內(nèi)部服務(wù)質(zhì)量是配送中心績效的決定因素【外文翻譯】

1、<p><b>　　外文翻譯</b></p><p><b>　　原文</b></p><p>　　Internal service quality: Determinants of distribution center performance</p><p>　　Material Source: Intern

2、ational Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management Author: M. Douglas Voss, Roger J. Calantone, Scott B. Keller</p><p>　　The role of logistics has evolved throughout the past half-cent

3、ury . Once viewed solely as a cost to be minimized, today logistics is recognized as a means to gain competitive advantages . In pursuit of higher service levels and improved performance, many firms have begun to examine

4、 their internal functions to discover logistics opportunities yet to be leveraged .</p><p>　　To improve external service levels, supply chain performance, and firm financial performance, the quality of servi

5、ce delivered internally must first be improved. Improving internal service quality to improve external service quality and performance is not a new idea, and has been examined thoroughly in the extant literature (Berry,

6、1983; Grönroos, 1990; Lings, 1999). The importance of internal service quality can also be found in the total quality management (TQM) literature.</p><p>　　To improve internal service levels, Shostack (

7、1987) proposes a starting point of graphically illustrating the internal processes of a firm through the use of service blueprinting. Service blueprinting entails illustrating the exchanges and transactions that create v

8、alue between departments. Departments that come in contact with customers have a direct impact on the delivery of external service quality. To effectively achieve their value propositions, departments receive services an

9、d goods from o</p><p>　　While the relationship of front-line employee performance to external service quality is well understood , we believe that the level of service provided between departments also plays

10、 an important role. We therefore posit that a relationship exists between the level of interdepartmental service quality, front-line employee performance, and service, supply chain, and financial performance of distribut

11、ion centers, and seek to provide supporting empirical evidence. Our paper is organized as follows</p><p>　　An internal service chain is created to deliver exceptional service to the external customer through

12、 exceptional service delivered to each internal customer during each internal transaction . Should an internal supplier fail to deliver quality service to an internal customer, the service delivered to the external custo

13、mer will be less than optimal. </p><p>　　One potential problem is that often departments are encouraged to view their function as merely a single activity in the process . The end result is a myopic view of

14、the department's role in the service delivery process. Such myopia leads departments to focus solely on their activities in the process with little regard to how their output affects others that consume their service

15、s downstream. An interdepartmental customer orientation may help resolve this problem . Interdepartmental customer ori</p><p>　　Interdepartmental customer orientation improves external service levels and imp

16、roves supply chain and financial performance by facilitating the integration of interfunctional activities define internal integration as “the competency of linking internally performed work into a seamless process to s

17、upport customer requirements” and find that internal integration is a significant indicator of supply chain performance as measured by supply chain efficiency and firm financial metrics. It is our obje</p><p&g

18、t;　　Employee performance</p><p>　　In distribution centers, front-line personnel are critical for adding value for the customer as well as the supply chain overall . Front-line distribution center personnel a

19、re responsible for such tasks as putaway, picking and packing, labeling, and moving products inside the distribution center. Furthermore, front-line employees' tasks are somewhat visible to the external customer (out

20、side the line of visibility). Any service failures or inefficient performance directly increases customer order</p><p>　　Moreover, if employees should fail to perform their job tasks in an efficient manner,

21、the financial performance 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 leading to higher value perceived

22、 by the external customer. This perceived value leads to firm revenue growth and profitability through customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repurchase behaviors. It is therefore crucial that fron</p><p>　　Res

23、earch design</p><p>　　The distribution centers serve customers in industries ranging from wholesale and retail grocery/mass-merchandisers to motor carrier cross-dock transporters. The facilities primarily ha

24、ndle consumer and industrial products.</p><p>　　Researchers traveled to each facility and administered the questionnaires. All respondents were given time on-the-job to complete the questionnaires. Only mana

