Handling a 20 000 calls-a-day telephone environment: The case of a service organization

摘要

This article highlights the efforts undertaken in the period 1992–1995 to provide the Informatie Beheer (IB) Groep with the organization, the infrastructure, and the information systems to handle a 20 000 telephone calls-a-day workload. Step by step, measures were taken to enable this organization to attain high quality norms for telephone services, while at the same time cutting total costs by 30 per cent, expanding products and services delivered, and accommodating a 40 per cent growth in the number of calls processed each day. The experiences of the IB Groep will be compared with current literature on organizational learning, on organizational change, on in- and outsourcing of services, and on the strategic intent of service organizations.