This study of the diffusion and evolution of the 311 innovation in the form of citizen service centers and as a technology cluster has been designed to help identify the catalysts for the spread of government-to-citizen (G2C) technology in local government in order to better position future G2C technology for a more rapid rate of adoption. The 311 non-emergency number was first established in 1996 and had spread to 80 local governments across the United States by 2012. This dissertation examines: what factors contributed to the adoption of 311 in American local governments over 100,000 in population; how did the innovation diffuse and evolve over time; and why did some governments' communications with citizens became more advanced than others? Given the problem of determining causality, a three-part research design was used to examine the topic including a historical narrative, logistic regression model, and case studies from Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and St. Louis. The narrative found that the political forces of the federal government, national organizations, and policy entrepreneurs (Karch, 2007) promoted the 311 innovation to solve different problems and that it evolved beyond its original intent. The logistic regression model found that there was a statistically significant relationship between 311 adoption and the variables of higher population, violent crime rate, and the mayor-council form of government. The case studies revealed that mayors played a strong role in establishing citizen service centers in all three cities while 311 adopter Pittsburgh and non-adopter St. Louis seemed to have more in common in their G2C evolution due to severe budget constraints. With little written about the 311 innovation in academic journals, practitioners and scholars will benefit from understanding the catalysts for the diffusion and evolution of the 311 in order to determine ways to increase the rate of adoption for future G2C communication innovations. / Ph. D.

Aus Sicht der Innovationsforschung besteht der Kern eines erfolgreichen Unternehmens aus folgender Formel: Innovative Ideen + Gute Umsetzung = Unternehmenserfolg. Hierbei spielten Service Center in der allgemeinen Managementwahrnehmung bislang eine untergeordnete Rolle. Damit wird ihnen Unrecht getan. Denn im Innovationsprozess stehen die Service Center am Ende des Produktzyklus. Was übersehen wird, ist, dass sie zugleich den Anfang eines neuen Produktzyklus bilden können. Insbesondere da in den Service Centern alle Erfahrungen zusammen laufen - vor allem die der Kunden. Um dieses Missverhältnis zwischen allgemeiner Wahrnehmung und effektiver Bedeutung von Service Centern für den Innovationsprozess herauszuarbeiten und Korrekturmöglichkeiten aufzuzeigen, wurden im Rahmen der Dissertation informationstechnische Methoden und Werkzeuge entworfen, entwickelt und eingesetzt. Am Ende entstand daraus sogar ein eigenes Produkt, das in Kundensituationen eingesetzt werden kann.:1 Einleitung 1.1 Ausgangssituation 1.2 Methodischer Bedarf 1.3 Zielsetzung und Forschungsfrage 1.4 Forschungsansatz 1.5 Iteratives Vorgehen bei der Entwicklung der IT-Lösung 2 Kundenzentriertes Innovationsmanagement im Service Center als Entwicklungsobjekt 2.1 Begriffsbildung 2.1.1 Definition von Innovationsmanagement 2.1.2 Open Innovation 2.1.3 Kundenzentriertes Innovationsmanagement 2.1.4 Service Center 2.1.5 IT-gestütztes kundenzentriertes Innovationsmanagement im Service Center 2.2 Einbettung der Begrifflichkeit in das aktuelle Forschungsumfeld 2.2.1 Kundenmanagement 2.2.2 Innovationsmanagement 2.2.3 Open Innovation 2.2.4 Kundenintegration