The Customer as Employee |
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In tourism, the customer
is also producer of the product In the 1980s the concept of "the employee as a customer" was treated as a novel breakthrough. In the 1990s the process took the ultimate step of reversal and "the customer as employee in service organisations" was seriously examined. Result: The customer must be selected, trained, motivated and even dismissed if necessary. As such he is no longer a passive recipient of services, to be humoured at all times, but an active participant on equal terms with the official staff, thus giving rise to a new dimension - the design and management of the role of the customer as a Human Resource. "THE CUSTOMER AS EMPLOYEE" - Using Human Resource Management and Human Development Management Methods to create new approches towards "Guest Management" and "Guest Development" in Leisure and Tourism.
Text: "The Customer as Employee" by Robert Johnston . International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 1989, Vol. 9, No. 5 HARDCOPY
Of course, customers are in service products producers per definition. And many parts of the production of a leisure and tourism experience are necessarily provided by the customer (f.i. getting information about a destination/sight beforehand to understand the significance of it or knowing his/her preferences when selecting food from a menu). Also customers nowadays do many things themselves that were provided before, like checking availabililty and booking via the internet, doing online-banking, using ATMs etc. And selection (f.i. by pricing of product), training ("how to use the safe in this hotel room"), motivation ("No visit to X is complete without seeing Y") and dismissal ("Customers in bathing suits will not be served") are done everywhere, all the time - but mostly without realising it, without doing it ON PURPOSE.
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Contact:
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, Study Program Director |
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