Unit 4: Service Processes and Waiting Lines Flashcards
What are the five features within a service package?
- Supporting facility: The physical resources that must be in place before a service can be offered. Examples are an Internet website, a golf course, a ski lift, an airline, and an auto repair facility.
- Facilitating goods: The material purchased or consumed by the buyer or the items provided to the customer. Examples are golf clubs, skis, beverages, auto parts, and services sold by the firm.
- Information: Operations data or information that is provided to the customer, to enable efficient and customized services. Examples include detailed descriptions of the items offered, tee-off times, weather reports, medical records, seat preferences, and item availability.
- Explicit services: The benefits that are readily observable by the senses and that consist of the essential or intrinsic features of the service. Examples are the response time of an ambulance, air conditioning in a hotel room, and a smooth-running car after a tune-up.
- Implicit services: Psychological benefits that the customer may sense only vaguely, or the extrinsic features of the service. Examples are the status of a degree from an Ivy League school, the privacy of a loan office, and worry-free auto repair.
What is the service triangle? See Exhibit 9.1, noting that all decisions and actions are made with the customer in mind.
Centered around the customer:
- service strategy
- support systems
- employees
Why does operations management distinguish between a high degree of customer contact and a low degree of customer contact, and what are the major differences between the two systems? Note Exhibit 9.2.
This allows us to operationally distinguish one service system from another in its production function .
The physical presence of the customer in the system and the percentage of time the customer must be in the system relative to the total time it takes to perform the service.
service systems with a high degree of
customer contact are more difficult to control and more difficult to rationalize than those with a low degree of customer contact
How does service design and development differ from typical manufactured product development?
We cannot inventory services, demand must be met as it arises.
Capacity is a dominant issue
What is the service system design matrix? Review Exhibit 9.3.
s
What are the five basic types of variability, and the four basic accommodation strategies? Review Exhibit 9.4 on page 208.
arrival variability, request variability, capability variability, effort variability, subjective preference variability
accommodations: eclassic, low-cost, classic reduction, uncompromised reduction
What are the six behaviourally based principles for service encounter design?
- The front end and the back end of the encounter are not created equal. End on an up note.
- Segment the pleasure, combine the pain. Break pleasant experiences into multiple stages and combine unpleasant ones into a single stage.
- Let the customer control the process.
- Pay attention to norms and rituals
- People are easier to blame than systems
- Let the punishment fir the crime in service recovery.
What are service guarantees, and what are the elements of a good service guarantee?
A promise of service satisfaction backed up by a set of actions that must be taken to fulfill the promise.
- Any guarantee is better than no guarantee. The most effective guarantees are big deals. They put the company at risk in the eyes of the customer.
- Involve the customer as well as employees in the design.
- Avoid complexity or legalistic language. Use big print, not small print.
- Do not quibble or wriggle when a customer invokes the guarantee.
- Make it clear that you are happy for customers to invoke the guarantee.
What feature makes a service blueprint unique versus standard flowchart?
The flowchart of a service process, emphasizing what is visible and what is not visible to the customer.
What are the key characteristics of the three service designs (approaches)? What are some examples of each type of service?
- Production line approach - Mc Donalds: quick and efficient production of the food
- Self-Service Approach - automatic tellers, self service gas stations
- Personal Attention Approach -
What is the Ritz-Carlton approach to providing a high level of service? See Exhibits 9.6 and 9.7.
s
What are seven characteristics of a well-designed service system? See page 215.
- Each element of the service system is consistent with the operating focus of the firm. For example, when the focus is on speed of delivery, each step in the process should help foster speed.
- It is user-friendly. This means that the customer can interact with it easily—that is, it has good signage, understandable forms, logical steps in the process, and service workers available to answer questions.
- It is robust. That is, it can cope effectively with variations in demand and resource availability. For example, if the computer goes down, effective backup systems are in place to permit service to continue.
- It is structured so that consistent performance by its people and systems is easily maintained. This means the tasks required of the workers are doable, and the supporting technologies are truly supportive and reliable.
- It provides effective links between the back office and the front office so that nothing falls between the cracks. In football parlance, there should be “no fumbled handoffs.”
- It manages the evidence of service quality in such a way that customers see the value of the service provided. Many services do a great job behind the scenes but fail to make this visible to the customer. This is particularly true where a service improvement is made. Unless customers are made aware of the improvement through explicit communication about it, the improved performance is unlikely to gain maximum impact.
- It is cost-effective. There is minimum waste of time and resources in delivering the service. Even if the service outcome is satisfactory, customers are often put off by a service company that appears inefficient.
What is a queue?
A process where
customers wait in line for service
What is the central problem in waiting line situations?
The manager must weigh the added cost of providing more rapid service (more traffic lanes, additional
landing strips, more checkout stands) against the inherent cost of waiting.
What is the cost-effectiveness balance a manager must consider for waiting line situations?
Human costs of waiting vs lost income in reducing wait times (for hospital ex)
