Chapter 11
Managing service processes
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Understand the importance of effective management of
service processes to hospitality marketing

Evaluate dimensions of service quality in a hospitality
context
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Identify the principal reasons for service failure
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Use service blueprinting to map a hospitality service
process
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Understand why, when and how customers complain
about their hospitality experiences

Explain service recovery strategies for hospitality
companies
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Managing service production and delivery processes is the
responsibility of operations management

Marketing managers need to understand the principles of service
operations management to ensure customers are satisfied

Managing demand is easier when the service process delivers
what customers expect

When the service fails to deliver, marketing the hospitality brand is
difficult

Hospitality businesses must deliver consistent service quality
despite the constraints of intangibility, inseparability, seasonality
and variability

Vertical processes are located within one department –
food production operations

Horizontal processes are cross-functional –
conference/events involve sales, reservations,
operations, front desk, housekeeping and general
management
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Front-office processes interact with customers – checkin/check-out and food/beverage operations

Back-office processes hidden from customers –
procurement processes

Some processes involve both front- and back-offices –
front desk provides corporate customers with the bill
and back office invoices the company
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Reliability
Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately
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Empathy
Caring, individual attention given to the customer
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Tangibles
Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, employees and
communication materials
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Responsiveness
Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

Assurance
The knowledge and courtesy of employees, and their ability to
convey confidence and inspire trust
Source: Parasuraman, et al. (1985), reproduced with permission of the American Marketing Association
Gap 1: management not knowing what customers expect
Gap 2: service quality standards do not match customer
expectations
Gap 3: service-performance gap
Gap 4: delivering the service promise
Closing the gaps:
When Gaps 1–4 are close, the company will be promising and
producing service experiences that meet customer expectations
When there are significant gaps (1, 2, 3, or 4) between what the
company promises and delivers, then customer expectations are
not met and customers will be dissatisfied
Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1992)

A service blueprint is a map that specifies how a service should be delivered

From the moment customers arrive to the moment they leave, all the actions
that the customer and/or employees carry out are mapped on a diagram (see
Figure 11.1)
The service blueprint has three horizontal lines:

Line of interaction – separates customers from front-of-house employees
When a vertical line crosses the line of interaction (e.g. when the customer is
greeted), service encounters between customers and employees takes place

Line of visibility – separates front-of-house employee activities that the
customer can see from those that cannot be seen
When the restaurant order taker is out of the customer’s sight in the kitchen

Line of internal interaction – internal service encounters take place which
customers cannot see
By mapping service processes from a customer’s perspective, management
can set service standards, develop service production and delivery processes
that meet customers’ expectations
Figure 11.1 Mapping a restaurant service, customer
service encounter (x = internal service encounter)

Service processes can be defined by complexity and diversity

The level of service complexity is the number of steps needed to
perform the service:
fewer steps = lower complexity; more steps = greater complexity

The level of divergence refers to the degree of tolerance allowed
in performing the service process:
some service processes are highly standardized and have a low
degree of diversity; some operations allow employees more
autonomy in delivering the service and have greater diversity
See Figure 11.2 for some examples
Level of complexity
Lower
Level of divergence
Lower
Higher
Sandwich shop
Street vendor
Higher
Customized event
catering
Gourmet restaurant
Figure 11.2 Complexity and divergence in hospitality services
1. Complexity reduction strategy

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Reduces complexity in service process by reducing the number of steps to
produce service (restricting menu)
Reducing complexity improves consistency and reduces costs
Could risk alienating existing customers
2. Increased complexity strategy
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Increasing complexity means adding more activities to the existing service
(more items on menu)
Increased complexity can create service quality problems and increase costs
3. Divergence reduction strategy
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Reducing the level of divergence in the service implies more standardization
Higher level of standardization should increase productivity and reduce costs
This service process strategy is linked to volume sales and mass-marketing
4. Increased divergence strategy
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Increasing divergence gives greater customization of the service
This might be niche positioning, e.g. human resource empowerment strategy,
encouraging employees to respond to customers’ individual needs
Service failures occur when service does not match customer’s
expectations
Typical hospitality service failures include the following:

