Inter-team coordination activities as a source of customer satisfaction

Abstract

This article reports the results of a micro-level study into firm resources. It involved a comparative qualitative study of the activities contributing to service delivery in two similar but differentially performing divisions, one perceived by customers to be a high quality provider, the other a lower quality provider. The results indicate that there were differences in the incidence of inter-team coordination activities and that effective inter-team coordination was a critical factor in delivering increased customer satisfaction. This suggests that these activities, by causing staff to interact across internal boundaries, may constitute a resource advantage. We propose that these activities are critical for both the coordination of service delivery activities and knowledge exchange, and that contextual factors may have an impact on these activities. The study makes a contribution to the resource-based view and strategy as practice literatures and illustrates how a practice-orientated approach can inform the resource-based view.