-assignment-services-management (1)

8/7/2019 -Assignment-Services-Management (1)

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Q1. (a) What is the importance of Services in the society? Define services and explaincharacteristics of services.

A. They touch the life of every person in the country. Each economy developing, mature, anddeveloped has its welfare based upon effective delivery and performance of services. Theycan be emergency, communication, food, health and education to name a few. Prosperity of the nation comprises of economical advances, its social structure, and its environmentconcerns; all depends upon management of services to its citizens.

A service is the non-material equivalent of a good . Service provision has been defined as aneconomic activity that does not result in ownership and is claimed to be a process that createsbenefits by facilitating either a change in customers, a change in their physical possessions , or a change in their intangible assets .

By composing and orchestrating the appropriate level of resources , skill, ingenuity, andexperience for effecting specific benefits for service consumers, service providers participate inan economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concernthemselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, their investment in expertise doesrequire consistent service marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which hasequally few physical restrictions.

Providers of services make up the Tertiary sector of the economy. The tertiary sector of economy (also known as the service sector or the service industry) is one of the threeeconomic sectors, the others being the secondary sector (approximately manufacturing ) andthe primary sector (extraction such as mining , agriculture and fishing ). The general definition of

the tertiary sector is producing a service instead of just an end product, in the case of thesecondary sector. Sometimes an additional sector, the " quaternary sector ", is defined for thesharing of information (which normally belongs to the tertiary sector)

The tertiary sector is defined by exclusion of the two other sectors. Services are defined inconventional economic literature as "intangible goods".

The tertiary sector of economy involves the provision of services to businesses as well as finalconsumers. Services may involve the transport , distribution and sale of goods from producer toa consumer as may happen in wholesaling and retailing , or may involve the provision of aservice, such as in pest control or entertainment . Goods may be transformed in the process of

providing a service, as happens in the restaurant industry or in equipment repair. However, thefocus is on people interacting with people and serving the customer rather than transformingphysical goods.

The generic clear-cut, complete and concise definition of the service term reads as follows:

A service is a set of singular and perishable benefits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ownershiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_(law)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_sector_of_the_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(business)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wholesalerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retailerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restauranthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ownershiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_(law)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_sector_of_the_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(business)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wholesalerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retailerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant


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delivered from the accountable service provider, mostly in close coactions with his servicesuppliers,

generated by functions of technical systems and/or by distinct activities of individuals,respectively,

commissioned according to the needs of his service consumers by the service customer from the accountable service provider,

rendered individually to an authorized service consumer at his/her dedicated request, And, finally, consumed and utilized by the requesting service consumer for executing

and/or supporting his/her day-to-day business tasks or private activities.

Services can be paraphrased in terms of their generic key characteristics .

1. Intangibility

Services are intangible and insubstantial : they cannot be touched, gripped, handled, looked at,smelled, tasted or heard. Thus, there is neither potential nor need for transport, storage or stocking of services. Furthermore, a service cannot be (re)sold or owned by somebody, neither can it be turned over from the service provider to the service consumer nor returned from theservice consumer to the service provider. Solely, the service delivery can be commissioned toa service provider who must generate and render the service at the distinct request of anauthorized service consumer.

2. Perish ability

Services are perishable in two regards

The service relevant resources, processes and systems are assigned for service deliveryduring a definite period in time. If the designated or scheduled service consumer does notrequest and consume the service during this period, the service cannot be performed for him. From the perspective of the service provider, this is a lost business opportunity as hecannot charge any service delivery; potentially, he can assign the resources, processesand systems to another service consumer who requests a service. Examples: The hair dresser serves another client when the scheduled starting time or time slot is over. Anempty seat on a plane never can be utilized and charged after departure.

When the service has been completely rendered to the requesting service consumer, thisparticular service irreversibly vanishes as it has been consumed by the service consumer.Example: the passenger has been transported to the destination and cannot betransported again to this location at this point in time.

3. Inseparability

The service provider is indispensable for service delivery as he must promptly generate andrender the service to the requesting service consumer. In many cases the service delivery isexecuted automatically but the service provider must preparatorily assign resources andsystems and actively keep up appropriate service delivery readiness and capabilities.Additionally, the service consumer is inseparable from service delivery because he is involvedin it from requesting it up to consuming the rendered benefits. Examples: The serviceconsumer must sit in the hair dresser's shop & chair or in the plane & seat; correspondingly,the hair dresser or the pilot must be in the same shop or plane, respectively, for delivering theservice.

4. Simultaneity

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Services are rendered and consumed during the same period of time. As soon as the serviceconsumer has requested the service (delivery), the particular service must be generated fromscratch without any delay and friction and the service consumer instantaneously consumes therendered benefits for executing his upcoming activity or task.

5. Variability

Each service is unique. It is one-time generated, rendered and consumed and can never beexactly repeated as the point in time, location, circumstances, conditions, currentconfigurations and/or assigned resources are different for the next delivery, even if the sameservice consumer requests the same service. Many services are regarded as heterogeneousor lacking homogeneity and are typically modified for each service consumer or each newsituation (consumerised). Example: The taxi service which transports the service consumer from his home to the opera is different from the taxi service which transports the same serviceconsumer from the opera to his home - another point in time, the other direction, maybeanother route, probably another taxi driver and cab.

Each of these characteristics is retractable per se and their inevitable coincidence complicatesthe consistent service conception and makes service delivery a challenge in each and everycase. Proper service marketing requires creative visualization to effectively evoke a concreteimage in the service consumer 's mind. From the service consumer's point of view, thesecharacteristics make it difficult, or even impossible, to evaluate or compare services prior toexperiencing the service delivery.

Mass generation and delivery of services is very difficult. This can be seen as a problem of inconsistent service quality. Both inputs and outputs to the processes involved providingservices are highly variable, as are the relationships between these processes, making itdifficult to maintain consistent service quality. For many services there is labor intensity asservices usually involve considerable human activity, rather than a precisely determinedprocess; exceptions include utilities. Human resource management is important. The humanfactor is often the key success factor in service economies. It is difficult to achieve economiesof scale or gain dominant market share . There are demand fluctuations and it can be difficult toforecast demand . Demand can vary by season, time of day, business cycle , etc. There isconsumer involvement as most service provision requires a high degree of interaction betweenservice consumer and service provider . There is a customer-based relationship based oncreating long-term business relationships. Accountants, attorneys, and financial advisersmaintain long-term relationships with their clients for decades. These repeat consumers refer friends and family, helping to create a client-based relationship.

