英國領袖風格碩士畢業dissertation:the management of Compre
英國領袖風格碩士畢業dissertation寫作范文樣本
dissertation題目：老師推薦。。比較領袖的風格。。理論性文章
dissertation語種：英文
您的研究方向：管理
是否有數據處理要求：否
您的國家：英國
您的學校背景：英國一般大學
要求字數：15000
dissertation用途：碩士畢業dissertation Master Degree
是否需要盲審（博士或碩士生有這個需要）：否
補充要求和說明：設想是選擇比較幾位來自美國和中國的IT領袖
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ABSTRACT
Increasing numbers of British firms are outsourcing their call centre operations. Thismove has aroused a significant amount of criticism. On the one hand, some politicians arguethat the trend has the potentially to detrimentally impact employment rates in Britain. On theother hand, customers are complaining that they are receiving sub-standard service. Bothclaims are somewhat exaggerated as a review of the literature indicates that while there are,undoubtedly, some poorly managed offshore call centres, there are significant numbers ofexcellently managed ones as determined through customer feedback. This study focuses onthe said problem, in an effort to uncover the key determinants of successful offshore callcentre operations.
The literature review was conducted with the aim of uncovering the reasons behind the offshoring of call centre operations and identifying the characteristics of successfullymanaged call centres. Accordingly, the findings of the literature review are in the form of alist of the key determinants of successfully managed call centres. Following from that, asurvey was conducted for the purpose of evaluating a specific offshore call centre from the perspective of both customers and employees. The study’s conclusions are based on both the findings of the literature review and the survey and are a set of recommendations for the more effective management of call centres.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Without the continued emotional and financial support provided by my parents, I may have not reached the end of this journey. During my studies there were times when work commitments and intermittent financial stress made me believe that I would not be able to see this journey through. It was during these times, and many others, that my parents’ words of encouragement and their confidence in my ability gave me the motivation to persist. No words of thanks can adequately express the depth of my appreciation and love.#p#分頁標題#e#
I would also like to seize this opportunity to personally thank my supervisor . I cannot express the extent to which his support and understanding allowed me to reach the end of this journey. His encouragement, support, understanding and, above all, his prompt, constructive and greatly appreciated criticism and feedback, were invaluable to the research, writing and completion of this study. Thank you.
PLAGIARISM STATEMENT
Recognising that students have an ethical and moral obligation to ensure that all work that they submit in their name is, indeed, their own and free of plagiarism, I exercised caution throughout the writing process. When writing the dissertation, I made sure that all my sources were meticulously acknowledged. Even so, there remained a fear that I might have, inadvertently, plagiarism sections of my study or paraphrased something without referencing it correctly. Therefore, following the completion of the study, I scanned the dissertation through EVE 2.5 for plagiarism and also checked it through http://www.articlechecker.com/checker.php. The plagiarism reports received from both plagiarism detection engines indicated that the work was, indeed, original and that I had not plagiarised any part of it. I am, thus, satisfied that the work which I am submitting as my own is original and is, in truth, my own.
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction to the Problem
Managing customer relationships is not a new concept. Since the beginning of trade,sellers have focused on providing products and services to satisfy their customers. Since globalization has brought about an increase in competition for customers, the emphasis has switched from customer acquisition to customer retention, particularly with the cost of acquiring a new customer estimated at 4 to 10 times higher than simply retaining one (Kumar& Kumar, 2002).http://www.mythingswp7.com/dissertation_writing/MBA/
Access to businesses worldwide via the Internet has resulted in a power shift from business to customer, with today’s consumer demanding a higher level of customer service than in the past (Broetzmann & Grainer, 2005). For organizations, such as call centers that handle customer complaints on a daily basis, that heightened level of customer service expectation is measured by having problems resolved on the first call, customers having the perception that they are valued by the organization, and employing call center representatives who exhibit patience, understanding, and a caring attitude (Broetzmann & Grainer, 2005).
