Customer Care and Role of the Overseas Representative - Essay Example

Care and Role of the Overseas Representative Table of Contents Rationale behind the Research 3 The Research Questions 4 Aim 4 Objectives 5 Literature Review that Identifies the Key Concepts to be Included 6 Methodology 8 Research Design 8 Data Collection 9 Research Approach 10 References 11 Rationale behind the Research Research is considered to be a logical and systematic study for finding new and useful information based on a selected topic. It is generally determined to be an exploration of finding solutions to scientific and social problems through defined objectives and systematic analysis. With the rapid development of technology and the emergence of globalisation in one business operating area, it has been viewed that competitors are increasing at an alarming rate. Large organisations are observed to be expanding their businesses globally in order to maintain their competitive position amid their competitors by offering an assortment products based on the local needs and preferences (Blaxter & et. al., 2001). However, it has often been viewed that the aim of expanding is considered to be one of the major tasks which at times results in negligence in the way customer satisfaction should be taken care of. With the changing demand in the preference of goods amid people, it has become vital for every organisation to implement new steps that would help them to fulfil the rising demands of their customers. Today’s tourism industry is recognised as one of the growing global industries. It has been measured that today many students selects travel and tourism as their field of study and chose to select it as the way of earning their livelihood. Additionally, tourism industry is viewed to provide challenging and exciting working environment which is attracting more people towards it. Overseas representatives are essentially organisational members who represent themselves as an authorised person to act as an official delegate or agent. The role of overseas representatives in a tourism industry is essential as they are responsible to look after all the requirements of their customers, which in turn helps in building better customer relationship with the organisation. Although tourism is considered to be a growing industry, it has been viewed that minimum research has been conducted to study the importance of overseas representatives in tourism industry and their role to maintain good customer care. In this regard, organisations or people who mainly aim to study the role of overseas representatives in tourism industry and their role in maintaining good customer care level would be attracted towards this research as it would aid them to understand the various factors associated with the job role and the importance of overseas representatives in tourism industry (Dale & Oliver, 2005). The Research Questions Based on the selected research topic, the two research questions that would be addressed in the proposed study are “what are the roles of overseas representative to establish better customer care?” and “Does overseas representatives motivate an organisation to improve its customer care services?” Aim The aim of this proposed research study would be to provide a detailed analysis of the role of overseas representative in tourism industry and their impact on customer care. Objectives Objective is considered to be one of the vital components of a research study, as it helps in providing a blueprint related to the factors that require to be followed while the research is being conducted. It is believed that a well written objective of a research of must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Measurable (S.M.A.R.T) (University of Ballarat, 2013). With reference to the selected research topic i.e. ‘customer care and role of the overseas representative’, the main objectives of the proposed research are depicted hereunder: 1. To understand the roles and responsibilities of overseas representatives to establish better customer care. 2. To comprehend the different factors that an overseas representative need to follow relating to the health and safety of the customers in an overseas holiday destination. 3. To understand how effective is an overseas representative in developing better customer care in comparison with other employees within an organisation and the range of communication techniques that can be used to meet the customer needs. 4. To measure the amount of customer satisfaction level before and after employing an overseas representative in an organisation. Literature Review that Identifies the Key Concepts to be Included The role of overseas representatives is considered to be one of the most vital jobs in a tourism based organisation as it is not only determined to be a challenging job but an exciting working assignment as well. The tourism industry is considered to be one of the most renowned and upcoming industrial sectors in modern days. With the advent of globalisation and technological aspects in the business environment, it is not only automobile and Information Technology (IT) industries that are flourishing in the market but they are also creating opportunities for tourism industry alike to flourish and to establish a brand name in the current competitive market. However, it has been viewed that though the tourism industry is measured to be an emerging industry in the business environment, very limited research has been conducted to study the different aspects that are associated with overseas representatives and their role in establishing a better customer care relation amid the organisation and the individual (Biederman, 2008). The proposed research study would mainly intend to explore the different key factors associated with the role of an overseas representative in details that would help in establishing a more mutual relation with the customers in the tourism industry. The vital concepts that are associated with overseas representatives that would be included and explored in the dissertation are explained below: There exist numerous forms of company representatives and among those overseas representatives are considered to be the most common. The role of a representative is determined to be most vital in the tourism industry as providing better services helps in maintaining an organisation’s brand name which would in turn facilitate in attracting more customers towards the industry. Customer service is considered to one of the most vital aspects in any organisation as it requires adequate amount of training and cultural efforts (Smith, 2005). These representatives play a major role in establishing a competitive edge over similar companies by offering better services, thereby adding value to the organisation. It is worth mentioning that the entire training program of any overseas representative must highly feature customer service as it is the first priority in any tourism organisation. It should be a part of induction program of an employee who has been recruited for the post of an overseas representative. Secondly, the individual must be explained regarding his/her roles and responsibilities in a detailed way as a lack of knowledge in any aspect may lead towards causing delay in offering services to the valuable customers of the organisation. In these aspects, practical skills focusing on the job role should be provided explicitly. The individuals should also be provided with a detailed learning session in order to teach them the application of different health and safety requirements that need to be conducted in case of emergency (Hall & et. al., 2012). The third key concept that needs to be explored is the personal skills of individuals who would work as an overseas representative for a tourism company. Consequently, the individual must be provided training to