The customer service within the United States Coast Guard Naval Engineering department has increased significantly in the past decade. Many areas of the naval engineering departments have adopted a customer service policy in part or in whole. However, the naval engineering community is persistently working to reduce costs and operational liabilities generated through their support practices. Financial and operational liabilities have also grown in the past decade, and the United States Coast Guard Naval Engineering department has failed to aggressively address this issue until recently. This leaves naval engineering communities who use their own version of customer service policies to adopt a standard that is compliant toward the Coast Guard’s Naval Engineering force management goals. This paper looks at the history of Coast Guard Naval Engineering customer service issues, how the engineering community has managed the issues in the past and how improvements can be made. / text

Live customer service has been used by many e-commerce brands as a method to gain consumers personal information. Previous research has found that live service agents have a positive influence on consumer perceived service quality and trust. This research aims to examine if certain type of live customer service generate better website and brand perceptions from the consumer and ultimately help in gaining consumer personal information. Results of this experimental design show that avatar selection and exposure did not significantly differ for service quality, trust, attitudes, purchase intention, and likelihood of disclosing personal information. It was also found that customers have a significant likelihood of selecting agents of the same gender. / text

Over recent years, the service sector has grown at a dramatic rate, and with it has come significant challenges for the operators in this field. Not least of these has been the desire of these operators to create real competitive advantage by offering levels of service that call upon the servers in the interaction to engage in an emotional way with their customers, in addition to offering transactional efficiency and cost containment. The focus of this study is to examine the emotional dimension of the service experience from the perspective of the key stakeholders in the encounter, the customer, the service employee and the outlet manager. This study is carried out in the pub restaurant sector, with the brand leader in the full-service restaurant business. The research focuses on the role that emotions play in the performance outputs of outlet management in particular using the concept of emotional intelligence and the use of the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (Eqi) as a measurement instrument to explore the relationships between emotions and performance. The study then focuses on the server population who interact with the customers everyday, using measures of emotional intelligence and emotional labour to understand their relationship to the performance outputs of the servers, essentially the service quality offered to their customers. Finally the responses of the customer are measured from an emotional perspective, gathering their emotional response to a range of service cues. This customer data forms the basis of the relationships explored between server emotional competence and their delivery of service quality. The research reveals significant relationships between the emotional competencies of the managerial group and their business performance achievements in the areas of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, employee turnover and outlet profit growth. It demonstrates relationships between the emotional make-up of service personnel and aspects of emotional labour. The study also demonstrates the level of emotional response of customers to a range of service stimulants and finally the research reveals the extent to which a range of interactive service stimulants can create positive emotional expression in customers. The study culminates in the presentation of two models that are designed to guide service organisations to developing and then maintaining an integrated approach to emotional service development in their own market sector. These models build on the findings in the research that demonstrate a high level of inter-relationship between the different components that contribute to the overall service experience. The study ultimately argues that to ignore or isolate the consideration of the emotions right across the service chain, from brand proposition through to recruitment, development and measurement of the overall service quality at best leaves the service organisation exposed to sub-optimising its service offering. Conversely the value of adopting a fully integrated approach to the development of the service organisation could lead to a level of loyalty from both employees and customers that would provide sustainable competitive advantage in the service market.

