Today's customer is more demanding than ever. Given this scenario, the quality of customer service makes the organization distinct from others in the competition. This article investigates the role of human resource practices in building the culture of `Customer Service Orientation' in the organization through the integration of thought processes of people working in different business divisions, and above all, through the management's commitment to "think and act out-of-the-box."

I drive a Honda Civic. One day, on my way to the office, I got to spot a new gas filling station. As I steered in, I found a person wearing a red T-shirt and black pants with an indicator glowing florescent red. He was directing my way to the filling counter, and I was smiling, as I found more `Reds & Blacks'.

These are the times when leading players in the market term themselves to be evolving as an `integrated personal financial advisory house' or a `one-stop financial services'. The underlying message being propagated is that they offer multiple services under one roof. Important in the Nordic School of Thought is the notion of ongoing interactions and long-lasting relationships between customers and service providers which forms the core of marketing. Transactions are, of course, part of these interactions, but it is not the transaction per se that is the point of culmination. Interactions are more important because the way in which interactions with customers are handled has an impact on their behavior. Within the Nordic School, interactions are seen as continuous and as a part of an ongoing relationship between the customers and service providers. This is referred to as a relationship perspective, in opposition to an exchange perspective. This, in turn, would enable their employees to interact in a better way and helps them identify the 3-Ds (shown in Exhibit 4) that can help them win the heart of the customer with the end result being `direct impact on the bottom line.... A typical Nordic School of Thought.

"Having a good customer service culture and customer satisfaction requires the commitment of management, supervisors and front line employees to create and maintain a strong business philosophy. Mastering these aspects means becoming more competitive in the marketplace today". The new order means that HR should also cultivate the culture of making the employees' responsible for the development of their own know-how in taking the company forward and the line managers should be molded to be the facilitators in propagating this culture.

Marketing Mastermind Magazine, Customer Service Orientation, Human Resource Practices, One-stop Financial Services, Customer Satisfaction, Corporate Communications, Marketing Communications, Depository Participant Services, Commercial Humanism, Financial Products, Business Transactions, Multiple Revenue Streams, Financial Sectors, Electronic Payment Products, Business Information Systems.