Customer Dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics in Oman: IMP Report

This report addresses the issue of customer dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics in Oman, stemming from long waiting times and poor staff attitudes. The analysis delves into the problem's connection to the company's leadership approach, operations management, and business strategies. The report highlights how the current leadership style, lack of employee engagement, and operational inefficiencies contribute to customer dissatisfaction. It further examines the impact on the company's marketing efforts and overall competitiveness. The report proposes recommendations for rectifying the problem, including optimizing service delivery, retraining employees on customer engagement, and fostering a more positive and engaging work environment. An action plan is included. The analysis uses analytical tools and theoretical frameworks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the problem and its potential solutions.

Customer Dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics- Oman 1
Customer Dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics in Oman
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Executive Summary
Roche is an international company from Switzerland that has expanded to the Middle East and
into Oman. The primary operations are centered on diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. Its
dominance in the region, particularly in Oman, is being threatened by increasing customer
dissatisfaction due to long waiting times and unwelcoming staff attitude. The slow service
delivery is undermining the competitiveness of the company, and as more customers publicly
report their dissatisfaction, the reputation of the company is at stake. With this problem
continuing to grow, Roche Diagnostics in Oman risks, losing its customers to rival companies
like Abbot, DaVita, and Baxter. Although the company is already an established entity, negative
feedback from their clients can scare away potential clients that would have used their service.
Among the key areas affected by this problem are operations, marketing, and business strategies.
However, employee management and human resource, in general, seem to be the starting point
of this menace. Lack of training and enforcement of a code of ethics in employees has made
them reluctant to attend to clients professionally. Furthermore, the low staff engagement
occasioned by a transactional leadership approach in the organization is costing the company its
public image. From a marketing perspective, the company utilizes service-quality as the primary
instrument to push their agenda. However, with the increasing negativity from consumers, the
marketing messages may not be perceived in the same manner by others who are yet to use the
company’s services. As a result, the company needs to rectify its modes of operation by first
optimizing the service delivery unit and retraining the employees on customer engagement skills.
These changes are necessary for the company to solve this problem that is threatening its
dominance in the Oman market. This report highlights further on this issue and subsequently
provide feasible recommendations for correcting the problem.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Company Background...........................................................................................................4
1.2 Problem Statement.................................................................................................................5
1.3 Analytic Tools.......................................................................................................................5
2.0 Problem Analysis.......................................................................................................................6
2.1 Company’s Leadership Approach.........................................................................................6
2.2 Company’s Operations..........................................................................................................8
2.3 Business Strategy...................................................................................................................9
2.4 People Management.............................................................................................................11
3.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................12
4.0 Recommendations to Solve the Problem.................................................................................12
4.1 Action Plan..........................................................................................................................13
Reference List............................................................................................................................14

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Customer Dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics Oman
1.0 Introduction
After formulating a proposal based on customer dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics in
Oman, the McKinsey’s 7S model showed that the issue is intertwined with strategy and systems
within the organization. With permission from the management to use the company as a case, the
report seeks to present a deeper analysis of the issue and its relation to various theoretical
frameworks. Particularly, the report covers the issue of people management, marketing,
operations, and strategy. It further recommend appropriate measures the company can use to
rectify the dissatisfaction brought about by long waiting times and staff attitude. An action plan
and the estimated cost of implementing the recommendations are included as well.
1.1 Company Background
Roche is a Swiss multinational company operating in the healthcare sector. The company
operates under two major divisions, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. It is headquartered in
Basel. As at the end of 2018, the company had a workforce of 94,442 employees across all the
branches worldwide. The operations of the company in Oman are overseen by the main branch in
the United Arab Emirates that sums up as the management center for 12 countries in the Middle
East (Roche Holdings, 2018). The UAE management center was formed in 2008, and since then
it has grown to accommodate about 150 employees and generating an average annual revenue of
47 million CHF a year after its establishment in the Middle East region.
While operating in the health sector, the company has grown and expanded to almost all
nation in the world. The revenues have also significantly grown, reaching its second all-time
high, 10.865 billion CHF in 2018. With the two division operational in all the countries it

Customer Dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostics- Oman 5
operates, the pharmaceutical division has been the best performing with more than 30 types of
drugs being produced by the company. Although the company is seeking to improve its services
and become the market leader, it is facing stiff competition from companies such as Novartis,
Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbot, DaVita, Lilly, and Baxter.
1.2 Problem Statement
Roche Diagnostics Oman is facing increasing customer dissatisfaction occasioned by
long waiting times (slow service delivery) and poor attitude among the staff. These problems are
all linked to the operations, management, and business strategies of the company. Without a
proper framework in place, the customers may opt to source their services from their rivals hence
reducing the revenues of the company. In this regard, the problem is expected to worsen with
time if not controlled as more customers are publicly criticizing the company’s service delivery
and the behavior of the staff towards them.
1.3 Analytic Tools
Since the analysis will follow a soft systems approach in evaluating the problem at Roche
Diagnostics Middle East in Oman, their analytical tools will be used, problem-solving
techniques, questioning routine, behaviors, and beliefs, as well as basic laddering to point
precisely, is happening, how it is related to the business’s strategic framework and how it can be
eliminated. These three tools form the most basic soft systems approach in studying integrated
management project in any organization. It gives a clear overview of what and how an issue can
collectively affect multiple sections of an organization, and which, when corrected, can earn an

