The value of customer satisfaction surveys for project-based organizations: symbolic, technical, or none

In this paper a framework for assessing the role and value of collecting information related to customer satisfaction is presented. This paper aims to reduce the gap in the knowledge concerning the value and role of customer satisfaction surveys by using a theoretical background of institutional theory and a cognitive model of organizational culture. The framework is presented in the context of measuring customer satisfaction in a project-based organization. In the empirical part of the study, the value and role of implementing customer satisfaction surveys in two case organizations is analyzed. Based on these two cases, our research findings suggest that the use of customer satisfaction surveys does not create technical benefits in project-based organizations, but implies that these surveys, however, may provide some symbolic value.