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Q1. (b) How one can measure the quality of service? Describe the role of Service OperationsManager.

A. As quality practitioners, were accustomed to measuring the physical attributes of a product:dimensions, angles, power, hardness, tensile strength, color, and many other characteristics.Getting a handle on services can be more difficult. Often there are no physical attributes tomeasure, or they dont clearly affect the essential nature of the service. We have to think aboutwhat really matters to the customer about the service. Although this is the case with bothgoods and services, it takes on special significance with a service. Service provision isradically different from manufacturing. Output measurements that are applied in manufacturingmake no sense in a service situation because the customer has such a strong influence over our environment.

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Customer perceptions are critical in any product context. In the world of service delivery,theyre especially important due to the personal and interactive nature of services. You maysatisfy every stated requirement and still fail to satisfy the customer in a profound way. Theground is shifting as the service is performed, and what you think was perfect may be far fromsatisfactory. Thats why we must specifically ask your customer what he or she thinks aboutyour services. Dont provide a long survey that probes every aspect of the service experience;just start with two simple questions: How satisfied are you with the quality of our services?and How likely are you to recommend our services to a colleague?

These two questions apply to nearly any service situation and industry. The first questionaddresses basic satisfaction, essentially asking if the services met all requirements. Thesecond question takes this a step further and addresses true commitment: Do you feel stronglyenough to recommend our services to somebody else? These represent two different placeson the same continuum (as seen in figure 1), and both are necessary for long-term success.

Its worth noting that satisfaction falls only in the middle range of the continuum. The bluntreality of business is that basic customer satisfaction is no longer adequate for businesses toremain successful. Basic satisfaction simply means that they might use your services in thefuture--unless a better offer comes up. Satisfaction is little more than the absence of dissatisfaction, and theres no glory in just squeaking by. Satisfaction is a reasonable startingpoint, but the ultimate goal is the kind of commitment that results in customers telling their friends and colleagues about your organization and recommending your services. Thats whatyou should be striving for.

The two survey questions include a four-point response scale. Some data gurus mightquestion whether this provides much constructive information. Keep in mind, however, thatpeople arent reliable measuring instruments. With subjective judgments, four or five degreesof resolution are about as precise as you can expect. Combine the preceding questions withthe following two open-ended questions and youll have a very useful tool for measuring your services:

How can we improve our existing services? This is one of the simplest yet mosteffective questions ever conceived. It strikes at the heart of quality: improvement. It givescustomers control of the dialogue, and they can do with it what they will. The responses will

provide a clear path to making improvements that your customers value.

What services would you like to see us offer in the future? Innovation is the key tolong-term survival, and this question enlists your customers help in making you an innovator.The range of responses is limited only by your customers imaginations.

In the case of the open-ended questions, the results can be sorted into similar categories.These can then be plotted on a Pareto diagram to provide guidance on the actions that shouldbe taken. Many quality practitioners bristle at open-ended questions because they dontproduce data in a traditional sense. The responses can be converted to data, however, without

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much difficulty. Even more important, the results point the way to exactly the improvementsand innovations that your customers desire.

You now have a dynamic tool that will take less than a minute of somebodys time. The scaledquestions probe two timeless issues--satisfaction and commitment--and produce solid datathat can be tracked, while the open-ended questions provide direction for your improvementefforts. Together you have one of the most streamlined and effective service surveysimaginable.

Ask customers for their feedback as soon as the effects of the service are felt. This might beimmediately after performing the service or six months later; it all depends on the type of product youre addressing and the sorts of contractual obligations that were made with thecustomer. Consider these service scenarios:

Restaurant . Feedback could be provided immediately following the experience, or certainly within a day or two of it.

Appliance repair . Feedback could be provided immediately on certain aspects of theservice, but it would probably take weeks to know how effective the repair was. Mostappliance-repair companies warranty their repairs for a certain length of time, so thefeedback horizon could follow a similar time frame.

Management consulting . Complex consulting projects that aim to increase a companysprofitability and competitiveness might take up to a year to evaluate. Asking for feedbackany sooner would be premature.

These three examples illustrate a range of time frames for feedback, from immediately after the service to a year later. Each organization must decide for itself when the effects of itsservices can be determined and, thus, when its appropriate to solicit feedback.

Once youve determined when to capture feedback, the next logical question is how to do it.Yes, you already have the tool, but how exactly will it be administered? Your choices aremany: in person or by telephone, e-mail, web site, fax, postal mail, or text message. Thechosen method should reflect the most convenient process for your customers. In general, trynot to add another communication burden to your customers. If you have frequent face-to-facecontact with them, use these interactions for getting their feedback. This also goes for existingcommunications via telephone and e-mail. If its already happening, use it. Providing feedbackwill only add a minute of extra time, and thats an investment that most customers are glad tomake.

Everything weve discussed so far is related to subjective measures of service quality. In other words, were asking someones opinion of how we performed. They probably dont have datato back up their opinions, and they may not even be able to provide specific examples. Theseopinions are the basis for making buying decisions, however, so theyre valuable to you as aservice supplier.

Besides subjective performance measures, there are also many objective measures that canbe applied to your services. You need only look as far as your service guarantees andcontracts to find some effective metrics. Nearly every service provider commits to performingits service within a certain time frame. This naturally gives rise to the question: Was the serviceperformed on time? No opinions are necessary here; you either met your commitments or youdidnt. The data can easily be gathered, charted, and analyzed by your own organization. Harddata provide an excellent counterpoint to customer feedback, and they usually substantiate the

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themes revealed through customer feedback. When data dont support these themes, itsuseful to explore the reason for the gaps; e.g., Our customers think were always late, yet our data show this isnt the case. Whats causing this difference in perceptions? When theres adifference of this sort, one of two things typically must happen:

1. The data-collection method must be changed to better match what the customer experiences.

2. The customer must be educated at the performance level. Sometimes providingobjective data can shape peoples perceptions, and theres nothing wrong with doing this.

So, what sorts of measures are helpful in managing service quality? Here are some of themost common:

On-time delivery . The scheduled date and time is agreed upon between the customer and services provider, and deviations from this schedule can cause serious problems. On-timedelivery is an excellent measure thats usually easy to track.

