Cognizant Technology Solutions (Cognizant) (NASDAQ: CTSH) is an American multinational provider of business, technology and consulting services headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Cognizant has been named to the 2010 Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies List for the eighth consecutive year.[2] Cognizant has also been named to the Fortune 1000 and Forbes Global 2000 lists. It has consistently ranked among the fastest growing companies including the 2010 Business Week 50 list of the top-performing U.S. companies, the Business Week Hottest Tech Companies 2010, and the Forbes Fast Tech 2010 list of 25 Fastest Growing Technology Companies In America.
Cognizant was founded in 1994 as an IT development and maintenance services arm of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation with Kumar Mahadeva[3] as its Chairman and CEO.[4] The company was spun off as an independent organization two years later. Kumar Mahadeva resigned in 2003 when Lakshmi Narayanan took charge as CEO.[5] Cognizant was one of the first IT services companies to organize around key industry verticals as well as technology horizontals. It currently provides a wide range of business, technology and consulting services including business process outsourcing (BPO) and has significant practices in Banking and Financial services, Communications, Consumer Goods, Energy & Utilities, Health care, Information, Media & Entertainment, Insurance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Retail, Technology, Transportation & Logistics and Travel and Hospitality.
Being the major revenue contributor, Drive
Thrus have focused on increasing the speed of
service (SOS). The proposition for years had
been – the faster a customer can be served,
greater is the number of customers that can be
attended to in a given period of time. However,
with the number of vehicles in line (VIL) having
a negative impact on SOS, being the fastest may
not ensure a Drive Thru to be the best in terms
of order fulfillment, employee retention and
customer friendliness. Factors like order
accuracy, menuboard appearance and speaker
clarity also influences the customer perception
and impacts the QSR brand as a whole.
This paper attempts to describe how modern
day technologies (e.g. mobility enablement) may
address some of these issues through customer
empowerment, resulting in increased Drive Thru
revenue.
Factors influencing Drive Thru
Performance
The major factors influencing Drive Thru
performance are as follows:
n Speed of Service (SOS)
n Average Vehicles in Line (VIL)
n Order Accuracy
n Menuboard Appearance
n Speaker Clarity
n Customer Friendliness
n Employee Retention
The first five factors in the list are more
technology driven while the rest are cultural in
nature.
Over the years, the Quick-Serve Drive Thru
Performance Study has consistently demonstrated
that for any given chain, more Vehicles In Line
equal longer service times. Handling payments at
the counter may increase the SOS significantly
An employee portal that serves as an online benefits channel: The portal provides a custom view of the benefits products, enrollment options, claims inquiry and forms. It is fully integrated with the client's benefits portal. And as a lower cost self-service channel, the portal has decreased our client’s operating expenses and boosted revenue by improving retention and cross-sell.
The company also has a tie-up with BSchool
for management courses at the middle-
management level, and is actively looking
at launching an Executive Leadership
Programme for the e-economy in the near
future. This will be customised to suit
Cognizant’s requirements with renowned
faculty drawn from across the globe in each
area. Part of the programme will include
case studies and site visits to some of the top
e-biz companies globally. It is anticipated
that 30-40 of the company’s senior managers
will participate in the programme in
the first batch.
Various sources – NASSCOM, senior industry
professionals, as well as reports from the
US and Europe – report that Indian software
professionals are very good technically, but
lack soft skills. In the middle-management
level where these skills come into prominence,
be it in handling clients, managing
teams, or self-management, India seems to
be lacking as a country. So, Cognizant is
bringing a lot of focus into developing these
skills in its associates.
Many technical people believe that their
technical skills will carry them through.
Many are now realising that this is not true.
Cognizant, as an organisation, is very concerned
that this should not become mere lip
service to soft skills. That is why it leaves the
acquisition of these skills to the initiative of
the individual while providing a support system
with all the opportunities to learn and
hone these skills.
The themes of openness, transparency
and continuous learning take on a special
significance if you consider that a large part
of the organisation is very very young and
has been working for less than four years.
Thus, it becomes very important to understand
what their needs and requirements
are.
There are four predominant needs:
l The need to know as much as possible
about the organisation.
l The need to share learning.
l The need for the organisation to be perceived
as an equitable and open organisation.
l The need to question and understand
things and therefore learn.
All this may be present to an extent in any
job. But, in Cognizant, learning, questioning
and sharing per se is important and is context-
free.
Therefore, it doesn’t take the management
by surprise when a fresh graduate,
possibly just out of college, without any hesitation,
apprehension or guilt questions the
CEO about why the organisation is taking a
particular position in the e-biz market. And
the CEO, without any trace of being condescending,
answers that question in a way he
would possibly answer the board of directors
or a group of business and market analysts.
