Customer service has traditionally consisted of telephone, mail, and later on chat.But the entry of social media has changed the way companies exercise customerservice. Companies should ask themselves whether the same type of traditionalcommunication may or may not function in a new channel and thus whether itcan be applied to social media.The purpose of this study is to describe the companies’ use of customer servicein social media and how the communication differentiates from thecommunication in traditional customer service, and also to define the effect onthe customers’ relationship to the company. To reach our conclusions we havecombined theoretical references with qualitative interviews.By our analysis, we found that the communication in social media expandsthe possibilities. By entering an unfamiliar channel, customer service has hadto adapt themselves and their language. It is no longer a conversationbetween customer service and a single individual, it is a constant dialogueindependent of time and space between the company and all of theircustomers with a great focus on building relationships.

Aim: More and more organizations worldwide want to develop products for global markets. At the same time, they need to make their products available in the global market to be competitive. One of today's trends to solve this problem of making products in the global market is by involving logistics to manage complex distribution requirements. Organizations have developed strategic alliances with companies all over the world to manage their logistics operations network. (www.chrobinson.com). My research was aimed at understanding the coordination of logistics activities at the terminal.   Method: I based my study on a combination of descriptive and exploratory type. As regards descriptive I presented my data collected in a descriptive analysis. Also I used the exploratory research to know exactly the implementation of logistics activities at Schenker's terminal and also to observe the activities, conduct interviews and administer questionnaires.   Result & Conclusions: The major results of my findings revealed that the existing management procedure of the outbound logistics system at Schenker terminal which involves material handling, transportation, distribution, cross-docking, customer service and information systems could not be seen as lean and agile. This is because of the existence of many problems faced by the terminal such as congestion, flows inefficiencies, excess scrap, too much manual documentation,  delays in deliveries, damages, poor customer service, return goods, idle equipment (forklift and trucks) and personal and high cost of operations.   Suggestions for future research: The study is limited in the sense that it does not include the whole supply chain; the terminal is just a part in the supply chain and whatever problems that are encountered are not experienced in the whole supply chain. This could lead to a broader basis of a future research project.

Title: Artificial Intelligence in Customer Interactions: A Study on Customers' Perceptionsregarding IVR Services in the Banking Industry Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore consumer perspectives on automated IVRcustomer services. Design/methodology/approach: This research paper was conducted qualitatively, where theresearchers developed a framework and a suggested model based on existing research andcollected primary data from eight interviews with open-ended questions. The collected datawas coded so that the researchers could spot patterns in the responses which were thendiscussed in relation to previous studies. Based on the results of the data analysis thedeveloped model was also discussed and revised. Findings: The findings of this study suggest that consumers are skeptical towards IVRtelephone customer service and believe that the service quality would be lower than regulartelephone service. The findings do however show that consumers are willing to try to adjust tonew technology as long as there are alternatives if they are not satisfied. Research implications: Managers should focus on delivering quality service to all of theirconsumers and therefore need to consider how well their services can fulfill the needs of theirconsumers. If the quality of the technology cannot provide the service that is expected there isstill a need for regular telephone customer service or else the company might suffer in thelong run. Originality/value: This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to explore the topic ofcustomers perceptions of AI in customer service. Keywords: IVR, AI, Customer Service, Banking, Customer Satisfaction, Wait time, TAM,Technology Acceptance Model, Sweden

