内部服务质量是配送中心绩效的决定因素【外文翻译】

1、外文翻译原文In ternalservice quality: Determi nan ts of distribute ncen terperforma neeMaterial Source: International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics ManagementAuthor: M. Douglas Voss, Roger J. Calantone, Scott B. KellerThe role of logistics has evolved throughout the past half-century .

2、Once viewed solely as a cost to be mini mized, today logistics is recog ni zed as a means to gain competitive advantages . In pursuit of higher service levels and improved performa nee, many firms have beg un to exam ine their internal fun cti ons to discover logistics opport un ities yet to be leve

3、raged .To improve external service levels, supply chain performanee, and firm financial performanee, the quality of service delivered internally must first be improved. Improving internal service quality to improve external service quality and performa nee is not a new idea, and has bee n exam ined

4、thoroughly in the exta nt literature (Berry, 1983; Gr?nroos, 1990; Lings, 1999). The importanee of internal service quality can also be found in the total quality management (TQM) literature.To improve in ternal service levels, Shostack (1987) proposes a starti ng point of graphically illustrating t

5、he internal processesof a firm through the use of service blueprinting. Service blueprinting entails illustrating the exchanges and transactions that create value betwee n departme nts. Departme nts that come in eon tact with customers have a direct impact on the delivery of external service quality

6、. To effectively achieve their value propositi ons, departme nts receive services and goods from other departments within the organization (Lings, 1999). In this manner, certain departments serve as internal suppliers of goods and services to other departme nts who act as internal customers, in that

7、 they eon sume goods and services . To achieve the highest possible value delivered to the external customer, each departme nt in side the firm must deliver the highest possible value to internal customers . Service delivered in ternally cul min ates in the service level delivered by fron t-l ine em

8、ployees to the exter nal customer. Moreover, fron t-li ne employees ofte n represe nt the last line of defe nse aga inst in correct shipme nts, damaged product, and missed delivery or shipping appointments. Thus, if the job tasks of front-line employees and departme nts are not performed efficie ntl

9、y and effectively the results can be detrimental to service levels provided to customers, supply chain performanee, and the financial well-being of the firm.While the relati on ship of fron t-l ine employee performa nee to exter nal service quality is well understood , we believe that the level of s

10、ervice provided between departme nts also plays an importa nt role. We therefore posit that a relati on ship exists between the level of interdepartmental service quality, front-line employee performanee, and service, supply chain, and financial performance of distribution cen ters, and seek to prov

11、ide support ing empirical evide nce. Our paper is orga ni zed as follows. First, a more in-depth discussion of internal service quality, as it is brought about by in terdepartme ntal customer orie ntati on, and the importa nce of fron t-l ine employee performa nce is provided. Next, canoni cal corre

12、lati on is used to assessthe relati on ship of these two in depe ndent variables to distributi on cen ter service, supply chain, and financial performance. Third, a discussion of the results and implications are provided, and we conclude with limitations of our study.An internal service chain is cre

13、ated to deliver exceptional service to the exter nal customer through excepti onal service delivered to each internal customer duri ng each internal tran sact ion . Should an internal supplier fail to deliver quality service to an internal customer, the service delivered to the external customer wil

14、l be less tha n optimal.One pote ntial problem is that ofte n departme nts are en couraged to view their function as merely a single activity in the process . The end result is a myopic view of the department's role in the service delivery process. Such myopia leads departments to focus solely o

15、n their activities in the process with little regard to how their output affects others that consume their services downstream. An interdepartmental customer orientation may help resolve this problem . Interdepartmental customer orientation is the organizational orientation that en courages departme

16、 nts to view their internal role as part of an en tire process and to make the n ecessary efforts to in crease service levels they provide to other departme nts dow nstream toward the exter nal customer. I nterdepartme ntal customer orie ntati on serves as the impetus for departme nts (act ing as in

17、ternal suppliers) to provide high levels of service to other departme nts (acti ng as in ternal customers).In terdepartme ntal customer orie ntatio n improves exter nal service levels and improves supply chain and financial performanee by facilitating the integration of in terfu nctional activities

18、defi ne internal in tegrati on as“ the compete ncy of linkinginternally performed work into a seamless process to support customer requirements ” and find that interriategration is a significant indicator of supply chain performance as measured by supply chain efficiency and firm financial metrics.

