Discussion 2: Customer Service in Action
Some would say quality service is like good art: we know it when we see it. With some training and experience, however, our sense of quality and value can be refined. This week’s discussion topic aims to gather a variety of examples of both good and not-so-good service experiences to help us distinguish the defining attributes of the supply chain that lead to quality customer service events. Have fun with this one as you share details of your most memorable service encounters!
Describe a customer service event (negative or positive) you have experienced within the past few months. Tell the story of what happened and then address the following questions.
- How did the service event affect your opinion of the company or organization involved?
- What aspect of the organizational supply chain was most relevant to your experience?
- In what ways, if any, could the organization have changed its logistics methods to make your customer experience more positive?
Analyze It! What’s New in Logistics Management?
One trait of logistics professionals (or professionals in any field) is their continuing quest for more insights, learning, and growth. This week calls for a review of a current event in the logistics field to help keep us abreast of techniques and changing practices in the areas of customer service and procurement. Use this opportunity to become familiar with professional trade journals and academic research journals as useful sources of information and updates in the logistics career field. Share your sources with others in the class to spread the knowledge and to suggest the most valuable resources for ideas.
From the Hunt Library databases, select a recent research or professional trade publication article related to customer service or procurement aspects of the supply chain. Your article should be published within the last three years. Do not use newspaper articles, news presentations, PR releases, web sites, blog posts, Wikipedia entries, or other online web sources for your articles. You may use articles from respected business magazines such as Forbes, Fortune, Inc, or Business Week.
Write a review of the article addressing the following elements.
- Identify the article, its author, and publication, and briefly summarize the purpose and content of the article. Provide a formal reference entry for the article using current APA format.
- Compare and contrast the article’s content with the readings from the course text.
- Analyze how the article’s information and findings can be applied in today’s organizations to improve logistics management performance.
- Evaluate the reliability and validity of the article using critical thinking and rational analysis of its content, logic, author credentials, and purpose. Justify your conclusions and make a concrete recommendation to others in the class about whether or not they should read the article.
Review it
To confirm that you have mastered the content for this module, complete the end of module review below.
Independently answer the following essay questions using your own words.
- Give a specific example of a value-added service by a logistics provider that you have recently experienced. Explain why that event was positive or negative for you.
- Identify a customer service attribute you feel would be most important to a company that supplies meals to an airline. Justify your answer with an appropriate example or illustration.
- Online technology is widely used to purchase both personal items and materials for organizational use. One risk with use of technology for purchasing is power outages or system failures. Describe a strategy an organization can use to help reduce the impact of such technology failure risks.
- Select a modern supply chain technology and give an example of how an aircraft manufacturer might use that technology to improve customer relationships and increase productivity within the value chain.