A evolução do comércio internacional e abertura dos mercados têm possibilitado colocar a disposição dos consumidores produtos e serviços provenientes de diferentes países do mundo, adicionando uma exigência às empresas locais para aumentar os níveis de competitividade e capacidades de resposta frente a novos competidores. Mesmo assim, abrem-se oportunidades para muitas empresas buscar expandir seus escopos geográficos de atuação para esses novos mercados e desenvolver novas metas empresariais. A cadeia de atividades, atores envolvidos e distâncias físicas no processo de exportação e importação adicionam complexidade à cadeia de fornecimento de produtos e levantam uma barreira a ultrapassar para responder competitivamente às demandas internacionais. Da mesma forma, a abordagem destes processos constitui uma importante fonte de vantagem competitiva que pode determinar o sucesso nos mercados internacionais. Na exportação de bens do Chile para o Brasil, intervêm dois importantes atores que desempenham um papel fundamental no processo: Os Agentes de Aduana e o Operador de Transporte. Estes atores constituem-se em fornecedores estratégicos de serviços que intervêm e impactam no desempenho operacional durante o processo de exportação e, portanto, a qualidade dos serviços que eles entregam incide nos níveis de competitividade das operações de exportação do Chile para o Brasil. Neste sentido, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi analisar quais elementos de serviço ao cliente estão presentes na avaliação que clientes exportadores chilenos fazem respeito dos serviços entregues por parte destes agentes intermediários em suas exportações ao Brasil. Foram entrevistados 10 executivos encarregados de operações de comércio exterior entre Chile e o Brasil para três setores de exportação não tradicional, vinhos, frutas frescas e frutas desidratadas, que analisaram o papel e relevância dos serviços ao cliente que entregam seus agentes de aduana e operadores de transporte durante o processo de exportação. As entrevistas e conteúdo das mesmas abordaram os principais elementos considerados em diversas teorias e pesquisas de serviços ao cliente, principalmente em contextos associados a processos logísticos. Os resultados encontrados refletem a presencia e importância dos serviços ao cliente na figura de os acessos à informações relevantes, capacidade e tempos de resposta e confiança que os fornecedores são capazes de transmitir para os clientes. Além disso, os relatos dos entrevistados dão conta de níveis básicos de serviço no que diz respeito aos serviços de transporte evidenciando uma importante oportunidade para melhorias no setor e para tomadas de decisão empresarial. / The evolution of international commerce and the opening of markets let open possibilities to put available to consumer products and services from different countries around the world, and add a new demand to local enterprises for increasing levels of competitiveness and the abilities to respond to new competitors. Even so, it opens an opportunity for many enterprises to expand their geographic scopes of market and develop new goals for them. The chain of activities, actors involved and physical distances in the process of export and import add complexity to the normal supply chain of products to consumers and built a barrier hard to avoid in response to international demands. In the same way, the approach to this process is an important source of competitive advantage which could determinates o success at international markets. At the export process of products from Chile to Brazil, exists two important actors who play a fundamental role during this process are the Export Agent, and the Transport Operator. These actors became strategic suppliers of services who interact with exporters and importers and impact the operational performance during the process, then, the quality of services they are able to deliver, impact at the operational exports competitive levels from Chile to Brazil. Ten executive export managers, belonging to three industrial sectors - wine, fresh fruits, and dehydrated fruits - with presence at brasilian markets were interviewed and responsible to analyze the role and relevance of customer services delivery by its export agents and transport operators during export process. The interviews and contents of them were made based in the principal elements found in theories and researches about customer services in logistics process. The results founded indicate presence and importance of customer services deliver by the two principal services suppliers during the logistics process of exports in dimensions like relevant information access, lead and transit time, response capabilities and confidence. Besides this, the reports revealed basic levels of service received from transport operators showing an important gap for improvements in this sector and for decision making.

This dissertation focused on identifying personality traits, as measured by the Occupational Personality Questionnaire 32 (OPQ32r) that may act as job performance predictors for customer service centre (CSC) agents in the banking industry. The purpose of this research was to determine whether there are relationships between certain personality traits of customer service centre agents and their job performance. Purposeful sampling was used to involve the entire agent base as participants (N=89). A quantitative empirical study was conducted in which the relationship between the independent variable (personality) and dependent variable (job performance) was investigated. Several personality traits that predicted job performance were identified. Identifying the personality characteristics of individuals who are successful in a CSC environment should aid organisations in creating a better/suitable fit between employees and the requirements of such an environment, thereby improving organisational outcomes. This research adds to current literature gaps in establishing the relationship between personality traits and performance in the context of a customer relations management call centre environment. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

