The registration and reporting of a travel agent - an analysis of an e-service

Transcription

1 TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY IDU0330: Business Process Modeling and Automation The registration and reporting of a travel agent - an analysis of an e-service Rein Nõukas IVGMM Mariane Koplimaa IVGMM Tallinn, 2014

2 Contents 1. Introduction Service Overview and Structure The process The motivation viewpoint Analysis and disadvantages of existing processes The process of the registration of a travel agent Registration maintenance subprocesses Description of current e-governance processes (AS IS) in Bizagi Solution Description Description of new e-governance processes (TO BE) Bizagi The Balanced Scorecard

3 1. Introduction 1.1 Service Overview and Structure Acting as travel agent or agency is regulateb by Tourism Act 1 in Estonia: 8. Operation as travel undertaking An undertaking may operate as a travel undertaking upon the existence of a registration in the register of economic activities and a requisite security provided for in section 15 of this Act. It means that every travel service provider needs a registration number to give travel service and this number is given by Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (Tax Board) after all the prerequisites are filled. The system is critically controlled by Estonian Consumer Protection Board who constantly checks the validity of travel agency registrations and warranty letters (security). 15. Security (1) A travel undertaking is required to certify the existence of a security by financial resources which are sufficient for: 1) return of the travellers to the place of departure if the package contract includes passenger transport service; 2) accommodation of the travellers until the return to the place of departure; 3) reimbursement for the price of the package to the consumer upon cancellation of the package or payment of compensation for the part of the package which is cancelled; 4) reimbursement for the price of unused package gift certificates to the consumer. After every quater of the year, each travel agency has to submit a report of sales trough portal and renew the registration yearly as well trough Registation system for new travel agencies at the moment is not as smooth as it could be when using the possibilities of e-services and Estonian x-road platform. Currently the system has many manual steps like sending s, downloading-uploading files, calculating manually warranty amount and asking information via or phone. Many steps can be automated and by this, the whole system can run smoother and faster, can be controlled more (validity dates, warranty amount calculations, etc.), the system can be more transparent and user friendly for both, the travel agency and the state (Consumer Protection Board, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Tax Board). Communication between all parties involved can also be improved. At the moment there is no feedback given by the state if the travel agent has submitted report or forgotten to fil the report. As a result, the travel agent who does not fill the requirements is automatically blacklisted and the reputation is ruined. This could be avoided if there is more communication and feedback given by the state to the action of travel agency. This project gives overview of how the registration and reporting process as an e-service is operated at the moment and how it could be improved as well

4 2. The process In the given project the following parts (processes) of the travel agent registration and registration maintenance service were analyzed: Interactions between bank and travel agent Interactions between travel agent and Customer Protection Board Interaction between travel agent and Tax Board It is noticeable the analysis is positioned from the travel agent perspective. This aspect was chosen because the project team has hands-on experience from running a travel agent business in Estonia, and, in turn, being a customer to a government-provided service (resp. travel agent registration and registration maintenance service). As the project team lacks the information regarding the in-house processes run by banks, Tax Board and Customer Protection Board therefore assumptions about their internal workflows would not be valid and coherent in any case. Therefore the complete service redesign project would need also perspectives described from banks, Tax Board and Customer Protection Board point of view in order to detect and define additional ways of optimizing workflows. 2.1 The motivation viewpoint One phase prior the actual modeling of the AS-IS and TO-BE models was to populate the motivational layer (see Figure 2.1 below) using ArchiMate as respective tool. By utilizing the Motivation viewpoint the designer or analyst is allowed to model the motivation aspect, without focusing on certain elements within this aspect 2. Also this model allowed the project team to visually describe the relationships between various aspects and build logical links between sources (reasons) and solutions (consequences). A textual description of a part of the motivational layer is given as follows: If Tax Board and Customer Protection Board fail to preserve fair competion then the business climate becomes unfriendly and law-abiding travel agents have to be closed down and operate at reduced capacity which in turn means losses in tax revenue, higher unemployment rate and higher transaction costs for citizens (less competition, higher margins). In order to maintain business-friendly environment the travel agent registration and registration maintenance process should be as less-complex as possible so that all motivated and honest travel agents could complete it with ease and without any extra efforts. One should also mention that motivation layer allows to adopt constraints and principles. In the case above, the binding constraint is that the service should be provided only using one certain medium portal Principles include the prohibition to raise any service fees once the service (provision) has been redesigned (as the nature of the service has not been changed), also the total effort of the travel agent while consuming the service should be remain the equal or lower compared to the pre-redesign situation. 2 AchiMate tool. 3

