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Discussion Questions
Week 2:
 | Millman, Joel (2000), "Services May Lead U.S. to Trade
Surplus," Wall Street Journal, 236 (108), December 4, A1.
Why are services being referred to as "the unsung hero of our
trade balance"?
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| Brown, Stephen W. (2000), "The Move to Solutions Providers," Marketing
Management, 9 (Spring), 10-11. |
Why are "goods" firms (e.g., IBM, GE, HP) becoming services
businesses?
Week 3:
| Martinez, Barbara (2000), "Now It's Mass Medicine," Wall
Street Journal, August 21, B1 and B4. (This
is an example of an article that could have been used for the Service Watch
Assignment.) |
As a fellow "consumer," what do you think of this approach?
As a marketer, what benefits would you suggest the firm communicate
about this service?
| Graber, Kyp (1999), "He Has a Well-Oiled Business Plan," The
Spokesman-Review, September 10, A1 and A12. |
For oil-change services, what is desired? What is adequate?
What would you think about a firm who could come to your home to change
your oil?
What would you pay for "home delivery" of oil-change service?
Week 5:
| Brady, Diane (2000), "Why Service Stinks," Business Week,
October 23, 118-128. |
What service providers are you aware of who treat different types of
customers differently?
What does Brady mean by "the new consumer apartheid"?
Do you think it is appropriate to treat customers differently based on
the customer's value to the firm? Why or why not?
Week 6:
| Gremler, Dwayne D. and Stephen W. Brown (2000), "Service Loyalty:
Antecedents, Components, and Outcomes," working paper. |
What does it mean to be loyal to a service provider?
What are drivers of service loyalty?
What are outcomes, to both the customer and the firm, of service
loyalty?
| Schrage, Michael (1992), "Fire Your Customers!" Wall
Street Journal, March 16, A8. |
Schrage suggests that "the smartest thing most service-oriented
companies could do...is layoff 10-15% of their customers." Do you
agree or disagree? Defend your position.
Can you be truly customer-focused and yet lay some customers off?
Week 9:
| New York Times (1990), "It's All Violins, and I Don't Know
What," August 26, A5. |
How did the convenience store in Tillicum, Washington, discourage youths
from hanging out in front of its store?
In what other service settings might sound be used in either a positive
or a negative way to influence customers' experiences?
Week 10:
| Powell, Joanna (1997), "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust,"
Good Housekeeping, 225 (October, No. 4), 155-158. |
What human resource strategies do you see being employed here? (Refer to
those discussed in Chapter 11 for some ideas.)
Which strategies would work universally? Which would be rather limited
in applicability?
How would you describe the Disney culture?
| Applegate, Jane (1996) "Mickey Mouse Operation is a Great
School," The Spokesman-Review, December 9 (Reprinted from the Los
Angeles Times). |
What can other companies learn from Disney in terms of leadership,
people management, and service quality?
Week 11:
| Sheth , Jagdish N. and Rajendra S. Sisodia (1999), "Outsourcing
Comes Home" Wall Street Journal, (June 28), A26. |
What services do you currently "outsource"? What
services are you most likely to outsource in the future?
What would influence your decision to have someone else provide:
child care?
house cleaning?
shopping?
lawn care?
pet care?
Week 12:
| Hagerty, James R. (1998), "Home Depot Tests Expanded Home Services,"
Wall Street Journal, (July 27), A4. |
What are some of the risks Home Depot faces in launching this program?
What are the benefits?
What is the most challenging issue?
| Sapsford, Jathon (2000), "Consumers Take Notice of Online
Banks," Wall Street Journal, (November 28), C1, C19. |
What are the advantages to online banking for the bank? for
customers?
What are the disadvantages of online banking for the bank? for
customers?
Week 14:
| Gremler, Dwayne D. and Michael A. McCollough (1997), "Service
Guarantees in the Classroom: Should We Practice What We Preach?"
Marketing Educator, 14 (4), 1, 4. |
Do you think it is appropriate to offer a service guarantee in a
university course?
| Vogt, Andrea (1999), "These Profs Take a Page From Industry: Idaho
Instructors Guarantee Business Class is Worth Taking," The Idaho
Spokesman-Review, (March 27), A1, A11. |
Why would a professor want to offer a service guarantee in a university
course?
Week 15:
| Gibson, Richard (1998), "Merchants Mull the Long and Short of
Lines,"
Wall Street Journal, (September 3), B1. |
What impact can waiting in line have on customer behavior and
satisfaction?
What are the benefits of the "serpentine" line? What are
the drawbacks?
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