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facilities/services promoted by marketing are not available
physical environment is disappointing (damaged furniture, tired
décor, poor hygiene standards, atmosphere not welcoming)
service is slower than expected
standard of cooking is poor (overcooked/undercooked food, too
much/too little seasoning, food served at the wrong temperature)
employees who lack product knowledge, do not care or, even
worse, are rude to customers
Some service failures are relatively minor for the customer; others
very important
Dissatisfied customers with complaints can complain, create
negative word-of-mouth and even litigate against a hospitality
company
Concurrently

Customer complains at the same time as the service failure occurs, allows
employees to respond and solve the problem. From both the company’s
and the customer’s perspective, this is best time to complain
Subsequently

Customers telephone, email, text or write letters of complaint. Over time
customers can feel more strongly about the service failure and incidents
can be magnified. Since customer contacted company, complaint can still
be managed
Third-party complaints

Unhappy customers complain to organizations (consumer bodies,
governments, tourist boards, motoring organizations) hotel and restaurant
guide books. Organization responds to customer complaints and agree
action to resolve complaint with company
Online complaints

Unhappy customers complain online through travel sites (TripAdvisor).
Some hotels respond effectively to online complaints – many do not
Negative word-of-mouth

Some unhappy customers do not complain to the company, but tell their
family and friends about the ‘poor’ service and generate negative word-ofmouth publicity; this can be compounded when the negative W-o-M is
online
Zero defects strategy

Borrowed from manufacturing and Total Quality Management (TQM)

Key idea to design out every potential problem before it can occur

The special characteristics of services make the adoption of a zero defects
strategy difficult to implement but working to reduce operational service
failures can reduce complaints
Encourage complaints!!!

Companies can improve customer service by learning from complaints

Encouraging customers to complain can help to improve service quality
Treat customers fairly when they complain

Customers have a sense of ‘fairness’

Outcome fairness refers to the tangible result the customer expects to
receive after a complaint

Customers expect fair compensation relative to the complaint

Procedural fairness refers to the company’s policy for handling complaints.
When a problem arises, customers want the first employee to sort out the
problem quickly and efficiently or find someone who can

Interactional fairness refers to customers expecting employees and
management to treat them politely and honestly. Customers want
companies to genuinely care about their problem
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Processes can be categorized as vertical or horizontal; or front
office or back-office
Managing service processes helps to deliver customer satisfaction
Five dimensions of service quality are: reliability, empathy,
tangibles, responsiveness and assurance
The gaps model of service quality helps to explain the gap
between customer expectations and perceptions of service quality
You can map a hospitality service using blueprinting
Complexity and divergence service process strategies can improve
service quality and profitability
The reasons for service failure in a hospitality context
When and how customers complain
The important role of service recovery strategies
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Gummesson, E. and Kingman-Brundage, J. (1991). ‘Service design and
quality: applying service blueprinting and service mapping to railroad
services’. In P. Kunst and J. Lemmink (eds) Quality Management in
Services. Van Gorcu.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. and Berry, L. L. (1985). ‘A conceptual
model of service quality and its implications for future research’.
Journal of Marketing, 49, pp. 41–50.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. and Berry, L. L. (1992). ‘Achieving service
quality through gap analysis and a basic statistical approach’. Journal of
Services Marketing, 6 (1), pp. 5–14.
Shostack, L. (1981). ‘Service positioning through structural change’.
Journal of Marketing, 51, pp. 34–43.
Singh, J. (1990). ‘A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response
styles’. Journal of Retailing, 66 (1), pp. 57–99.
Tax, S. S. and Brown, S. W. (1998). ‘Recovering and learning from
service failure’. Sloan Management Review, 40, pp. 61–75.
Zeithaml, V. A. and Bitner, M. J. (2009). Services Marketing. McGrawHill.