5 Once stakeholders, drivers and assessments have been sorted out the goals are defines. A goal represents a desired end state of a stakeholder. In the running case, the general goal is to reduce complexity in the service usage. This is divided into two subgoals: reduce customers' manual work and provide feedback to the customers. In order to refine the (achieving of) the goals requirements are adopted. Requirement is something that must mbe realized by the system in order to meet the need. Respective requirements corresponding to the aforementioned subgoals are: provide built-in warrant amount calculator; provide pre-filled templates; send notification if warranty level is insufficient; inform if registration is accepted or rejected. The motivation viewpoint enables to point out the specific goals and corresponding requirements which form the basis for the service s TO-BE state. Figure 2.1. Motivation layer for travel agent registration and registration maintenance service. 2.2 Analysis and disadvantages of existing processes In this subchapter the service s AS-IS state is analyzed. Also per each subprocess the respective problems and unoptimized parts of workflow are given. 4

6 2.2.1 The process of the registration of a travel agent activity initiator input output medium file the registration application (request) Travel Agent business plan filled&submitted registration template eesti.ee pay the state fee Travel Agent payment details payment receipt (=payment date); conducted payment internet bank predict the sales volume&calculate the warranty value Travel Agent business plan warranty value n/a apply for the warranty letter Travel Agent warranty value electronic request via provide the warranty letter bank bank's approval submit the warranty letter Travel Agent warranty letter digitally signed (bank, travel agent) warranty letter successful upload confirmation via eesti.ee- >landing page check the warranty letter (format, minimal warranty value) Tax Board warranty letter approval Tax Board IS decide if to issue a registration number Tax Board if warranty letter, state fee (date), application ok registration number Tax Board IS check if the registration number has been issued Travel Agent business plan validated information eesti.ee- >landing page (registratio n number query service) Table 2.1. The process of the registration of a travel agent Problems and unoptimized parts of workflow: No feedback given regarding the submitted application; No automated means to calculate the correct warranty value; All interaction with bank should be via internet banking. 5

7 2.2.2 Registration maintenance subprocesses Quarterly reporting activity initiator input output medium notification of the upcoming reporting duty CPB IS timer (period since last report) notification sent out CPB IS fill report Travel agent relevant data correctly filled report CPB portal OR eesti.ee- >landing site supervision of the fulfillment of the reporting duty CPB IS timer (period since reporting deadline) boolean (true/false statement) CPB IS subscenario1 (in parallel): black-listing the travel agent if reporting duty is not fulfilled CPB IS boolean returns FALSE (report not submitted) entry of data to the black list CPB IS+press release subscenario2 (in parallel): report is submitted but the warranty value is below the necessary level CPB IS boolean returns FALSE (warranty value not meeting the criteria) official notification letter (get a new warranty letter from the bank) CPB IS subscenario3 (in parallel): report is submitted but the contents if report are not correct CPB IS boolean returns FALSE (warranty value not meeting the criteria) official notification letter (to correct typing/calculation mistake) CPB IS- > to Travel agent act according to CPB's orders (fix quarterly report, increase the warranty value) Travel agent official notification letter see subprocesses: Quarterly reporting, increasing of the waranty value Manager reporting duty is fulfilled CPB IS booleans at subscenario1, subscenario2 return TRUE entry in the local registry - check passed CPB IS 6

