IT-Enabled Global Customer Service: Findings and Conclusions from Six Case Studies

Abstract

This chapter describes IT-enabled customer service development projects in six global companies. The chapter summarizes the projects to illustrate some of the contemporary trends in developing customer service processes and systems. The cases more importantly provide an opportunity to learn from experiences in implementing new service processes and models. While some of these lessons describe conventional wisdom known to all experienced managers, others may appear surprising. Perhaps most importantly, the experiences serve as a reminder that the most challenging phase in developing services on a global scale is when organizational boundaries for the development efforts are defined. Trying to integrate and harmonize everything is rarely the most viable strategy. The cases also illustrate that a fully integrated real time customer information system may not always be a prerequisite for high-quality global customer service. So rather than simply implementing complex state-of-the-art technologies to all service units, managers more than ever need a clear vision of where and when global harmonization and integration of service processes truly benefit the company and its main customers.