Part 4 Ch8 Service Innovation and Design

Question 1

Part 6 - Address Provider gap 2

Answer 1

effective Service Design (Ch. 8):
Tools discussed in Chapter 8 are essential for creating service designs that align with customer expectations.

Differentiating Standards (Ch. 9):
Chapter 9 helps in distinguishing between company-defined and customer-defined standards, crucial for addressing Provider Gap 2.

Importance of Physical Evidence (Ch. 10):
Chapter 10 explores the strategic significance of physical evidence and servicescapes to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Question 2

Challenges of Service Innovation

Answer 2

1. Intangibility and Process Orientation:
   challenging to describe and communicate.
   The process-oriented nature adds complexity.
2. Long Delivery Periods:
   Services can be delivered over an extended period, contributing to their complexity
3. Human Delivery (Heterogeneity and Unrepeatability):
   Services are delivered by humans (service personnel), leading to heterogeneity and unrepeatability

Question 3

Risks Related to Services Innovation

Answer 3

1. Oversimplification:
   Services are inherently complex (e.g., service systems), and using words alone may oversimplify their intricacies.
2. Incompleteness:
   Service personnel may omit crucial details or elements, impacting the overall service experience for customers.
3. Subjectivity
   personnel and managers, may have different understandings of the same service process
4. Biased Interpretations:
   Varied understandings can lead to biased interpretations, potentially harming service delivery and quality

Question 4

service system

Answer 4

refers to a combination of people, processes, technology, and other resources that work together to deliver a service

Question 5

Innovation

Answer 5

• Product innovation
• Process Innovation:
• Marketing Innovation:
• Organizational Innovation:

Question 6

Product Innovation:

Answer 6

Goods or services that are new or significantly improved.

Components: Significant improvements in technical specifications, components, materials, software, user-friendliness, or other functional characteristics.

Question 7

Process Innovation:

Answer 7

New or significantly improved production or delivery methods.

Components: Involves significant changes in techniques, equipment, and/or software.

Question 8

Marketing Innovation:

Answer 8

New marketing methods involving significant changes in product design or packaging, product placement, product promotion, or pricing.

Question 9

Organizational Innovation:

Answer 9

New organizational methods in business practices, workplace organization, or external relations.

Question 10

Front-End Planning for Service Innovation

Answer 10

1. Business Strategy Development:
   
   • Aligning with the company’s mission, vision, and strategic style
2. New Service Strategy Development:
   
   • Planning a well-thought-out portfolio strategy and organizational structure for new services.
3. Idea Generation:
   
   • formal meetings, brainstorming, user-generated ideas, and crowdsourcing
4. Service Concept Development and Evaluation:
   
   • Creating a service concept with an explicit core benefit supported by a variety of tangible and intangible elements.
5. Business Analysis:
   
   • Assessing economic feasibility and profitability of the proposed service through thorough business analysis.

Question 11

Diversification Strategy

Answer 11

New Markets + New Services

Question 12

Market development strategy

Answer 12

New Markets + Existing services

Question 13

Service Development

Answer 13

Existing Markets + New Services

Question 14

Increase market share

Answer 14

Existing Markets + Existing Services

Question 15

Implementation 1: Service Development and Testing

Answer 15

• creating and testing a service prototype.
• Adheres to a detailed flow chart, such as a service blueprint.

Question 16

Implementation 2: Market Testing

Answer 16

• Difficult to test services in isolation.
• Try-out periods or in-development services may be the case.

Question 17

Implementation 3: Commercialization

Answer 17

• Service is live, requiring maintenance of acceptance.
• Monitoring the flow of operations is crucial.

Question 18

Implementation 4: Post-introduction Evaluation

Answer 18

• formalized review process.
• Critical for enhancing service quality.

Question 19

Service Blueprint:

Answer 19

A visual representation or map of a service that:
1. Breaks down the service into logical components.
2. Illustrates the steps in the service process.
3. Depicts the methods used to execute tasks.
4. Represents the evidence of service as perceived by the customer.
5. Enhances understanding and collaboration among service providers.

Question 20

Building a service blueprint

Answer 20

1. Identify the process to be blueprinted
2. Identify the customer segment
3. Map the process from the customer’s view
4. Map contact employee actions, onstage, backstage, and technology actions
5. Link contact activities needed to support functions
6. Add evidence of service at each customer action step

Question 21

Application of Service Blueprints:

Answer 21

• New service development:
  
  • concept development.
  • market testing.
• Supporting a “zero defects” culture:
  
  • managing reliability.
  • identifying empowerment issues.
• Service recovery strategies:
  
  • identifying service problems.
  • conducting root cause analysis.
  • modifying processes.

Question 22

Benefits of blueprinting

Answer 22

• Providing a platform for innovation
• Recognizing roles and interdependencies among functions, people
  and organizations
• Facilitating both strategic and tactical innovations
• Transferring and storing innovation and service knowledge
• Designing moments of truth from the customer’s point of view
• Suggesting critical points for measurement and feedback in the
  service process
• Clarifying competitive positioning
• Understanding the ideal customer experience

Question 23

5 Components of service blueprint

Answer 23

1. Customer Actions: outlines the steps or actions taken by the customer throughout the service process.
2. Frontstage: customer-visible activities and interactions that occur during the service delivery, involving both the customer and service employees.
3. Backstage: the behind-the-scenes activities that customers do not directly witness but are essential for service delivery, involving processes, systems, and support functions.
4. Support Processes: These are the processes that support and facilitate the frontline and backstage activities, ensuring a smooth service delivery.
5. Physical Evidence: all tangible elements or cues that customers can see, touch, or experience during the service delivery, providing additional context to the service.