Responsiveness . This means your ability to respond to the customer within a reasonableamount of time. The response could be related to a question, problem, quote, inquiry, or order change. Organizations that cultivate customer intimacy are usually concerned about howresponsive they are.

Effectiveness . All services are supposed to accomplish something: provide information,repair an appliance, process a transaction, or develop a program, among others. If youre ableto determine if your service was effective, then this is an important measure. Keep in mind thatIm talking about an objective measure of effectiveness, not the customers perception of effectiveness.

Availability . Services that are up and running must be concerned with availability.Examples include utilities providing water, electricity, gas, telephone, or other resourcesexactly when theyre needed. Being down for a few hours can cause millions of dollars inlosses and huge claims.

Audit results . Processes that provide a service can usually be audited. Either through in-person observation or by examining records, an audit can reveal whether the service wasperformed as planned. Ideally, conformity with the plan would mean that the service iseffective, though this isnt always the case.

Cost control . This means adhering to established budgets and spending plans whilemeeting other service objectives. Notice I didnt say cost reduction, which often is used tojustify a reduction in service quality.

In summary, a two-pronged approach is the most effective way to measure service quality.Gauge service effectiveness through customer perceptions and through objective data, andremember that measures are worthless unless you take action.

Service Operation managers perform the role of both production and marketing function, Theyprimarily ensure that the organization they work for satisfies its customers' needs. They maywork at various levels, from head office to the front end of the business. Work might include:

helping to develop a customer service policy for an entire organization;managing a team of customer services staff;

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Handling face-to-face enquiries from customers.

Possible roles vary widely and job titles in services management include customer caremanager, corporate services manager, customer relationship manager and customer operations manager. In all of these roles, customer service managers are expected tounderstand and satisfy their customers' requirements and exceed their expectations if possible.

The main aim of a Service operation manager is to provide excellent customer service.

Although the work varies, depending on the type and size of the employing organization,typical activities are likely to include some or all of the following:

providing help and advice to customers using your organization's products or services;communicating courteously with customers by telephone, email, letter and face to face;investigating and solving customers' problems, which may be complex or long-standingproblems that have been passed on by customer service assistants;handling customer complaints or any major incidents, such as a security issue or acustomer being taken ill;issuing refunds or compensation to customers;keeping accurate records of discussions or correspondence with customers;analyzing statistics or other data to determine the level of customer service your organization is providing;producing written information for customers, often involving use of computer packages/software;writing reports analyzing the customer service that your organization provides;visiting customers to provide a one-to-one service;developing feedback or complaints procedures for customers to use;developing customer service procedures, policies and standards for your organization or department;meeting with other managers to discuss possible improvements to customer service;being involved in staff recruitment and appraisals;training staff to deliver a high standard of customer service;leading or supervising a team of customer service staff;learning about your organization's products or services and keeping up to date withchanges;keeping ahead of developments in customer service by reading relevant journals, goingto meetings and attending courses.

Q2. (a) In the modern business environment, what are the types of services available in themarket? Also explain the features of services.

A. There are many different acts or types of services. Some of them are listed as under:

Civil service , career employees of government Community service , volunteer service for the benefit of a community Customer service , provision of assistance to customers or clients in different industries Domestic service , employment in a residence Military service , a country's armed forces Public services , services carried out with the aim of providing a public good

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Media Services, like newspapers, magazines, TV and radio advertisements, designservices, etc.

Health Services, Hospitals, nursing homes, X-Ray centers, dental and cosmetic centers,etc

Professional Services, like tax consultants, architects, lawyers, CAs, etc Financial Services, like banks, housing and personal financer, forex exchange, etc Hospitality, like tourism, airlines and railway services, taxi services, hotels, etc.

Any service can be clearly, completely, consistently and concisely specified by means of thefollowing 12 standard attributes which conform to the MECE principle (Mutually Exclusive,Collectively Exhaustive)

1. Service Consumer Benefits2. Service-specific Functional Parameter(s)3. Service Delivery Point4. Service Consumer Count5. Service Readiness Times6. Service Support Times7. Service Support Language(s)8. Service Fulfillment Target9. Maximum Impairment Duration per Incident10.Service Delivering Duration11.Service Delivery Unit12.Service Delivering Price

The meaning and content of these attributes are:

1. Service Consumer Benefits describe the (set of) benefits which are callable, receivableand effectively utilizable for any authorized service consumer and which are provided tohim as soon as he requests the offered service. The description of these benefits must bephrased in the terms and wording of the intended service consumers.

2. Service-specific Functional Parameters specify the functional parameters which areessential and unique to the respective service and which describe the most importantdimension of the services cape, the service output or outcome, e.g. maximum e-mailboxcapacity per registered and authorized e-mail service consumer.

3. Service Delivery Point describes the physical location and/or logical interface where thebenefits of the service are made accessible, callable, receivable and utilizable to theauthorized service consumers. At this point and/or interface, the preparedness for servicedelivery can be assessed as well as the effective delivery of the service itself can bemonitored and controlled.

4. Service Consumer Count specifies the number of intended, identified, named,registered and authorized service consumers which shall be and/or are allowed andenabled to call and utilize the defined service for executing and/or supporting their business tasks or private activities.

5. Service Readiness Times specify the distinct agreed times of day when

the described service consumer benefits are accessible and callable for the authorized service consumers at the defined service

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receivable and utilizable for the authorized service consumers at the respectiveagreed service level

all service-relevant processes and resources are operative and effective all service-relevant technical systems are up and running and attended by the

operating team the specified service benefits are comprehensively delivered to any authorized

requesting service consumer without any delay or friction.

The time data are specified in 24 h format per local working day and local time, referringto the location of the intended service consumers.

6. Service Support Times specify the determined and agreed times of day when theusage and consumption of commissioned services is supported by the service desk teamfor all identified, registered and authorized service consumers within the servicecustomer's organizational unit or area. The service desk is/shall be the so called theSingle Point of Contact (SPoC) for any service consumer inquiry regarding thecommissioned, requested and/or delivered services, particularly in the event of servicedenial, i.e. an incident. During the defined service support times, the service desk can bereached by phone, e-mail, web-based entries and/or fax, respectively. The time data arespecified in 24 h format per local working day and local time, referring to the location of the intended service consumers.

7. Service Support Languages specifies the national languages which are spoken by theservice desk team(s) to the service consumers calling them.

