9713749 Keltner The goal of this project is to help service companies design and implement service delivery strategies tailored to the needs of different customer segments. Information technology, work process design, and human capital investment are the three key enablers of innovative service delivery. While these three enablers play a role in all market segments, the relative importance of each varies with customer product need and company product offerings. Some market segments will be more conducive to service delivery using high levels of technology and automation, others to investments in work process design and human capital which support greater customization. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the project will produce evidence on appropriate combinations of resource investments by customer segment. Three partner companies in the commercial banking, commercial insurance and telecommunications industries will collaborate in collecting organizational, technical, operational, and economic data. Data collection will focus on the "mid-range" customer segments for high-end retail, small business and medium-sized business customers. Factor analysis and standard regression techniques will be used to produce empirical findings on how service companies can most effectively combine resource investments in different customer segments. The results of this analysis will be used to produce a decision-support tool which service managers can use in planning their resource investments and will enable service based companies, who are challenged by competitive pressures, to develop innovative service delivery strategies that both improve operational effectiveness and strengthen customer relationships.
