Customer integration

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The customer integration is found in the vertical cooperation strategy in supply chain management again, and refers to the downstream value creation stages of the supply chain . Customer integration describes the process of cooperation between customers and organizations as well as the integration of the customer into operational service creation processes or into product innovation processes so that companies can achieve customer satisfaction and economic success.

definition

The customer purchases the company's products and is therefore an important part of their supply chain . That is why companies see the customer as a starting point and reference point. The more customers are viewed as a starting point and reference point, the better their requirements, needs and wishes can be met. Furthermore, customer integration can take place in the areas of business-to-business and business-to-consumer , with the difference that the customer here is another company or an end customer. Advantages can be drawn from this cooperation strategy, which contribute to increasing efficiency and thereby increasing the competitive position and ability in the market. Furthermore, the support of innovations on both sides, the distribution of the entrepreneurial risk over several partners and the offer of individualized products and services speak for the cooperation with customers.

Customer integration in the service creation process

Service processes are carried out with the help of the customer. To carry out the service, certain information about the wishes and requirements of the customer is necessary. Such information is e.g. B. the place and time of the service provision and other clear characteristics of the desired service. This means that at least individual customer-related information is integrated into every service creation.

Customer functions and roles

To describe the customer integration in the service creation process, different customer functions or customer roles can be represented. The first role is that of the demand for service, since the customer demands the company's service with the best possible fulfillment. The second role is the customer as a productive resource; In this, the customer brings his own knowledge, experience and skills to the service. In the role of co-creator, the customer participates in the service creation process and can thus improve the quality of the results through his contributions. As an innovator, the customer takes an active part in performance improvements and performance developments with the help of his own knowledge. It serves as a provider of information and ideas. Furthermore, the customer can take on the role of the competitor if the latter is at least partially providing the service himself. In the role of communicator, the customer supports the distribution of the services and recommends them to other customers. In the role of the quality inspector, in the event of quality defects, the customer can pass on his suggestions for improvement and feedback to the relevant employees in order to achieve quality improvements. Through these contributions, employees are motivated and can perceive the integrated customer, for example through this influence, in the function of a replacement manager. The last role is the customer as an income and cost factor. On the one hand, there are costs due to customer integration, such as B. Production costs, however, if the service is successfully provided with the help of the customer, there is also income.

Passive and active customer participation

Furthermore, customer participation can be divided into active and passive participation. Active participation is when the customer contributes information and knowledge or is physically involved in the service creation process. A passive participation of the customer would be if the customer experiences feelings such as joy, pride and insecurity during the service provision.

Motives for participation of customers

A distinction is made between the achievement motive, the economic motives for participation and the psychological motives for participation.

  • Achievement motive

The need for achievement was first defined by Murray (1938) and he described it in this way: “To accomplish something difficult. To master, manipulate or organize physical objects, human beings, or ideas. To do this as rapidly, and as independently as possible. To overcome obstacles and attain a high standard. To excel one's self. To rival and surpass others. To increase self-regard by the successful exercise of talent. " These subtasks should challenge the customer, he should be able to lead and organize people or objects, the tasks should be able to be performed quickly and independently, he should be able to bring his own talents to the table and surpass others.

  • Economic motives for participation

The second type of motivation are the economic participation motives. These only lead to customer participation if the customers perceive or can expect benefits from their active contribution to the provision of the service. One advantage is the improvement in the quality of the result that results from the customer's efforts to improve it. Another advantage for the customer is that price advantages can arise if the customer's own contribution increases, for example in the hairdressing salon when the customer blows his hair himself. Customers can also participate more in the provision of the service, so that the service is fulfilled more quickly and time is saved.

  • Psychological motives for participation

The third category, the psychological motives for participation, is essentially characterized by the uncertainty, risk and control motives. The uncertainty motives relate to the fact that services are only provided after the purchase and thus there is a process and result uncertainty. By getting more involved, the customer can have more control over the process and the outcome and consequently reduce the risk of missing the target result.

Design of service processes using the example of blueprinting

A tool for the design of service processes is the concept of blueprinting the value-added processes . Blueprinting is suitable for the representation and analysis of customer integration and thus also for systematic design. Before this concept can be applied, it is important that the provider knows exactly which service the customer wants. It also plays a role in which way and in which parts of the service process the customer wants to participate. With the help of this concept, employees of a company, both demanders and suppliers, can structure their activities better, plan and control material and human resource use more efficiently and also use it for the instruction and training of new employees.

Customer integration in the product innovation process

Customer integration in the innovation process is about the company gearing its innovation activities consistently to the needs and requirements of customers. The result of customer contributions to innovation processes can be influenced by the type of products, the management and the environmental complexity. The central goal of customer integration in the innovation process is to develop products with the help of customer participation that better meet market requirements. In general, customers can be brought in before or during the provision of the service.

Goals for the manufacturer

The main goal of the manufacturer is to increase the result or the success of the innovation with the help of customer involvement. Further goals are the generation of new product ideas, available precise information on customer needs, feedback from integrated customers for developed concepts and prototypes, customers as assistance during development and to support innovation marketing, the reduction of resources and development costs, the achievement of higher quality and a faster development of processes and results, lowering of technological and economic innovation risks and preparation for the product's market opening. Taking a closer look, the company can better understand the user market, gain competitive information and customer know-how, expand its market, strengthen customer loyalty, minimize the risk of errors in processes, improve the quality and performance of new products, and the time and costs required reduce. The manufacturer therefore expects advantages that can only be achieved through customer integration.