8. Service Fulfillment Target specifies the service provider's promise of effective andseamless delivery of the defined benefits to any authorized service consumer requestingthe service within the defined service times. It is expressed as the promised minimumratio of the counts of successful individual service deliveries related to the counts of requested service deliveries. The effective service fulfillment ratio can be measured andcalculated per single service consumer or per consumer group and may be referred todifferent time periods (workday, calenderweek, workmonth, etc.)

9. Maximum Impairment Duration per Incident specifies the allowable maximumelapsing time hh:mm between

the first occurrence of a service impairment, i.e. service quality degradation or service delivery disruption, whilst the service consumer consumes and utilizes therequested service, the full resumption and complete execution of the service delivery to the content of the affected service consumer.

10. Service Delivering Duration specifies the promised and agreed maximum period of

time for effectively delivering all specified service consumer benefits to the requestingservice consumer at the currently chosen service delivery point.

11. Service Delivery Unit specifies the basic portion for delivering the defined serviceconsumer benefits. The service delivery unit is the reference and mapping object for allcost for service generation and delivery as well as for charging and billing the consumedservice volume to the service customer who has commissioned the service delivery.

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12. Service Delivering Price specifies the amount of money the service customer has topay for the distinct service volumes his authorized service consumers have consumed.Normally, the service delivering price comprises two portions

a fixed basic price portion for basic efforts and resources which provide accessibilityand usability of the service delivery functions, i.e. service access price a price portion covering the service consumption based on fixed flat rate price per authorized service consumer and delivery period withoutregard on the consumed service volumes, staged prices depending on consumed service volumes, fixed price per particularly consumed service delivering unit.

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(b) As a Service Manager how would you forecast the demand for services? In what wayyou would manage service capacity?

A. Demand forecasting is the activity of estimating the quantity of a product or service thatconsumers will purchase. Demand forecasting involves techniques including both informalmethods, such as educated guesses, and quantitative methods, such as the use of historicalsales data or current data from test markets. Demand forecasting may be used in makingpricing decisions, in assessing future capacity requirements, or in making decisions onwhether to enter a new market .

No demand forecasting method is 100% accurate. Combined forecasts improve accuracy andreduce the likelihood of large errors

There are essentially 3 Methods that rely on for forecasting demands of services are as follows:

Subjective Method or Delphi Model - The Delphi method is a systematic,interactive forecasting method which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides ananonymous summary of the experts forecasts from the previous round as well as thereasons they provided for their judgments. Thus, experts are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of their panel. It is believed thatduring this process the range of the answers will decrease and the group will convergetowards the "correct" answer. Finally, the process is stopped after a pre-defined stopcriterion (e.g. number of rounds, achievement of consensus, and stability of results) andthe mean or median scores of the final rounds determine the results.

Delphi is based on the principle that forecasts from a structured group of experts aremore accurate than those from unstructured groups or individuals. The technique canbe adapted for use in face-to-face meetings, and is then called mini-Delphi or Estimate-Talk-Estimate (ETE). Delphi has been widely used for business forecasting and hascertain advantages over another structured forecasting approach, prediction markets .

Causal model Causal models are based on prior knowledge and theory. Time-series regression and cross-sectional regression are commonly used for estimatingmodel parameters or coefficients. These models allow one to examine the effects of marketing activity, such as a change in price, as well as key aspects of the market, thusproviding information for contingency planning.

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To develop causal models, one needs to select causal variables by using theory andprior knowledge. The key is to identify important variables, the direction of their effects,and any constraints. One should aim for a relatively simple model and use all availabledata to estimate it (Allen and Fildes 2001). Surprisingly, sophisticated statisticalprocedures have not led to more accurate forecasts. In fact, crude estimates are oftensufficient to provide accurate forecasts when using cross-sectional data (Dawes andCorrigan 1974; Dana and Dawes 2005).

Statisticians have developed sophisticated procedures for analyzing how well models fithistorical data. Such procedures have, however, been on little value to forecasters.Measures of fit (such as R 2 or the standard error of the estimate of the model) have littlerelationship with forecast accuracy and they should therefore be avoided. Instead,holdout data should be used to assess the predictive validity of a model. Thisconclusion is based on findings from many studies with time-series data (Armstrong,2001c). Statistical fit does relate to forecast accuracy for cross-sectional data, althoughthe relationship is tenuous.

Causal models are most useful when (1) strong causal relationships are expected, (2)the direction of the relationship is known, (3) causal relationships are known or they canbe estimated, (4) large changes are expected to occur in the causal variables over theforecast horizon, and (5) changes in the causal variables can be accurately forecast or controlled, especially with respect to their direction. Reviews of commercial softwarethat can be used to develop causal models are provided at theforecastingprinciples.com site.

A time series is a set of evenly spaced numerical data and is obtained byobserving responses at regular time periods. In the time series model , the forecast isbased only on past values and assumes that factors that influence the past, the presentand the future sales of your products will continue.

The time series forecasting methods are described below:

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Time SeriesForecastingMethod

Description

Nave Approach Assumes that demand in the next period is the same as demand inrecent period; demand pattern may not always be that stable.For example: If July sales were 50, then Augusts sales will also be 50

MovingAverages (MA)

MA is a series of arithmetic means and is used if little or notrend is present in the data; provides an overall impression of data over time.

A simple moving average uses average demand for a fixedsequence of periods and is good for stable demand with nopronounced behavioral patterns.

Equation:

F 4 = D 1 + D2 + D3] / 4

F forecast, D Demand, No. Period

A weighted moving average adjusts the moving averagemethod to reflect fluctuations more closely by assigningweights to the most recent data, meaning, that the older data isusually less important. The weights are based on intuition andlie between 0 and 1 for a total of 1.0

Equation:

WMA 4 = (W) (D3) + (W) (D2) + (W) (D1)

WMA Weighted moving average, W Weight, D Demand, No. Period

ExponentialSmoothing

The exponential smoothing is an averaging method that reactsmore strongly to recent changes in demand by assigning asmoothing constant to the most recent data more strongly;useful if recent changes in data are the results of actual change(e.g., seasonal pattern) instead of just random fluctuations

F t + 1 = a D t + (1 - a ) F t

Where

F t + 1 = the forecast for the next period

D t = actual demand in the present period

F t = the previously determined forecast for the present period

= a weighting factor referred to as the smoothing constant

Time SeriesDecomposition

The time series decomposition adjusts the seasonality bymultiplying the normal forecast by a seasonal factor

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Service Capacity

Service is a perishable commodity, e.g., a plane flying with empty seats has lost revenueforever the revenue opportunity of flying with 1 more passenger. American Airlines realized thisfirst, and applied Yield management , also known as revenue management , is the process of understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, perishable resource (such as airline seats or hotel room reservations).This process was first discovered by Dr. Matt H. Keller.

