Essay Example on Reputation Management Research

Rationale for choosing 46 respondents

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Kuehne + Nagel Company serves many customers on a daily and weekly basis and for the purpose of research, only a small portion of 46 respondents was chosen to be a representation of the entire population. The number of respondents has been determined by simple random-sampling and the reason is that a small sample selected at random reduced bias and exhibit a lower sampling error. The rationale for the choice of 46 respondents was dictated by the research condition that the respondents have ever used Kuehne + Nagel services.

Data analysis

Customers in business are measured by the frequency by which they purchase services or products (Payne & Frow 2013, pg. 19). From the sample population, it was found that the customers had varied consumption frequencies. 37 individuals responded to the question and the majority of the respondents, 18 (48.65%), used the company services once in every month. Those who used the services in weekly basis were 7 which represent 18.92% of the respondents. The individuals with the frequency of services application of 2-3 time in one year or less were 6 which translated to 16.22% of the respondents. The daily customers were only 4 (10.81%) and those who do not use the services were only 2 (5.41%). It can be interpreted that most of the respondents were Kuehne + Nagels frequent customers.

According to Helm, et al. (2011, pg. 39), the reputation of an organization is vital for its survival. Reputation reveals the customers confidence and trust levels. From the questionnaire data, it has been shown that Kuehne + Nagel has a good reputation in the handling queries as it was discovered that out of the 35 respondents, 19 (54.29%) respondents said that the organization was very good. The scales of good, fair, poor and very poor were responded by 10 (28.57%), 3 (8.57%), 2 (5.71%) and 1 (2.86%) respondents respectively. The other variable tested using the same response scales was the operation quality in which very good, good, and fair scales had 20(57.24%), 11 (31.43%) and 4 (11.43%) respondents respectively. Service delivery in the organization has an average rating as shown by 13 (37.14%), 9(25.71%), 7(20%) and 6 (17.14%) respondents saying that service delivery was very good, good, fair and poor respectively. The implication of the data is that Kuehne + Nagel has friendly staff since the findings showed that 23(65.71%), 5(22.88% and 4 (11.43%) respondents perceive the variable to be very good, good and fair respectively. Staff professionalism is another strength for Kuehne + Nagel since the data finding under the very good, good and fair scales was responded to by 60%, 25.71% and 14.29% of the respondents.

According to Payne and Frow (2013, pg. 12), customer experiences are built from satisfaction. The questionnaire tested the customer satisfaction levels using variables such as accuracy, visibility, invoicing and documentation during the shipment process was tested. Kuehne + Nagels customers have average satisfaction levels since from the same 35 respondents, 13 (37.14%) were highly satisfied, 7 (20%) were somewhat satisfied, 9 (25.71%) were neutral while 6 (17.14%) were somewhat dissatisfied. Kuehne + Nagels customers have an average perception for the value-for-money since 21 (60%) of the respondents perceived that they paid for good value services and products. 11 (31.43%) registered poor value scale and only 3 (8.57%) said that they paid for exceptional value.

Every customer has a reason for choosing the preferred service provider. The data in the questionnaire shows that the respondents had varied responses on the aspects they considered important when choosing a freight forwarder. The implication of the data is that customers in the freight industry are on the lookout of the variables such as interaction level with the freighting team, shipment visibility, competitiveness, service and product innovation, and comprehension of logistics challenges, global network coverage, and market reputation. Data results shows that Kuehne + Nagel has invested heavily in the aspects that guarantee customer preference as shown by the percentage of the 35 respondents that considered the variables very important being 15 (42.86%), 28 (80%), 17 (48.57%), 14 (40%), 22 (62. 86%), 19 (54.29%) and 23 (65.71%) respectively.

The preference of Kuehne + Nagel services can be tied with the way customers perceive competitors products and services. Service comparison between the Kuehne + Nagel services with those from other logistics companies was such that the respondents who felt the services were much better, better, same and worse were 13 (37.14%), 5 (14.29%), 14( 40%) and 3(8.57%) respectively. Kuehne + Nagel has varied levels of understanding of the customer's companies. 16 (45.71%) respondents strongly agree, 14 (40%) agree, and 5 (14.29%) are neutral about the variable. The interpretation of the data is that Kuehne + Nagel enjoys a more fair reputation share in the industry. It is reflected by the average number of respondents recommending the services of Kuenhe + Nagel where only 3 (8.57%) respondents were most likely to recommend the services to friends. The majority of the respondents (22.86%) had a likelihood scale of 7 and 8 out of 10.

List of References

Helm, S., Liehr-Gobbers, K. & Storck, C., 2011. Reputation management. 2 ed. New York: Springer.

Payne, A. & Frow, P., 2013. Strategic customer management: integrating relationship marketing and CRM. 3 ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.