Internal Customers Need Delighting To

Abstract

Concerns the concentrated efforts of a relatively small group (170 people) at Caterpillar Inc. who realized that they would have to look again at their most basic work practices if they were to remain in business: their customers, other profit centres and divisions within Caterpillar Inc., demanded not only market competitiveness but also service excellence from their former colleagues. The solution was to embark on a journey towards empowered people and self‐directed teams. They determined specific areas that needed to be addressed throughout the journey, not only to sustain the change, but also to expand it beyond their department. These areas of opportunity are explained by ten “building blocks” which are continuously reviewed to provide a solid foundation for the journey. The study provides a description of these “building blocks” and many lessons learned along the way.

Citation

Temple, R.E. and Droege, R.W. (1994), "Internal Customers Need Delighting To", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 14-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604529410796107