Case Study 1, H. James Harrington, author of the book “Business Process Improvement“ and noted quality guru, reports this story on Quality Digest.

 Introduction

BUS4406 – Case Study 1, H. James Harrington, author of the book “Business Process Improvement“ and noted quality guru, reports this story on Quality Digest.

I called to make a flight reservation just an hour ago. The telephone rang five times before a recorded voice answered. "Thank you for calling ABC Travel Services," it said. "To ensure the highest level of customer service, this call may be recorded for future analysis." Next, I was asked to select from one of the following three choices: "If the trip is related to company business, press 1. Personal business, press 2. Group travel, press 3." I pressed 1. I was then asked to select from the following four choices: "If this is a trip within the United States, press 1. International, press 2. Scheduled training, press 3. Related to a conference, press 4." Because I was going to Canada, I pressed 2.

Now two minutes into my telephone call, I was instructed to be sure that I had my customer identification card available. A few seconds passed and a very sweet voice came on, saying, "All international operators are busy, but please hold because you are a very important customer." The voice was then replaced by music. About two minutes later, another recorded message said, "Our operators are still busy, but please hold and the first available operator will take care of you." More music. Then yet another message: "Our operators are still busy, but please hold. Your business is important to us." More bad music. Finally, the sweet voice returned, stating, "To speed up your service, enter your 19-digit customer service number." I frantically searched for their card, hoping that I could find it before I was cut off. I was lucky; I found it and entered the number in time. The same sweet voice came back to me, saying, "To confirm your customer service number, enter the last four digits of your social security number." I pushed the four numbers on the keypad. The voice said: "Thank you. An operator will be with you shortly. If your call is an emergency, you can call 1-800-CAL-HELP, or push all of the buttons on the telephone at the same time. Otherwise, please hold, as you are a very important customer." This time, in place of music, I heard a commercial about the service that the company provides.

At last, a real person answered the telephone and asked, "Can I help you?" I replied, "Yes, oh yes." He answered, "Please give me your 19-digit customer service number, followed by the last four digits of your social security number so I can verify who you are." (I thought I gave these numbers in the first place to speed up service. Why do I have to rattle them off again?)

I was now convinced that he would call me Mr. 5523-3675-0714-1313-040. But, to my surprise, he said: "Yes, Mr. Harrington. Where do you want to go and when?" I explained that I wanted to go to Montreal the following Monday morning. He replied: "I only handle domestic reservations. Our international desk has a new telephone number: 1-800-1WE-GOTU. I'll transfer you." A few clicks later a message came on, saying: "All of our international operators are busy. Please hold and your call will be answered in the order it was received. Do not hang up or redial, as it will only delay our response to your call. Please continue to hold, as your business is important to us."

From: http://www.qualitydigest.com/may00/html/harrington.html

From a consumer standpoint, there are so many service failures associated with this experience. The recorded voice makes sense due to the technical issue of the background and the costs of a human supporter or customer service advisor. However, in this case, saving such costs appears a sign it is losing customers. Then, the long list is also inappropriate. Business and group clients should be sorted into another line rather than centered in the same line costing each client additional time. Although asking questions like a doctor somewhat makes sense, not everyone likes to be asked so many questions before their issues have been resolved. Simplifying the processes would be better for both the businesses and their clients. In addition, I reckon that customer identification can be done by store and remember those registered incoming phone numbers and clients only have to provide their private passwords or personal security numbers. 

Moreover, operators are busy means three things, the operator shortage, their efficiency, and the overall procedure. In this case, ABC Travel Services did not have sufficient operators to deal with their daily operations probably due to cost-cutting. However, that would be a worse choice since it only makes their operators busier while so many clients are waiting for a real person to answer on the phone. 

The Stakeholders

A stakeholder is an individual or group that has an interest in a company or organization and can either affect or be affected by the business(Fernando, 2022). Yes, affect or be affected. Typically, they are investors, employees, customers, and suppliers. With the increasing attention on corporate social responsibility, the concept has been extended to include communities, governments, and trade associations(Fernando, 2022). Stakeholders can be internal or external. Internal stakeholders have a direct relationship with the company such as employment, ownership, or investment(Fernando, 2022). External stakeholders are those who do not directly work with a company but are affected somehow by the actions and outcomes of the business such as suppliers, creditors, and public groups are all considered external stakeholders(Fernando, 2022).

In this case, the dissatisfied customer, H. James Harrington, is an example of the key external stakeholders. Customers are the stakeholders who decide whether the business will be a successful one or not. If a firm does not satisfy customers’ needs continuously, the customers will simply take their business elsewhere. In addition, the owners of the ABC Travel Services and the board of directors are an example of internal stakeholders since they control and decide how the company will operate. Their decisions determine how the managers and employees do their work, manage the tasks, and provide their services. The operators who are employed by the company to handle those phone calls is also an internal stakeholder. The telecom company that supplies the telecommunication services is one of the external stakeholders, called suppliers. Suppliers are also often concerned with safety and stability since their products can directly impact your business operations. In this case, the telecommunication services providers can determine the quality of the connection. "I am afraid I cannot hear you" or "Can you repeat that?" are the results that can make a company begin to lose its customers.

