Question 1:
What is the business nature of HKCSC? Will it take on other business or research assignments?

• HKCSC is a research, consulting service provider, the consortium is a type of research service program where members will enjoy research results and other value added services such as focus group, luncheon, site visits etc. Our core business is research and consultancy.

Clients of the HKCSC Program endorse and support the mission and objectives of the Consortium program by pooling resources, learning from one another, undertaking scientific research and developing practical business solutions to elevate the service quality in Hong Kong. HKCSC Ltd. is an independent service provider and is not associated or affiliated with the businesses of the clients, nor owned by the program participants.

Question 2:
Who are its prospects? Will it initiate a new trend in setting up of corporate and marketing consultancies?

• For the consortium program, we would like to have leading companies with good reputation and practices that can learn from each other to elevate the service standards in each industry.

If there should be such a need, we believe similar organizations will bring sustainable competitive advantage to benefit Hong Kong. We will certainly welcome that.

Question 3:
Timing and Rationale of the set up of the Consortium?

• Timing - Hong Kong is a mature city with over 84% G.D.P. generated by the service sector. However the general impression of the quality of service in Hong Kong when compare with some other countries is not as good. Now that the economy is slowing down, improving customer service quality is a most effective way to rejuvenate Hong Kong economy including retail and tourist businesses.

Question 4:
How confident is the Consortium in promoting quality customer service? What are the expected contributions of HKCSC to service excellence promotion?

• We are confident that when we can help our consortium members who are leaders to improve customer standards, other companies in their industries will follow suit to increase their competitiveness. So when there are more members from different business to participate, this will help to improve customer service in more business sectors. We will provide meaningful findings and useful results to businesses that will give them substantial know-how to improve their service quality directly. (We also plan to start a service award program to promote and give recognition to customer service excellence e.g. to give award to University, MBA students' projects that are relating to how to improve customer service standards).

Question 5:
How do you convince the program founding members to join and achieve the Consortium's objectives?

• We did not need to convince them much, as they see the need to improve customer service standard to be competitive in the market. They are also attracted by the fact that they will learn from the best of different industries.

Question 6:
What is the relationship between the Consortium and its members - do the members have a say in its directions, plans and operation? How?

• Members in fact decide the direction of the research and participate in the research study. In return, they will receive the research findings. Therefore, under the Consortium program, the relationship between the HKCSC and the members is that of a service provider and its clients.

Question 7:
What are the benefits to the members?

• Our members may participate in the research project and will have research findings exclusively for one year for their implementation and they will able to participate in our quarterly meetings, case study sharing, luncheon, focus group, site visits etc.

Question 8:
Consortium's management and operation budget. What are the membership fees and contributions?

• Contributions include senior executives' time, companies' assistance to the research work and the research funding that is enough for a good start. (The funding will be revised according to market rate.)

Question 9:
What is the relationship between the Consortium and the HKU Research Team? Joint partnership or project-based?

• It is not a joint partnership. It is a research collaboration where we share our information, our resources and take lead in different research topics. It should be a long-term relationship.

Question 10:
Objectivity and Quality Control - what research methods and approach do you use for your research programs?

• We take a scientific approach. Since we don't report to any one company, we stay objective in our research. Our methods used include research, focus group, questionnaire survey, benchmarking studies and others as necessary and appropriate to our research topics.

Question 11:
Who set out the research outlines and goals? Is the approach educational or business-led?

• It is our members who set our direction and we carry out research towards achieving the goal. Members are asked to present their present and future challenges in customer service. We then write up research proposals based on their input. Members voted on these proposals, as a result we selected the top four research topics.

Question 12:
What are the schedules of these research programs? When do the results come out? (lead time) Are these research result and solution-oriented?

• It is a 2-year program. We will provide up-to-date findings quarterly to our members. We provide research findings that can be customized by different industries.

Question 13:
Are the research findings confidential? Will the public have access to the research findings or will it be publicized to get public support?

• Our members will have one year to implement the findings and to set new standards. Afterwards, other companies may follow, so that the overall service quality will then be elevated. Yes, after one year some interesting findings will be publicized on selected journals.

Question 14:
Implementation of research findings - will the Consortium proceed to designing implementation programs?

• Yes, if requested by interested members.

Question 15:
Estimated time frame - for the implementation to take effect.

• It will be customized on a separate project basis.

Question 16:
What is the current quality of customer service in Hong Kong? How do you qualify your statements ?

• It is a common impression that Hong Kong customer service is not the best in comparison to some other countries. That is why the Hong Kong Retail Management Association is organizing Service Award and the Hong Kong Tourist Association has put great effort to promote courtesy. The statement from our Financial Secretary also indicated that service quality is increasingly important in order to sustain our economic growth.

Question 17:
The significance and urgency of customer service enhancement to economic recovery?

• Our key competitive edge is our People and the good customer service they provide. These are also the market differentiation between a mature and a developing economy. Most important of all is the long term benefits of customer service enhancement to the consolidation of our economy and our future development to become a leader in Asia's service centers.

Question 18:
How could the Consortium improve customer service in face of the general trend of corporate downsizing across industries?

• While the economy is cyclical, customer service quality is a key competitive edge nowadays. We hope our research findings will help our members to improve their business productivity. They will have a better management system of customer service by improving their customer service staff's orientation, training, motivation and service center technology in order to cope with less manpower.

Question 19:
The Consortium's role in the enhancement of customer service and expected response from the business community.

• We hope to mobilize, draw attention and awareness of the business community to the importance of customer service quality and standard and to make customer service one of their top priorities as a competitive edge for Hong Kong. We hope to achieve our ultimate goal to make Hong Kong a better place to live and to do business.

Question 20:
What other methods can Hong Kong companies use to promote customer service?

• Other methods include government support and funding in customer service related research, training, business seminars and conferences. The local universities and educational institutions may consider setting up degree courses, MBA programs with focus on customer service.