Gsbs6015 Managing Service Relationship : Assessment Answers

Question

You will produce a report analysing some selected service company’s key aspects. The report should present information and analysis on the following topics:

Describe, in brief, the characteristics of the nominated company.

Identify, and briefly assess the relationships with key stakeholders.

Determine the key strategic issues that have impacted on the relative success/failure of the company. Assess the external environment and the customer portfolio.

Evaluate the company’s personnel management and its current related performance.

• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of the nature, scope and role of service relationships in the economies of nations and in world commerce and how to maintain the relationship between stakeholders.
• Recognise the service function relationships in different industries or disciplines and how those relationships can contribute to creating and sustaining competitive advantage locally and internationally.
• Identify and analyse ways to improve the quality of service relationships in terms of mutual interest and social responsibility as well as business ethics.
• Demonstrate creative and strategic thinking so as to make optimal decisions regarding managing service location, demand and inventory, and communicate this in an engaging manner.
• Use critical thinking to develop and assess blueprints of service delivery to identify failure points and resolutions.
• Demonstrate the high-order thinking skills for sourcing, analysing and synthesising information, which can be applied for effective and innovative solutions to current and future problems

Introduction

Service relationship is one of the major aspects that should be considered by the contemporary business organizations due to the reason that service relationship determines the effectiveness of the organizations in dealing with their key stakeholders. This factor is more relevant in the service organizations they have more direct points with the customers (Natti et al.,2014). In the Australian business scenario, one of the major service providers is TechnologyOne. They are offering software and other IT related services to their clients and having their presence in different countries around the world (Technologyonecorp.com, 2018). However, they are currently facing the challenge of dealing with different stakeholders including external and internal. In this case, they are having the need for effective service relationship with their stakeholders to enhance the bonding and recall with the stakeholders and get the maximum out of them. Due to the fact that TechnologyOne is an IT firm, thus the personal technical skills of the internal stakeholders determine the competitiveness of the organization (Park, Lee & Lee, 2014).

Major internal stakeholders for TechnologyOne include employees from different departments and managers. In addition, the external stakeholders are the third party vendors, suppliers, customers and government. Thus, proper relationship with the stakeholders is important for TechnologyOne to operate effectively. It is identified that they are having dedicated customer relationship management system for their external stakeholders and personnel management system for the internal stakeholders (Beringer, Jonas & Kock, 2013).

This report will discuss about the service relationship approach of TechnologyOne. In addition, this report will also discuss about the effectiveness of the personnel management system along with the scope and role of the service relationship for them. Different other elements such as improving the quality of service function will also be discussed in this report.

Determination of the key strategic issues

• One of the major issues for TechnologyOne is rapid and frequent change in the requirement and expectation of the customers. This is due to the reason that with time, the approach of the business scenario is changing and with that, business organizations are also expecting more complex solutions (Brem & Viardot, 2015). Even though this is helping TechnologyOne to come up with newer services but also posing challenges for TechnologyOne to develop new technologies frequently.
• Another major strategic issue for them is change in the approach of employee management. This is due to the reason that in the initial stage, TechnologyOne was having only a few employees and currently they are having more than 1500 employees around the world (Podsiadlowski et al.,2013). Thus, they are now facing many difficulties in managing the diverse workforce by considering the different social and cultural background of the employees. The personnel management of TechnologyOne will be beneficial in effectively managing the employees.
• Another strategic issue for TechnologyOne is retaining the customers. This is due to the reason that IT sector is having huge inflow of new entrants mainly from the developing countries. These players are offering far superior services to TechnologyOne in more affordable cost (Hennig-Thurau & Hansen, 2013). This is posing challenge for TechnologyOne in retaining their customers along with maintaining their profitability.

Evaluation of the external environment

Political factors

TechnologyOne is having majorly favorable political business factors due to the stable political environment in Australia. However, currently they are having their business operations in more than 11 countries. Thus, different political environment of these countries are posing challenges for TechnologyOne to adhere with. In addition, the pro business approach of the Australian government is further attracting global IT firms in entering in the Australian market. The business rules and regulations such as the company act of Australia are important for TechnologyOne for their operation. However, in this case also, different countries are having different set of standards for business operation, which may get complex for TechnologyOne. TechnologyOne is also facing lower impact of corruption in their business operation due to the reason that Australia is one of the least corrupted countries in the world (McAllister, 2014). In this case, relationship with the government and other regulatory authorities will have the major impact on the business operation of TechnologyOne.

