This essay is based on the Premium Oil and Gas Company (POG) case study. POG, as a global, company is functioning in diversified business environment. It causes in fact, a necessity to deal with varied internal and external environmental issues, that occur within the company. Internal business environmental issues are in control of the enterprise. External business environmental issues, on the other hand, are driven by factors, that are beyond the control of the company (e.g. legal issues). According to the executives, POG company aspires to become a truly global enterprise, known for its modern and meritocratic management, supported by outstanding learning organisation. Nevertheless, some major issues can be found at all levels where company operates. This paper is focused on POG strategic issues, related to human resources management (HRM) and is divided into three parts. The first section of this paper provides a brief overview of the company aims and outlines the essay scheme. The following section indicates and analyses two main HRM issues, related to POG case, including general justification of the choice made. At the same time, a series of recommendations for POG is provided, before conclusions will be presented in the third part. Two main issues defined by the author refer to communication and knowledge sharing aspects. In general, one of the most significant platforms for company issues to arise are the culture differences between co-workers. Since internationalisation strategies started being implemented by enterprises on a large scale and the number of multinational companies grew rapidly, also multicultural issues have become the substantial matter to deal with. For POG case, where westernized culture of the headquarter is confronted with eastern way of thinking in Azeri subsidiary (Hercules Meets Buddha), communication issue can be named as one of decisive factors affecting organisational side of the company. The main role of organisational communication (Elving, 2005) is to inform clearly employees about their responsibilities, as well as about company policies and issues. Secondly, communication leads to a better integration and community creation. Hancock and Zayko (1998) also indicate the importance of communication, whereas its lack often provides with resentments between employees. The communication levels in POG may be distinguished between Azeri employees (trainees) and their trainers/colleagues from headquarter, as also between Azeris within their group, what manifests itself in teamwork tasks. The most appropriate theoretical framework to analyse the communication issues in POG seems to be the concept of Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 2001) in relation to Azeri national culture. First dimension in this model refers to uncertainty avoidance, explained by Hofstede (2001, p.161) as “The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situationâ€. In relation to POG case, there is a strong alienation, suspiciousness and reluctance of Azeri trainees to westernized corporate culture. These types of behaviour seem to be typical reaction on culture shock. In result, high level of uncertainty avoidance successfully reduces the efficiency in communication between them and their western colleagues. The second, and one of the most important dimensions in context of communication is power distance. Mulder (1977) as cited in Hofstede (2001), explained the meaning of power distance by comparison of power determinacy, which is unequal between less and more powerful members of a particular system. Countries like Azerbaijan, exhibit a high degree of power distance, which means that its citizens are a hierarchical society. As a consequence, several problems can be observed in POG communication skills trainings. Firstly, Azeri trainees are afraid of asking questions, as lack of knowledge is seen by them as humiliation. Moreover, there is a strong resistance of rising issues with managers in fear of undermining their authority and damaging relationships with them. Also trying to draw conclusions from mistakes is very difficult, as taking responsibility is uncommon for Azeri people. POG trainers find these behaviours in total opposition to the company brainstorming working patterns, consistent with open and free to ask POG culture. Another dimension in Hofstede’s model is individualism, as opposition to collectivism. There are several main differences between these assumptions (Hofstede, 2011). In individualistic social framework, only immediate family is expected to take care of its member (“Iâ€- consciousness society). Individualistic approach is concerned with westernized cultures. On the other hand, in collectivist social framework, immediate family is extended to other relatives and non-relative in-group members (“Weâ€- consciousness society). Definition, which more accurately describes Azeri society is collectivism, what POG trainers assumed to be a solid base to develop team working skills for them. However, as the practice shows, there is a strong recognition of inequality within the group members, resulting from status-conscious society model. In Trompennars and Hampden-Turner seven dimensions’ model (1997), status-conscious approach is defined as ascription theory, where status is based on