Abstract
The themes of poor communication, lack of measurement and erratic supply-chain performance are common issues that we either encounter in our every-day working life, or have read about in our professional journals. In 2001 a large business within Case X initiated a programme to tackle a number of these issues by embarking on a mission to improve internal service quality which eventually led to a sizeable number of ServQual activities across a wide-range of services engaging in excess of 2,000 individuals.A common theme seen during this programme were that departments had difficulty describing who their customers were, the services they provided to those customers, coupled with this was a lack of measurement of the attributes that were or thought to be import to the customer. This eventually led to the research into a toolset that can assist organisations to understand the supply-chain that they operate within. The toolset is styled, Developing a Customer-focused Approach (DaCfA) a Model and Toolset (suite of matrices and templates) designed to capture and facilitate the review supply-chain information.
This Research takes the DaCfA Model, and Toolset developed within Case X, and through a suite of case studies applies both to inside and outside the Case X environment as well as in the internal and external supply-chain. This Research shows that the DaCfA Model and Toolset have made a valuable contribution to knowledge.
The Research concludes that the research aim and objectives were fully achieved and the following contribution to knowledge concerning:
- The DaCfA Model
- The DaCfA Toolset, specifically around the:
o Customer/supplier interfaces and relationships
o Measurement definition
- A set of themes (styled Theoretical Themes) that are readily observed within organisations undertaking a Customer-focused activity.
| Date of Award | Nov 2014 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Debbie Reed (Supervisor) & Mike Kaye (Supervisor) |