PCN Analysis Exercise
Dr. Scott Sampson, Brigham Young University © 2012
This exercise includes the following parts:
1.Identify a business process to analyze. It is good to select a process that
involves two entities – a firm and a customer. Examples include:
–
–
–
the process of getting your computer repaired
the process of having an eye exam
the process of attending a concert
2.Construct one or more PCN Diagrams for the selected process.
–
–
First step is often customer need. Last step is often need resolved.
Don’t make PCN Diagram too crowded – use multiple pages if necessary.
3.Analyze the value proposition represented in the business process:
–
–
–
–
put  by customer cost steps (waiting, inconvenience, etc.)
put  by customer value steps (i.e., causing willingness to pay)
put -$ by firm cost steps
put +$ by firm revenue steps
4.Redo your PCN Diagram showing at least one enabling innovation and at
least one relieving innovation.
–
–
Highlight the innovation steps with either colored boxes or double-boarder
boxes.
For each innovation, describe the innovation and tell what impact it has on the
value proposition.
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
page 1
PCN Analysis Exercise – Optional Parts
This parts of this exercise may be optional (see instructor):
5.On a copy of your PCN Diagram, include notations showing important
sensory elements (signs, symbols, ambient conditions, etc.) that guide
customers in their roles of the process. For each sensory element indicate
what impact it is intended to have on customer behavior.
6.On a copy of your PCN Diagram, indicate a few service failure points (F)
and show some steps that would be used to effectively respond to the
failure.
7.The best learning comes from participants sharing their work with the
group. You can do the exercise on paper, or electronically. One way to do
it electronically is to edit the pages of this file. If you choose to do the PCN
Analysis Exercise electronically, please do the following:
1. Put your team member names in the page footer (select “Header & Footer”
from the menu, change footer, and click “Apply to All” for all pages).
2. Name your file “PCN-Last-Names-Of-Team-Members.ppt”
3. Email it to the course email address listed in the syllabus.
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
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PCN Analysis Exercise: Airline example
Part 1. Business process to analyze
•
Team members:
– Scott Sampson
•
Process:
– In this exercise we will analyze a commercial airline process.
– We will consider the process from a passenger booking a flight to actually
going on the flight, where the passenger books online.
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
page 3
Part 2. PCN Diagram of process (first page)
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger booking a ticket on an airline website
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Surrogate interaction
Customer’s Process Domain
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
visit an airline
website
need air
transportation
enter search
information
no
develop flight
schedule
provide flight
options
acceptable
flight?
yes
select flight
process
payment
enter payment
information
send eticket
print eticket
wait until
flight day
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
page 4
Part 2. PCN Diagram of process (second page)
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger check-in and transportation process
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Surrogate interaction
Customer’s Process Domain
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
drive to airport
check identification
find parking
check reservation
receive checked bags
wait in line
get to terminal
tag checked bags
transfer bags to
appropriate gate
go through security
place bags on belt
give boarding pass
land plane
clean and
refuel plane
load bags on plane
fly to destination
unload checked
bags
board plane
wait for boarding
exit plane
walk to bag claim
watch and wait
transport bags to
baggage claim
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
retrieve bags
depart airport
4/13/2015
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Part 3: Assessment of provider revenue (+$) and costs (-$), customer value () and costs ()
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger booking a ticket on an airline website
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Surrogate interaction
Customer’s Process Domain
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
visit an airline
website
need air
transportation
enter search
information

no
develop flight
schedule
provide flight
options
acceptable
flight?
yes
select flight
+$
process
payment
enter payment
information
send eticket
print eticket

wait until
flight day
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
page 6
PCN Diagram
for process:
Part 3: Assessment of provider revenue (+$) and costs (-$), customer value () and costs ()
Airline passenger check-in and transportation process
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Customer’s Process Domain
Surrogate interaction
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
drive to airport
check identification


check reservation
wait in line
receive checked bags
find parking
get to terminal
-$
-$
transfer bags to
appropriate gate
land plane
clean and
refuel plane
load bags on plane
-$
-$
-$
tag checked bags

place bags on belt
go through security
board plane
transport bags to
baggage claim
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
wait for boarding
exit plane
fly to destination
unload checked
bags


give boarding pass

walk to bag claim

watch and wait
retrieve bags

depart airport
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PCN Diagram
for process:
Part 4. Enabling Innovation: Online checking and bag tagging
Airline passenger check-in and transportation process
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Customer’s Process Domain
Surrogate interaction
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
check in on airline
website
check identification
print boarding pass
and luggage
 tag
check reservation
drive to airport
find parking
get to terminal
receive checked bags
-$
tag checked bags
-$
clean and
refuel plane
load bags on plane
-$
-$
transport bags to
baggage claim
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
go through security
place bags on belt
-$


give boarding pass
board plane
wait for boarding
exit plane
fly to destination
unload checked
bags


