Managing Service Quality: An International Journal

Is self-service the future of services?

James A. Fitzsimmons
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James A. Fitzsimmons, (2003),"Is self-service the future of services?", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal,
Vol. 13 Iss 6 pp. 443 - 444
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James M. Curran, Matthew L. Meuter, (2005),"Self-service technology adoption: comparing three technologies", Journal of
Services Marketing, Vol. 19 Iss 2 pp. 103-113 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08876040510591411
Pratibha A. Dabholkar, L. Michelle Bobbitt, Eun-Ju Lee, (2003),"Understanding consumer motivation and behavior related to
self-scanning in retailing: Implications for strategy and research on technology-based self-service", International Journal of
Service Industry Management, Vol. 14 Iss 1 pp. 59-95 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09564230310465994
Dwane H. Dean, (2008),"Shopper age and the use of self-service technologies", Managing Service Quality: An International
Journal, Vol. 18 Iss 3 pp. 225-238 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520810871856

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Guru’s view
Is self-service the
future of services?
James A. Fitzsimmons
Downloaded by Universitas Sebelas Maret, Mr perpus uns At 19:53 21 March 2015 (PT)
The author
James A. Fitzsimmons is the William H. Seay Centennial
Professor of Management at the University of Texas at
Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Keywords
Automation, Self-service, Service industries
Abstract
Describes all the automated processes that can be utilised
when making a business trip and how human interaction
within the service sector has been replaced by machines.
This has the potential for customization, accuracy,
convenience and speed, dependent on individual customer
acceptance of the new system.
Electronic access
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Managing Service Quality
Volume 13 · Number 6 · 2003 · pp. 443-444
q MCB UP Limited · ISSN 0960-4529
DOI 10.1108/09604520310506496
443
The alarm rings and my day begins with a
shower followed by frozen waffles heated in
the toaster. Before leaving for the airport, I go
to the airline’s Web page, where weeks before I
had purchased the ticket and made seat
selections, and print out my boarding pass. At
the entrance to the toll expressway on the way
to the airport, a scanner reads the bar code on
my windshield for later billing. At the airport,
I use my credit card to pass through the gate to
the airport long-term parking structure.
Inside the airport I attach a baggage claim
tape to a package I am checking and place it
on the conveyor into the x-ray machine. After
landing at my destination I look on the
message board at the car rental and pickup my
reserved car in the lot. On the way into town, I
use my cell phone to direct-dial business
appointments and leave several messages on
answering machines. I purchase a drink and
sandwich at a vending machine for lunch.
Dinner is at a cafeteria where I select meal
items, place them on a tray, pay with a credit
card, and find an empty table. When I finish
eating, bus my dishes. After the day’s business
meetings I leave the rental car at its drop-off
point, proceed to the airport terminal, and use
the airline kiosk to print my boarding pass.
Arriving home I pick up my car at the parking
lot where a scanner reads my ticket and debits
my credit card. I stop at a grocery store to pick
up a few items on the way home and use the
self-checkout station and credit card. At home
I check my investments and sell shares of a
poor-performing stock.
This vignette of a typical business trip
illustrates many opportunities for self-service
and suggests that provider motivation and
customer benefits can drive the growth of self-
service. Elimination of labor costs for
nonproductive activity is the principal driver
for the service provider. Customer acceptance
results from increased opportunity for
customization, accuracy, convenience, and
speed.
Service has migrated from human
interaction to substitution of machines for
service employees or, where feasible, to
anywhere-anytime electronic service. This
trajectory is similar to the past experience in
the agricultural and manufacturing sectors of
the economy where human labor has been
driven out of the production process
relentlessly. Table I gives examples of the
inroads that self-service technology (SST) has
made in the service sector.
 Is self-service the future of services? Managing Service Quality
James A. Fitzimmons Volume 13 · Number 6 · 2003 · 443-444

Table I Evolution of self-service

Service industry Human contact Machine assisted service Electronic service
Retail banking Teller ATM Online banking
Grocery Checkout clerk Self-checkout station Online order/pickup
Airlines Ticket agent Check-in kiosk Print boarding pass
Restaurants Wait person Vending machine Online order/delivery
Movie theater Ticket sale Kiosk ticketing Pay-for-view
Book store Information clerk Stock-availability terminal Online ordering
Education Teacher Computer tutorial Distance learning
Gambling Poker dealer Computer poker Online poker
Retail store Checkout clerk Self-checkout station Online shopping

The initial targets of SST were service .

What is the optimal mix of SST and
transactions that did not add value or have personal service for a service delivery
revenue-enhancing opportunity because the system?
Downloaded by Universitas Sebelas Maret, Mr perpus uns At 19:53 21 March 2015 (PT)

substitution of technology for employee labor .

achieved cost savings. For example, the
introduction of ATMs by banks a quarter of a
century ago saved teller costs but also
provided customers with place-and-time
convenience. However, services that can be
digitized and delivered via the Internet such as
entertainment, information, and training
represent new opportunities for SST.
By definition, high-touch services such as
healthcare, fire fighting, and dentistry remain
immune to self-service, but some inroads are
possible. For example, a patient at home can
use a blood pressure machine to record heart
activity that can be sent by telephone to a
remote receiver in the doctor’s office.
The introduction of self-service technology
raises several questions for service providers
and researchers:
.
Does customer adoption of self-service
follow a predictable pattern?
. What are the characteristics of early
adopters of self-service?
.
How can the Taguchi approach to robust
design and poka-yoke devices be
incorporated in SST design?
.
How can we design for self-recovery when
service failure occurs?[1]
.
How do we measure self-service quality
(e.g. ease of use, enjoyment, and/or
control)?
How do we achieve continuous
improvement when using SST?
.
What are the limits of self-service given
the inherent loss of human interaction?
The proliferation of self-service has many
implications for society. As opportunities for
interpersonal interactions diminish, we see a
potential to further a trend towards alienation
in society. Low wage, unskilled, non-value-
added service jobs are bound to disappear.
The emergence of a self-service sector means
that the growth in service jobs will be limited
to highly skilled (e.g. health care), intellectual
(e.g. professional), and creative (e.g.
entertainment) pursuits. Finally, the question
of what constitutes economic activity will
need to be redefined to account for the value
of self-service labor.
Note
1 Service recovery systems were found to be almost
nonexistent for SSTs in a national survey reported in
Bitner et al. (2002)
Reference
Bitner, M.J., Ostrom, A.L. and Meuter, M.L. (2002),
“Implementing successful self-service
technologies”, Academy of Management Executive,
Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 96-109.

444
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