Kuluttajalähtöisiä ideoita palvelujen kehittämiseen eri kanavissa, Case Posti Oy

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on löytää kehitysideoita Postin palveluiden kehittämiseksi kuluttajilta nousseiden kehitysideoiden kautta. Kehitysideoita voidaan hyödyntää palveluiden kehittämisessä eri kanavat huomioiden. Tutkimuksen tulokset käydään syvällisesti läpi, jotta niistä on konkreettista hyötyä Postille palvelujen ja nykyisen toiminnan kehittämisessä. Työn teoriaosa keskittyy monikanavaisuuden hyötyihin ja haittoihin sekä asiakaspalvelulähtöisen liiketoiminnan nykytilaan sekä tarpeisiin. Fountain Parkin ja Postin yhteistyössä tehdyssä tutkimuksessa oli kvalitatiivinen tutkimusote, koska tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tutkia henkilöiden mielipiteiden kautta tutkittavissa olevaa ilmiötä. Tässä tutkimuksessa henkilöiden mielipidettä edustavat Postin kuluttaja-asiakkaat. Data kerättiin verkkoaivoriihen avulla, josta tutkimustulokset analysoitiin. Päätutkimuskysymyksenä on, mitkä palvelut helpottaisivat kuluttajien arjen sujumista. Nykypäivänä uusia tuoteideoita etsiessä tulee hyödyntää esimerkiksi asiakkailta tulevaa informaatiota. Tässä tutkimuksessa saatiin paljon asiakaslähtöisiä ideoita, joita voidaan käyttää Postin palvelujen kehittämiseen. Monet kehitysideat liittyivät olemassa oleviin palveluihin parannusehdotuksina mutta myös uusia palveluideoita nousi eri palvelujen osalta.

The new era of customer experience in the omni-channel environment of a communication service provider

This study discusses the evolution of an omni-channel model in managing customer experience. The purpose of this thesis is to expand the current academic literature available on omni-channel and offer suggestions for omni-channel creation. This is done by studying the features of an omni-channel approach into engaging with customers and through the sub-objectives of describing the process behind its initiation as well as the special features communication service providers need to take in consideration. Theories used as a background for this study are related to customer experience, channel management, omni-channel and finally change management. The empirical study of this thesis consists of seven expert interviews conducted in a case company. The interviews were held between March and November 2014. One of the interviewees is the manager of an omni-channel development team, whilst the rest were in charge of the management of the various customer channels of the company. The organization and analysis of the interview data was conducted topically. The use of themes related to major theories on the subject was utilized to create linkages between theory and practice. The responses were also organized in two groups based on the viewpoint to map responses related to the company perspective as well as the customers´ perspective. The findings in this study are that omni-channel is among the best tools for companies to respond to the challenge induced by changing customer needs and preferences, as well as intensifying competitive environment. The omni-channel model was found to promote excellent customer experience and thus to be a source of competition advantage and increasing financial returns by creating an omni-experience for the customer. Through omniexperience customers see all of the transactions with a company presenting one brand and providing ease and effortlessness in every encounter. The processes behind omni-channel formulation were identified as customer experience proclaimed as the most important strategic goal, mapping and establishing a unified brand experience in all (service) channels and empowering the first line personnel as the gate keepers of omniexperience. Further the tools, measurement and supporting strategies were to be in accordance with the omni-channel strategy and the customer needs to become a partner in a two way transaction with the firm. Based on these findings a model for omni-channel creation is offered. Future research is needed to firstly, further test these findings and expand the theoretical framework on omni-channel, as it is quite scarce to date and secondly, to increase the generalizability of the model suggested.

De touch: extending service channels in an airport through touch technologies

This project aimed to create a communication and interaction channel between Madeira Airport and its passengers. We used the pre-existent touch enabled screens at the terminal since their potential was not being utilised to their full capacity. To achieve our goal, we have followed an agile strategy to create a testable prototype and take advantages of its results. The developed prototype is based on a plugin architecture turning it into a maintainable and highly customisable system. The collected usage data suggests that we have achieved the initially defined goals. There is no doubt that this new interaction channel is an improvement regarding the provided services and, supported by the usage data, there is an opportunity to explore additional developments to the channel.

