TSM 09904Service Management

Tutorial 9Briefing on Assignment:

The Service Excellence Management report

Assessment One

Service Management

Assessment Title: Discuss the extent to which quality can be improved through effective implementation of selective service management techniques: A case of your choice

Individual/Group Individual

Weighting 50%

Latest Hand in Date

Report: Discuss the extent to which quality can be improved through effective implementation of selective service management techniques:

A case of your choice You are required to write a report aimed at management level which provides

a specific view of the key service management techniques that should be considered/implemented in order to achieve high quality outcomes in the service sector by successful practice. Theories that are related to improvement of quality that you will be discussing are included in this module’s curriculum.

  Essentially, you are required to identify, based upon the material we have

covered in the module, what you believe to be examples of best practice in the service sector. Your examples are drawn from the topics we have covered from L1-L7 .

You need to adopt a case from an actual service firm to illustrate your points, discussion and analysis. This could be a restaurant, hotel, bank, airline, etc. Appendices should be used to provide a more detailed treatment of relevant material where appropriate.

Structure of the Report • The following is a structure that you may consider to use in your

report but it is perfectly fine if you create your own. The ultimate aim is to Identify what managers need to know about each of these topics if they are to succeed in developing a high quality performance organisation to meet their customers’ expectation.

• Executive Summary• Introduction• What is Service Industry and its Characteristics: This has to link with

the key concept of this report• Quality Management in Service Organisations• Key Considerations: including Service Setting, Service Encounter and

Managing People Issues. • The Impacts of standard of quality from the above • Background of the Case• Discussion and Investigation• Conclusion• References• Appendix

  

To make it simple to understand the concept of this assignment by looking at this

diagram

Service Quality/Maintenance and

Improvement( Theory and

Case)

Service Setting

Service Encounter

Managing people

Service Delivery

and Process

Inability to inventory

Heterogeneity

Perishability

Easy Entry

Marking criteria and weighting

Presentation - 10%• -presented in high standard and the whole assignment is organised to meet the

academic requirements including the quality of executive summaryStructure & Writing – 10%• The assignment follows the guided structure and meets the academic writing standard

including the academic writing, the logic or the contents and contextual arrangement of the report.

Contents -70%• This includes the theoretical discussion of the key theories (the characteristics of the

service industry, QM, and other key techniques required) and the analysis on the caseEvidence of investigation/reading and references – 10%• A comprehensive reference list , appropriate referencing and citation skills to meet

Harvard System

Structure of the Report Report Layout

Cover Page

ContentsPage

Introduction Main BodyOf Report

ReferencesFollowed

by any appendices if included

Executivesummary

Report TemplatesTypical academic report

• Title page • Contents• Abstract or summary• Introduction

1. What is Service Industry and its Characteristics2. Quality Management in Service Organisations3. Key Considerations: including Service Setting,

Service Encounter and Managing People Issues.

4. Background of the Case5. Discussion and Investigation

• Conclusion and recommendations• References• Appendices

Typical business report Title, author, date. Contents and page Executive Summary ( roughly 200 words)

containing main points of evidence, recommendations and outcomes.

Introduction and Terms of Reference (or aims/scope for report).Background/history/situation.

The nature of the industry and why quality is a crucial issue in service operation

The key role the selective theories/techniques and their impacts to the quality standard in service organisations

The background of the case and it has to link with the key issues and concept of this assignment

Summarising from the previous key points and give recommendations

References- in line with Harvard System

Appendices- Additional information that you would like the reader to know

Main Body

See link below for more information:

http://www2.napier.ac.uk/gus/writing_presenting/reports.html#basic

Cover page

• Title of report: • Anonymous marking - no student name!• Your Matriculation number• The Module name and number

– (TSM 09905 Service Management)

• My name – (Titania Li)

• Date of assessment– 11 April 2014

Executive Summary

• What is the purpose of an executive summary?

• To provide an overview of the contents of the report –including key findings and conclusions - without having to read the whole report.

• It is a brief summary of a research, review of analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose.