The ability to resolve effectively customer complaints in a reasonable amount of time(as perceived by the customer) should be a priority for organizations that care about increasing customer retention and reducing the costs associated with acquiring new customers. One recent study noted that 72% of customers will return if their complaints are resolved quickly, while 46% of customers will not return if their complaints are not resolved in a timely manner (Stone, 1999).#p#分頁標題#e#
Call centres, as clear from the above, play a very important role in customer satisfaction and retention. Yet, more and more British companies are outsourcing their call centres to India and other locations because of cost consideration. This study will examine
the functions of call centres and explore the key operational determinants of successful call centres.
1.2 Background of the Problem
Many companies have implemented use of call centers as their primary means of handling customer inquiries and complaints (Staples, Dalrymple, & Bryar; 2002). Since the transaction is conducted over the telephone rather than in a face-to-face manner, the consumer is not able to see the facial expression of the call center representative. Attitude,interest, empathy, and willingness to help must be communicated through voice tone and by the ability of the call centre operator to resolve the customer’s complaint or respond to his/her inquiries. By identifying the key operational determinants of successful call centre operations and the call-handling manner of operators who receive the greatest percentage of positive customer feedback, call centre management will be in a better position to improve their operations. In other words, understanding why some call centre operators receive positive feedback for the majority of calls they handle and why some call centres have positively contributed to customer satisfaction with an organisation, is absolutely necessary for the effective management of successful call centres.
The organization chosen for this study (Company A) is a major telecommunications provider in the United Kingdom. This company has been offshoring and outsourcing some of its work processes since 1995 but its call centre operations starting in 2000. Offshoring has cut down operations costs by as much as 60% and, according to the company’s spokesperson, the services of its Indian-based offshore call centre is equal to, if not better than, call centre operations in the United Kingdom (McCue, 2005). There have been a large volume of customer complaints regarding Company A’s Indian call centre. This indicates a high volume of customer dissatisfaction with the Company A. The company’s spokesperson,however, claims that service quality is very high. All calls are monitored and recorded and
the company regularly reviews the content of these calls. This content, according to Company A’s spokesperson, confirms that service quality is high but that many, although not the majority, of customers are prejudiced against offshoring, talking to a non-British call centre operators for a British company and tend to be extremely rude (McCue, 2005).
From Company A’s point of view, therefore, the call centre is successful but from the point of view of many customers it is not. Regardless of which of the two views is more accurate, it is important to investigate why the call centre has not neutralized negative prejudices and what it can do in order to neutralize negative opinions. Doing so necessitates the identification and implementation of the key operational determinants of successful call centres.#p#分頁標題#e#
1.3 Statement of the Problem
Increasing numbers of British firms, are outsourcing their call centres to developing economies. Despite the economic benefits of doing so, there are multiple challenges to outsourcing call centres, chief amongst which is the management of the call centres and the agents and the achievement of customer satisfaction.
1.4 Statement of Purpose
Attitude, technical expertise, and the ability of the call center representative to resolve problems all influence the customer service experience (Adria & Chowdhury, 2002). In an effort to identify possible reasons why many customers are not satisfied with the company’s offshore call centre, the study will examine the function of call centres, as in the service they are expected to provide, and the services which successful call centres provide. In doing so, the study will uncover the key determinants of successful call centre management.
1.5 Rationale
Telephone call centers are a relatively new phenomenon, and the availability of scholarly studies on call center dynamics as they relate to call center representatives is very limited. A comprehensive bibliography compiled by Mandelbaum (2004) listed almost 300 academic studies pertinent to the call center industry dating back to the early 1970s. The majority of research has been conducted since the early 1990s, with over half the studies focused on efficient call center operation and optimal staffing using mathematical modeling and queuing theory (Jagerman & Melamed, 2003).