Energy-efficient diversity combining for different access schemes in a multi-path dispersive channel

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e Computadores

Omni-channel retail strategies in the luxury world

It’s impossible to neglect the changes that internet and e-commerce caused in the retail sector, by increasing customers’ expectations and forcing retailers to adapt the business to the new digital era. Internet is characterized by the increase in accessibility to everyone, which can be good or not so. For instance, luxury products rely on the sense of exclusivity, instead of being accessible to everyone. Hence, internet represents a challenge for luxury brands once, although they are able to provide a fullness service to their customers, they need to maintain the exclusiveness in which luxury is sustained. Consequently, the appearance of omni-channel was more than a challenge for the luxury sector, in particular, given the need to provide a full integrated experience through different channels. The aim of this dissertation is to find out how important is omni-channel, even in the luxury industry, and how it’s actually implemented based on the case of one of the most successful companies on luxury fashion e-commerce industry – Farfetch. Even though the company started in London, its founder is a Portuguese entrepreneur, and it’s in Portugal where most of its employees work, divided in two offices – Guimarães e Porto. Therefore, a literature review was written on relevant concepts and ideas about luxury, e-commerce and the different channels’ approaches. There were formulated five propositions that were after discussed according to the information gathered about the company and its strategies. In the end, it was possible to identify which propositions are in accordance with theory and which are not, as well as understand which are the most important strategies and trends about omni-channel in the luxury fashion e-commerce sector.

Marketing strategy for a GSM phone service. Target market, St. Petersburg Russia. Case MegaFon

Tämä pro gradu tutkielma esittää markkinointistrategian digitaaliselle matkapuhelinpalvelulle penetroiduttaessa uusille markkinoille. MegaFon on uuden sukupolven mobiilioperaattori, jolla on lukuisia teknlogiaan perustuvia etuisuuksia puolellaan. Markkinointistrategian perusteena asiakkaat on määritelty, paikallistettu ja analysoitu. Tämän lisäksi, palvelun positiointi, hinnoittelu- ja jakelukanavavaihtoehdot on myöskin analysoitu ja määritelty. Menestystekijöihin liittyvät kysymykset, myynnin jälkeiseen toimintaan liittyvät asiat on myös tutkittu. Teoreettiset aspektit liittyvät pääsääntöisesti uuden palvelun ja palveluiden lanseeramiseen (palvelu, palvelun elinkaariajattelu), niiden markkinointistrategioihin lanseerausvaiheessa ja markkinointikanavien päättämiseen. Tutkimuksessa on selitetty MegaFonin ennustamis- ja lähestymistavat, joilla on valotettu todellista markkinatilannetta. Tämän tutkielman informaatio on kerätty useista lähteistä, kuten: yleistä aiheeseen liittyvää kirjallisuutta, sisäisiä raportteja ja Megafonin materiaalia, yhteistyökumppaneiden aineistoa, Internettia ja muuta saatavilla olevaa materiaalia. Tuloksena on määritelty päätöksenteon avainkohdat ja osaltaan perinteiset lähestymistavat on kyseenalaistettu.

Implementation of Customer Relationship Management system to support channel partners

Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää, kokevatko matkapuhelinalalla toimivat kanavapartnerit heitä varten suunnitellun asiakassuhdehallintajärjestelmän lisäarvopalveluna vaiko eivät. Työ toteutettiin asiakastyytyväisyystutkimuksen avulla, jossa mitattiin erilaisten partnereiden asennetta palvelua kohtaan. Työn tuloksena ilmeni, että palvelussa olevan informaation määrällä ei ollut suurta vaikutusta asiakkaiden tyytyväisyyteen. Syyt ovat pikemminkin yleisissä asenteissa vastaavia palveluja kohtaan.

