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> What are the key drivers for the increasing globalization of services?

> What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of queues for an organization serving large numbers of customers? For which type of service might each of the queuing types be more suitable?

> Why does the customer’s role as a co-creator need to be designed into service processes?

> What are the 5 Ws along which the Integrated Service Communications Model is structured?

> Why is permission-based marketing gaining so much focus in service firms’ communications strategies?

> How can we charge different prices to different segments without customers feeling cheated? How can we even charge the same customer different prices at different times, contexts, and/or occasions and at the same time be seen as fair?

> Why do new services often fail? What are the factors associated with the successful development of new services?

> How can marketing mix elements be used to reshape demand patterns?

> What efforts are typically involved in service process redesign?

> What are the different forms of online marketing? Which do you think would be the most effective online-marketing strategies for a. An online broker and b. A new high-end club in Los Angeles?

> Why are ethical concerns important issues when designing service pricing and revenue management strategies? What are potential consumer responses to service pricing or policies that are perceived as unfair?

> Why is franchising a popular way to expand distribution of an effective service concept? What are some disadvantages of franchising, and how can they be mitigated?

> Describe what is meant by positioning strategy. How do the market, customer, internal, and competitive analyses relate to positioning strategy?

> What actions can firms take to adjust demand to match capacity more closely?

> Why is the pricing of services more difficult than the pricing of goods?

> What are the four key objectives of service process redesign?

> What roles do personal selling, advertising, and public relations play in a. Attracting new customers to visit a service outlet and b. Retaining existing customers?

> Explain the difference between physical and nonphysical rate fences using suitable examples.

> What marketing and management challenges are raised by the use of intermediaries in a service setting?

> What are the approaches firms can take to create new services?

> How can positioning maps help managers better understand and respond to competitive dynamics?

> How can firms identify the factors that affect demand for their services?

> Why is periodic service process redesign necessary? What are the typical symptoms that indicate a service process is not working well?

> What is revenue management? How does it work? Which types of service operations benefit most from good revenue management systems, and why?

> Why should service marketers be concerned with new developments in mobile communications?

> What is meant by “distributing services?” How can an experience or something intangible be distributed?

> How can brands be used to tier service products?

> What are the six questions for developing an effective positioning strategy?

> What actions can firms take to adjust capacity to match demand more closely?

> How can consumer perceptions and emotions be considered in the design of service processes?

> What are some challenges in service communications? How can they be overcome?

> Why can’t we compare competitor prices dollar-for-dollar in a service context?

> What risks and opportunities does a retail service firm face when it adds electronic channels of delivery (a) paralleling a channel involving physical stores or (b) replacing the physical stores with a combined internet and call center channel? Give exam

> How can service firms build brand equity?

> Why should service firms focus their efforts? Describe the basic focus strategies, and give examples of how these work.

> Why is capacity management particularly important for service firms?

> Explain what is meant by the core product and supplementary services.

> Why is it important to develop service standards and targets?

> What can you learn from the Services Marketing Communications Funnel?

> What is the role of non-monetary costs in a business model, and how do they relate to the consumer’s value perceptions?

> What are the key factors driving the place and time decisions of service distribution?

> How is branding used in services marketing? What is the distinction between a corporate brand such as Marriott and the names of its various inn and hotel chains?

> What is the distinction between important and determinant attributes in consumer purchase decisions?

> What is meant by productive capacity in services?

> How can fail-safe methods be used to reduce service failures?

> In what ways do the objectives of services communications differ substantially from those of goods marketing? Describe four common educational and promotional objectives in service settings, and provide a specific example for each of the objectives you l

> How can a service firm compute its unit costs for pricing purposes? How does predicted and actual capacity utilization affect unit costs and profitability?

> How are the four levels of service performance defined? Based on your own service experiences, provide an example of a company for each category.

> What are the different options for service delivery? What factors do service firms need to take into account when using each of these options?

> Why are both soft and hard measures of service quality needed?

> Identify the gaps that can occur in service quality and the steps that service marketers can take to prevent them.

> Explain the relationships between service quality, productivity, and profitability.

