Seven sigma case study

Welcome to the Seven Sigma Case
This interactive case study will evaluate your ability to
apply the Behavior Plus model to a situation where the
performance of Customer Service Representatives you
manage must be improved. Carefully consider each
option presented to you and select the best one. More
than one option might be correct, but only one option
can be the best answer to each situation.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

Seven Sigma Case Study
Seven Sigma Corporation (SSC) sells financial management software to a variety
of retail organizations that are primarily small businesses. Because most of SSC’s
customers are not sophisticated financial analysts or particularly “tech savvy.”
Providing outstanding customer service is an important element of SSC’s value
proposition for customers.
SSC customers who experience a problem with the Company’s software or simply
have a question, can call a free “hotline” number that connects them to SSC’s
Customer Care Center. You are a manager at the Customer Care Center and
supervise a group of sixteen Customer Service Representatives. It has been
brought to your attention that your company has been receiving some complaints
from customers about the service they have recently received.
The company randomly contacts customers who have contacted on-line customer
service to obtain feedback about their overall level of satisfaction (on a 9-point
scale with 9 being completely satisfied) and obtain ideas about how to improve
customer service. SSC also randomly records about 10% of all customer
conversations with Customer Care Representatives (CCRs).
Over the past year, the average level of customer satisfaction with the on-line
Customer Service group has declined from 7.4 to 5.6. You must investigate this
matter and do something about improving the overall level.
Mr. Lee, pictured above,
is your boss and head of
Customer Service for
Seven Sigma. There is a
problem with the
Customer Service
Representatives that you
manage. Mr. Lee
expects you to improve
their performance using
what you have learned
about Behavior Plus.
Click HereTo continue…

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Click HereTo continue…
In the slides that follow, Mr. Lee will provide some additional information about
what’s happening at Seven Sigma and will ask you some questions about improving
the performance of the people you manage. You need to respond to Mr. Lee’s
questions by selecting one of the options that appear below the text boxes.
In future slides you will automatically be taken to a new slide based on the Option
you select when you click on one of the black icons on the left. Sometimes you can
chose between three options and other times you will only have two options from
which to choose, or even four choices.
To continue to the next slide that contains Mr. Lee’s first question, click on the “Click
Here” icon in the lower right corner of this slide.

Option 2
Option 3
Option 1
You could begin your investigation by conducting interviews with each of the CSRs
working for you to find out what their ideas are about improving customer satisfaction.
These interviews could be conducted one-on-one or in small groups just before the
work of a new shift begins.
Seven Sigma makes random CSR recordings with customers. These recordings are kept
for one year. You could listen to these recordings to identify some of the key CSR
behaviors that seem to be related to the decline in customer satisfaction.
Your company keeps contact information for all of your active customers. You could
contact a random sample of customs who have recently called your Customer Service
Hotline and gather some of your customers’ ideas about what needs to be done to
improve your customer service.
Mr. Lee knows the first step required to improve the performance of
the Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) is to conduct a
diagnostic investigation. What is the best next step you should take to
conduct your investigation? Choose one of the options described
below.
After clicking on one of the Option icons below, the wisdom of your
choice will be revealed to you and Mr. Lee.

Congrats you selected the best answer! Mr. Lee is pleased by your response.
The purpose of the Diagnosis step in the Behavior Plus process is to define the “As Is”
situation along four dimensions. The first two of these steps are:
First, describe the current level of the individual’s performance that needs to be improved. It
is important to be as specific as possible in describing the current performance targeted for
improvement.
Second, pinpoint and describe the key behaviors that are producing the current level of
performance.
The best way for you to satisfy these first two steps is by listening to the random recordings
of your CSRs speaking with customers.

Sorry, not the best answer! Mr. Lee is not pleased by your response.
The purpose of the Diagnosis step in the Behavior Plus process is to define the “As Is”
situation along four dimensions. The first two of these steps are:
First, describe the current level of the individual’s performance that needs to be improved. It
is important to be as specific as possible in describing the current performance targeted for
improvement.
Second, pinpoint and describe the key behaviors that are producing the current level of
performance.
The best way for you to satisfy these first two steps is by listening to the random recordings
of your CSRs speaking with customers.