in Innovationsmanagementaktivitäten 2.2.5 Service Center 2.2.6 IT-Lösungen für Kundeneinbindung in Innovationsmanagement 2.2.7 IT-Lösungen im Service Center Umfeld 2.2.8 Qualitätsmanagement 2.2.9 Wissensmanagement 2.2.10 Marktforschung 2.2.11 Zusammenfassung relevanter, quantitativer, empirischer Studien 2.3 Empirische Untersuchung 2.3.1 Begründung und Grundlagen der empirischen Untersuchung 2.3.2 Konzeption der qualitativen Datenerhebung durch Experteninterviews 2.4 Analyse der Nachteile und Restriktionen 2.4.1 Restriktion auf Kundenseite 2.4.2 Restriktion auf Unternehmensseite 2.4.3 Zusammenfassung 2.5 Analyse der Vorteile 2.5.1 Unterstützung des gesamten Innovationsprozesses 2.5.2 Vielfalt an Kundeninformationen 2.5.3 Repräsentativität 2.5.4 Vorhandene Informationsfülle 2.5.5 Informationstiefe 2.5.6 Direkte Aufnahme von Kundenbedürfnissen 2.5.7 Einblick in Nutzungsverhalten 2.5.8 Geringe Verarbeitungszeit von Informationen 2.5.9 Iterationsmöglichkeit 2.5.10 Unterstützungsmöglichkeit bei allen Innovationstypen 2.5.11 Zusammenfassung 3 Anforderungen für kundenzentriertes Innovationsmanagement im Service Center 3.1 Einzelanforderungen und Anforderungsrahmenkonzept 3.2 Grundvoraussetzungen 3.2.1 Einbindung in bestehende Strukturen 3.2.2 Minimale Auswirkung auf den Service Center Betrieb 3.2.3 Reporting 3.3 Anforderungen hoher Priorität 3.3.1 Adaptierbarkeit auf Unternehmensziele 3.3.2 Modulare Struktur der Lösung 3.3.3 Bidirektionale Ausrichtung der Lösung 3.3.4 Berücksichtigung der besonderen Kundeneigenschaften 3.4 Anforderungen mittlerer Priorität 3.4.1 Anpassung auf Kundeneigenschaften 3.4.2 Anpassung auf Mitarbeitereigenschaften 3.4.3 Bewertung und Verifikation durch Kunden 3.5 Anforderungen niedriger Priorität 3.5.1 Einstellung auf individuelle Unternehmensstrukturen 3.5.2 Optimierte Lösung für Informationsaufnahme 3.5.3 Vereinfachte Implementierung 4 Spezifikation des Unterstützungssystems für Innovationsmanagement im Service Center 4.1 Funktionalitätsentwicklung 4.1.1 Übersetzung der Anforderungen in Funktionalitäten 4.1.2 Zusammenfassung zu Services und Servicegruppen 4.1.3 Identifikation der Kernfunktionalitäten 4.2 Servicegruppe 1: Aufnahme der Kundeninformation 4.2.1 Einbeziehung bestehender Datenquellen 4.2.2 Vorqualifizierung 4.2.3 Informationserfassung 4.3 Servicegruppe 2: Informationsaufbereitung 4.3.1 Analyse der Kundeninformation 4.3.2 Detaillierung der Information 4.4 Servicegruppe 3: Entwicklung der Innovationsidee 4.4.1 Analyse Innovationspotential 4.4.2 Erfassung der Innovationsidee 4.4.3 Bewertung der Innovationsidee 4.4.4 Analyse des Anpassungsbedarfs 4.5 Servicegruppe 4: Verifikation und Bewertung der Innovationsidee 4.5.1 Anfrage nach weiterem Feedback 4.5.2 Verwaltung Feedback 4.6 Servicegruppe 5: Verwaltung und Management 4.6.1 Managementunterstützung 4.6.2 Berichtswesen 4.7 Prozess- und Produktmodell 4.7.1 Aufnahme Kundeninformation 4.7.2 Informationsaufbereitung 4.7.3 Entwicklung von Innovationsideen 4.7.4 Verifikation und Bewertung 4.7.5 Verwaltung und Management 4.8 Diskussion der optionalen Funktionalitäten 4.8.1 Aufnahme der Kundeninformation 4.8.2 Informationsaufbereitung 4.8.3 Verifikation und Bewertung der Innovationsidee 4.8.4 Aufnahme der Kundeninformation 4.8.5 Verwaltung und Management 5 Technologische Umsetzung des Lösungsmodells 5.1 Vorgehensbeschreibung 5.2 Ausgangssituation im Referenzunternehmen 5.2.1 Unternehmenskontext 5.2.2 Strukturelle Rahmenbedingungen 5.2.3 Systemtechnische Gegebenheiten 5.3 Design der technischen Lösung 5.3.1 Prozessmodell 5.3.2 Datenmodell 5.3.3 Konzeption der grafischen Nutzeroberfläche 5.4 Prototypische