Singapore Airlines Service Theatre - Research Paper Example

Singapore Airlines Case Study Contents Singapore Airlines Case Study Contents 2 Reference List 13 Service Theatre The economies of the developedand developing nations are presently dominated by the service sector. Service marketing is a different concept than that of the goods for the basic difference between a service and good. Services are variable, intangible, perishable and inseparable. Hence, service marketing should go beyond the 4Ps of marketing in order to include three more aspects; people, process and physical evidence. Customer satisfaction is the most crucial part of service marketing and is, thus, critical to its success (Ramachandra, 2011). In order to aptly describe and analyse the service performance, the metaphor of a drama is very useful framework. Creating a good service impression on customers and audience is the ultimate motive of both the service organisation and the theatre and in order to accomplish this end, there needs to be a proper management of all the different sectors involved in presentation of the service or drama. A service theatre is the metaphor of services as theatre because it takes into account the exact theatrical elements that are involved in a stage production such as, audience, actors, front-stage, backstage, setting and a performance (Stuart and Tax, 2004; R. Harris, K. Harris and Baron, 2003). The audience are the customers for whom the service is being provided. The actors are the workers who are involved in the creation of service for customers. The front-stage action is the performance that the actors put together for the audience. The front-stage action is heavily supported by the backstage, where the actual planning is done, which is required for subsequent execution in the front-stage. The back stage is a portion of the production process, which is not under the audience’s scrutiny; however, efficiency level of the backstage determines the audience’s reaction to the front-stage action. It is not an architectural distinction that exists between front-stage and backstage, rather it is a bounded scope in a service system and embodies few design biases that results in disruptions in service. The goals of front-stage can be defined as usability, flexibility, uniqueness transparency, responsiveness and enjoyment. The backstage goals are robustness, standardisation, abilioty to reuse or recycle, efficient production and scalability. Lastly, performance is the amalgamation of all above mentioned factors and is the final result of the interaction process (Baron, Harris and Hilton, 2009; Baker, Holland and Kaufman-Scarborough, 2007). The service theatre analogy in case of the airline sector can be explained in the following manner. Service Audience – passengers and the customers Service Actors –employees of the airport or the airline Service Setting – airport facilities and airplane cabin Service Performance – the service provided by the airline and airport The service actor or the service employee is a very important part of the entire process of service performance as they are in direct contact with the audience or customers, where the former’s efficiency determines success of the service delivered. This concept holds true in the restaurant, hospitals, resorts, airports and other service providing sectors. When there is repeated contact between the actors and the audience, it is important that the actors maintain a friendly, yet professional outlook, towards their customers. A service employee’s performance is branded sincere when the employee makes extra efforts to ensure customer satisfaction. When a particular employee projects a wrong image or fails to perform his/her duties in a proper manner, then the person becomes responsible for the lack of customer satisfaction. After critical analysis of the case study, the researcher highlights on the fact that the service expectation differs from one person to another. Hence, delivering the same level of service to all customers is not the solution; rather personalised and differentiated service levels should be provided in order to maximise customer satisfaction and their subsequent retention. Different levels of emotional, physiological and cognitive responses affect that of service experience. In this case, John, who was seeking an exotic experience and planned to make the most of the vacation, had chosen Singapore Airlines. He was also reassured by size of the plane. Jack, however, was a customer who was terrified of flights and not concerned about the level of service provided. He was contented listening to the songs on his iPod. John’s frustration started building when he found out that there was a lack of help desks and information provided and one sole person was available to direct him to the check-in desk. Moreover, in the lounge area, flight information monitors was absent, which added to the customers’ worries (Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler, 2006). In the theatrical metaphor of service the roles of the customers and the service employees are enacted as if on stage and reading from a common script that portrays the manner in which that each is expected to behave and the complimentary behaviour that an actor would expect from the co-actors on stage. The roles and behaviours of each actor is again dependant on the situational cues, for example, the attitude and the behaviour of the other person on stage. It is mandatory for both the consumer and service provider to understand each other’s roles and responsibilities well so that a stable and healthy relationship can be maintained. Failure to adhere to the script may cause faulty service and unsatisfactory experiences. 