Management Effectiveness in End User Perception of Service Delivery in Public and Private Sector Organizations

Management Effectiveness and the End User

Management EFFECTIVENESS IN END USER PERCEPTION OF SERVICE DELIVERY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANISATIONS:

A CASE STUDY OF VERIZON

How an end user perceives service delivery in an organization is often determined by the management of that organization. While there are many steps that a service can take between the manager and the end user, that does not mean that there is no correlation between the two. Management is ultimately responsible for everything that takes place throughout an organization, and managers who do not realize that, or who put their failings off on their employees, are doing a disservice to themselves and to the organization to which they belong. Overall, a manager must focus on the issue of customer service above all else, because customers are what keep the business alive. Without the customers, there would be no business - at least not for very long. Managers who take this seriously are more likely to have successful businesses where the customers - or end users - feel as though they are being treated properly and their needs and being met by the company.

This issue with the management of a company being closely tied to the service the end user receives is particularly significant from the standpoint of the telecommunications company, because a company of this size and design is relied upon to provide customers with reliable communication options. The individuals who are working in customer service generally have little to no control over the quality of the equipment of the reliability of the service. They are available to schedule service appointments and answer account questions, but there is little else that they can do. Because that is the case it falls to the management of the company - in the case of this paper, that company is Verizon - to do something to ensure that the end users are happy and that they keep using the company's service instead of feeling the need to switch their provider over to another company.

1.2 Problem Definition

The overarching problem here is that management is often ineffective in providing the end user what he or she needs. In cases where issues cannot be resolved quickly and easily, management can be blamed. Sometimes the customer service personnel are blamed because there are usually the first people to talk to the end users, but ultimately the issues lie with the management. Customer service personnel are able to do very little without the help of the management that operates the company, since that management provides the authorization for everything that customer service personnel do. That is a problem no matter what the company, but some companies struggle with it more than others. In order to get an accurate picture of how one company handles their end user experience when it relates to management and how end users perceive that management, Verizon will be used as a case study example and its end users will be studied to see how they feel about the company with which they do business from a satisfaction standpoint.

Verizon was chosen because it is one of the largest telecommunications companies. It is not extremely difficult to gain information on the company, and there are many people who use Verizon's services. This allows for a larger pool of participants which can be studied, and that will provide the researcher with a more accurate representation of how the company handles customer service issues. This study, however, is not specifically about how Verizon handles their end user experience. It is, more exactly, about how the end user perceives that experience. If Verizon believes the interaction was well-handled but the end user does not agree, there must be a reason for that - and that reason should be explored so that it can be determined where the breakdown in communication occurred. Without the ability to see where the problem actually lies, the company will not know what needs to be corrected.

1.3 Research Objective

The research objective here is to determine whether Verizon is meeting the needs of its end users from a management perspective. This must be identified by asking the end users, not be asking the management of Verizon. The goal is to determine whether the end users are satisfied with the perception they have of management. If they perception is far different than reality, Verizon may wish to work on the image it has in the marketplace, so that it will be more likely to be perceived correctly by its end users. Of course, not every end user will agree on how Verizon's management is handling things, especially if the end user has not had occasion to call customer service and/or speak to a "higher up" at the company. However, a pattern will present itself and individuals who deal with the company as end users will have opinions about the way they are treated. If they are being treated a particular way, it stands to reason that customer service is following what they have been told to do by management. With that being the case, the perceptions of management as they relate to the end user, can be better determined by the researcher.

1.4 Research Questions

The research questions are very important for any study. Here, the research questions that will be answered are as follows:

1. How, specifically, does the end user perceive the service he or she receives from Verizon?

2. How, specifically, does the end user feel about the management of Verizon, and how was this opinion formed?

3. Does the end user feel as though Verizon's management is appropriately handling the company so as to mitigate problems with the end user experience?

Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.1 Background of the Telecom Industry

Throughout its lifespan, the telecommunications industry has changed greatly. Regulation and deregulation have affected it, as have new innovations such as wireless technology, cellular telephones, and the internet. Because so much has changed, companies also need to grow and change. If they do not change and adjust, they will find themselves lacking what they need in order to be successful in the marketplace. Originally, telecommunications was a small business that was only designed for the people who really needed it and who could afford to access it. There were several companies that grew and that offered services to others. As the industry developed further, companies started to consolidate with other companies, and that eventually led to the monopoly that was AT&T. That was broken up, and when deregulation came about more companies jumped in and started offering services to customers again so that people would have more choices.

Eventually, the telecom industry became more than just phones. It also included the internet and cellular services, as well as other types of wireless communication devices. Overall, the industry turned into something that most people felt they could not live without. That ensured that the industry would remain available to almost everyone, but at what cost? Rates for telecommunications and the taxes that are imposed by those telecom companies are often relatively high. Even with "unlimited" plans, there is a price to be paid. The customer service of the telecommunications companies has also fluctuated from time to time, which is something that has to be addressed properly or some of the companies will fail simply because customers can be treated better by other companies that can offer them the same types of services for similar prices.

