SAMAL ISLAND CITY COLLEGE

Datu Taganiog St. Brgy. Penaplata Island Garden City of Samal

Province of Davao del Norte, Philippines
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Semi-Final Lesson – Quality Service Management in Tourism and Hospitality

I. DESIGNING AND MANAGING SERVICE:

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the concept of service design;

2. Comprehend the challenges of service innovation and design;
3. Be familiar with the different service design principles;
4. Learn the differences among the types of service settings; and
5. Explain the necessity for service process design.

II. CONCEPT OF SERVICE DESIGN:

Design is a term often related to the physical structure or model of certain products that
is aimed to provide more value, better efficiency, or enhanced performance of the goods.
The term also applies to services, procedures, management styles, and processes with
the same purpose of providing value to clients and generating higher income for the
organization.

Design is used for various purposes in the different aspects of running a business
organization, such as creating standards in order to justify a premium price, introduce a
new product in a highly competitive industry, discourage competitors, please the
customers, streamline complex procedures, motivate employees and members of the
organization, apply innovative ideas, improve efficiency, and establish the competitive
advantages.

As an element of business operation, design can be a form of service, an output or

product, part of a process, an activity, culture of the organization, or simply a
management function.

Design is often connected to the organization's action or reaction to external stimulus,

such as changing market demands, technological innovations, and emergence of
competitors.

III. SERVICE INNOVATION AND DESIGN

The uniqueness of the tourism and hospitality industry as a service-oriented industry has
made the delivery, description, and communication of its product difficult. More so that
the product is tangible and often co-created with the customer, making it more complex,
dynamic, and challenging.

Before implementing service innovation, organizations can invest more attention in their
cultural dimension. It can enhance the collective cohesiveness, strengthen the trust
between members, and create a united professional team for enterprise service
innovation activities.

A. Service Design Principle

 SAMAL ISLAND CITY COLLEGE
Datu Taganiog St. Brgy. Penaplata Island Garden City of Samal
Province of Davao del Norte, Philippines
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

There are five principles of design that are followed by professionals. These are founded
on the idea that service design is focused on delivering quality customer experience.

1. Holistic. Although the design is focused on the customer, the organization should not
forget the idea that the environment plays a big role or influence on how well services can
be delivered. A carefully planned design would consider how the different factors from
the environment can enhance the service process.

2. Co-creative. Aside from the environment, those who create service designs should also
look and consider the stakeholders, who, in one way or another, influence the design.
Consider the impacts as well on how the design process can be properly communicated
or delivered through the stakeholders to maximize the potential of the service design.

3. User-centered. Service design is first and foremost created for the customers. Design
must focus on how customers expect products and services will be delivered. Ultimately,
designs will be dictated by how customers will require the service.

4. Sequencing. Products and services most often are delivered from a combination of
interrelated actions to come out with an output which is the product or service. To render
the best service, proper sequencing and timely delivery should be done, which may even
increase the level of satisfaction of customers.

5. Evidencing. Unlike tangible products and goods, which can be physically scrutinized,
services should somehow create a visual expectation of the product. This would make
the service establishment difficult to forget for it has created an impact on the customers
already.

These principles serve as a guide to elevate the experience of customers. Innovations

can always be available at any given time. Consequently, the principles we know today
may be irrelevant tomorrow.

Service innovation may be of different types, and they are based on strategies and
solutions undertaken by firms around their services rather than products. Some types of
service innovations are the following:

1. Service Provision Innovation. This innovation is about the services offered by firms
which are either new or improvements of existing services. The types of innovation
include major or fundamental innovations - these are new services to the market that
were not yet offered and often create an impact on consumers, e.g. Internet applications;
new services for segments that are catered to by an existing product that is one of same
generic need - examples include ride-sharing services competing against taxis or online
banking which used to be supported by the over-the-counter transactions; service
extensions - inclusion of new items among the choices of the customers, such as new
port of calls for cruise ships and new food in the menu; service improvements - changes
in features of service; and change in style - change in color scheme, change in logo, and
website revision among others.

2. Service Innovation Around Customers. This innovation happens when the customer's
role is redefined or altered. People who enjoy eating while watching home movies used
to go to fast-food chains or convenience stores for their food during the movie-watching
 SAMAL ISLAND CITY COLLEGE
Datu Taganiog St. Brgy. Penaplata Island Garden City of Samal
Province of Davao del Norte, Philippines
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

session. New companies now are offering delivery services to bring the food that a
customer wants right to his/her doorstep.