25、gers of front-line employees that perform certain functions such as receiving, light packaging operations, storage, shipping, cross docking, and inventory functions were targeted to ensure homogeneity of the sample. Mana

26、gers were asked to answer questions regarding interdepartmental customer orientation, firm financial metrics, and the pe</p><p>　　Implications</p><p>　　The results further serve to elevate the

27、front-line 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 or

28、negatively represent the organization's products and services and have a significant effect on the value delivered to the external customer. Every effort should be made to ensure these front-line distribution center

29、employees are well-trained,</p><p>　　Perhaps most interesting is the impact interdepartmental customer orientation has on service and supply chain performance. Departments are often encouraged to optimize th

30、eir performance without regard to how it affects other departments downstream towards the external customer . This creates a certain departmental myopic view wherein customer service and supply chain performance are sacr

31、ificed for the performance of a single department. Distribution firms should place an emphasis on training dep</p><p>　　Previous research investigating logistical best practice has focused on electronic conn

32、ectivity and non-interpersonal interactions inside the firm to achieve internal integration and have not considered the interpersonal aspects, such as interdepartmental customer orientation, which are important in making

33、 interdepartmental integration a reality. Interpersonal interactions and provision of high levels of interdepartmental service bear a positive relationship to the delivery of high levels of ext</p><p>　　Limi

34、tations</p><p>　　Our research did not explore how higher levels of front-line employee performance may be obtained. It has been shown previously that initiatives such as internal marketing to employees may b

35、e fruitful in accomplishing this task . Internal marketing involves influencing employees to perform in a more external customer oriented manner by applying external marketing tools, internally .</p><p>　　A

36、limitation common to other studies is also apparent in the current analysis: the issue of generalizability. It is possible that the effects of interdepartmental customer orientation and front-line employee performance wo

37、uld be attenuated or augmented in other research settings. Our research was limited in that it focused solely on the effects of these variables in distribution centers. Future research should seek to add greater generali

38、zability to our model by conducting research in other sett</p><p>　　Conclusion</p><p>　　Logistics has come to the forefront in recent years as a means of gaining competitive advantage through in

39、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 strategy as an impetus to success

40、. We have shown in this work that consideration of the operational level effects of front-line employee performance on firm performance is important as well. Furthermore, we </p><p>　　Design of the appropria

41、te 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 important as structural design. If people issues are not addresse

42、d effectively, even the best design will fail.” People, their interactions, and the organization in which they are a part, ultimately determine the success or failure of service offerings to external customers and supply

43、 chain success.</p><p>　　Gaining a competitive advantage through logistical best practice is not easily accomplished. The proper logistics strategy must be in place, but employees and departments must be ind

44、octrinated into this strategy as well so they may deliver the performance levels stipulated. We hope that this work serves to further the perceived importance of front-line distribution employees and also to elucidate th

45、e value of internal service levels in logistics firms.</p><p><b>　　譯文</b></p><p>　　內(nèi)部服務(wù)質(zhì)量是配送中心績效的決定因素</p><p>　　資料來源: 國際雜志的物流配送與物流管理</p><p>　　作者：米道格拉斯沃斯，羅杰科蘭

46、，斯科特二凱勒</p><p>　　物流的概念在半個世紀前就已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。如今，物流成為一種確認收益的競爭優(yōu)勢手段。許多公司已開始研究其內(nèi)部物流功能來提高服務(wù)水平和改善性能。</p><p>　　為了提高對外服務(wù)水平、供應(yīng)鏈績效、公司財務(wù)績效，首先要改善的就是內(nèi)部服務(wù)質(zhì)量。這已不是一種新的想法，這種想法在很多文獻中（貝里，1983;格羅魯，1990;靈斯，1999）就已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)過，同時也在全面質(zhì)