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organization quicker benefits (Siriram, 2011). Notably, the laddering down tool is essential in
narrowing down the problem to point out what recommendations are applicable in this case.
2.0 Problem Analysis
In recent days, a customer of Roche Diagnostics in Oman have been protesting about the
long waiting time and the unwelcoming behavior of the staff. The problem is increasingly
becoming severe and may potentially impact the performance, reputation, and market dominance
of the company in the area. Although the staff attitude and slow working pace can be easily
corrected, the impact is already being felt in other departments of the company. Key among the
affected areas is the operations management and business strategies. It is becoming challenging
to convince consumers that the company offers the best services to its customers owing to the
negativity that has been associated with the company. Change, in this case, is inevitable is the
situation is to be corrected. However, the rectification of the problem will be dependent on how
the problem is affecting specific areas within the organization.
2.1 Company’s Leadership Approach
Arguably, the starting point of this customer dissatisfaction is in the leadership style the
company has employed in the institution. If employees are not motivated and guided, the
commonality of behavioral presentation among them will greatly vary. As a result, their attitudes
will be based on a personal view instead of being work-oriented. According to theory, the
general performance and perception of an organization by customers depending on how well the
employees are motivated to work (Manzoor, 2011). Although Roche Diagnostics have a working
human resources department, much has not been done to streamline the behavior and attitudes of
the staff in Oman. It is due to this fact that the entire leadership of the region becomes

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responsible and accountable for the dissents the customers are airing in relations to service
provision and customer handling by the staff.
Ideally, Roche’s leadership style is passive, and employee engagement is at its lowest.
This has created a vacuum in the enforcement of work ethics in the organization leading to laxity
among the staff. Consequently, the rate of service delivery has fallen, and customers have to take
even longer in waiting lines. Furthermore, the employees have become less concerned about
ethical behaviors when handling the clients leading to the dissatisfaction reported by the
customers. In this context, it is apparent that the lack of influential leadership is the probable
cause of this prevalent problem in the organization in Oman. Theoretically, this can only be
rectified if positive employee engagement is fostered within the organization (Mishra, Sharma
and Bhaskar, 2015).
With the leadership being partly to blame for the customer dissatisfaction, it can also be
the ultimate solution to the problem. In a normal workplace setup, employees follow the
leadership of their seniors and emulate most of their attributes. Perhaps it is avoidant leadership
that is causing the work stress on the employees in the organization. According to Skogstad,
Hetland, Glasø, and Einarsen (2014), the stress in employees caused by poor leadership and lack
of consideration of critical issues can demotivate them and lead to reduced productivity. This
scenario is evident at Roche Diagnostics in Oman. The reluctance of the employees to attend to
the customers and the unwelcoming attitude can be a culmination of leadership that has not put
more resources in ensuring satisfaction in its staff. Under these circumstances, the problem’s
connection to leadership is visible and can be rectified only if the leadership style in the
organization is changed. In particular, a transformational leadership approach can significantly

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reduce the prevalence of the problem and improve customer satisfaction index of Roche
Diagnostic in Oman.
2.2 Company’s Operations
Roche has two wings of operations, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. In Oman,
diagnostics is the main operation that has more customers dissatisfied by the long waiting hours
they experience while seeking the services from the organization. Furthermore, the staff working
within the organization lack the moral decency of treating customers with professionalism. The
impact of this problem on operations management cannot be ignored. Furthermore, the
operations of the company are what may be most affected if the situation worsens. From a
theoretical perspective, operations depend on how the top management trains, align and
motivates its employees to work (Krajewski, Malhotra and Ritzman, 2015). Although different
operations like supply chain, procurement, and management of general operations are
interconnected, the issue of dissatisfaction of customers significantly impacts the general
operations.
Due to the problem, it is expected that operations involving the provision of services may
continue worsening if proper remedies are not instituted immediately. In particular, due to
frequent complaints from customers, the organization risks losing some of its customers as well
as distorting the relationship between the existing consumers and organization. According to
Lewis and Brown (2011), professional services should be viewed distinctively, and significant
consideration is to be awarded to its execution. However, this has not been the case at Roche
Diagnostics. Seemingly, the customers, most of the patients are taken for granted, and employees
show little concern about their welfare. As such, the operational management of the organization

