Using Incentive Schemes To Improve Customer Service and Performance in Organisation: (A Case Study of British Petroleum)

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Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

British Petroleum (BP) PLC2

BP Retail3

Reward System and strategy4

Motivation and Incentives5

Research Aims and Objectives5

Research Questions6

Synopsis about the Dissertation6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW8

Introduction8

Understanding Motivation8

Motivational Theories10

Expectancy theory11

Goal theory11

Equity theory11

Intrinsic Motivation12

Extrinsic Motivation12

APPENDIX13

Customer Service and incentive System Questionnaire13

REFERENCES16

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

As financial concerns become increasingly important for companies, consumers, and governments, managing employee performance is becoming more important than ever (Arco, 1993, pp 141). Companies can choose to rely on traditional management schemes, such as a cadre of managers and supervisors to oversee and direct employee actions, or they can choose to supplement management with some form of product-based contingent reward to align employee interests more closely with that of the company (Deckop, Mangel, & Cirka, 1999, pp 23). Over time, an organisation's success or failure may be determined by its ability to produce, manage and maintain improvements in performance (Smoot & Duncan, 1997, pp 65). One way in which companies are trying to boost employee productivity is implementing individual monetary incentive systems (Bucklin & Dickinson, 2001, pp 74).

Although having defined, specific and clear objectives before developing a reward strategy could be considered somewhat like the glaringly obvious, CIPD research (2005) has showed that many organisations develop and implement reward strategies without having previously neither agreed clear objectives, nor defined assessment tools in order to measure the effectiveness of the intended strategy. Additionally, findings of the CIPD research (2005) have revealed that, very often, confusion also prevails in terms of what, how and when the newly developed and implemented strategy is intended to bring changes. To this extent, a gap analysis, investigating weaknesses and strengths of the current reward practices, will definitely help. It will, in fact, enable organisations to assess how things are going, compared to how things were supposed or were intended and believed to be going (CIPD, 2005). At the end of this analysis, businesses will be able to determine if a gap is actually existing or otherwise. Once any gaps have been identified, employers should carry out a diagnosis aiming to determine the causes of these gaps in order to consequently design and plan the required actions needed to bridge the gap or gaps they have encountered. More emphasis has been laid on fulfilling the gaps between the management and the employees and guidelines for the employees to overcome those gaps (CIPD, 2009).

Different approaches to reward could even be required, in some cases, within the same organisation, namely when different employees' ...