A number of studies investigated the technological and engineering aspects of call centers, including ergonomics, work-related injuries and stressors, and skills-based routing of calls (Smith & Bayehi, 2003). Drawing from the fields of psychology and consumer behavior, several studies looked at factors such as waiting time and call abandon rates that influence customer perception of the service encounter (Duder & Rosenwein, 2001; Feinberg,Kim, Hokama, de Ruyter, & Keen, 2000). More recent research has looked at the role of call center representative hiring and training on the impact of employee turnover, as well as on employee and http://www.mythingswp7.com/dissertation_writing/MBA/customer satisfaction (Adria & Chowdhury, 2002; Callaghan & Thompson,2002).
The massive growth of the call center industry as a cost-effective means of resolving customer problems and increasing customer retention has led to call centers becoming the primary channel for customer service activities (Staples, Dalrymple, & Bryar, 2002).
Businesses striving to increase profits by building customer loyalty and retention through excellent customer service practices could be missing a major element by not focusing on understanding the key operational determinants of successful call centre operations and the best way to achieve excellent customer satisfaction levels. This study is guided by the rationale of exploring these determinants.
1.6 Aims and Objectives of Study:
The aim of the study is to identify the key operational determinants of successful offshore call centre operations and the ways in which the performance of these centres may be improved.#p#分頁標題#e#
As influenced by the aim of the study, the primary objective of this dissertation is to examine and analyze the main problems that offshore outsourcing call centre management countenance with customers and employees’ and to examine how problems such as these can be over come. In this context the main objectives of the research study could be stated as:
• To identify the key operational determinants of offshore outsourcing call centre management
• To have a clear picture of current scenarios of call centre management.
• To suggest solution to over come issues in outsourcing call centre management.
1.7 Research Question
What are the key determinants of successful call centre operations which are outsourced to INDIA and what are the more effective ways of managing call centres?
1.8 Definition of Terms
The following definitions are provided to ensure a common understanding of the primary terms used in this study.
Abandon rate is the percentage of callers who hang up after what they perceive is an unacceptable wait in the queue without a call center representative handling their call(Schwartz, Ruffins, & Petouhoff, 2007).
Call center is the communications link between a company and its customers where call center representatives often make and receive calls to and from customers (Staples,Dalrymple, & Bryar, 2002). As defined by Brad Cleveland (2006), president of the Incoming Calls Management Institute, a call center is “a coordinated system of people, processes,technologies and strategies that provides access to organizational resources through appropriate channels of communication to enable interactions that create value for the customer and the organization” (p. 1). Call centers may also be known as contact centers,customer service centers, customer support centers, customer care centers, or customer interaction centers (Cleveland, 2006).
Call center representatives interact with customers over the telephone to provide basic customer service and support that solve customer problems and generate revenue for the company (Stevenson & Summers, 2004). Call center representatives may also be known as customer service agents, call center agents, customer service representatives (CSRs), telephone representatives, or contact center agents (Hurst, 2006).
Customer satisfaction is the “complete fulfillment of one’s wishes, needs, and expectations” (Berry, 1983, p. 141).
Customer service, as defined by Byrnes (2005) is not only the experience a customer has with the company, but what that customer perceives and remembers about the service received.
1.9 Research Method
The study was both desk-based and ethnographic. Scholarly articles and books on outsourcing, its efficacy and the challenges confronting the practice, with particular focus on call centre outsourcing in the UK were reviewed. In addition, primary data on the operation of outsourced call centres was conducted. The study examined the key operational determinants of call centre management.#p#分頁標題#e#
1.10 Assumptions and Limitations
Several assumptions and limitations pertain to this study. First, the study used a forced choice survey instrument. This means that the respondents were not free to state their views on the questions but had to select from a number of written answers. This means that some of the answers may not acc http://www.mythingswp7.com/dissertation_writing/MBA/ urately represent the point of view of respondents but the most closely related view point
The second limitation of this study is that the size of the sample was small and was limited to the call center representatives working in one offshore call center in the telecommunications industry, and the customers of one telecommunications company located into two areas only. Indeed, there is no evidence that the sample in this study is typical of the broader population.