Service is produced and consumed simultaneously it is an intangible personal experience,which cannot be either stored in warehouse or transferred from one person to another.Whenever demand is short of capacity or supply of service idle servers and facilities result.

Variability on service demand is pronounced; there are cultural and economic reasons, we eatmeals at the same time, take vacations at the same time and even cash our cheques at thesame time. Even hospitals have low utilization in summer and dry months. These create idleperiods of service at the some time and consumers waiting at other time.

Below shows as to how the service capacity can be managed:

Managing Demand Managing SupplyPartitioning demand Sharing capacityEstablishing price incentives Increase customer participationPromoting off-peak demand Creating adjustable capacityDevelop complementing service Cross training employeesDevelop reservation system Using part time employees

Scheduling work shifts

Q5. What do you understand by Medical Transcription? Do you feel this an essential aspect

of service management in relations to service industries and society?A. Medical transcription , also known as MT, is an allied health profession, which deals in the

process of transcription , or converting voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians and/or other healthcare professionals, into text format.

The evolution of transcription dates back to the 1960s. The method was designed to assist inthe manufacturing process. The first transcription that was developed in this process wasMRP, which is the acronym for Manufacturing Resource Planning, in 1975. This was followedby another advanced version namely MRP2. But none of them yielded the benefit of medicaltranscription.

However, transcription equipment has changed from manual typewriters to electric typewriters to word processors to computers and from plastic disks and magnetic belts to cassettes andendless loops and digital recordings. Today, speech recognition (SR), also known ascontinuous speech recognition (CSR), is increasingly being used, with medical transcriptionistsand or "editors" providing supplemental editorial services, although there are occasionalinstances where SR fully replaces the MT. Natural-language processing takes "automatic"transcription a step further, providing an interpretive function that speech recognition alonedoes not provide (although MTs do).

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In the past, these medical reports consisted of much abbreviated handwritten notes that wereadded in the patient's file for interpretation by the primary physician responsible for thetreatment. Ultimately, this mess of handwritten notes and typed reports was consolidated into asingle patient file and physically stored along with thousands of other patient records in a wallof filing cabinets in the medical records department. Whenever the need arose to review therecords of a specific patient, the patient's file would be retrieved from the filing cabinet anddelivered to the requesting physician. To enhance this manual process, many medical recorddocuments were produced in duplicate or triplicate by means of carbon copy.

In recent years, medical records have changed considerably. Although many physicians andhospitals still maintain paper records, there is a drive for electronic records. Filing cabinets aregiving way to desktop computers connected to powerful servers, where patient records areprocessed and archived digitally. This digital format allows for immediate remote access byany physician who is authorized to review the patient information. Reports are storedelectronically and printed selectively as the need arises. Many MTs now utilize personalcomputers with electronic references and use the Internet not only for web resources but alsoas a working platform. Technology has gotten so sophisticated that MT services and MTdepartments work closely with programmers and information systems (IS) staff to stream invoice and accomplish seamless data transfers through network interfaces. In fact, manyhealthcare providers today are enjoying the benefits of handheld PCs or personal dataassistants (PDAs) and are now utilizing software on them for dictation.

Pertinent, up-to-date, confidential patient information is converted to a written text document bya medical transcriptionist (MT). This text may be printed and placed in the patient's recordand/or retained only in its electronic format. Medical transcription can be performed by MTswho are employees in a hospital or who work at home as telecommuting employees for thehospital ; by MTs working as telecommuting employees or independent contractors for anoutsourced service that performs the work offsite under contract to a hospital , clinic, physiciangroup or other healthcare provider; or by MTs working directly for the providers of service(doctors or their group practices) either onsite or telecommuting as employees or contractors.Hospital facilities often prefer electronic storage of medical records due to the sheer volume of hospital patients and the accompanying paperwork. The electronic storage in their database gives immediate access to subsequent departments or providers regarding the patient's careto date, notation of previous or present medications, notification of allergies , and establishes ahistory on the patient to facilitate healthcare delivery regardless of geographical distance or location.

The term transcript or "report" as it is more commonly called, is used as the name of thedocument (electronic or physical hard copy) which results from the medical transcriptionprocess, normally in reference to the healthcare professional's specific encounter with a patienton a specific date of service. This report is referred to by many as a "medical record". Eachspecific transcribed record or report, with its own specific date of service, is then merged andbecomes part of the larger patient record commonly known as the patient's medical history.This record is often called the patient's chart in a hospital setting.

Medical transcription encompasses the MT, performing document typing and formattingfunctions according to an established criteria or format, transcribing the spoken word of thepatient's care information into a written, easily readable form. MT requires correct spelling of allterms and words, (occasionally) correcting medical terminology or dictation errors. MTs alsoedit the transcribed documents, print or return the completed documents in a timely fashion. Alltranscription reports must comply with medico-legal concerns, policies and procedures, andlaws under patient confidentiality.

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In transcribing directly for a doctor or a group of physicians , there are specific formats andreport types used, dependent on that doctor's specialty of practice, although history andphysical exams or consults are mainly utilized. In most of the off-hospital sites, independentmedical practices perform consultations as a second opinion, pre-surgical exams, and as IMEs(Independent Medical Examinations) for liability insurance or disability claims. Some privatepractice family doctors choose not to utilize a medical transcriptionist, preferring to keep their patient's records in a handwritten format, although this is not true of all family practitioners.

Currently, a growing number of medical providers send their dictation by digital voice files,utilizing a method of transcription called speech or voice recognition. Speech recognition is stilla nascent technology that loses much in translation. For dictators to utilize the software, theymust first train the program to recognize their spoken words. Dictation is read into thedatabase and the program continuously "learns" the spoken words and phrases.