Economical factors

Australia is a developed country and having positive economy growth in the recent years. This is also contributing in increase of different industries in the Australian market. Hence, the business opportunities for TechnologyOne are also increasing in the Australian economy. However, increase in the competition in the market is a major economical challenge for TechnologyOne (Plumb, Kent & Bishop, 2013). This is due to the reason that affordable services being offered by the global IT majors are posing challenges for TechnologyOne. In this case, the service relationship of TechnologyOne with that of their external stakeholders will determine their competitiveness in competing in the market. It is important for TechnologyOne to improve their service relationships with their customers and suppliers in order to retain their market position. In the current time, majority of the customer base is expecting more holistic software solution at an affordable cost. 

Socio-cultural factors

IT services are much determined and influenced by the socio-cultural factors of the target market. This is due to the reason that IT services are being designed according to the requirement of the target customers. In addition, in the case of corporate IT services, more personalization concepts are being initiated in accordance to the individual customers. On the other hand, Australian market is becoming more globalized and thus it is important for TechnologyOne to consider the global trend also along with including the local market pattern of Australia. On the other hand, this can also be termed as challenging for them due to the reason that different customer segments are having different sets of requirements and TechnologyOne is having wide area of target customer segments (Brooker et al., 2013). In this case, the service relationship with the employees and suppliers is important for TechnologyOne. This is due to the reason that skill sets of the employees and effective supply chain partners will enable TechnologyOne in coping up with the diversified market requirements.

Technological factors

Technological factors are the most important determining factors for TechnologyOne due to the fact that they are offering technological solutions to their customers. Development of the technologies holds the key for TechnologyOne to gain competitive advantages. Technologies being offered by the competitors also determine the competitiveness of TechnologyOne (Collier & Kimes, 2013). In this case, stakeholders including the customers and employees and managers should be considered. This is due to the reason that customers are the one who will pay for the services and thus determining their needs will help TechnologyOne to offer services in accordance to the needs of the customers.

Evaluation of the personnel management

Currently, TechnologyOne is having extensive approach of personnel management covering the internal stakeholders ranging from top level to bottom level employees. According to the information stated in their official website, TechnologyOne is having different elements in their personnel management system such as welcoming diverse workforce in place (Armstrong, 2014). Organizational culture is designed in a way that it will support the diverse workforce. Employees are encouraged to come up with their own ideas irrespective of their respective social and cultural backgrounds. This is helping in gaining the access to different and innovative ideas and having more options for certain issues. In terms of offering remuneration, TechnologyOne is providing the best in the industry monetary benefits to the employees. According to the organizational strategy of TechnologyOne, effective management of employees will help in providing the best service to the customers and gaining competitive advantages.    

One of the major successes being gained by TechnologyOne is covering more target customers. It is reported that in the recent time, they have also came up with software solutions for the medical and education sector. This is made possible mainly due to the organizational culture of nurturing different opinions in the workplace. This helped TechnologyOne to gain the idea of different sectors and develop services in more diversified manner. In addition, TechnologyOne is having their branches in number of countries and still they are not accused of any unethical behavior or employee issue. This proves the success of the personnel management of TechnologyOne. Success is also gained by TechnologyOne from the recruitment and selection process (Brewster, 2017). This is due to fact that in their official website it is reported that recruitment process in initiated in extensive and widely manner in order to select the best talent to the organization. This is enabling TechnologyOne to have right employees for the right job and properly catering to different customer segments.

Service relationship and stakeholders

According to Abosag et al., (2017) it can be stated that services are comprised of a huge number of process and performances.  There is no specific identification of services in the organizational sectors rather it is based on a number of ideas and practices. In this context, there are few characteristic features that the organizations can develop in their service mechanism. In his research, Zablah et al., (2017) argued that intangibility is considered to be one of the major feature of Services that the organizations have provided. In this regard, there are three types of relationships that the organizations follow in their service facility such as the business to business facility (B2B), Business to customer services (B2C) and Customer to Customer service (C2C) (Martinette et al., 2014). Bowden, Gabbott and Naumann (2015) argued that brand add value are the most important part in the Business to Business (B2B) servicing process.

From the point of view of the organization, the B2B business framework facilitates a better and systematic relationship between two business houses. In fact, the B2B service provides puts more emphasis on the appointee business organization whom they committed to provide service. In addition to this, it can be argued that losing customers can create huge damage for the service providing organization not only financially but also damaged its brand value. Therefore, in the B2B process it is essential for the organizations to put more focus on their quality of services. On the other hand, the B2C service framework relies on the relationship between individual customer and the company that provides the service. According to Xenakis (2018) it can be advocated that there are some basic features of the B2C method in terms of limited relaxation of customer service, more direct business relation with the customers and from the perspective of the organization it will be beneficial to get proper identification of the target customers. In this regard, there are a number of scopes for the service relationship in order to deliver better experiences to the customers. It can be stated that the better communication with the customers and providing flawless servicing to the customers within the deadline can provide better opportunities for the service providing business organization.

