Customer Service Essay Example for Free

Customer Service Essay Handout In this Session, you have learned about: The principles, policies and procedures of your organisation How your organisation communicates its principles to employees Your organisation’s policies and codes of practice Consultations on changes to principles, policies and procedures Issues of public concern relating to your industry and organisation. Principles, policies and procedures Principles are the foundation of a system of beliefs within an organisation. Principles are the philosophy of the organisation, illustrating how the organisation ‘thinks’. A policy is a definite course of action adopted by an organisation, which guides employees and helps them put principles into practice. Customer service policies are similar in many organisations, but some may be tailored to fit your organisation’s specific principles. A procedure is a series of steps to be followed to correctly answer the telephone, deal with complaints, give refunds etc. Organisations tend to have their own specific procedures. Communicating principles to employees An organisation may communicate its principles to employees in the following ways: The recruitment process Reading material Group discussions Appraisals and feedback Improving team performance Principles may be worked into the recruitment process. Interviewees asked about the organisation’s principles. Organisation handbook and vision statement include principles. This may be the first thing new recruits learn about the organisation. Printing out principles and posting them in the office ensures they feature in every employee’s day. Principles could be printed on commonly used items. Hearing principles read out is more effective for some. Managers and team leaders remind employees of principles. Discussion of whether an employee adheres to principles may be part of a formal review. Company awards are used to publicise principles. Company away-days and team-building exercises are opportunities to remind employees of principles. Team-building tasks could be centred on principles. Policies and codes of practice A code of practice is a set of written rules or standards outlining the responsibilities of, or proper practices for, an employee or organisation. An industry-wide code of practice is often defined by a trade association or professional body. Policies tend to be written by an organisation and based on an industry-wide code of practice. Your organisation might make you aware of its policies or code of practice by: Publishing the code of practice/policies on their website or the intranet Emailing updates to the code of practice and policies to all employees Including the code of practice and policies in the organisation handbook Basing appraisals or feedback systems around policies / code of practice Indicating the trade association/professional body who wrote the code of practice. Consultations on change If you are consulted on changes, your opinion is considered by those making the decision. Ways to consult employees on changes to principles, policies and procedures include: Small group meetings (face-to-face or via a video conference) Questionnaire Discussion with line manager/team leader Intranet bulletins or a FAQ page Email Team bulletins Monthly newsletter Letter A trade union/employee representative or staff council. How you are consulted depends on the size and structure of your organisation, employee work practices and the information being communicated. If your organisation has 50+ employees, you have the right to request an Information and Consultation arrangement. Issues of public concern Issues of public concern relating to your industry or organisation could include: Product recall and customer safety – is your product/service safe and reliable? Confidentiality – do you store customer information securely? Accessibility – is it easy to contact your organisation/use your services? Quality – is product/service equal to competitors? Responsiveness – how quickly will you respond to a customer and resolve problems? Value customers – do you value your customers and treat them appropriately? Finances – are accounts transparent and investments ethical? Wider concerns – public health, economy, environment, exploitation of workers etc. Your organisation may deal with issues of public concern by: Establishing stringent testing and health and safety processes Ensuring varied and easily accessed means of communicating with the organisation Investing in public relations to communicate effectively with the public Establishing clear customer service policies, making them available to the public and ensuring that staff adhere to these policies Publishing the organisation’s accounts Publishing a code of practice relating to the organisation’s economic, ethical, environmental responsibilities etc.