3. Innovation Through Solution. Firms approach the customer needs not by the traditional
offering of products, but by offering activities translating to the provision of solutions,
such as consulting in an area of expertise, managed services, design of travel and
vacation, and outsourcing.

4. Service Innovation Through Interconnectivity. The advancement of technology brought

forth the digitization of most electronic products. With digitization, sensors are built into
these appliances, including ways that the equipment may communicate. These sensors
can capture data that can then be transformed to create information and connectivity.
This interconnectivity may result in technology development to be able to provide comfort
and convenience to customers. Interconnectivity allows equipment to be accessed
remotely; enhances performance and safety; amplifies knowledge and capabilities; and
creates new capabilities.

II. BLUEPRINTING SERVICES

Blueprinting is an illustration of how services are rendered. It shows how a service design
is implemented. It is a plan that displays the interaction between departments, or
elements and activities as part of one entity. Blueprint provides a tool to dissect the
different components and steps in the process, how the tasks were performed, and proof
of service based on actual customer experience. Some of the steps in blueprinting
services are as follows:

a. Prepare a diagrammatic format of all elements and processes of the service design.
Geometric figures may be used to represent the different elements and process flow. As
the process becomes more complex, the diagram may also look multifaceted and may
require a larger space to render.

b. Recognize possible decision points and conflict zones or areas where there could be
possible issues and concerns that may arise.

c. Set standards in terms of allowable adjustments acceptable from the perspective of

both the customer and the organization.

d. Any photos, slides, or videos of the process can be very useful as pieces of evidence
that represent contact points, encounters, or interactions.

e. Analyze the impact of the pieces of evidence, contact points, and interactions as
regards the effect on the efficiency and profitability of the organizations.

A. Selected Methods and Tools for Service Process

1. Affinity Diagram
2. Brainstorming
3. Character Profiles
4. Contextual Interview
5. User Journey Map
 SAMAL ISLAND CITY COLLEGE
Datu Taganiog St. Brgy. Penaplata Island Garden City of Samal
Province of Davao del Norte, Philippines
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

6. Cultural Probes
7. Documentaries
8. Empathy Probes
9. Ethnographic User Research
10. Experience Prototype
11. Focus Group
12. Immersion (Workshop)
13. Observation
14. Personas
15. Prototyping
a. Sketches and Diagrams
b. Storyboarding
c. Building Blocks Prototype
d. Role-play
e. Physical Models
f. User-driven Prototype
16. Scenarios
17. Service Prototype
18. Shadowing
19. Stakeholder Map

III. Service Setting

- Defined as the physical environment or background in which service is rendered.

It paints an idea to clients, customers, stakeholders, and employees on how
service would be in terms of tangible and intangible features and appearance.

A. Types of Service Setting

1. The first classification concerns with whom the service setting would affect. This
can also be called self-service.
2. The second classification is the remote service wherein there are no customer
involved in the service setting.

IV. Redesigning Service Processes

1. Review the existing service design.

2. Removal of unnecessary steps.
3. Eliminating the bottlenecks.
4. Shifting from service design to self-service.

Summary:

The concept of service design extends beyond physical products and applies to
services, procedures, management styles, and processes with the aim of providing value
to clients and generating higher income for organizations. Design in the context of
business can take various forms, such as a service, output, process, activity, cultural
element, or management function, and it is often a response to external stimuli like
market demands and competition.
 SAMAL ISLAND CITY COLLEGE
Datu Taganiog St. Brgy. Penaplata Island Garden City of Samal
Province of Davao del Norte, Philippines
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Service design in the tourism and hospitality industry is complex due to its
intangible and co-created nature. Before implementing service innovation, organizations
should focus on their cultural dimension to enhance cohesiveness and trust among
members.

Service design principles include holism, co-creation, user-centeredness,

sequencing, and evidencing, all aimed at delivering quality customer experiences. Service
innovation can take different forms, including service provision innovation, customer-
centered innovation, solution-based innovation, and interconnectivity-based innovation.

Blueprinting services involves illustrating how services are delivered, detailing the
interaction between departments and activities. It helps analyze the service process,
identify decision points, and conflict zones, and set standards for adjustments.

Various methods and tools can be employed in service design, such as affinity
diagrams, brainstorming, personas, prototypes, scenarios, and stakeholder maps.

Service setting refers to the physical environment in which services are provided and can
influence clients, customers, stakeholders, and employees.

The process of redesigning service processes involves reviewing existing designs,

eliminating unnecessary steps, removing bottlenecks, and shifting toward self-service
options.