服务运作管理整合的视角servicesmanagement1(1)

1‘Productiveisalllabourwhichfixesandrealisesitselfinaparticularsubjectorvendiblecommodity...unproductiveisalllabourwhichgenerallyperishintheveryinstantoftheirperformance.’(AdamSmith,1776)2PartOneTHENATUREOFSERVICESPartThreeHUMANRESOURCESINSERVICEORGANIZATIONSPartTwoCUSTOMERLOGICPartFourOPERATIONSMANAGEMENTINSERVICEORGANIZATIONSPartFiveANINTEGRATEDAPPROACH3Thenatureofservices1.Servicesarebecomingmoreandmoreimportantintheeconomyofthecountriesallovertheword.2.Explainthemaincharateristicsthatdistinguishservicesfromgoods.3.Serviceclassificationsandtheirpracticalrelevance.4PartTwoCUSTOMERLOGIC4Relationshipmarketing5Promotingservices6Pricingservices7Customersatisfactionandcomplaintmanagement8Serviceguaranteesandservice-levelagreements5PartThreeHUMANRESOURCESINSERVICEORGANIZATIONS9Theroleofhumanresourcepracticesinserviceorganizations10Competenciesandserviceorganizations11Collaboration:integratingworkandlearning12Theroleofempowermentinserviceorganizations13Rolestressamongfront-lineemployees6PartFourOPERATIONSMANAGEMENTINSERVICEORGANIZATIONS14Serviceprocessdesignandmanagement15Capacitymanagement16Facilitiesmanagement17ITdevelopmentsandtheirimpactonservices7PartFiveANINTEGRATEDAPPROACH18Performancemeasurementsystemsinservicefirms19ManaginginnovationinaserviceEnvironment20Managingservicesacrossnationalboundaries21Definingaservicestrategy8ServicesManagement:AnIntegratedApproachThisbookoriginatedoutofcontinuousdiscussionsandresearcheffortsThefirstpointofdiscussionisthenotionofservicesandservicemanagement.Alltoooftenoneistemptedtotakewell-establishedinsightsandknow-howcomingfrommanufacturingenvironmentsandapplythemtoservices.9servicesdohavesomecharacteristicsIntangibilityposesspecificchallengestothecommunicationandmarketingeffort;simultaneity–i.e.thepresenceofthecustomerduringtheservicedeliveryprocess–impliesadirectlinkbetweenemployees’feelingsandbehaviourandcustomers’perceptionsofservicequality;10theperishablenatureofserviceservicehasseriousimplicationsformanagingtheservicedeliverysystemandtheavailablecapacity.11Second,servicesareprocesses.Theyrequireanintegratedandconcertedapproach;theoperationalservicedeliverysystem,employeesandcustomersallneedtobeattunedtodelivervalueinaseamlessway.12Thisawarenessofthespecificnatureofservicesand,henceinspiredseveralcompanies,togetherwiththeVlerickLeuvenGhentManagementSchool,toestablishaforumthatallowedforexplorationandin-depthdiscussionofthespecificnatureofservicemanagement.13Thecentrefollowedamultidisciplinaryapproachfromthestart;peoplewithanengineering,marketingororganizationalbehaviourbackgroundhavebeeninvolved,andbothacademicsandpractitionershavecollaboratedinthediscussions.14Overthepastyears,workshopshavebeenorganizedcoveringthemessuchascustomersatisfaction,informationtechnology,empowerment,theserviceprofitchain,innovation,performancemanagement,capacitymanagementandwaitinglines,tonamejustafew.In-depthcasestudiesandsurveyresearchhavealsobeenpartoftheseexplorationefforts.15Duringtheseyearsofworkingtogetheritbecameclearthatservicesneedtobeapproachedinanintegratedway:theoperationalservicedeliverysystem,employees’competencies,behaviorandfeelings,andcustomerneedsandpreferencesall16needtobebalanced,resultinginaconfigurationthateventuallywillleadtovaluecreationandbenefitsforallstakeholdersinvolved.Inthelightofthisapproachwehaveestablishedthestructureofthisbookasfollows.17Inthefirstpart,weexplorethenatureandimportanceofservicesintoday’seconomies.Thiswillleadtothedevelopmentofafirstguidingframework–theserviceconcept–andthedelineationofitsconstitutingelements(Chapters1and2).18Moreover,wewillarguethatthenotionofservicesandhenceofservicemanagement,isbecominganimportantissueformanufacturingcompaniesaswell(Chapter3).19Nextwefocusoncustomers.Wewilllookatthecrucialrelationshipsbetweencustomersatisfaction,customerloyaltyandeventualprofitability(Chapter4);discusswaysofmeasuringcustomersatisfactionandimprovingitbymeansofcomplaintmanagementandtheintroductionofservicelevelagreementsandguarantees(Chapters7and8).Promotingandpricingserviceswillalsobeconsidered(Chapters5and6).20Employeesplayadecisiveroleindeliveringservicequality.Therefore,inthethirdpartwelookatthedynamicsofthescriptunderlyingthiscrucialrole(Chapter9).Consecutively,wedevelopthenotionofcompetenciesandtheirdevelopment,theimportanceofcollaborationandtherelevanceofempowerment(Chapters10,11and12).Finally,wefocusonthespecificissuesrelatedtojobdesignandperformanceoffront-lineemployees(Chapter13).21servicedeliverysystem(chapter14).Asservicesareintangibletheybecomeperishableaswell;thereisnopossibilityofstockpilingservices.Designingandmanagingcapacityadequatelywilloftenaffectdirectlythelevelofprofitabilityinservices.22Wedevoteacompletechaptertorelevantapproachesandtechniquesofcapacitymanagementaswellasrelatedconceptssuchasyieldmanagement(Chapter15).InPartFour,wewillalsodiscusslocationandfacilities(Chapter16),andexploretheroleinformationtechnologycanplayintheservicedeliveryprocess(Chapter17).23Thefifthpartisd