IT-Lösung 5.4.1 Vorgehen zur Softwareimplementierung 5.4.2 Generelle Aspekte der technischen Unterstützungslösung 5.4.3 Technische Unterstützungslösung für die Aufnahme der Kundeninformation 5.4.4 Technische Unterstützungslösung für die Detaillierung der Kundeninformation 5.4.5 Technische Unterstützungslösung für die Aufnahme von Innovationsideen 5.4.6 Technische Unterstützungslösung zur Bewertung und Verifikation 5.4.7 Technische Unterstützungslösung für Verwaltung und Management 5.5 Evaluation der Unterstützungslösung 5.5.1 Bewertung, basierend auf Anforderungsrahmenkonzept 5.5.2 Besonderheiten und kritische Aspekte beim Betrieb der Lösung 5.5.3 Diskussion von Implikationen und möglichen Modifizierungen 5.5.4 Konklusion der Evaluationsergebnisse 5.6 Skizzierung der nächsten Erweiterungsschritte 5.6.1 Stärken und Einsatzbereiche von Semantic Web Technologien 5.6.2 Verwendung zu Requirements Engineering mit großen Stakeholdergruppen 5.6.3 Einsatz semantischer Technologien zur Suche im Unternehmenskontext 5.6.4 Konzeption der nächsten Erweiterungsstufe als Semantic Web Lösung 5.6.5 Möglichkeiten der Einbindung unstrukturierter Daten mittels NLP 6 Zusammenfassung 6.1 Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse 6.1.1 Vor- und Nachteile bestehender Kundenkontakte 6.1.2 Anforderungen an Innovationsmanagement im Service Center 6.1.3 Gesamtmodell einer informationstechnischen Unterstützungslösung 6.1.4 IT-Unterstützung für Innovationsmanagement im Service Center 6.2 Reflexion des gewählten Forschungsansatzes 6.3 Ansatzpunkte für weitere Forschung 6.4 Fazit und abschließende Bemerkung Literaturverzeichnis A Untersuchungsdesign der Experteninterviews B Ergebnisse der Experteninterviews C Modell zum kundenzentrierten Innovationsmanagement im Service Center D Technische Umsetzung E Analysen und Diskussionen zu weiteren relevanten Inhalten aus Forschung und Praxis F Selbstständigkeitserklärung

客服中心在顧客量龐大的產業中扮演非常重要的角色，為企業與顧客互動的一個重要環節。近年來，客服產業快速成長，企業紛紛藉由客服中心的建置來提升顧客滿意與經營績效，然而建置客服中心所需投入的精力與成本，對企業而言卻是一個不小的負擔，因此有了承接客服中心委外業務的專業客服公司出現，成為企業建置及運作客服中心時的另一個選擇。 本研究的主要目的即在進行客服中心委外決策的探討，從委外利益與成本的角度出發，釐清影響客服中心委外決策的關鍵考量因素，一方面做為企業制定委外決策時的參考依據，一方面也有助於專業客服公司瞭解企業客戶之真正需求，提升委外客服產業之服務水準，使最終顧客因此受益。 由於國內這方面的研究尚在起步階段，因此本研究採個案研究法進行探索性的研究，分別訪談了五個產業別的十三家企業機構，進行個案的分析探討。本研究發現企業機構在制定委外決策時的考量因素可分為兩大類：「委外利益」與「交易成本」方面的考量；「委外利益」的考量因素包括降低成本、提升服務品質以及專業化的人力與設備；「交易成本」的考量因素則包括客戶資料外洩、代理問題、管理監督不易以及不能主動快速因應。企業機構在制定委外決策時，會同時考量「委外利益」與「交易成本」的考量因素，而研究發現「委外利益」的考量對委外決策有正向的影響，「交易成本」對委外決策則有負向的影響。 本研究亦發現不同的組織特性也會影響客服中心的委外決策，這些組織特性包括產業類別、客服中心規模、業務內容、主事者的態度、本土或外商公司、公私部門等。分析發現：(1)產業類別會影響客服中心委外決策的制定，且不同產業類別所著重的委外考量因素有明顯差異；(2)中型規模客服中心委外的可能性較大型與小型客服中心高；(3)客服中心的業務內容愈單純委外的可能性愈高。(4)主事者的態度在客服中心的委外決策中具有關鍵性的影響；(5)外商公司委外的可能性較本土企業低；(6)公部門委外的可能性較私部門高，且公部門在進行委外決策時，主要集中在「委外利益」的考量上；而私部門則集中在「交易成本」的考量上。 客服中心扮演著企業與顧客間互動的橋樑，若能運作順暢，對企業而言等於是累積了一份長久的資產，因此，企業應該認真思考客服中心的定位以及企業所賦予的使命。此外，專業的委外客服公司在客服產業的經驗與能力，仍然可供許多企業借鏡與學習，企業應採取更為開放的心胸，將外部資源納入企業運作時的策略性思考中，增加運作的彈性與籌碼。 / Call center plays an important role in the industries where the population of existing and potential customers is enormous. In recent years, call center industry grows rapidly. In order to raise customer satisfaction and improve business performance, many corporate devote to establish their own call centers. Nevertheless, the cost needed to build a call center represents a large burden for many of these corporate. This has lead to the emergence of many call center outsourcing companies recently and become another option for the corporate who wish to establish their own call centers. