Discussion Question A:
Analyze the case study design below and post an analysis.
The Case:
KandyLand provides sweet treats for all seasons, but they really gear up in the summer so that their products are ready to go for the winter holidays. However, KandyLand has been experiencing problems in the shipping department. Order fulfillment errors are high. During your assessment of their process, you discovered that orders place "on-line" via the web were filled correctly 98% of the time and those that were entered by call-center customer service representatives were filled incorrectly 98% of the time. It was determined that the call-center's order entry tool was out of date and did not match that used by the shipping department. In addition, the data showed that over half of the customers ordering by phone had internet technology but were "not comfortable" ordering electronically, so they called their orders in. The "idea" is to move all orders to online order entry for all clients.
The Design:
- Train the sales reps
- Work with Marketing and Communications to create web and surface mail communications indicating that phone orders and surface mail orders will no longer be taken.
- Arrange for sales representatives to call customers and walk them through an online order or to visit them in person and walk through the online order
- Give sales reps an online form for reporting problems experienced by specific customers and other feedback.
- At weekly QA (quality assurance) meetings, summarize sales reps feedback and actions taken to solve problems
- Move 20% of customer service call-center reps into production roles or shipping roles
- Three-months after transition, determine whether the call-center staffing ratio is correct, whether lay-offs are needed, and determine whether there are other call-center issues that need to be addressed.
Discussion Question B:
What are the critical factors to consider in the design of a work system? What role does technology play in the design of work systems? Use data from credible outside resources to backup your response.
Assignment:
Nighttime Apnea Partners Institute (NAPI - pronounced Nap-ee) specializes in the study of sleep disorders, such as Apnea. They test both newly announced products and traditional home-remedies. Eventually, after much research, they publish clinical study data on their findings. In addition, they create market-ready sleep-aids that range from the low-tech tool to some very high-tech options. You are working with them on a software implementation project that will add barcode functionality to their current patient record system and custom-designed sleep-study software. This is a desired functionality in high-demand by the Sleep Specialists who track sleep behaviors of individuals testing various research studies, product studies, or who are simply visiting overnight to identify their specific sleep disorder. Below is the design for this change project. In a 2 page (minimum) paper following APA format, analyze its strengths and weaknesses.
The Design:
- Test barcode software against requirements
- Training shift leaders in the use of barcode readers
- Provide barcode training manuals for shift leaders to use in training their teams
- Bring up one wing of the sleep labs per week until all labs are up and running
- Provide on-the-floor coaches who rotate through sleep labs assisting the technicians, troubleshoot, and coach the use of the barcode readers
- During the week that a wing is building its barcode skills, debrief the wing-team at the end of the shift and debrief senior management at their morning "huddle"
Be sure to follow up your suggestions with data from credible resources. Remember that your title and reference page are not considered in the minimum page count requirements.