Benefits from the standardisation of the complaint management system

Abstract

This research provides new developments in the conceptualization of the complaint management system by examining the benefits of the standardization of the complaint management process. In line with a mechanistic approach of organizational behaviour, we posit that standardization of complaint handling can help to overcome defensive behaviour by employees and managers, who can view receiving complaints as a decidedly negative experience. Specifically, we investigate the influence of three types of guidelines —procedural, behavioural, and outcome— on achieving fairer solutions for customers and, consequently, greater satisfaction with the system. The model proposed in the present research is tested considering the managers’ perspective and using data from a representative sample of manufacturing companies covering multiple industries. Our findings provide novel and interesting insights on the factors to which managers in manufacturing firms should pay closer attention when designing an effective complaint management system. All three types of guidelines help to explain perception of justice in the solution of complaints and, thus, customer satisfaction, but important differences exist for the different types of guidelines and their corresponding dimensions.