SMRT: Getting Back on Track

Name: SMRT: Getting Back on Track
SKU: 9B18D004_P

Thompson S.H. Teo; Cherie Heng;Cheryl Lee;Zhuoran Liu;Shi Qing Ng;Xinyi Sherry Yuan

Product #:9B18D004_P

Supplier:Ivey/NUS

Discipline:Operations Management

Setting:Singapore, 2016

Details:Case (PDF) • 11 pages • 2018-03-02

Subjects:

Service delivery Crisis management Service management Business management Operations and supply chain management

Geography:

Singapore Asia

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On July 7, 2015, a power fault during the evening commute led to a system-wide disruption on SMRT, Singapore’s heavily used mass rapid transit lines. Train service on both lines was shut down for more than two hours, affecting more than 413,000 commuters. The public was outraged at the scale of the breakdown and how ineffectively it was handled. Detailed investigations revealed the breakdown to be a result of maintenance lapses, and SMRT was criticized for its failure to provide clear and timely information and instructions to passengers. Following the breakdown, the company embarked on a service recovery process encompassing various new initiatives. This case illustrates the tensions SMRT faced during and after the breakdown, and its journey to recover the public’s confidence in is transit services.

Learning Objectives

This case gives students the opportunity to

appreciate the importance of crisis management and service recovery in an organization;
identify service gaps and evaluate the impact of such gaps on an organization;
understand how models can be used to evaluate an organization’s effectiveness in service recovery; and
appreciate the complexities organizations face in meeting stakeholders’ expectations during crisis.