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the elements which influence the outsourcing decision of call center. From the angle of both the benefit and cost of outsourcing, the research wants to clarify the issue on how do the critical elements affect the call center outsourcing decision. However, research of this particular field in Taiwan is still at its infant stage, therefore this explorative study adopts the case study research method. The research interviews thirteen cases in five different industries, including corporate and institutions. The finding of this study suggests that the elements which affect corporate consideration on whether to outsource or not could be categorized into two groups: i) Benefit gained from outsourcing; ii) Transaction Cost. Benefit gained from outsourcing may include reducing cost, raising service quality, and seeking professional agents and equipments; Transaction Cost includes disclosing customer data, agent problems, supervise difficulty, and unable to respond automatically and rapidly. The corporate would consider both the benefit gained from outsourcing and the transaction Cost when making the outsourcing decision. Our finding suggests that the benefit gained from outsourcing has the positive effect on outsourcing decision, while the transaction Cost has the opposite effect. In addition, this research also finds that the characteristics of an organization which include the industry categories in which an organization belongs to; the scale of call centers, business contents of call center, the attitude of the decision maker; the differences between local and foreign firms; and the differences between private and public sectors, would also have certain degree of influences on the outsourcing decision of call center. Different industry categories make different influences in both outsourcing decisions and outsourcing considerable elements. (1) The middle scale of call center is more possible to be outsourced than the large and small ones. (2) The simpler of business contents of call center, the more possible to outsource the call center. (3) The attitude of decision maker has the critical effect in outsourcing decision of call center. (4) The foreign company is less possible to outsource the call center than the local company in the same industry. (5) The public sector is more possible to outsource the call center than the private sector.

近年來，顧客關係管理在各企業間的風行，使得客服中心的重要性跟著提升，而分析客服中心績效的因素，發現客服人員的影響十分重要。各企業為了找尋適合的人擔任客服人員，投入許多的時間與精力。近年來十分流行利用人格特質測驗來徵選適合的員工，在徵選客服人員時也會運用到相同方法。人格特質對於工作績效的影響已經被許多研究所證實，但是卻沒有任何研究探討一個重要的議題，那就是客服人員的人格特質與工作績效到底有何關係？ 本研究希望利用近年來頗受注目的人格特質分類-『五大人格特質』，以五大人格特質的觀點切入，探討五大人格特質與客服人員工作績效之間的關連性，期望能夠提供給企業徵選客服人員的理論參考。經過業界訪談後，決定以客服人員最大宗的業務「進線服務」作為研究的範圍，研究的目的在於瞭解客服人員的人格特質對其工作績效之影響，以期提升客服人員的素質，更進一步提高客服中心的績效表現。 本研究經由問卷分析的結果發現，五大人格特質中的勤勉正直性、親和性以及情緒敏感性會直接影響到客服人員工作績效的總分。影響分別是，勤勉正直性為正向相關性，親和性為正向相關性，情緒敏感性為負向相關性。本研究更發現，一般認為會對工作績效會有正向影響的開放學習性，在對於客服人員工作績效的影響卻是負向的。開放學習性對於客服人員工作績效內客觀評核工作指標，會有顯著的負向影響。 五大人格特質對於客服人員工作績效的影響，確實存在且經過本研究的驗證。企業可以利用五大人格特質當作徵選依據，藉以找到適合的人擔任客服人員。

過去有關服務品質的研究大都以服務的特性(如可靠度、反應力等等..)做為服務品質的構面去探討每一構面對整體服務品質的影響，本研究則以服務的種類做為服務品質的構面去探討不同服務的服務品質對整體服務品質的影響。 根據Grönroos (1990) 對服務所做的分類，本研究將服務分成核心服務、輔助服務以及支援性服務，探討這三種服務對整體服務品質的影響力。 此外，在Zeithaml & Bitner (1996) 所提出的「顧客知覺品質與顧客滿意度關係圖」中認為滿意度直接受到知覺服務品質、知覺產品品質、知覺價格的影響，本研究便據此去探討整體服務品質對顧客滿意度的影響。此外，更進一步去探討顧客滿意度與顧客忠誠度之間的關係。 由於本研究主要著重在服務品質的探討，因此選定幾無實體商品的信用卡產業做為研究客體，探討知覺服務品質及知覺價格對滿意度的影響，而不探討知覺產品品質的影響。 根據Grönroos對核心服務、輔助服務以及支援性服務所下的定義，核心服務指的是企業在市場上生存的理由，應用在信用卡產業即為信用卡所提供「延遲付款」的利益以及旅遊保險、道路救援等等服務；輔助服務是企業為了讓顧客能使用核心服務所提供的服務，企業以此做為競爭的手段，增加差異化的程度，應用在信用卡產業即為客服中心所提供的服務；支援性服務是企業為了增加整體服務吸引力所提供的服務，應用在信用卡產業即為發卡銀行的企業形象及所參與的公益活動等等。 本研究共回收382份有效問卷，以247份進行LISREL分析，得到以下的結果。 在服務種類和整體服務品質的關係上，核心服務和支援性服務對整體服務品質並無顯著影響。