Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Pushkal Pandey, Sandra M<strong>of</strong>fett et al
To answer <strong>the</strong> first question <strong>the</strong> research will involve an analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> customer-agent interaction, regarding
what constitutes an effective service encounter from <strong>the</strong> customer’s stand point. This will involve a qualitative
investigation into what factors influence customer satisfaction (involving literature review, interviews and focus
groups with call centre staff) contributing towards forming a survey to be used to analyse customer perception <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong>se factors with regards to <strong>the</strong>ir influence on overall satisfaction with <strong>the</strong> interaction.
The second research question will involve a content analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> available knowledge base to see if <strong>the</strong>y
contribute to <strong>the</strong> effectiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> service as identified from <strong>the</strong> first research question, and also path analysis
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> communication system in a call centre with attention to identifying hurdles and ensuring efficient flow <strong>of</strong>
information in between all <strong>the</strong> actors as identified in <strong>the</strong> figure 2.
This research contributes towards both <strong>the</strong>ory and practice <strong>of</strong> performance management in understanding <strong>the</strong>
needs that call centre communication must meet so as to produce positive experiences for <strong>the</strong>ir customers.
Keywords: Performance management, Knowledge management, call centre service
1. Introduction
The main benefits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> call center are convenience, lower costs, flexibility and customization
(Bennington et al. 2000). Prabhaker et al. (1997) see call centers as an information gateway, where
every call is an opportunity to obtain or disseminate knowledge. Communication in call centers is
<strong>of</strong>ten very task-oriented. An analogy for type <strong>of</strong> customer-agent interaction in a call center could be
drawn from <strong>the</strong> service relationship between <strong>the</strong> big city cab driver and his fare. Davis (1959)
acknowledges that due to <strong>the</strong> way <strong>the</strong> cab driver and its fare come into contact with each o<strong>the</strong>r this
relationship is especially subject to structural weakness. The relationship is characterized by him as
being “random, fleeting, unrenewable, and largely devoid <strong>of</strong> social integrative features which in o<strong>the</strong>r
client and patron oriented services help sustain a wider range <strong>of</strong> constraints and controls between <strong>the</strong>
parties to <strong>the</strong> transaction.”
2. Customer encounter model <strong>of</strong> service process in call centers
Taking <strong>the</strong> service encounter as <strong>the</strong> unit <strong>of</strong> analysis, this model takes into account <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong>
service delivery in a call center. Customer encounter is <strong>the</strong> most important incident from <strong>the</strong>
customer’s perspective in judging performance <strong>of</strong> a call center. Therefore for efficient and effective
handling <strong>of</strong> customer’s calls it is vital to consider all factors which may have an influence at this time.
Recognizing <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> service interaction between <strong>the</strong> agent and <strong>the</strong> customer and based on
<strong>the</strong> above arguments <strong>the</strong> following triangular model is proposed to look at all <strong>the</strong> constituents <strong>of</strong>
service process in call center service delivery:
The Performance <strong>of</strong> an agent during <strong>the</strong> service interaction with <strong>the</strong> customer is guided solely by
three factors, designated as co-ordinates in <strong>the</strong> above model: Context coordinate- The effectiveness
<strong>of</strong> each encounter is primarily associated with <strong>the</strong> content <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> reference interaction. The service
delivery in call centers has been classified into four distinct categories based upon <strong>the</strong> degree <strong>of</strong>
customer involvement and degree <strong>of</strong> standardization inherent in <strong>the</strong> interaction (figure 3). The arrow
to <strong>the</strong> left shows <strong>the</strong> Degree Of Standardization
Figure 3: Customer process model <strong>of</strong> service performance in call centers
1148