position. Communication issues arise, when there is a need from trainers to identify responsibilities and contribution of particular members in a team. Communication within the team is also affected by the social status of its members. Next dimension from Hofstede is a differentiation of social attitude in terms of gender. Feminine and Masculine societies can be defined. Feminine society is associated with modest and caring values for both genders. There is a balance between family and work (Hofstede, 2011). Good examples of feminine societies are Scandinavian countries, but also Russia, where the role of women is inherently high and influential in social relations (Camiah and Hollinshead, 2003). On the other hand, masculine societies reflect patriarchal and traditional structure with male leadership and domain role (Sikdar and Mitra, 2012). This approach is close to Azeri social behaviours, where women role in society is quite limited or at least not equal to this of men. In turn to POG case, a significant communication issue arises between Azeri trainees and female L&D officer. Despite her outstanding qualifications, communication barriers are built because of cultural accretions. Male trainees find it insulting to be advised or educated by female. In result, information flow is highly disrupted. The fifth dimension (Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation) is not directly linked with communication issues in this case, however, in general it may be an important indication for multicultural issues based on behavioural patterns. Another issue related to communication is language. However, this aspect is also highly linked with knowledge sharing issue and will be explained later on in this paper. Considering the main issues related to the communication in POG, identified in this paper, some changes should be provided in order to cope with these issues. A comparison can be made to Elite Hotel case, where cultural differences had also a strong impact on communication between co-workers. Although some recommendations may be covered in both cases. Firstly, the performance for “Communication and Team Working†module should be customized. This module, as a key tool of communication, does not suit to cultural differences between Azeri co-workers and company culture management scheme. Practical implementation of company rules will not succeed without understanding of these cultural differences by both sides. Taking into account POG’s aspirations to become a truly global and meritocratic company, responsibility and flexibility in management processes should be embedded. In practice, various cultural trainings, as well as cultural events to build up coherent relations, should be provided at the beginning of the training programs. Such cognitive steps ought to improve communication and become a platform to implement practical aspects of the training programme. “Communication and Team Working†module modifications shall focus on overcoming of power distance influences, through engaging trainees to an active involvement in discussion and problem solving proposals. Also individual tutorials for Azeri trainees might help them to overcome communication barriers. Inequity in terms of ‘team working’ need to be suspended by cultivation of organizational culture, in order to enhance intercultural and intra-cultural communication. Underestimation of female as a teacher should be confronted with a huge, direct and continuous support from high male authorities to break the stereotypes and teach trainees how to overcome them without losing respect in their own environment. Nevertheless, the competences of L&D officer must be proved by this young female. Knowledge sharing process is concerned as another significant issue related to POG case. Whereas explicit knowledge can be formalized, tacit knowledge is strongly connected with communication. Moving further, communication issues have impact on knowledge transfers. Processes of creating knowledge and its management in organizational level have been studied by many authors. Most of them emphasize the importance of capability to transfer knowledge, as a pivotal factor in fields of organizational learning processes (Goh, 2002). The process of sharing knowledge may be considered from different contexts. Transfers may take place within the same unit in organization, throughout different departments, or between subsidiaries. Knowledge can be also shared between individuals, communities and groups; locally, nationally or worldwide. Argote and Ingram (2000, p.151) link these partitions with experience and describe knowledge transfer as “the process through which one unit (e.g., group, department, or division) is affected by the experience of anotherâ€. There are several ways of how knowledge is shared. According to Taylor et al. (1996), there are three main strategies for transferring HRM knowledge. POG strategy characterizes high internal but low external consistency, what indicates centralized HRM system and strong domination of headquarter over its Azeri subsidiary. There are several important individual factors, affecting knowledge transfer. Integrated capability of these factors may either facilitate or impede the HR knowledge transfer (Lecture 2, Knowledge Transfer and Sharing, Figure 