[pt] SAC - Servio de Atendimento ao Cliente - é um tema de estudo recente no Brasil. Os SACs são uma ferramenta importante para se atingir a satisfação do consumidor e têm sido relevantes não só para atender manifestações, como também para captar informações e aprimorar a gestão do relacionamento com os clientes. Um dos empreendimentos que tem acompanhado essa valorização dos SACs é o dos shoppings centers, que, além de terem se tornado um importante canal de varejo no país, também se tornaram centros de utilidade e tempo para os clientes. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal estudar o SAC de um dos shoppings centers mais importantes do Rio de Janeiro, e o maior da Baixada Fluminense, o Shopping Grande Rio, com a finalidade de verificar como o Serviço contribuía para a satisfação dos freqüentadores do shopping. Para isso, foi realizado um estudo de caso, baseado em pesquisa bibliográfica, pesquisa documental e entrevistas com executivos e funcionários do shopping e pesquisa qualitativa com os clientes do shopping. O principal resultado alcançado pela pesquisa de campo foi que o conhecimento dos clientes sobre SAC em shopping centers ainda é bastante limitado e, por isso, a utilização destes serviços pelos clientes do shopping ocorre de maneira esporádica e aleatória. Todavia, o Shopping Grande Rio encontra-se em processo de melhoria dos canais de comunicação com seus clientes e de difusão destes serviços para um melhor atendimento ao público. / [en] Customer Service (CS) is a recent theme of study in Brazil. CS is an important tool to reach customer s satisfaction and it has been relevant not only to respond to manifestations, but also to acquire information and improve the relationship management with the clients. One of the entrepreneurs that has followed the CS valorization are the malls, which besides having become an important merchandise channel in the country, have also become utility and time centers for the consumers. The present work has as its main objective to study a CS at one of the most important malls in Rio de Janeiro, and the biggest one of the Baixada Fluminense - Grande Rio Mall. The purpose was to verify how this service contributes to the satisfaction of the mall s public. In this sense, a case study was developed, based on bibliographic and documental research, interviews with executives and mall employees, and qualitative research with mall customers. The primary result attained by the field research was that clients have very few and limited knowledge about the CS offered at malls, thus the utilization of this service occurs in a very sporadic and arbitrary way. Hence, Grande Rio Mall is under an improvement process on the communication and dissemination channel of this service, in order to offer the public a better and more efficient system.

A evolução do comércio internacional e abertura dos mercados têm possibilitado colocar a disposição dos consumidores produtos e serviços provenientes de diferentes países do mundo, adicionando uma exigência às empresas locais para aumentar os níveis de competitividade e capacidades de resposta frente a novos competidores. Mesmo assim, abrem-se oportunidades para muitas empresas buscar expandir seus escopos geográficos de atuação para esses novos mercados e desenvolver novas metas empresariais. A cadeia de atividades, atores envolvidos e distâncias físicas no processo de exportação e importação adicionam complexidade à cadeia de fornecimento de produtos e levantam uma barreira a ultrapassar para responder competitivamente às demandas internacionais. Da mesma forma, a abordagem destes processos constitui uma importante fonte de vantagem competitiva que pode determinar o sucesso nos mercados internacionais. Na exportação de bens do Chile para o Brasil, intervêm dois importantes atores que desempenham um papel fundamental no processo: Os Agentes de Aduana e o Operador de Transporte. Estes atores constituem-se em fornecedores estratégicos de serviços que intervêm e impactam no desempenho operacional durante o processo de exportação e, portanto, a qualidade dos serviços que eles entregam incide nos níveis de competitividade das operações de exportação do Chile para o Brasil. Neste sentido, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi analisar quais elementos de serviço ao cliente estão presentes na avaliação que clientes exportadores chilenos fazem respeito dos serviços entregues por parte destes agentes intermediários em suas exportações ao Brasil. Foram entrevistados 10 executivos encarregados de operações de comércio exterior entre Chile e o Brasil para três setores de exportação não tradicional, vinhos, frutas frescas e frutas desidratadas, que analisaram o papel e relevância dos serviços ao cliente que entregam seus agentes de aduana e operadores de transporte durante o processo de exportação. As entrevistas e conteúdo das mesmas abordaram os principais elementos considerados em diversas teorias e pesquisas de serviços ao cliente, principalmente em contextos associados a processos logísticos. Os resultados encontrados refletem a presencia e importância dos serviços ao cliente na figura de os acessos à informações relevantes, capacidade e tempos de resposta e confiança que os fornecedores são capazes de transmitir para os clientes. Além disso, os relatos dos entrevistados dão conta de níveis básicos de serviço no que diz respeito aos serviços de transporte evidenciando uma importante oportunidade para melhorias no setor e para tomadas de decisão empresarial. / The evolution of international commerce and the opening of markets let open possibilities to put available to consumer products and services from different countries around the world, and add a new demand to local enterprises for increasing levels of competitiveness and the abilities to respond to new competitors. Even so, it opens an opportunity for many enterprises to expand their geographic scopes of market and develop new goals for them. The chain of activities, actors involved and physical distances in the process of export and import add complexity to the normal supply chain of products to consumers and built a barrier hard to avoid in response to international demands. In the same way, the approach to this process is an important source of competitive advantage which could determinates o success at international markets. At the export process of products from Chile to Brazil, exists two important actors who play a fundamental role during this process are the Export Agent, and the Transport Operator. These actors became strategic suppliers of services who interact with exporters and importers and impact the operational performance during the process, then, the quality of services they are able to deliver, impact at the operational exports competitive levels from Chile to Brazil. Ten executive export managers, belonging to three industrial sectors - wine, fresh fruits, and dehydrated fruits - with presence at brasilian markets were interviewed and responsible to analyze the role and relevance of customer services delivery by its export agents and transport operators during export process. The interviews and contents of them were made based in the principal elements found in theories and researches about customer services in logistics process. The results founded indicate presence and importance of customer services deliver by the two principal services suppliers during the logistics process of exports in dimensions like relevant information access, lead and transit time, response capabilities and confidence. Besides this, the reports revealed basic levels of service received from transport operators showing an important gap for improvements in this sector and for decision making.

