The Service Productivity And Quality Challenge

3 While all of these explanations seem to have merit, there is one dominant reason why the percentage of GDP and employment dedicated to services has continued to increase: low productivity. According to Baumol's cost disease hypothesis (Baumol, Blackman, and Wolff 1991), the growth in services is actually an illusion. The fact is that service-sector productivity is improving slower than that of manufacturing and thus, it seems as if we are consuming more services in nominal terms. However, in real terms, we are consuming slightly less services. That is, the increase in the service sector is caused by low productivity relative to manufacturing. The implication of Baumol's cost disease is the following. Assuming historical productivity increases for manufacturing, agriCUlture, education and health care, Baumol (1992) shows that the U. S. can triple its output in all sectors within 50 years. However, due to the higher productivity level for manufacturing and agriculture, it will take substantially more employment in services to achieve this increase in output. To put this argument in perspective, simply roll back the clock 100 years or so and replace the words manufacturing with agriculture, and services with manufacturing. The phenomenal growth in agricultural productivity versus manufacturing caused the employment levels in agriculture in the U. S. to decrease rapidly while producing a truly unbelievable amount of food. It is the low productivity of services that is the real culprit in its growth of GDP and employment share.

Claudia Lehmann explores service productivity from the providers, customer and operations perspective in the German airport industry using a solid empirical foundation. Available service productivity concepts, methods, measurements and their ability to overcome the emphasized problems are discussed, suggesting ways on how to deal with them. The insights of this book deliver considerable value for both management and academia.

Preface -- Introduction -- Integrating service quality and productivity strategies -- What is a service quality? -- Identifying and correcting service quality problems -- Measuring service quality -- Soft and hard service quality measures -- Learning from customer feedback -- Hard measures of service quality -- Tools to analyze and address service quality problems -- Return on quality -- Defining and measuring productivity -- Improving service productivity -- Conclusion -- Summary -- Endnotes

Total Quality Service rises to the business challenge of the 90s. It explains in the most concise terms possible the principles of TQS. The research stands-most unhappy customers do not complain. Instead, they never again buy from businesses that just once left them unsatisfied. What then is TQS? In the simplest terms, it is the true commitment to operationalizing the concept of customer focus, establishing service performance standards, measuring performance against benchmarks, recognizing and rewarding exemplary behavior, and maintaining enthusiasm for the customer at all times. Companies that do not provide quality service not only won't compete-they won't exist. Let Total Quality Service put you and your employees on the cutting edge of customer satisfaction.

Service organizations are grappling with unprecedented challenges in maintaining and enhancing productivity. As the landscape evolves, traditional approaches to service operations become obsolete, necessitating a deep understanding of the intricate dynamics at play. Innovative Technologies for Increasing Service Productivity delves into this urgent issue, offering a comprehensive exploration of the trends and challenges confronting service industries. The book sheds light on the impact of digital transformation, emerging technologies, and disruptive business models, serving as a guide for navigating the complexities of service productivity in an ever-changing environment. As a groundbreaking solution, this book not only identifies challenges but provides various solutions for service organizations to thrive amidst technological disruption. Its unique selling points lie in the breadth of its coverage, spanning diverse service industries and dissecting the symbiotic relationship between technology and productivity. Offering practical strategies and tools, the book equips service professionals with the means to enhance productivity, quality, and customer experience. By connecting the gap between theoretical insights and practical implementation, it stands as a valuable resource for academics, researchers, and service managers seeking innovative solutions to the evolving landscape of service productivity.

ïAs the services sector has become the most important sector of many of our economies, this book makes a valued contribution to our greater understanding of what features are critical to operational success in this sector. Based upon sound research and drawing on numerous cases studies, the author has delivered an expose that will be of value to academics and practitioners alike. From a long career in the field, the author has distilled critical content into a well-organised book that is a must for students and practitioners in services operations management. It is welcoming to read of service operations management in the not-for-profit and public sectors.Í _ Peter Liesch, University of Queensland Business School, Brisbane, Australia ïDavid has captured the essentials of service operations within a complete enterprise framework. Based upon case studies from a broad variety of organizations from around the globe, this easy to understand text is a must for students and practitioners alike. Students of service operations and indeed services marketing have been long awaiting a reference such as this.Í _ Derek Lundberg, Metcash Food & Grocery ïThe author recognizes the critical fact that service operations is worlds apart from manufacturing operations management that produces tangible products _ a failing of so many other texts that have drawn on yesteryear manufacturing paradigms to try and explain services. This book succeeds in combining operational analysis with the empirical research to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the forces that shape and change the service sectors. Drawing on a wealth of information by virtue of his track record of many years researching the service sectors, this book will be invaluable to both students, practitioners and anyone interested in successful service operations _ tourism, hospitality, transport, retailing, utilities, not for profit, public service.Í _ George Downie, Senior Lecturer, Southampton Business School, UK ïThis is an important book for educators, students and professional managers. As the services sector becomes a larger and increasingly pervasive part of our economy and as service operations management becomes the biggest part of most organizations, the opportunity to increase productivity, quality, flexibility and innovation of service provision must be grasped firmly by those who want their organizations to remain competitive and successful. This book very effectively blends conceptual frameworks with new, practical case studies. It is full of valuable and useful insights.Í _ Danny Samson, University of Melbourne, Australia This comprehensive textbook will become required reading for postgraduate students seeking to understand the principles of service operations management and for undergraduate students specializing in hospitality, tourism or the public sector. It will also serve as a handbook for operations managers in service organizations as they seek to develop and implement improved operations strategies. Focusing on service delivery design, capacity, recovery, performance measurement and service strategy, the challenge of delivering exceptional service quality is addressed through a comparison of customersÍ perceptions and expectations. A new approach to quality in services describes the tools and methods for continuous service improvement. This accessible and engaging textbook is the ideal foundation for a course in service operations management. Each chapter: - ' represents a lecture and specific topic _ with specified learning objectives and outcomes ' develops using a ïchunking and scaffoldÍ pedagogical technique _ sub-sections in the chapter develop the chapterÍs theme ' includes examples of organizations and small case-vignettes suitable for class/group discussion and larger cases of international organizations for set-work activity ' draws upon contemporary research with clear citations to show the source _ each chapter has a bibliography and reference list ' includes a series of questions that can be asked of the audience/students _ either to promote discussion or to be set as an assignment See the companion website _ INCLUDE LINK _ for an Instructor Resource Guide and PowerPoint slides, with tips for activities and as a general guide to explore issues raised in the book.

The question of how to measure and improve productivity in services has been a recurrent topic in political debates and in academic studies for several decades. The concept of productivity, which was developed initially for industrial and agricultural economies poses few difficulties when applied to standardized products. The advent of the service economy contributed to call into question, if not the relevance of this concept, at least its definition and measurement methods. This book takes stock of the issues met by productivity in services on theoretical, methodological and operational levels. The authors examine various definitions of productivity and the main methods of its measurement. A survey of recent conceptual and methodological debates on the notion of productivity is also presented. A more operational and strategic perspective is then adopted in order to identify and analyze the main levers, factors and determinants for improving productivity and, more generally, the actual strategies adopted for this purpose in firms and organisations. Providing a deep understanding of the specific and underestimated performance processes within service industries, this book will be of great interest to those involved in industrial economics, management science and public administration.