Service-Dominant Logic for Marketing - Essay Example

Service Dominant Logic for Marketing Introduction to Service Management Managing a service is different from managing a product within the human resources contexts. This is because the role of employees has played an important role within such an organization that is focused mainly on the delivery of state of the art service towards its customers day in day out. (Lee, 2004) Within the service encounter, people factor has gained an even more significant position. Thus a company can move from a position of stability to one of a complete unstable stance as it acquires different means of gathering the market and its driving factors that come along with it. A firm must bring about certain efforts which are geared up to make it sound, look and eventually feel different from the rest of the lot and in the long run, have a selling proposition in it and in its products that help it in winning the customers time and time again. It is significant to understand that having the most sought after employees and workers in the market is necessary since they will give the most productivity in the toughest times possible. (Cappelli, 1999) Service from an Organizational Context From a truly organizational standpoint, the current needs in the training regimes require the employees to get themselves acquainted with the ever changing role of Information Technology and the like within the business quarters as well as learn for their own betterment the different mechanisms through which they can make use of the business processes and management activities in a steady and quick manner. (Egan, 2001) They need to align themselves with the advanced technological applications and that too in a quick way because the corporate world of present times is on the move. The training needs are required within any organization since the same would ensure that all the employees understand what they are doing and there are as such no hiccups in the office place so to speak. It is a fact that the workers must know what the end goal for the business is like and on what parameters success is measured as far as the top management of the organization is concerned. There must be unison in their working mechanisms so that they are all on the same wavelength no matter how trying or tough the circumstances turn out to be. (Varey, 2001) Service Marketing and Management Regimes Service marketing and management has remained the key for a long time, especially within the contexts where the same offers a creative edge over other service organizations – the competitors in essence. From an office standpoint, there are certain instances when it is best to choose different people for the various jobs that are assigned in the working environment. (Gronfeldt & Strother, 2006) This holds true for the rationale that a single person cannot and will not be able to do his work as well as the additional burden that is thrust upon him with zeal and enthusiasm. Hence the need of the hour is to understand that employees and workers within any service industry need a manager to comprehend their shortcomings in the field of work and thus be assigned tasks and responsibilities in line with the same. (Lambkin & Day, 1989) The need for recruiting able and established staff is very much there since every organization or company for that matter wants to achieve efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to getting the things done in a quick manner. There are instances when employees have been known to prolong things just because they do not feel to be in the mood to do so. This is a definitive statement on the part of the employees that they were recruited wrongly at the time of their hiring and the service organization did indeed make a mistake in choosing such a worker over other options that were available to it around the world. (Palmer, 2005) Role of Diverse Workforce In the same aspect of service marketing and management one needs to realize the role that diverse workforce plays towards the eventual results that the organizations achieve at the end. (Penaloza & Venatesh, 2006) The diverse workforce issue gets its resolve from the fact that people work as a team within the service domain rather than working alone yet they perform their own respective tasks and duties in their own capacities within the service delivery environment for which there is no direct or indirect connection as concerns the groups and teams that they are working under from time to time. The manager thus chalks out a plan to review each and every sub-ordinate’s performance and then allot him the potential duties which may or may not be linked to their strengths over a given period of time. Hence diversity certainly takes its roots from this scenario and employees feel somewhat at ease whilst carrying out their jobs and assigned tasks. Managing and marketing a service regime requires understanding the significant tenets related with recruitment and selection as well. The pertinent aspects require stiff challenges on the part of the recruiters, the organization’s human resources department and top management since they need to make the right decision when it comes to employees coming from different professional backgrounds. There could be so many reasons behind a person’s leaving a job and coming to a new organization. He could state completely different reasons for doing the same but then again one cannot be sure as to what is right and what indeed is wrong when it comes to taking the final call of judgment. (Vargo & Lusch, 2004) Example of Emirates Airline