Competitive advantage for Technology One

Due to the advent of the technological advancement and the increasing trend in the social media it becomes an important strategic advantage for the organizations to initiates mechanisms for the service relationship. Digitization of the service makes it more essential for the organization to deal with both the local and international customers (Chahal & Bakshi, 2015). In this context, it can be stated that the co-operative relationship between the company and customers is more important due to the intense competitiveness in the market (Eloranta & Turunen, 2015). Besides this, now ample of alternatives gives the customers more importance and power that the customer behavior becomes an essential factor in the global competitive markets. As a matter of fact, it can be argued that the service relationship with the customers is the foundation of the quality of service.

In this context, it is essential for the Technology One to set up such measures related to the service relationship. It is also pertinent to understand that the company mainly puts focuses on the Business to Business relationship and as a result of that retaining its existing customers in terms of the big companies can help the company to generate more profit and attracts other companies also to keep in touch with the Technology One. The organizational relies heavily on their quality and quantity of services and it results a solid foundation of the competitive advantage for Technology One.

In most of the leading technology providing companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple, they have a 24/7 service facility to the clients with lots of professionalism and quality of service. For the betterment of their system now they provides online services to their clients and as a result of that the service providing facility became more swift and less time consuming because both the clients and company can chat regarding the issue in a live streaming (Bustinza et al., 2015). In this context, the customer care service have a direct communication with the operational team and the customer complaints related to the products directly go to the operation team.

In this regard, it can be argued that this live online service facility must be implemented by the Technology One also to procure more effectiveness in the organizational process. Henceforth, Technology One has to introduce measures in order to assimilate the customer service mechanism and operational management into the same line.

Improving the quality of service relationship

Service relationship can be improved only when the interests of both the parties can be met. This is due to the reason that stakeholders will be providing the proper service only when their interest will get met. Hence, it is important for TechnologyOne to offer the exact value to their internal and external stakeholders for their services (Dabholkar, 2015). The more efficient and ethical will be the management of the stakeholders, the more will be the mutual interest among them. This will lead to effective service relationship. Furthermore, business organizations are also having social responsibilities apart from their economical interests. Determination of the social responsibilities can also help TechnologyOne to create the positive vibe among stakeholders mainly among the customers. If the service offerings of TechnologyOne can be well aligned with the social responsibilities, then the value creation for the customers will get increased. This will further help in enhancing the service relationship with the external stakeholders.

Ethics can also be considered in improving the service relationship with the internal and external stakeholders. This is due to the fact that ethical behavior and practices will help in maintaining the fairness and transparency in the process of service relationship (Bansal & Taylor, 2015). For instance, if the customers and the employees can be dealt fairly then the probability of getting the maximum service will be more.

Managing service decisions

In the process of service relationship, there are number of factors that should be considered by TechnologyOne including service location, demand and inventory. In the case of service location, TechnologyOne is already having the presence in more than 11 countries. These markets are being chosen on the basis of potential opportunity in the target markets (Tseng & Wu, 2014). For the future selection of target markets, it is important for TechnologyOne to review the potentiality of IT services and entering accordingly.

Blueprints of service delivery

The blueprint of the service relatiioonship is comprised of two particular aspects. One is associated with the client and another puts focus on the employees. In other words, the service blueprints encompasses two elements in terms of internal and external interfaces. Therefore, the key elements are as follows,

Customer service interface

This is assciated with the steps, actions, preferences and interactions of the customers. Moreover, this interface has a specific goal to fulfil maximum requirements and specifications of the customers. In this blueprint the customers can visit the website and surf the stores and the number of services that Technology One provides. There is also a purchase option separated between the premium customers and the regular customers. Furthermore, the delivery deadline and the final receiving of the product can also be highlighted in that portal. It is important for the Technology One to get the feedback from the customers and enrich their services as far as it can.

Employee portal

The employee portal is associated with the purpose to provide any workplace related issues and jobs. The payroll of the employees are also incorporated into the portal. In addition to this, the employees can also attach their grievances in the portal but only the HRM department can access that grievance cell.

Backstage actions

This section is connected with the operation department. The customer care service relay the customer problem to the operation department and also let them inform about the client specifications so that they can procure the manufacturing process with the help of in-depth knowledge of the customer requirements.

Recommendations

• It is recommended that customer orientation should be increased by TechnologyOne in their service relationship with the end customers. This will help them to increase the level and importance of customer’s opinions and trend in offering the services. Moreover, it will also enable TechnologyOne in effectively analyzing the requirement of the customers and offering services accordingly.
• TechnologyOne should target developing economies such as the BRIC countries more. This is due to the reason that these countries are witnessing higher demand of IT services and economy growth in the recent time. Thus, the business opportunities for TechnologyOne will be more in these countries.
• Outsourcing can also be an effective strategy for TechnologyOne. This due to the fact that outsourcing will help TechnologyOne to reduce their cost of operation along with responsibilities in the long term. Thus, profitability of TechnologyOne will get enhanced along with gaining of competitive advantages.