19、It is our objective to explore the importa nce of in terdepartme ntal customer orientation for achieving high logistical and financial performance.Employee performa nceIn distribution centers, front-line personnel are critical for adding value for the customer as well as the supply chain overall . F

20、ront-line distribution center pers onnel are resp on sible for such tasks as putaway, pick ing and pack in g, labeli ng, and moving products in side the distributi on cen ter. Furthermore, fron t-li ne employees' tasks are somewhat visible to the exter nal customer (outside the line of visibilit

21、y). Any service failures or in efficie nt performa nce directly in creases customer order cycle time and n egatively impacts the level of service as perceived by customers and the performance level of the supply chain as a whole.Moreover, if employees should fail to perform their job tasks in an eff

22、icient manner, the finan cial performa nce of the firm suffers as well. Heskett et al. (1994) posits that higher levels of employee performance lowers transaction costs and improves service quality, both leadi ng to higher value perceived by the exter nal customer. This perceived value leads to firm

23、 revenue growth and profitability through customer satisfaction, Ioyalty, and repurchase behaviors. It is therefore crucial that front-line employees perform their tasks in a highly efficient and effective manner so that customers and supply cha in part ners perceive the value they receive from the

24、distributi on cen ter to be greater tha n that which may be acquired elsewhere. This in turn should positively affect distribution center financial performance (Heskett et al., 1994).We therefore posit that front-line employee performance and interdepartmental customer orientation should bear a posi

25、tive relati on ship with distribute n cen ter service, supply cha in, and finan cial performa nee.Research desig nThe distributio n cen ters serve customers in in dustries ranging from wholesale and retail grocery/mass-mercha ndisers to motor carrier cross-dock tran sporters. The facilities primaril

26、y han dle con sumer and in dustrial products.Researcherstraveled to each facility and administered the questionnaires.All respondents were given time on-the-job to complete the questionnaires. Only man agers of fron t-l ine employees that perform certa in functions such as recei ving, light packag i

27、ng operati ons, storage, shipp ing, cross dock ing, and inven tory functions were targeted to ensure homogeneity of the sample. Managers were asked to an swer questi ons regardi ng in terdepartme ntal customer orie ntatio n, firm finan cial metrics, and the performa nee of employees for whom they we

28、re directly resp on sible.Implicatio nsThe results further serve to elevate the fron t-li ne employee's service role in the organization. Firms often look past the front-line employee, viewing them as a necessary cost, while such front-line distribution employees have the ability to positively o

29、r n egatively represe nt the orga ni zati on's products and services and have a sig nifica nt effect on the value delivered to the exter nal customer. Every effort should be made to ensure these front-line distribution center employees are well-trained, satisfied, and loyal to the firm to help e

30、nsure their provision of high levels of service and efficie nt supply cha in performa nee.Perhaps most in teresti ng is the impact in terdepartme ntal customer orie ntati on has on service and supply cha in performa nee. Departme nts are ofte n en couraged to optimize their performanee without regar

31、d to how it affects other departments dow nstream towards the exter nal customer . This creates a certa in departme ntal myopic view where in customer service and supply cha in performa nee are sacrificed for the performanee of a single department. Distribution firms should place an emphasis on trai

32、 ning departme nts to in crease the value of their output to other departme nts and place as much emphasis on in terdepartme ntal tran sact ions as they would tran sact ions with exter nal customers.Previous research investigating logistical best practice has focused on electr onic conn ectivity and

33、 non-i nterpers onal in teracti ons in side the firm to achieve internal integration and have not considered the interpersonal aspects, such as interdepartmental customer orientation, which are important in making interdepartmental integration a reality. Interpersonal interactions and provision of h

34、igh levels of in terdepartme ntal service bear a positive relati on ship to the delivery of high levels of exter nal service and supply cha in performa nee as we have exhibited. It is recommended that future research into logistical best practice should take such aspects into acco unt, as the value

35、of in terdepartme ntal in tegrati on through electr onic means may be lessened if the organizational orientation is not in place to facilitate a desire to perform in ternal tran sact ions efficie ntly.Limitati onsOur research did not explore how higher levels of front-line employee performa nee may

