Developing sales and customer process with Lean to improve the company's productivity : thesis in cooperation with private health care service provider

Abstract

This thesis has been made in cooperation with Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and private health care service provider in Finland to improve the organization's sales and customer process. The purpose of this thesis is to study whether the Lean development method works in the development of occupational health sales and customer processes in company X. Moreover, this thesis examines why it is important to develop these processes from the productivity perspective. The aim is to bring out information that company X can apply to its practical work in the future. The research method was action research which used qualitative research methods. The study was conducted in 2023. It consisted of four Lean workshops that were organized in company X by the researcher and in which employees from different parts of the company X participated. Participants were from the invoicing, sales and customer management teams, among others. After the Lean workshops, the participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. The framework of the study contains information about development work in general and sales and customer processes in general. The framework of the study contains general information about development work, sales and customer processes. Furthermore, the framework takes a closer look at the Lean management philosophy. The research resulted in a documented process diagram which have been utilized in company X's practical work and implemented in the company. The process description clarifies how sales and customer service are handled in company X and what things should be into more account. In the company X action research results showed that the commitment of the management were hoped for more towards the development work done in the company. In other words, the development work should be taken into account in company X's business strategy so that the company has a clear outlook of what and how things want to be developed in the future. The Lean workshops were also perceived as useful and they were hoped to continue.