Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Call centres form an increasingly important part of the modern day business environment and perform
an important role in the strategic and operational aspects of organisations. Call centres have emerged
and developed to provide efficient and cost effective communication channels between organisations
and their customers. Call centres are often the largest or only channel used to access customers or
for customers to access organisations.
Early call centres were seen as cost centres and operated in a similar manner, often resulting in poor
and unsatisfactory performance. Modern call centres are being approached in a different way. They
are aligned with the strategic objectives of the organisation and are seen as performance centres and
revenue drivers. Modern call centres are dynamic and complex organisations, both technologically
and operationally. Performance objectives are often conflicting and controlling parameters have to be
finely balanced in a volatile environment. It is therefore imperative to utilise call centres effectively and
efficiently. This can only be achieved by a structured and scientific operations research based
approach.
The research was initiated by the requirement of a call centre design and implementation as part of a
larger business process reengineering project. The thesis provides an overview of the call centre
environment and operational aspects. A structured call centre design model is reviewed and two
aspects namely workforce management and performance management are found to form the core of
the design and operations activities. The call centre design model is then integrated with the
proposed workforce management and performance management models. These models are
developed using scientific operations research approach. The structured modelling approach is then
used to guide the design, operation, and optimisation of the call centre of the case study.
The structured and scientific operations research based approach proved to be of great significance
when confronted with the dynamic and complex call centre environment. Through using the structured
approach the design, operation, and optimisation activities could be conducted successfully and
performance objectives were reached.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/2658 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Du Preez, Johan Joubert |
| Contributors | Schutte, C. S. L., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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