Service management verkkotentti 10.5.2012 (Saku Hirvonen)
Question 2
Is the following argument true or false?
"Zone of tolerance is an abstract concept that refers to an area between desired
service and adequate service. Using the zone of tolerance concept is especially
useful for service firms because different customers, although being individual by
definition, possess the same zone of tolerance when the same service is being
examined." 1p
Choose one answer.
a. True
b. False
Question 3
Which of the following statements regarding service failures is correct? 1p
Choose one answer.
a. "Only 20 percent of customers decide not to complain when a service failure
occurs"
b. "Fair treatment in service recovery can be divided into (1) absolute and (2)
relational fairness"
c. "Long-term customer relationships are often a disadvantage if a service failure
occurs"
d. "Blueprinting service recovery processes is often useless as many firms
achieve zero-tolerance in service failure rates"
Question 4
The view of focusing solely on customer service recovery has been questioned by
some academics. Instead, they argue that focusing on process recovery and
___________ could provide firms with benefits that top the benefits gained from
customer service recovery. 1p
Choose one answer.
a. employee recovery
b. complaint data recovery
c. market share recovery
d. customer portfolio recovery
Question 5
Answer the following questions
(a) A law firm using yield management finds that by lowering their prices greatly
below the prices of their competitors they would be able to significantly increase their
financial returns. The firm also decides to start a cost reduction program by cutting
their investments in e.g. office premises. However, after one year, the demand for
their services has decreased along with financial returns. Why? 5p
(b) Interaction between customers during a service encounter can both enhance and
detract from perceptions of service quality. Provide a realistic example that shows
how other customers detract from a customer's perceptions of service quality.
Furthermore, tell what actions a service firm could take in order to hinder negative
influence of other customers from taking place. 5p
(c) Different customers have different profitability figures. Explain why customer
profitability should be taken into account when blueprinting services, and how
services could be developed based on customer profitability. 5p
Question 6
Explain why the arguments below can be both (a) true and (b) false. Be profound in
your argumentation and address both perspectives in your answers. 12p
(a) "It is impossible to standardize services"
(b) "The servuction system model is applicable to all types of service encounters"
(c) "The service marketing triangle is applicable also to production firms"
(d) "Service failures are a bad thing"
Question 6
Explain how the four provider gaps introduced in the gaps model accumulate into the
customer gap. That is, for example, how failure to narrow the first gap affects other
gaps. Be profound in your argumentation and examine all four gaps in your answer.
You may use concrete examples to support your arguments, yet should justify your
arguments through theory. 10p