When people think of services, they often think about offerings that are neutral or routine. Thes... more When people think of services, they often think about offerings that are neutral or routine. These tend to be services they use regularly ? for example, dry cleaning, haircutting or gardening. However, there is a third type of service that is not often considered or well understood. The authors refer to these as ?negative? services because they are related to events most people hope they will not have to deal with: toothaches, leaky roofs or collision repairs, for example. Because the events that trigger the need for negative services are not everyday occurrences, many people are not equipped to diagnose the needs or to make informed judgments about the solutions required; furthermore, even after the service has been provided, most people are in a poor position to judge its quality or the price they paid for it. Negative services are offered by many kinds of companies in many industries, including health care, insurance, household repair, pest control, ambulance use and so on. Companies discussed in the article include Laidlaw International, Multiasistencia Group, American Home Shield, Terminix, Fresenius Medical Care AG, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Sears. Sears HomeCentral, for example, is an attempt to turn negative services for homeowners into a profitable segment of Sears? overall business. Even companies that are not primarily negative-service providers have negative-service aspects to their offerings. For example, product companies often provide warranties as a means of staying competitive. Companies hoping to build positions in negative services face two major challenges: (1) how to access inexperienced customers who are not in a strong position to evaluate the service being provided and may have a poor idea of its cost and (2) how to organize and deploy their services to meet customer needs when demand is unpredictable.
Tras estudiar la innovacion de 759 empresas en 17 grandes mercados, los investigadores Gerard J. ... more Tras estudiar la innovacion de 759 empresas en 17 grandes mercados, los investigadores Gerard J. Tellis, Jaideep C. Prabhu y Rajesh K. Chandy descubrieron que la cultura corporativa es mucho mas importante para la innovacion extrema que la cultura del pais, el gobierno, el capital o el trabajo. Pero, para los directivos, esa conclusion plantea dos nuevas preguntas: ?que es una cultura corporativa innovadora? y ?si no se tiene cultura de innovacion, hay alguna forma de crearla? Este articulo responde ambas preguntas ofreciendo un modelo simple de los elementos principales que componen la cultura de innovacion, asi como una herramienta de evaluacion completa que los directores pueden usar para valorar hasta que punto la cultura de su empresa esta contribuyendo a la innovacion
Businesses are increasingly trying to enhance customers' experiences, but that's not easy... more Businesses are increasingly trying to enhance customers' experiences, but that's not easy when dealing with scenarios that are inherently routine. The authors relate how three companies have been successful at injecting fun into seemingly neutral environments
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 2000
A study of 63 Toronto restaurants found that certain attributes or amenities had a statistically ... more A study of 63 Toronto restaurants found that certain attributes or amenities had a statistically significant effect on average check, as well as customers' ratings of decor and service quality. The features tested were offering catering, a dress code, late-night dining, live entertainment, outside seating, parking, smoking, takeout, and some form of internet activity. Specifically, a dress code boosted check averages and improved ratings for decor, service, and food quality. Offering parking also boosted check averages. In contrast, offering takeout depressed check averages and reduced the ratings for decor. Offering a late-night menu had a significant negative effect on perceptions of food and service quality. The restaurant features offered most frequently were catering, takeout, and a smoking section.
The UCLA walk-in clinic was scheduled to move into a new building in late 1997. This prompted the... more The UCLA walk-in clinic was scheduled to move into a new building in late 1997. This prompted the reevaluation of its existing service delivery system. A study was conducted among patients to understand their expectations and perceptions of the clinic's performance. The study was successful in identifying trends and problems and it was instrumental in developing proposals for a new patient flow system to be implemented in the new facility.
