Case: Travelink Solutions
Teaching Note
By: Noah Deszca, (currently enrolled in the MSc in Education Program,
Canisius College, Buffalo, NY), &
Gene Deszca, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario
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© Noah Deszca and Gene Deszca, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2007. Not to be copied or reproduced
without permission.
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TRAVELINK SOLUTIONS
Case Objectives and Use
This case is designed to be used to demonstrate what happens when a firm that has done a
number of things right in the past, finds itself seriously out of alignment with its environment. It
provides students with insight into life in an inbound call center and the challenges involved in
successfully managing such a business. Challenges include those that revolve around capacity
management (ramping capacity up and down), the alignment of the staffing levels and
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TRAVELINK SOLUTIONS
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
Case Synopsis
The case explores the experience of William, a recent university graduate, during his sixteen
month period of employment in the Canadian call center of a mature service business. The
Travelink call center handles only inbound calls and deals with customers making claims and
seeking help in accessing services and support. Travelink is a very successful U.S. firm that
offers protection to global travelers against a variety of risks, including theft, automobile
accidents and breakdowns, and emergency legal, accommodation, and travel arrangements. In
addition to its own branded services, Travelink provides product design, back office and call
center support for firms wishing to offer their customers access to similar services under their
own brand. It has a history of double digit growth in a mature industry, anchored by quality
service and strong supplier relationships with its key customers.
William’s concerns for his future prospects are eased when he is assigned to the Datasmart
project in June. This initiative is designed to revamp Travelink’s information technology and was
undertaken to improve information flow, enhance efficiency and reduce the need for staff.
William’s role involves the drafting, editing, and entry of standardized correspondence, forms
and documentation to be used by the Canadian operation. The task appears to be congruent with
his skill set, but technical aspects of the project dominate the attention of others and he receives
little guidance. Unfortunately, this project also stumbles during implementation and once again,
the organizational coping mechanism defaults to silence and avoidance.
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It is not until February that a significant number of new operators begin to arrive and even then
there are serious concerns about short cuts taken with their training and the impact of the short
term employment contracts many have been asked to entered into. By April, performance is
Research Approach
While the case adopts the voices of William and, to a lesser extent, Robert, case data is anchored
in interviews and feedback from participants employed in the Canadian operation and company
documents. As a condition of the release of the case, it was disguised.
Teaching Objectives
This case is designed to demonstrate what happens when a well intentioned firm finds itself out
of alignment with its environment. It provides students with insight into life in an inbound call
center and the challenges involved in successfully managing such a business. Challenges include
those that revolve around capacity management (ramping capacity up and down), mismanaged
organizational change initiatives, the alignment of the staffing levels and competencies of
customer service representatives with marketing initiatives, customer needs, and formal
The teaching objectives to which the case can be put include:
o Assessing strategic and operational issues related to the management of an inbound call
center that serves its own customers as well as provides call center service to other firms
o Exploring the management of issues related to capacity management and the ramping up and
down of trained call center staff
o Developing assessment skills in the area of organizational alignment, organizational change
and the impact of misalignment
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performance and development and the net impact on organizational, team and individual
effectiveness
o Developing understanding of how decisions related to short term pressures can have an
Courses and Levels for Which the Case is Intended
o An intermediate to senior level course in organizational behavior
o An elective in change management
Discussion Questions
1. What are the strategic and service delivery issues that managers at Travelink face?
Travelink is a successful firm that does not seem to have well developed skills in dealing with
business setbacks that impact on employment levels. Its strategy has been to build high quality
services that are designed to be very responsive to the needs of global and domestic travelers
who wish to protect themselves from a variety of travel perils (e.g., theft, emergency travel
arrangements, automobile breakdowns, accidents, etc). These services are delivered through
products under its own brand name (25% of the cases), and through products carrying the brand
name of other firms (75% of the cases). As a result, its capacity to be a trusted and cost effective
When new business clients are either won or lost, firms such as Travelink must manage the surge
or ebb in call center volume that will ensue from such changes. It takes time to train customer
service representatives (CSR’s) for the task and there are differences in the makeup of different
service packages that the CSR’s who are responsible for such accounts need to be fully
2. What do you think of their initial approach to employee training and development? To the
placement and development of operators within the call center? To their initial approach to
leadership, communication, and motivation?