Human Nature/Cycles of Life and Escape and Adventure :: Essays Papers

Human Nature/Cycles of Life and Escape and Adventure Throughout the life everyone goes through cycles of events that inevitably lead them to new directions in life. It leaves one wanting to explore a life greater than what he or she has. Such cycles can include the creation of new friendships, longing for love or lust, boredom or simply wanting something more from life. In the book Dubliners by James Joyce, stories of escape and adventure are clearly evident in "Araby" and "Eveline" and "The Dead". Each story presents a desire to search for something greater in life and to leave something behind. But the idea of escaping from something or someone, or reaching a new place, is impeded by their situation [Dublin]. In the story Araby, a young man looks to embark on a new journey that with the hopes of pleasing his new found desire for romantic intimacy with a particular girl. The boy's adventure lies in going to a place called Araby to find a gift for this girl that he is trying to impress. If I go, he says, I will bring you something" (24). Joyce uses the cycle's theme in this story. At some point in time in life everyone finds some person that he or she likes and hope to impress in some way. A lot of times it happens more than once; most of the time a token of our attempt to "woo" a special someone is through gifts, usually materials, which he clearly wants to do in the story. Joyce clearly shows the boy's desire to adventure, through his willingness to impress this girl by going to a bazaar to search for her a gift and that seems to be all he can think of for quite some time; "I hardly had any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous" (24). He also has this idea about the bazaar form hearing other people talk about it. Another cycle the boy in Araby is going through is dealing with sexuality; "All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled" (23) A bazzar is the equivalent to a modern day Mardi Gras. Joyce uses the bazaar to symbolize, exotic delights, escape, and sensuality. Joyce uses the description of the event to represent this mode; "In front of me was a large building which displayed the magical name" (26). The boy's infatuation with this girl leaves him with fantasies about the girl

Globalization and Its Effects on Mexico Essay

Mexico has the size and assets which could contribute to wealth and prosperity within their borders. The nation has the second longest border with the United States, significant oil resources, and the 11th largest population in the world. Mexico underwent all the necessary free market changes to help support globalization despite initial resistance, but they are yet to complete the interior microeconomic makeover they drastically need. Mexico has many things working for them but continue to underperform when it comes to global power and economy, China out performs Mexico for low-cost manufactured goods and India is often the target for outsourcing jobs and services over Mexico (Biggs, Shiess). After sustained pressure from the United States and the International Monetary Fund, Mexico decided to change their global economic stance to one that supports the free market. They changed their economy to one based upon exports, they eliminated most tariffs while lowering others, attracted foreign direct investment and private state assets, and finally reduced government spending. These steps were taken at an effort for Mexico to join in on the economic benefits of globalization, but Mexico only finished half of the necessary adjustments necessary for economic prosperity. (Biggs, Shiess) Many residents of Mexico may blame their problems on issues such as the drug cartels, the lack of quality jobs, or lack of foreign investment. Although these ideas may contribute to the problems that control Mexico, they are not the true reason. After Mexico completed their globalization efforts by using the ideas of macroeconomics, they had only completed half the necessary adjustments to truly co mpete as an economic superpower in the world today.(BBC News) Mexico has failed in great part due to their stubbornness and interior corruption to evolve their nation from that of an above average Latin American Economic power, to that of one on par with most European nations, China, India, and the United States. The second half of the puzzle that Mexico is missing relies heavily on the ideas of microeconomics. Mexico never created the level playing field for companies within their country and is greatly powered by monopolies which ruins an economy due to lack of competition and innovation. For Mexico to begin to succeed in the free market needs to put resources into banks, education(specifically on technology), mechanisms which will support collaboration between competing companies, and most importantly new laws to disallow the monopolies which control Mexico’s economy. (Biggs, Shiess) Until these steps are taken Mexico remains a country which can be overwhelmingly difficult to do business in, which turns away the majority of investors, and people looking to expand companies into different countries. It is not a good sign when according to the International Finance Corporation Mexico ranks 75 out of 183 countries in the world for â€Å"ease of starting a business†. (IFC) Around the year 2000 when the globalization movement was fully set in motion, Mexico was going through an extreme change in their political stance as well. This was a major problem for Mexico, even though the economic changes which were drastically needed were happening outside Mexico’s borders it is a very difficult task of changing their political institutions at the same time of changing economic institutions. Mexico continues to stand where they are rather than take a step back to allow for future gains, for example Mexico continues to rely on their state owned oil giant Pemex instead of bringing in new companies and investors for an attempt at innovation and competition in their oil industry. (Biggs, Shiess) Until Mexico decides to take a small hit and clean house in regards to their current internal economic stance companies will continue to avoid Mexico at all costs. Startup companies need stability in a political and economic system, and until Mexico is willing to offe r that and put in place fair trade laws, better tax laws, and economic regulations they will continue down the same road. Mexico is greatly reliant on their petroleum exports; this has been called the Resource Curse by many experts. The problem lies in that when they started to nationalize their oil resources, they needed foreign investment to refine petroleum into oil as they lacked the local funds to do so themselves. This results in some economic benefits due to other countries purchasing crude oil for themselves, but the process remains to be quite draining on what could be the road to economic prosperity. Mexico needs to mine the crude oil, export it to outside nations where they can refine it and then re-import it as gasoline. (Biggs, Shiess) The biggest problem that their fossil fuel dependence will bring upon Mexico is that the country is relying on the industry, and because demand and prices are high Mexico has no reason to start new industries. Oil is a fossil fuel and resources are diminishing, and when they are gone Mexico will not be in even rougher shape than they are currently. Mexico is at the crossroads when it comes to their economy and what direction those in power want to take the country in. As of right now the globalization efforts have helped the Mexican economy but due to lack of funds and a change in political scenery at the same time Mexico was unable to fully capitalize on the free market. They may have helped their trading relationships with outside countries, but not enough was done within their own borders to disallow corruption and monopolies. Mexico is stuck in place until they take the necessary short term economic downfall to get the full rewards from globalization. With the constant changing of political motives, problems with drug cartels, and corruption the chances of new businesses starting up is slim. Without new businesses to inspire competition the economy will continue to rely upon oil to sustain the country’s economy, but eventually the oil resources they have will run out and lead to ultimate turmoil within Mexico. Works Cited Biggs, Cate, Ami Shiess, Kelly Korenak, Linda Chang, and Laura Neumeister. â€Å"World Savvy Monitor.† World Savvy Monitor. Ed. Anita Trachte. The World Savvy Board, Aug. 2009. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Mexico Country Profile.† BBC News. BBC, 09 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Doing Business in Mexico – World Bank Group.† Doing Business in Mexico – World Bank Group. International Finance Corporation, 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. .