唯有輔助服務(客服中心)對整體服務品質有顯著影響。顯示在核心服務與支援性服務易於模仿而日益趨同的情況下，輔助服務(客服中心)對消費者在評估整體服務品質時所具有的重要性已超越其他種類的服務。 在影響滿意度的因素上，研究結果顯示，整體服務品質與價格皆會影響顧客滿意度，且服務品質的影響力大於價格的影響力。此外，在滿意度和忠誠度的關係上，結果顯示，兩者之間呈正相關。 本研究以服務的分類去探討不同種類服務對整體服務品質的影響，並與Zeithaml & Bitner所提出的架構做一連結，提供未來學術研究在探討影響服務品質的構面時一個新的方向。 / In the past, in the literature research on service quality, the characteristics of service such as reliability, responsiveness, and etc. were regarding as the dimensions of service quality to study the influence of each dimension on whole service quality. This research is taking the category of service quality as the dimensions of service quality to study the influence of different kinds of service on whole service quality. According to Grönroos’s study on the category of service in 1990, this study is divided service into core service, facilitating services and supporting services to realize the influence of these three kinds of service on whole service quality. Furthermore, in the framework “Customer perception of quality and customer satisfaction” proposed by Zeithmal and Bitner’s, satisfaction is directly influenced by perceived service quality, perceived product quality, and perceived price. According to this reference, this study is to discuss the influence of whole service quality on satisfaction. In addition, this study would Because this study emphasizes on the study of service quality, the main focus in on credit card to investigate the influence of perceived service quality and perceived price on satisfaction, rather than the influence of perceived product. According to the definition of core service, facilitating services and supporting services proposed by Grönroos, core services are the reasons for being on the market. Applied to credit card, the core services are the benefit of deferred payment, travel insurance, road rescue, and etc. Besides, facilitating services are the services that facilitate the use of the core services. Applied to credit card, the facilitating services are the services call centers could supply. In addition, supporting services are used to increase the value and/or to differentiate the service from the services of competitors. Applied to credit card, supporting services are the image of the company and the activities for public warfare or charity the company holds or joins. This study collects 382 copies of valid questionnaires and later LISREL analysis is carried out with 247 copies. The results are as follows. With the relationship between service category and whole service quality, core service and supporting services has no significant influence on whole service quality. Only facilitating services—the services call center supplies—have significant influence on whole service quality. It shows that under the situation that the core services and supporting services are imitated easily and equaled gradually, the importance of facilitating services is beyond any other kinds of services when consumers evaluating the whole service quality. As to the factors that influence satisfaction, whole service quality and perceived price both have significant influence of satisfaction, and whole service quality has more influence than price. In addition, with the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, the two variables are positively related. This study is to discuss the influence of different kinds of services on whole service quality and create a linkage between services category and the framework proposed by Zeithaml and Bitner. Also, the study wishes to provide a new direction for future literature research regarding the dimensions that would influence the service quality.

