The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) concluded the first and second sessions of its four-day e-learning course on Customer Satisfaction Management for the Service Sector. It was conducted using videoconferencing facilities at the APO Secretariat in Tokyo and attended by 240 participants from 12 member countries.

The course used a hybrid “online-offline” approach combining videoconferencing with onsite sessions, that included lectures, discussions, presentations of national best practices, group exercises, and a written examination conducted by the APO in partnership with the NPOs of participating countries.

Welcoming participants on the inaugural day, APO Secretary-General Santhi Kanoktanaporn said that the service sector was one of the major contributors to the GDP of all member countries and therefore the promotion of productivity and innovative service-sector management was crucial for driving economic growth. He emphasized that in this era of Industry 4.0, where customer needs were constantly changing and becoming more sophisticated, enterprises needed to innovate constantly, be flexible, and respond rapidly to satisfy and retain customers.

This e-learning course was aimed at providing a better understanding of new concepts of and strategies for improving productivity in the service sector and newer approaches to customer service management in the digital era. It also focused on the needs of customers in the era of Industry 4.0 and included sharing of best practices and strategies for successful service-sector innovation.

During the course, experts shared recent concepts and strategies for customer service management to improve productivity in the service sector. APO resource speakers also introduced a manual on how customer satisfaction could be ensured so that participants could apply innovative service management strategies in practical action plans.

The first session was conducted for Cambodia, Fiji, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, while the second session was open to participants from Bangladesh, India, IR Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The course was conducted by two APO-assigned experts: Hoclink Systems & Services Pte. Ltd. Managing Director/Principal Consultant George Wong from Singapore; and Head of the Global Management Center Kazuteru Kuroda from the Japan Productivity Center.