2.2 Literature

The kind of literature reviewed for this study will be varied. Of course it is important to look at literature that is specific to the case study, but it is also highly significant to look at literature that relates to the telecom industry overall. Without doing that, there is no way that the case study company can be compared to other companies appropriately. While comparison is not the major goal of the study, it still serves as a valuable tool in order to show how Verizon stacks up with its competition. Overall, however, the literature that will be used in the study will show the importance of the case study method, and the reasons behind why it is effective for the type of conclusions that will be drawn by this particular study. Also included will be literature that deals with telecommunications as a whole, and literature that specifically addresses management functions and how they are used to help a company be more successful. In addition, it is important to consider literature that relates to the end user experience of different kinds of companies, to determine whether there are specific issues that are seen where telecom companies are concerned.

2.3 The Case - Verizon

Verizon will be used as the case study subject. Information on the company will be provided for background and an understanding of how it was founded and how it has grown and developed throughout the years. In addition, Verizon's management needs to be examined, because it is very difficult to understand how a company works if that company's management is not understood. The style of management that is used by Verizon can give a great deal of insight into how managers treat employees, how they perceive customers, and how customers perceive the end user service that they receive. Verizon is a good choice for this because of its size and its large customer base.

Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology

3.1 Introduction

All studies need to have a clear methodology. There are many different kinds of methodologies that can be used, but not all of them work well for specific types of studies. In other words, some studies lend themselves to statistical types of analyses, and other studies are more interested in what people think about an issue. This is one of the latter types of studies. Information will be collected regarding the end user experience of people who have Verizon telecommunications service. This data will be examined for similarities and differences, so that the individuals who use this company's services can be placed into one or more categories when it comes to their satisfaction with the company they use. How long they have been with the company, what problems they have encountered, how they feel about the value for the money, and how many times they have called customer service - with what results - are all important to look at in this type of study. It is also important to consider what these people know about the management of Verizon and how they feel about that management, in order to get a more accurate picture.

Case studies have generally been an important way of looking at a specific company, or aspects of that company. They do not work well for larger, generalized studies, but they are excellent choices for studying only one company at a time and making determinations about a specific aspect of that company. For that reason, the case study method has been chosen here and will be used to determine the perception of management as it relates to the end user experience of customers who use Verizon. Through this examination, customer attitudes and perceptions can be pointed out, and if there are misconceptions about the company that are held by a large number of customers these can also be noted.

3.2 Research Design

This study will use the case study method, and will address qualitative and quantitative measures in a mixed-method approach. This is done because there are many facets to the way a customer may perceive management of a particular company. In other words, there are thoughts and feelings that need to be addressed and validated within the study, but there are also statistics that can be used - such as how many customers in a particular demographic group feel a certain way about the management of the company. Why this is the case can then be hypothesized, because all of the data will be available to be studied in many different ways. When people design research studies, they often stick to only one method - qualitative or quantitative. However, by using both and incorporating that information into the study, much more about the end user experience can be learned. This will provide readers of the study with more information and will also allow future researchers to take the information from this study and build on it in order to create more complex studies.

Each researcher must choose the design that he or she feels best about when it comes to his or her study. Not everyone would choose to research a particular issue or a particular company in the same way as someone else, and that is part of what makes research significant and interesting. When researchers focus on what they are doing from the standpoint of how they can best collect the information and provide value to the reader of the study, they are more likely to choose the right method. In this case, as attempt to study end user perceptions of management in all organizations would be much too broad of a topic. Even narrowing the field to the telecommunications industry would still produce a study of hundreds of pages. By choosing a case study and then extrapolating that information out as to how it may relate to other companies, a study that is much more manageable is produced.

3.3 Data Collection Procedures

The data for this study will be collected in two ways: through the use of a review of related literature, and through the use of a survey / questionnaire method. The literature will be used for background on the telecommunications industry, management overall, and Verizon as the case study subject. That literature can provide important information as to the concepts that are being considered within the study. However, it cannot provide current information on the customers who are using Verizon for their telecommunication needs today, and it also cannot provide information on how those customers feel about their end user experiences and the role that they perceive management to have played in those experiences. The only way to get that type and extent of data is for the researcher to collect it, and that clearly needs to be done in a study of this kind.

The survey / questionnaire will be created by the researcher and will be provided to 100 current Verizon customers that have had at least one telephone or email interaction with the company that escalated to a discussion with a manager or supervisor within the last six months. Since the company has such a large customer base, there should be no trouble finding the number of people desired for the study. The survey / questionnaire itself will consist of yes/no questions that can be used for quantitative analysis and more complex questions that will be used for the qualitative side of the analysis. The questions will involve basic demographic issues such as age and gender, but will then focus on the experience the individual had with Verizon customer service. Specifically, the research wishes to know how these people felt about their end user experience, whether they had any faith in the ability of customer service to correct their problem, whether they believed an escalation to management would set things right, and whether they were correct in their assumptions.

3.4 Data Analysis

Analyzing the data is highly important, because studies that have a poor analysis do not actually provide the answer to the research question(s). Collecting the proper data in the right way is only have the battle when it comes to doing a study. The analysis here will involve a quantitative study of the yes/no answers of the participants, and a qualitative study of their thoughts and opinions. From that, patterns can be drawn as to how Verizon customers feel about the way that they are treated by management and whether they, as end users, perceive management to be concerned about their interests. If not every customer has the same opinion, that is perfectly acceptable and to be expected. Each person will have had a unique experience with customer service and management that is all their own. However, there should still be a pattern that can be seen with a sampling of 100 people. In other words, it is not possible for that many people to have completely unique experiences with the same company - there will be at least some correlations to be found.