iwmw 2005: customers, suppliers, and the need for partnerships

06 June 2005 Customers, Suppliers, and the Need for Partnerships

Customers, Suppliers, and the Need for Partnerships

Presented byStephen Emmott, Head of Web Services

LSE


Copyright and credits• Content coloured orange on slides has been sourced

from the Successful Delivery Toolkit. The Successful Delivery Toolkit is a Crown Copyright Value Added product developed, owned and published by the Office of Government Commerce. It is subject to Crown copyright protection and is reproduced under licence with the kind permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Office of Government Commerce. © Crown copyright. The OGC Successful Delivery Toolkit is a Value Added product and falls outside the scope of HMSO’s Core Licence.

• All remaining content and slides © Copyright London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE).


Overview• Contents

– Customer focus 11 slides– Customer chains 08 slides– Partnerships 06 slides– Whose web is it? 01 slide– Web Services at LSE 01 slide– References 02 slides

• Statistics– Total number of slides: 29– Estimated minutes for delivery: 35


Customer focus• Office of Government Commerce (OGC):

– "Customer Focus" in the public sector is about refocusing services around the needs of the citizen as a customer of public services, rather than the problems of those who provide the services. It signifies an organisational culture that aims to address the needs, expectations and behaviours of the public, and then adjusts every aspect of the organisation to align with customer values. This includes the entire delivery chain from policy-making through to front-line services - including strategy, organisational design, business processes, performance measures, information systems and support processes.


Customer focus• Key points:

– Who are our real customers?– What do our customers need/want?– What services must/should we deliver and how?– What resources do/could we possess or have access to?



– What changes can/should we make in service quality and delivery?



– Monitoring, review, measurement, feedback.


Customer focus


Customer focusDimension Description

Tangibles The physical facilities and equipment available, the appearance of staff, how easy it is to understand communication materials.

Reliability Performing the promised service dependably and accurately.

Responsiveness Helping customers and providing a prompt service.

Assurance Inspiring confidence and trust.

Empathy Providing a caring and individual service to customers.


Customer chains• ‘Internal customer’ - Total Quality Management (TQM).• ‘Supply chains’ – operational management.• ‘Chain of customers’ –Schonberger.• Focus on customer versus supplier hence customer

chains.• Links in the chains are between organisational units

and/or people.• Customer chains represent activities or processes.• Delivering value to the target customer.


Customer chains


Customer chains• Customer chains in a HE context are ‘loose’.• Complex web of customer-supplier relationships at the

micro level. Linkage to macro level – if present – unclear.• Internal customers are internal suppliers and vice-versa,

so who is the customer?• Formal agreements (eg SLAs or SLDs) between

customers and suppliers can be difficult if not impossible to establish.

• Significant variation within and between activities.• Doesn’t ‘fit’ with HE culture, although this is changing.


Customer chains• Customer chains focus attention on the target customer

and provide a model for understanding the activities underpinning services provided to the customer.

• Provide a framework within which to improve value for the target customer.

• Relationships between suppliers and customers are the weak points.

• Internal customers/suppliers can loose sight of the target customers.

• Change can be inhibited.


Partnerships


Partnerships• People are key.

– Build and develop relationships.

• Relationships between customer and supplier need to be collaborative, not necessarily contractual:– Open; trust; win-win; communication.

• Customers and suppliers should be treated as partners in the activity:– Focused on outcome; some contact with target customers;

shared responsibility.

• Fit with the organisational culture:– Level of formality; sponsorship from senior management; style.


Partnerships• The outcome and its continued value for target

customers provides the mandate.• Can be highly effective.• Costly in terms of time and effort (human resources),

both to setup and maintain.• Difficult – right people needed with the right skills.• Complex.• Volatile.• Delivery is dependent upon the partnership: dependent

upon people.


Whose web is it?• The customers’: target customers.• Target customers empower their immediate suppliers

within the context of the customer chain.• Position of web teams in the customer chain is crucial:

– Within the chain = supplier-focused web services.– End of the chain = customer-focused web services.

• Priority is to increase value for target customers.• Increasing value is achieved through the partnership

within the customer chain.• Who leads the partnership?• Where should web teams position themselves?


Web Services at LSE• Mission: Meet the information needs of customers in

pursuit of the School’s objectives.• Primary questions:

– What are the School’s objectives?– Who are the target customers?– What are the target customers’ information needs?

• Secondary questions:– What services should we be providing and to what levels?– How are we going to monitor performance/satisfaction?

• Missing questions:– What customer chains are required?– Who leads the customer chain partnerships?


References• Successful Delivery Toolkit (OGC)

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/index.html

– Customer Focushttp://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/deliverylifecycle/cust_focus.html

– Joined-up Workinghttp://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/deliverylifecycle/joinedupwork.html

• Effecting Change in HE (University of Luton/ HEFCE)http://www.effectingchange.luton.ac.uk/

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/index.html

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/deliverylifecycle/cust_focus.html

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/deliverylifecycle/cust_focus.html

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/deliverylifecycle/joinedupwork.html

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/deliverylifecycle/joinedupwork.html

http://www.effectingchange.luton.ac.uk/


References• Chartered Management Institute

http://www.managers.org.uk/

• Competitive AdvantagePorter, M. (1985) The Free Press, ISBN 0684841460

• Building a Chain of CustomersSchonberger, R. (1990) Hutchinson, ISBN 0029279917

http://www.managers.org.uk/

iwmw 2005: customers, suppliers, and the need for partnerships

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