Questions and Answers of Principles Of Services Marketing

1.7. Profile an individual whose leadership skills have played a significant role in the success of a service organization.
1.6. Discuss the relationship between leadership, climate, and culture.
1.5. What is the difference between leadership and management?
1.4. Which level of service performance do you think best describes Southwest Airlines? Explain your answer using specific examples from the opening story at the beginning of this chapter.
1.3. Briefly define the four levels of service performance. Based on your own service experiences, provide an example of a company for each category.
1.2. Describe the causes of tension between the marketing, operations, and human resource functions. Provide specific examples of how these tensions might vary from one service industry to another.
1.1. Identify the nature of the tasks that are traditionally assigned to (a) marketing,(b) operations, and (c) human resource management.
1.8. What ethical issues do companies need to consider when using electronic commerce strategies?
1.7. Select a specific service industry with multiple competitors and visit the Web sites of four different firms in that industry. Compare the capabilities and the quality of execution of the four
1.6. Describe the three different levels of business models for Web sites and identify sites that illustrate each of these levels.
1.5. What is the distinction between adaptive applications and transformative applications when an established firm incorporates the Internet into its business activities? Provide an example of a
1.4. Discuss the differences between the Internet, Intranets, and Extranets.
1.3. Create separate versions of the electronic flower of service for (a) retail banking,(b) hotels, (c) freight transportation, (d) car insurance. For each service, prepare a"flower" diagram that
1.2. Briefly describe the six different technologies that have implications for services.Identify several cases in which the successful application of one technology may be dependent on one or more
1.1. Why should service marketers be concerned about new developments in technology?
1.8. What important ethical issues do you see facing human resource managers in high-contact service organizations?
1.7. What can a marketing perspective bring to the practice of human resource management?
1.6. Highlight specific ways in which technology—particularly information technology—is changing the nature of service jobs. Provide examples of situations in which use of IT is likely to (a)
1.5. What is the difference between empowerment and enablement? Can you have one without the other?
1.4. Identify the factors favoring a strategy of employee empowerment.
1.3. Define what is meant by the control and involvement models of management.
1.2. List five ways in which investment in hiring and selection, training, and ongoing motivation of employees will pay dividends in customer satisfaction for such organizations as (a) an airline,
1.1. What is emotional labor? Explain how it might cause stress for employees, and illustrate your points with specific examples.
1.8. What segmentation principles and variables are illustrated in the yield management example from American Airlines?
1.7. Using the formulas on page 312 and the table in the appendix, calculate answers to the following problems:a. At Frank's office cafeteria, customers select their meals from different food sta
1.6. For an organization serving a large number of customers, what do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of queues shown in Figure 14.1?
1.5. What are the seven elements of a queuing system? Which are under the control of the customer and which does the service provider control?
1.4. Review the 10 propositions on the psychology of waiting lines. Which are the most relevant in (a) a supermarket, (b) a city bus stop on a cold, dark evening,(c) check-in for a flight at the
1.3. How might the principles of yield management be applied to rental car companies?
1.2. Based on your own experience, give examples of reservations systems that worked really well or really poorly for customers.
1.1. Why should service marketers be concerned about the amount of time that customers spend in (a) pre-process waits and (b) in-process waits?
1.8. Provide examples of service providers in your community (or region) that encourage business during what would otherwise be periods of low demand by(a) changing their pricing, (b) changing
1.7. Choose a service organization and describe its demand cycles based on the questions about the patterns of demand and their underlying causes described in the boxed material on page 293.
1.6. What does the term "chasing demand" mean? Describe the actions that firms can take in pursuing a chase demand strategy.
1.5. Select a specific service provider and discuss variations in demand that it experiences relative capacity with reference to Figure 13.1. What is the nature of this service organization's
1.4. What is the difference between maximum capacity and optimal capacity? Provide examples of (a) a situation where the two might be the same, and (b) a situation where they might be different.
1.3. What does "inventory" mean for service firms and why is it perishable?
1.2. Why is capacity management particularly important in a service setting?
1.1. Review each of the services described in the opening story about Cape Cod. Are there any that might attract increased business in nonpeak seasons by changing some part of their marketing mix? If
1.9. Why is productivity a more difficult issue for services than for many manufactured goods? Explain the relationship between productivity and quality.
1.8. Define productivity. Why is it hard to measure in services?
1.7. How can firms learn from service failures?
1.6. Explain the elements of a service quality information system and give examples of each element.
1.5. What are the five dimensions customers use in evaluating service quality?
1.4. Identify the seven gaps that can occur in service quality. What do you think service marketers can do to prevent each of these gaps?
1.3. Explain the difference between service quality and customer satisfaction.
1.2. Discuss the three different levels of expectations. How are they related to a customer's zone of tolerance?
1.1. Define customer expectations and describe where they come from.
1.9. What marketing and management challenges might result from the use of intermediaries in a service setting?
1.8. Using the same five situations you chose for Question 7, comment on the user friendliness of the equipment, the mental and physical effort required, the time involved, and any negative sensory
1.7. Identify five situations in which you use a self-service delivery option. In each case, explain your motivation for using this approach to delivery rather than having service personnel do it for
1.6. Select a service organization with which you are reasonably familiar, and construct a simple flowchart of service delivery. Identify the critical points within the service delivery process that
1.5. Visit the Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com Web sites. Compare their design, structure, and ease of use. As a potential customer, which do you prefer and why? What enhancements would you suggest?
