This book deals exclusively with the management of operations in service organizations, drawing parallels from manufacturing organizations wherever appropriate. The focus is on service delivery and how service performance can be improved to meet the needs of the customer who is the focal point in the entire service system. For achieving success in this field, the operations managers must also be involved in organization’s strategy, culture and service concept, and keep the employees motivated, apart from managing the processes and resources. The service sector encompasses a wide spectrum of service organizations which includes mass transport services, hospitals, public sector, professional services, hospitality services, tourism, etc. apart from other service organizations. This book does not focus on any specific type of service industry but covers decision issues faced by operations managers in all these service organizations. The book deals with many aspects of business performance apart from profit by focusing on other issues such as costs, revenues, technology, customer loyalty, etc. Examples and illustrations are provided from many different organizations including global organizations to understand the inherent diversity of service organizations.
This book is intended to help all those who already have a basic knowledge of operations management and would like to further build on this knowledge. Specifically, this book is intended for students of operations management and executives working in this field.
For the student community, this book aims to enable the students to gain:
– Understanding of the theoretical concepts and practical applications of service operations management through case studies.
– Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative themes, from “top down” looks at operations.
– Knowledge of conceptual frameworks to guide strategic operational decisions.
– Focus on using quantitative techniques to achieve goals set forth by the organization.
For practising executives, this book is intended to help them to focus on service delivery, capacity management, service recovery, performance measurement, service strategy development, etc.
The Structure of the Book
The book has a clear focus on service operations and deals with operational issues, problems, and decisions. It enables the students to understand the problems faced by service operations and helps practising executives to deal with such issues. The book comprises chapters dealing with service operations strategy, demand forecasting in service operations, procurement of services, inventory management in services, service quality management, capacity management issues in services, scheduling in services management, technology management, pricing issues in services, optimization of service operations, managing after-sales services, outsourcing and offshoring in services, performance measurement of service operations, the role of services in the economy and related issues. Put together, the chapters focus on various aspects of service operations management to enable the students and managers to comprehend the role of service operations and the interconnections among the various functions across the organization and their interdependencies.
The coverage of contents in various chapters includes the following distinctive features:
– The framework, tools and techniques used in each chapter will help the students to better understand how to deal with the issues faced by managers. These will include charts and diagrams showing the nature of relationship between variables.
– Each chapter includes illustrations to show how various organizations have identified and dealt with particular issues being discussed.
– Theoretical concepts are appropriately covered in a simple manner to enable the students to comprehend the issues being discussed.
– Checklists summarizing the key points are provided at the end of each chapter.
General review questions, short case exercises and problems are provided at the end of each chapter to enable the students to assess and apply the material in real situations.
Contents –
1. Introduction to Services Operations Management
2. Service Operations Strategy and Strategic Positioning
3. Site Selection for Service Operations
4. Service Process Management
5. Service Quality
6. Procurement in Service Operations
7. Inventory Management in Services
8. Capacity Management in Services
9. Optimization of Service Operations
10. Customers’ Expectations from Service Business
11. Technology in Service Operations Management
12. Performance Measurement in Service Operations
13. Service Failure and Recovery Management
14. New Service Development
References
