Improving Customer Care Quality Through Efficiency

Service efficiency and service quality have often been considered two different dimensions that don’t work well together. As service quality improves the efficiency of service moves downward. Likewise, as service quality moves down efficiency can move upwards. Conventional wisdom may not be accurate. A study by Talluri, Kim and Schoeherr (2013) used both transactional and survey data to show how service quality and efficiency can work together.

What they did find was that service efficiency should be improved through the development of higher levels of technology before moving into service demand quality. Without efficiency in place quality becomes more expensive. Focusing on efficiency and then on quality appears to push growth higher.  

Efficiency allows for the use of less resources to service customer’s needs. As core service functions are defined the processes and procedures streamline to cut out any waste. There may not be a lot of options in the types of services offered to customers but there is also less waste in the overall process.

Customers like a level of customization when handling and solving their problems. If they have an issue then general flexibility in dealing with that issue is beneficial. However, this customization reduces the overall efficiency of the organization. Customers may be happy but they are soaking too many resources to maintain profitability.

Developing customer service should be streamlined to meet certain organizational objectives. Once the efficient aspect of customer service has been covered it is possible to expand the range of service to raise overall satisfaction. Like a cycle the process of streamlining and then offering enough flexibility to meet customer needs is important.

The report helps administrators put in perspective the tradeoffs of efficiency and quality. It also helps them understand that these concepts are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It is possible to improve on efficiency and then work on offering enough flexibility within defined limits to serve customers adequately. When done together it can save the company money and improve upon customer satisfaction.

Talluri, S., Myung, K. & Schoenherr, T. (2013). The relationship between operating efficiency and service quality: are they compatible? International Journal of Production Research, 51 (8).

Keeping it Stylish and Comfortable with Urban Star Jeans

The classic jean has just made a turn to something comfortable. Jeans are just jeans right? Not really. Urban Star jeans by Road Runner Apparel offers something unique for those jean lovers who want to be comfortable but still look great. Just because you are putting your old jeans back in the drawer doesn't mean you can't still enjoy denim.

Price vs. Quality

For those who love their tough and tumble classic jeans, they may be a little put off by the $14 price tag. Price is important when buying products because we associate price with quality.  But this isn’t always the case.  Quality is in the material, design, fit, stitching and only partially in its brand image. A quality brand is that which can consistently provide a high quality product.

Those under the 40 category regularly purchase jeans at $100 or more. The problem is that they are wearing the brand and not necessarily the quality, fit or look. When you’re young fitting in is the most important consideration and just like expensive shoes, cars, and electronic items the clothing becomes an expression of who you are. 

But the jeans they buy are not necessarily better than cheaper alternatives and primarily show the brand conscious nature of social behavior. Urban Star is a brand that doesn’t sell on image only but also ranks high in quality and comfort. Unless someone lifts   your shirt no one is going to know the difference so save your $85 for something else. 

Active vs. Stagnant

Consider how traditional denim stretches and eventually is loose and baggy. By the end of the day the jeans are much looser then they were when you took them out of the dryer. Not particularly flattering considering they don't hug anymore.

Urban Star is active wear which means you can bend, run, move or do anything else and is nearly as comfortable as gym clothing. The clothing bends back in place without losing the original tightness found in traditional jeans. 

Pairing Your Denim

Jeans go well with most other types of clothing. The key to pairing jeans with shirts is to complement but clash. This means that dark jeans go well with white shirts and light colored shoes. They work equally well with black shirts and black shoes. The shirt, shoes, and belt must go together.

The type of shirt and shoes will determine whether you are casual or more stylish. Tennis shoes don’t work well but Converse All Star Sneakers and a t-shirt are strong combinations. For those who are more stylish try a sports jacket and dress shoes. When it was in style you may have also put on a tie. I wouldn't try that today unless you are looking to bring back the 70's.

Social Capital Theory and Four Factors of Organizational Improvement

Interesting research entitled Social Capital in Human Service/Child Welfare Organizations: Implications for Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction, Innovation, and Quality by Salvador Montana helps shed light on how Social Capital Theory explains organizational performance through the factors of innovation, satisfaction, motivation and quality. Such research is limited in its causality and accurate terms of measurement but does create higher levels of understanding that focuses on how group values can generate higher levels of performance.

Four thousand and six participant surveys were retrieved from human service industry workers in Texas. The age of participants varied and the education level of the workers ranged from high school to graduate degrees. The work environment was considered bureaucratic with clear lines of authority and top-to-bottom type management. The environment didn't appear to offer clear opportunities for employee based environmental improvement.

"The purpose of this study is to explore ways public human service organization can improve the provision of services they provide to the public (Montana, 2006, pg. 7)." The study creates a backdrop explanation of how even in large governmental organizations there is the possibility of improving the services offered through proper socialization efforts. Furthermore, it lends credibility to the factors of innovation, motivation and satisfaction having significant influence on performance improvement as postulated by me-conomics (the socialized self within an economic system).

According to the theoretical model proposed by the researcher there are four dimensions of social capital: 

Social Capital

1.) Structural Dimension: Network Ties, Network Configuration, Appropriable Organization

2.) Rational Dimension: Trust, Norms, Values, Identification

3.) Cognitive Dimension: Shared language, codes and narratives.

4.) Social Knowledge: Exchange and Recombination, Explicit and Implicit Knowledge.

Each of these dimensions is theorized to lead to innovation, satisfaction, motivation, and quality. The eventual result of these four factors would theoretically result in improved organizational performance within the bureaucratic human service industry. The study attempted to see if these four characteristics lent support to the model. The study did not seek to find causality between the characteristics but instead attempted to find significant associations.

The results of the study indicated that there was a strong correlation between normative factors linked to social capital which include information, knowledge, networks, trust, goal setting, group cohesion and coordination toward group goals. These social and normative factors had influence on innovation and satisfaction to a stronger degree and a weaker association with motivation and quality. The weakest association was with quality leaving this as a possible extra variable without strong influence and a minimal connection to the other three.

The researcher concludes that findings of the multiple regression analysis indicated that social capital has the greatest predictive strength on innovation, motivation and satisfaction. In essence when the culture and conditions of the organization are set to the right tone an organization can improve upon these four variables. It is the social group that reinforces these expectations and behaviors and leads to higher levels of performance. It is through this socialized and organizational learning process that companies can improve overall performance even in bureaucratic institutions such as child welfare organizations.

The author contends that even though Social Capital Theory has been around for some time it has limited research because it is strongly conceptual and abstract without strong ability to measure multiple factors for correlation. Minimal research has been associated with larger populations but not strongly focused in the organization. Valid measures have been difficult to find and that such concepts will need to be conducted over a larger spread of time through multiple researchers. The author further indicates that the highly conceptual nature of the variables will need to be better defined before significant measurements can be taken to improve organizational performance through such a lens.

Montana, S. (2006). Social Capital in Human Service/Child Welfare Organizations: Implications forWork Motivation, Job Satisfaction, Innovation, and Quality (Doctoral Dissertation). The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved January 23, 2013 from ProQuest.