Organizational antecedents to designing a comprehensive complaint management system

Abstract

The literature highlights two main approaches to designing an effective complaint management system: the mechanistic and the organic. The mechanistic approach emphasizes the establishment of guidelines for the correct processing, attention and resolution of complaints received. In contrast, the organic approach relies on creating a supportive internal environment for correct customer attention, made possible through training and empowering employees responsible for complaint management and by promoting extra-role behaviour among them. The present research aims to study the antecedents of adopting these two approaches. From a strategic perspective, we analyse the influence of organizational culture variables (the extent to which the firm is customer- and innovation-oriented) and the nature of the objectives pursued by complaint handling (defensive vs. improvement objectives). The proposed model is tested on a sample of 140 manufacturing firms. Findings indicate these antecedents shape the complaint management system in a very differing and significant manner.