Development of e-Service tools for customer services and processes, Case: KONE Oyj Finland

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää miten kehittää yrityksen nykyistä e-palvelujärjestelmää, Internet -teknologiaan perustuvaa sähköisiä kommunikaatio- ja tiedonjakojärjestelmää, yrityksen business-to-business asiakkuuksien johtamisessa. Tavoitteena oli myös luoda ehdotukset uusista e-palvelusopimusmalleista. Tutkimuksen teoriaosuudessa pyrittiin kehittämään aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin, tietokirjallisuuteen ja asiantuntijoihin perustuva viitekehysmalli. Empiirisessä osassa tutkimuksen tavoitteisiin pyrittiin haastattelemalla yrityksen asiakkaita ja henkilöstöä, sekä tarkastelemalla asiakaskontaktien nykyistä tilaa ja kehittymistä. Näiden tietojen perusteella selvitettiin e-palvelun käyttäjien tarpeita, profiilia ja valmiuksia palvelun käyttöön sekä palvelun nykyistä houkuttelevuutta. Tutkimuksen teoriaosan lähdeaineistona käytettiin kirjallisuutta, artikkeleita ja tilastoja asiakashallinnasta sekä e-palveluiden, erityisesti Internet ja verkkopalveluiden markkinoinnista, nykytilasta sekä palveluiden kehittämisestä. Lisäksi tutkittiin kirjallisuutta arvoverkostoanalyysistä, asiakkaan arvosta, informaatioteknologiasta, palvelun laadusta ja asiakastyytyväisyydestä. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa perustuu yrityksen henkilöstöltä sekä asiakkailta haastatteluissa kerättyihin tietoihin, yrityksen ennalta keräämiin materiaaleihin sekä Taloustutkimuksen keräämiin tietoihin. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin case -menetelmää, joka oli yhdistelmä sekä kvalitatiivista että kvantitatiivista tutkimusta. Casen tarkoituksena oli testata mallin paikkansapitävyyttä ja käyttökelpoisuutta, sekä selvittää onko olemassa vielä muita tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat asiakkaan saamaan arvoon. Kvalitatiivinen aineisto perustuu teemahaastattelumenetelmää soveltaen haastateltuihin asiakkaisiin ja yrityksen työntekijöihin. Kvantitatiivinen tutkimus perustuu Taloustutkimuksen tutkimukseen ja yrityksen asiakaskontakteista kerättyyn tietoon. Haastatteluiden perusteella e-palvelut nähtiin hyödyllisinä ja tulevaisuudessa erittäin tärkeinä. E-palvelut nähdään yhtenä tärkeänä kanavana, perinteisten kanavien rinnalla, tehostaa business-to-business -asiakkuuksien johtamista. Tutkimuksen antamien tulosten mukaan asiakkaiden palveluun liittyvän tieto-, taito-, tarpeellisuus- ja kiinnostavuustasojen vaihtelevaisuus osoittaa selvän tarpeen eritasoisille e-palvelupaketti ratkaisuille. Tuloksista muodostettu ratkaisuehdotus käsittää neljän eri e-palvelupaketin rakentamisen asiakkaiden eri tarpeita mukaillen.

Improving customer service by identifying critical success factors and utilizing business process outsourcing

Consumers increasingly demand convenience when dealing with companies and therefore it is important to provide professional, diverse and speedy service via customer’s preferred communication channel. These interactions between the customer service and customer have a critical role in customer’s future purchasing decisions. Those customers who don't receive satisfactory customer service are willing to do business with another company that charges more but offers better customer service. This study identifies the critical success factors for the customer service in order to improve the customer service according to the company’s mission and meet customer expectations. Case study is used as a research method and data is collected via observation, archival records and interviews during a time span of fourteen months. The analysis suggests three critical success factors: voice support, scalable and flexible customer service and customer service champions. The study further analyzes the improvement measures according to the critical success factors concluding the Business Process Outsourcing to be the most proper to proceed with. As a conclusion of the study, critical success factors enable achieving the goals of the customer service and align operations according to the company’s mission. Business Process Outsourcing plays important role in improving the customer service by allowing fast expansion of new service offering and obtaining specialized workforce.