Service is one aspect that needs to be studied in detail as far as the length of this discussion is concerned. For that, there has been an earnest effort to comprehend how Emirates Airline makes the same a possibility on a consistent basis, day in day out. Also efforts have been made by the top management within Emirates Airline to understand the customer psyche before making any decisions on changing or revamping service levels, making an obsolete entity into a brand new regime and so on and so forth. Thus Emirates Airline is undertaking measures to improve its service in an out and out fashion so that it could compete with the best airlines in business and not only that but also the different modes of transportation which could include railway networks, bus systems, private cars and others. (Moscardo, 1998) Innovation is a significant topic that comes under the related undertakings which are happening within the service levels of Emirates Airline. The innovative features help Emirates Airline stand head to head with the best in the business as well as leave an indelible impression on its travelers who are indeed its customers at the end of the day. (Cameron, 2000) This innovation aspect is pretty useful to the sustenance of Emirates Airline’s business since it provides a point of parity with the top airline companies in the world and a point of superiority when the talk goes out loud concerning the competing airline organizations operating within the Middle East region. (James, 2002) Service Innovation at Emirates Airline Service innovation tackles competitive in-flight entertainment system known as ICE which was introduced in the year 2002 and is now a commonality for all the passengers, regardless of the passenger classes within the airplane. Also there are more than 1200 entertainment options within ICE (information communication entertainment) system which is a remarkable feat so to speak and matches with the top airline companies which exist in the world. Similarly, in the year 2005, Emirates Airline became one of the pioneers to introduce the Internet service in-flight. (Author Unknown, 2006) This marked the basis of getting on to the Internet bandwagon which was high-speed as well as up to date with the competing airlines in the business as they had introduced it by that time as well. (Author Unknown, 2006) In essence, the Emirates Airline was the second airline in the world to present live international television broadcasts, which much like the Internet was a success that was at par with none other. Moving further ahead on the road towards attaining high-speed and unmatchable technology, Emirates Airline launched a new deal in partnership with AeroMobile, a mobile communications firm which offered the option to talk on the mobile phones whilst sitting in the luxury of an airplane. This was indeed something really new because before this launch activity, mobile phones were completely banned as per their usage in the airplanes and hence an activity of such magnitude marked the basis of a U-turn on the part of Emirates Airline. This deal was signed in November 2006 and exists to this day. It will keep on introducing newer technologies as and when they are deemed in line with safety regimes of the airplane operations, coming both under the IATA mechanisms and Emirates Airline vision. (Hollins & Shinkins, 2006) However the usage of mobile phones is allowed in selected Boeing 777s and this endeavor started in January 2007. Because of these features, Emirates Airline won the award of best in-flight entertainment in the year 2006 courtesy Skytrax. This was made possible due to ICE system which was introduced in the realms of Emirates Airline. It showed more than 500 channels including hybrid channels that included movies, music and news from all over the globe. Emirates Airline has planned an integrated feature of docking capability with Apple Inc.’s iPod portable music and video player. What this feature provides is a charging the battery utility as well as integration with the in-flight entertainment system presented by Emirates Airline itself. (Doganis, 2002) This provides an option to the travelers to have the luxury of using their iPods for playing music, watching television shows or viewing movies which are stored on the iPod. Then there is also the added feature of a control system within this utility that Emirates Airline is offering. In terms of the service improvements and coming directly under the technological umbrella, Emirates Airline has started on its own five star hotel and towers in Dubai on the Sheikh Zayed Road. Advancements and Changes One can estimate that a lot of advancements have been made in the quarters of in-flight catering services within Emirates Airline. The Emirates Flight Catering Company has to its credit more than 5000 employees and they strive to provide in-flight catering and support services for a number of different airline companies which are present at the Dubai International Airport. Airline Meals is a significant division which comes under the workings of the Emirates Flight Catering Company and the same was inaugurated in the year 2007. This provides the capacity of having more than 115000 meal tray set ups per day. The advancements include the automation within the electric monorail system for carts as well as a bin conveyor system for the said equipment. Emirates Airline accounted for 22.3 million airline meals in the year 2006 alone and it is estimated that the year 2007 would have more than 24 million of the same. When it comes to services provided within the cabin department, Emirates