2. Customers are deemed as co-producers, implying they also form a component in the creation of value. Nonetheless, even though customers’ role is a part of the co-creation of value, yet it is a very distinct concept. Customers are nowadays considered as actively creating value, as opposed to passively receiving service and the value associated in the past. The customers are, hence, regarded as a resource that can assist the organisations in creating valued solutions so as to effectively fulfil the customer’s needs and resolve their issues. The ways in which the customers act as co-producers of value entail assisting the firm by sharing information and providing one’s expertise in specific jobs, such as, designing a substance. The customers or any other participant in the value network can assist in the co-creation of value by integrating the firm’s support with own resources. The intellectual work of designing, assembling the resource and the processing activities leads to creation of value in the form of output. The customer participation in the co-creation of value can have four forms (Jacob and Rettinger, 2011; Etgar, 2008): Preparation: Seeking referrals, arriving early and gathering knowledge about the competitors are part of the preparation process. Relationship Building: It is a very crucial step in the customer co-creation process. Relationship building with the service provider is done by actions like, saying kind words, smiling, interacting on a first name basis and knowing the service provider well. These actions help in building loyalty and a strong customer base. Exchanging information: This is a two-way process where a customer seeks information to check status and clarify service expectations and the service provider assists the former by providing the information needed. Intervention: There are customers who actively participate in the co-creation of value by providing negative feedback, in case of faulty customer service provided by the service providers and involving oneself in the diagnosis of the problem. An effective complaint addressal system is, thus, necessary in every organisation to deal with mental, emotional and physical inputs. Self-service is regarded as the highest degree of co-production by the customers. In such cases, the customers are expected to perform the work entirely by themselves with assistance of tools, systems and facilities provided by the firm. Self-service by the customers in restaurants such as, KFC and McDonalds, where customers are required to carry their own food from counters to the tables are perfect examples of customers acting as co-producers in the creation of value. Technologies greatly contribute towards the smooth running of self-service as it enables the customers to produce a service that is totally independent of any direct assistance from the service provider. For example, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), telephone banking, internet shopping and automated hotel checkouts are examples, where technology has played an important role in the customer’s co-creation of value. The amount of value that a customer creates depends on the factors such as, ability of the customer, clarity of the role, pertinent resources like, knowledge, skills, experience, effort and money and willingness to participate in co-creation of value (Grönroos, 2007; Lovelock, 2011). Customers aim to maximise their benefit or minimise the total monetary or non-monetary costs. Their individual skills also determine whether or not they will be able to attain the desired outcome. For example, a customer’s skill at operating an Automated Teller Machine will determine his ability to maximise the benefit. 3. Servicescape is the exterior and interior environment of a service setting, where the service encounters occur. Previously, the management had not realized the importance of servicescape. Human behaviour is to a large extent influenced by the physical setting, which has been brought to notice quite lately. An individual reacts to a setting in two opposite forms: approach and avoidance. When a person is satisfied with the setting, he will act positively and decide to stay or repeat the experience. This is approach behaviour. A disgruntled customer, on the other hand, will choose to discontinue association with the service provider, thereby showing negative behaviour. This behaviour is also known as the avoidance approach. In case of employees, the approach or avoidance approach to the servicescape is displayed in the form of working longer hours, express commitment, explore and fulfil the organisational goals in a predetermined time. In this case, the airport facilities and the airport cabin form the servicescape. John and Jack are the customers who have come in contact with the service provider in this particular servicescape. The factors such as, temperature, air quality, music and noise, determine ambient conditions of the airport as well as the airplane. Apart from ambience, other factors that form the servicescape of the airport are utilisation of space such as, positioning of the furniture and other equipment and the layout and signage. John had experienced a very crowded and noisy reception hall at the Manchester airport and also felt harassed due to the lack of signage that could have pointed him towards the check-in desk. Also, the seating arrangement in terminals and the monitors displaying flight information were also unsatisfactory as per the customer’s expectation. Due to inefficiency in layout of the seating area, there was a scurry towards the monitors every time new information was displayed. Even in