Poor speech habits and other problems such as heavy foreign accents and mumblingcomplicate the process for both the MT and the recognition software. An MT can "flag" such areport as unintelligible, but the recognition software will transcribe the unintelligible word(s)from the existing database of "learned" language. The result is often a "word salad" or missingtext. Thresholds can be set to reject a bad report and return it for standard dictation, but thesesettings are arbitrary. Below a set percentage rate, the word salad passes for actual dictation.The MT simultaneously listens, reads and "edits" the correct version. Every word must beconfirmed in this process. The downside of the technology is when the time spent in thisprocess cancels out the benefits. The quality of recognition can range from excellent to poor,with whole words and sentences missing from the report. Not infrequently, negativecontractions and the word "not" is dropped all together. Voice recognition is similar to the voiceprompts one hears on dialing "411", when information provides the wrong number and chargesfor the "411" call. These flaws trigger concerns that the present technology could have adverseeffects on patient care. Control over quality can also be reduced when providers choose aserver-based program from a vendor Application Service Provider (ASP).

Downward adjustments in MT pay rates for voice recognition are controversial.Understandably, a client will seek optimum savings to offset any net costs. Yet vendors thatoverstate the gains in productivity do harm to MTs paid by the line. Despite the new editingskills required of MTs, significant reductions in compensation for voice recognition have beenreported. Reputable industry sources put the field average for increased productivity in therange of 30%-50%; yet this is still dependent on several other factors involved in themethodology. Metrics supplied by vendors that can be "used" in compensation decisionsshould be scientifically supported.

Another unresolved issue is high-maintenance headers that replace simple interfaces tobecome the "platform" of choice. Pay rates should reflect this lost-opportunity cost for the MT.

Operationally, speech recognition technology (SRT) is an interdependent, collaborative effort.It is a mistake to treat it as compatible with the same organizational paradigm as standarddictation , a largely " standalone " system. The new software supplants an MT's former ability torealize immediate time-savings from programming tools such as macros and other word/formatexpanders. Requests for client/vendor format corrections delay those savings. If remote MTscancel each other out with disparate style choices, they and the recognition engine may betrapped in a seesaw battle over control. Voice recognition managers should take care toensure that the impositions on MT autonomy are not so onerous as to outweigh its benefits.

Medical transcription is still the primary mechanism for a physician to clearly communicate withother healthcare providers who access the patient record, to advise them on the state of the

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patient's health and past/current treatment, and to assure continuity of care. More recently,following Federal and State Disability Act changes, a written report (IME) became arequirement for documentation of a medical bill or an application for Workers' Compensation(or continuation thereof) insurance benefits based on requirements of Federal and Stateagencies.

Due to the increasing demand to document medical records, countries started to outsource theservices of medical transcription. In the United States , the medical transcription business isestimated to be worth US$10 to $25 billion annually and growing 15 percent each year. Themain reason for outsourcing is stated to be the cost advantage due to cheap labor indeveloping countries, and their currency rates as compared to the U.S. dollar.

Among outsourcing countries, the India has recently attracted increased amounts of MToutsourcing from the United States due to the fact that aside from the Hindi language, Englishis one of the official languages used in almost all government transactions in the country andthe high literacy in the English language and perhaps, the capability of average Indian tounderstand American idioms, colloquialism , and slang used in medical transcription.

Q3. Enumerate the concept of marketing the services which should be adopted for its

success. Also describe the marketing attributes related to services.A. What exactly are the characteristics of a service? How are services different from a product? In

fact many organizations do have service elements to the product they sell, for exampleMcDonalds sell physical products i.e. burgers but consumers are also concerned about thequality and speed of service, are staff cheerful and welcoming and do they serve with a smileon their face?

There are five characteristics to a service which will be discussed below.

1. Lack of ownership.

You cannot own and store a service like you can a product. Services are used or hired for aperiod of time. For example when buying a ticket to the USA the service lasts maybe 9 hourseach way , but consumers want and expect excellent service for that time. Because you canmeasure the duration of the service consumers become more demanding of it.

2. Intangibility

You cannot hold or touch a service unlike a product. In saying that although services areintangible the experience consumers obtain from the service has an impact on how they willperceive it. What do consumers perceive from customer service? The location and the inner presentation of where they are purchasing the service?

3. Inseparability

Services cannot be separated from the service providers. A product when produced can betaken away from the producer. However a service is produced at or near the point of purchase.Take visiting a restaurant, you order your meal, the waiting and delivery of the meal, theservice provided by the waiter/ress is all apart of the service production process and isinseparable, the staff in a restaurant are as apart of the process as well as the quality of foodprovided.

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4. Perishibility

Services last a specific time and cannot be stored like a product for later use. If traveling bytrain, coach or air the service will only last the duration of the journey. The service is developedand used almost simultaneously. Again because of this time constraint consumers demandmore.

5. Heterogeneity

It is very difficult to make each service experience identical. If traveling by plane the servicequality may differ from the first time you traveled by that airline to the second, because theairhostess is more or less experienced.A concert performed by a group on two nights may differ in slight ways because it is verydifficult to standardize every dance move. Generally systems and procedures are put intoplace to make sure the service provided is consistent all the time, training in serviceorganizations is essential for this, however in saying this there will always be subtledifferences.

Characteristics of a Service

Having discussed the characteristics of a service, let us now look at the marketing mix of a

service.The service marketing mix comprises off the 7ps. These include:

Product Price Place Promotion

People Process Physical evidence.

Lets now look at the remaining 3 ps:

People

An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people.Recruiting the right staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service isessential if the organization wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage. Consumersmake judgments and deliver perceptions of the service based on the employees they interactwith. Staff should have the appropriate interpersonal skills, aptititude, and service knowledge

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to provide the service that consumers are paying for. Many British organizations aim to applyfor the Investors In People accreditation, which tells consumers that staff are taken care off bythe company and they are trained to certain standards.

Process

Refers to the systems used to assist the organization in delivering the service. Imagine youwalk into Burger King and you order a Whopper Meal and you get it delivered within 2 minutes.What was the process that allowed you to obtain an efficient service delivery? Banks that sendout Credit Cards automatically when their customers old one has expired again require anefficient process to identify expiry dates and renewal. An efficient service that replaces oldcredit cards will foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the company.

Physical Evidence

Where is the service being delivered? Physical Evidence is the element of the service mixwhich allows the consumer again to make judgments on the organization. If you walk into arestaurant your expectations are of a clean, friendly environment. On an aircraft if you travelfirst class you expect enough room to be able to lay down!Physical evidence is an essential ingredient of the service mix, consumers will makeperceptions based on their sight of the service provision which will have an impact on theorganizations perceptual plan of the service.