8 Table 2.2. Quarterly reporting Problems and unoptimized parts of workflow: No feedback given regarding the submitted report; Not possible to get a copy of the submitted report; No prefilled data provided; If warranty letter is about to become outdated or is outdated, no notification is sent by CPB IS; No reminder is sent if travel agent missed the deadline for submitting a report (instead travel agent is blacklisted) Increasing of the warranty value activity initiator input output medium reviewing the turnover from last quarter Travel Agent accounting data turnover (past quarter) Travel Agent's IS/ERP deciding the need to increase warranty value Travel Agent turnover (past quarter) boolean (true/false statement) Manager's head subscenario1: warranty value needs to be increased Manager boolean returns TRUE new warranty value Manager's head subscenario2: warranty value needs not to be increased Manager boolean returns FALSE do nothing Manager's head calculate new warranty value Manager boolean at subscenario1 returns TRUE new warranty value Manager's head apply for the new warranty letter Travel Agent warranty value electronic request via provide the warranty letter bank bank's approval digitally signed (bank, travel agent) warranty letter via submit the warranty letter Travel Agent warranty letter successful upload confirmation eesti.ee- >landing page check the warranty letter (format, minimal warranty value) Tax Board warranty letter approval Tax Board's IS 7

9 Table 2.2. Increasing of the warranty value Problems and unoptimized parts of workflow: No feedback given regarding the submitted warranty letter; No automated means to calculate the correct warranty value; All interaction with bank should be via internet banking Prolonging the warranty letter's validity activity initiator input output medium reviewing the period of validity of the warranty letter Travel Agent warranty letter period of validity Travel Agent's IS deciding the need to prolong the warranty letter's validity Travel Agent period of validity boolean (true/false statement) Manager's head subscenario1 (1st or 2nd only): warranty letter's validity is about to end soon (>1 mo till expired) Manager boolean returns TRUE start the process of prolonging the validity Manager's head subscenario2 (1st or 2nd only): warranty letter's validity is not about to end soon (<1 mo till expired) Manager boolean returns FALSE do nothing Manager's head apply for the new warranty letter (using previous format and values) Travel Agent boolean at subscenario1 returns TRUE electronic request via provide the warranty letter bank bank's approval digitally signed (bank, travel agent) warranty letter via submit the warranty letter Travel Agent warranty letter successful upload confirmation eesti.ee- >landing page check the warranty letter (format, minimal warranty value) Tax Board warranty letter approval Tax Board's IS 8

10 Table 2.3. Prolonging the warranty letter's validity Problems and unoptimized parts of workflow: No feedback given regarding the submitted warranty letter; CPB IS is not notifying automatically about the upcoming expiration date; All interaction with bank should be via internet banking. 2.2 Description of current e-governance processes (AS IS) in Bizagi In the following graphs it is described how the processes are at the moment (AS-IS) for registering a new travel agency, reporting after every three months and renewing the registration number. For the registration process, there are also sub processes for communicating with the bank and Tax-Board. The company has to act for the next step only if previous step is taken. At critical points, there is no notification or reminder if it is time for next step or not. The owner or an accountant of the travel agency needs to contact for example the bank to ask if the warranty letter is ready and after receiving the , upload the warranty letter. Also, the owner needs to contact the tax board for asking news about registration number state if it is issued or there is additional information or documents needed from the company. Figure 2. AS-IS process for applying registration number to travel agent. In the application form looks as shown on Figure 3. Gaps need to be filled manually, also uploading files and inserting state fee payment date, although this could be created automatically. 9

11 Figure 3. AS-IS registration of travel agent in and Tax Board portal. For reporting AS-IS, at the moment company registered as travel agent receives an from Consumer Protection Board for sending the data or last three months. The company then has to fill in a form from scratch with sales numbers. In case the sales have raised and the warranty letter does not provide needed warranty amount, the company needs to apply for new warranty letter with needed amount of warranty. This comes out after reporting then numbers and if the backup is lower, there is a threat for the company to arrive to the black list or with no permit to be active travel agent until the warranty letter is renewed. 10

12 Figure 4. AS-IS process for reporting quarter-yearly. In reporting process, if there is a need for renewed warranty letter, the application for it through the bank is similar to the process when applying a new warranty letter with steps of receiving the letter by and uploading it to Again, several manual steps that take additional time and effort. In Customer Protection Board side, the reporting in portal at the moment is an empty form, where even the company name and registration number need to be inserted manually. All the numbers have to be transferred manuallt from any other accountancy system and the board member data has to be filled in again each time. 11