2). Accordingly, some issues related to knowledge transfer in POG case are connected and complemented by communication issues, however they demonstrate problems from different view. Firstly, culture differences between co-workers have a large impact on knowledge transfer. The example of female L&D officer is the most appropriate one to adopt, when knowledge absorption is limited by cultural ties. Another issue is connected with motivation and willingness for cooperation, required to achieve mutual benefits. Lack of co-operative behaviours can be observed in terms of sharing opinions or involving into discussion during the meetings with management board. Finally, language skills can determine processes of acquiring knowledge, when Azeri workers need to learn English as an operative language in the company. However, English is not the first language for Dutch workers either, who stand for the majority of the company staff. In terms of recommendations, knowledge sharing issues must be solved by POG executives quite fast, bearing in mind the company staffing plans for the next five years. Generally speaking, POG strategy of HRM should become more integrative (rather than exportive) with high internal and moderate external consistency, in order to optimize solutions for subsidiaries like Azerbaijan. There is also a significant role of trainers and expatiate managers for knowledge transfer capabilities. Country-specific, intercultural training should be conducted for them, as part of their preparation for the job. The Robert Bosh GmbH case is a good example for POG, how to achieve intercultural proximity to improve knowledge transfer. HRM issues in POG company simply highlight, that it is not sufficient for organizations to get adopted to business environment without respecting individuals from different cultures (Trompennars and Hampden-Turner, 1997). Hofstede’s framework clearly indicates these differences, which affect HRM, not only in communication, but also in knowledge transfer. The deeper the differences, the more complex management issues arise. ‘Communication and Team Working’ module should be customized in respect to Azeri culture, rather than be left unified for all subsidiaries. Also implementation of integrative HRM strategy, jointly with higher intercultural sensitiveness of trainers and expatriates could facilitate knowledge absorption capacities of Azeris. Nevertheless, core values of the company management ought to remain unchanged. There are no simple decisions without both positive and negative consequences involved. In fact, there is no single box with tools to fix problems, and various ways may be chosen to follow. List of references: ARGOTE, L., and INGRAM, P., 2000. Knowledge Transfer: A Basis For Competitive Advantages in Firms. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes [online], 82(1), p. 150-169. Available at: http://www.columbia.edu/~pi17/2893a.pdf [Accessed 1 December 2012]. CAMIAH, N., and HOLLINSHEAD, G., 2003. Assessing the potential for effective cross-cultural working between “new†Russian Managers and western expatriates. Journal of World Business [online] 38, 245-261. Available at: http://wenku.baidu.com/view/862ab85abe23482fb4da4cf7.html [Accessed 5 December 2012] ELVING, W.J.L., 2005. The role of communication in organizational change. Corporate Communications: An International Journal [online], 10(2), pp. 129-138. Available via: Emerald [Accessed 1 December 2012]. GOH, S.C., 2002. Managing effective knowledge transfer: an integrative framework and some practice implications. Journal of Knowledge Management [online], 6(1), pp. 23-30. Available via: Emerald [Accessed 7 December 2012]. HANCOCK, W.M., and ZAYKO, M.J., 1998. Lean production implementation problems, IIE Solutions, 30(6), pp. 38-42. HOFSTEDE, G., 2001. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviours, institutions, and organizations across nations. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications Inc. HOFSTEDE, G., 2011. Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture [online], unit 2. Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol2/iss1/8 [Accessed 3 December 3, 2012]. SIKDAR, A., and MITRA, S., 2012. Gender-role stereotypes: perception and practice of leadership in the Middle East. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues [online], 5(3), pp.146-162. Available via: Emerald [Accessed 5 December 2012]. TAYLOR, S., BEECHLER, S., and NAPIER N., 1996. Towards an integrative model of strategic international human resource management. Academy of Management Review [online], 21(4) pp. 959-985. Available via: Business Source Complete [Accessed 7 December 2012]. TROMPENNARS, F., and HAMPDEN-TURNER, C., 1997. Riding the waves of culture [online], 2nd ed. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Available at: http://khurrambukhari.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/riding-on-the-waves-of-culture.pdf [Accessed 3 December 2012]