47、量管理（TQM）的文章中提到。為了提高內(nèi)部服務(wù)水平，Shostack（1987）提出一個服務(wù)藍圖。服務(wù)藍圖說明各部門之間通過交流來創(chuàng)造價值，通過各部門（靈斯，1999年）提供的服務(wù)，有效地實現(xiàn)其價值。</p><p>　　公司內(nèi)部要提供優(yōu)質(zhì)的服務(wù)，才能為外部客戶創(chuàng)造高的價值。公司一線員工往往是避免出貨不正確、損壞產(chǎn)品的最后一道防線。因此，如果一線員工沒有很好的執(zhí)行部門工作的任務(wù)，就不利于給客戶提供整條供應(yīng)鏈的服務(wù)

48、，也不能給公司帶來穩(wěn)健的財政福利。</p><p>　　部門之間提供的服務(wù)水平有著重要的作用。我們假定一個跨部門之間的服務(wù)質(zhì)量和前線員工的表現(xiàn)，配送中心的財務(wù)業(yè)績水平有關(guān)。首先，進行深入的內(nèi)部服務(wù)質(zhì)量的討論，因為它是跨部門的客戶所帶來的定位，以及提供前線員工業(yè)績的重要性。其次，典型相關(guān)是用來評估這些到配送中心服務(wù)質(zhì)量，供應(yīng)鏈和財務(wù)業(yè)績的獨立變量之間的關(guān)系。三是討論所提供的結(jié)果和我們研究結(jié)論的局限性。 </p

49、><p>　　內(nèi)部服務(wù)鏈是提供特殊服務(wù)，在內(nèi)部和外在客戶交易過程中，提供特殊的服務(wù)。如果一個內(nèi)部供應(yīng)商未能提供優(yōu)質(zhì)的內(nèi)部服務(wù)，外部客戶就得不到理想的服務(wù)。當我們鼓勵各部門將優(yōu)質(zhì)服務(wù)看作他們的首要任務(wù)，最終的結(jié)果卻是經(jīng)常忽略服務(wù)水平。這種導(dǎo)致部門只集中在這個過程中他們的交易很少考慮怎么要提高服務(wù)水平。一個跨部門的顧客導(dǎo)向可以幫助解決這個問題。顧客導(dǎo)向是部門間的組織取向，鼓勵各部門將其視為對整個內(nèi)部進程的有非常作用的方法

50、，并作出必要的努力，對下游客戶提高服務(wù)水平?？绮块T的顧客導(dǎo)向充當部門（如內(nèi)部供應(yīng)商代理）的動力，提供高水平的服務(wù)（包括公司內(nèi)部客戶代理）等部門。 跨部門的顧客導(dǎo)向是對外服務(wù)水平和內(nèi)部公司財務(wù)業(yè)績的一系列活動的集成，“通過內(nèi)部整合的連接來滿足客戶需求”是一個供應(yīng)鏈績效的重要指標，是供應(yīng)鏈效率和金融企業(yè)內(nèi)部整合指標。我們的目標是探索跨部門顧客導(dǎo)向?qū)ω攧?wù)業(yè)績的的重要性。 </p><p><b>　　員工績效

51、 </b></p><p>　　在配送中心，前線工作人員，對產(chǎn)品進行入庫等作業(yè)，如分揀、包裝和標簽。此外，前線員工的任務(wù)是可見的。任何服務(wù)失敗或低效的性能直接影響了客戶的服務(wù)水平和整個供應(yīng)鏈績效水平。此外，如果雇員不能用有效率履行自己的工作任務(wù)，公司的財務(wù)業(yè)績也會受到影響。赫斯克特等（1994）斷定，高水平的員工能降低交易成本，提高服務(wù)質(zhì)量，有自己穩(wěn)定的客戶圈。通過客戶滿意度，忠誠度和回購行為可以了解

