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1. Ordering clothing online from Lands End is an example of which of the followi

ID: 330123 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Ordering clothing online from Lands End is an example of which of the following:

No customer contact, processing of goods (high divergence)

Direct customer contact, processing of goods (high divergence)

No customer contact, processing of information (low divergence)

Indirect customer contact, processing of information (low divergence)

Indirect customer contact, processing of information (high divergence)

2.

Contact personnel have little to no autonomy to meet individual customer needs in which of the following type of service encounters?

Customer dominated

Back-office dominated

Contact personnel dominated

Service organization dominated

None of the above.

3.

Items in a restaurant such as the chairs customers sit on, the silverware they use to eat with, and the glasses they drink beverages out of are all examples of:

Information

Explicit services

Implicit services

Facilitating goods

Supporting facility

a.

No customer contact, processing of goods (high divergence)

b.

Direct customer contact, processing of goods (high divergence)

c.

No customer contact, processing of information (low divergence)

d.

Indirect customer contact, processing of information (low divergence)

e.

Indirect customer contact, processing of information (high divergence)

Explanation / Answer

1) d. Indirect customer contact, processing of information (low divergence)

In this case, customer is not physically present throughou the service encounter. However, the customer cummunicates with service provider via website. So, this is indiect customer contact. Only information is being exchanged in this step, as the customer places order online. This is low divergence because it is a standardized service, as there is no customization.

2) d. Service organization dominated

In such organizations, service delivery is standardized by imposing strict operating procedures and discretion of contact personnel is severely limited. In such organizations, contact personnel may only sympathize with customers, but they are forced to stick to the standard operating procedures.

3) c. Implicit services

Implicit services are psychological benefits or the extrinsic features that the consumer may sense vaguely. These are extrinsic features.