Case Study Analysis

Case Study Analysis

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Case Study Analysis

Problem Statement and Background

Jennifer Ames was the Senior Director of Global Customer Support department of BPC. There were four employees in her team. Jennifer Ames asked her team to spend a maximum of seven minutes with each customer. To achieve her objective, she announced that all four members of her team would work together as a single unit, and their performance would be evaluated as a team. Moreover, if the average call duration increased form seven minutes, the salary of all members would be deducted by one dollar per extra minute for every call. After one month of working as a single team, the average call duration was 7.3 minutes, which was higher than the target, and a deduction was made over the salaries of all four representatives. This deduction in salaries raised a conflict in the team, and Ames was worried that her team was on a breaking point.

Facts

The following were the facts in the provided case study:

The average call duration of Enriquez was 13 minutes, which was significantly higher than the call duration of the other three Customer Support Representatives.

The average call duration of the other three members was significantly less than the target of seven minutes per call.

All members had to suffer due to the long calls of Enriquez.

Henley, Burton, and Garvey were not happy with the long calls of Enriquez.

Customers were more satisfied with Enriquez as compared to other members of the team.

Goals

The objective of Ames was to resolve the conflict that was arisen among the member of her team.

Solution 1

Renew the deduction policy so that the performance of one individual cannot harm the reward of other members of the team. Deduction in the salaries should be made on the bases of the individual performance of workers.

Pros

This solution will remove one of the key factors behind this conflict, the determination of salaries over the performance of the whole team. This will help in getting a constructive and progressive environment within the team as the performance of one member of the team will not be able to affect the reward of others. The conflict will be resolved, and all four Customer Support Representatives can work independently.

Cons

It was the objective of Ames that all four representatives work as a team and cooperate. Ames would fail to achieve this objective if she adopted Solution 1.

Solution 2

The other possible solution can be the transfer of Enriquez from the customer's care center to the marketing department. Long call durations of Enriquez was the core reason behind this conflict within the team. Because other three customer support representatives had to pay the price of her long duration calls. Her transfer from the call centre to sales department will remove this conflict.

Pros

This solution will not only resolve the conflict, but they can also become a source of an increase in sales because Sonia Enriquez had already worked in the sales department, and she had proven herself there as a dynamic sales representative. Moreover, Sonia was an expert in building public relations, and customers were well satisfied with her behavior. Her skills and abilities could be better utilized in the sales department. The long call duration of Sonia was the bone of conflict within the team. The transfer of Sonia will remove this reason. It was the objective of Ames that all four representatives work as a team and cooperate. The replacement of Sonia with some other worker would surely help her to achieve this objective.

Cons

Customers were more satisfied with Enriquez as compared to other members of the team. Regardless the duration of her calls, she was providing customers with satisfactory information and customers were happy from her responses. So it was unjust to make her transfer from call centre department. The company might had to pay the price of her transfer in the form of dissatisfaction from customers.

Recommended solution

Solution 2 is my recommended solution.