GameAccess – Service Delivery System

Description

GameAccess – Service Delivery System: Abstract

GameAccess is a Canadian pioneer in the online game rental business. It enjoys a membership base of nearly 3,000, with annual revenues of $900,000. GameAccess believes strongly in the philosophy of linear and incremental growth. All its activities and investments are centred on customer acquisition. The company operates with a lean mindset and investments are made on the basis of sound ROI decisions. Abundant attention is paid to customer engagement and constant communications efforts are made in order to gain feedback on existing services as well as to co-create new initiatives. Due emphasis is put on the customer experience and care is taken to ensure that a rich experience is provided.

The company’s largest challenge concerns its mail delivery partner. Not only did GameAccess experience a huge setback in 2010 (a loss of close to $2M) due to alleged pilferage and damage caused to its inventory at the delivery partner company, it was also constrained owing to its mail delivery partner. Service quality correlates with the timeframe within which games are delivered to customers and the company has too often had to compensate customers due to delays. While GameAccess has attempted to combat the limitations imposed by its mail delivery partner by introducing initiatives such as a fast-return feature, thus reducing the turnaround time by 50%, the partner continues to be a bottleneck in the delivery chain.

Teaching objectives

The objective of this case is to learn sketching of process maps, the main drivers of a service delivery system, namely, service capacity network, service delivery channel and information and customization. The case also looks at an approach that could be adopted to design a service delivery system.

Main themes covered

The central theme of the case revolves around the design of a service delivery system. The case also covers the topic of service capacity, variability, service delivery channels and service inventory.

Concepts and theories related to the case

First, the case provides an opportunity for readers to sketch a business process map based on the information provided in the case. Hence, business process mapping is one of the learning areas covered by the case. Second, the main drivers of a service delivery system are explored. Third, a step by step approach to designing a service delivery system is provided.

Additional information

Teaching notes are available for teachers only. Contact the HEC Montréal Case Centre for more information.