Example:

The airline industry has been affected by legislation, political and economic development. Particularly from the launch of US deregulation in 1978, the increased competition has accelerated the speed of change. Airlines therefore, have to re-evaluate the strategic planning to react to the less regulated environment. Its importance, however, needs to be recognised by airlines and demonstrate it properly. Thus, innovation has become a useful and efficient strategy for airlines to create differentiation and survive in industry. Somehow, the increasing need for consumer’s choice is driving airlines to look at ways of differentiating their products and service. One of the most important ways in which airlines can differentiate is through innovation.This report will……

Contents page

• How word 2010 can help you to create a contents page, please click the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N8mjfpAd8w

How to use WORD to construct a contents page for you

Section-by-section1. Introduction

1. Give an overview of the topic- quality management2. Provide an overview of the report and how you intend to tackle it. For

example, this report will be focus on the discussion of the key selective theories such as xxxxxxxx and examine their importance and impact the the maintenance/improvement of quality in service organisations.

3. Make sure you do give a clear sequence and order for your report.

2. Discussion 1. Literature Review to including those key areas that need to be covered in

this report: provide a general discussion/overview as to what consitutes the best support for quality issues/management from the selective theories.

2. Case studies: With specific reference to actual service organisations demonstrate how your chosen organisation(s) achieve service quality in respect of your selective topic/theory(s). Best practice needs to be explicitly identified and discussed!

3. Conclusions and recommendations1. Drawing on the key points (summarise these) in the discussion above

(conclusion) identify the implications for service organisations and provide guidance for future action by them in respect of achieve service quality from the selective theories (recommendations).

Content Things you can consider to include:

Your report should include the following:1. If you have chosen one organisation , give the Description of the

case ,but not storytelling.2. What is/are the key theory/theories that you will argue that will make

contribution to the management of quality in service organisations? This is form the majority of your key theoretical discussion/debate/literature review.

3. Its/Their importance, the theatrical discussion of the theory/theories, how they work in quality issues in service organisations.

4. Where necessary, find some literature support your discussion and argument.

5. Summary and conclusions

Report layout – numbering/headingThe main sections are given single Arabic numbers -1, 2, 3 and so on.Sub-sections are given a decimal number - 1.1, 1.2,1.3 and so on.Sub-sections can be further divided into - 1.11, 1.12,1.13 and so on.An example structure would look as follows;1.0 Introduction2.0 Servcie Industy and its characteristics2.1 ———————-2.1 ———————-2. 2 ———————-3.0 Quality Management3.1 What is quality?3.2 xxxx4.0 Key Considerations4.1 Service Setting4.2xxxxx

Numbering/Heading

• Do NOT use the questions as headings

Exercise: Discuss with your partner and come out with some good headings that you can use in your report.

Main Body• Sub-divide into sections

• No headings = an essay!

• Too many headings = disjointed.

• Aim for a reasonable number of headings and sub headings

Conclusion

Purpose of the conclusion section• “To summarise the key points of the argument

and draw logical conclusions based on the evidence presented in the report”

• DO NOT include new material at this stage

Writing style

Use the passive voice• Should be formal and in the

“third person” – he, she, it, they (and an impersonal, objective style) not the “first person” – I, we. What we call the passive voice rather than the active voice.

• Short, direct sentences are best. You say more by saying it in fewer words!

• See:http://www2.napier.ac.uk/gus/writing_presenting/style.html

Examples• Avoid using “I” or “we”.• It seems to me....• I shall now show...• It is rather important to realise...• As I described above...• I think, perhaps, that • Do use specialist terms • Do not use extra words which may be

unnecessary• Edit your work to ensure that meaning

is clear.• What are your key points? Do these

stand out in the main body?

Language checklistCheck through for language being precise • Be precise – and do not be vague or not exact – use 8 instead of several

(unless you don't know – but then state this too)

Check through for language and avoidance of ‘I’; ‘We’ • Be impersonal – do not be too subjective – use ‘Arguably’ or ‘The data

shows’ instead of ‘I think’Check through for use of specific language • Be specialised – use language in this subject area.

Check no usage of contractions• Do not use contractions (don’t or won’t – use do not or will not)

Check personal adverbs not overused• Do not overuse personal adverbs (fortunately etc) as they show your views

and are impersonal.

