Author(s): Anh Tu Nguyen
This study describes why and how a small-and-medium sized enterprise (SME) should implement customer complaint management via an action research methodology named socio economic approach to management (SEAM). The action research project including two action plans (2015-2016 and 2017-2018) analyzes customer complaints, explore the causes of customer complaints from employees’ viewpoints, put forward action plans, implement action plans and evaluate organizational performance in a case of Passenger Transport Company in Vietnam. The study develops customer complaint management framework by approaching from a strategic level, with aggregate complaint analysis, an organic perspective of exit–voice theory in combination with SEAM (a pragmatic oriented action research methodology) and holistic approach of People, Process and Technology. The study standardizes the customer complaint management process, improves organizational performance and fosters the relationships between final consumers and service providers through customer complaint management process, employer and employees through SEAM, researcher and organizational actors (those researched) through SEAM. These findings lead to develop stakeholder engagement trend of relationship marketing in which new knowledge is co-created by all relevant stakeholders such as customers, employees, researcher and top management.