Drivers and barriers of mobile travel and tourism service adoption : a study of individual perceptions and business model development in a travel and tourism context

The Travel and Tourism field is undergoing changes due to the rapid development of information technology and digital services. Online travel has profoundly changed the way travel and tourism organizations interact with their customers. Mobile technology such as mobile services for pocket devices (e.g. mobile phones) has the potential to take this development even further. Nevertheless, many issues have been highlighted since the early days of mobile services development (e.g. the lack of relevance, ease of use of many services). However, the wide adoption of smartphones and the mobile Internet in many countries as well as the formation of so-called ecosystems between vendors of mobile technology indicate that many of these issues have been overcome. Also when looking at the numbers of downloaded applications related to travel in application stores like Google Play, it seems obvious that mobile travel and tourism services are adopted and used by many individuals. However, as business is expected to start booming in the mobile era, many issues have a tendency to be overlooked. Travelers are generally on the go and thus services that work effectively in mobile settings (e.g. during a trip) are essential. Hence, the individuals’ perceived drivers and barriers to use mobile travel and tourism services in on-site or during trip settings seem particularly valuable to understand; thus this is one primary aim of the thesis. We are, however, also interested in understanding different types of mobile travel service users. Individuals may indeed be very different in their propensity to adopt and use technology based innovations (services). Research is also switching more from investigating issues of mobile service development to understanding individuals’ usage patterns of mobile services. But designing new mobile services may be a complex matter from a service provider perspective. Hence, our secondary aim is to provide insights into drivers and barriers of mobile travel and tourism service development from a holistic business model perspective. To accomplish the research objectives seven different studies have been conducted over a time period from 2002 – 2013. The studies are founded on and contribute to theories within diffusion of innovations, technology acceptance, value creation, user experience and business model development. Several different research methods are utilized: surveys, field and laboratory experiments and action research. The findings suggest that a successful mobile travel and tourism service is a service which supports one or several mobile motives (needs) of individuals such as spontaneous needs, time-critical arrangements, efficiency ambitions, mobility related needs (location features) and entertainment needs. The service could be customized to support travelers’ style of traveling (e.g. organized travel or independent travel) and should be easy to use, especially easy to take into use (access, install and learn) during a trip, without causing security concerns and/or financial risks for the user. In fact, the findings suggest that the most prominent barrier to the use of mobile travel and tourism services during a trip is an individual’s perceived financial cost (entry costs and usage costs). It should, however, be noted that regulations are put in place in the EU regarding data roaming prices between European countries and national telecom operators are starting to see ‘international data subscriptions’ as a sales advantage (e.g. Finnish Sonera provides a data subscription in the Baltic and Nordic region at the same price as in Finland), which will enhance the adoption of mobile travel and tourism services also in international contexts. In order to speed up the adoption rate travel service providers could consider e.g. more local initiatives of free Wi-Fi networks, development of services that can be used, at least to some extent, in an offline mode (do not require costly network access during a trip) and cooperation with telecom operators (e.g. lower usage costs for travelers who use specific mobile services or travel with specific vendors). Furthermore, based on a developed framework for user experience of mobile trip arrangements, the results show that a well-designed mobile site and/or native application, which preferably supports integration with other mobile services, is a must for true mobile presence. In fact, travel service providers who want to build a relationship with their customers need to consider a downloadable native application, but in order to be found through the mobile channel and make contact with potential new customers, a mobile website should be available. Moreover, we have made a first attempt with cluster analysis to identify user categories of mobile services in a travel and tourism context. The following four categories were identified: info-seekers, checkers, bookers and all-rounders. For example “all-rounders”, represented primarily by individuals who use their pocket device for almost any of the investigated mobile travel services, constituted primarily of 23 to 50 year old males with high travel frequency and great online experience. The results also indicate that travel service providers will increasingly become multi-channel providers. To manage multiple online channels, closely integrated and hybrid online platforms for different devices, supporting all steps in a traveler process should be considered. It could be useful for travel service providers to focus more on developing browser-based mobile services (HTML5-solutions) than native applications that work only with specific operating systems and for specific devices. Based on an action research study and utilizing a holistic business model framework called STOF we found that HTML5 as an emerging platform, at least for now, has some limitations regarding the development of the user experience and monetizing the application. In fact, a native application store (e.g. Google Play) may be a key mediator in the adoption of mobile travel and tourism services both from a traveler and a service provider perspective. Moreover, it must be remembered that many device and mobile operating system developers want service providers to specifically create services for their platforms and see native applications as a strategic advantage to sell more devices of a certain kind. The mobile telecom industry has moved into a battle of ecosystems where device makers, developers of operating systems and service developers are to some extent forced to choose their development platforms.