36、be obta in ed. It has bee n show n previously that in itiatives such as internal marketing to employees may be fruitful in accomplishing this task . Internal marketi ng invo Ives in flue ncing employees to perform in a more exter nal customer orie nted manner by appl ying external marketi ng tools,

37、intern ally .A limitatio n com mon to other studies is also appare nt in the curre nt an alysis: the issue of generalizability. It is possible that the effects of interdepartmental customer orientation and front-line employee performanee would be attenuated or augme nted in other research sett in gs

38、. Our research was limited in that it focused solely on the effects of these variables in distributi on cen ters. Future research should seek to add greater gen eralizability to our model by con duct ing research in other setti ngs such as retaili ng, manu facturi ng, and wholesali ng.Con clusi onLo

39、gistics has come to the forefront in recent years as a means of gaining competitive adva ntage through in creased service levels and decreased costs. In efforts to understand how logistics accomplishes as much, researchers often overlook the operational side of the industry while focusing on strateg

40、y as an impetus to success. We have show n in this work that con siderati on of the operati onal level effects of fron t-li ne employee performa nee on firm performa nee is importa nt as well. Furthermore, we show how a firm orientation which facilitates high levels of internal service can have a si

41、g nifica nt effect on exter nal service and supply cha in performa nee.Design of the appropriate internal work-flow system can only go so far in achieving high internal service levels. Perhaps Shostack said it best in stating people are just as importa nt as structural desig n. If people issues are

42、not addressed effectively, eve n the best desig n will fail. People, their in teract ions, and the organization in which they are a part, ultimately determine the success or failure of service offeri ngs to exter nal customers and supply cha in success.Gaining a competitive adva ntage through logist

43、ical best practice is not easily accomplished. The proper logistics strategy must be in place, but employees and departments must be indoctrinated into this strategy as well so they may deliver the performa nee levels stipulated. We hope that this work serves to further the perceived importance of f

44、ront-line distribution employees and also to elucidate the value of in ternal service levels in logistics firms.译文内部服务质量是配送中心绩效的决定因素资料来源：国际杂志的物流配送与物流管理作者：米道格拉斯沃斯，罗杰科兰，斯科特二凯勒物流的概念在半个世纪前就已经出现。如今，物流成为一种确认收益的竞 争优势手段。许多公司已开始研究其内部物流功能来提高服务水平和改善性能。为了提高对外服务水平、供应链绩效、公司财务绩效，首先要改善的就是 内部服务质量。这已不是一种新的想法，这种想法在很多文

45、献中（贝里，1983;格罗鲁，1990;灵斯，1999）就已经出现过，同时也在全面质量管理（TQM的 文章中提到。为了提高内部服务水平，Shostack（ 1987）提出一个服务蓝图。 服务蓝图说明各部门之间通过交流来创造价值，通过各部门（灵斯，1999年）提供的服务，有效地实现其价值。公司内部要提供优质的服务，才能为外部客户创造高的价值。公司一线员 工往往是避免出货不正确、损坏产品的最后一道防线。因此，如果一线员工没 有很好的执行部门工作的任务，就不利于给客户提供整条供应链的服务，也不 能给公司带来稳健的财政福利。部门之间提供的服务水平有着重要的作用。我们假定一个跨部门之间的服 务质量和前线员工的表现，配送中心的财务业绩水平有关。首先，进行深入的 内部服务质量的讨论，因为它是跨部门的客户所带来的定位，以及提供前线员 工业绩的重要性。其次，典型相关是用来评估这些到配送中心服务质量，供应 链和财务业绩的独立变量之间的关系。三是讨论所提供的结果和我们研究结论 的局限性。内部服务链是提供特殊服务，在内部和外在客户交易过程中，提供特殊的 服务。如果一个内部供应商未能提供优质的内部服务，外部客户就得不到理想 的服务。当我们鼓励各部门将优质服务看作他们的首要任务，最终的结果却是 经常忽略服务水平。这种导致部门只集中在这个过程中他们的交易很少考虑怎 么要提高服务水平。一个跨部门的顾客导向可以