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12/19/2019 0 Comments Regional Airlines Case StudyCase 2: Regional Airlines Case 2: Regional Airlines Case Introduction A+ for effort, Customer Service Pays for Itself In an extremely regulated and thus relatively uniform industry such as the commercial airline industry, the successful airline is the organization which sets itself apart from the competition. Within an industry that requires customer planning to interface with flight schedules and security measures, a major operational aspect which can aid an airline in gaining an edge on the competition is customer service.The effective consumption of air travel (finding flights, buying tickets, getting through the airport, boarding a plane, and finally reaching the final destination) is not the same simple consumer –supplier relationship that the consumer experiences in a trip through the Wal-Mart checkout counter; the nature of air travel makes the interaction between the airline and the customer very complex.Almost every facet of the complex relationship between the airline and customer can generate a large amount of stress for the consumer; consumers find poor customer service in the face of tight travel deadlines and paid for travel plans that did not necessarily go as intended extremely frustrating. Analysis Investigating Salient Case Issues To capitalize on offering a high level of effective customer service, an investment must be made.The airline must ensure their customer service department not only understands that customer service is highly valued in the organizational environment but also must ensure that the customer service department has the tools and resources to offer effective customer service (Graham, 2012). Like any business investment, the organization must make smart decisions when providing customer service resources; for instance a call center of fifty employees which only answers two calls an hour is a humongous waste of resources that would be better allocated towards another goal.The problem of understand that an investment towards more effective customer service is needed, but at what cost to make that investment, is the problem which faces Regional Airlines in the case study on page 539 of the 2012 Anderson, et al, text: An Introduction to Management Science Regional Airlines is expanding its customer service operation by setting up a new phone system for the purpose of providing ticketing services and customer assistance over the phone.The airline is going ahead with the new phone system; however, two major decision points exist, how many agents to allocate to the line (one or two) and what complexity of system in which to invest (a system that provides a holding function versus one that does not). The expected call load for the new operation is one call every 3. 75 minutes, available metrics indicate that on each call a ticket agent spends 3 minutes with a customer; effectively this results that for every customer attended to, there will be 45 seconds of downtime (Anderson, et al, 2012).Unfortunately for Regional Air, those figures are only averages, there will be an indeterminate amount of calls which meet or exceed the 3. 75 minute span in between calls. The decision between systems which provides a hold function versus the one that does not will determine will determine if that customer is placed on hold or if the call is just dropped. Placing an unanswered call on hold provides a buffer for the agent to end the call and then service the holding customer; however, for a customer that stays on hold for an inordinate amount of time will begin to feel less and less like a well-served customer.The expected call load versus the time it takes for an agent to deal with each call is the basis of allocating only one agent to man the call system. The second option of allocating two or more agents is in effect, insurance that each call will be answered in a timely fashion and callers will not have to wait for extended periods of time. The decision of how many agents to allocate to the phone system is based upon the apparent cost for an extra agent sitting around not actively engaged in a call; however this view is relatively short sighted because it does not take into account the revenue lost from dropped calls and dissatisfied customers.The salient issue of the case is determining what the appropriate level of investiture to make for the phone system to provide an expected (and beneficial) level of customer service Group Discussion Exploring Simulations Simulation is a quantitative technique developed for studying alternative courses of action by building a model of that system and then conducting a series of repeated trial and error experiments to predict the behavior of the system over a period of time (Srivastava, Shenoy, & Sharma, 1989, p. 753). Of all the simulations waiting line simulations are of the most important to the customer service industry.In the airline industry long waiting times can lead to poor customer service scores and diminished sales. Regional Airlines is establishing a new telephone system for handling flight reservations (Anderson, Sweeney, Williams, Camm, & Martin, 2012). The airlines main goal is to decrease the wait time at its call centers and increase sales. Regional’s management team agrees that its goal should be to answer 85% of its incoming calls immediately. The following analyzes Regional Airline’s (RA) current reservation system and ways to improve it. Analysis of Current SystemCurrently RA is answering one call every 3. 75 minutes during 10:00 a. m. to 11:00 a. m. time period (? (average arrival time) = 60 minutes / 3. 