This paper is about negative services. Breakdowns of equipment, problems with buildings, illness ... more This paper is about negative services. Breakdowns of equipment, problems with buildings, illness and some government services such as tax or INS and many other situations of unusual risk create negative feelings in service users. In the US economy, these services are quite significant. Health care is one of our largest service industries ($1.6 trillion) and growing. And according to
When people think of services, they often think about offerings that are neutral or routine. Thes... more When people think of services, they often think about offerings that are neutral or routine. These tend to be services they use regularly ? for example, dry cleaning, haircutting or gardening. However, there is a third type of service that is not often considered or well understood. The authors refer to these as ?negative? services because they are related to events most people hope they will not have to deal with: toothaches, leaky roofs or collision repairs, for example. Because the events that trigger the need for negative services are not everyday occurrences, many people are not equipped to diagnose the needs or to make informed judgments about the solutions required; furthermore, even after the service has been provided, most people are in a poor position to judge its quality or the price they paid for it. Negative services are offered by many kinds of companies in many industries, including health care, insurance, household repair, pest control, ambulance use and so on. Companies discussed in the article include Laidlaw International, Multiasistencia Group, American Home Shield, Terminix, Fresenius Medical Care AG, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Sears. Sears HomeCentral, for example, is an attempt to turn negative services for homeowners into a profitable segment of Sears? overall business. Even companies that are not primarily negative-service providers have negative-service aspects to their offerings. For example, product companies often provide warranties as a means of staying competitive. Companies hoping to build positions in negative services face two major challenges: (1) how to access inexperienced customers who are not in a strong position to evaluate the service being provided and may have a poor idea of its cost and (2) how to organize and deploy their services to meet customer needs when demand is unpredictable.
Tras estudiar la innovacion de 759 empresas en 17 grandes mercados, los investigadores Gerard J. ... more Tras estudiar la innovacion de 759 empresas en 17 grandes mercados, los investigadores Gerard J. Tellis, Jaideep C. Prabhu y Rajesh K. Chandy descubrieron que la cultura corporativa es mucho mas importante para la innovacion extrema que la cultura del pais, el gobierno, el capital o el trabajo. Pero, para los directivos, esa conclusion plantea dos nuevas preguntas: ?que es una cultura corporativa innovadora? y ?si no se tiene cultura de innovacion, hay alguna forma de crearla? Este articulo responde ambas preguntas ofreciendo un modelo simple de los elementos principales que componen la cultura de innovacion, asi como una herramienta de evaluacion completa que los directores pueden usar para valorar hasta que punto la cultura de su empresa esta contribuyendo a la innovacion
Businesses are increasingly trying to enhance customers' experiences, but that's not easy... more Businesses are increasingly trying to enhance customers' experiences, but that's not easy when dealing with scenarios that are inherently routine. The authors relate how three companies have been successful at injecting fun into seemingly neutral environments
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 2000
A study of 63 Toronto restaurants found that certain attributes or amenities had a statistically ... more A study of 63 Toronto restaurants found that certain attributes or amenities had a statistically significant effect on average check, as well as customers' ratings of decor and service quality. The features tested were offering catering, a dress code, late-night dining, live entertainment, outside seating, parking, smoking, takeout, and some form of internet activity. Specifically, a dress code boosted check averages and improved ratings for decor, service, and food quality. Offering parking also boosted check averages. In contrast, offering takeout depressed check averages and reduced the ratings for decor. Offering a late-night menu had a significant negative effect on perceptions of food and service quality. The restaurant features offered most frequently were catering, takeout, and a smoking section.
The UCLA walk-in clinic was scheduled to move into a new building in late 1997. This prompted the... more The UCLA walk-in clinic was scheduled to move into a new building in late 1997. This prompted the reevaluation of its existing service delivery system. A study was conducted among patients to understand their expectations and perceptions of the clinic's performance. The study was successful in identifying trends and problems and it was instrumental in developing proposals for a new patient flow system to be implemented in the new facility.
This paper is about negative services. Breakdowns of equipment, problems with buildings, illness ... more This paper is about negative services. Breakdowns of equipment, problems with buildings, illness and some government services such as tax or INS and many other situations of unusual risk create negative feelings in service users. In the US economy, these services are quite significant. Health care is one of our largest service industries ($1.6 trillion) and growing. And according to
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