Le taux élevé de rotation et recrutement, la complexité du travail et le manque de formation professionelles a augmenté la demande de la formation d'intégration professionnelle pour Représentatives des Services Clients (RSC). La question est: ‘comment est-ce-que les professionnels des centres d'appels déterminent la valeur de la formation d'intégration professionnelle des RSC. Les centres d'appels peuvent être divisés en deux groupes «In-House» et «Subcontractor» à propos la propriété. L'objectif de cette étude est d'étudier la différence dans l'évaluation de la formation d'intégration professionnelle des RSC entre ces deux groupes. «Le modèle de Kirkpatrick» de l'évaluation de formation a été utilisé avec le 5ème niveau de rentabilité de l'investissement. Ensuite, nous avons identifier les groupes de parties prenantes les plus importantes qui peuvent bénéficier d'information de l'évaluation concernant à chaque niveau de «TKM». Les données qualitatives ont été recueillies par 15 entretiens avec des groupes des professionnels de 13 centres d'appels aux Pakistan. Les données quantitatives ont été recueillies des 203 professionnels des 90 centres d'appels du Lahore, Karachi et Islamabad. Sauf pour «Réaction», il n'y avait aucune différence dans les pratiques d'évaluation des centres d'appels ‘In-House' et ‘Subcontractors.' En outre, «taille» de centre d'appels et la «durée» de la formation d'intégration professionnelle a eu un effet significatif sur la différence dans les pratiques d'évaluation. En plus, les données d'évaluation est important pour tous les groupes d'intervenants internes. / Higher turnover, increased recruitment, job complexity and lack of vocational training for call center agents has increased the demand of entry level professional training of call center agents. The question is that how call center professionals determine the value of entry level professional training of call center agents. Call centers can be divided in two groups ‘In-House' and ‘Subcontractor' with respect to the ownership. The objective of this study is to investigate the difference in evaluation of entry level professional training of call center agents among these two groups of call centers. ‘The Kirkpatrick Model' of training evaluation was used to study these differences with addition of 5th level return on investment. Further, we identified stakeholder groups inside call centers. Then we attempted to identify the most important stakeholder groups who may benefit from evaluation information obtained at each level of ‘TKM' model. Data was collected from call centers inside Pakistan by using a mixed methods approach for data collection. Qualitative data was collected through 15 group interviews which were conducted with professionals of 13 call centers inside Pakistan. Quantitative data was collected from almost 203 call center professionals of 90 call centers from three cities Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. We found that except for first level ‘Reaction' there was no difference in evaluation practices of in-house and subcontractor call centers. Moreover, ‘size' of call center and ‘duration' of entry level professional training had a significant effect on the difference in evaluation practices.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-05-14T17:57:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LizianeSilvaMenezes.pdf: 4918464 bytes, checksum: 2a4190164c3f6313abf6dcd3d0e8a09f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T17:57:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LizianeSilvaMenezes.pdf: 4918464 bytes, checksum: 2a4190164c3f6313abf6dcd3d0e8a09f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-15 / Nenhuma / Estudos demonstram a crescente importância estabelecida pelo mercado ao serviço de atendimento ao cliente. Uma vez que tal processo permite às organizações a compreensão de necessidades explícitas ou implícitas dos clientes atuais e futuros, a partir da sistematização e análise das interações recebidas nos diferentes canais de atendimento, tal movimento tem gerado questionamentos sobre como este pode ser mais bem gerenciado, visando assim qualificar os serviços prestados pelas Centrais de Atendimento atuais. Sendo a Matriz da Qualidade parte do QFD, que é um método que visa aprimorar o desenvolvimento de produtos/serviços a partir da escuta, tradução e transmissão, de forma priorizada, das necessidades dos clientes para dentro da empresa, questionou-se: como esta poderia contribuir para aprimorar os serviços prestados por uma Central de Atendimento? Desta forma, este trabalho se propôs a explorar tal questão, por meio de um estudo que objetivou analisar os resultados da aplicação desta Matriz em tal contexto. Para tanto, a pesquisa foi realizada em três etapas: (i) a primeira, de caráter Exploratório, em que foram identificadas alternativas para resposta à questão de pesquisa, a partir de uma revisão na literatura existente; (ii) a segunda, de caráter Aplicado, por meio de uma pesquisa-ação realizada na Central de Atendimento de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior de grande porte (com aproximadamente 27.000 alunos), localizada no estado do Rio Grande do Sul; tal etapa foi constituída por três fases, sendo que na primeira delas foi feita a aplicação da Matriz como ferramenta para triagem e estabelecimento das prioridades a serem trabalhadas nas etapas subsequentes; e (iii) a terceira para elaboração de análises e conclusões dos resultados. De modo geral, entende-se que os objetivos pré-estabelecidos para o estudo tenham sido atingidos, uma vez que os resultados apresentam uma análise detalhada da aplicação da Matriz em uma Central de Atendimento real, com reflexões e contribuições para pesquisas futuras sobre o tema. Entre as principais contribuições encontradas destacam-se as melhorias realizadas na infraestrutura e nos processos de gestão de pessoas e de falhas da Central de Atendimento estudada, as quais foram percebidas positivamente tanto pelos usuários como pelos gestores da Instituição após a finalização do trabalho, demonstrando assim a efetividade do método utilizado. Visando colaborar para pesquisas futuras, ao