Option 2
Option 3
Option 1
You should continue the diagnostic activities by conducting an investigation into the
antecedents affecting the four key behaviors that seem to be producing the
dissatisfaction with customer service.
Investigating antecedents would be mostly a waste of time. The diagnosis should now
focus on how to stop the four key behaviors just identified.
The diagnostic phase of the Behavior Plus process is not complete. The next step in the
process is to establish objectives related to “To Be” behaviors.
After spending many hours listening to recent recordings of your CSRs’ conversations
with customers led you to conclude there are four key behaviors related to the decline
in customer satisfaction:
•Customer Service Representatives (CSR’s) do not always give customers their
names or try to establish a rapport with the customer.
• CSR’s do not always repeat the customer’s problem in a summary fashion to
convince the customer that the customer's problem.
•CSR’s too often interrupt customers while they are speaking as soon as the CSR
believes they understand the customer’s problem.
•CSR’s often re-direct the customer to another person without asking the
customer’s permission first.
Mr. Lee wants to know what you do next to continue your diagnosis?

The Diagnosis phase of the Behavior Plus process is definitely not complete at this point.
The next steps should involve the identification of important antecedents that are affecting
the key behaviors just identified.
So, you’re on the right track. Keep up the good work and click on the blue button below to
continue with this case study.

Investigating the antecedents related to the key behaviors is most definitely not a waste of
time. What were you thinking?
Investigating the antecedents is exactly what you should do next. Click on the button below
to continue with this case study.

At least you were correct in assuming the Diagnosis step in the Behavior Plus process is not
yet complete. The problem with your answer is suggesting you should focus on the “To Be”
behaviors next. We will get around to that, but not next.
The correct answer was the first Option – investigate the antecedents associated with the
key behaviors you just identified. Click on the button below to continue with this case study.

Option 2
Option 3
Option 1 The training materials used to train the CSRs.
The Customer Service Handbook the company gives to all new CSRs.
Actually, I think both the training materials and the Customer Service Handbooks are
important antecedents to the key behaviors that should be investigated.
In a service center like this one, what are some of the antecedents you would like to
investigate? What kinds of antecedents could possibly to related to the key behaviors
that have been identified?
Mr. Lee wants you to consider the four options below and select the most correct
answer.
Option 4
The training materials and Customer Service Handbook are not actually antecedents.
Mr. Lee is trying to sneak in a “trick question” here and I’m not going to fall for it.

Picking Option 1 is not completely wrong, it is just not the best answer. Please click on the
button below and you will be taken back to the four Options so you can choose another
option. Good luck next time!

Picking Option 2 is not completely wrong, it is just not the best answer. Please click on the
button below and you will be taken back to the four Options so you can choose another
option. Good luck next time!

Both of the antecedents described warrant further investigation. Good answer my friend!
Click on the button below to continue with this case study.

Picking Option 4 was a big mistake. Options 1 and 2 refer to important antecedents that
should be investigated. The question was not a trick. There were two other wrong answers
to this question, but you picked the option that was the most wrong. Better luck next time.
Click on the button below to continue.

Option 2
Option 3
Option 1 Extinction.
Punishment.
Positive reinforcement
Mr. Lee has observed CSRs are trying to refer their customers to someone else as
quickly as possible so they can avoid punishment resulting from allowing customers to
wait on line for more than two minutes. The Company has strongly emphasized the
importance of not allowing customers to wait for more than two minutes to speak with
a CSR. Assuming Mr. Lee has accurately described what is happening, how would you
describe the type of consequence at work here?
Option 4 Negative reinforcement.

Not a good guess.
Click on the button to return to the question so you can make another selection.

Sure you got this one right, but it was really not that difficult. The key to identifying the
consequence was the revelation the CSRs were avoiding punishment. This is the basic
definition of negative reinforcement.

Option 2
Option 3
Option 1 Absolutely agree, without hesitation or qualification.
Agree, but we must be careful of a potential conflict between these two objectives.
Even with the revision of the goal on customer waiting more than two minutes from
100% to 90%, there still could be a potential problem here. While I do agree with the
proposal, it is with some hesitation.
Sorry, but Mr. Lee is wrong and I’m going to tell him so. These are not reasonable “To
Be” performance objectives.
You overhead Mr. Lee telling another manager there should be two “To Be”
performance objectives – one related to the customer satisfaction rating and one
related to how many customers wait more than two minutes to speak with a CSR. One
“To Be” Objective should be to achieve a customer satisfaction rating of 7.5 (on the 9-
point scale) within one year. This would represent a small improvement over where the
customer satisfaction rating was about a year ago. The objective of having no
customers wait more than two minutes to speak to a CSR must change. The new
objective should be 90% of customers should not wait more than two minutes to speak
with a CSR. These two objectives reflect the judgment that customer satisfaction is the
most important objective. How long a customer has to wait to speak to a CSR is
important, but it’s only one component of the customer’s overall service experience.
Do you agree with these two “To Be” performance objectives?