75 minutes = 16 calls per hour). The average service time is 3 minutes per customer (µ (service rate) = 60 minutes / 3 minutes = 20 calls per hour). With only one reservation agent, the probability that a caller will be blocked because of a busy signal is P1 = . 4444 ? o = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /0! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! = . 5556 ?1 = ( ? / ? ) 1/0! i=1k ? /? 1 /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) 1/0! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! = . 444 With two reservation agents, the probability that a caller will be blocked because of a busy signal is P2 = . 1509. ?o = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /0! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! + (16/20) 2 /2! = . 4717 ? 1 = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /1! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! + (16/20) 2 /2! = . 3774 ? 2 = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /2! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! + (16/20) 2 /2! = . 1509 Regional Airlines’ current phone reservation system will answer an approximate of 85% of phone calls with two employed reservation agents.However, the other 15% will be blocked because of a busy signal. Customers who do not get a hold of an agent may not call back and contribute to negative customer service reaction and adversely affect the business. Analysis of Agents Needed Proposed expanded system will allow callers to wait. Instead of being blocked when all lines are busy, customers can choose to stay on the line and calls will be answered in the order received. With only one reservation agent for Regional Airlines in the expanded system, 80% (Pw) of incoming calls will end up waiting. The average waiting time is also at 12 minutes (Wq).Cited numbers above show a horrendous system that is both undesirable and a business model doomed for failure. So in order for RA to realize the benefits of the expanded system, it needs to employ two or more reservation agents. Po=1- ? /? = 1-1620=0. 20 Lq = ? 2 ? (? – ? ) = 16 2 20 (20 – 16) = 3. 2 L =Lq + ? / µ= 3. +1620=4 wq+Lq / ? =3. 216=0. 20 hours=12 minutes W = wq + 1/µ = 0. 20 + 1/20 = 0. 25 hours = 15 minutes Pw= =1620=0. 80=80% At the planning meeting, Regional Airlines’ management team agreed that answering at least 85% of the calls is an acceptable customer service goal.This means that the probability of waiting will have to be 15% or less. Pw= 1k! k k? k? – ? Po k = 2 agents Pw= 12! 16202 2 202 20- 16 0. 4286= 0. 2286 k = 3 agents Pw= 13! 16203 3 203 20- 16 0. 4472= 0. 0520 Po=0. 4472 Lq=0. 0189 L=0. 8189 Wq=0. 0012 hours=0. 07 minutes W=0. 0512 hours=3. 97 minutes Using three agents clearly meets the company’s goal. With three reservation agents, only 5% of the calls will be waiting, which is way below the 15% targeted cap in order to meet the goal of 85% answered calls. Average waiting time is also at a minimum, calculated at 0. 012 hours or 0. 07 minutes. System Recommendation The current telephone reservation system design does not allow callers to wait; callers instead must attempt to reach a reservation agent when all agents are not occupied. Should callers reach the service line when all agents are busy they will be met with a busy signal. The management at RA is seeking to switch to an expanded telephone system to combat this problem. Based on the calculations in the previous paragraphs, RA will need approximately 3 reservations agents to run an expanded phone system.Group 3 recommends that the company employ the multiple channels waiting line which consists of two or more service channels that are assumed to be identical in terms of service capability (Anderson, et. al. , 2012). Regional airlines could support at least a two-channel operation to service the needs of its customers. MANAGERIAL REPORT ASSUMPTIONS: a. One call every 3. 75 minutes during 10:00 a. m. to 11:00 a. m. time period ? (average arrival time) = 60 minutes / 3. 75 minutes = 16 calls per hour b. Average service time of 3 minutes with each customer µ (service rate) = 60 minutes / 3 minutes = 20 calls per hour 1.An analysis of the current reservation system that does not allow callers to wait. How many reservation agents are needed to meet the service goal? With only one reservation agent, the probability that a caller will be blocked because of a busy signal is P1 = . 4444 ? o = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /0! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! = . 5556 ?1 = ( ? / ? ) 1/0! i=1k ? /? 1 /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) 1/0! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! = . 4444 With two reservation agents, the probability that a caller will be blocked because of a busy signal is P2 = . 509. ?o = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /0! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! + (16/20) 2 /2! = . 4717 ? 1 = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /1! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! + (16/20) 2 /2! = . 3774 ? 2 = ( ? / ? ) ? /0! i=0k ? /? i /i! = ( 16 / 20 ) ? /2! (16/20)o / 0! + (16/20)1 /1! + (16/20) 2 /2! = . 