término das análises é apresentado um roteiro para possível uso em Centrais de Atendimento que estejam em busca de objetivos semelhantes. Acredita-se também que tal roteiro possa ser visto como uma ferramenta gerencial, sendo útil no apoio ao cumprimento de estratégias voltadas para gestão da qualidade. / Studies show the increasing importance established by the market at the service of customer service. Once this process enables organizations to understand the stated or implied needs of current and future customers, based on the systematization and analysis of interactions received from different service channels, such movement has generated questions about how this process can be better managed, by that means, aiming to qualify the services provided by customer service center nowadays. As the Quality Matrix part of QFD, which is a method that aims to improve the system development of products/services from listening, translating and transmission, prioritizing the needs of customers into the company, it was questioned: How could this help improving services provided by a customer service center? Therefore, this work proposes to explore this question through a study that aimed to analyze the results of the application of the Quality Matrix in this context. With this objective, the survey was conducted in three steps: (i) the first, exploratory, where there were identified alternatives to answer to the research question, from a review of existing literature, (ii) the second, applied, through an action research conducted in the customer service center of a large Higher Education Institution (approximately 27,000 students) located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil); this step was consisted of three phases, and the first of these was the application of the Matrix as a tool for screening and establishing priorities to be worked on in subsequent steps, and (iii) the third, for the analysis and conclusion of the results. In general, it is understood that the pre-established goals for the study have been achieved, since the final work is a detailed analysis of the results of a Quality Matrix application in a real Service Center, with reflections and contributions for future research on the subject. Among the main contributions found are the improvements made in infrastructure and people management processes, and failures of the customer service center study, which were discerned positively by both users and managers of the institution after the conclusion of the work, in this manner demonstrating the effec tiveness of the method used. Aiming to contribute to future research, at the end of the analysis is presented a roadmap for possible use in customer service center that are seeking similar objectives. It is also believed that this script can be seen as a management tool and is useful in supporting the achievement of strategies for quality management.

<p>The goal of customer support is to help clients achieve maximum value in their services and products. Customer support is the public face of a company, which means that it is important to give the customer a positive experience and live up to customer expectations. Efficient customer support has become more important and studies show that customers who leave a company do so because of poor service. Customers' growing demands for higher quality and easier access to services means that companies must recognize the need to satisfy each customer. It is important that each customer receives the attention required and that customer needs are met quickly and flawlessly. The primary objective for an efficient customer support is to provide quick answers and solutions to achieve customer satisfaction.</p><p>This master thesis aims to examine how the support and case management process can be improved for smaller software companies with customer support. The thesis deals with four issues: how should the support process be designed in smaller software companies, which important aspects must be considered in the support-handling process, how can a case management system contribute to a better customer support and what is the customer role in the management process.</p><p>Case company for this thesis has been Medius in Linköping, which is a provider of process-related IT support. Interviews have been conducted with both employees at Medius and customers to Medius.</p><p>The thesis has resulted in a framework and a recommendation for how efficient customer support should be handled in a small software company. To obtain an efficient customer support it is important that the client knows how the customer support should be contacted and what information is required. It should be possible for the customer to contact the customer support through multiple communication channels. The customer support has to work efficiently internally. It is important to prioritize, escalate and document tasks. Between the customer support and the customer, it is beneficial to have a satisfactory communication with regular feedback. Ultimately, it is also important to regularly measure and evaluate the customer support service in order to maintain efficient customer support.</p><p>A case management system that supports the business is required for the customer support. The case management system is needed to solve problems faster and to provide the support with an overview of the business. A case management system also acts as a knowledge database with relevant information.</p><p>This thesis work has combined existing frameworks and theories about customer support. This has been supplemented with interviews in order to adapt the framework to smaller software companies. An efficient customer support is achieved by using the authors' framework and recommendations.</p> / <p>Målet med kundsupport är att hjälpa sina kunder uppnå maximalt värde i deras tjänster och produkter. Kundsupporten är ett företags ansikte utåt, vilket innebär att det är viktigt att ge kunden en positiv upplevelse och leva upp till kundens förväntningar. Effektiv kundsupport har blivit allt viktigare och studier visar att de kunder som lämnar företag gör det på grund av dålig service. Kundernas ökade krav på högre kvalité och enklare tillgång till service har lett till att företag måste inse vikten av att tillfredställa varje enskild kund. Det är viktigt att varje enskild kund erhåller den uppmärksamhet som krävs och att kundens behov tillgodoses snabbt och felfritt. Det primära för en effektiv kundsupport är att ge snabba svar och lösningar för att uppnå kundnöjdhet.