- Exclusively offer streaming content
- Move into the video game market
- Expand into the music market and offer streaming MP3 content
- Begin to offer in-store delivery machines (similar to RedBox)
Monday, April 19, 2010
Question 15: Service Transformation
Monday, March 8, 2010
Question 13: International Expansion
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Question 8: Capacity Management
1. Describe a place in your focal organization's service process where if capacity and demand were better matched, the service could operate with minimal waiting.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Question 7: Information
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Question 6: Poka yoke
Think through what aspects of your focal firm's service might suffer to do inconsistency/quality issues associated with customer inputs.
1. What are likely sources of problems?
The main source of customer-caused problems at Netflix comes from the treatment of the DVDs that are mailed to their homes. However, I feel that a larger problem is the treatment of the envelopes by the US Post Office. Since most mail is sorted through a machine, there is a high chance of receiving a DVD that was scratched or even cracked during the delivery process. So for this question, I'm going to respond to the question with the USPS as the customer.
2. Design a poka yoke to help reduce the frequency or magnitude of problems.
While Netflix currently uses "sleeves" to protect the DVDs they send out, sometimes they do not provide enough protection. Personally, I've received DVDs from Netflix that were cracked, and while Netflix does a good job of remedying the situation (they send a replacement DVD to arrive the next day when you report the problem), it is still an inconvenience.
If Netflix felt this problem was highly detrimental to their business, whether it be in perceived service, or the costs associated with scrapping damaged content, they could design a solution that involved hard casings that housed the DVDs inside the existing Netflix envelopes to provide a greater amount of protection during the delivery process.
3. What aspect of your focal firm's service could be made more productive or produce higher quality outcomes if the customer was required to do something different? If firm decided to implement this change, what is the likelihood that the customer would accept it and do their part?
Implementing this change would obviously be costly to Netflix, but it would also immediately provide a higher level of service, in the form of a reduction in damaged DVDs. I'm not sure what kind of postage rates Netflix has negotiated with the USPS, but the addition of a hard casing to each envelope may increase the rate that Netflix is charged by the Post Office for delivery and return of the content. I'm sure the Post Office would reject the change if it did indeed increase their costs without being compensated for it. This would be another potential increase in costs for Netflix.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Question 5: Complexity vs. Divergence
Friday, January 15, 2010
Question 4: Bank of America
To better prepare for our visit with MSU Federal Credit Union President Pat McFarlin and Vice President of Finance, Tiffany Ford, today's entry will focus on a financial institution instead of your focal organization.
1. Identify a product and/or service that you use from your financial institution (e.g., credit card, savings account, checking account, student loan, etc.) and describe the characteristics/benefits of the product/service.
I do the majority of my day-to-day banking with Bank of America, where I have a checking account, a savings account, and a credit card. The benefit of having all three of these services with one bank is the ease with which can transfer money and manage my accounts and balances.
2. How would you rate the financial service provider’s service?
Out of 10 I would rank Bank of America a 8. They've always been accommodating with disputes I've had on my credit card, and just this week I got a call because of suspicious activity on my account, which turned out to be fraud. They were quick to rectify the situation and were proactive in monitoring my account.
3. What is your level of customer satisfaction and why?
Again, out of 10 I would put my customer satisfaction level at a 7. I started my account with Bank of America when I was living in Charlotte, NC, where they are headquartered. It would be nice if there were more ATM's in the East Lansing area. Also, their website is very user-friendly. I do 90% of my banking online, so having a comprehensive site is very helpful.
4. Where do you think customer service / satisfaction fits in your financial service provider’s overall strategy? Why?
I think Bank of America strives to create a personal connection with its customers, or at least the feeling of a personal connection with them. It's much harder for a financial institution as large as they are to actually service each customer individually than it is for, say, a local credit union. By creating a feeling of personal service I think Bank of America is trying to make their customers comfortable banking with them and, as far as I can tell, it's working.