The Inequality That Black Students Experience - 1330 Words

females (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011). The second reason is that the less experienced teachers are commonly placed in the most difficult schools teaching the most difficult students (Douglas, Lewis, Scott, Garrison-Wade, 2008). Poor teacher quality is a huge factor in the achievement gap (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011). Receivement Gap The research conducted by Venzant-Chambers (2009) attempts to address the inequality that Black students experience in receiving equal access to quality educational opportunities. Therefore, the receivement gap places the focus on what opportunities are being provided to Black students. Venzant-Chambers (2009) explained receivement gap and its use in this discourse. the term receivement gap is useful because it focuses attention on educational inputs-what the students receive on their educational journey, instead of outputs-their performance on a standardized test. This refocusing also moves attention away from the students as the source of these disparities, and toward the larger structure and forces that play a role in their education and development (p. 417). Venzant-Chambers (2009) asserted the issue of the Black and White achievement gap must be viewed through other lenses opposed to the single view of Black students cannot perform as well as White students. Venzant-Chambers (2 009) offered other avenues by which to examine the achievement gap such as school tracking, examining theShow MoreRelatedEducation Is Not An Equal Opportunity For Everyone1473 Words   |  6 Pagesin society positively, while creating an outlet to educate the ignorant, it becomes problematic when education is not an equal opportunity for everyone. In Adrienne Rich’s essay, â€Å"Taking Women Students Seriously†, she speaks of the inequality mainly affecting women while subtly hinting at the inequality present in education in regards to race and class. 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