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Literature Review / How Organizational Theories Improve Operations
Literature Review / How Organizational Theories Improve Operations
Organizational theories provide the best guidelines of operations especially in areas dealing with customers. Literature analysis of the area in focus highlights a number of theories and models that may be of interest in trying to bring improvement to the customer service delivery in Comcast Corporation.
1. The Service-Profit Chain
The Service-Profit Chain model by Hogreve et al (2022) begins with the premise that satisfied employees produce high quality services to create satisfied customers and improved organization’s profitability. The focus in this model is on internal customer satisfaction by means of internal service quality and employees’ satisfaction. Investing in training programs, cultivating an environment that encourages the workers, and appreciating the employees’ efforts will contribute to improving service delivery and achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty, especially for the Comcast Company.
2. Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a managerial approach that is strived on the concept of ensuring and maintaining a consistent enhancement of the existing organizational procedures with a slant towards reaching the satisfaction of the consumers. As pointed out by Luthra et al (2020), adoption of TQM involves commitment to quality to every segment within an organization with a focus on the enhancement of the processes and substantive concentration in customer satisfaction. As an amalgamation of the principles of TQM, it shall be possible for Comcast to implement a system to constantly address service quality problems, customer’s relations and make improvements on a more consistent basis.
3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) techniques play a significant role in the handling of communication with existing and potential buyers. According to Petrović (2020), CRM entails identification of customer’s needs, expectations, and actions and its application to the development of those enduring relationships that lead to customer loyalty. It helps the company in acquiring, storing, and applying customer information for targeting and facilitating client interactions in order to increase the levels of satisfaction and loyalty amongst customers.
4. Expectancy Theory
According to the Expectancy Theory by Song et al (2023), motivation of employees depends on their perceived prospects of the results of their work. In the specialized case of customer service, there is evidence that makes a convinced opinion about the relationship between the efforts made by the employees and the outcomes that are desirable, such as recognition, rewards and career advancement can positively influence the motivation and performance of the customer service employees. Comcast can use this theory in a way that the effort, wellbeing, and achievement of every employee is rewarded in line with the desired culture when it comes to customer service, such as through positive reinforcement and performance appraisals.
5. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
According to Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene theory, also referred to as the Two-Factor theory, there are two sets of factors that influence job satisfaction. Thant & Chang (2021) relates hygiene factors such as remuneration, working environment as factors that can cause dissatisfaction however they do not lead to satisfaction; on the other hand there are motivators such as recognition, achievement which cause satisfaction. When these hygiene factors and motivators are implemented through a satisfying package, there will be a denial of negative attitudes and an enhancement of the attitudes towards job, thus boosting the providers’ satisfaction, ultimately enhancing customers’ satisfaction.
6. Lean Management
Lean Management is based on the concept of Lean Production System with the reference of Toyota Production System and this procedure aims to emphasize the reduction of all types of wastages to provide the maximum possible value to the customers. Discussing Lean Management Shaturaev & Bekimbetova (2021) identify CID, VSM, and customer perspective as critical objects Applying Lean to Customer Service: Comcast can identify unnecessary steps in Customer Service activities and eliminate all processes that take extra time and effort to complete.
7. SERVQUAL Model
The SERVQUAL model, developed by Shi & Shang (2020), measures service quality based on five dimensions: CSD e-Survey identified tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy elements as key factors influencing one’s choice of service providers. Through monitoring of these dimensions, Comcast is thus able to see areas where services are lacking and where in turn it can implement changes to improve the provision of its services (Shi & Shang, 2020). Established by Outland in 1997, the SERVQUAL model is well suited to systematically describing and analyzing customers’ expectations and perceptions of service quality.
8. Contingency Theory
Contingency Theory, founded by Fiedler (1964), avows that it’s the match of the leadership style, the organisation structure and the environment that determines the organization’s performance. With reference to the discipline of customer relations, this theory information means that Comcast needs to apply distinctive techniques depending on some situations including consumers’ type, service requirements, and market requirements (Csaszar & Ostler, 2020). In this way, Comcast can satisfy the need of its customers because the company can adjust to the needs of its customers more easily in the way it structures its service and product offerings.
Preliminary Suggestions for Improving Customer Service at Comcast
Based on the literature review and the identified problem, several preliminary suggestions emerge for improving customer service at Comcast:
Employee Training and Development: Training customer service representatives can turn them into better service providers through understanding and knowledge in addressing or returning customer queries (Kurdi et al, 2020). Other promotion measures that enhance motivation and improve the employee turnover include offering regular developmental opportunities and carrying out proactive career management.
Implementing CRM Systems: The implementation of enhanced CRM systems could facilitate the collection of the customer’s data, which could further assist Comcast in providing both relevant and timely care to the customers (Kurdi et al, 2020). CRM systems can also capture and address customers’ concerns, fixing problems even before they are reported, enhancing the level of customer satisfaction.
