Service Defined
Pure Goods ----- Mixture of Goods and Services ----- Pure Service
Service Defined
“A service is an activity with some elements of
intangibility associated with it, which involves
some interactions with customers or with
property in their possession and does not result
in a transfer of ownership. A change in
condition may occur and production of the
services may or may not be closely associated
with a physical product.”
Service Defined
It is DEEDS, ACTS or PERFORMANCES
And NOT
Only objects, devices or things.
Service Characteristics
INTANGIBILITY:
Giving rise to
Lack of protection from patent
Difficulty in displaying and communicating
Difficulty in defining
Lack of perception by sense organs
Difficulty in pricing
lack of ability to be stored
Tangibility Spectrum
More tangible
Salt
Soft
drinks
Fast
food
Detergents
outlets
Automobiles
Cosmetics
More intangible
Fast Ad
food Agency
outlets
Airlines Consulting
Investme
Teaching
nt
Manage
ment
Service Characteristics
INSEPERABILITY:
Giving rise to
•Physical connection of the service provider to the service
•Involvement of customer in the production process
•Exposure to other customers
•Special challenges in mass production of services
Service Characteristics
HETEROGENEITY:
Giving rise to
•Non standardisation of quality
Service Characteristics
PERISHABILITY:
Giving rise to
•Higher demand than maximum available supply
•Higher demand than optimum supply level
•Lower demand than optimum supply level.
The Differences with Goods
•
Customer does not obtain ownership of services
•
Service products are intangible performances
•
Greater involvement of customer in production
•
Other people too may form part of the product
•
More variability in operational inputs and outputs
•
Many services are difficult for customers to evaluate
•
No inventory (before or after production)
•
It is a real time activity
•
Delivery system may involve electronic and physical
channels.
Service as a Process
Input ------------- Output
People Processing
Material Processing
Possession Processing
Information Processing
The Drama of Service Delivery
SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM
SERVICE
B
OPERATION
A
SYSTEM
C
KS
T
A
G
E
FRONT-STAGE
Secondary Interaction
Line of visibility
Service as a System
SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM
SERVICE
OPERATION
SYSTEM
Technic
-al
Core
Customer A
Service A
Physical
support
Contact
Personnel
Service B
Customer B
Secondary Interaction
Line of visibility