Assignment 1

Innovation Management

Submitted by Anjani Manuri Roll Number -02

Background

I worked with HDPI (HSBC Electronic Data Processing India Ltd). We handle Credit Card Disputes

pertaining to MasterCard and Visa networks. Disputes from customers are received through emails,

letters or fax which are scanned and received via an internal application called GWIS. From there, we

pick up the work and proceed accordingly. In case a dispute remains unresolved due to some

pending documentation from the customer, we need to diarise (pend the case in the system) it until

the required information is received. In the interim we also need to ensure that the dispute

timescales do not elapse. In case the timescales elapse, this will result in an operational loss to the

business.

Hence it is very essential that we track the dispute on a timely manner to ensure that:

No timescales are missed

To monitor and see if a customer response is received.

There was no particular tracking system available within GWIS. So operators would track the work

manually in excel sheets. This again entailed several complications which are as follows:-

There could be loss of confidential information

There could be miss-outs on timescales due to inefficient tracking

The excel sheet's data could go missing due to an operator error

We also had to take senior management approval before processing any high dollar value disputes.

Approvals were sought via emails to the management. This caused a delay in receiving the approvals

and thereby affecting the customer experience process in a negative way.

Idea proposed to tackle this problem:-

In view of the above, our central MIS ( Management Information Systems) team came up with an

innovative idea of automating the entire data storage and tracking process. They developed a

database using Visual Basic and MS Access called the "IRIS".

This was a phenomenal success. IRIS was highly automated and extremely efficient. A simple macro

was run by way of which all the data was loaded into the IRIS system. The IRIS system was also made

very intuitively in a way that it would give recommendations to the user on which chargeback code

to process.

IRIS would also calculate the dispute timescales and track the item accordingly. In case the

timescales are approaching it would alert the user.

IRIS had an in-built approval system in it. With the click of a button the user could send the item to

the management team for an approval and the management is mandated to clear the approval

basket by end of day. This has led to FIRST TIME RESOLUTION in the process and resulted in

Customer Delight.

This innovation is seen as a disruptive innovation which led to radical changes within the process.

The stakeholders involved and the value it created for them are as follows:-

End Users/Operators:

The entire process became easy for them to track

The timescale alert feature kept the operator alert and informed of the timescales, hence

they were better informed to take a wise decision on the dispute

Efficiency of the operator increased as working with IRIS was proven to be faster and more

efficient than working with the traditional excel sheets that were used earlier.

There were no miss-outs or any loss of information as the data was managed by the central

team.

Customers:

Customer's disputes were handled more efficiently and quickly

Quick approvals resulted in Customer Delight

Right decisions were taken on the dispute due to the recommendations that IRIS offered

Senior Management:

The overall efficiency and productivity improved for the process

The in-built approval system incorporated in IRIS has made their jobs hassle-free as they

could just process approvals at the click of a button once the dispute scenario was studied.

Difficulty to Implement the idea:

This was a major hurdle as it required inputs from various stakeholders mostly the operators and the

subject matter experts. The Central team had to take feedback with few sections of the population

as to what kind of features to incorporate. Few of the operators were not open to shift from the

excel type of storage to the current format that IRIS offered. Implementation was done in a phased

manner to test the worthiness of the system

Realization of the idea:

There was a considerable amount of time spent to reap the benefits since operators needed to get

adjusted to the new way of functioning of the IRIS database. The benefits seen were phenomenal.

Efficiency improved by 20% and quality also improved by leaps and bounds.

Risks involved in using the IRIS:

Incorrect data being loaded into the system

Duplicate items being loaded into the system

File getting corrupted

Theft of confidential information

Risk of the program file getting deleted

The system could slow down when there is heavy traffic in terms of usage

Success factors involved in using the IRIS:

Productivity soared

Efficiency improved

Database was user-friendly and everything was available at the click of a button

Response time of the database was faster when compared to the excel sheets that were

used

Kept the operators motivated since the database was easy to use when compared to

working with excel which led to high levels of frustration at times

The database was also proactive by offering recommendations about the suggested actions

to be taken

Reporting was also hassle free

The above innovation was one of its kind in our office and this system was replicated in other

processes as well due to the runaway success it rendered to our process. This is certainly a

sustainable feature as it involves very low cost from the development and implementation

perspective. The MIS team were also awarded for the efficiency that they brought in to our process.