The third limitation of this research is the fact that the collection of data took place at a particular point in time. There is no guarantee that the responses received would be indicative of responses solicited and given at another time. There is also a potential that other factors outside the control of the researcher (setting, time of day, recent conflicts, and fatigue of the participants) could influence the responses (Shell, 2001).
A final limitation is based upon the researcher’s lack of experience in conducting scholarly research and evaluating the data.
1.11 Description of Thesis Organisation
The research is comprised of five chapters, the first of which frames the area of interest and outlines the problem investigated. The research questions are presented, the study’s limitations are reviewed and the selected methodology is generally, and briefly, discussed.
The second chapter reviews literature on call centre management and the functions and responsibilities of call centres. The third chapter, discusses the study’s methodological approach, the strategies employed for the collection of primary and secondary data and concludes with a justification of the defined selections, even while acknowledging some inherent limitations. The fourth chapter presents the study’s findings, as informed by the primary and secondary data collected and responds to the research questions presented in the first chapter. Responses to the research questions raised in the first chapter and a discursive analysis of the validity of the research hypothesis are presented in the findings. The fifth chapter concludes the research and presents the study’s recommendations.
1.12 Conclusion
As explained in this chapter, the study shall focus on the key determinants of offshore call centre management. The next chapter presents the literature reviewed for this study.
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
This chapter reviews the literature on outsourcing, call centres and offshore call centre operations. Given the importance of offshoring and call centres, there is a wealth of literature on the topic. http://www.mythingswp7.com/dissertation_writing/MBA/Few of this literature, however, focuses explicitly on the key operational determinants of successful offshore call centre operations. Instead, and as will be seen through this review, the majority of the studies discuss the cost and benefits of outsourcing and the operation and functions of call centres.#p#分頁標題#e#
2.2 Outsourcing Debate
The popular view is that outsourcing of work processes, such as manufacturing and call centres, among others, has a negative effect on the economy of the outsourcee. In other words, many assume that outsourcing negatively influences the economy and employment rates in countries whose companies are outsourcing part of their business processes. Butler (2003) and Abromovsky, Grifith and Sako (2004) insist that this is not the case. Referring to the offshoring of call centres, they argue that there is no evidence to suggest that this practice negatively influences domestic economies or employment rates of the outsourcees.
Researchers like Weidenbaum (2004) support this view point. Unemployment rate may be increasing in the United Kingdom and there may be economic setbacks but there is nothing to establish a link between these two developments and the outsourcing of call centres.
It appears that the available facts support the argument in favour of outsourcing not having a negative effect on the economies of outsourcees. The United Kingdom, according to an Economist (2005) magazine article is responsible for 20% of all outsourced jobs and operations across he world. In fact, the United Kingdom is the second largest outsourcee in the world. If the argument which states that outsourcing creates unemployment were true, the UK unemployment rate should have dropped by 20% but it has not. To the contrary, the labour market has grown by 14%. Added to that, during this same period and because it was able to focus its workforce on the Services and IT industry, the UK closed the 80% productivity gap in IT and services which stood between it and the United States (Abromovsky, Grifith and Sako, 2004). Even if none of this provides absolute and concrete evidence that outsourcing is a cause of economic growth for outsourcees, it shows that it does not have a detrimental economic effect on outsourcees.
2.3 Overview of Call Centre Industry
Mandelbaum (2004) compiled a comprehensive bibliography of almost 300 academic studies pertinent to the call centre industry. The majority of academic literature in this area offers a multi-disciplinary approach covering such disciplines as Operations Research and Management, Mathematics and Statistics, Forecasting and Modeling, Industrial Engineering, Information Technology, Human Resource Management, Psychology, and Sociology. Some studies date back to the early 1970s, but most have been conducted since the early 1990s. Over half of the research focused on efficient call centre operation and optimal staffing using mathematical modelling and queuing theory (Andrews & Parsons, 1993). A number of studies investigated the technological and engineering aspects of call centres, including ergonomics, work-related injuries and stressors, and skills-based routing of calls. Drawing from the fields of psychology and consumer behaviour, several studies looked at factors such as waiting time and call abandon rates that influence customer perception of the service encounter (Duder, & Rosenwein, 2001; Feinberg, Kim, Hokama, de Ruyter, &Keen, 2000).#p#分頁標題#e#
Human resource issues are the focus of much of the current research on call centres.These studies have investigated optimal staffing requirements for call centres, as well as the impact that hiring and training practices have on employee attitude, job satisfaction, and employee turnover (Adria & Chowdhury, 2002; Callaghan & Thompson, 2002).