Emotional labour was conceptualised by Hochschild in 1983 as a form of oppression on the service worker devised by a capitalist society; where not only were workers’ physical actions managed, but their emotions as well. Research in the area developed this concept identifying the many occupational fields in which emotional labour exists, forming models of its effects, and examining ways in which workers try to resist the emotional strain. Taking a social constructionist approach, 44 service workers and 44 customers/emotional labour recipients were interviewed using the Critical Incident Technique to gain insight into their views of performing and receiving emotional labour, and what they believed enhanced or detracted from it. The results were divided into those discussing “professional” emotional labour jobs (eg. teaching) - where the emotional labourer needs to attain a professional status; and “occupational” (eg. sales assistants) – where the emotional labourer does not need a professional qualification. It was found that 1) there were differences between the expectations, motivations and coping mechanisms displayed by professional and occupational emotional labourers; as well as in the expectations of the customer/recipient within a professional service and an occupational one; 2) that many recipients do not necessarily want to be treated as “sovereign” (ie. “king”) and judge an emotional labour interaction more positively when their individual needs are acknowledged; 3) while display rules and targets were still a notable constraint on the labourer, nevertheless “occupational” emotional labourers (sometimes in collusion with their managers) found ways of resisting further strain from recipients through over-politeness, ironically in accordance with display rules which exposed recipient rudeness; 4) professional emotional labourers, however, found the display rules and targets a hindrance. This managerial misunderstanding or poor appreciation of “professional” emotional labour caused resentment among them; 5) unique and spontaneous kindness was evident in many emotional labour interactions with managers, colleagues and most commonly recipients. Moreover, this was acknowledged by giver and receiver as the most satisfying and memorable part of emotional labour – and something unique to emotional labour itself. The recommendations of this thesis are therefore: i) that emotional labour should be differentiated within services in order for more focussed findings and recommendations to be generated and applied ii) that emotional labour be analysed as interactive process where emotional labourer, recipient and their organisational management contribute to a high level of enjoyment within the job. That is, it is not necessary to view emotional labour as the oppressive and intrusive management of personality by a capitalist organisation iii) recognition be given to the importance of kindness within the emotional labour interaction, as it can be both a source of pleasure, and also pain, for the compassionate labourer. This has important implications for the selection, training and providing emotional support for workers.

This study investigated demographic characteristics of 240 Chamber of Commerce members in terms of their expectations for customer service in hotels. Subjects reported their age, gender, marital status, race, educational level, income level and ethnicity, and completed a 26-item questionnaire which measured expectations for customer service. Principal components analysis was used to reduce the 26 items to five dimensions of service quality, and multivariate analysis of variance was used to evaluate the effect of the demographic variables on those dimensions. Gender of the customer was found to have a significant effect on the combined dimensions of service quality; other variables were not significant.

M.B.A. / The motor industry in South Africa, (SA), is experiencing a period of turmoil that will result in its complete restructure. The globalisation of the industry and the involvement of government with the Motor Industry Development Programme, (MIDP), is forcing the development of strategies that are formulated to equip the local manufacturers to become globally competitive. The MIDP has had a major influence on the development of the industry since 1994, as it has allowed the entrance of new competitors into SA due to the gradual reduction in import tariffs. It also proposes to stimulate the export potential within the industry of vehicles and components by offering a rebate structure with which the manufacturers can offset import duty. It will also force a consolidation of the industry in that amongst others there is more co-operation between vehicle and component manufacturers. A financial consideration of the MIDP is to reduce the industry's use of forex. The historical background of the industry in South Africa shows a rather proud and colourful past, with most of the major players in the international motor industry having been represented locally at one stage or another. With the disinvestment campaign that preceded the new government, found a core of manufacturers remaining and competing in a fairly 'flat' market. However that has all changed, and although there is no immediate substantial market growth in sight, the influx of new competitors continues, making the market complicated and competitive. Audi itself has only been represented on the SA market from 1968, however as no focused marketing strategy was developed for it, it never really was in the same league as BMW and Mercedes Benz. In 1994 this all changed as VWSA decided to introduce Audi onto the market competing in all premium market segments. What followed was a focused marketing strategy, which required a separate dealer network and Audi specific staff. The process of selecting dealers was based on market potential and also on the established infrastructure. The new dealer network then started to undergo the process of conforming to the external corporate identity, CI, requirements, and this should be completed by mid 2001.

