Lecture 2 - Service process Flashcards
What is a service process?
From both customer and firm perspective?
The way in which a company works so that a customer receives service
- Customer perspective argues that services are experiences
- Firms perspective is a service is a process that have to be designed and managed
What are the 2 key tools used to analyse and manage complex production processes?
Flowcharting
Blueprinting
What is flowcharting?
This is describing existing process and the steps involved when the customer flows through the service
E.g For a motel
Park car- check in - spend night - breakfast - checkout
What does blueprinting?
More complex than a flowchart as it details how service is conducted
- So everything visible to the customer but also what happens in the office
What do scripts do when creating blueprints?
- Provide the basis for planning service encounters
- Goals and objectives
- Development of behavioural routines
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of current service delivery systems
What are the advantages of Blueprinting?
- Distinguish between “frontstage” and “backstage”
- Clarify interactions and support by backstage activities and systems
- Identify potential fail points; take preventive measures; prepare contingency
- Pinpoint stages where customers commonly have to wait
What are fail points ?
- Points in the blueprint system at which there is the potential for malfunction and at which failure would be visible to the customer and regarded as significant
Within a blueprint, what is a script?
- Include consumer and Employee thinking during a service encounter
Convergent scripts - Employee/consumer scripts that are mutually agreeable and enhance the probability of customer satisfaction
Divergent - employee/customer scripts that mismatch and point to areas in which consumer expectations are not being met
Why redesign?
- Revitalises processes that are outdates
- Keeping up with changes to the external environment
- Natural deterioration of internal processes, may be creeping bureaucracy, unofficial standards
What does redesigning aim to do?
- Reduce the number of service failures
- Reduce cycle time for customer initiation of a service
- Enhance productivity
- Increase customer satisfaction
What approaches can be taken within the redesign process?
1) Eliminate non-value-adding steps - Streamline front end and back end processes of services
2) Shifting to self service
3) Delivering direct service
4) Redesigning physical aspects of service process
What does the servuction system suggest?
Customers receive a bundle of benefits from each service experience as a result of their interaction with visible events of the service system
- The model draws on the visible and invisible components of the system
What are visible elements of the service system?
- All contact personnel employed by the service
- Aspects of the inanimate environment
- Other customers within the service system
What are the backstage elements?
- Staff training
- Administration
Whats involved with high, medium and low level participation?
High - Customer works actively with provider to co-produce the service, service cannot be created without customers active participation
Medium - customer input required to assist the provider, provide needed info and instructions
Low - Employees and systems do all the work
