With the increased globalization of markets, competition among market players has become more severe. In this competitive market, one of the most important factors is the achievement of customer satisfaction and excellence in service. Although the concept of customer satisfaction in customer- oriented management is not new, the relationship between customers and corporations has been changing almost daily. Customers are becoming the absolute entity for corporations as the final decision makers for business deals and purchases of products | Study Meeting on Customer Satisfaction in Competitive Markets 4 7 October 2005 Taipei Republic of China Introduction With the increased globalization of markets competition among market players has become more severe. In this competitive market one of the most important factors is the achievement of customer satisfaction and excellence in service. Although the concept of customer satisfaction in customer-oriented management is not new the relationship between customers and corporations has been changing almost daily. Customers are becoming the absolute entity for corporations as the final decision makers for business deals and purchases of products. Peter Drucker the highly regarded management scholar and writer stated The only valid definition of business purpose is to create a customer. Successful organizations of the future will be those that can provide goods and services to the customers who want it where they want it and in the quantity and at the price they want it thereby delighting rather than merely satisfying customers. Customer delight will lead to loyalty which is one of the critical indicators used to measure the success of a marketing strategy. Services cannot however be performed without some form of relationship between the producer and the consumer and cannot be stored and retained for later use in the way typical of many tangible goods. Business corporations make efforts to create and provide their customers with higher value added which consists of elements such as lower prices additional benefits and uniqueness in services. With rapid advances in information and communications technology corporations can take advantage of the emerging IT systems to create infrastructure within the organization to improve responsiveness to customer needs and to track those needs thereby improving customer satisfaction significantly. Top management should be aware of how to tap the power of IT to enhance customer services resulting in better service quality and .