> How can customer choice between services in their consideration set be modeled?

> How do concepts such as TQM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma and the Malcolm Baldrige and EFQM approaches relate to managing and improving service quality and productivity?

> How can you integrate all the tools in a nine-step approach to improve the quality and productivity of customer service processes?

> Why is productivity more difficult to measure in service than in manufacturing firms?

> What are the key customer feedback collection tools? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of these tools?

> What are the main objectives of an effective customer feedback system?

> What are the main tools service firms can use to analyze and address service quality problems?

> In what ways can you, as a consumer, help to improve productivity for at least three service organizations that you patronize? Which distinctive characteristics of each service make some of these actions possible?

> How do customers typically respond to service failures?

> What are the different types of jay customers? How can a service firm deal with such customers?

> Under what conditions is it not suitable to introduce a service guarantee?

> Describe the building blocks for managing capacity and demand.

> How should service guarantees be designed? What are the benefits of service guarantees over and above a good complaint handling and service recovery system?

> How generous should compensations related to service recovery be?

> How can a firm make it easy for dissatisfied customers to complain?

> What is the service recovery paradox? Under what conditions is this paradox most likely to hold? Why is it best to deliver the service as planned, even if the paradox does hold in a specific context?

> Why would a firm prefer its unhappy customers to come forward and complain?

> Why don’t many more unhappy customers complain? What do customers expect the firm to do once they have filed a complaint?

> Why should a service recovery strategy be proactive, planned, trained, and empowered?

> How generous should compensation be? Review the following incident and comment. Then evaluate the available options, comment on each, select the one you recommend, and defend your decision. “The shrimp cocktail was half frozen. The waitress apologized a

> What would be an appropriate service recovery policy for a wrongly bounced check for (a) Your local savings bank, (b) A major national bank, and (c) A private bank for high net-worth individuals? Please explain your rationale and also compute the eco

> Why is targeting the ‘right customers’ so important for successful customer relationship management?

> What are the typical design elements of a service blueprint?

> Why is customer loyalty an important driver of profitability for service firms?

> Identify some key measures that can be used to create customer bonds and encourage long-term relationships with customers.

> What is tiering of services? Explain why it is used. What are its implications for firms and their customers?

> How can a firm build a foundation for loyalty?

> How do the various strategies described in the Wheel of Loyalty relate to one another?

> What is the role of churn management in an effective loyalty strategy, and what tools can be used to understand and reduce customer churn?

> Why benefits are related to the core service (e.g., customization, transaction convenience, and service priority) generally more effective in building loyalty than rewards that are unrelated to the core service (e.g., air miles)?

> What is the role of CRM in delivering a customer relationship strategy?

> Why are loyalty programs often important for a customer loyalty strategy?

> List five ways in which investment in hiring and selection, training, and ongoing motivation of employees will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction for organizations such as (a) A restaurant, (b) An airline, (c) A hospital, and (d) A consult

> What are the three broad target audiences of service communications?

> What are the key barriers for firms to break the Cycle of Failure and move into the Cycle of Success? How should an organization trapped in the Cycle of Mediocrity proceed?

> What is emotional labor? Explain the ways in which it may cause stress for employees in specific jobs. Illustrate with suitable examples.

> Why are service personnel so important for service firms?

> What is the relationship among organizational culture, climate for service, and leadership?

> How can a service firm build a strong service culture that emphasizes service excellence and productivity?

> Identify the factors needed to make service teams successful in (a) An airline, (b) A restaurant, and (c) A customer contact center. What are the factors that favor a strategy of employee empowerment?

> What can a service firm do to become a preferred employer and receive a large number of applications from the best potential candidates in the labor market?

> Describe the key components of the Service Talent Cycle.

> What are the key types of training service firms should conduct?

> How can a firm select the best suited candidates from a large number of applicants?

> How can the pricing tripod approach to service pricing be useful in setting a good pricing point for a particular service?

> Why is role modeling a desirable quality in service leaders?

> How can front-line employees be effectively motivated to deliver service excellence?

> Identify the factors needed to make service teams successful in (a) An airline, (b) A restaurant, and (c) A customer contact center.