Designing a complaint management process for subcontracting company’s ERP system

Abstract

Complaint management is important for organisations because it enables them to collect valuable information about customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. The purpose of this study was to find out how the case company’s complaint management process could be improved with the help of an enterprise resource planning system. Designing a more effective complaint management process within the ERP system was important for the company due to some inefficiencies in their current process. To achieve the objectives of this thesis, research was made into the qualities of an effective complaint management process, the current state of the process, and how integration with an ERP system could improve its efficiency.

The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of complaint management, ERP systems and process management. This research was conducted as qualitative research, using semi-structured interviews as the main data collection method. Additional data was gathered by observing the process and studying internal documents relating to the case company’s complaint management process.

Based on the interviews, the strengths and weaknesses of the process were identified. The results suggested that the case company’s complaint management process is very customer-oriented, and customers’ problems are solved quickly. The weaknesses of the process included poor implementation of the process, lack of knowledge regarding roles and responsibilities, and the fact that the process does not produce enough information for managerial decision-making.

Based on the data collected from interviews and observing the process as well as theoretical knowledge gained from literature, suggestions for the improved process were made. The outcome of this thesis is an outline of the new complaint management process that utilises the ERP system