This is the best Option because Mr. Lee’s proposal is really fairly good, but there is a
potential conflict between the two objectives. So, agreeing with the proposal but making
your reservations known so special attention can be placed on goal conflict, makes a great
deal of sense.
Click below to continue with this case study.

Not a good decision. Some potential concern about potential conflict between the two goals
is realistic. But to completely dismiss these goals is just not warranted.
Click below to continue.

Sorry, not the best answer! Mr. Lee, however, is likely pleased by your response.
Mr. Lee’s ideas are actually good, but there is some potential for conflict between the two
goals. So, don’t feel very bad for selecting this option.

Option 2
Option 1 Absolutely agree – I would recommend these to Mr. Lee.
No way! These are not appropriate and just goes to show how out of touch these CSRs
really are. Focusing on these key behaviors is a waste of time and will not improve our
customers’ satisfaction.
Mr. Lee asked you to recommend four “To Be” key behaviors on which you should focus
in order to improve performance among your CSRs. The CSRs met as a group and
recommended these four:
1. Greet customers in a friendly way and introduce yourself by name.
2. Secure the customer’s agreement that you understand there problem or question
by paraphrasing it. Do not transfer the call until reaching this agreement with the
customer.
3. Ask the for customer’s permission to transfer a call.
4. Watch for the light that will flash red when a customer has been waiting to speak
with a CSR more than two minutes.
Do you agree with these four “To Be” performance objectives and plan to recommend
them to Mr. Lee?

Hey, these are quite reasonable key objectives on which to focus. They are also supported
by the CSRs since they are the ones who recommended them. Recommending them to Mr.
Lee is a “no brainer.”

Sorry, not the best answer! Mr. Lee is likely confused by your response.
What were you thinking was the problem with these key behaviors? These are quite
reasonable and appropriate for this situation.

Option 2
Option 1 Absolutely agree – I would recommend this proposal to Mr. Lee.
No way! This is just a waste of money.
Mr. Lee wants to know if there is a potential problem with the competencies of
your CSRs, given what the diagnosis revealed? A training firm recently proposed
a one-day seminar to train new CSRs rather than relying so much on mentoring.
The training firm will also revise the Customer Service Manual and review its
content during their conduct of the proposed training program.
What do you think about this proposal? Do you believe training and a revision to
the Customer Service Manual is really needed?

Hey, it should be obvious that some type of CSR training is needed. Revising the Customer
Service Manual also seems like a good idea at this point.

Sorry, not the best answer! Mr. Lee is likely confused by your response.
What were you thinking? This proposal seems quite reasonable and appropriate for this
situation.

Option 2
Option 1
Absolutely agree – recommend this proposal to Mr. Lee just the way it is described
here.
Good idea, but these are not enabling antecedents. They are initiating antecedents.
You feel you need to come up with a “big idea” of your own to really show Mr.
Lee that you understand how to improve performance.
Your initial thought is to create some posters that can be placed directly in front
of CSR’s in their direct line of sight just above their computer screens. The signs
remind CSRs: “My name is…”, “Do I understand your problem?”, “Can I transfer
you to…?”
You believe these are really great enabling antecedents that are quite
appropriate in this situation.
Option 3 What a stupid idea. Think of something else.

t
This is a good idea and you correctly described this really involves initiating, not enabling
antecedents.

Sorry, not the best answer! Mr. Lee is not please by your response.
Yes, you are correct about this being a good idea. However, Mr. Lee knows these are
initiating, not enabling antecedents. So, he will like the idea but not knowledge of ABA.

Sorry, not a good answer! Mr. Lee is not please by your response.
What is wrong with this idea? Actually, this proposal will likely work well. There only
problem has to do with referring to these as enabling rather than initiating antecedents.

Option 2
Option 1
Absolutely agree – recommend this proposal to Mr. Lee just the way it is described
here.
Good idea about what will be measured, but the frequency is not acceptable. These
measurements should be made much more frequently than annually. Measurements
should be made on a weekly or even daily basis if possible.
The next issue we have to address is measurement. Do you think Mr. Lee will
accept a proposal to annually measure the following key areas as a reasonable
measurement plan?
The measurement of customer satisfaction on an annual basis. The
measurement of how many and what percentage of customers waited on-line for
more than two minutes. The monitoring of customer calls two hours per day.
The monitor has a checklist to follow based on the three key behaviors being
sought by the Behavior Plus project, plus the length of the call. Outputs from
these measurements take the form of written reports produced monthly in the
case of customer service, and weekly in the case of the other measures.

