Page 159 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Services Management

Notes 7.3.6 Technology as a ‘Viagra’ for Productivity and Competitiveness

Usages: In services, technology can find four usages:

Processing the customer
Processing the customer’s possession

Processing information
Creating new services
These are
Processing the customer: Technology has application in running over the customer details. This
takes place when customers seek personal services like healthcare, entertainment, transportation
and even shopping, etc. The processing of the customers can begin before the service delivery or
after the main service encounter. Checking a patient’s financial capability and his insurance
cover in healthcare is an example of the former while waiting in line in a departmental store or
a supermarket to pay at the POS counter is for the latter. In either case, the customer has to wait
and is irritated. The challenge for the service marketer is to reduce any waiting time.
Processing the customer’s possession: A customer’s material or equipment is being processed
and technology can be applied here Package delivery company DHL/Air Freight uses computers,
trackers, V-SAT systems and Global Positioning Systems to track the customer’s packages
throughout its journey for delivery.
Processing information: This is one of the largest areas of technology application – data processing
and converting them to usable information. Marketing research firms as well as banks, insurance,
stock market analysts, etc. use technology to process data to take intelligent decisions.
Consultancy firms like Tata Consultancy Services, McKinsey & Co. and Avalon (with its marketing
research analytics subsidiary Ugam) have huge depositories of information called Knowledge
Management Centers which process information for them to take decisions or for their clients.

Creating new services: Entirely new services have been created through the adoption of new
technologies. The Internet is a case in point. Apart from websites, e-commerce services like
shopping (amazon.com for books, dell.com for computers), auctions (eBay), and communication
(Yahoo!, Hotmail, etc.) have become popular. While VCRs brought in canned home entertainment,
VCDs and DVDs made the experience to a higher level of enjoyment, while satellite broadcast
technology made it affordable and 24x7.
Information systems: Within a service firm, there are different information systems for different
organisational levels and for different functional areas like marketing, finance, human resource,
etc. The information systems that are developed for different organisational levels are:

Operational-Level Systems
Knowledge-Level Systems

Management-Level Systems
Strategic-Level Systems
Operational-level systems: They are also called transaction processing systems and support
operational-level managers by supplying information about payroll, cash deposits, sales, receipts,
etc. When an existing customer for home loan asks his bank for an additional top-up loan for
repairs and reconstruction, the operation manager looks at the customer’s profile, his previous
transaction history, and then would be able to decide whether he fits into predetermined criteria.
The information system is able to collect process and interpret data, helping the managers to
take decision. The business process is very structured at this level.

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