The article Measuring Internal Customer Satisfaction (Ronald, 2000) analyses customer satisfaction from the perspective of internal stakeholders such as employees and suppliers instead of the external view of customers which are the clients. One of the key internal customers that are of utter importance to a corporation are the team units that work in different tasks and projects. Increasing the effectiveness of these team units can be achieve by improving the inter-communication and cooperation among work groups. An emphasis of the article is to analyze the perceived performance of work units based on the perception of the decision makers of the organization.
There is a positive correlation between improving internal customer satisfaction and the effect in has in the relationship with external customers. Improving customer satisfaction can help an organization increase customer retention which increases the revenue streams of a company in the long run. The demand for products and services increases by offering superior customer service. To achieve that goal, it is necessary to align internal systems to better serve external customers. Effective internal supplier to customer relations is imperative towards improving customer relations, loyalty, and the long-term profitability of an enterprise. The quality of internal systems must be improved.
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The effectiveness of work teams has become more important than in the past and is an area of emphasis in the study of organizational behavior. Monitoring inter-group functioning is very important. Team building can help improve working relationships and the perception between groups. Improving relationships can help reduce waste, improve morale, and enhance group dynamics. Emphasis must be placed by management on team evaluations to improve performance. Role theory emphasis on the role individuals are perceived to realize, but role expectations must also be monitored. Role expectations are imperative to improve the effectiveness of teams. Role theory explains how customer satisfaction can positively impact organizational effectiveness.
The quantitative methodology and analysis of the paper focused on answering two important research questions. The two questions are:
Can measures be used to determine the effectiveness of internal work teams from the perspective of internal customers?
Do differences exists between how employees in such work teams estimate how their internal customers rate them and how their internal customer rates them?
The sample used for the study consisted of 24 focal groups each having at least three internal customers. The empirical findings of the study demonstrate that expected self ratings of workers will be greater and more positive than those attributed by the internal customers. Two important findings of the paper are associated with personal service and technical competence. In the study the focus group rated the internal customer in a manner much higher than what the actual internal customers attributed to themselves, thus there was distortion in the data findings. Internal work teams had a different perception of performance than the internal customers. The difference in perception affects the actual quality of the service.
The gap in perception must be closed between work groups and internal customers to increase effectiveness. When work teams assume they are doing a great job and internal customers are not fully satisfied inefficiencies arise that must be attended. The different perceptions must be cleared up by the management of the organization so that productivity improves and the end-users of the services a company provides which are the external customers are satisfied. Some suggestions that might help close the gap are: creation of objective service measures, evaluation of performance of work teams, discussing performance data with team, comparing self-rating of work teams with evaluation of internal customers, and enabling internal customers to have a more realistic outlook of the internal suppliers.
- Ronald, G. (2000). Measuring internal customer satisfaction. Managing Service Quality; Bedford 10(3). pg. 178-186.
