The first two assessments are based on the same topic area. To complete these, you will be required to create your own hospitality/tourism/events service organization, large or small, that (or own) someday. You will need to think about the key aspects of service delivery and as such, focus on the operational management concept rather than simply presenting business proposal plan of Service Management Assignment Questions.
Your service delivery plan will be broken down into two parts and it is strongly advised that before you commence Assignment1(PartA), you read the requirementsforAssignment2(PartB) you will need to apply to your organisation at a more a late stage.
One of the major differences between a manager with a university degree and a manager without a university degree is the use of evidence based decision making. We want to see you use this type of decision making with the service organisation you create. As a university graduate, you should be able to draw on relevant literature and think constructively and critically about the information you obtain.Formoreinformationoncriticalthinkingpleaserefertothedocument“Critical Thinking– A brief recap” which is available on the Blackboard site, under “Assessment Help”.
Other important points you should consider when planning, writing and submitting
Assignment 1 (Part A) and 2 (Part B):
There is no need for you to approach any organization to obtain information.Youranalysismustbebasedentirelyonsecondary information sourced from observation, academic or applied literature and other web-based sources.
Yourreportsmustbeword-processed and double spaced.Handwritten assignments are not accepted and will not be marked.
All assignments must be submitted via Turnitin.
YoumightfindtheFactivadatabase,hostedthroughtheSCULibrarywebsitea usefultoolfor sourcingrelevantnewspaper/tradejournalarticles.Consultwith Librarystaff ifyou arenot familiar with this database.
Part A: Your organization and its strategic Service Vision (Stages1&2)
Much organisationsfacechoicesregardingthetypesofservicestheywishtoofferandto whom, and the operational procedures they employ.Frameworksaresometimesusedto assists in these decisions.Using Heskett’s‘strategic service vision’ frame work as a template, specifically stages one and two,provideanoverviewofyourorganisation,its
‘targetmarketsegments’andits‘service concept’.Inadditiontothe above,the following questions should be addressed:
- Outline your core and peripheral services that make up the bundle of services you will offer to your customers.
- Provide a description of the proposed servicescape. Note that although this is relevant to Part B, it will provide substance to your overview.
- The service sector is now a key generator of economic prosperity in many countries. However, changes in the context in which businesses operate are having an impact on their ability to provide this economic wealth. Using newspaper articles (print or online) written in the past five years, identify three current issues that would impact on your specific organisation. You will need to include these with your assignment submission.
- Using a range of sources of information, including both media articles and academic literature as supporting evidence, identify and evaluate four factors that you think will impact on your business in the future.
Guidelinestoyour Strategic Service Vision report– Part A
Thisassessmentisdesignedasanexperientiallearningexerciseby having you apply theoretical concepts to a potential real-world situation in a critical manner. You should adopt the mindset of real business owner/investor for the organisationyouhaveelected to base your report on.
Your strategic service vision report must be presented using academic report format.It shouldconformtothefollowingformat,andshouldalsoincludeaprofessionallylaid out the table of contents prior to the executivesummary. The word count for each section is a guide to help you, but you may be longer or shorter in some sections depending upon you organisaiton.
Executivesummary
Anexecutivesummaryofareportisasummary thatcontainsa statementof the report’spurpose andan overview of thefindings.Forthisassessment,itshouldbe around 250 words.Thesummarycanonly bewrittenafteryouhavecompletedyourreport. Writeinpasttense(e.g.Thepurposeofthisreportwasto…).Ifanexecutivesummary is well written the reader should be able to understand the main points, findings, and conclusions of the actual reportwithouthavingto read thefull report.
Section one – Introduction
This is a brief statement of the purpose of the report, what its objectives are, and an overview of how the report is structured. Aim for under 100 words.
Section two– Organization Overview
This is where you will briefly show case your organization, its name, description of operations, its bundle of services(core and peripheral services)and its servicescape. A good place to start is Topic 2 of the Study Guide (core and supplementary services) and your text book (servicescape). Your goal herewillbe to sell the idea of your organisationto the reader/marker. You should aim to keep this under 400 words.
Section three – Target market segments
Inthissectionyouare torefertoHeskett’sstrategicservicevision, stage1andusing the most relevant headings, identify the type of customers you plan to attract.Althoughthere areanumberofheadings,youarenotrestrictedtothislistanditisrecommendedthat you source other data and/or literatureto help determine the appropriate markets. Study Guide Topic 2 is useful for this section and aim for around 400words.
Section four – Current and future implications
Youneedtoidentifythreeissues(sourced from media and academic literature) that will have future implications on your organization.It is important here to source information that is actually relevant to your organization and you must critically analyze the information, potentially exploring strategies to minimise these factors and implications. For example, if your organization is tourism based you might source information from a research report published by Tourism Australia as well as a media story on traveler fears. As part of your critical analysis you should weight these pieces of information (ie. the research report is more likely to have valid data than a journalists’ story and would influence your decision making more). Aim for under 400 words.