Yes, the idea about what should be measured is fine but the frequency is not at all
acceptable.

t
This is a good idea so long as the frequency issue is resolved.

Option 2
Option 1
Absolutely yes. I completely support this plan for feedback.
No way. I will not accept this plan for feedback.
Mr. Lee expects CSR’s will receive feedback weekly in the form of an e-mail. Once
per month, the Department Manager will meet with the CSR’s as a group to
discuss the monthly report on customer satisfaction and weekly reports. In
addition to discussing these reports, the purpose of this monthly meeting is to
plan actions to keep progress on track to meet the one-year performance
objective. Special charts posted in the CSR team’s office space, depicting
monthly progress toward each of the team’s performance objectives helps focus
CSR’s attention. The office space also includes letters and printed e-mails from
customers thanking and/or praising the work of CSR members.
Will you support this plan for feedback?

t
This is a good plan for feedback. There might be better plans, but this one is really not that
bad and should work just fine.

While it might not be perfect, this plan is really not that bad. You should have supported it.

Option 2
Option 1 Absolutely yes. I completely support this plan to reduce an unwanted behavior.
No way. I will not accept this plan.
Mr. Lee wants to know how you are going to stamp out the unwanted behavior
of CSRs spending so much time reading and fooling around when they don’t have
a customer waiting to speak with them. What do you think of giving CSR’s low-
priority projects on which they can work when there were no customer calls to
take? This could dramatically decrease the temptation not to spend the time
with customers required to create higher levels of customer satisfaction.
Will you support this plan?

This is a good shaping strategy to deal with an unwanted behavior.

t
This is a good shaping plan to eliminate some unwanted behaviors. The CSRs might not be
to happy with this at first, but it should work.

You have one final attempt to impress Mr. Lee. You asked several people to help you to develop a shaping
strategy for new behaviors. So far, here are the ideas: Each CSR who completes the one-day Customer
Service seminar will receive a commemorative coffee cup. This applies to all existing CSR’s and all new
employees who complete the training.
We previously described how someone would monitor CSR conversations with customers two hours per
day – this time divided between two different CSR’s. The purpose of this monitoring is to evaluate CSR’s
behaviors in light of three of the key behaviors associated with the overall performance objectives. Each
time a CSR achieved a 100% compliance evaluation from a one-hour monitoring session, the Department
Manager would be informed immediately and he would briefly meet with the CSR as soon as possible to
give the good news and warmly express appreciation and encourage continued success.
Be sure to celebrate four milestones on the way to achieving a customer satisfaction rating 7.5 or higher.
An increase of about 2.0 has needed to reach this goal.
Each time the CRS team improved .5 from one month to another; there would be some extra “surprises”
at the team’s monthly feedback meeting. The performance manager established a budget for special
catering at the meetings, gift certificates, movie tickets, and the like. This budget included resources for a
special celebration dinner for CRS members and their families when the customer satisfaction rating
reached 7.5. At your weekly team meeting, recognize CSR team members who achieved a 100% rating
from the monitoring process during that week in front of the entire group. The Department Manager
would praise all CSR team members who improve their rating from the previous month. At the monthly
team meeting, praise the team for any improvement in performance toward the key behaviors and/or
progress toward performance objectives. With the achievement of one of the four milestones, announce
the details of the celebration and prizes.

Option 2
Option 1 Absolutely yes. This is a great plan to shape the desired behaviors related to improving
CSR performance.
No way. Do not share this plan with Mr. Lee.
You really do think the plan outlined on the previous slide is great and will work
quite well to shape the new behaviors required to significantly improve CSR
performance. Should the plan be submitted to Mr. Lee? This is your last chance
in impress Mr. Lee.

Sorry, not the best answer!
This was your last chance and you blew it! There was nothing wrong with this plan. It was
definitely consistent with what you should have learned about Applied Behavior Analysis and
the Behavior Plus model.
This brings our Seven Sigma Case Study to an end. Too bad it has ended on a sour note for
you. We do hope you had some fun and learned some thing from this experience.

t
Congrats you selected the correct answer! Mr. Lee is pleased by your response.
This is a great plan. You would be wise to present this to Mr. Lee. This plan demonstrates
you understand the key principles of shaping. Congrats my friend.
This brings our case study to an end. We hope you enjoyed the experience and learned
from it as well.

Seven sigma case study

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