Customer roles

The customer can take on three possible relevant roles in the integration into the innovation process of companies. He can exercise the role of resource, co-developer or user and accordingly participate in the innovation process. The effectiveness of these roles can be influenced by factors such as characteristics of the customer, the processes, the involvement or the manufacturer.

  • Customer as a resource

The role of the resource is exercised in the areas of idea generation and product conceptualization. The customer represents a source of innovation in which he brings in new information and new ideas about products.

  • Customer as co-developer

The customer role of the co-developer is in the area of ​​product development. This role is more likely to be found in industrial goods than in consumer goods , since it is mostly the development of complex products from the business-to-business area. In product development, the customer's employees are actively integrated into the manufacturer's product development process as idea generators, stimulators, designers and possibly also as problem solvers. The involvement of the customer is possible from design activities up to and including the development of products.

  • Customer as user

The third role is the customer as a user. In this role, the customer contributes his application knowledge and experience. Customers test the new products and prototypes and share their experiences with the manufacturers. With the help of their experience, these products can be further developed or revised. In this way, product defects and weaknesses can be identified early in order to save costs for product revision. Furthermore, the manufacturers can use this method to test how customers get on with the products in different environments and operating conditions.

Strategies for the manufacturer's customer integration

  • Strategy: focus on effectiveness

This strategy can be applied in two areas of the innovation process: once at the beginning of the process when selecting the right opportunity or the right innovation field for product innovation and once in the development phase when selecting and refining the concept.

At the beginning of the innovation process, this strategy and the integrated customers should be used to identify new opportunities and opportunities for product innovation. The aim of the manufacturer is to identify new opportunities in the market that arise due to trends and certain situations. When applying this strategy in the development phase of the innovation process, the aim of the manufacturer is to use customer integration to refine the concept, for example the generation and testing of concepts or the selection of problem solutions and concept drafts. The function of the customer here is to support the search, selection and refinement of a tested concept that was created through an identified opportunity or an identified problem.

  • Strategy: focus on efficiency

The efficiency - focused strategy is mainly used in the business-to-business area and is located between opportunity identification and concept refinement. It is used to collect and select ideas for the previously defined opportunity so that a concept can be drawn up later. To be included in the innovation process, customers should have technological competence and innovative, progressive and technical knowledge that goes into the manufacturer's innovation process with their own wishes, needs and requirements. Customers can be involved in order to analyze and specify the information that has been developed up to that point. If the customer has similar knowledge in the area of ​​the manufacturer's core competence, he can also drive and control the innovation. Customers who are integrated in this way often have a certain size and position of power and can accordingly have a strong influence on the innovation process. The aim of using the efficiency-focused strategy is to create cooperative innovation processes in the technical, product-related area in order to develop innovative solutions.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hartmut Werner : Supply Chain Management. Basics, strategies, instruments and controlling . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, p. 118 .
  2. ↑ Jochem Piontek : Components of logistics management . Verlag Neue Wirtschafts-Briefe GmbH & Co.KG, Bremen 2003, p. 11-13 .
  3. ↑ Nils Daecke : Actor-based management of supply chain relationships . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, p. 2 .
  4. ↑ a b c Bernd Stauss, Manfred Bruhn: Customer integration. Service Management Forum . GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 11-14, 18 .
  5. ↑ Marion Büttgen : Customer integration in the service process . German University Publishing House, GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 17-45 .
  6. ↑ Marion Büttgen: Customer integration in the service process . German University Publishing House, GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 26-28 .
  7. ↑ Marion Büttgen: Participation of consumers in the provision of services: burden or pleasure? - An analysis based on the theory of motivation and dissonance . In: Bernd Stauss, Manfred Bruhn (ed.): Customer integration. Service Management Forum . GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 68-72 .
  8. ^ Henry A. Murray : Explorations in Personality . Oxford University Press, New York 1938, pp. 164 .
  9. ↑ Marion Büttgen: Participation of consumers in the provision of services: burden or pleasure? - An analysis based on the theory of motivation and dissonance . In: Bernd Stauss, Manfred Bruhn (ed.): Customer integration. Service Management Forum . GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 68-69 .
  10. ↑ Marion Büttgen: Participation of consumers in the provision of services: burden or pleasure? - An analysis based on the theory of motivation and dissonance . In: Bernd Stauss, Manfred Bruhn (ed.): Customer integration. Service Management Forum . GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 70 .
  11. ↑ Marion Büttgen: Participation of consumers in the provision of services: burden or pleasure? - An analysis based on the theory of motivation and dissonance . In: Bernd Stauss, Manfred Bruhn (ed.): Customer integration. Service Management Forum. GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 71-72 .
  12. ↑ Michael Kleinaltenkamp : Customer Integration. From customer orientation to customer integration. Business publisher Dr. Th. Gabler GmbH, Wiesbaden 1996, p. 17-19 .
  13. ↑ Steffi Poznanski : Value creation through customer integration . German University Publishing House, GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 27-30 .
  14. ↑ Steffi Poznanski: Value creation through customer integration . German University Publishing House, GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 65 .
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g h Christoph H. Wecht : The management of active customer integration in the early phase of the innovation process . German University Publishing House, GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 140-146, 150, 154-160 .