Regional Airlines Case Study
Case 2: Regional Airlines
Case 2: Regional Airlines
Case Introduction
A+ for effort, Customer Service Pays for Itself In an extremely regulated and thus relatively uniform industry such as the commercial airline industry, the successful airline is the organization which sets itself apart from the competition. Within an industry that requires customer planning to interface with flight schedules and security measures, a major operational aspect which can aid an airline in gaining an edge on the competition is customer service. The effective consumption of air travel (finding flights, buying tickets, getting through the airport, boarding a plane, and finally reaching the final destination) is not the same simple consumer –supplier relationship that the consumer experiences in a trip through the Wal-Mart checkout counter; the nature of air travel makes the interaction between the airline and the customer very complex. Almost every facet of the complex relationship between the airline and customer can generate a large amount of stress for the consumer; consumers find poor customer service in the face of tight travel deadlines and paid for travel plans that did not necessarily go as intended extremely frustrating.
Analysis
Investigating Salient Case Issues To capitalize on offering a high level of effective customer service, an investment must be made. The airline must ensure their customer service department not only understands that customer service is highly valued in the organizational environment but also must ensure that the customer service department has the tools and resources to offer effective customer service (Graham, 2012). Like any business investment, the organization must make smart decisions when providing customer service resources; for instance a call center of fifty employees which only answers two calls an hour is a humongous waste of resources that would be better allocated towards another goal. The problem of understand that an
Case 2: Regional Airlines
Case Introduction
A+ for effort, Customer Service Pays for Itself In an extremely regulated and thus relatively uniform industry such as the commercial airline industry, the successful airline is the organization which sets itself apart from the competition. Within an industry that requires customer planning to interface with flight schedules and security measures, a major operational aspect which can aid an airline in gaining an edge on the competition is customer service. The effective consumption of air travel (finding flights, buying tickets, getting through the airport, boarding a plane, and finally reaching the final destination) is not the same simple consumer –supplier relationship that the consumer experiences in a trip through the Wal-Mart checkout counter; the nature of air travel makes the interaction between the airline and the customer very complex. Almost every facet of the complex relationship between the airline and customer can generate a large amount of stress for the consumer; consumers find poor customer service in the face of tight travel deadlines and paid for travel plans that did not necessarily go as intended extremely frustrating.
Analysis
Investigating Salient Case Issues To capitalize on offering a high level of effective customer service, an investment must be made. The airline must ensure their customer service department not only understands that customer service is highly valued in the organizational environment but also must ensure that the customer service department has the tools and resources to offer effective customer service (Graham, 2012). Like any business investment, the organization must make smart decisions when providing customer service resources; for instance a call center of fifty employees which only answers two calls an hour is a humongous waste of resources that would be better allocated towards another goal. The problem of understand that an
References: Anderson, D., Sweeney, D., Williams, T., Camm, J., & Martin, K. (2012). An Introduction to Management Science Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making. Mason, OH. South-Western Cengage Learning Graham, J. (2012). Think Like the Customer - Or Lose the Sale. American Salesman, 57(4), 18-23. Srivastava, U. K., Shenoy, G. V. & Sharma, S. C. (2005). Quantitative techniques for managerial decisions (2nd Edition). New Age International Publishers: New Delhi.