Call centres have been described as an enabling resource for enhanced customer service, as a cost saving strategy, and a combination of both. Call centres are people intensive, resource demanding environments with complex management challenges. The call centre industry is growing rapidly and South Africa is fast becoming a desired destination for outsourced call centres. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of outsourced call centre management specifically regarding their roles and challenges experienced when executing their daily activities. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges outsourced call centre managers encounter and provide suggestions to help address major challenges faced in relation to effective call centre management. The methodology used was of a qualitative nature as data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Inductive reasoning was applied in this study. The call centre managers were purposively selected for the study based on their experience within the industry. The data gathered was transcribed, coded and organised into themes, categories and sub-categories. The study had five objectives and once analysed the following results were obtained: profiles of call centre management was determined, people management surfaced as a major challenge for call centre managers, numerous strategies are in place to deal with challenges, however they are limited due to company policies, cost efficiency was not the main reason organisations outsource their call centres and finally call centre managers perceive their roles to be the overall responsibility of the call centre, its employees and performance. The results revealed that scientific management principles and continuous improvement are major focus areas within the call centre environment. This is mainly driven by the fact that outsourced call centres have contractual obligations that need to be met otherwise they face financial penalties. The findings also revealed that being a manager in an outsourced call centre today is a dynamic and challenging task with many pressures both internally and externally. The study recommends that outsourced call centre managers be empowered and supported by the relevant support divisions as they assume a great responsibility while operating in a dynamic environment and they play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of outsourced call centres. The main limitation of this study is that it relies on outsourced contact centres situated in the Gauteng area that only services one telecommunication organisations customer queries limiting the ability to generalise to other populations. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The purpose of the research was to examine if the implementation of customer care has any effect on service delivery at Thulamela Local Municipality. Specifically the study focused on four main aspects, namely:to determine the effects of implementing customer care to enhance service delivery at Thulamela Local Municipality; to analyse the effects of enhancing customer care through quality service delivery; to investigate mechanisms of improving customer care through public relations; to explore the effect of implementing Batho-Pele principles in promoting customer care. The study used qualitative interviews to collect data from respondents. The study revealed that there was a relationship between customer care and service delivery and where customer care prevailed service delivery improved. The findings also strongly indicated that through public relations and the implementation of Batho-Pele principles, customer care can be enhanced and consequently quality service delivery. The study recommended that tools and systems should be developed that would motivate municipal employees to implement customer care. Training of municipal employees with regard to customer care was also emphasized. It was further recommended that the leadership at Thulamela Local Municipality should be morally sound for subordinates to follow.

The continued growth of service industries and the development of the experience economy has highlighted the need for employees to have extensive social and interpersonal skills. The need for employee interpersonal skills is further emphasised by the extensive interaction between employees and customers, during the provision of customer service, in full service hotels. Despite the heterogeneous nature of the customer service environment, management expect that a consistent level of service will be maintained, while customers desire a unique experience that meets or exceeds their individual expectations. To ensure that both the needs of the organisation and customers are consistently met, management control of employee actions and behaviours is required.The aim of this study was to identify how hotel organisations and managers control employee interpersonal interactions with customers. The research also sought to identify the interpersonal and emotional capabilities employers require from employees to meet the needs of customers and present the desired corporate image. A qualitative, case study, research methodology was applied to understand the expectations of managers, the issues concerning managing employee interactions with customers, perceptions of employee capabilities, and beliefs about current management control strategies in a hotel environment. The research was conducted at four hotel properties belonging to one international hotel group. The data gathering methods included semi-structured interviews, documentation review and field notes.The research concluded that effective alignment of employee and management goal congruence first requires the alignment of managers' goals to the organisation. To ensure management's expectations, customers' expectations and employee actions and behaviours are aligned, management must also have a sound understanding of the organisation's brand and desired image. Cultural and social control mechanisms were found to be important, as they provided a consistent method of aligning employees' behaviour with the goals and expectations of management. The development of social cohesion and norms, through serial and investiture socialisation mechanisms, also helped to create self-managing teams that reinforced the goals of management. The study suggests that, due to the increasing diversity of the stakeholders' views and goals, some of the traditional management perspectives of hospitality may need to change to meet the needs of contemporary employees.

In a multi-server system, probability distributions and loss probabilities for customers arriving with different priority categories are studied. Customers arrive in independent Poisson streams and their service times are exponentially distributed, with different rates for different priorities. The non-queuing customers will be lost if the capacity is fully occupied. In these systems, particularly for higher priority customers, the reduction of the loss probabilities is essential to guarantee the quality of the service. Four different policies for high and low priorities were introduced utilizing the fixed capacity of the system, producing different loss probabilities. The same policies were introduced in the case of a low priority being placed in the queue when the system is fully occupied. An application to the Intensive Care and Coronary Care Unit in Campbelltown Public Hospital in Sydney was introduced. This application analyses the admission and discharge by using queuing theory to develop a model which predicts the proportion of patients from each category that would be prematurely transferred as a function of the size of the unit, number of categories, mean arrival rates, and length of stay. / Master of Science (Hons)