Service blueprint

[5] Since its original development, a number of scholars have sought to increase its usefulness by adding various modifications that provide additional information and more demarcations.

[6] The addition of these lines helps to separate the functions of planning and controlling from support activities including preparation.

[7] Lovelock, Patterson, and Walker (2001) suggest that the service blueprint may also be useful for specifying the level of variation from standards that would be tolerated at each step of the process without affecting customers' perceptions of quality and timeliness.

A bottleneck is a point in the system at which consumers waiting time is likely to exceed average or minimum tolerable expectations.

Divergence refers to the degree of latitude, freedom, judgment, discretion, variability or situational adaptation permitted within any step of the process.

In general, service processes that include high levels of employee discretion to vary steps to meet the needs of individual customers are moving towards customisation.

On the other hand, reducing divergence, by standardising each step, often adds to complexity, but can result in a production-line approach to service process design.

Higher levels of customisation and flexibility require significant investments in human resources, recruitment and training all of which adds to costs.

The approach usually involves a shift towards the prestige market segment and requires access to customers who are willing to pay a premium for customised services.

The advantage of this approach is that the service provider can develop high levels of expertise and that distribution and control are facilitated.

The vulnerability of this approach is that it exposes the service firm to risk, especially if competitors continue to offer the convenience of full-service alternatives.

Managing a broader array of products may also expose the firm to risks of spreading its effort too thin to the detriment of overall service quality.

A short summary of key managerial actions follows: Standardize Procedures Variable performance in service delivery is largely attributable to inseparability and human factors.

Swank (2003: 125) cites an example of an insurance company where some employees filed according to policyholder (alphabetical), others by policy number (chronological) while others by date received.

Standardization is clearly designed to provide tighter control over service delivery with a view to improving consistency of quality and making it easier for management to assess processes.

Customer participation is the degree of effort and involvement, both mental and physical, required to produce and deliver the service.

Segregate Complexity Anyone who has stood in line at a bank while a single teller assisted a customer with a lengthy transaction understands this principle.

Place Linked Processes in Close Physical Proximity Complex services involve many steps and may require paperwork or customer files to be shuffled between contact staff, back office and support departments.

In many institutions, this enrolment process can take half a day – and requires students to run from pillar to post as they complete each step.

Not only does it improve operational efficiency, it has the potential to allow service staff to focus on the total process and gain a better understanding of the ways that their actions impact on other parts of the system.

If loop-backs present a problem, management can assist employees to clarify roles and tasks by focusing on their place within the overall service process.

In such cases, the service firm could, for instance, provide customers with information checklists at the time when they make an appointment.