The Management of Service Desk Role Players: A South African Perspective

摘要

The service desk holds the key to the kind of perception customers might form of a specific organisation. It can even impact on a customer's choice of an organisation. In this research both qualitative and quantitative research techniques are used to get a better understanding of the real problems customers experience in this regard. Apart from using simple questionnaires to obtain input about how customers experience the service at a specific organisation, a short case study is used to analyze human behavior during the typical service encounter. The paper presents a conceptual framework to improve the current situation. The framework explains the elements to be focused on to ensure that staff manning such desks, are effective in their operations. The framework also serves as a "tool" for management to support them in their decision making regarding the operations of such desks.