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3. What changes when the firm finds itself out of alignment with demand? How does it handle
it and what is the impact?
The Canadian branch seems to lack skill in handling the misalignments that stress the
organization. There are comments concerning the need for more sales and greater efficiency, but
both of these areas are largely outside of the control of the customer service representatives. As
Students can use one of the open system models of organizational performance to analyze issues
related to alignment (see Exhibits A and B), and materials related to leadership, communications,
conflict and the management of difficult situations (e.g., see Exhibit C.1 to C.8) can be used to
enrich the discussions and learning. The overheads contained in Exhibits A through C can be
used to guide such analyses and discussion.
4. What should Robert, the marketing manager do? What are the change challenges he faces
and how should he manage these?
This is an organization that invested in the creation of a more committed labour force and then
acted in ways that sabotaged that outcome. Robert understands the risks to major contracts
associated with current service levels and appears to want to make senior management aware of
If agreement can be reached on the need for change with senior management of the Canadian
operation, triage needs to be immediately undertaken to alleviate pressure on the critical risk
points that might result in the loss of contracts. At minimum, this will require action that reduces
employee stress and staff turnover. If these are alleviated, there is hope that the absenteeism will
begin to diminish. Given management’s past behaviour and defensiveness, this will not be easy
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5. What should William do?
William’s decision is largely already made. He has decided that exit is in his best interest, and
this has been reinforced by the fact that the work place has deteriorated and earlier commitments
(e.g., the six month performance review and promised salary increase) only seem to get acted
upon when management is faced with his resignation. If he decides to stay, William needs to
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Teaching Plan
50 Minute Class 75 Minute Class
5 minutes
10 min.
10 min
10 min
Introductory comments, learning
objectives and agenda for the
class
What are the strategic and
service delivery issues that
Travelink faces?
What do you think of their initial
approach to human resource
development? To the placement
What changes when the firm
finds itself out of alignment with
demand? How does it handle it
and what is the impact?
5 minutes
15 min
15 min
15 min
Introductory comments, learning
objectives and agenda for the
class
What are the strategic and service
delivery issues that Travelink
faces?
What do you think of their initial
approach to human resource
development? To the placement
What changes when the firm finds
itself out of alignment with
demand? How does it handle it
and what is the impact?
The above plan can be amended in a variety of ways, in order to shift the focus of the case
discussion to the specific teaching objectives you have in mind. For example, one can ignore the
question of what William should do. This time could then be reallocated to Robert’s alternatives
and action plan.
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Bibliography
1.
Beckhard, R., & R. Harris (1987), Organizational transitions. Massachusetts: Addison-
Wesley, 1987.
2. Bedeian, G. & A.A. Armenakis (1998), The cesspool syndrome. Academy of Management Executive,
12 (1), 58-67.
7.
Hirshman, A.O. (1970), Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms,
Organizations, and States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
8. Klein, S.(1996), A management communication strategy for change. Journal of Organizational
Change Management, 9 (2), 32-46.
9. Mishra, K.E., G. M. Spreitzer & A.K. Mishra (1998), Preserving employee morale during
downsizing. Sloan Management Review, 39 (2), 83-95.
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Possible Overheads For Use With the Case:
a) Open Systems Models
The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model for Organizational Analysis
INPUT
INPUT
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS
LEVEL
LEVEL
INFORMAL
STRUCTURE
& PROCESS
S
S
TRANFORMATION PROCESS
TRANFORMATION PROCESS
Adapted from: Nadler D.A. & M.L. Tushman (1977), A diagnostic model for organizational
behavior. In J.R. Hackman, E.E. Lawler, & L.W. Porter (eds.), Perspectives in behavior in
organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill, 85-100.
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b) The 7-S Model
The External Environment