Services and Operations Management - Assignment Example

SERVICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT d SERVICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT A service business is different from a conventional product business due to several factors most importantly the employee-customer touch point or encounter. This interaction is regarded with great importance because this is where the customer perceptions are changed. A service business promises to deliver a certain quality of service and it is at the customer encounter point that they are able to take or not take the first steps towards fulfilling that promise. If a company fulfills the promised level of service quality, it leads to customer satisfaction (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1993). If it goes beyond expectations and gives the customers more than what they expected this leads to customer delight, which is the key focus of many service organization in today’s world. However, if the firm goes below expectation and instigates customer dissatisfaction the customer is likely to not only switch but also relate his experience to more number of people as compared to the number he would have told about customer delight. Thus, in order to succeed in today’s competitive world of service business, it is imperative for businesses to levy heavy focus on enhancing and improving touch points and developing the post-service facilities to retain the customer in the long run. The service operations concepts enable services businesses to develop a chain of service design that could help in the fulfillment of each aspect of the service concept (Howardesign.com, 2014). The fast food restaurants and eatery business is one of the most prevalent modes of service delivery (Andaleeb and Conway, 2006). From the moment a customer enters a restaurant till the time the valet brings out his car at the end of the lunch, the whole service experience is most ideally designed to satisfy the customer with prompt service delivery and additional care in imparting services like reservations, valet parking etc. I recently encountered a very unpleasant situation at a leading restaurant, which has led to me never want to approach it again. As a part of an exchange program abroad for some time, I made several friends that belonged to various religions and backgrounds. I personally respect and value the beliefs of every individual and the diversity of my friends is one thing that I hold very dear to me. A Muslim friend of mine whom I had met in the exchange program contacted me about meeting up as she was planning to visit my city soon. Upon meeting we decided to have dinner at a popular restaurant, known for its good quality food and pleasant ambiance. The evening started off very well with us reminiscing on the old times and talking to our other group mates together through calls. At the time of ordering I explicitly related to the waiter that my friend was a Muslim and there should be no pork, pork extracts or non-halal meat in whatever she orders. This is because during my time there I had learnt this much about her religious beliefs and prohibitions. My friend ordered pasta which she assumed was free from meat or any meat extracts from pork. She clarified her concerns with me as well and I comforted her with the confirmation that the waiter had been given the instructions prior. When the food arrived, we were having a good time talking and laughing. The food smelled good and we immediately got on to eating our meals. After four or five mouthfuls, my friend expressed her concerns about her tasting some kind of stock in the pasta. I couldn’t locate the waiter I had given the instruction to as it was peak time and instead stopped another one to ask about my concerns. To my surprise, he accepted that the meal usually has pork stock for added flavor and cannot be eliminated from the meal on request. Needless to say, my friend stopped eating and the mood of the dinner changed quite drastically. I called the manager to relate my ordeal to which he called upon the waiter who had taken my order. The waiter admitted to having failed in communicating the instructions to the head chef due to absent mindedness and peak hour rush. The manager also apologized and offered to waive off our bills to which my friend modestly declined and walked out of the restaurant. I had to make up to my friend for quite a long time after the embarrassing incident I encountered at the restaurant with her. I approached the restaurant once again after some days to relate to them the significance of their actions and how the addition of pork stock had hurt the religious sentiments of my friend. The manager and waiter apologized once again and vowed to make up for their mistake if I could bring my friend once again. Not surprisingly, my friend did not like the idea of doing so as religious beliefs are not something that can be compromised as per the situation. This incident greatly altered my perception of this restaurant and I take extra care in treating out my friends ever since. The incident was embarrassing for me and hurtful for my guest friend and even though the management had tried to make up for the mistake, it was not something that could be rectified. Applying this incident to the service management model, it is a clear depiction of one of the key proposition of service value chain; making every link in the service chain as strong as the strongest link (Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger, 1997). Even though the restaurant offered reservations, immaculate ambiance, valet service etc., the ineffectiveness of the waiters to handle the peak hour pressures had led to miscommunication and ultimately hurt the sentiments of a guest who held onto these beliefs very strongly. In the restaurant business, it is not enough to have a good ambiance and relate services but effective communication of meal details to concerned guests and customization options should also be prioritized to maximize the service quality levels (Baraban and Durocher, 2001). This incident could have had an even drastic effect if a guest had communicated elimination of an ingredient due to allergy and the miscommunication of the waiters could have led to life threatening situations. Thus, the whole service chain needs to be as strong as the other emphasized aspects of the service models most importantly communication to and from the customers even at peak times. In conclusion the service design concept needs to include an important element of communication with the management to complete the cycle of this service making it complete and efficient. REFERENCES: Zeithaml, V., Berry, L. and Parasuraman, A. (1993). The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service. Journal of the academy of Marketing Science, 21(1), pp.1--12. Howardesign.com, (2014). Service Design Research. [online] Available at: http://www.howardesign.com/exp/service/index.php?concept=Service+Operations+Concept [Accessed 25 Aug. 2014]. Heskett, J., Sasser, W. and Schlesinger, L. (1997). The service profit chain. 1st ed. New York: Free Press. Baraban, R. and Durocher, J. (2001). Successful restaurant design. 1st ed. New York: Wiley. Andaleeb, S. and Conway, C. (2006). Customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry: an examination of the transaction-specific model. Journal of Services Marketing, 20(1), pp.3--11. Read More