Managing Customer Issues through a Support Channel Network

The importance of after-sales service or service in general can be seen and experienced by customers every day with industrial as well as other non-industrial services or products. This dissertation, drawing on theory and experience, focuses on practical engineering implications, specifically the management of customer issues in the after-sales phase in the mobile phone arena. The main objective of this doctoral dissertation is to investigate customer after-sales issue management, specifically regarding mobile phones. The case studies focus on issue resolution time and the issue of corrective actions. This dissertation consists of a main body and four peer-reviewed journal articles and one manuscript currently under review by a peer-reviewed journal. The main body of this dissertation examines the elements of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention with respect to corrective actions to address customer issues and issue resolution time through literature and empirical studies. The five independent works are case studies supporting the thesis research questions. This study examines four questions: 1) What are the factors affecting corrective actions for customers? 2) How can customer issue resolution time be controlled? 3) What are the factors affecting processes in the service chain? and 4) How can communication be measured in a service chain? In this work, both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods are used. The main body of the thesis reviews the literature regarding the elements that bridge the five case studies. The case studies of the articles and surveys lean more toward the methodology of critical positivism and then apply the interpretive approach in interpreting the results. The case study articles employ various statistical methods to analyze and to interpret the empirical and survey data. The statistical methods were used to create a model that is useful for significantly optimizing issue resolution time. Moreover, it was found that samples for verifying issues provided by the customer neither improve the perceived quality of corrective actions nor the perceived quality of issue resolution time. The term “service” in this work is limited to the technical services that are provided by product manufacturers and after-sales authorized service vendors. On the basis of this research work, it has been observed that corrective actions and issue resolution time are associated with customer satisfaction and hence, according to induction theory, to customer loyalty and retention. This thesis utilizes knowledge of marketing and customer relationships to contribute to the existing body of knowledge concerning information and communication technology for after-sales service recovery of mobile terminals. The established models in the thesis contribute to the existing knowledge of the after-sales process of dealing with customer issues in the field of mobile phones. The findings suggest that process managers could focus more on communication and training provided to the staff as new technology evolves rapidly. The study also suggest the managers formulate strategies for how customers can be kept informed on a regular basis of the status of issues that have been escalated for corrective action. The findings also lay the foundation for the comprehensive objective to control the entire product development process, starting with conceptualization. This implies that robust design should be applied to the new products so that problems affecting customer service quality are not repeated. The objective will be achieved when the entire service chain from product development to the final user can be modeled and this model can be used to support the organization at all levels.

Software business expansion through distribution channel : Case M-Files - Denmark

The purpose of this study was to find out how a software company can successfully expand business to the Danish software market through distribution channel. The study was commissioned by a Finnish software company and it was conducted using a qualitative research method by analyzing external and internal business environment, and interviewing Danish ICT organizations and M-Files personnel. Interviews were semi-structured interviews, which were designed to collect comprehensive information on the existing ICT and software market in Denmark. The research used three external and internal analyzing frameworks; PEST analysis (market level), Porter´s Five Force analysis (industry level competition) and SWOT analysis (company level). Distribution channels theory was a base to understand why and what kind of distribution channels the case company uses, and what kind of channels target markets companies’ uses. Channel strategy and design were integrated to the industry level analysis. The empirical findings revealed that Denmark has very business friendly ICT environment. Several organizations have ranked Denmark´s information and communication technology as the best in the world. Denmark’s ICT and software market are relatively small, compared to many other countries in Europe. Danish software market is centralized. Largest software clusters are in the largest cities; Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg. From these clusters, software companies can most likely find suitable resellers. The following growing trends are clearly seen in the software market: mobile and wireless applications, outsourcing, security solutions, cloud computing, social business solutions and e-business solutions. When expanding software business to the Danish market, it is important to take into account these trends. In Denmark distribution channels varies depending on the product or service. For many, a natural distribution channel is a local partner or internet. In the public sector solutions are purchased through a public procurement process. In the private sector the buying process is more straight forwarded. Danish companies are buying software from reliable suppliers. This means that they usually buy software direct from big software vendors or local partners. Some customers prefer to use professional consulting companies. These consulting companies can strongly influence on the selection of the supplier and products, and in this light, consulting companies can be important partners for software companies. Even though the competition is fierce in ECM and DMS solutions, Danish market offers opportunities for foreign companies. Penetration to the Danish market through reseller channel requires advanced solutions and objective selection criteria for channel partners. Based on the findings, Danish companies are interested in advanced and efficient software solutions. Interest towards M-Files solutions was clearly seen and the company has excellent opportunity to expand business to the Danish market through reseller channel. Since the research explored the Danish ICT and software market, the results of the study may offer valuable information also to the other software companies which are expanding their business to the Danish market.

