Objective
This assignment aims to highlight the importance of an effective service delivery process as part of an organization’s strategy to achieve competitive advantage
Competitive positioning involves implementation of unique strategies aimed at giving the firms a competitive edge. It can be simply described as a unique strategy which creates value for the firm. As some say, it improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm. Wernerfelt (1984) points out that the competitive position is obtained either through external or internal alterations to the environment. Grant (2008) on the other hand points out that the competitive position is impacted on by the magnitude of changes, firm’s capabilities and the firm’s strategic positioning. Competitive advantage resources are distributed heterogeneously, in addition to being immobile. The overall implication is that different firms employ different strategies leading to diversification of competitive advantage and different performances. A firm’s competitive positioning and advantage is dependent on the relative ease with which the competitive position can be substituted or exploited by other firms. According to Barney (2009), a sustainable competitive position should be valuable, unique, non-imitable, and not easy to substitute.
Competitive position imitation has to do with replication of the same structures giving the firm a competitive edge by other similar firms. In a competitive market, this is likely to happen. More often than not, costs and time determine the level of ease for another firm to replicate one firm’s competitive advantage. For a competitor to successfully imitate another firm’s competitive position, the firm should identify, offer an incentive, diagnose, and also possess the ability to get the necessary resources (Grant, 2008). The ease with which an organization can imitate others competitive position revolves around costs, time and existing resource capability required to achieve the same.
Competitive position knowledge as well the performance category of competitors is crucial to the establishment of desirable or defendable positions. Hypothetically, competitive positioning can be analyzed as follows, its starts, but identification of the traits that motivate consumers to get a product/service. This trait and their importance should be defined well in advance. The next thing involves identification of the perception of competitors of attributes offered by other firms. A defensible market position is, therefore, one free from imitation or substitution by what other brands offer.
An aspect most often ignored by many businesses when strategizing brand loyalty is the uniqueness and quality of their service delivery process. Being the closest strategic aspect to the customer, the effectiveness of delivery process is an inimitable and non-substitutable core competency that any organization could develop to remain ahead of the competition.
Service Delivery Process
The three words above describe the process whose quality determines the long term survival of any business. “Customer is king” Therefore the quality of service delivery is of utmost importance to create a loyal and progressively growing customer base that can be sustained over the long run. Key is to identify what “matters” to the buyer of a particular product or service, in a given market because there are instances where poor quality service is compensated for by a lower price, thus the service being perceived as “good” or “okay” by the customer, rather than carrying a negative impression of the service offered, in terms of value for money.
The service quality is critically evaluated against different service delivery process models.
Business type: Hotel Restaurants
Restaurants are most likely to see repeat visits by customers. However, given the intensity of competition and availability of substitutes, it is unlikely that a poorly served customer in terms of service and price will return.
Based on observations made during the mystery shopping experiment the service offered could be concluded as mediocre by both restaurants due to the following reasons and the impressions they leave in the minds of the customer, thus affecting the business’s competitive positioning.
Common observations in Hotel restaurant le tonnelier and Le Marco Polo
- Customers were not greeted with a smile. However, failure to do so will create a sense of hostility and makes the customer feel less important as genuineness in the greeting is distorted.
- The impact of an Impressive, vintage setup was however subdued in a negative sense on the friendliness front. Customers entering and leaving these hotel restaurants are most likely to be dissatisfied if they expect a service directly proportionate to the appearance of the setup. In such a circumstance if businesses are not quick enough to identify and acknowledge their weaknesses to reduce expectation gap, adverse consequences would follow
Restaurant specific observations
Hotel restaurant le tonnelier
- The waiters were either idling and took no notice of the new customers who entered and found themselves a place to sit. First impressions last. Although a customer may be a by-passer who is never to return and time spent trying to please them might not reap the benefit expected out of it, a business with a vision to last for long has to create lasting impressions even on one timers. Negative publicity even if from one person can damage the business’s reputation to a great extent given the access to social media and other public platforms where people take on an express their views on almost anything for the whole world to see.
- New customers were not approached or ushered to be offered a suitable sitting arrangement in both restaurants – This failure to connect to the customer would affect their level of comfort when placing the order. Further no choice of products was offered while waiting to take the order, thus increasing the extent of discomfort and feeling of alienation in a new place.
Le Marco Polo
- Customers were made eye contact with when entering and their walking in was acknowledged, thus giving the customer a feeling of being noticed and importance. Such customer centric efforts, though trivial in nature may leave lasting impact for first timers.