Background: The wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is marching on, replacing jobs and traditional services, and is predicted to be one of the biggest marketing trends in the close future. Four of the major Swedish banks have started to implement AI as a customer service channel. Simultaneously, the Swedish banking industry is experiencing an all-time low in customer satisfaction, where one of the main reasons is the diminishing number of local branches. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the attitudes that customers have towards AI in customer service, as a substitute to local brick and mortar offices within the Swedish bank industry, as well as uncover any significant factors that could influence these attitudes. Method: This is a qualitative study of exploratory nature where five focus groups have been used to collect empirical data. A total sample of 26 participants, ranging from 20-55 years old, have partaken in the focus groups.  Conclusion: Findings show that there mainly exists a negative attitude towards AI as a substitute to brick-and-mortar offices, but positive attitudes towards it as a complement. Factors that influence the attitudes were found to be Convenience, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Trust, Risk and Social influence. Awareness and Prior Technological Experience were found to not have great influence on customer attitudes.

A evolução do comércio internacional e abertura dos mercados têm possibilitado colocar a disposição dos consumidores produtos e serviços provenientes de diferentes países do mundo, adicionando uma exigência às empresas locais para aumentar os níveis de competitividade e capacidades de resposta frente a novos competidores. Mesmo assim, abrem-se oportunidades para muitas empresas buscar expandir seus escopos geográficos de atuação para esses novos mercados e desenvolver novas metas empresariais. A cadeia de atividades, atores envolvidos e distâncias físicas no processo de exportação e importação adicionam complexidade à cadeia de fornecimento de produtos e levantam uma barreira a ultrapassar para responder competitivamente às demandas internacionais. Da mesma forma, a abordagem destes processos constitui uma importante fonte de vantagem competitiva que pode determinar o sucesso nos mercados internacionais. Na exportação de bens do Chile para o Brasil, intervêm dois importantes atores que desempenham um papel fundamental no processo: Os Agentes de Aduana e o Operador de Transporte. Estes atores constituem-se em fornecedores estratégicos de serviços que intervêm e impactam no desempenho operacional durante o processo de exportação e, portanto, a qualidade dos serviços que eles entregam incide nos níveis de competitividade das operações de exportação do Chile para o Brasil. Neste sentido, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi analisar quais elementos de serviço ao cliente estão presentes na avaliação que clientes exportadores chilenos fazem respeito dos serviços entregues por parte destes agentes intermediários em suas exportações ao Brasil. Foram entrevistados 10 executivos encarregados de operações de comércio exterior entre Chile e o Brasil para três setores de exportação não tradicional, vinhos, frutas frescas e frutas desidratadas, que analisaram o papel e relevância dos serviços ao cliente que entregam seus agentes de aduana e operadores de transporte durante o processo de exportação. As entrevistas e conteúdo das mesmas abordaram os principais elementos considerados em diversas teorias e pesquisas de serviços ao cliente, principalmente em contextos associados a processos logísticos. Os resultados encontrados refletem a presencia e importância dos serviços ao cliente na figura de os acessos à informações relevantes, capacidade e tempos de resposta e confiança que os fornecedores são capazes de transmitir para os clientes. Além disso, os relatos dos entrevistados dão conta de níveis básicos de serviço no que diz respeito aos serviços de transporte evidenciando uma importante oportunidade para melhorias no setor e para tomadas de decisão empresarial. / The evolution of international commerce and the opening of markets let open possibilities to put available to consumer products and services from different countries around the world, and add a new demand to local enterprises for increasing levels of competitiveness and the abilities to respond to new competitors. Even so, it opens an opportunity for many enterprises to expand their geographic scopes of market and develop new goals for them. The chain of activities, actors involved and physical distances in the process of export and import add complexity to the normal supply chain of products to consumers and built a barrier hard to avoid in response to international demands. In the same way, the approach to this process is an important source of competitive advantage which could determinates o success at international markets. At the export process of products from Chile to Brazil, exists two important actors who play a fundamental role during this process are the Export Agent, and the Transport Operator. These actors became strategic suppliers of services who interact with exporters and importers and impact the operational performance during the process, then, the quality of services they are able to deliver, impact at the operational exports competitive levels from Chile to Brazil. Ten executive export managers, belonging to three industrial sectors - wine, fresh fruits, and dehydrated fruits - with presence at brasilian markets were interviewed and responsible to analyze the role and relevance of customer services delivery by its export agents and transport operators during export process. The interviews and contents of them were made based in the principal elements found in theories and researches about customer services in logistics process. The results founded indicate presence and importance of customer services deliver by the two principal services suppliers during the logistics process of exports in dimensions like relevant information access, lead and transit time, response capabilities and confidence. Besides this, the reports revealed basic levels of service received from transport operators showing an important gap for improvements in this sector and for decision making.