have a positive attitude, tune in to what the customer wants, act responsibly and follow all the aspects that would help in establishing customer care. It is vital that the individual must truly value the customers irrespective of their religion, colour or sex. The aspect of body language is considered to be another key facet that would be included in the proposed research relating to overseas representative and customer care. It also helps in effective interaction with other staff and customers. Body language also facilitates in interpreting one’s thoughts by his/her gesture. Correspondingly, eye contact is determined to be vitally important as it gives clue to a person’s thought. Jargon words should not be used by any individual associated with the task of a representative as it is believed that they may be understood differently at times. The art of being confident and competent should also be taught as the customers at times tend to know whether everything is in control or not (Smith, 2005; Bhatia, 2002). Methodology Research methodology is generally considered to be the art of solving a research problem through analysing different factors associated with the research topic. There exist various factors that can be adapted in a research methodology while conducting research. It is vital that appropriate research methods are selected while conducting any research study as wrong decisions would result in the conduction of inappropriate research study (Creswell, 2003). The three main methods that would be adapted in this research are research design, data collection and research approach as it is not always possible to adapt every process because of time and financial constraints (University of Southern California, n.d.) Research Design Research design is essentially the methods and procedures that would be done to conduct a research study. The design of a research defines the procedure that would be followed to conduct a research. There exist numerous forms of research design e.g. case study design, causal design, cohort design, cross-sectional design and causal design among others. In relation to the proposed study, causal approach would be considered as the research design. This form of research design is principally undertaken to study the phenomenon in terms of conditional statements. For instance, this form of approach is usually viewed to be adapted by large organisations to measure the impact of a specific change on the existing rules and traditions that is being followed. With due consideration to these understandings, in relation to the proposed research, data would be collected relating to the role of overseas representative and their impact on customer care from large tourism organisations such as Thomas Cook and Golden Hill Travel among others. Additionally, data would be collected from the general public about their thinking on the job role of an overseas representative (Davies, 2007; Denscombe, 2000). Data Collection Data is generally considered to be raw facts that are collected to conduct a research study. There exist various methods that can be implemented for collecting primary and secondary data. The methods that can be used for collecting primary data are observation, experiments, case study and conducting survey. In this context, the main aim of this study is to evaluate the role of the overseas representatives in customer care. With respect to the proposed research, survey method for collecting primary data seem to be the most appropriate as a detailed study of the different aspects of overseas representatives that would help in establishing better customer care needs to be conducted. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that factors such as cost and time among others need to be considered before adapting any research study. In this regard, feedbacks through questionnaire survey from different groups of people who have been frequent customers of a few of the well-known tourism companies in the United Kingdom would be involved while conducting the research study. Moreover, suggestions would be asked from ex-overseas representatives of these leading UK based organisations that would help in understanding how to establish better customer care services in the tourism industry. Furthermore, this form of method for collecting primary data is measured to be quite cost effective in comparison with other forms of collecting primary data, Additionally, it also helps in collecting precise information as the degree of confidentiality is found at a great extent (Marshall & Rossman, 2011; Bell, 2005). Secondary data are considered to be those data that are available from published books, journals or any other resources that have already been utilised by an individual or an organisation for conducting a research study. With respect to the secondary information for studying the role of overseas responsibility in establishing better customer care, information would be gathered from different books, newspapers, and several online resources. Analysing the tourism industry’s growth rate and customer retention level would also help in executing an effective research (Marshall & Rossman, 2011; Bell, 2005). Research Approach There are essentially three forms of research approach viz. quantitative, qualitative and mixed approach. Quantitative approach is generally associated with positivist hypotheses. It usually involves collecting of information and converting it into numerical form in order to make statistical calculation and draw a valid conclusion. Qualitative data is an approach which is basically related with recording, evaluating and endeavoring to unearth deeper meaning and significance of human behavior. This form of approach is fundamentally adopted to develop a theory or to look for a new aspect from the data that has been collected. Moreover, mixed research approach is a combination of both quantitative along with qualitative approach. With regard to the proposed study, a mixed approach would be the most appropriate as it would help in drawing conclusion by considering both logical and ethical perspectives (Brannen, 1992). References Biederman, P. S., 2008. Travel and Tourism: An Industry Primer. Pearson/Prentice Hall. Bell, J., 2005. Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First Time Researchers in Education and Social Science, 4th ed. Open University Press. Bhatia, A. K., 2002. Tourism Development: Principles and Practices. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Blaxter, L. & et. al., 2001. How to Research, 2 ed. Open University Press Brannen, J., 1992. Mixing Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Research. Avebury. Creswell, J. W., 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE. Davies, M. B., 2007. Doing a Successful Research Project: Using Qualitative or Quantitative Methods. Palgrave Macmillan. Dale, G., & Oliver, H., 2005. BTEC National Travel and Tourism. Heinemann. Denscombe, M., 2000. The Research Guide for Small Scale Social Research Projects. Open University Press. Hall, C. M. & et. al., 2012. Safety and Security in Tourism: Relationships, Management, and Marketing. Routledge. Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B., 2011. Designing Qualitative Research. SAGE. Smith, J., 2005. Travel & Tourism: AS Level for OCR: GCE AS Level Double Award. Heinemann. University of Ballarat, 2013. Using SMART Objectives. Online Performance Review and Development Program (PRDP). [Online] Available at: http://www.ballarat.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/90569/Using_SMART_Objectives.pdf [Accessed October 26. 2013]. University of Southern California, No Date. Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper. Types of Research Designs. [Online] Available at: http://libguides.usc.edu/content.php?pid=83009&sid=818072 [Accessed October 26. 2013]. Read More