Organisational purchasing of service design – Agency and client perspectives

There has been an increase in the interest in service design, as companies have become more customer-centric and their focus has shifted to customer experiences. The actual organisational purchasing of service design has been given little attention, until recent years. The purpose of this study is to explore the purchasing of service design from the perspectives of sellers (service design agencies) and buying clients (business organisations). In order to understand the phenomenon, also agencies and clients’ approaches to service design discipline, purchasing processes, challenges related to purchasing and ways of facilitating the purchasing are explored. The research follows qualitative research method and utilises abductive reasoning. A proposition framework was formed by combining services marketing, design and organisational buying behaviour literatures, and was tested against real-life business cases. Empirical data was gathered by interviewing eight service design agency representatives and five client representatives in Finland. The results of semi-structural interviews were analysed by finding repetitive themes. The proposition framework was updated according to interview findings. There were both similarities and differences in service design agencies and clients’ approaches to service design. Service design represents a strategic activity to both parties, and it helps in clients’ business development and in discovering opportunities. It is an ideology; a way of thinking and working. The driving force for purchasing service design seemed to be something else than service design itself. Projects have been bought for 1) change and innovation related development, 2) channel related development or for 3) customer experience related development. Seven purchasing challenge themes were recognised: 1) poor or differing service design understanding, 2) selling of service design, 3) varying expectations, 4) difficulty of pre-evaluation, 5) buyers and buying companies, 6) project process and nature and 7) unclear project results. These all can be considered to cause challenges in organisational service design purchasing. Challenges can be caused by either participant, the agency or the client, and take place at any point of the purchasing process. Some of the challenges could be considered as barriers to purchasing or they play a role in an unsuccessful service project – and therefore, result in an unsuccessful organisational purchase. Purchasing could be facilitated in various ways by either participant; some ways are more attitude based, others actionable improvements. Thesis’s theoretical and managerial findings can be utilised to both improve the selling and purchasing of service design services.

Working in partnership with the Museum Training Institute providing in service training for museum personnel

The South Eastern Museums Service is one of ten Area Museums Councils in Great Britain. They are partnerships; membership organizations to which the 2 000 + museums belong. They provide advice, support, technical services, information and training for their members. They are the principal channel of government grant-in-aid to local government, university and independent museums. This funding comes from the Department of National Heritage via the Museums & Galleries Commission. At the South Eastern Museums Service I am responsible for the development and delivery of training for 600 museums in our region and the provision of information about museums and of interest to museums. This paper explains how we approach in-service training and the value of the definition of national standards for our work. It will pose some questions: What is training? What is a training need? and describe a new initiative, the development of training materials and their delivery.

Performance of GPRS coding scheme detection under severe multipath and co-channel interference as a function of soft-bit width

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) has been developed for the mobile radio environment to allow the migration from the traditional circuit switched connection to a more efficient packet based communication link particularly for data transfer. GPRS requires the addition of not only the GPRS software protocol stack, but also more baseband functionality for the mobile as new coding schemes have be en defined, uplink status flag detection, multislot operation and dynamic coding scheme detect. This paper concentrates on evaluating the performance of the GPRS coding scheme detection methods in the presence of a multipath fading channel with a single co-channel interferer as a function of various soft-bit data widths. It has been found that compressing the soft-bit data widths from the output of the equalizer to save memory can influence the likelihood decision of the coding scheme detect function and hence contribute to the overall performance loss of the system. Coding scheme detection errors can therefore force the channel decoder to either select the incorrect decoding scheme or have no clear decision which coding scheme to use resulting in the decoded radio block failing the block check sequence and contribute to the block error rate. For correct performance simulation, the performance of the full coding scheme detection must be taken into account.