11 2020, questions and answers PDF

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Chapter 11 Discussion Questions 1. Define service culture. Why is service culture so important? Can a manufacturing firm have a service culture? Why or why not? Service culture is a culture where an appreciation for good service occurs, and where giving good service to internal as well as ultimate, external customers is considered a natural way of life and one of the most important norm for everyone. Service culture has many suggestions for employee behaviors. First, a service culture exists if there is an “appreciation for good service”. Next, good service is given to internal as well as external customers. Lastly, in a service culture, good service is “a way of life” and it comes naturally, because it is an important model of the organization. Service culture is critical to the manufacture of a customer-focused organization and has been recognized as a source of competitive advantage in companies.

2. Why are service employees critical to the success of any service organization? Why do we include an entire chapter on service employees in a marketing course? Frontline employees and those supporting them from behind the scenes-are critical to the success of any service organization. The importance of people in the marketing of services is captured in the people element of the services marketing mix, all the employees who play a part in service delivery and influence the buyer’s perceptions; namely the firm’s personnel, the customer, and other customers in the service environment. The key focus in this chapter is on customer-contact service employees because: •

They are service

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They are the organization in the customer’s eyes

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They are the brand

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They are marketers

3. Is empowerment always the best approach for effective service delivery? Why is employee empowerment so controversial? Many organizations have discovered that to be truly responsive to customer needs, frontline providers need to be empowered to accommodate customer requests and to cover on the spot when things go wrong. Empowerment means giving employees the authority, skills, tools, and desires to serve the customer. Although the key to empowerment is giving the employees authority to make decisions on the customer’s behalf. Employees need the knowledge and tools to be able to make these decisions, and they need incentives that encourage them to make the right decisions. Organizations fail in empowering their employees if they simply tell them “you now have the authority to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer need....