the departure lounge, there were tables that were not cleared and were littered with used crockery. There was a very expensive coffee bar that not many could afford. Additionally, inside the plane, space constraint posed a problem for the customers as well as the crew. John being a tall person found it extremely uncomfortable to sit in the cramped space, so much so that after a while, he considered paying extra for the first class seats. John who needed to use the washroom had to wait for thirty minutes as the aisle was locked by the metal trolley that the crew used while serving dinner. The service provider can affect the customer’s experience in a great way by providing personalised service to them, like, arranging for a person to swap seats and getting the football updates (Teboul, 2006). The quality of the in-flight entertainment system is also a factor that ensures customer satisfaction. John and Jack were quite impressed with the personal monitors with individual controls, up-to-date movies and a wide range of video games. Airlines recognise the utility of providing passengers with tangible mementoes such as, toothbrush, magazine, hand creams and printed menus, so as to leave a long-lasting impression of the flight experience. The free goods and services offered in a flight often determine repeat purchase. The equipment and the technology offered in a flight can be designed to operate independently so that the inherent human variability in the level of service can be reduced and the number of business hours can be increased. Technological advancement over the years has facilitated improvement of the customers’ flight experience. A customer takes greater notice if equipment in the servicescape is broken or out of order. For example; the baggage return trolleys, if broken, can cause immense discontent among the passengers and result in delays (Bitner, 1992). The service experience for the Townsends would have been enhanced, had there been better layout of the flight or more contact persons at the airport. These aspects form part of the visible elements of a customer’s experience. The invisible elements such as, the staff training programmes, catering preparation and computerised baggage handling system, are part of the backstage operations, while the visible elements are part of the front-stage operations. The customers’ interaction and the physical evidences define the experience. Consequently, the customer-employee interaction is an important part of the customer experience, although the degree of importance differs from sector to sector (Lin, 2004). The service providers should monitor the interactions with the clients. With customer-customer interactions, the management emphasises on reducing the possibility of any kind of negative exchanges between the same. For instance, the seating arrangement should be such that a non-smoker does not have to sit beside a smoker or rewarding passengers who give useful advice to fellow passengers, thereby encouraging positive interaction. A pleasant conversation between the customers is satisfying and also ensures a smooth flight experience. The invisible elements may not be directly valued by the customers, but they facilitate the service process to a great extent. The management, thus, recognises these components as important for improving the passenger’s flight experience. The airports and airline services make large investments, in order to improve and enhance the computerised systems and other technologies. In this case, Jack faced numerous troubles in the airport and the experience that he was looking forward soon turned into an “ordeal”, which he hoped would soon get over. As a result, in the present case study, the management should have better managed their backstage support and worked towards enhancing the customer’s experience at the airport (Reimer and Kuehn, 2005). The Manchester airport, in this case, can consider improving the customer experience by working on the services available. They should increase the signage and consider the idea of introducing virtual display monitors so as to guide the passenger around the airport. Introduction of special information centres is essential, where they will be able to scan their boarding passes and move on to the boarding gate in a shorter span of time. Increasing the number of monitors displaying flight information in the lounge or changing the seating arrangement is required so that the screens are visible to all passengers who are seated, thereby improving the level of efficiency in the airport (Fodness and Murray, 2007). John had faced the lack of personnel who could assist him towards the check-in desk. So, more number of personnel should be appointed with the “May I Help You” signage so as to reduce passengers’ inconveniences. The authorities can also incorporate technologies that would help them monitor queues and the time taken for each queue to clear at major touch points like, the immigration and check-in. The customer relationship management can be improved upon so as to ensure better coordination and cooperation among employees and passengers. An effective complaint addressable system can lower discontent among the passengers to a great extent. Given the fact that John’s wife works in Singapore, there is a strong possibility of repeated trips; hence, if the airport and the airlines improve on their service qualities, then they can retain more customers (Hoffman, Kelley and Chung, 2003) 4. John had noticed empty seats on the flight, which implies that there are certain issues that Singapore Airlines must deal with. Faulty demand forecasting is one of them. Time cannot be stored and used later