EXTENDED PERFORMANCE SATISFACTION INDEX - STANDARDIZED MEASURE OF COMPANY SUCCESS OR PROSPERITY OF NATIONAL ECONOMY?

For more than 15 years, in a certain countries exists a several procedure of calculating the satisfaction index so that their comparison is possible – of course, depend on fact of standardized procedure and level of confidence. The national satisfaction index is composed results of the satisfaction indexes of individual industries within the economy, while the indexes of individual industries of the economy are result of the indexes of individual companies (primarily companies that have a significant market share). Of course the indexes of each individual company have a different impact (“ponder”) on the index of the individual branch of the economy. In the same way, the influence of the index of every branch of the economy on the national satisfaction index is different. This fact have to be take in account when considering national satisfaction index. Well known national satisfaction indexes exist in the USA (ACSI – American Customer Satisfaction Index; established in 1994) and in Sweden (SCSI – Swedish Customer Satisfaction Index or SKI – Svenskt Kund Index, established 1989). The SKI results point to the understandable relationship between the customer satisfaction index and profitability (in which profitability is observed as a return on assets (ROA). A clear and positive relation between customer satisfaction and company profitability was also determined (according to the same source) by using ACSI results in USA. (Eklof et al., 1999). Today, the most popular and recognized model in Europe is EPSI – Extended Performance Satisfaction Index. A European feasibility study for coordinated national studies was conducted in 1997 – 98. In this, a model for customer satisfaction measurement and analysis, based on the Swedish SKI-approach, was proposed. During 1999-2010 EPSI has become a recognized international system of non-financial measurements. The coverage of various countries and common sectors has successively been extended. The basic reasons for the establishment of this index as a new, added indicator of the change in the national economy should be searched for in the desire to stimulate economic growth and higher competition of national economies in general.