The Nature of Services - Distinctive Characteristics of Service Operations
Chapter 2
The Nature of Services
Distinctive Characteristics of Service Operations
In services, a distinction must be made between inputs and resources. For services, inputs
Are the customers themselves, and resources are the facilitating goods, employee labor, and capital at the command of the service manager. Thus, to function, the service system must interact with the customers as participants in the service process. Because customers typically arrive at their own discretion and with unique demands on the service system, matching service capacity with demand is a challenge.
For some services, such as banking, however, the focus of activity is on processing information instead of people. In these situations, information technology, such as electronic funds transfer, can be substituted for physically depositing a payroll check; thus, the presence of the customer at the bank is unnecessary. Such exceptions will be noted as we discuss the distinctive characteristics of service operations. It should be noted here that many of the unique characteristics of services, such as customer participation and perish ability, are interrelated.
Customer Participation in the Service Process
The presence of the customer as a participant in the service process requires an attention to facility design that is not found in traditional manufacturing operations. That automobile are made in a hot, dirty, noisy factory is of no concern to the eventual buyers because they first see the product in the pleasant surroundings of a dealer’s showroom.
The presence of the customer on-site requires attention to the physical surroundings of the service facility that is not necessary for the factory. For the customer, service is an experience occurring in the front office of the service facility, and the quality of service is enhanced if the service facility is designed from the customer’s perspective. Attention to interior decorating, furnishings, layout, noise, and even
The Nature of Services
Distinctive Characteristics of Service Operations
In services, a distinction must be made between inputs and resources. For services, inputs
Are the customers themselves, and resources are the facilitating goods, employee labor, and capital at the command of the service manager. Thus, to function, the service system must interact with the customers as participants in the service process. Because customers typically arrive at their own discretion and with unique demands on the service system, matching service capacity with demand is a challenge.
For some services, such as banking, however, the focus of activity is on processing information instead of people. In these situations, information technology, such as electronic funds transfer, can be substituted for physically depositing a payroll check; thus, the presence of the customer at the bank is unnecessary. Such exceptions will be noted as we discuss the distinctive characteristics of service operations. It should be noted here that many of the unique characteristics of services, such as customer participation and perish ability, are interrelated.
Customer Participation in the Service Process
The presence of the customer as a participant in the service process requires an attention to facility design that is not found in traditional manufacturing operations. That automobile are made in a hot, dirty, noisy factory is of no concern to the eventual buyers because they first see the product in the pleasant surroundings of a dealer’s showroom.
The presence of the customer on-site requires attention to the physical surroundings of the service facility that is not necessary for the factory. For the customer, service is an experience occurring in the front office of the service facility, and the quality of service is enhanced if the service facility is designed from the customer’s perspective. Attention to interior decorating, furnishings, layout, noise, and even
Bibliography: no. 4 (May 2004), pp. 324–35. Laroche, Michael; Gordon H.G no. 1 (August 2004), pp. 20–41. Sampson, Scott E, and Craig M Endnotes (Burr Ridge, Ill: Irwin, 1994), pp An Analytical Method for Evaluating Candidate Mechanization, Report R-168 (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Defense Analysis, 1970) Planning Sciences 8, no. 3 (June 1974), pp. 123–28. 4 E. H. Blum, Urban Fire Protection: Studies of the New York City Fire Department, R-681 (New York: New York City Rand Institute, 1971) (July–August 1975), pp. 98–106. 6 From Christopher Lovelock and Evert Gummesson, “Whither Services Marketing? In Search of a New Paradigm and Fresh Perspectives,” Journal of Service Research 7, no.1 (August 2004), Adapted from Christopher H. Lovelock, “Classifying Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights,” Journal of Marketing 47 (Summer 1983), p