unlike, physical goods, thereby implying that those empty seats on the Manchester to Singapore flight account for lost revenue. They cannot be sold later. Hence, it is important that there should be appropriate knowledge regarding the management of supply and demand and the analysts should be able to forecast demand appropriately (Van Ryzin and McGill, 2000; Ghobbar and Friend, 2003). John had faced a number of difficulties during the flight, less leg space being one of them. He had even contemplated paying extra for the Raffles class seats. Considering the working relation of his wife with Singapore, it is possible that he might have to travel in future as well. In case of a bad first time experience, he is likely to shift to other competing airlines thereafter. Thus, in order to retain the customers, Singapore Airlines should consider restructuring the aircraft so that customers do not have to sit in an uncomfortable manner. The Raffles class travellers were favoured throughout the entire process of boarding and also in terms of seating arrangement. This is understandable considering the fact that the Raffles class customers are paying more for their tickets. Nevertheless, this difference should not be so drastic that it catches the attention of the other economy class customers. Singapore Airlines also has higher ticket prices than its competitors. It is generally known to be a costly airline. If the airline wishes to target the mass market, then they must adopt price restructuring strategies. With the competitors offering better prices, it would not be long before the Singapore Airlines loses its customer base. Also, there have been complaints from the customers regarding behaviour of the cabin crew. This is a serious issue as the cabin crew are in direct contact with the customers and greatly contribute towards building a good relation with them (Klabjan, 2001). If there are discontented customers, then there is a high probability that they will shift to other airlines in future. Additionally, Singapore Airlines should ensure full safety of their customers’ luggage as there have been reported problems of theft occurring in the airlines, which had then refused to take responsibility for stolen items. In order to ensure customer satisfaction, the airlines should take responsibility of the customers’ luggage and incorporate a proper complaint addressal system for the purpose of effectively resolving the customers’ issues, without blaming the customer (Consumer forum, 2012). Reference List Baker, S. M., Holland, J. and Kaufman-Scarborough, C., 2007. How consumers with disabilities perceive “welcome” in retail servicescapes: a critical incident study. Journal of Services Marketing, 21(3), pp. 160-173. Baron, S., Harris, K. and Hilton, T., 2009. Services marketing: text and cases. Palgrave: Macmillan. Bitner, M. J., 1992. Servicescapes: the impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees. The Journal of Marketing, 56(2), pp. 57-71. Consumer forum, 2012. Singapore Airlines. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 July 2014]. Etgar, M., 2008. A descriptive model of the consumer co-production process. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 36(1), pp. 97-108. Fodness, D. and Murray, B., 2007. Passengers expectations of airport service quality. Journal of Services Marketing, 21(7), pp. 492-506. Ghobbar, A. A. and Friend, C. H., 2003. Evaluation of forecasting methods for intermittent parts demand in the field of aviation: a predictive model. Computers & Operations Research, 30(14), pp. 2097-2114. Grönroos, C., 2007. Service management and marketing: customer management in service competition. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Harris, R., Harris, K. and Baron, S., 2003. Theatrical service experiences: dramatic script development with employees. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 14(2), pp. 184-199. Hoffman, K. D., Kelley, S. W. and Chung, B. C., 2003. A CIT investigation of servicescape failures and associated recovery strategies. Journal of Services Marketing, 17(4), pp. 322-340. Jacob, F. and Rettinger, B., 2011. The role of customer co-production in value creation. Proceedings of the Naples Forum on Service. Available at: [Accessed 30 July 2014]. Klabjan, D., Johnson, E. L., Nemhauser, G. L., Gelman, E. and Ramaswamy, S., 2001. Solving large airline crew scheduling problems: Random pairing generation and strong branching. Computational Optimization and Applications, 20(1), pp. 73-91. Lin, I. Y., 2004. Evaluating a servicescape: the effect of cognition and emotion. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(2), pp. 163-178. Lovelock, C., 2011. Services Marketing, New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Ramachandra, C., 2011. Services marketing through the drama metaphor. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 July 2014]. Reimer, A. and Kuehn, R., 2005. The impact of servicescape on quality perception. European Journal of Marketing, 39(7/8), pp. 785-808. Stuart, F. I. and Tax, S., 2004. Toward an integrative approach to designing service experiences: lessons learned from the theatre. Journal of Operations Management, 22(6), pp. 609-627. Teboul, J., 2006. Service is front stage: positioning services for value advantage. US: Palgrave Macmillan. Van Ryzin, G. and McGill, J., 2000. Revenue management without forecasting or optimization: An adaptive algorithm for determining airline seat protection levels. Management Science, 46(6), pp. 760-775. Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J. and Gremler, D. D., 2006. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. US: McGraw Hill Education. Read More