Adopting TQM Principles: It can also establish and seek to implement the principles of Total Quality Management, encompassing all the organizational levels for improved quality at Comcast (Kurdi et al, 2020). Consequently, this approach can facilitate a more orderly approach towards identifying and resolving matters of service quality, thus improving the overall interaction between customers and the service provider.
Applying Lean Management: This enables Lean Management to be applied on customer service since it gives a chance to crop out bottlenecks and increase productivity (Kurdi et al, 2020). Mapping the value added by customer service and employing continuous improvement measures can help to optimize customer service processes to customers’ needs.
Regularly Assessing Service Quality: In this case, the model developed by Kurdi et al (2020 ) known as SERVQUAL can be applied in the regularly evaluation of service quality in the areas of concern in relation to Comcast and the subsequent planning of specific improvement activities to be taken (Kurdi et al, 2020). Solicited feedback/inputs such as experiences of the customers and satisfaction questionnaires can be very useful both in identifying areas that require attention.
Enhancing Employee Motivation: Extra efforts put by employees in performing customer service can be motivated by a closer alignment between the notions of motivation and performance along with availing feedbacks and rewards (Kurdi et al, 2020). It also implies that when one is designing his/her work, s/he should be clear on the outcome that their actions should produce, thereby leading to better customer service.
Adapting to Market Conditions: To maximize the benefits that can be obtained from the customer base at Comcast, using the contingency theory in organizing customer service yields positive results since the nature of customers is very dynamic (Kurdi et al, 2020). This can be done in customer service by addressing the needs and preferences of the consumers in terms of gender, age, and even the demand for services in a given market.
Conclusion
Comcast Corporation should focus on enhancing customer care since it is crucial in getting and retaining more loyal customers as well as boosting its profitability in the long run. A critical evaluation of the existing literature yields in identifying various organizational theories and models that may help in the improvement of customer service. Truly, through programs for Continuous Employee Education/Training, Customer Relationship Management, Total Quality Management and Lean Management standards, periodic service quality measurements, motivation of employees, and competitive analysis/evaluation, Comcast can optimize the establishment of a significant customer care system that will greatly influence customer satisfaction and loyalty as well as operation efficiency. From an organizational theory’s perspective and using the details of the case, as well as considering the best practices and corporate strategies of Comcast, the following strategies are presented that may help the company improve its customer service and gain the competitive advantage on a long-term basis on the telecommunications and media market.
References
Hogreve, J., Iseke, A., & Derfuss, K. (2022). The service-profit chain: reflections, revisions, and reimaginations. Journal of service research, 25(3), 460-477.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10946705211052410
Luthra, S., Garg, D., Agarwal, A., & Mangla, S. K. (2020). Total quality management (TQM): Principles, methods, and applications. CRC press.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9781003053156/total-quality-management-tqm-sunil-luthra-dixit-garg-ashish-agarwal-sachin-mangla
Petrović, M. (2020). Data quality in customer relationship management (CRM): Literature review. Strategic Management, 25(2), 40-47.
https://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?artid=1821-34482002040P
Song, H., Han, S., & Yu, K. (2023). Blockchain-enabled supply chain operations and financing: the perspective of expectancy theory. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 43(12), 1943-1975.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2022-0467/full/html
Thant, Z. M., & Chang, Y. (2021). Determinants of public employee job satisfaction in Myanmar: Focus on Herzberg’s two factor theory. Public Organization Review, 21(1), 157-175.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11115-020-00481-6
Shaturaev, J., & Bekimbetova, G. (2021). Transformation of business efficiency with the lean management. Deutsche Internationale Zeitschrift für zeitgenössische Wissenschaft, (22), 71-73.
https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/transformation-of-business-efficiency-with-the-lean-management
Shi, Z., & Shang, H. (2020). A review on quality of service and servqual model. In HCI in Business, Government and Organizations: 7th International Conference, HCIBGO 2020, Held as Part of the 22nd HCI International Conference, HCII 2020, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19–24, 2020, Proceedings 22 (pp. 188-204). Springer International Publishing.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-50341-3_15
Csaszar, F. A., & Ostler, J. (2020). A contingency theory of representational complexity in organizations. Organization Science, 31(5), 1198-1219.
https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.2019.1346
Kurdi, B., Alshurideh, M., & Alnaser, A. (2020). The impact of employee satisfaction on customer satisfaction: Theoretical and empirical underpinning. Management Science Letters, 10(15), 3561-3570.
http://m.growingscience.com/beta/msl/4068-the-impact-of-employee-satisfaction-%20on-customer-satisfaction-theoretical-and-empirical-underpinning.html
