Offshore responsiveness: theory of Constraints innovates customer services

ABSTRACT This study describe a typical scenario occurring inside the stressful environment of a service call center working in shifts with high agent turnover, and offer ways to streamline operation through the usage of Theory of Constraints (TOC) methods. Offshore customer service representatives should not operate in fire-fighting mode but instead management should identify the root causes of customer dissatisfaction. A lesson learned from the study is that call centers should diminish reliance on automatic voice recognition technologies, which detracts executive attention from customer complaints about issues such as miss-communication, time zone differences, and national culture. Companies should complement the usage of TOC practices to improve key performance indicators by establishing career promotion paths for customer service representatives that would improve their well-being and elevate their status in the organizational hierarchy, consequently increasing their motivation to improve service level.

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