- The waiters were busy serving customers who were already there, Hence, the fact of not attending to customers immediately may be excused by rational customers. However, a smile and nod at entering across the table while serving other customers is a powerful gesture and is highly likely for the customer to connect on a personal level with the waiter and thus the restaurant
.
Theorists have identified several models that businesses could adopt in order to ensure effectiveness of service quality and convert that into competitive advantage more often than not.
Gap model analysis
As per the gap model, customers visit a restaurant that appeals to them and enter with certain expectations and when what they experience significantly differs from their expectations the gap in satisfaction increases. Hence it is vital that, one considers the six steps of the service blue print theory that helps reduce this gap as it involves simulating customer perception of services offered. Although this could mean better service there is the risk of customer expectation and management perception of customer expectation being different or a there is a greater risk of service quality specifications not being properly aligned with managements perception. For example, As per the service blueprint of the business managers may have specified that waiters have to serve customers “fast” with no yardstick to measure a waiters performance i.e. not clearly specifying “how fast”. An alternative would be to specify that waiters have to serve or at least update the customer, in the case of a large order, within 15 minutes after the order is placed. Such clarity helps to better serve customers and allows for a fair appraisal of employee performance.
Further, the absence of customer satisfaction driven standards, Poorly trained front end personnel, insufficient relationship focus and weak upward communication within a restaurant create a gap between service specification and quality of service delivery. This gap could also arise if a business is overly optimistic of its service delivering quality and defiant about the practical setbacks in real time delivery, especially if the business is poorly staffed. The first restaurant visited had only two waiters serving the customers.
Flower of Service Model analysis
Flower of service model focuses on enhancing performance of a core product or service through superior customer experience. As per the model, services of a hotel restaurant can be categorized into facilitating services and enhancing services
Facilitating services – Information, order taking, billing and payment
Enhancing services – Consultation, hospitality, safe keeping, exceptions
Careful attention to each service area is crucial in this business. Following is a set of examples to improve the current quality of service in the hotel restaurant
Service blueprint analysis
Organizational set ups bring aboard different persons in different roles. The decision making process is non-confined to any of these persons. All make decisions with respect to what they do. Nonetheless, decisions made by managers are of particular importance as they ripple through the entire organization. More often, some scholars have considered managerial decision making as being synonymous with management itself. The bottom line is that every manager should try to make good decisions.
Formulation of a service blueprint will require the involvement of managers at all levels as it is a tool used in operations planning to provide guidance on how a specific service would be provided to the end customer. In a typical restaurant context, this would involve a study if daily demand categorized to different times of the day, the planning and managing of logistics in relation to inventory i.e. quantities and times for raw materials to be purchased, table and seating arrangements infrastructure, welcoming of customers, assistance with menu, efficiency and speed of serving (customer waiting time), appearance and mannerism of waiters etc.
A service blueprint will prove to be effective depending on how clearly it explains or illustrates (in the case of a graphic service blueprint) the mechanism to be followed to offer a particular service. Relevant and attractive advertising and billboards could be an effective channel through which a restaurant’s service blueprint is communicated to its customers.
However, this raises expectations and customer satisfaction is instilled only when such expectations are exceeded or met. Seeking to exceed expectations is more reassuring as one cannot say what exactly the customer deems “par” in his/her mind
Service profit chain analysis
Customer loyalty is a result of customer satisfaction and loyal customers are what determine long term profitability, according to James L. Heskett, Thomas Jones, Gary Loveman. W. Earl Sasser and Leonard Schlsinger from Harvard University.
Their study that states that superior customer experience largely influences customer loyalty and financial performance was later criticized for lack of hard supporting data.
However, loyal customers also serve as a marketing tool (word of mouth promotion) which is zero cost but generates substantial turnover over the long term. Therefore the theory cannot be completely undermined on the absence of apparent evidence as it cannot be denied that the concept of effective branding and its connection to financial performance is a branch of the effects that customer satisfaction and loyalty created by a business over time.
In conclusion, a mix of the models would be a wise choice to make to offer customers an exceptional service experience. Further, it is essential that the business understands the needs of specific segments and tailors their customer service to meet the specific needs of those customers with a view to enhance their delivery service process and gain a competitive edge that cannot be matched without serious commitment to customer satisfaction and sufficient and relevant market research. Localization is a popular strategy used by restaurants operating internationally or sometimes even across different cultures in the same country. It gives out a strong message that the business exists for service leadership.
References
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