The Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Academic Year 2013/14
Term 1
OPIM311 SERVICE PROCESSES
Instructor’s Name
Title
Tel
Email
Office
: William CHIA
: Adjunct Faculty of Operations Management
: 6828 0713
:
: LKCSB Level 5, Adjunct Faculty Office
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores the dimensions of successful service firms through the use of case studies and lectures. It
prepares students for enlightened management and suggests creative entrepreneurial opportunities. Outstanding
service organizations are managed differently than their "merely good" competitors. Actions are based on totally
different assumptions about the way success is achieved. The results show not only in terms of conventional
measures of performance but also in the enthusiasm of the employees and quality of customer satisfaction. Beginning
with the service encounter, service managers must blend marketing, technology, people, and information to achieve a
distinctive competitive advantage. As the service sector is the fastest-growing sector of the economy, this course is
also intended to help students discover entrepreneurial opportunities.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Recognise the unique challenges in Service Operations and suggest their own “creative” solutions
• Integrate different viewpoints with a focus on customer satisfaction
• Integrate operations, marketing, strategy, information technology and organizational issues
PRE-REQUISITE/ CO-REQUISITE/ MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE COURSE(S)
Please refer to the Course Catalogue on OASIS for the most updated list of pre-requisites / co-requisites for this
particular course.
Do note that if this course has a co-requisite, it means that the course has to be taken together with another course.
Dropping one course during BOSS bidding would result in both courses being dropped at the same time.
ASSESSMENT METHODS
Group Case Studies
Term Project
Class Participation
Test
Total
30%
30%
15%
25%
100%
Academic Integrity
All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts of
academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of
other students) are serious offences.
All work presented in class must be the student’s own work. Any student caught violating this policy may result in
the student receiving zero marks for the component assessment or a fail grade for the course. This policy applies to
all works (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment.
Where in doubt, students are encouraged to consult the instructors of the course. Details on the SMU Code of
Academic Integrity may be accessed at http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.
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INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AND EXPECTATIONS
The course will be a combination of lectures and case discussions. Readings will be assigned for each class. Students are
expected to come to class prepared.
Class Participation
Participation is a central part of the learning process for you and your classmates. When you contribute, you help
others learn. Your participation mark reflects your contribution to your classmates’ learning. This includes
attendance, full preparation prior to class including reading assigned materials and completion of mini-assignments,
and active participation in class discussions and group activities.
Groupings and group size
Students will be divided into eight groups of between four and six. You are encouraged to find your own group
members.
Group Assignments
Group assignments include a term project and case studies. Each Project team is to select and study one company
within the nine industry sectors measured in the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG 2011). Please note
that the sub-sectors within the nine industry sectors can only be chosen once in each section. Course instructor will
provide a project overview and the company selection criteria during week 1 lesson.
Examinations
There will be no final exam. An open-book test will be given in class in week 14. The test will be based on the topics
discussed in class.
CONSULTATIONS AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS
For consultation, please email instructor or TA to make an appointment.
RECOMMENDED TEXT AND READINGS
Fitzsimmons, James A., and Mona J. Fitzsimmons, Service Management: Operations, Strategy, Information Technology,
Seventh Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2011. (Required)
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WEEKLY LESSON PLANS
A tentative schedule is as follows (changes may be made according to the progress of the class).
Week No.
1
2
Topics
Readings
i.
Course overview
F&F Ch. 1 - The Role of Services in an Economy
ii.
Introduction to SP
F&F Ch. 2 - The Nature of Services
Service Strategy
F&F Ch. 3 - Service Strategy
HBR “Lessons in the Service Sector”
F&F Ch. 4 - New Service Development
3
Service Encounter
F&F Ch. 5 - Technology in Services
F&F Ch. 9 - The Service Encounter
F&F Ch. 6 - Service Quality
4
5
6
Service Quality
i.
Case 1 - 3.1
ii.
Case 2 - 3.2
i.
Case 3 - 9.1
ii.
Case 4 - 9.2
7
Service Performance Analysis: DEA
8
Recess Week (no class)
9
Managing Capacity & Demand
10
11
i.
Case: Easy Profit
ii.
Service Facility Location
i.
Waiting Line Management
ii.
Simulation
12
Case: Manzana Insurance
13
Term project presentation
14
Study week
15
Open Book Test
HBR “The Power of Unconditional Service Guarantees”.
HBR “Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work”
HBR “Manage Your Human Sigma”
F&F Ch. 8 Supplement
F&F Ch. 11, 18
F&F Ch. 10
F&F Ch. 12, 16 and supplement
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