Section five – Service concept
HereyouarelayingdownthefoundationsforPartBofyourassessment and will be brief (around 100 words).Itisthehow and what service design, where you need to bridge the customer’s needs (as determined in our TargetMarketresearch)and the intent of our organization.You shouldbeaimingtoshowhowyouwishtheservicestobeperceivedbythecustomers and other stakeholders. For example, if your organisation is a backpacker accommodation, you might emphasise a cheaper service utilizing mobile technology whereas a luxury resort may emphasise quality service and personalised attention.
Section six– Conclusion
Within this section restate the purpose of the report, then provide an overview of the main pointscoveredinyouranalysis.Ensurethatyoudonotincludeanynewinformation, only that which has been discussed within the main body of the report. Aim for around 100 words.
Reference list
Allworkscitedmustbeincludedinyourreferencelist.Citations must conformtothe Harvardreferencingstylewhich can be found under Assessment Help (Referencing Guides).
Appendices
This is an optional section in which you are able to place relevant material which would have otherwise disrupted the logical flow of your reported.g.businessdata reports. Materialincludedinthissectionwillnotcount towards the overall word count for this assessment.
Marking criteria
Themarkingcriteriafor this assessment can be categorized as general–which apply to the report as the whole; and specific –whichapplyto specificsections of thereport (outlined above).
Marks for this assignment will beapportionedas follow:
Section 2 Organisation overview 5 Marks Section 3 Target market segments 5 Marks Section 4 Current and future implications 5 Marks Section 5 Service concept 5 Marks Referencing(in-text referencing) 1 Marks ReferenceList(relevance and consistency) 2 Marks Presentation (table of contents, executive summary, intro andconclusion) 2 Marks Total 25 Marks
Generalmarkingcriteria
Below arethreegeneral marking criteriathat will be used to markyourreport:
Demonstratedability to critically analyse sources
Youare expectedtoaskcriticalquestionsofthematerialyouread.Onlyminimalmarks willbeawardedincases whereyouhavemerelyre-statedwhattheauthorshavealready said. Can you identifyanypotentialflaws in the concepts? Is therea differencein opinion betweenscholars?Whodoyouthinkisright, andwhy?These are potentials reas of critical analysis you could focus on.
Evidenceoforiginal thought andcreativity
You mustshowthatyouhavedevelopedanabilitytothinkabouthow thetheoriesand concepts coveredmight be applied in the real world.
Quality ofpresentation structure; overall content; quality of bibliographic details;
written expression
Youshouldpresentyourwork inalogical,easy toreadformat.It shouldalsoconform to the structureoutlined previously.Studentswillbe markeddownforpoorwritten expression,badgrammar,andspellingerrors.Theexpectationisthatyouhavethe abilitytohoneyourwritingskills,andshouldthuspresentwellwritten andpresented work.Correctreferencing,bothin-textandreference list,isessential.
Part B: Your organisation andits Strategic Service Vision(Stages3&4)
Continuing onfromyourfirstassessment,PartB willonceagainbestructuredaround Heskett’s‘strategicservice vision’ frameworkalthoughyour focuswillbe specifically onstagesthreeandfour.Yourrolewillbetodevelopan‘operatingstrategy’anddiscuss those relevant features ofthe‘servicedeliverysystem’.
Inaddition to the above,the followingquestions/tasks should be addressed:
Productivityand qualityareboth keyfacets of theserviceprocess. Usingthe academic literature,explain howyour organisation willbalancethequalityof its servicewhilstmaximisingits productivity.
Construct a simpleblueprintforoneserviceprocess inyour organisation.
Select anytwo methods for managingcapacityand explain how these could be used to better match supplyand demand foraserviceoffered by your organisation.
Explain howyour employees canaffect thequalityof servicereceived byyour externalcustomer. What measurements couldyouuseto gauge andmanagethe satisfaction ofyouremployees?
Choose anyservicequalitymodel as described inChapter 12, and analyseand applythe model toyourown organisation.
Guidelines to your Strategic Service Vision report– Part B
Onceagain,thisassessmentisdesignedasanexperientiallearningexercisebyhaving you apply theoreticalconceptstoapotentialreal-worldsituationinacriticalmanner. Rememberthatyoushouldadoptthemindsetof arealbusinessowner/investorforthe organisationyou haveelected to baseyour reporton.
The reportshouldconformtothefollowingformat,andshouldalsoincludea professionallylaid outtable of contents priorto the executivesummary:
Executive summary
It may be slightly longer than your Executive Summary in Part A and you should aim to keep the word count around 300.
Section one – Introduction
Thisisa brief statementof the purpose of the report, whatitsobjectivesare,andan overviewofhowthereportisstructured.Toassistincontinuity,youmaywishtohighlight keyelementsof Part A but you should aim to keep it around 100 words.