Airline have made interesting announcements in terms of upgrades to its cabin and in-flight service since the year 2003. These upgrades started from the Airbus A380-800s in the year 2006 but moved on towards the Boeing 777-300ER at a later stage and currently they have achieved their mission of having state of the art and up to date cabin and in-flight services. However the remaining plans to upgrade the Emirates Airline fleet are under consideration. It is also a case in point that 31 Boeing 777-300ERs are operational by Emirates Airline which make journey towards London, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York. Frequent Flyer Programs and Other Services When it comes to the Frequent Flyer Program, Emirates Airline has played a pivotal role at making this program an instant success ever since it was launched. Emirates Airline has a dedicated Frequent Flyer Program which is known by the name of Skywards. Emirates Airline is running this program in close cooperation with Sri Lankan Airlines as well as a number of other Emirates travel partners. (Rust, Lemon & Zeithaml, 2004) What this Frequent Flyer Program Skywards offers is a chance to earn through flights that are undertaken on Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines. The cooperation is also functional for Continental Airlines, Korean Air, Japan Airlines, Virgin Blue, United Airlines and South African Airways. Within the methodological framework of Skywards are the gold and silver status tiers which provide a number of significant benefits to the travelers based on the miles that they have flown on annual basis. The different services that Emirates Airline provides in-flight as well as on the airports comprise of seating facilities, restaurant and hotel services, availability of newspapers and magazines, provision of computer terminals and television monitors, etc. However the segregation of travelers is based on the basis of the First Class, the Business Class and the Economy Class. The in-flight email server, a seat to seat chat server, library of movies, audio CDs and video games are just some of the many features that come directly under the heading of service quality which Emirates Airline has been providing ever since its inception in the year 1985. Suffice to state the Skywards program takes its basis from the Trusted Traveler Program which came in to its own when it was proposed by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives which allowed the facility to frequent fliers as they could be bypassed from lengthy security lines and checks if they carried an l. D. card with them which would show that they have already undergone a federally approved background inquiry and inspection. (John, 1991) The “Trusted Traveler" program in essence was made to facilitate the frequent flyers that could include all the business entrepreneurs, government officials and employees as well as other selected individuals who could get their easy way off as regards to airport security checks. The Trusted Traveler program is undoubtedly a good idea when we literally think about it in the first go, but it is also a source of problems on the part of the security people who are present at the airports and are responsible for everything as they are at the helm of affairs when we talk about security and its long checks. This program can have its disadvantages if say for instance a terrorist gets hold of a Trusted Traveler card, would he still be unstoppable. The same goes true if he is carrying some explosives or weapons on board, would the person be allowed to board the flight? There are serious questions that can be posed with respect to the Trusted Traveler program. Coming back to the Skywards program, we see that the benefits are there for the traveler’s taking. This program could work both for the ease of the flyers and the security staff but in addition to that there are some concerns, one being that it could open new flight security handicaps and burdens as well as furnish airlines with passenger information for marketing and promotion activities. On the other hand, the Skywards program would definitely improve the level of security at the airports by training resources on passengers about which the authorities know only a little about or who might just be a security risk at any conceived moment of time in the coming future. (Schneider, White & Paul, 1998) The single most benefit is that this program should lessen the troublesomeness of lengthy security lines and checks and re-checks as well as encourage corporate travelers to return to the respective airlines again and again more often. This Skywards program would also boost the marketing of the Emirates Airline as more and more people would opt for the carrier that provides them benefits no other airline matches. On the same note, travelers privacy would not get affected as people regard the same quite high on their personal priorities when they travel, especially in airlines. Service Management in the Long Run - Conclusion A service domain could be managed in a more effective manner if the above mentioned points are incorporated on a consistent basis. It is only the determination of the people sitting at the helm of affairs that things could change further and that too in a positive direction, in the times to come. (Fine, 2006) People factor within the service management and marketing domains will continue to strengthen the basis of such organizations in the times to come since service has to remain the key in the whole equation. 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