1.4. Describe the servicescapes of two different service businesses. To what extent are their roles strategic in design (differentiating one firm from its competitors)versus functional (adding value
1.3. Identify a service whose delivery strategy fits each of the categories in Table 11.1.What are the implications for management in each case?
1.2. What are the key decisions managers must consider in designing a service delivery system? What are some of the trade-offs that must be made?
1.1. Review the story about Kinko's at the beginning of this chapter. What do you see as the key changes in (a) product strategy and (b) distribution strategy?
1.7. Define the seven categories of new services. Provide your own example for each category.
1.6. Discuss how a company's product attributes (including the core and supplementary services), price, and marketing communications all work together to create a branded customer experience. Provide
1.5. Explain why branding is particularly important for services. Which service brands are you familiar with? What do they tell you about the companies they are associated with?
1.4. Describe what is meant by the term "positioning." Choose an industry you are familiar with (like fast-food restaurants or movie theaters) and create a perceptual map showing the competitive
1.3. In a sentence or two, describe Amtrak's service strategy for its new Acela Express service (refer to the boxed example on page 218).
1.2. Why should service firms focus their efforts? What options do they have for doing so?
1.1. Give examples of companies in other industries that are facing challenges similar to those of the travel agents in the opening story. Describe what service strategies these companies might use
1.8. Explore the Web sites of an airline, a bank, and an Internet retailer. Critique them for ease of navigation, content, and visual design. What, if anything, would you change about each site?
1.7. Discuss the relative effectiveness of brochures and Web sites for promoting (a) a ski resort, (b) a hotel, (c) a fitness center, and (d) a bank.
1.6. Provide several current examples of public relations efforts made by service companies.
1.5. Find examples of service promotional efforts in your local area and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses as effective communication tools.
1.4. Describe the role of personal selling in service communications. Give examples of three different situations where you have encountered this approach.
1.3. What roles do personal selling, advertising, and public relations play in (a)attracting new customers to a service business and (b) retaining existing customers?
1.2. Which elements of the marketing communications mix would you use for each of the following scenarios? Explain your answers.• A newly established hair salon in a suburban shopping center• An
1.1. Describe four common educational and promotional objectives in service settings and provide a specific example for each of the objectives you list.
1.9. Review recent bills that you have received from service businesses. Evaluate each one against the following criteria: (a) general appearance and clarity of presentation; (b) easily understood
1.8. Choose a service organization and investigate its pricing policies and methods. In what respects are they similar to, or different from, what has been discussed in this chapter?
1.7. From a customer perspective, what defines value in the following services: (a) a nightclub; (b) a hairdressing salon; (c) a legal firm specializing in business and tax law?
1.6. Identify three aspects of pricing strategy that might raise ethical considerations. In each instance, how should such abuses be prevented?
1.5. Explain the concept of yield management in a service setting. How might it be applied to (a) a professional firm (e.g., consulting); (b) a restaurant; (c) a golf course?
1.4. In what ways does competition-based pricing work in favor of many service providers? In what circumstances does it not?
1.3. Why is cost-based pricing (as it relates to financial costs) particularly problematic in service industries?
1.2. Of the various nonfinancial outlays incurred by customers, which are likely to be the most significant in situations involving: (a) traditional retail banking; (b) home banking; (c) going to the
1.1. Is pricing strategy more difficult to implement in some service industries than in others? If so, why? Be specific and give examples.
1.6. Describe the different types of information that service blueprints can provide.
1.5. Prepare detailed blueprints for the following services:a. Repair of a damaged bicycleb. Applying to college or graduate schoolc. Renting a car
1.4. Review the blueprint of the restaurant experience in this chapter (Figure 7.4).Identify and categorize each of the supplementary services described in the figure.
1.3. Explain the distinction between enhancing and facilitating supplementary services. Give several examples of each for services that you have used recently.
1.2. What service failures have you encountered recently? Did they involve the core product or supplementary service elements? Identify possible causes and suggest how such failures might be
1.1. Define what is meant by the core product and supplementary services. Can they be applied to goods as well as services? Explain your answer.
1.6. Evaluate the 100 percent Service Guarantee introduced by Hampton Inn. What are its main advantages and disadvantages?
1.5. Apply the service recovery concepts presented in this chapter to a service organization with which you are familiar. Describe how this organization follows/does not follow these guidelines. What
1.4. Think about the last time you experienced a less than satisfactory service experience. Did you complain? Why? If you did not complain, explain why not.
1.3. When was the last time you were truly satisfied with an organization's response to your complaint? Describe in detail what happened and what made you satisfied.
1.How can service providers encourage dissatisfied customers to complain?
1.2. Describe the factors that may prevent a dissatisfied consumer from complaining.
1.1. Explain the courses of action available to a dissatisfied consumer.
1.6. Select a people-processing service business.Then pick two types of jaycustomers and develop strategies designed (a) to discourage these customers from using your service, (b) to prevent them
1.5. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of frequent user programs in different types of service industries.
1.4. Why should companies spend money to keep existing customers loyal?
1.3. Identify some of the measures that can be used to encourage long-term relationships with customers.
1.2. Make a case both for and against the statement that "The customer is always right."
1.1. What criteria should a marketing manager use to decide which customer segments should be targeted by the firm?

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