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needs to streamline its workforce to ensure conformity with the company’s corporate culture and
code of ethics. Furthermore, the impacts of the dissatisfaction on operations of the company can
be severe and potentially affect other sections of the company, including supply chain
management through the loss of trust to the organization.
As the problem continues to penetrate most of the departments in the company, the ripple
effect created can impair the productivity of the company in Oman. Ideally, poor performance in
service operations reduced customer loyalty and may scare potential clients intending to use the
same services (Anderson, Baggett and Widener, 2009). This revelation implies that the
management of Roche Diagnostics will need to relook at their service operations to ensure that
the customers are at least satisfied with them. Although it may take a long time to resolve this
stalemate, it is paramount to rectify the mistake before the whole system collapses. According to
Kumar, Batista, and Maull (2011), customer loyalty is determined by the level of satisfaction
they get from the services they receive. With service operations being the issue at Roche
Diagnostics in Oman, improving it may eradicate the increasing decry of customers.
2.3 Business Strategy
It is possible for customer dissatisfaction to render a business strategy obsolete when the
situation gets worse. Arguably, both issues have an interconnection that makes them dependent
on each other. For instance, when the business strategy is right and effective, customers are more
satisfied, and when customers become dissatisfied, the strategies become less effective and
necessitate change. The interdependence follows a cycle that has value creation in professional
service management (Lawrence, Zhang, and Heineke, 2016). In this context, the business
strategies employed by Roche Diagnostics in Oman have the capability of either worsening or

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eliminating the problem. Currently, the business strategy of the company is not customer-
oriented but rather profit-oriented. This forms of business create an environment that does not
look into customer concerns at greater lengths. Undeniably, this is the case at Roche Diagnostics
in Oman.
Other than the business orientation of the company, the marketing aspects are also
impacted by the problem. Since the diagnosis services, its quality is the center point of marketing
for the company. However, with the widespread dissatisfaction among customers, it is not
possible for the service quality marketing approach used by the company to succeed. In most
cases, dissatisfaction is associated with poor service delivery, and therefore, a service-quality
marketing approach cannot work correctly when customers are not pleased (Agyapong, 2017).
This is the case at Roche Diagnostics, and the impact of the problem on marketing might affect
the revenues of the company as well as its dominance in the Oman healthcare market.
Furthermore, it is possible that the marketing messages will not have a significant impact on the
purchase decisions of the consumers in the country of the reputation of the company continues to
be ruined by sentiments of dissatisfaction from customers.
Ideally, the connection between the dissatisfaction and the business strategy of the
company is obvious. The impacts will be visible on the conversion rates and overall financial
performance of the company. In essence, a failed marketing strategy not only costs the company
but might potentially decline the dominance of a business in the market (Morgan, 2011). In this
context, customer dissatisfaction at Roche Diagnostic is poised to ruin the reputation of the
organization and sabotage its marketing success all the same. Notably, other consumers who
have not used their services rely on customer feedbacks in making their choices of whether to
use the service or not. With the public outcry seemingly getting intense, the company risks losing

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more clients and subsequently losing the grip of the market. For this reason, Roche Diagnostics
in Oman needs to revise its business strategies to ensure that more focus is given to customers
since they determine how well the organization is portrayed in the market.
2.4 People Management
Going by the sentiments of the customers and their reasons for dissatisfaction, it is
apparent that the company’s human resource is not doing enough to address the impending
problem. The issue is deeply rooted in how the company manages its staff in terms of training,
development, and motivation. Theoretically, employee engagement defines how resilience and
motivated they become (Albrecht et al., 2015). A low engagement level paves ways for some
staff to deviate from the established corporate culture and carry out their duties as they deem fit.
In such circumstances, organizational performance might be affected due to the lack of a
sustainable employee engagement model (Padhi and Panda, 2015). This seems to be the case at
Roche Diagnostics since most customer complaints are associated with how they are treated by
the company’s staff whenever they inquire about the long waiting times.
Although people management practices differ in every organization depending on size
and their human resource policies, there is always commonality in some aspects. Showing
professionalism and handling customers with decency are some of the common ethics in all
organizations. However, when not enforced, dissatisfaction in services provided may become
prevalent. At Roche, the issue is growing, and employees are becoming less and less concerned
about the welfare of the customers. Presumably, it is the lack of engagement by the senior
management that has led to the deterioration of service quality and customer handling by the
staff. In reality, a disjoint between the management and the subordinate creates a perfect ground

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for the development of poor services and unwelcoming behaviors in the workforce (Ruck and
Welch, 2012). Therefore, the problem of dissatisfaction in the company is fueled by the lack of
employee engagement, training, and development.
3.0 Conclusion
Following the analysis of the company and the problem, it is apparent that the situation
may worsen if crucial measures are not taken in advance. The reputation of the company is at
risk in Oman and the effect of my effect the entire Middle East region due to the proximity of the
countries. The leadership approach of the company needs to change for the company to regain its
popularity in the country. As dissatisfaction continues, the key operations of the company,
including service delivery, marketing, and sales, may be impacted significantly. Notably, the
marketing message and strategies used might not yield the expected results if the perception of
the company remains the same in the minds of the consumers. Furthermore, lacking employee
engagement in the company fuels the prevalence of the problem. Therefore, it is prudent for the
company to establish proper mechanisms of retraining their staff, and optimizing their service
delivery units to reduce the amount of time one spends waiting in the cues. Without such
changes, the image of the company might be ruined completely, and its customers may shift to
rival companies.
4.0 Recommendations to Solve the Problem
Based on the analysis of the findings, the company needs an urgent overhaul of its
operations, approach to business as well as customer management. This can be achieved through
three crucial recommendations.
 The company should design a short training a development program for its employees to
enhance their customer handling skills. This may include benchmarking some of them in