52、公司盈利能力。一線員工認為在高效工作時，客戶和供應(yīng)鏈合作伙伴的價值會比其他時候要高。 因此，我們假定前線員工的表現(xiàn)和顧客導(dǎo)向的跨部門應(yīng)承擔的服務(wù)與配送中心績效水平成正相關(guān)關(guān)系。</p><p><b>　　研究設(shè)計 </b></p><p>　　配送中心為客戶提供從批發(fā)到零售雜貨店的一系列服務(wù)。研究人員前往配送中心對內(nèi)部員工進行問卷調(diào)查。所有受訪者給予時間在職完成問卷

53、。只有管理者的一線員工來執(zhí)行某些功能，如接收，包裝業(yè)務(wù)，倉儲等一系列的庫存管理功能，以確保產(chǎn)品的完整性。經(jīng)理等人被要求回答有關(guān)跨部門的顧客導(dǎo)向，企業(yè)財務(wù)指標，員工給他們的反饋信息。</p><p><b>　　啟示 </b></p><p>　　研究結(jié)果是前線員工在組織中要做好服務(wù)的角色。過去的前線員工，把它看成是成本的一部分，這些一線員工可以代表企業(yè)做好服務(wù)，并且對

54、外部客戶的價值產(chǎn)生重大影響。努力提高配送中心的前線員工素質(zhì)，對企業(yè)忠誠。確保他們的服務(wù)水平和高效性能的供應(yīng)鏈來影響顧客導(dǎo)向的跨部門服務(wù)和供應(yīng)鏈上的表現(xiàn)。鼓勵部門優(yōu)化其性能，知道它是如何影響下游客戶。這將創(chuàng)建一個短淺的看法，其中某些部門的客戶服務(wù)和供應(yīng)鏈績效是一個單一的部門績效。流通企業(yè)應(yīng)重視培訓(xùn)，并盡可能把重點放在部門間的交易。以前的研究調(diào)查的重點是電子連接公司內(nèi)部的非人際關(guān)系的互動，實現(xiàn)內(nèi)部一體化，并沒有考慮到人際如客戶為導(dǎo)向的跨部門

55、。人際交往和跨部門的高水準服務(wù)對外部服務(wù)和供應(yīng)鏈績效起到積極關(guān)系。通過電子手段整合，跨部門之間價值可能會減少，如果組織定位不到位，就不方便進行內(nèi)部交易。</p><p><b>　　限制 </b></p><p>　　我們的研究并沒有探討如何使前線員工的表現(xiàn)獲得更高的水平。通過應(yīng)用外部的營銷手段來影響內(nèi)部營銷，我們的研究是有限的，它僅僅在配送中心，這些變量都會對結(jié)果有

56、影響。未來的研究應(yīng)增加范圍，如零售，制造業(yè)，還有更廣泛的批發(fā)。</p><p><b>　　結(jié)論 </b></p><p>　　物流在最近幾年已經(jīng)作為一種提高服務(wù)水平和降低了成本競爭優(yōu)勢的手段。在努力了解物流之后，研究人員往往忽視了產(chǎn)業(yè)經(jīng)營戰(zhàn)略是成功的動力。我們已經(jīng)知道這項工作，該前線員工的績效也影響企業(yè)的業(yè)務(wù)水平。此外，我們將展示如何定位，公司內(nèi)部高質(zhì)量的服務(wù)可以對

57、外部服務(wù)和供應(yīng)鏈績效有著明顯效果。適當對內(nèi)部工作系統(tǒng)設(shè)計能實現(xiàn)較高的內(nèi)部服務(wù)水平。Shostack指出“最好...人是一樣的結(jié)構(gòu)設(shè)計至關(guān)重要。如果人們不能有效解決問題，即使是最好的設(shè)計也將失敗?！八鼈冎g的相互作用，可以知道服務(wù)水平的高低影響外部客戶交易的成敗。通過后勤獲得最佳競爭優(yōu)勢的做法是不容易實現(xiàn)。正確的物流策略必須到位，但員工和部門必須把這項戰(zhàn)略灌輸在腦海中，同時提供高性能的服務(wù)水平。我們希望，這項工作不僅可以使前線銷售員工意識