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Unit 10: Service Quality

complex tasks. They would prefer to depend on automation and technology. There is therefore Notes
greater dependence on senior personnel and less on frontline personnel.
The Market-focused Management Model focuses on the components of the firm that facilitate the
firm’s service delivery system. It proposes that the firm should be supportive of those personnel
who serve the customers and interact with them. In other words, there is more emphasis by the
organisation on those employees who are in the front line. The support is in the form of
equipment, office space (hygiene factors), moral support, motivation initiatives, career growth
and money.
If a service-oriented firm decides to follow this model, then for them customer interaction or
service delivery becomes the most important part of their strategy and the frontline personnel
their most important tool. This model is based on the Service Triangle framework.
The service triangle framework depicts the relationships among three groups of the service
organisation:

The service strategy,

Systems embedded in the organisation and
The people of the organisation.
The customer is at the centre, interacting with each of the groups.
Figure 10.2: The Service Triangle

The
Service
Strategy

The
Customer

The
The People
Systems

The framework has the following six relationships:
1. The service firm’s strategy must be communicated to its consumers: This would not only
apprise the consumer about the firm’s service product and its distinguishing features but
also about its commitment for delivery.

Example: Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) announces subscription is open
for its deep discount, infrastructure, and other tax saving Bonds – all under a catchall name of
Flexi Bonds. In its advertisements and through press conferences, the Bank would seek to make
it very clear about the corpus fund; it’s utility, and most important of all, the benefits and safety
of the instruments.
2. The service strategy also needs to be communicated to the firm’s employees: This would
ensure transparency, eliminating misunderstandings and aid in sincerity of commitment
percolating down the management levels.

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