EFFECTS OF COVID19 ON SERVICE DELIVERY STRATEGY TO THE CUSTOMERS

Introduction

The coronavirus disease, popularly known as COVID19, has been ravaging the world since December 2019. The latest statistics released by Worldometer (2021) indicate that at least 107 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, out of which approximately 2,350,000 people have died. While COVID-19 is not the first global pandemic recorded in history, it is considered a very serious pandemic especially in light of its “unprecedented scale of impact on every aspect of human life” (Kim, Kim & Wang, 2020 p.1). The disruption that the pandemic have caused to not only human health but to national and the global economy, as well as social welfare, is arguably unparalleled in as far as modern history is concerned. With the common measures to contain the pandemic including policies such as quarantines, lockdowns, and social distancing, it goes without saying that service delivery is one of the areas severely hit by COVID-19. The travel restrictions imposed by different governments in a bid to prevent further spread of the disease will certainly hinder the effective delivery of services to customers. Outlining the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected customer service, Quaglietta and Alvord (2020, para.2) cite increased absenteeism, reduced morale due to unpredictability of work conditions, and limited information that causes uncertainty together with confusion on the part of customers. In reference to these and other impacts, it has become critical that managers of organisations identify or devise innovative strategies of ensuring that customers receive quality, satisfactory service despite the disruptions and new challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim of the Research

Having established that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented changes to operations at the individual, community, national and global level, this research aims to examine how coronavirus has influenced the strategies used by companies to deliver service to customers. The research focuses on the banking sector, using Barclays Bank as an example.

Objectives of the research

This research is conducted with two key objectives:

  1. To outline and discuss all possible impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on customer service delivery in the banking industry
  2. To highlight and discuss potential strategies that can be used to improve service delivery to customers in the banking sector

Reason for selecting this Project

There seems to be a ray of hope in regard to the outlook of COVID-19. Efforts to develop a vaccine for the disease have recently started yielding fruits; at the same time, people are gradually learning how to live with the pandemic. As Shankar (2020, p.451) states, most governments have eased the restrictions previously imposed, leading to lifting of lockdowns and other bans. Even so, reports of subsequent waves of the pandemic hitting several countries may be taken to indicate that the fight is not yet over. In this light, this project is chosen as it contributes towards understanding how COVID-19 is affecting business organisations and what can be done to ensure that organisations fulfill their objectives

Literature Review

Companies in different industries use different strategies to deliver service to their customers. This means that the impacts of COVID-19 on customer service delivery vary significantly from industry to industry. Most companies in the restaurant sector have resorted to takeaways as a strategy of reducing risk of infection (Kim et al., 2020 p.3). In the banking sector, for example, the social distancing requirements have necessitated a shift to mobile banking. According to Ketema and Selassie (2020, p.22), the number of mobile banking services users in a single bank in Ethiopia grew from 15,000 in 2015 to 365,390 in 2019. Such statistics indicate that mobile banking is one of the strategies being used by banks to comply with social distancing requirements that came with COVID-19.

Research methodology (Primary and Secondary)

This research will be conducted using the qualitative approach, specifically the case-study design. A qualitative approach is deemed the most effective essentially because it aims at interpreting the meaning of phenomena while at the same time offering a detailed understanding of given problems or situations (). The COVID-19 pandemic is viewed as a unique form of disruption to supply chains (Chowdhury et al., 2020 p.4), hence the need to extensively examine its short-term as well as long-term impacts on companies. To gather as much data as possible, semi-structured interviews will be administered among a sample of employees and managers of Barclays Bank. Secondary data about the research topic will be obtained from the Barclays Bank’s website and organisational publications.

Analysis

The data obtained will be analysed systematically through categorization and comparison of interview results.

Research Philosophy

Since this research will use the qualitative approach, interpretivism is deemed the most appropriate philosophy for the research. The central premise of this philosophy is that a given objective reality is experienced and understood differently by different people (Schwartz-Shea & Yanow, 2013 p.22). This assumption matches an observation made during the literature review that different industries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways when it comes to customer service delivery.

Research Method

A qualitative design will be used for the study.

Data Collection

Data will be collected through semi-structured questionnaires that will be administered to managers and employees of selected Barclays Bank branches in the United Kingdom.

Time Scheduling Framework

This research is scheduled to be completed within six months, with the key activities listed below:

ActivityDuration
Writing the proposal1 day
Contacting the organisations to be studied and obtaining their consent1 month
Visiting the site and getting everything ready2 months
Collecting data1 month
Analysis of data1 month
Compiling data, writing and submission of final report3 weeks

Gantt Chart

References List

Chowdhury, M. T., Sarkar, A., Paul, S. K., & Moktadir, M. A. 2020, A case study on strategies to deal with the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in the food and beverage industry. Operations Management Research, pp.1-13.

Ketema, E.2020, The impact of M-banking quality service on customers satisfaction during Covid-19 lock down: The case of Bank of Abyssinia, Ethiopia. African Journal of Marketing Management12(2), pp.21-37.

Kim, J., Kim, J., & Wang, Y. 2020, Uncertainty risks and strategic reaction of restaurant firms amid COVID-19: Evidence from China. International Journal of Hospitality Management92, 102752.

Quaglietta, J. & Alvord, D. 2020, Coronavirus impact on service delivery continuity, employees and customers. www.gartner.com/en/documents/3982025/coronavirus-impact-on-service-delivery-continuity-employ

Schwartz-Shea, P. & Yanow, D. 2013, Interpretive research design: concepts and processes. Routledge.

Shankar, K. 2020, The impact of COVID‐19 on IT services industry‐expected transformations. British Journal of Management31(3), p.450.

Worldometer. 2021). COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

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