Service Production Systems Research Articles

Customer involvement in service production, delivery and quality: the challenges and opportunities

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the role of customer involvement in service production and its possible effects on the quality of service delivery as well as customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachSince the nature of the study is exploratory, the case study approach was adopted. The paper focusses on customer involvement in the context of service production and delivery system in service organization rather than in the context of customer organization. The authors looked at supplier involvement as well, due to the fact that a lack of sufficient information from a supplier or lack of proper training may inhibit customers' successful involvement. A detailed case study was carried out on a sample of four service providers: a general contractor, a chemical process engineer, a software developer and a language institute as well as a service buyer case – a Petrochemical Holding Company. In total the paper includes five cases.FindingsThe study reveals that even though co‐production of the customers with the service provider is a must, however, it has different effects on the quality of service produced depending on the situation and the nature of services offered. In the cases of the complex engineering services – general contractor and chemical engineering – that service requirements and technical specifications were provided by the customers, and service providers were chosen by open bidding process, there were instances where the co‐production could lead to malfunction of the service. This was evident in the cases when the inappropriate technical specifications and requirements were provided by the customer hindering the service provider to deliver services smoothly. On the other hand, in the cases of new software development process and language institute, it had been evident that the involvement of customers – with a sound customer involvement management – has tremendous positive effects and lead to greater productivity and customer satisfaction. In the case of the petrochemical company and international service providers, educating the suppliers/service providers by the buyer, to a large extent, could solve the service quality problems in terms of on time delivery, costs and technical conformity as stressed by buyers.Originality/valueThe study provides empirical evidence regarding customer involvement in the service production and its possible effects on the quality of service delivery as well as customer satisfaction and sheds light on the situations that customer involvement is a success or a threat. The research also contributes to the understanding of how the nature of services, the level and scope of customer involvement as well as building relationship and trust amongst the customer and the service provider affect the outcome of customer‐service provider co‐production.

Multicriteria Model for Selection of Preventive Maintenance Intervals

Selecting preventive maintenance intervals is a problem addressed in the literature in which several different models are used according to the context and other issues. This article presents a multicriteria decision model to support decision makers in choosing the best maintenance interval based on the combination of conflicting criteria, such as reliability and cost. A procedure is proposed for using the model, which is based on multiattribute utility theory (MAUT). Moreover, a numerical application illustrates the use of the procedure, based on a real case study. The discussion of the results addresses theoretical issues and practical managerial implications related to the model proposed. This study shows that a multicriteria decision model is important for the maintenance and reliability community when a context of service production systems is to be accounted for due to interruptions caused by failures in this kind of production system. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Contributors

Contributors

Peer-to-Peer Service Quality in Virtual Communities

Virtual communities are an increasingly popular way to conduct business over the Internet. However, from the service provider’s point of view they pose special challenges. In particular, unless the provider itself engages in content or service provision, the service relies entirely on its members for provision of services. The members should thus be seen as resources for service provision. This type of networked service production system implies challenges in terms of service quality management and, subsequently, value creation for community members. This paper explores these issues by revisiting service marketing and service operations literature on service quality. Analysis of the literature indicates that firms facilitating virtual communities need to ensure the quality of their service by not only ensuring technical quality but also by nurturing the social aspects of the community that have an impact on the willingness of community members to provide service to each other.

Um estudo de impactos do roteamento dinâmico de veículos em atividades de prestação de serviço

Neste trabalho, é analisado o impacto da utilização de métodos de roteamento dinâmico de veículos em ambientes de prestação de serviço, onde a satisfação dos prazos de atendimento do cliente é prioritária. Com esse objetivo, é proposta uma heurística construtiva/desconstrutiva, que, quando acionada por um módulo de despacho de veículos, elabora rotas em tempo real. O impacto da aplicação da heurística é medido frente a outros métodos, utilizando- se conjuntos de instâncias geradas aleatoriamente, com base em dados fornecidos por uma empresa do setor de bebidas do interior do Estado de São Paulo. Os resultados indicam benefícios substanciais em termos de nível de serviço oferecido.

Modelagem multicritério para seleção de intervalos de manutenção preventiva baseada na teoria da utilidade multiatributo

O problema de seleção de intervalos ou periodicidade para manutenção preventiva foi analisado através de um modelo de decisão multicritério. Este modelo de decisão apóia decisores na escolha da melhor combinação das conseqüências custo e confiabilidade, analisando um contexto de sistema de produção de serviços. O modelo de decisão é baseado na Teoria da Utilidade Multiatributo (MAUT). O artigo apresenta os principais aspectos teóricos e os elementos básicos utilizados para construção do modelo. Uma aplicação numérica é apresentada para ilustrar o uso do modelo de decisão.

