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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How does the service measurement that we describe in this chapter differ from the service
measurement in chapter 5? Which of the two types do you think is most important? Why?
The measurement in this chapter is largely operational whereas the measurement in Chapter 5 was
2. In what types of service industries are standards most difficult to develop? Why? Recommend three
standards that might be developed in one of the firms from the industries you specify. How would
employees react to these standards? How could you gain buy-in from them?
Standards are most difficult to develop in professional services and expert services. For these
services, specific, concrete and standardized behaviors can rarely be stated as standards because the
service is complex and depends on the expertise of providers. Nevertheless, some standards can be
3. Given the need for customer-defined service standards, do firms need company-defined standards at
all? Could all standards in a company be customer defined? Why or why not? What functional
departments in a firm would object to having all standards be customer-defined?
Customer-defined service standards are not sufficient to bring effectiveness to an organization. There
4. What is the difference between hard and soft standards? Which do you think would be more readily
accepted by employees? By management? Why?
Hard standards are operational standards whereas soft standards are perceptual standards. Employees
5. Consider the university or school you currently attend. What are examples of hard standards, soft
standards, and one- time fixes that would address student requirements? Does the school currently
use these standards for delivery of service to students? Why or why not? Do you think your reasons
would apply to private-sector companies as well? To public or nonprofit companies?
A variety of hard and soft standards could be developed for a university or school. Hard measures
could be devised for behaviors such as starting classes on time and the accuracy of information. For
One-time fixes would deal with important behaviors that must be executed for the service to be
successful. For example, one-time fixes for instructors in their classes might include such behaviors
6. Think about a service that you currently use, then map out the service encounter sequence for that
service. What is your most important requirement in each interaction? Document these
requirements, and make certain that they are expressed at the concrete level of behaviors and actions.
This question will result in many different sequences for a variety of services. The main purpose of