Conclusion

This report concludes that there are number of external business factors affecting the business operation of TechnologyOne. In this report, these factors are discussed in details and number of positive and negative elements is identified. In addition, this report also discussed about the different elements of service relationships and it is helping TechnologyOne in gaining competitive advantages. In this report, the ways by which the service relationship quality can be improved are also being discussed. In accordance to a few issues identified, this report concluded with a few recommended steps that will further help TechnologyOne to enhance their business operation.

Reference

Abosag, I., Baker, T. L., Hall, K. L., Voulgari, A. D., & Zheng, X. (2017). Antecedents and consequences of liking in retail service relationships in China and Greece. International Business Review, 26(3), 566-578.

Armstrong, P. (2014). Limits and possibilities for HRM in an age of management accountancy. New Perspectives On Human Resource Management op. cit. at, 154-166.

Bansal, H. S., & Taylor, S. (2015). Investigating the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and switching intentions. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 304-313). Springer, Cham.

Beringer, C., Jonas, D., & Kock, A. (2013). Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio management and its impact on success. International Journal of Project Management, 31(6), 830-846.

Bowden, J. L., Gabbott, M., & Naumann, K. (2015). Service relationships and the customer disengagement–engagement conundrum. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(7-8), 774-806.

Brem, A., & Viardot, É. (2015). Adoption of innovation: Balancing internal and external stakeholders in the marketing of innovation. In Adoption of Innovation (pp. 1-10). Springer, Cham.

Brewster, C. (2017). The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.

Brooker, J., Julian, J., Webber, L., Chan, J., Shawyer, F., & Meadows, G. (2013). Evaluation of an occupational mindfulness program for staff employed in the disability sector in Australia. Mindfulness, 4(2), 122-136.

Bustinza, O. F., Bigdeli, A. Z., Baines, T., & Elliot, C. (2015). Servitization and competitive advantage: the importance of organizational structure and value chain position. Research-Technology Management, 58(5), 53-60.

Chahal, H., & Bakshi, P. (2015). Examining intellectual capital and competitive advantage relationship: Role of innovation and organizational learning. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 33(3), 376-399.

Collier, J. E., & Kimes, S. E. (2013). Only if it is convenient: Understanding how convenience influences self-service technology evaluation. Journal of Service Research, 16(1), 39-51.

Dabholkar, P. A. (2015). How to improve perceived service quality by increasing customer participation. In Proceedings of the 1990 academy of marketing science (AMS) annual conference (pp. 483-487). Springer, Cham.

Eloranta, V., & Turunen, T. (2015). Seeking competitive advantage with service infusion: a systematic literature review. Journal of Service Management, 26(3), 394-425.

Hennig-Thurau, T., & Hansen, U. (Eds.). (2013). Relationship marketing: Gaining competitive advantage through customer satisfaction and customer retention. Springer Science & Business Media.

Martinette, L., Obenchain-Leeson, A., Gomez, G., & Webb, J. (2014). Relationship between learning orientation and business performance and the moderating effect of competitive advantage: An accounting services firm's perspective. The International Business & Economics Research Journal (Online), 13(4), 779.

McAllister, I. (2014). Corruption and confidence in Australian political institutions. Australian Journal of Political Science, 49(2), 174-185.

Nätti, S., Pekkarinen, S., Hartikka, A., & Holappa, T. (2014). The intermediator role in value co-creation within a triadic business service relationship. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(6), 977-984.

Park, J. G., Lee, S., & Lee, J. (2014). Communication effectiveness on IT service relationship quality. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(2), 321-336.

Plumb, M., Kent, C., & Bishop, J. (2013). Implications for the Australian economy of strong growth in Asia. Sydney: Reserve Bank of Australia.

Podsiadlowski, A., Gröschke, D., Kogler, M., Springer, C., & Van Der Zee, K. (2013). Managing a culturally diverse workforce: Diversity perspectives in organizations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(2), 159-175.

Technologyonecorp.com. (2018). Home | TechnologyOne. Retrieved from https://www.technologyonecorp.com/home

Tseng, S. M., & Wu, P. H. (2014). The impact of customer knowledge and customer relationship management on service quality. International journal of quality and service sciences, 6(1), 77-96.

Xenakis, I. (2018). Reducing uncertainty in sustainable interpersonal service relationships: the role of aesthetics. Cognitive processing, 19(2), 215-229.

Zablah, A. R., Sirianni, N. J., Korschun, D., Gremler, D. D., & Beatty, S. E. (2017). Emotional Convergence in Service Relationships: The Shared Frontline Experience of Customers and Employees. Journal of Service Research, 20(1), 76-90.