Section two– Operating strategy
AsyouwillseefromHeskett’sframework,youneedtoidentifytheimportantelementsof the strategyalthough be mindful oftheServiceManagement Trinity and limityour discussion to Operations,Marketing andHumanResources.There areseveralwaysinwhichyoucan approachthis and you may like to refertoTopic4in the Study Guideasaframeworkforyourdiscussion.You should be able to do this in around 500 words.
Section three– Service blueprint
Youaretoprepareaserviceblueprinthere and a diagrammatic presentation of this is warranted. You shouldidentify anddiscusstwo (2)criticalpointswithintheservicedelivery processthatarelikely tohaveasignificantbearingonthecustomer’sexperience.Clarify whythesepointsintheprocessareparticularly importantandhowyouwouldmanage them. Aim for 300 words but it will depend on the level of detail contained within the blueprint.
Section four – The service delivery system
Thisisyouropportunity todetailsomeofthose actionsthatwillsupportyouroperating strategy. Topic2identifiessomeimportantquestionsalthough youshouldfocusspecificallyonthe following:
- What should be thenatureof theserviceprocess at each step?
- Whatshouldbetheservingprotocol–reservationssystem,first-come,firstserved, or aprioritysystemforcertain types of customers?
- Giventhatservicesareperishable,whatcapacitymanagementissuesdoyouforesee and how doyou plan to address these issues.
In addition,you should address question1,regarding productivity and quality.Aseach organisationwilladdressthesedifferently,aimtodiscussthetrade-offsthatarerelevantto yourchosen organisation and seek to support this with academicliterature. You can use diagrams here with supporting text of around 300 words.
Section five – Service employee management
Asnotedby Lovelock etal.(2015),theencounterwithservice staff isoftenthemost importantaspectof aservice.Giventhisimportance,itisprudenttoattractandhire employeesthataddvalueandgainyourorganisationa competitiveadvantage.Thiscan presentmany managementissuessuchastrainingandstaffretention.Discusshowyour employees can affectthequalityreceived by yourcustomers.Furthermore,how willyou gauge and manage the satisfaction ofyour employees. Aim for around 300 words.
Section six– Quality management measures
Thisfinalsectionwilldraw uponinformationdiscussedinTopic 4and6inthe Study Guide.Althoughanessentialelementofthissectionistoidentifyaservicequalitymodel suchasthatdiscussedinChapter12ofyourtext,youaretobringtogethermany ofthe service provisions discussedpreviously, which will ensurethe provision of qualityservices.Togetyoustarted,youmay wishtodevelopa‘serviceguarantee’andmatch elementsofthisguaranteetosomeofthekey aspectsoftheservicedelivery systemor employeemanagement.Again, aim for around 300 words.
Section seven– Conclusion
Within this sectionre-statethepurposeofthereport, andthenprovideanoverviewofmain points covered inyour analysis. Ensurethatyou do not include anynew information, only that which has been discussed within themain bodyof thereport.This will be brief, about 100 words.
Reference list All works cited must be included in your reference list.
Appendices
This is an optional section in whichyou are ableto place relevant materialwhichwould haveotherwisedisruptedthelogicalflowofyourreporte.g.businessdatareports.Material included in this section willnot count towards theoverallwordcount forthis assessment.
Marking criteria
Themarkingcriteriaforthisassessmentcanbecategorisedasgeneral–whichapplytothe
report asawhole; andspecific–which applytospecificsectionsofthe report(asoutlined above).
Marks forthis assignment will beapportionedas follows:
Section 2 Operatingstrategy 6 Marks Section 3 ServiceBlueprint 6 Marks Section 4 Theservicedeliverysystem 6 Marks Section 5 Service employeemanagement 6 Marks Section 6 Qualitymanagement measures 6 Marks Referencing(in-text referencing) 1 Marks ReferenceList(relevanceand consistency) 2 Marks Presentation (table ofcontents, executivesummary,intro andconclusion) 2 Marks Total 35 Marks
General marking criteria
Below are three general marking criteria that will be used to mark your report:
Demonstratedability to critically analyse sources
Youare expectedtoaskcriticalquestionsofthematerialyouread.Onlyminimalmarks willbeawardedincases whereyouhavemerelyre-statedwhattheauthorshavealready said. Can you identifyanypotentialflaws in the concepts? Is therea differenceinopinion betweenscholars?Whodoyouthinkisright,andwhy?Thesearepotentialareasofcritical analysis you could focus on.
Evidenceof original thought andcreativity
You mustshowthatyouhavedevelopedanabilitytothinkabouthow thetheoriesand concepts coveredmight be applied in the real world.
Quality ofpresentationstructure; overallcontent;referencing;
writtenexpression
Youshouldpresentyourwork inalogical,easy toreadformat.It shouldalsoconform to the structureoutlined previously.Studentswillbe markeddownforpoorwritten expression,badgrammar,andspellingerrors.The expectationisthatyouhavetheability tohone yourwritingskills,andshouldthuspresentwellwrittenandpresentedwork. Correctreferencing,bothin-textandreferencelist,isessential..
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