Soft Systems Methodology: Laps King, a Laptop Seller, and Repair Shop - Essay Example

Soft Systems Methodology A case study on lapy king, a laptop seller and repair shop Contents Contents 2 Problem situation 3 Rich picture 3 Cultural Analysis 4 Root definitions 5 CATWOE 6 Conceptual model 7 Problem situation Rich picture “Lapy king”, A ‘Laptop Repair Shop’ a company exclusively specialised in the sale and repair of laptops, is dealing with late delivery of products and services to customers. Although the customer service is friendly and the prices are competitive, the company is the only representative of one of the most famous laptop brands in the city centre. Customers who are often office employees, visit the shop to ask for replacement of a broken part of their laptop. The broken part could be as simple as a keyboard key or as costly and complicated as replacing an inverter for the backlight of an LCD. The shop has only one receptionist. Each customer has to stand in the line to get a form. The form to fill is very comprehensive and time consuming. The receptionist won’t handle the next customer’s request until a current customer’s case has been closed (form is filled). The form contains a lot of questions but does not specifically ask the client what the problem is and what the next steps might be. Lapy King only sells laptop computers and just takes the orders to repair broken laptops from the customers in the city centre. Then they deliver the item to the main repair company which is located in a suburb within a 15 Kilo meters distance. Once they receive the broken item, they read the form, perform a quick diagnosis and then they usually have to call the client and ask further questions for instance whether the client wants an device being replaced for a quoted price. If the call is made during working hours, the customer may not answer the call and when the client calls back the company the call has to be forwarded to the repair company and the person responsible to fix the device. All these together delays the delivery of the product/service. There is no kind of managed communication between customer and repair guys. Receptionist does not have much technical information and answering the calls and making arrangements between the staff and managers, consumes a lot of her time. Cultural Analysis The roles involved in the notebook repair shop are: customer, receptionist. The roles involved at the main repair company is receptionist, repair personnel, hardware providers and delivery personnel. The receptionist at lapy king, is responsible of answering the phone calls to the company and directing them to the right person. She is also responsible to take orders from customers with a broken laptop. She provides a form for a client to fill. This includes client’s details, for example name and address, email and phone number, the problem with the laptop and whether they want other services like backup from hard disks. The receptionist asks the customer for a registration fee. Receives and packs the laptop and issues a receipt number for the customer. For a typical customer to receive a service, 14 minutes time is required. Customer is the person who refers to lapy king. They have a broken computer for instance an arrow key is not working or the backlight of the LCD is gone. They meet the receptionist, fill the form. Pay an application fee. Give the laptop to the receptionist and get a receipt (job number). Delivery personnel are from the main repair company. They ride a car at 8am everyday, pack the broken computers from lapy king and take to the main repair company. When an item is repaired, it is being delivered to lapy king at 8am on the next day. The receptionist at the main repair company receives the packs from lapy king. Enters the job numbers and description of the problem in a computer file and handles them to repair personnel. She is also responsible to answer the calls, make appointment arrangements, etc. Repair personnel are those who diagnose the laptop. Find the problem and contact the customer to check if they wish the item to be fixed for an estimated cost. Here is an example; after diagnosis of a laptop computer with dead LCD display, the technician finds out that the LCD by itself is safe however a small piece of hardware called ‘inverter’ which is responsible to distribute the light and power for the LCD is not functioning. So the item needs to be replaced. The price of a new inverter is roughly around $150. Therefore the customer will be contacted to confirm if they wish the laptop should be repaired since the customer might prefer to buy a new laptop instead of paying around $200 to fix an old laptop. If they confirm, a new inverter will be ordered from the hardware provider and the laptop will be fixed. Hardware providers are the personnel in the main company. When repair personnel get a direct order form the client to replace a hardware, they are being called to purchase the part online or from the nearest hardware providers. Their job is to find a hardware at an affordable price and from a place it can be shipped. There is no power in this problem situation. No one is observing the people with different roles to find the problems that cause inconvenience for the customers. The receptionist are only synchronising the whole process with client, customers and outside environment. Root definitions In order to manage the processes at the lapy king shop and in order to help clients receive the product and services faster, an online management system has been designed. In the new system, clients enter the website of lapy king shop. (Using a website supports multiple clients at the same time) clients fill the forms including their name and complete contact information. They create a personal account with lapy king and using an online wizard like form, start describing the problem. For instance type of the problem, hardware or software, type of hardware, a mouse, a keyboard, a hard disk or the LCD. Once the item is selected, they describe the problem. After submission, a job number will be created for the customer. An application fee will be taken via online banking system integrated with lapy king’s application. A receipt will be issued and client will be asked about a suitable time the delivery team could pick up the broken laptop and a suitable time for contact. After the item is delivered to the main repair shop, the job number will be checked by a repair employee. Problem will diagnosed and customer will be contacted at the suitable time or they will be texted or emailed to call back the company at a suitable time. A description of the diagnosis will be provided with the suggestions and a quote of the prices for the client to choose. Client can call back the company or confirm the solutions online and pay for the new device using online banking. A delivery time and place will be notified to the client and they will confirm it online. CATWOE An online application to handle multiple orders at the same time from clients with hardware problems, in order to save time for both actors and customers. C: Customers with broken laptops. A: Repair and delivery personnel T: Fixing a broken laptop with minimum delay W: The belief that time is highly valuable for customers who use their personal laptops in business environments. No delay must happen when a laptop is to be repaired. O: lapy king and main computer repair company E: Standards set by the laptop manufacturers Conceptual model The conceptual model for the lapy king online helpdesk has been demonstrated above. Among the roles, the receptionist role in the lapy king has been removed. Instead a management system has been created. A customer only visits the website to fill the forms and make the payment. A delivery team picks up the out of order laptop from customers home or office at a suitable time. Then it will be taken to the main repair company. In the main company customer will be notified of each step of the repair process. The company is in contact with the outside world for instance with hardware manufacturers across the nation to order the new hardware parts for replacement. An other external system is the payment processor which verifies if the payment has been made with success. In the new system, the customer is only in contact with delivery personnel in person. Other communications are between the customer and technicians virtually through the website. References Action research and evaluation on line, Session 13: Soft systems methodology. Viewed on 6/12/2010. Available from http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/areol/areol-session13.html Soft System Methodology, Viewed on 6/12/2010. Available from http://www.scribd.com/doc/12089291/Soft-System-Methodology Checkland, P. and Poulter, J., Soft systems methodology, Systems Approaches to Managing Change: A Practical Guide, 2010 ,Springer. John Wiley \& Sons , Soft systems methodology, Wilson, B., 2001 Checkland, P., Soft systems methodology: a thirty year retrospective, Systems Research, 2000, Citeseer Lester, S, Soft systems methodology,. 2008 Read More