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Improving the business processes at Gladior BV

Bieze, Michel (2008) Improving the business processes at Gladior BV.

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Abstract:This research attempts to find improvement opportunities for the campaign setup processes at Gladior BV, a firm specialized in search engine marketing. Since the foundation of Gladior in the late 1990s, the demand for search engine marketing has grown considerably each year. This led to a focus on growth at Gladior. Over the years search engines have changed much, which complicated the process for setting up search engine marketing campaigns. Besides that, due to these changes the performance of campaigns also became more uncertain. The changes created over time all kinds of problems in the campaign setup processes. These problems negatively affected customer loyalty and campaign performance. In this research, improvement opportunities for the campaign setup processes are formulated based on the insight in the course of processes, problems that occur in those processes and the causes of those problems. The processes are analyzed with the use of process management theories suited for analyzing primary processes in service industries. Theoretical framework In a literature review several suited process management theories are identified. From the identified theories selected for the analysis of the campaign setup processes. removing non value adding activities from processes. By removing non value adding activities, capacity can be saved. This capacity can be used for executing activities that add value from a customer viewpoint. processes by analyzing the internal cooperation and customer interactions in the service delivery process. This theory is suited for this research because it pays attention to special aspects of the service delivery process and because setting up campaigns involves multiple departments. Several tools are selected from these theories that can support in detecting problems in the current processes. These tools can also support in formulating solutions to those problems identified. Analysis of the current situation In order to analyze the processes, interviews with employees were carried out. Besides that, data was collected by observations and by verifying information by employees. Additional information was collected by tracking five orders through the campaign setup process. The campaign setup processes exist of several steps. First, the order has to be matched with a customer, before keywords can be determined on which the customer should become findable in search engines. After determining the keywords, texts have to be written for these keywords. When the texts are finished, a special webpage can be build for each keyword. Those pages, which are called landing pages, are optimized for generating visitors and customers via search engines. All landing pages together form a campaign. The final step of this process is supporting the customer with implementing the campaign to his website. In the analysis of the campaign setup processes, several main problems are identified. Most outstanding is a lack of flow in these processes. Besides that, rework occurs due to quality problems in campaign items. Finally the process flow and the quality of the campaign are negatively influenced by poor customer contributions in the process. M. Bieze Improving the business processes at Gladior BV Page 5 After grouping the problems together based on their cause-and-effect relations, fou are created for the prevention and detection of quality problems, customer participation in the process, and the existence of waste in the internal processes. Solutions After the identification of the problems, solutions are formulated for the problems identified in the focus areas. The allocation of tasks can be improved by applying job rotation at Gladior Partner (a department of Gladior) and by applying a highest priority system for determining priorities of tasks. Finally visual management can be applied to improve the clarity about process status and performance. The prevention and detection of quality problems can be improved by executing processes according to their natural course. Besides that, Poke-Yoka and Peer review can be applied at all process where it is currently absent (and where it is also possible to apply). At those processes Poke-Yoka can (partially) prevent quality problems from occurring, while peer review can prevent that quality problems reach the next process step or the customer. Customer participation can be improved by educating customer about the business processes in the sales processes, by making appointments with the customers concerning the matching of campaign items, and by using more media rich communication mediums for matching campaign items with the customer. If the customer allows it, Gladior should also implement the campaign instead of the customer. Even though the implementation of campaigns leads to additional work, it can ensure the implementation is carried out correctly. And a correct and complete implementation can positively affect campaign performance. In order to remove waste from the internal processes, Gladior should improve the transfer of orders from the sales process to the campaign setup process. Next to that, Gladior should also automate process steps in which data is currently entered into a database for the second time. The main benefits that Gladior can derive from implementing these solutions are: 1. Higher quality campaigns, that have a better chance on a good campaign performance. 2. Less rework on campaign items created in setup process. Due to less rework cost savings and capacity gains can be realized. 3. Less customer demands from customers to analyze campaigns or to implement improvement opportunities to campaigns, because the customer is unsatisfied with the performance. 4. A better quality perception by the customer, due to a better campaign performance and a better experienced guidance at customer participation moments. 5. An increased process flow, due to a decrease in waiting time on customer contributions and better task scheduling. 6. More clarity for employees about task priority and process status. 7. And hopefully: an improvement in customer loyalty.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Clients:
Gladior BV
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration BSc (56834)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/59220
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