Abstract
The starting point of this article is the popularity of customer satisfaction studies. In an in-depth case study conducted in Sif - a Swedish trade union - the utilization of an annual customer satisfaction study as a tool for strategic positioning is explored and discussed. The study discusses factors enabling and hindering the utilization of customer satisfaction surveys as tools contributing to strategic decision-making. Design propositions for an enhanced utilization of customer satisfaction studies are hence developed. The proposed design principles suggest that intended contributions from market information should be directly reflected in the survey design process. During this process, the survey scope gains from being clarified and reflected through the organization of participation from staff and customers in the survey design. Moreover, this study recommends an emphasis on knowledge and learning as factors enhancing the perceived credibility and usefulness of market information. As internal politics are described as factors possibly hindering a proper utilization of the results from custon1er satisfaction studies, inadequate political behaviors are suggested to be traced and reacted to. Finally, when customer satisfaction surveys are used as tools for operational planning and evaluation, the usefulness of measures concerning service or unit-level performance is enhanced when reported in terms related to the services provided. A deeper understanding of behaviors towards market inforn1ation needs to be investigated at the company/organizational level. Such efforts can result in added value and use of market information.