Chapter 11: Employees' Roles in Service

interactive marketing (real-time marketing)

"delivering the promise", where promises are kept or broken by the firm's employees, subcontractors, or agents

internal marketing

"enabling the promise", management engages in these activities to help the providers deliver on the service promise: recruiting, training, motivating, rewarding, and providing equipment and technology

external marketing

"making the promise", efforts that the firm engages in to develop its customers' expectations and make promises to customers regarding what is to be delivered

Hire the right people

(1) Compete for the best people (2) Hire for service competencies and service inclination (3) Be the preferred employer

Retain the best people

(1) Include employees in the company's vision (2) Treat employees as customers (3) Measure and reward strong service performers

Provide needed support systems

(1) Measure internal service quality (2) Provide supportive technology and equipment (3) Develop service-oriented internal processes

Develop people to deliver service quality

(1) Train for technical and interactive skills (2) Empower employees (3) Promote teamwork

To build a customer-oriented, service-minded workforce, an organization must

(1) hire the right people, (2) develop people to deliver service quality, (3) provide the needed support systems, and (4) retain the best people

Robert is an experienced salesperson in a shop that deals in home appliances. While selling a microwave oven to a customer, he demonstrates its various features and requests the customer to go through the instruction leaflet before using it. However, the customer blames Robert when the former mishandles the oven and damages it. In order to appear polite, Robert apologizes to the customer even though the latter is wrong. In this scenario, identify the conflict that Robert is likely to go through.

A person/role conflict

Identify the circumstances under which organizations fail to succeed in empowering their employees. (Check all that apply.)

All employees do not desire to be empowered by their organizations. If employees have not received the tools, guidelines, and training needed to make decisions, they do not know what they have to do. If the organizations have functioned bureaucratically or hierarchically in the past, employees often do not believe in authority given to them.

Which of the following is an example of an interclient conflict?

An event manager being unable to coordinate multiple programs on the same day

Which of the following are true of empowering frontline service employees?

Better customer outcomes, reduced job-related stress, AND improved job satisfaction

Which of the following substrategies should be adopted by organizations while developing individuals to deliver service quality? (Check all that apply.)

Employees should be encouraged to work as teams. Employees should be trained for interactive and technical skills.

In order to effectively deliver service quality, identify the substrategies that should be adopted by organizations while hiring the right people. (Check all that apply.)

Employees should be hired for service inclination and service competencies. The best people should be competed for.

Which of the following is true of the service profit chain model?

It does not indicate causality

Identify a true statement about organization/client conflict

It is a conflict between frontline service employees' bosses, an individual customer and their organization

Identify a true statement about an organization/client conflict.

It is a conflict between frontline service employees' bosses, an individual customer and their organization.

Identify the true statements about service inclination. (Check all that apply.)

It is demonstrated in employee orientation toward serving fellow employees and customers. It is indicated in the attitudes of employees toward service.

Identify the true statements about a service culture

It is important for the formation of a customer-focused organization AND it is identified as a source of competitive advantage in organizations

Which of the following is true of a strong service culture?

It is inspired by the activities employees perceive that management engages in reality.

Which of the following is true of a service culture?

It is not possible to develop overnight

Which of the following is true of emotional labor?

It often demands that individuals suppress their true feelings.

Which of the following is true of an interclient conflict? Multiple choice question.

It takes place when incompatible requirements and expectations arise from two or more customers.

Identify the elements that actually empower employees so that they can make decisions on customers' behalf. (Check all that apply.)

Knowledge Incentives Tools

In which of the following ways can organizations begin developing a strong internal quality culture? (Check all that apply.) Multiple select question.

Organizations should recognize that everyone has a customer. Organizations should assess customer perceptions of internal service quality.

In the context of delivering service quality through people, identify the true statements about developing service-oriented internal processes. (Check all that apply.)

Organizations' internal processes should be designed with customer satisfaction and customer value in mind. Furnishing customer- and service-oriented internal processes can indicate a need for total redesign of systems. Organizational internal procedures should advocate quality service performance.

Identify the dimensions of service quality. (Check all that apply.)