Food services trends in New South Wales hospitals, 1993–2001

AbstractA survey of the food service departments in 93 hospitals throughout NSW Australia (covering 51% of hospital beds in the state) was conducted using a mailed questionnaire and the results compared with those from similar surveys conducted in 1986 and 1993. Over the past eight years there has been a significant increase in the proportion of hospitals using cook‐chill food service production systems, from 18% in 1993 to 42% in 2001 (P < 0.001). Hospitals with cook‐chill systems had better staff ratios than those with cook‐fresh systems (8.3 vs. 6.4 beds/full time equivalent staff; p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the ratio of meals served per FTE. There was no difference between public and private hospitals in terms of ratios of beds or meals to food service staff. Managers using cook‐chill systems reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction with the food service system compared to those using cook‐fresh. Two aspects of the services have not changed since the last survey: approximately a quarter of food service departments are still managed by staff without formal qualifications and meal times remain the same, with more than 90% of hospitals serving the evening meal before 5.30 p.m. and a median of 14.25 h gap between the evening meal and breakfast.

Customer participation in service production and delivery system

Highlights significance of designing service delivery system, explains the integral role of customer in service production process, stresses the importance of customer-organisation interface, lists important ingredients of service package to be considered while designing customer interface, enumerates various dimensions of customer interface which can be positively made use of in design of service production and delivery system, discusses various ways and means of inducing and enhancing customer participation in service production and delivery system, emphasises the primacy of customer satisfaction in the evaluation of service organisation and finally concludes by pointing out the lopsided emphasis of librarianship on people-equipment dimension of customer-interface that too in terms of application software only.

Quality Now: Moving Human Services Organizations toward a Consumer Orientation to Service Quality

Total quality management (TQM) has been hailed as the new managerial wave of the 1990s (Martin, 1993), and quality-focused service management is currently gaining international acceptance in the delivery of social services (Hjern & Blomquist, 1991; Lehtinen, 1991). Although reasonable people may disagree about the compatibility of orthodox TQM with the social services and public service sector (Carr & Littman, 1990; Swiss, 1992), the movement toward quality-focused management need not wait for the resolution of every incompatibility between TQM and social services organizations. Even the most cautious analysts agree that TQM is a useful tool despite the fact that social and public services organizations are not prepared to implement it in its most orthodox form (Martin, 1993; Swiss, 1992). The history of TQM is both complex and fascinating. Its roots are in the collaboration of American management experts and Japanese manufacturers during and following the American occupation of japan at the end of World War II (Dobyns & Crawford-Mason, 1991). A simplistic interpretation of this period is that American consultants (such as W. Edward Deming) were listened to by the japanese while largely ignored at home. However, American consultants cannot be credited with creating the cultural climate that allowed TQM to blossom in Japan. The success of japanese manufacturing is a result of the synthesis of management and industrial technology and organizational culture (Fallows, 1989). In short, American consultants taught the Japanese the importance of quality-focused management, and, in turn, the Japanese taught Americans the importance of a quality-focused way of life. Quality has been a consistent theme in the popular and academic management literatures. Crosby (1979), Drucker (1989), and others (Dobyns & Crawford-Mason, 1991; Walton, 1990) have permeated the popular press with books promoting the use of Deming-inspired quality management techniques. Robert Reich (1990, 1991), at Harvard University, is one of many academicians who advocate the study of Japanese approaches to quality management. Recently, attention has turned to the problems and opportunities associated with the implementation of TQM (or aspects of TQM) in the delivery of social services (Schonberger, 1992). Public and not-for-profit organizations face strategic challenges that are different from those of for-profit organizations (Nutt & Backoff, 1993). These differences arise from the fact that public and not-for-profit organizations must respond to more complex environmental demands and are mandated to pursue a wider set of goals than their for-profit counterparts. However, this does not translate to the notion that these organizations cannot implement quality management practices. It simply means that the employment of quality management principles must be conducted with sensitivity to the complexities faced by organizations in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Nature of Services A discussion of quality management of social services should be grounded in a basic understanding of the nature of production of services. Quality management has its roots in the production of tangible products (Schonberger, 1992) and is now being used to address the issue of producing services. Service production systems are different from product production systems. Edwardson and Gustavsson (1991) asserted that in contrast to the production of goods, the production of services tends to have the following characteristics: * The system of production is less easily controlled. * The customer is more often involved in the production process. * The ability to interact with customers is required. * Consumption and production more often take place at the same time. * Evaluation and consumption more often take place at the same time. Masterson (1991) argued that services provide individuals with two types of opportunities. …