-$
transfer bags to
appropriate gate
land plane
scan luggage tag
and tape on bag*

walk to bag claim

watch and wait
retrieve bags

depart airport
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PCN Diagram
for process:
Part 4. Relieving Innovation: Provided county airport shuttle
Airline passenger check-in and transportation process
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Customer’s Process Domain
Surrogate interaction
Direct interaction
drive passenger to airport
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
meet shuttle at
county parking lot
drive to airport
check identification
-$ (+$?) 


check reservation
wait in line
receive checked bags
find parking
get to terminal
-$
-$
transfer bags to
appropriate gate
land plane
clean and
refuel plane
load bags on plane
-$
-$
-$
tag checked bags

place bags on belt
go through security
board plane
transport bags to
baggage claim
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
wait for boarding
exit plane
fly to destination
unload checked
bags


give boarding pass

walk to bag claim

watch and wait
retrieve bags

depart airport
4/13/2015
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Part 4. Description of Enabling and Relieving Innovations
•
•
•
Enabling Innovation
– Passengers print their own boarding pass and
luggage tag.
Description:
– Passengers have the option of printing their own
boarding pass and luggage tags at home within
24 hours of their flight.
– The only contact customer has with the airline
before security is allowing a low-wage employee
to tape the luggage tag on the luggage.
– If the luggage tag printed by the passenger is
unusable, the low-wage employee can scan the
tag or boarding pass and print out a new one.
Impact on Value Proposition:
– Reduced  cost to customer, who does not
need to wait in line to check bags (low-wage
employee is highly efficient)
– Reduced -$ cost to firm, replacing multiple bag
checkers with one or two low-wage employees.
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
•
•
•
Relieving Innovation
– Provide a county-based shuttle to the airport
Description:
– When passenger books their ticket, they are
given the opportunity to buy a slot on a shuttlebus that departs from a location in the
passenger’s county or city.
– Passenger still needs to get a ride to the shuttle
location, or drive car and pay for parking there.
– Shuttles leave at fixed intervals, but passenger
would have a reserved seat.
– Passenger would print out their shuttle
confirmation at time of ticketing.
Impact on Value Proposition:
– Reduced  cost, since customer only has to
drive to a county location to take the airline
shuttle bus.
– Reduced -$ cost and  cost, since less
expensive than a private shuttle.
– Don’t have to deal with airport parking (reduced
).
– Additional revenue opportunity +$ for airline.
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Part 5. Key sensory elements in this process
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger check-in and transportation process
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Customer’s Process Domain
Surrogate interaction
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
drive to airport
check identification
attire of
employee
check reservation
receive checked bags
tag checked bags
transfer bags to
appropriate gate
Independent processing
information
about which
line to be in
find parking
wait in line
get to terminal
line layout
noise or music
info about policies
and procedures
go through security
place bags on belt
give boarding pass
land plane
clean and
refuel plane
load bags on plane
board plane
exit plane
fly to destination
unload checked
bags
wait for boarding
info about where bag
claim for this flight is
walk to bag claim
noise, smells,
entertainment,
seating, electrical
outlets, boarding
progress info
watch and wait
transport bags to
baggage claim
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
retrieve bags
depart airport
4/13/2015
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Part 5. Description of sensory elements
and impact on customer behavior
•
step: wait in line
– behavior: passenger not spending time in wrong
line and line jumping.
– element (sign): information about which line to
be in.
– behavior: passenger having reasonable
expectations about line duration.
– element (space): line layout that allows
passenger to see how line progresses.
– behavior: passengers not being grumpy in line.
– element (ambient condition): provide pleasant
music.
•
step: check in
– behavior: passenger have confidence in
employee
– element (symbols): attire of employee makes
employee look more like a captain than a
baggage handler.
•
step: go through security
– behavior: passenger be prepared for that
specific process (e.g. belt removed, pockets
emptied, shoes off, etc.)
– element (sign): provide information in line about
that airport’s specific policies and procedures.
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
•
step: wait for boarding
– behavior: passengers experience severe
psychological costs during the waiting process