To summarize service marketing looks at:The Characteristics of a service that are:

(1) Lack of ownership(2) Intangibility(3) Inseparability(4) Perish ability(5) Heterogeneity.

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The Service marketing mix involves analyzing the 7p of marketing involving, Product, Price,Place, Promotion, Physical Evidence, Process and People.

To certain extent managing services are more complicated then managing products, productscan be standardized, to standardize a service is far more difficult as there are more inputfactors i.e. people, physical evidence, process to manage then with a product.

Q6. Write any 5 short notes:

(a) Consumer Relationship Management(b) CRM Programmes(c) Types of Financial Services(d) Yield Management(e) Housing Finance as a service

A. (a) Customer relationship management (CRM ) consists of the processes a company uses totrack and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers . CRM software isused to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions canbe entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. TypicalCRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contactinformation for targeted marketing.

While customer relationship management can be implemented without major investments insoftware, software is often necessary to explore the full benefits of a CRM strategy. However,most CRM software vendors stress that a successful effort requires a holistic approach. Manyinitiatives often fail because implementation was limited to software installation, withoutproviding the context, support and understanding for employees to learn, and take fulladvantage of the information systems. Tools for customer relationship management should beimplemented "only after a well-devised strategy and operational plan are put in place".

Other problems occur when failing to think of sales as the output of a process that itself needsto be studied and taken into account when planning automation.

From the outside, customers interacting with a company perceive the business as a singleentity, despite often interacting with a number of employees in different roles and departments.CRM is a combination of policies, processes, and strategies implemented by an organizationto unify its customer interactions and provide a means to track customer information. Itinvolves the use of technology in attracting new and profitable customers, while forming tighter bonds with existing ones.

CRM includes many aspects which relate directly to one another:

Front office operations Direct interaction with customers, e.g. face to face meetings,phone calls, e-mail, online services etc.

Back office operations Operations that ultimately affect the activities of the front office(e.g., billing, maintenance , planning, marketing, advertising , finance , manufacturing , etc.)

Business relationships Interaction with other companies and partners, such assuppliers/vendors and retail outlets/distributors, industry networks (lobbying groups, tradeassociations). This external network supports front and back office activities.

Analysis Key CRM data can be analyzed in order to plan target-marketing campaigns,conceive business strategies, and judge the success of CRM activities (e.g., marketshare, number and types of customers, revenue , profitability).

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Proponents of CRM software claim that it doesn't only allow more effective ways of managingcustomer relationships, but also more customer-centric ways of doing business. Executivesoften cite the need for the proper tools as a barrier to delivering the experience their customersexpect. A 2009 study of over 860 corporate executives revealed only 39% believes that their employees have tools and authority to solve customer problems.

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(b) There are several different approaches to CRM, with different software packagesfocusing on different aspects. In general, Customer Service , Campaign Management andSales Force Automation (SFA) form the core of the system.

Operational CRM

Operational CRM provides support to " front office " business processes, e.g. to sales ,marketing and service staff. Interactions with customers are generally stored in customers'contact histories, and staff can retrieve customer information as necessary.

The contact history provides staff members with immediate access to important information onthe customer (products owned, prior support calls etc.), eliminating the need to individuallyobtain this information directly from the customer. Reaching to the customer at right time atright place is preferable.

Operational CRM processes customer data for a variety of purposes:

Managing campaigns Enterprise Marketing Automation Sales Force Automation Sales Management System

Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes:

Designing and executing targeted marketing campaigns Designing and executing campaigns, e.g. customer acquisition, cross-selling , up-selling ,

addon-selling Analyzing customer behavior in order to make decisions relating to products and services

(e.g. pricing , product development ) Management information system (e.g. financial forecasting and customer profitability

analysis)

Analytical CRM generally makes heavy use of data mining and other techniques to produceuseful results for decision-making. It is at the analytical stage that the importance of fullyintegrated CRM software becomes most apparent. Logically speaking, the more informationthat the analytical software has available for analysis, the better its predictions andrecommendations will be.

Sales Intelligence CRM

Sales Intelligence CRM is similar to Analytical CRM, but is intended as a more direct salestool. Features include alerts sent to sales staff regarding:

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Cross-selling/Up-selling/Switch-selling opportunities Customer drift Sales performance Customer trends Customer margins Customer alignment

Campaign Management

Campaign management combines elements of Operational and Analytical CRM. Campaignmanagement functions include:

Target groups formed from the client base according to selected criteria Sending campaign-related material (e.g. on special offers) to selected recipients using

various channels (e.g. e-mail, telephone, SMS, post) Tracking, storing, and analyzing campaign statistics, including tracking responses and

analyzing trends

Collaborative CRM

Collaborative CRM covers aspects of a company's dealings with customers that are handledby various departments within a company, such as sales, technical support and marketing.Staff members from different departments can share information collected when interactingwith customers. For example, feedback received by customer support agents can provideother staff members with information on the services and features requested by customers.Collaborative CRM's ultimate goal is to use information collected by all departments to improvethe quality of services provided by the company. CRM also plays a role of data distributor within customers, producers and partners. Producers can use CRM information to developproducts or find new market. CRM facilitates communication between customers, suppliersand partner by using new information system such email, link and data bank.

Consumer Relationship CRM

Consumer Relationship System (CRS) covers aspects of a company's dealing with customershandled by the Consumer Affairs and Customer Relations contact centers within a company.Representatives handle in-bound contact from anonymous consumers and customers. Earlywarnings can be issued regarding product issues (e.g. item recalls) and current consumer sentiment can be tracked ( voice of the customer ).

Simple CRM

A relatively new spin-off of the traditional CRM model first appearing in 2006. At their core,CRM tools are designed to manage customer relationships. As described above there arecountless supplemental features and capabilities. Simple CRM systems breakdown thetraditional CRM system to focus on the core values--managing contacts and activities withcustomers and prospects. These systems are designed to create the most value for theimmediate end user rather than the organization as a whole. Many times they focus onsatisfying the needs of a particular marketplace niche, organizational unit, or type of user rather than an entire organization.