Language checklist continuedCheck ideas are linked – read through together (Contextual Issues in the report) • Link the ideas very explicitly and clearly to state your points to the reader – make

things clear – don’t try and confuse the reader – try to make ideas clear. Link the ideas together using words and phrases such as ‘As a result’ ‘Therefore’ ‘Due to’

Check there are no direct questions • Do not ask questions directly – (don’t use question marks – e.g. instead of

‘However, how much will all this cost?’ it is better to say ‘However, an important question is how much this will all cost) Do not use the word ‘like’ to give examples, use ‘such as’ or ‘for example’

Check ‘like’ is not used but have ‘for example’, ‘for instance’ insteadCheck none of the claims are too strong (but also not too weak)

Be cautious where necessary (don’t say all academics use formal academic style, say most academics use formal style) – do not make claims you cannot support.

Check you have not used too many phrasal verbsBe formal – do not use phrasal verbs (e.g. change ‘go up’ to ‘increase’) or very informal language such as ‘kids’ - use ‘children’ or ‘big’ – use ‘significant’

Where to find information

• Key journal papers• Nuinlink:

http://nuinlink.napier.ac.uk/V/3814Q8P2BP53P5NCNT7BJ2JSIX59Y6I33T4G2X5YDDGRK711QF-48913?&pds_handle=GUEST

• Books for key theories and concepts

• Edinburgh Napier Marketing Wiki:

• https://studentportal.napier.ac.uk/Library/buswiki/Wiki%20Pages/Marketing.aspx

• In the assessment pack• All the details of the

assessment are there including criteria.

• Submission Date: • 11 April 2014

Turnitin – submit a copy- You can submit as many times as you like to check for the plagiarism issues. Keep the Percentage below 30% please. Otherwise, you are drawing attention from me.

Presentation – in this order:1. Cover sheet2. Executive summary3. Contents page4. Introduction5. Main body of report – in subsections with headings6. Conclusion7. References8. Any appendices used to support the analysis• All the guides to report writing cover similar ground but may vary

within certain parameters. This is fine – you need to develop a grasp of the general principles of report writing and to modify the specific format as the situation dictates.

References All the guides to report writing cover similar

ground but may vary within certain parameters. This is fine – you need to develop a grasp of the general principles of report writing and to modify the specific format as the situation dictates.

ReferencingDemonstration

How to reference:• Books• Journal articles• Websites

BookSurname of author

, Initial.

• Mudie,P. and Pirrie, A.,

Year in

brackets

• (2005)

Title of Book in italics and

Edition

• Services Marketing Management, 3rd Ed.

City

• Oxford

Publisher

• Elsevier

Full reference

• Mudie,P. and Pirrie A., (2005) Services marketing Management, 3rd Ed. Oxford: Elsevier

Journal Article

Surname of

author, Initial. • R

obinson, S. and Kearney, T.,

Year in

brackets

• (1994)

Title the

article

• Database Marketing for Competitive Advantage in the Airline Industry

JournalIn

italics

• Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing

Where to

find it

• Volume, Issue number, page numbers

Full reference

Robinson, S. (1994) Database marketing for competitive Advantage in the Airline Industry, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing Vol. 13, No.3-4: pp. 227-241

Web AddressesHow would you reference these?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15367555

http://www.visitscotland.org/research_and_statistics/leisure_visitors/visitorexperience.htm

http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_nshw.php?mwi=5679

BBC Scotland (2011) BAA to sell Edinburgh Airport over Competition rules [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15367555 [Accessed 20/10/11]

Ward, G. (2011) Free Fringe tickets for Edinburgh residents. The Edinburgh Reporter. [online] Available at http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2011/07/free-fringe-tickets-for-edinburgh-residents/ [Accessed 4 August 2011].

Name of the author/s or organisaton

Year

with bracket

s

Title of the article

Which report

Website

When

did you access

Appendix (Appendices)

• An appendix is an add-on at the very end of additional information that could be useful to the reader but is not an actual part of the body of the work. There may be one appendix or several.

References

• You need to have:• References within the text• An end reference list • Both should be presented in correct Harvard

format– Any reference within the text should appear at end– Any reference that appears at end should be mentioned within

the text

Any Questions?