</p><p>Det här examensarbetet syftar till att undersöka hur support- och ärendehanteringsprocessen kan förbättras för mindre mjukvaruföretag med kundsupport. Examensarbetet behandlar fyra frågeställningar: hur bör supportprocessen utformas i ett mindre mjukvaruföretag, vilka viktiga aspekter ska beaktas i supporthanteringsprocessen, betydelsen av ett ärendehanteringssystem samt kundens roll i supporthanteringsprocessen.  </p><p>Fallföretaget för det här examensarbetet har varit Medius i Linköping som är en leverantör av processrelaterat IT-stöd. Intervjuer har genomförts med såväl anställda på Medius som kunder till Medius.</p><p>Examensarbetet har resulterat i ett ramverk samt en rekommendation för hur effektiv kundsupport ska hanteras i ett mindre mjukvaruföretag. För att kundsupporten i ett mindre mjukvaruföretag ska fungera effektivt krävs att kunden vet hur kundsupporten ska kontaktas och vilken information som ska tillhandahållas. Det ska vara möjligt för kunden att kontakta kundsupporten via flera olika kommunikationskanaler. Kundsupporten ska i sin tur fungera effektivt internt. Det är viktigt att prioritera, eskalera och dokumentera ärenden på ett korrekt sätt. Mellan kundsupporten och kunden ska det finnas en tillfredställande kommunikation med regelbunden återkoppling. I slutändan är det viktigt att regelbundet mäta och utvärdera kundsupportens servicenivåer för att kunna upprätthålla en effektiv kundsupport.</p><p>För att kundsupporten ska kunna fungera effektiv internt krävs ett ärendehanteringssystem som stödjer verksamheten. Ett ärendehanteringssystems behövs för att kunna lösa problem snabbare och för att ge supporten en överblick över verksamheten. Ärendehanteringssystemet fungerar också som en kunskapsdatabas med relevant information.</p><p>Det här examensarbetet har kombinerat befintliga ramverk och teorier kring kundsupport. Detta har kompletterats med intervjuer för att anpassa ramverket till det mindre mjukvaruföretaget. Genom att använda författarnas ramverk och rekommendationer kommer en effektiv kundsupport att erhållas.</p>

Marketing, Direct Marketing, Tele-Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Tele-sales, Developing countries, Customer attitude/behavior, Call center, Outbound calls, Proactive telemarketing, Sales promotion ,Survey, Telemarketing center , Telemarketing sales , Telephone marketers , Cold calls.

Les centres d’appels sont des éléments clés de presque n’importe quelle grande organisation. Le problème de gestion du travail a reçu beaucoup d’attention dans la littérature. Une formulation typique se base sur des mesures de performance sur un horizon infini, et le problème d’affectation d’agents est habituellement résolu en combinant des méthodes d’optimisation et de simulation. Dans cette thèse, nous considérons un problème d’affection d’agents pour des centres d’appels soumis a des contraintes en probabilité. Nous introduisons une formulation qui exige que les contraintes de qualité de service (QoS) soient satisfaites avec une forte probabilité, et définissons une approximation de ce problème par moyenne échantillonnale dans un cadre de compétences multiples. Nous établissons la convergence de la solution du problème approximatif vers celle du problème initial quand la taille de l’échantillon croit. Pour le cas particulier où tous les agents ont toutes les compétences (un seul groupe d’agents), nous concevons trois méthodes d’optimisation basées sur la simulation pour le problème de moyenne échantillonnale. Étant donné un niveau initial de personnel, nous augmentons le nombre d’agents pour les périodes où les contraintes sont violées, et nous diminuons le nombre d’agents pour les périodes telles que les contraintes soient toujours satisfaites après cette réduction. Des expériences numériques sont menées sur plusieurs modèles de centre d’appels à faible occupation, au cours desquelles les algorithmes donnent de bonnes solutions, i.e. la plupart des contraintes en probabilité sont satisfaites, et nous ne pouvons pas réduire le personnel dans une période donnée sont introduire de violation de contraintes. Un avantage de ces algorithmes, par rapport à d’autres méthodes, est la facilité d’implémentation. / Call centers are key components of almost any large organization. The problem of labor management has received a great deal of attention in the literature. A typical formulation of the staffing problem is in terms of infinite-horizon performance measures. The method of combining simulation and optimization is used to solve this staffing problem. In this thesis, we consider a problem of staffing call centers with respect to chance constraints. We introduce chance-constrained formulations of the scheduling problem which requires that the quality of service (QoS) constraints are met with high probability. We define a sample average approximation of this problem in a multiskill setting. We prove the convergence of the optimal solution of the sample-average problem to that of the original problem when the sample size increases. For the special case where we consider the staffing problem and all agents have all skills (a single group of agents), we design three simulation-based optimization methods for the sample problem. Given a starting solution, we increase the staffings in periods where the constraints are violated, and decrease the number of agents in several periods where decrease is acceptable, as much as possible, provided that the constraints are still satisfied. For the call center models in our numerical experiment, these algorithms give good solutions, i.e., most constraints are satisfied, and we cannot decrease any agent in any period to obtain better results. One advantage of these algorithms, compared with other methods, that they are very easy to implement.