Mystery shopping programmes and human resource management
Mystery shopper programmes are defined as a tool for evaluating and improving customer service. The development and implementation of a mystery shopper programme is discussed as a sequence of related steps closely linked to human resource management and employee involvement. The process begins with setting the objectives of the programme and ends with rewarding behaviour and implementing change. Employee participation is seen as paramount to the success of the programme in all stages of its development. This involvement avoids shoppers being seen as spies by employees. Employees need to know what points they will be evaluated on and the expected company standards of performance. The results of shopping programmes should be used to provide diagnostic information on service delivery rather than as performance appraisals of individual employees.
How Improving the Customer Experience Quality and Business Performance? A Case Study by Mystery Shopper Practices
This study aims to improve the quality of the customers’ experience of Chinese restaurants through the mystery shopper service, which will enhance customer satisfaction and repurchases as well as business performance. Thus, this study conducted case study on Formosa Chang Restaurant which the enterprise operation and management was ranked first in Taiwan by IMD2012 reports. The research found that the approach of using customers with unpleasant experiences as mystery shoppers could effectively resolve Chinese customers’ reluctance to tell service providers about their personal experiences so that the companies could introduce valid methods in order to improve equality of customer experience across the board. This study filled the gap as China had no research on the quality of experience for restaurants’ customers and provided a method for using mystery shoppers as a way to improve customer experience quality.
American Business Information in the UK
This paper addresses the question of the need for American business information in the UK in the light of the development of the European Single Market. In order to establish what needs exist and what sources are used, a questionnaire was sent to 80 business libraries throughout the UK, and in-depth interviews were carried out. The surveys show that, although the need for US data is small in some areas, it is still an important part of business information provision and is likely to remain so.