Orientadores: Douglas Tacla, Orlando Fontes Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil e Arquitetura / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T10:42:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PeixotoNeto_AlbertoGracaLopes_M.pdf: 1281299 bytes, checksum: 513af220564dc97ae53dcaf28e246403 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Este trabalho tem o objetivo de mostrar a eficiência da aplicação da metodologia Lean Six Sigma na Logística, isto é, mais especificamente na redução do tempo de atendimento a pedidos. Tanto o Lean quanto o Six Sigma, até então aplicados de maneira isolada, tinham reduzido significativamente o nível das perdas (estoques) ou melhorado a velocidade dos processos ou reduzido a variabilidade. Porém, se fazia necessária uma abordagem diferente e completa para se reduzir ainda mais o lead time dos pedidos. E, a partir daí, um método é proposto e aplicado neste trabalho para focar a atenção na redução destas perdas, melhorar o processo de atendimento aos pedidos e, conseqüentemente, diminuindo o tempo de atendimento. A metodologia LeanSigma proposta para processos da Logística consiste basicamente em melhorar o gerenciamento dos inventários, isto é: _ Logística é basicamente lidar com inventários, estejam eles onde estiverem na cadeia de suprimentos. _ Por outro lado, inventários para o Lean são um dos desperdícios que devem ser atacados._ Temos que Logística Lean consiste basicamente em reduzir todos os inventários em excesso._ Seis Sigma, como anteriormente citado, se preocupa com a redução da variabilidade dos processos e com a eliminação de defeitos._ Portanto, Logística Sigma está focada na redução da variação dos processos Logísticos, garantindo assim, sua confiabilidade. _ Por fim, temos que Logística Lean Sigma são esforços direcionados para redução dos estoques e, conseqüentemente, melhoria dos tempos de fluxo logísticos. / Abstract: In a world each time more competitive the reaction's velocity on attending technical requirements with lower and lower costs is fundamental to the success of the companies. In this time, the Lean and the Six Sigma distinguished methodologies with oriented focus to decrease key processes variability and consequently decrease associated losses, like overproduction, inventory, transportation, motion, waiting, rework, down time, etc., focused on financial return to the company, has been used by a growing quantity of industries all over the planet. As the competitive environment changes the way companies do business, companies are embracing both (Lean and Six Sigma) initiatives together to support cost reductions and quality improvements in several different business areas. This work has the objective of showing the efficiency application of the Lean Six Sigma methodology applied in the Logistics context and more specifically in the order leads time reduction. As much Lean as Six Sigma, up to now applied in an isolated way, they had reduced the level of the losses (stocks) significantly or improved the speed of the processes or reduced the variability. A method is proposed and applied in this work to focus the attention in the reduction of these losses, to improve the service process to the requests and, consequently, reducing the time of service. The application of this methodology certainly will help to increase the competitiveness of the national industries by improving their Supply Chain mainly due to the combination of Lean for pursuit simplicity which means efficiency focus and Six Sigma for pursuit perfection which means effectiveness focus. / Mestrado / Transportes / Mestre em Engenharia Civil