lecture 1

Question 1

five gaps to perceived service quality

Answer 1

Gap 1: Company perceptions of consumer pereptions and expected service

gap 2: company perceptions of consumer expectations and customer driven service designs and standards

Gap 3: customer driven service designs and standards and service delivery

Gap 4: Service delivery and external communications to customers

Gap 5: Perceived service and expected service

Question 2

Key factors leading to gap 1

Answer 2

inadequate marketing research orientation
Insufficient marketing research
Research not focused on service quality
Inadequate use of market research

Lack of upward communication:
Lack of interaction between management and customers
Insufficient communication between contact employees and managers
Too many layers between contact personnel and top management

Insufficient relationship focus:
Lack of market segmentation
Focus on transactions rather than relationships
Focus on new customers rather than relationship customers

Inadequate service recovery

Question 3

share service in GDP

Answer 3

largest part of GDP in most countries is from services

Question 4

definition of a service

Answer 4

A change in the condition of a person or of a good belonging to some economic unit which is brought about as a result of the activity of some other economic unit, with the prior agreement of the former person or economic unit

Question 5

service vs product

Answer 5

100% product could be self service gasoline

100% service could be a haircut

but a fast food restaurant is in the middle.

Question 6

Services process matrix

Answer 6

Degree of labor intensity low
Degree of interaction and customization low
(service factory: Airlines, trucking or hotel)

Degree of labor intensity low
Degree of interaction and customization high
(service shop: hospitals, auto repairs)

Degree of labor intensity high
Degree of interaction and customization low
(Mass service: Retailing, wholesaling or university)

Degree of labor intensity high
Degree of interaction and customization high
(professional service: doctors, lawyers or accountants)

Question 7

Challenges for managers (services process matrix)

Answer 7

Low interaction/customization:
Marketing, attention to physical surroundings, standardization of operations

Low labor intenstiy:
Capital decisions (what invest in), technological advances (new screens in cinema), peaks (peaks of demand, e.g. winter efteling)

High labor intensity:
Hiring, training and employee welfare (cleaning people, reception etc.)

High interaction/customization:
fighting costs (keep them for the company), maintaining quality, reacting to customer intervention

Question 8

Difference between goods and services

Answer 8

Intangibility:
Not possible to keep in stock
No patents
not visible
Pricing is difficult

Heterogeneity:
Difficult to standardize and quality control
Communication is difficult

Simultaneous production and consumption:
Employees play an important role
Customer takes part in production process
Other consumers are co-producers
Problems with mass production
Not possible to keep in stock

Perishability:
Not possible to keep in stock
Restricted in time and place

Question 9

solution to service problems

Answer 9

Inseparable:
Training and selection
Managing consumers
multi site strategy (be at more places so the customer doesnt have to travel)

Heterogeneity:
Industrialize the service
or
customize the service

Question 10

The service mix

Answer 10

Product

Places

Promotion

Price

added