50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

107

Case 22

Conflict in Customer Service

Background Information

Brad Franklin had been supervising the Customer Service Unit of the Wilson chain

of department stores for just over three years. The unit fulfilled an important func-

tion at Wilson: issuing company credit cards. Brad liked his job and was considered

good at it. He had started as a credit analyst in the unit and, as a result of his hard

work, did quite well. Now he was in charge of the unit’s six credit analysts.

Almost half of all sales at Wilson were paid with Wilson credit cards, and there

were always incoming applications. These applications, which had been completed

by customers either at store locations or in response to mailings, went directly to the

Customer Service Unit for credit analysis. The credit analysts did all the back-

ground information checking. They would identify credit references, double-check

the accuracy of the information, and collect supporting information; then they

would use the information to make a credit judgment. When an applicant qualified,

the analysts would initiate a credit agreement and issue a credit card.

Because contracts and potential losses were involved, applications had to be han-

dled carefully and precisely, and although the work was fairly routine, each appli-

cation was somewhat unique. The job required an eye for detail, initiative, and

skills in investigating and analyzing information. It also demanded a certain level of

information needed for a credit judgment to be made, and it was not uncommon for

both store managers and customers to call the unit to ask about the status of an

application or account.

Although an employee could be trained to carry out these job requirements, Brad

liked to hire candidates who already had some experience, and for quite some time,

the credit analysts in his unit had all been young men with backgrounds in banking

or financing. When in March two positions simultaneously opened up in the unit,

Brad was faced with a potentially disastrous situation. Fortunately, he found two

fairly good workers who both started their jobs on the same day. Because they were

both trainees, he had them work together at adjacent desks. There they could work

from the same files and could share the same phone.

One of the new employees, Don Fowler, 22, had been working with the Ace

Finance Corporation for the previous nine months as an assistant credit investigator.

He was very outgoing and hard working, and he soon fit in well with the other

young men in the unit.

The other new employee was Karen Wilkens who, at age 20, had just completed

an associate’s degree at an area community college, with a specialty in business

management. She was reserved and a bit shy. Even though she had no previous

credit analysis experience, her work was very strong. Brad felt she had the potential

to be a good analyst. If she felt uncomfortable about being the only woman in the

unit, she kept it to herself.