ECEW 22-23 May 2012

Branding through the Service

Employee

Professor Alan Wilson

University of Strathclyde

Business School

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• To understand the importance of

Service Personnel

• To understand the service profit

chain

• To develop an understanding of

corporate culture.

• To consider the customer as a

partial-employee.

Objectives

2

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Chapter 11

• Heskett, J.L., Jones, T.O., Loveman, G.W., Sasser Jr, W.E. &

Schlesinger, L.A. (2008) Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work,

Harvard Business Review, July/August, P118-129

• Mosley, W.M. (2007) Customer Experience, Organisational Culture

and the Employer Brand, Brand Management, Vol. 15 No. 2,P123 -

134

• Benoff, J. & Schadler, T. (2010) Empowered, HBR, July/August,

P95-101

Readings

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• They are the service.

• They are the organization in the customer’s eyes.

• They are the brand.

• They are marketers.

The critical importance of

service employees

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

The service profit chain

Source: An exhibit from J. L. Heskett, T. O. Jones, W. E. Sasser, Jr., and L. A. Schlesinger, “Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work,”

Harvard Business Review, March-April 1994, p. 166.

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Who are they?

– “Boundary spanners”

• What are these jobs like?

– Many sources of potential conflict

• Person/role

• Organization/client

• Interclient

Service employees

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

Human resource strategies

Provide

needed support

systems

Hire the

right people

Retain the

best

people

Develop

people to

deliver

service

quality

Hire for service

competencies

and

service

inclination

Compete

for

the best

people Measure

and

reward

strong

service

performers

Treat

employees

as

customers

Include

employees

in

the

company’s

vision Provide

supportive

technology

and

equipment

Measure

internal service

quality

Promote

teamwork

Empower

employees

Train for

technical and

interactive

skills

Be the

preferred

employer

Customer-

oriented

service

delivery

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Personnel to be the first market for

information

• Employees must understand what they

are expected to do and why

• Strategy should be explained in order

that it can be supported

• New services/ products must be sold

internally before being launched to the

trade

• There must be clear routes of internal

communication

Communicate Internally for Brand

Consistency

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Set standards for service delivery

• Analyse employee training needs

• Development of training programmes

- knowledge / customer awareness /

interpersonal skills

• Internal education and

communication skills

• Measuring and Monitoring Success

Train for Brand Consistency

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Customer Service Awards

• Display measures of group

customer-service productivity

• Verbal feedback - positive and

negative

• Appraisals

• Financial rewards

Reward On-brand Behaviour

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• “the culture and normative guiding principles are

generally speaking a crucial success factor and a

distinguishing feature of any service organisation”

(Normann, 1991)

• “The management of service is an interactive

process and corporate culture has a pivotal role in

its delivery” (Segal- Horn, 1988)

Culture and Service Branding

11

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• The visible and less visible norms, values and

behaviour that are shared by a group of employees

• which shape the group’s sense of what is

acceptable and valid

• these are generally slow to change

• new group members learn them through both an

informal and formal socialisation process

Definition of Corporate Culture

12

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

Influencing Factors

13

The Business

Environment

Leadership

Formal Socialisation

Process

Informal Socialisation Process

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Society’s view of a job or industry ( ad execs

v. accountants)

• Traditions of a particular industry

– airlines - military establishment/

pioneering enthusiast spirit

– banks - risk averse

– stockbrokers - deal oriented

• Speed of change in market / competitiveness

/ use of technology / customer demands

Influencing Factors 1.The Business Environment

14

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Charismatic or highly visible leaders can

influence change?

• Leaders willing to accept applause -

difficult to ascertain how much impact they

have

• More likely to have an impact on newly

created organisations

Influencing Factors 2.Leadership

15

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Recruitment - those who fit in

• Training - induction training / reward

systems

• Organisational Structure - hierarchies and

reporting structures ( flat v. pyramid

structures)

Influencing Factors 3.Formal Socialisation Process

16

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Group Dynamics -recognised as a group

member, influencing or controlling others -

security and intimacy

• Telling myths, stories and legends

• Other employees as mentors

Influencing Factors 4.The Informal Socialisation Process

17

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• The Integration Perspective:

– (Peters and Waterman, Deal and Kennedy) - organisation wide consensus

• The Differentiation Perspective:

– (Van Maanen, Rosen) - differentiated subcultures may co-exist in harmony, conflict or indifference

• The Fragmentation Perspective:

– ambiguity is the norm with consensus and dissension co-existing in a constantly fluctuating pattern

Strong Culture

18

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Is culture manageable???

• Popular texts relate more to changes in

strategic directions and structures

• End up with superficial change and short term

behavioural compliance

• Need to identify and manipulate the culture

influencing factors

• Catalyst for change rather than dictator of

change

Managing Cultural Change

19

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Customers can be thought of as “partial employees”

– contributing effort, time, or other resources to the production process

• Customer inputs can affect organisation’s productivity

• Key issue:

– Should customers’ roles be expanded or reduced?

Customers also Deliver the

Brand

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Vending Machines

• ATMs

• Petrol Pumps

• Airline Check in

• Hotel Check in

• Supermarket Check out

• Online tax returns

• Blood pressure monitors

• Interactive voice response call centres

• Apps on phones

Proliferation of SSTs

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

Entrance to a Restaurant

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Cost efficiency

• Customer demand

• 24/7 life-style

• Access new markets

Drivers of SST growth

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• What is in it for me?

• Do I have the ability to use it?

• Do I understand what I am supposed to

do?

• What happens if it goes wrong?

Customer thinking

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Anxiety stemming from the technical aspects

of using the technology as well as the social

aspects of performing the service in the

presence of others.

Self Service Anxiety

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Other customers can detract from

satisfaction:

– disruptive behaviors/ overly demanding behaviors

– excessive crowding

• Other customers can enhance

satisfaction:

– mere presence

– socialization/friendships

Importance of other customers in

delivering the brand

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

Customers deliver the service

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Customers may “compete” with the service

provider

Customers as competitors

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• Define customers’ jobs – helping oneself/ helping others

– promoting the company

• Recruit, educate, and reward customers – recruit the right customers

– educate and train customers to perform effectively

– reward customers for their contributions

• Manage the customer mix

Strategies for enhancing

customer participation

ECEW 22-23 May 2012

• What are the visible and less visible

norms, values and accepted behaviour of

the MSc class?

• Is there one shared culture or are there a

number of sub-cultures?

• Provide an example of a MSc Myth, Story

or Legend.

MSc Culture - Syndicate Assignment

30