Responsiveness Tangibles and empathy Reliability and assurance

In order to deliver service quality, identify the substrategies that should be adopted by organizations to retain the best people.

Strong service performers should be measured and rewarded. Employees should be included in the organizations' vision.

Identify the true statements about promoting teamwork in organizations. (Check all that apply.)

Teamwork improves the abilities of employees to deliver excellent service. Teamwork increases the inclination of employees to be the providers of excellent service.

Which of the following human resource strategies should be adopted for delivering service quality through people? (Check all that apply.)

The best people should be retained. People should be developed to provide service quality. The appropriate people should be hired. The needed support systems should be provided.

Identify the circumstances under which an interclient conflict mostly occurs. (Check all that apply.)

When an employee is serving many customers at the same time When a service provider is serving customers one by one

Identify the situations when an organization/client conflict is severe. (Check all that apply.)

When service employees are dependent on customers for income When employees are required to decide whether to adopt wrong policies set by the organization or risk losing jobs by accommodating their clients

service culture

a culture where an appreciation for good service exists, 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 norms by everyone

person/role conflict

conflict that occurs when an individual in a particular role is expected to perform behaviors that clash with his or her personal values

To grow and maintain a workforce that is customer oriented and focused on delivering quality, an organization must ________.

develop its employees to deliver service quality

The labor that goes beyond the mental or physical skills required for delivering quality service is called

emotional labor

Identify the views of the researchers of the service profit chain model

employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are interrelated AND the model indicated that companies hat exhibit high success levels on its elements tend to be more successful than others that do not

In an organizational context, giving employees the authority, skills, tools, and desire to determine how to best serve customers is known as

empowerment

In organizations, a person/role conflict occurs when _____. Multiple choice question.

frontline service employees experience clash between what they are instructed to do and their own values

empowerment

giving employees the authority, skills, tools, and desire to determine how to best serve customers

service inclination

interest in doing service-related work

empathy

it indicates that employees will regard, adapt, and show flexibility in fulfilling customers needs

tangible

it involves analyzing employee dress and appearance besides quality service

assurance

it involves enhancing customers confidence and trust in a firm

reliability

it refers to the delivery of the promised service

responsiveness

it refers to the promptness and personal willingness of employees to serve customers

A true statement about emotional labor is that _____.

it requires people to use their feelings to be effective in their jobs

emotional labor

labor that goes beyond the physical or mental skills needed to deliver quality service

organization/client conflict

more common type of conflict for frontline employees is conflict between their two bosses the organization and the individual customer

interclient conflict

occurs for boundary spanners when incompatible expectations and requirements arise from two or more customers (most often when the service provider is serving customers in turn)

boundary spanners

provide a link between the external customer and environment and the internal operations of the organization. They serve a critical function in understanding, filtering, and interpreting information and resources to and from the organization and its external constituencies. -They link the internal operations of an organization to the external customer and environment. -They play a vital role in interpreting information to and from an organization and its exterior constituencies.

When an employee is serving many customers at the same time When a service provider is serving customers one by one

service competencies

The interest of service employees to do service-related work is known as

service inclination

service competencies

skills and knowledge necessary to do the job

the service profit chain

suggests that there are critical linkages among internal service quality, employee satisfaction/productivity, the value of services provided to the customer, and ultimately customer satisfaction, retention, and profits

corporate culture

the pattern of shared values and beliefs that give the members of an organization meaning, and provide them with the rules for behavior in the organization

culture

the way we do things around here

Which of the following are true of customer-contact service employees?

they are the physical embodiment of a product, they act as mobile billboards from the standpoint of promotion, and they directly influence customer or client satisfaction

Identify the true statements about boundary-spanning positions

they involve handling interorganizational and interpersonal conflict, they require higher levels of emotional labor, and they are jobs that involve high stress

Identify the true statements about customer-contact service employees

they represent an organization according to customers AND they enact the role of marketers and are the brand

Identify the situations when an organization/client conflict is severe

when employees are required to decide whether to adopt wrong policies set by the organization or risk losing jobs by accommodating their clients AND when service employees are dependent on customers for income