1509 Conclusion: Regional Airlines’ current phone reservation system will answer an approximate of 85% of phone calls with two employed reservation agents. However, the other 15% will be blocked because of a busy signal.Customers who do not get a hold of an agent may not call back and contribute to negative customer service reaction and adversely affect the business. 2. An analysis of the expanded system proposed by the telephone company. How many agents are needed to meet the service goal? Proposed expanded system will allow callers to wait. Instead of being blocked when all lines are busy, customers can choose to stay on the line and calls will be answered in the order received. With only one reservation agent for Regional Airlines in the expanded system, 80% (Pw) of incoming calls will end up waiting. The average waiting time is also at 12 minutes (Wq).Cited numbers above show a horrendous system that is both undesirable and a business model doomed for failure. So in order for Regional Airlines to realize the benefits of the expanded system, it needs to employ two or more reservation agents. Po=1- ? /? = 1-1620=0. 20 Lq = ? 2 ? (? – ? ) = 16 2 20 (20 – 16) = 3. 2 L =Lq + ? / µ= 3. +1620=4 wq+Lq / ? =3. 216=0. 20 hours=12 minutes W = wq + 1/µ = 0. 20 + 1/20 = 0. 25 hours = 15 minutes Pw= =1620=0. 80=80% At the planning meeting, Regional Airlines’ management team agreed that answering at least 85% of the calls is an acceptable customer service goal.This means that the probability of waiting will have to be 15% or less. Pw= 1k! k k? k? – ? Po k = 2 agents Pw= 12! 16202 2 202 20- 16 0. 4286= 0. 2286 k = 3 agents Pw= 13! 16203 3 203 20- 16 0. 4472= 0. 0520 Po=0. 4472 Lq=0. 0189 L=0. 8189 Wq=0. 0012 hours=0. 07 minutes W=0. 0512 hours=3. 97 minutes Using three agents clearly meets the company’s goal. With three reservation agents, only 5% of the calls will be waiting, which is way below the 15% targeted cap in order to meet the goal of 85% answered calls. Average waiting time is also at a minimum, calculated at 0. 012 hours or 0. 07 minutes. 3. An analysis of the expanded system proposal by the telephone company. A representative from the telephone company suggested that Regional Airlines consider an expanded system that accommodates waiting. In the expanded system, when a customer calls and all agents are busy, a recorded message tells the customer that the call is being held in the order received and that an agent will be available shortly. The customer can stay on the line and listen to background music while waiting for an agent.Expanded System with waiting allowed Pw for 1 agent P0= (1-? /? ) 1-16/20=. 20 Lq= ? 2 =16(2)= 3. 2 ?(? – ? ) =20(20-16) L= Lq+( ? /? )=3. 2 +(16/20)=4 Wq =(Lq/ ? )=3. 2/16=. 20 (12 minutes) W=Wq+(1/ ? )=. 20+ (1/20)= . 25 (15 minutes) Pw= ? /? = 16/20=. 80 Expanded System with waiting allowed Pw for 2 agents Pw=1/k! ( ? /? )k k? / k? – ? P0 1/2! (16/20)2 2(20)/2(20)-16 . 4286= . 2286 Expanded System with waiting allowed Pw for 3 agents 1/3! (16/20)3 3(20)/3(20)-16 . 4472= . 520 In order to use this system, Regional Airlines would have to use three agents to keep the customer service of 85% of the calls being answered immediately. The telephone arrival rate of incoming calls is expected to change from hour to hour. Describe how your waiting line analysis could be used to develop a ticket staffing plan that would enable the company to provide different levels of staffing for the ticket reservation system at different times during the day. Indicate the information you would need to develop this staffing plan.This analysis only covers the 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM time frame. As we have seen with the equations used, we have to have historical data for the other time frames. If the phone lines are open from 08:00AM – 08:00 PM, we could use the data from each hour. Keeping with the 85% rate of phone calls being answered immediately for good customer service and the use of the limited amount of call agents required to save Regional Airlines money, after further analysis, Regional Airlines will have the data need to make the best decisions for their company. 4. Staffing PlanIn order to develop a ticket agent staffing plan that would enable the company to provide different levels of staffing for the ticket reservation system at different times during the day, a similar simulation method and analysis used above are needed. By implementing the same application, the right number of reservation agents each hour can be determined. In addition to the number of agents used, it is also possible to use the same information to determine the full-time and part-time shift schedules that meet the company’s customer service goals.But in order for RA to do this, it needs the hourly average arrival rate for the whole day. 5. References Anderson, D. , Sweeney, D. , Williams, T. , Camm, J. , & Martin, K. (2012). An Introduction to Management Science Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making. Mason, OH. South-Western Cengage Learning Graham, J. (2012). Think Like the Customer – Or Lose the Sale. American Salesman, 57(4), 18-23. Srivastava, U. K. , Shenoy, G. V. & Sharma, S. C. (2005). Quantitative techniques for managerial decisions (2nd Edition). New Age International Publishers: New Delhi.
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