As the previous research studies indicate, telephone call centres are a relatively new phenomenon. Pan American Airways introduced the first call centre in the United States in 1956 (Schwartz, Ruffins, & Petouhoff, 2007). The introduction of toll-free telephone numbers in the late 1960s led to the growth of call centres and their use by organizations as a means of interacting with customers.
Call centres are known by a variety of names: contact centre, customer service centre, customer interaction centre, and call centre. By whatever name it is given, a call centre is the communications link between a company and its customers. A call centre is typically a physical location, or a virtual operation within a company, where call centre representatives often make and receive calls (Gilmore, 2001). Inbound calls from customers are primarily concerned with service and support issues, while telemarketing, debt collection, and fundraising account for the majority of outbound calls (Gilmore, 2001).
It is standard practice today for companies to use the call centre as the primary means of communicating with their customers (Staples, Dalrymple, & Bryar, 2002). The growth of this industry indicates that companies view call centres as a cost-effective mechanism in providing customer access and improving customer retention. While call centres may also use a variety of communications technology such as e-mail and web pages, customers prefer personal attention via telephone to any other mode of interaction (Dawson, 2004). Indeed, complaining customers may be more comfortable voicing their concerns over the telephone, rather than face-to-face, becoming more verbally aggressive than they would in person.
2.4 Role of the Call Centre Representative
The call centre representative has the principal task of taking and making calls while being proactive in resolving customer concerns. As goodwill ambassadors for the organization, they are the primary link between the company and its customers (Ojha &Kasturi, 2005). Their interaction with callers impacts the overall customer perception of the organization and is a major factor in customer retention (Evenson, Harker, & Frei, 1999). It follows, therefore, that characteristics such as attitude, knowledge of the company and its products, and the ability to “connect” with the person on the other end of the line are essential in building customer satisfaction, loyalty, and increased revenue (McCulloch, 2005). Since the average call time lasts from three to five minutes, it is possible that representatives will participate in an average of 100 calls daily and interact with as many as 30,000 separate customers over a three-year period. Call centre representatives who have the skills to retain customers by resolving their problems quickly, using a win-win approach, will most likely be viewed as valuable assets to the organization (Stein, 1985).#p#分頁標題#e#
2.5 Customer Satisfaction
According to Byrnes (2005), customer service is not measured by the customer experience – it is based on what the customer remembers about the experience and how that perception drives his/her future behaviour. For organizations, translating that customer experience into customer satisfaction is likely to result in “higher customer retention, favourable word of mouth, or increased purchases” (Keiningham, Goddard, Vavra, & Iaci,1999, p. 57).
2.6 Customer Satisfaction with Call Centres
Although each call centre establishes its own measures of customer satisfaction and loyalty, common measures include call abandon rates, average speed of answer, wrap-up time, percentage of blocked calls, representative turnover rate, courtesy, willingness to help, product and service knowledge, verbal skills, listening skills, feeling the problem was taken seriously, number of times the call was transferred, accuracy of response, and first-call resolution (Saxby, 2005; Schwartz, Ruffins, & Petouhoff, 2007).
Traditionally call centres have focused on technology as the main determinant in establishing successful customer service relationships, yet the key factor in building and maintaining customer relationships is the people using that technology. Even with the increase in telephone and Internet self-service options available to customers, technology cannot replace the human interaction