This happens because the CEO
respects the position that the individual is
asking the question from.
It is important in this industry to share for
sharing’s sake, know for knowing’s sake and
learn for learning’s sake. It need not be tied
to an immediate return on investment. This
is the value we want to inculcate.
Cognizant was founded in 1994 as an IT development and maintenance services arm of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation with Kumar Mahadeva[3] as its Chairman and CEO.[4] The company was spun off as an independent organization two years later. Kumar Mahadeva resigned in 2003 when Lakshmi Narayanan took charge as CEO.[5] Cognizant was one of the first IT services companies to organize around key industry verticals as well as technology horizontals. It currently provides a wide range of business, technology and consulting services including business process outsourcing (BPO) and has significant practices in Banking and Financial services, Communications, Consumer Goods, Energy & Utilities, Health care, Information, Media & Entertainment, Insurance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Retail, Technology, Transportation & Logistics and Travel and Hospitality.
Being the major revenue contributor, Drive
Thrus have focused on increasing the speed of
service (SOS). The proposition for years had
been – the faster a customer can be served,
greater is the number of customers that can be
attended to in a given period of time. However,
with the number of vehicles in line (VIL) having
a negative impact on SOS, being the fastest may
not ensure a Drive Thru to be the best in terms
of order fulfillment, employee retention and
customer friendliness. Factors like order
accuracy, menuboard appearance and speaker
clarity also influences the customer perception
and impacts the QSR brand as a whole.
This paper attempts to describe how modern
day technologies (e.g. mobility enablement) may
address some of these issues through customer
empowerment, resulting in increased Drive Thru
revenue.
Factors influencing Drive Thru
Performance
The major factors influencing Drive Thru
performance are as follows:
n Speed of Service (SOS)
n Average Vehicles in Line (VIL)
n Order Accuracy
n Menuboard Appearance
n Speaker Clarity
n Customer Friendliness
n Employee Retention
The first five factors in the list are more
technology driven while the rest are cultural in
nature.
Over the years, the Quick-Serve Drive Thru
Performance Study has consistently demonstrated
that for any given chain, more Vehicles In Line
equal longer service times. Handling payments at
the counter may increase the SOS significantly
An employee portal that serves as an online benefits channel: The portal provides a custom view of the benefits products, enrollment options, claims inquiry and forms. It is fully integrated with the client's benefits portal. And as a lower cost self-service channel, the portal has decreased our client’s operating expenses and boosted revenue by improving retention and cross-sell.
The company also has a tie-up with BSchool
for management courses at the middle-
management level, and is actively looking
at launching an Executive Leadership
Programme for the e-economy in the near
future. This will be customised to suit
Cognizant’s requirements with renowned
faculty drawn from across the globe in each
area. Part of the programme will include
case studies and site visits to some of the top
e-biz companies globally. It is anticipated
that 30-40 of the company’s senior managers
will participate in the programme in
the first batch.
Various sources – NASSCOM, senior industry
professionals, as well as reports from the
US and Europe – report that Indian software
professionals are very good technically, but
lack soft skills. In the middle-management
level where these skills come into prominence,
be it in handling clients, managing
teams, or self-management, India seems to
be lacking as a country. So, Cognizant is
bringing a lot of focus into developing these
skills in its associates.
Many technical people believe that their
technical skills will carry them through.
Many are now realising that this is not true.
Cognizant, as an organisation, is very concerned
that this should not become mere lip
service to soft skills. That is why it leaves the
acquisition of these skills to the initiative of
the individual while providing a support system
with all the opportunities to learn and
hone these skills.
The themes of openness, transparency
and continuous learning take on a special
significance if you consider that a large part
of the organisation is very very young and
has been working for less than four years.
Thus, it becomes very important to understand
what their needs and requirements
are.
There are four predominant needs:
l The need to know as much as possible
about the organisation.
l The need to share learning.
l The need for the organisation to be perceived
as an equitable and open organisation.
l The need to question and understand
things and therefore learn.
All this may be present to an extent in any
job. But, in Cognizant, learning, questioning
and sharing per se is important and is context-
free.
Therefore, it doesn’t take the management
by surprise when a fresh graduate,
possibly just out of college, without any hesitation,
apprehension or guilt questions the
CEO about why the organisation is taking a
particular position in the e-biz market. And
the CEO, without any trace of being condescending,
answers that question in a way he
would possibly answer the board of directors
or a group of business and market analysts.
This happens because the CEO
respects the position that the individual is
asking the question from.
It is important in this industry to share for
sharing’s sake, know for knowing’s sake and
learn for learning’s sake. It need not be tied
to an immediate return on investment. This
is the value we want to inculcate.