The EFQM Excellence Model

The EFQM Model is a globally recognized management framework that supports organizations in managing change and improving performance. EFQM is an acronym that stands for European Foundation for Quality Management. It was founded in 1988 to create a platform where organizations can learn from each other to continuously improve their performance for the long term. The Leadership, People, Strategy, Resources, and Processes indicate how these objectives can be achieved. Then, monitor the People, Customers, Society, and the Key Performance results that indicate the intended objectives. The core concept of it is that it is a "continuous process" and "self-assessment" model.

Application of The EFQM Model

Leadership

The key targets here are Communication of a clear vision and mission, Timely Appreciation of the efforts and success, Resources and Assistance, and Proper Empowerment. In the case of ABC Travel service, obviously, it did not communicate a clear vision and mission of providing excellent travel experience planning experiences. Timely Appreciation of the efforts and success probably do not have sufficient data to evaluate the progress. However, it did not provide adequate resources and assistance, and proper empowerment to handle the situation. As a result, they do not have the resources and assistance to provide excellent services. 

Strategy

The company does not formulate the concept of excellence. It only formulates the incoming call process to reduce the costs of hiring more people. In addition, it does not be regularly improved, since the system is not functioning well. 

People

Human resources are the most important assets of a company since they are all part of daily operations and make a company thrive. However, in this case, the company tends to make their operators as busy as possible to reduce the cost rather than improve their efficiency. Insufficient operators have made their customers unsatisfied. Either the procedure has to be redesigned or the company has to focus on the most valuable customers like American Express which renewed its focus on affluent customers. 

Partnership & Resources

This criterion considers how a company effectively utilizes its resources such as finances, technology, information, and materials. In this case, although we cannot judge its finances and materials yet due to insufficient information, its technological innovation is like a dying industry. 

People Results

Do people who work in this company feel their expectations are satisfied? In this case, we don't have direct evidence. But, "all the operators are busy" may tell us something about its internal management.

Customer Results

Of course, the perception of its customer, H. James Harrington, is pretty bad. After being asked so many questions, and waiting in line for so much time, his simple need remains unsatisfied. 

Impact on Society

Does the company satisfy the needs and expectations of the community at large? Generally, travel service providers' vision should be like, "Through travel, we connect people to positive experiences enabling them to see the world differently." or " Our mission is to make affordable travel accessible to more people". As we can see that those visions satisfy the needs and expectations such as affordable travel accessible to more people and making the world a better place. However, in this case, study, I did not see any vision of it and how it satisfied the needs and expectations of the community at large. 

Key Results

They are the planned performance of all key internal processes such as sales, profit margin, assets, cash flows, net income, return on investment, market share, and waste. In my opinion, if a company keeps wasting its customers' time, it is destroying its market share. If Mcdonald's keeps you waiting in line for over 30 minutes each time you go to its Drive Thru, you will consider other restaurants that can complete your order faster.

Recommendation on Leadership

Since the key targets here are communication of a clear vision and mission, top leaders of the ABC Travel must create a clear vision and mission for all the members to follow and timely appreciate the efforts when there are small successes.

Recommendation on Strategy

The company has to formulate the concept of excellence and regularly improve it. Reviews and surveys can be a good way to do it. 

Recommendation on People

Since human resources are the most important assets of a company, the procedure has to be redesigned. Instead of letting customers wait in line, the company can develop a system that sorts those who only need a few simple favors and preserves the effort of human operators for more complex questions or valuable clients.

 

Recommendation on Partnership & Resources

The company can partner with some telecom service providers to create a VIP line for some clients to avoid they are waiting in line with other customers. A VIP or Prime program is also a good way to consider separating those clients from others and charging extra fees for their membership privileges such as private assistants.

Recommendation on People Results

Although we don't have direct evidence of whether the people who work in this company feel their expectations are satisfied, we still have to fix the issue that always keeps its operators busy. Busy only brings press. A blocked list for those who are always annoying operators can be a good start. 

Recommendation on Customer Results

In this case, the perception of its customer, H. James Harrington, is pretty bad since he has been asked so many questions and waiting in line. A free trial of a VIP or Prime program can be a good way to express an apology.

Recommendation on The Impact on Society

To satisfy the needs and expectations of the community at large, CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) can be a good way to do it. CSR is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing CSR, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

Recommendation on Key Results

As mentioned above, a VIP or Prime program and CSR Program are both effective tools to ensure the planned performance of all key internal processes such as sales, profit margin, assets, cash flows, return on investment, market share, and waste. 

Summary

Oftentimes, we see the world through our views. But, the world can be either better or worse than we think it should be. Blaming an airplane crash on a sleepy pilot will not help to stop future crashes. We have to ask why he was sleepy and how to regulate and build a procedure to avoid it. To understand the significant issues, we have to look beyond a guilty individual and to the overall system. That's why we should adopt The EFQM Excellence Model or other models that may help to ensure the whole system has been considered.

Reference

EFQM. (2022, August 16). The EFQM model. EFQM. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://efqm.org/the-efqm-model/ 

Fernando, J. (2022, August 23). What are stakeholders: Definition, types, and examples. Investopedia. Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stakeholder.asp