Case 11: Singapore Airlines

In 1,500-1,750 words, write a paper answering the following questions regarding Case 11: Singapore Airlines, located in the textbook:

1. Describe the role of human resources in services marketing and identify what is so unique about the five elements of Singapore Airlines' successful human resources practices.
2. Evaluate the effectiveness of each element's contribution toward Singapore Airlines' leadership in service excellence and cost effectiveness.
3. Why do you think full-service airlines in the United States are largely undifferentiated low-quality providers? What are the reasons that none of the full-service airlines have positioned themselves as high service-quality providers?
4. Some of Singapore Airlines' human resources practices would be frowned upon in the United States and Europe (e.g., having cabin crew on time-based contracts that are renewable every 5 years). Is this fair competition (i.e., desired competition between regularity frameworks, as was favored by Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), or is it arbitration of regulatory environment that encourage a "race to the bottom" in terms of employee rights?
5. How might people feel if they are working in a culture that focuses so intensely on customers but cuts costs to the bone internally?
6. View the Singapore Airlines videos, "Across the World With the Singapore Girl" (http://youtu.be/fNEJrd6GkSY) and "Singapore Airlines SQ Girl" (http://youtu.be/P5sGKR6NJBw), and discuss how these videos might be perceived by Singapore Airlines cabin crew.