– element (ambient condition): provide a pleasant
noise (other than CNN disaster news), provide a
pleasant smell (like candy), provide some type
of appropriate entertainment (besides CNN).
– element (function): furnish seating areas with
more power outlets, so that waiting passengers
can self-entertain or be productive.
– element (sign): provide passengers with a clear
identification of boarding progress (besides PA
announcements).
•
step: walk to bag claim
– behavior: passenger going to the wrong bag
claim area and reporting missing bags.
– element (sign): provide disembarking
passengers with information about where
baggage claim is for the flight they are just
getting off of.
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Part 6. Indication of two service failure points.
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger booking a ticket on an airline website
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Surrogate interaction
Customer’s Process Domain
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
visit an airline
website
need air
transportation
enter search
information
(F1) server goes down
develop flight
schedule
no
acceptable
flight?
provide flight
options
yes
select flight
process
payment
enter payment
information
send eticket
print eticket
(F2) passenger never receives e-ticket
wait until
flight day
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
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Part 6. Steps to effectively recover from failure (F1).
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger booking a ticket on an airline website
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Surrogate interaction
Customer’s Process Domain
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
visit an airline
website
need air
transportation
enter search
information
(F1) server goes down
develop flight
schedule
no
acceptable
flight?
provide flight
options
yes
provide form for
customer to
provide phone
number
airline calls customer
select flight
discuss flight
alternatives and options
process
payment
provide payment
information
send eticket
print eticket
wait until
flight day
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
page 14
Part 6. Steps to effectively recover from failure (F2).
PCN Diagram
for process:
Airline passenger booking a ticket on an airline website
Provider’s Process Domain
Independent processing
Surrogate interaction
Customer’s Process Domain
Direct interaction
Direct interaction
Surrogate interaction
Independent processing
visit an airline
website
need air
transportation
enter search
information
no
develop flight
schedule
acceptable
flight?
provide flight
options
yes
select flight
process
payment
enter payment
information
send e-ticket link
click e-ticket link
(F2) passenger never clicks e-ticket link
airline calls customer
wait until
flight day
print e-ticket
discuss problem and determine if
alternate ticketing method is needed
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
4/13/2015
page 15
Part 6. Description of plan for service recovery
•
•
•
•
Failure (F1): Airline web server goes down
– This failure may occur because of technical
problem, system overload.
– We assume that when the reservation system
goes down the router is still able to redirect
requests to another system or web page.
Details:
– When server goes down, customer is
immediately redirected to a form that explains
that there is a problem, and if the customer will
provide a phone number then an agent will call
the customer back about the flight.
– Customer might optionally provide a time
window to be called back.
– If the server comes back up, agents can call
customers and tell them that is the case.
– Customer would not be charged any extra fees
for using an agent for reservations.
Benefits to customer:
– Not needing to call airline and wait on hold.
Benefits to airline:
– Fewer lost customers.
•
•
•
•
PCN Analysis Exercise for Scott Sampson
Failure (F2): e-ticket not received
– This failure may happen with airlines that email
the e-ticket to passengers. Causes might
include:
• bad email address
• e-ticket filtered as spam
• customer does not recognize e-ticket
email message
• customer does not check email account
very often
• and so forth
Details:
– To detect this failure (without waiting for
customers to report it), instead of sending the eticket the airline sends a link to the e-ticket. If
the customer has not clicked the e-ticket link
with 5 days we assume a service failure.
– On detected failure, the airline calls the
customer at the number they gave when
ticketing.
– Airline agent asks customer if they are aware of
the problem.
– Agent records in database any information
about cause of the problem (e.g.s above).
– Agent determines an alternate email address, or
if snail-mail ticketing is necessary (perhaps for a
mailing fee).
– Airline tracks common causes of problems and
makes process adjustments accordingly.
Benefits to passenger:
– Less likely to forget about not having e-ticket.
Benefits to airline:
– Able to identify more errors and correct causes.
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