Social CRM

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Beginning in 2007, the rapid growth in social media and social networking forced CRM productcompanies to integrate "social" features into their traditional CRM systems. Some of the firstfeatures added are social network monitoring feeds (ie Twitter timeline), typically built into thesystem dashboard. Other emerging capabilities include messaging, sentiment analysis, andother analytics. Many industry experts contend that Social CRM is the way of the future, butthere are still many skeptics. Top CRM minds agree that online social communities andconversations carry heavy consequences for companies. They must be monitored for real-timemarketplace feedback and trends.

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(c) Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industryencompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money.Among these organizations are banks , credit card companies, insurance companies,consumer finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds and some governmentsponsored enterprises . As of 2004, the financial services industry represented 20% of themarket capitalization of the S&P 500 in the United States .

The term "financial services" became more prevalent in the United States partly as a result of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of the late 1990s, which enabled different types of companiesoperating in the U.S. financial services industry at that time to merge. Companies usually havetwo distinct approaches to this new type of business. One approach would be a bank whichsimply buys an insurance company or an investment bank, keeps the original brands of theacquired firm, and adds the acquisition to its holding company simply to diversify its earnings .Outside the U.S. (e.g., in Japan ), non-financial services companies are permitted within theholding company . In this scenario, each company still looks independent, and has its owncustomers, etc. In the other style, a bank would simply create its own brokerage division or insurance division and attempt to sell those products to its own existing customers, withincentives for combining all things with one company.

A "commercial bank " is what is commonly referred to as simply a "bank". The term"commercial " is used to distinguish it from an " investment bank ", a type of financial servicesentity which, instead of lending money directly to a business, helps businesses raise moneyfrom other firms in the form of bonds (debt) or stock (equity).

Private banking - Private Banks provide banking services exclusively to high net worthindividuals . Many financial services firms require a person or family to have a certainminimum net worth to qualify for private banking services. Private Banks often providesmore personal services, such as wealth management and tax planning, than normal retailbanks.

Capital market bank - bank that underwrite debt and equity , assist company deals(advisory services, underwriting and advisory fees), and restructure debt into structuredfinance products.

Bank cards - include both credit cards and debit cards. Bank of America is the largestissuer of bank cards.

Credit card machine services and networks - Companies which provide credit cardmachine and payment networks call themselves "merchant card providers".

Foreign exchange services are provided by many banks around the world. Foreign exchangeservices include:

Currency Exchange - where clients can purchase and sell foreign currency banknotes

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Wire transfer - where clients can send funds to international banks abroad Foreign Currency Banking - banking transactions are done in foreign currency

This is the statement given by the vedant kulshrestha.........

In Investment Services

Asset management - the term usually given to describe companies which run collectiveinvestment funds .

Hedge fund management - Hedge funds often employ the services of "prime brokerage"divisions at major investment banks to execute their trades.

Custody services - Custody services and securities processing is a kind of 'back-office'administration for financial services. Assets under custody in the world were estimated to$65 trillion at the end of 2004.

Insurance

Insurance brokerage - Insurance brokers shop for insurance (generally corporate propertyand casualty insurance) on behalf of customers. Recently a number of websites havebeen created to give consumers basic price comparisons for services such as insurance,causing controversy within the industry.

Insurance underwriting - Personal lines insurance underwriters actually underwriteinsurance for individuals, a service still offered primarily through agents, insurancebrokers , and stock brokers . Underwriters may also offer similar commercial lines of coverage for businesses. Activities include insurance and annuities , life insurance ,retirement insurance, health insurance, and property & casualty insurance .

Reinsurance - Reinsurance is insurance sold to insurers themselves, to protect them fromcatastrophic losses.

Other financial services

Intermediation or advisory services - These services involve stock brokers (private clientservices) and discount brokers. Stock brokers assist investors in buying or selling shares.Primarily internet-based companies are often referred to as discount brokerages,although many now have branch offices to assist clients. These brokerages primarilytarget individual investors. Full service and private client firms primarily assist executetrades and execute trades for clients with large amounts of capital to invest, such as largecompanies, wealthy individuals, and investment management funds.

Private equity - Private equity funds are typically closed-end funds, which usually takecontrolling equity stakes in businesses that are either private, or taken private onceacquired. Private equity funds often use leveraged buyouts (LBOs) to acquire the firms inwhich they invest. The most successful private equity funds can generate returnssignificantly higher than provided by the equity markets

Venture capital is a type of private equity capital typically provided by professional,outside investors to new, high-potential-growth companies in the interest of taking thecompany to an IPO or trade sale of the business.

Angel investment - An angel investor or angel (known as a business angel or informalinvestor in Europe), is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up,usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasingnumber of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks toshare research and pool their investment capital.

Conglomerates - A financial services conglomerate is a financial services firm that isactive in more than one sector of the financial services market e.g. life insurance, general

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insurance, health insurance, asset management, retail banking , wholesale banking,investment banking, etc. A key rationale for the existence of such businesses is theexistence of diversification benefits that are present when different types of businessesare aggregated i.e. bad things don't always happen at the same time. As a consequence,economic capital for a conglomerate is usually substantially less than economic capital isfor the sum of its parts.

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(d) Internal marketing (IM) is an ongoing process that occurs strictly within a company or organization whereby the functional process aligns, motivates and empowers employees at allmanagement levels to consistently deliver a satisfying customer experience. According toBurkitt and Zealley, "the challenge for internal marketing is not only to get the right messagesacross, but to embed them in such a way that they both change and reinforce employeebehavior".

Key concepts of internal marketing include:

IM functioning as a continual internal 'upskilling' process. Alignment of the organizations purpose with employee behavior. Employees internalizing the core values of the organization. Motivation, reframing and empowerment of employee attitude. Inside-out management approach. Retaining a positive customer experience throughout the business objectives

The following are the features of an internal marketing-oriented business:

1. Creating enabling culture: this is done when employees are empowered by managementthrough allowing creativity, innovation, allowing initiatives and accountability andresponsibility of their decisions.

2. Practicing participative hiring: that is involving current employees in the process of hiringnew employees.

3. Ensuring equitable recognition and reward: business must exercise employeerecognition with reward to what employee has achieved.

4. Demonstrating fairness during hard times: fair treatment of employees when faced withhard times and difficult moments like death of the near family members. This can beachieved by setting aside emergency funds.

5. Good organization structure that allows learning, total quality management and re-engineering.

Bene

-assignment-services-management (1)

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