13 Figure 5. Filling in and submitting quarter-yearly report to Customer Protection Board. 12

14 3. Solution Description In the new process several manual steps are eliminated and automated. For example the bank sends issued warranty letter straight to the online service and there is no more need to receive the letter by and upload it. For the tax board, application by the applicant becomes visible only after the state fee has been paid and there is no more need to check if it is paid before issuing the registration number. For the company, calculating the necessary warranty amount is automated and mistakes can be avoided that may occur from miscalculations and human mistakes. The new system also sends out notifications if deadlines are approaching and updates for warranty letter or registration number are needed. This will help companies to keep reporting under control and keep them away from ending up on the travel agencies black list. 3.1 Description of new e-governance processes (TO BE) Bizagi In the following Bizagi drawings it is seen, how the systems are automated and what are the changes compared to as-is process. The registration process can be automated for example when bank can sent automatically issued warranty letter to the portal and the Tax Board sees the data immediately after the registration steps are done until submitting the form, including paying the state fee and filling in all necessary information. After all is correct, the system will notify the company about successful application and issued registration number. The system notifies also if other actions need to be taken, for example renewing warranty letter or raising the warranty amount. 13

15 Figure 6. TO-BE process for applying registration number to travel agent. When reporting activity and sales after every three months, the new automated system keeps track when it is time to apply for new warranty letter, it helps to calculate automatically warranty amount and reminds about reporting and renewing the registration. Application and report files are prefilled as much as possible and company owner or accountant simply needs to confirm the data. This process is easier, faster, and more transparent and avoids human mistakes and problems arising from manual system in our e-services environment. Figure 7. TO-BE process for reporting quarter-yearly. 14

16 4. The Balanced Scorecard Balanced Scorecard is a performance metric used in strategic management to identify and improve various internal functions and their resulting external outcomes. The balanced scorecard attempts to measure and provide feedback to organizations in order to assist in implementing strategies and objectives. (Investopedia 3 ) This management technique isolates four separate areas that need to be analyzed: 1. Learning and growth - focuses on how to educate employees, how to gain and capture knowledge, and how to use it to maintain a competitive edge within company s target markets; 2. Business processes - measures critical-to-customer process requirements and measures; 3. Customers - measures customers' satisfaction and their performance requirements; 4. Finance - tracks financial requirements and performance. (Dummies 4 ) Data collection is crucial to providing quantitative results, which are interpreted by managers and executives and used to make better long-term decisions. (Investopedia) Table 4.1 (see below) represents the balanced scorecard for the optimized (TO-BE) travel agent registration and reporting process. 3 Investopedia, Dummies Biz,

17 Transparent Internal Users Control Efficient Satisfying Better (e-) service (satisfied users) Better control over the registration and reporting Increased satisfaction for businesses and state Optimized staff Avoiding mistakes and delays Automated processes Rising productivity (faster) Learning and Growth Implement the renewed workflow Re-design the G2B /B2G communication Re-train the staff 16

18 Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives Learning Internal Users Control Satisfying Efficient Better control over registration and reporting Increased satisfaction Automated Process Raised Productivity Implementing the renewed workflow Re-training the staff Increased satisfaction, satisfied users and service providers: Cost saving: More accurate predictions (peak times, risk profiles : Positive feedback, new services: Success rate: Personnel Cost Savings: Research, pilot project Year 1: 30 % Year 2: 50 % Year 3: 70 % Year 1: 10 % Year 2: 30 % Year 3: 50 % Year 1: 40 % Year 2: 70 % Year 3: 90 % Year 1: 30 % Year 2: 50 % Year 3: 70 % Year 1: 40 % Year 2: 70 % Year 3: 90 % Year 1:-30 % Year 2:-10 % Year 3:-10 % - 6 months research and test run - 12 months live Receive automated up to date information from registrations and reporting; Automation saves costs and raises efficiency. Distributing Lessons learned (taken from the renewed service) among peers in the public sector (to encourage adoption of best practices); Informing customers about the optimized service provision. Monthly staff feedback; Promoting best practises; Minor process improvements and tweaks front- and back-end (bug-fixing). Seminars for the staff; Brainstorming events; Involvement of external IT consultants and developers. Table 4.1. Balanced scorecard for optimized (TO-BE) registration and reporting process. 17