Design/methodology Organisations are digitising the customer journey at a fast pace but have no idea what the effects of digitisation will be on customer experience and customer relationships. This paper describes two studies on digitisation in customer contact and the effects on customer experience and customer relationships. The first study examines how a relatively new medium, such as chat, relates to more a traditional medium such as the telephone. The second study examines the effects of re-directing customers from a traditional channel like telephone to the internet. Purpose: The research described in this paper was designed to measure these effects of digitisation on customer experience and customer relationships. Findings: Findings show that customers have a more positive customer experience when they use a digital channel like chat than when they use a traditional channel like phone, regardless of whether they have a simple or a complex question. The use of a digital channel does not have an impact on the customer relationship. Channel direction, however, has a negative impact on customer experience but also does not have an impact on the relationship. Practical implications: Our research shows that the use of digital channels like chat, unlike what people often think, do not necessarily have to lead to a deterioration of customer experience. In certain cases, the use of digital channels will lead to an improvement of customer experience. The research results also show that neither the used communication-medium nor a restriction of freedom of choice have a significant influence on the relational models. Originality: The most important contribution of this paper to the scientific literature is that it provides a deeper insight into the effects of some aspects of digitisation on customer experience and customer relationships. It also provides insight into the applicability of relational models in existing customer–supplier relationships.
Many countries experience waning public trust in government, while digitisation of society is on the rise and public authorities continue to further digitise their services. If governments do not pay enough attention to the perspective of citizens and adopt a citizen-centric approach while designing digital services, accessibility of government services may decrease and further erode public trust. Against this background, this chapter explores the digitisation of government services from a citizen’s perspective, with a special focus on the role of the law and legal professionals. The chapter is based on the experiences of the authors over the past years with using digitisation to enhance citizens’ access to the law and to improve the way in which (internal and external) processes of public legal departments work.In current practice, the logic of the law often requires that citizens split up their problems or requests for help and approach different government bodies for different aspects of their problem. Well-designed digital government services put real-life problems that citizens experience first and combine all regulations that offer possible solutions, thus reducing complexity for the citizen and increasing their capacity to act. The limited capacity for personal contact can then be reserved for those citizens that need it. From a legal perspective, it is essential that government services are based on a traceable and transparent connection to the underlying regulations, using external knowledge models. Current government practices leave a lot to be desired in this respect. Methodologies are available to create these connections and are an important element for designing legally sound and citizen-centric government services.
Cross-Re-Tour supports European tourism SME while implementing digital and circular economy innovations. The three year project promotes uptake and replication by tourism SMEs of tools and solutions developed in other sectors, to mainstream green and circular tourism business operations.At the start of the project existing knowledge-gaps of tourism SMEs will be researched through online dialogues. This will be followed by a market scan, an overview of existing state of the art solutions to digital and green constraints in other economic sectors, which may be applied to tourism SME business operations: water, energy, food, plastic, transport and furniture /equipment. The scan identifies best practices from other sectors related to nudging of clients towards sustainable behaviour and nudging of staff on how to best engage with new tourism market segments.The next stage of the project relates to two design processes: an online diagnostic tool that allows for measuring and assessing (160) SME’s potential to adapt existing solutions in digital and green challenges, developed in other economic sectors. Next to this, a knowledge hub, addresses knowledge constraints and proposes solutions, business advisory services, training activities to SMEs participating. The hub acts as a matchmaker, bringing together 160 tourism SMEs searching for solutions, with suppliers of existing solutions developed in other sectors. The next key activity is a cross-domain open innovation programme, that will provide 80 tourism SMEs with financial support (up to EUR 30K). Examples of partnerships could be: a hotel and a supplier of refurbished matrasses for hospitals; a restaurant and a supplier of food rejected by supermarkets, a dance event organiser and a supplier of refurbished water bottles operating in the cruise industry, etc.The 80 cross-domain partnerships will be supported through the knowledge hub and their business innovation advisors. The goal is to develop a variety of innovative partnerships to assure that examples in all operational levels of tourism SMEs.The innovation projects shall be presented during a show-and-share event, combined with an investors’ pitch. The diagnostic tool, market scan, knowledge hub, as well as the show and share offer excellent opportunities to communicate results and possible impact of open innovation processes to a wider international audience of destination stakeholders and non-tourism partners. Societal issueSupporting the implementation of digital and circular economy solutions in tourism SMEs is key for its transition towards sustainable low-impact industry and society. Benefit for societySolutions are already developed in other sectors but the cross-over towards tourism is not happening. The project bridges this gap.
Client: European Parliament, Directorate General for Internal Policies, Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies, Transport and Tourism This analysis synthesizes the effects of information technology developments on tourism SMEs in the European Union. The effects were found to be profoundly disruptive to traditional business models of tourism information and distribution. Policy developments supporting research, education and facilitating change in tourism SMEs are called for.
TRACES helps European museums identifying, developing and sharing know-how, competencies and skills required to develop and implement a digital strategy focused on audience development.In an increasingly dynamic digital consumer context, most cultural sectors are lagging behind when it comes to catering to significant shifts in the way people experience, interact or share content. European museums do not all yet fully use the digital technologies available to close this digital gap. TRACES will bring together these museums in need of capacity building about ‘going digital’. In three cross-border workshops, we transfer knowledge and educate museum professionals, together with experts and students, in the deployment of innovative digital technologies to communicate and engage with new or existing audiences. Participants will have hands-on experience on (a) how to develop a digital strategy, (b) create digital stories and (c) integrate innovative media technologies. This project will give museums the necessary insights into how to adjust to the digital shift and will initiate the adaptation of the study programmes to the current need of digitisation in the cultural industries.Partners:Thomas MoreMMEx
