First of all, let me touch upon the article by Mary Jo Bitner called “Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees.”
In her article the author argues that not only physical surroundings define the productivity and effectiveness of the trade process but also that different models of customer-employee relations lead to a different extent of influence of such surroundings. Particularly, the author says that there can be three major models which are self-service when customer can be served without any interaction with an employee; interpersonal services which include the involvement of both employees and customers and remote service when there is no physical interaction with the employee who, nonetheless accords a service to a customer (Bitner, 1992).
Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that my own experience – probably, like the experience of many among us – supports the ideas propounded in the readings.
At the same time, there is some questions left as per the material involved in this topic. First of all, are the customers and employers to be considered only as participants of the trading situations or also elements of the physical surroundings or one another? Do the character and other traits of the vis-à-vis influence how the physical surrounding is perceived by each side and, therefore, the way it influences his performance? Secondly, where do personal emotions fir in the equation? Customers as well as employee may happen to be in the bad mood or to have experienced something bad just before the customer-employer interaction in question. Is this an objective factor to be considered or is this a variable that can be omitted in the process of evaluation of the models?
The two scholars research how civic space arrangement influences how the business is done in a certain place and what are the outcomes of the influence of these differing circumstances. In order to provide specific examples the authors talk about a city planning commission and how business in it is done in different circumstances: on the front stage where opposing sides are presented as decision makers with rivaling views in very formal circumstances. Public hearings and formal decision making is conducted here. IN the backstage area conditions are less formal and demand less formalities which makes the decision making process differ from that one that exists in the front stage. Finally, in the deeper back stage areas agreements are not only informal, they are clandestine.
A good example from everyday life is, again, banking sphere. If a person is being accorded bank services through the window of the cashier, this creates almost no space of maneuver for the client. At the same time, if a client uses a personal bank assistant to resolve his matter this promises him more attention, more profound study of his case by the bank employee, more privileged position and therefore better outcome. This means that in our everyday life we come across the very same diversification the author accounted using example of the city planning commission.
The question that still is left unanswered is this – what about such places as restaurants and other public spaces? In modern business decisions tend to be taken there more often, so what is the impact and role of these exact surroundings? The second question is this: what about media space, especially social network, e-mails, etcetera. Decisions are made wirelessly more often than we think, how does this surrounding influence the decision making process?
Finally, to “The American Statehouse” by Goodsell. The main point the author makes in his work consists in the fact that spatial dimensions can become symbols of a state. To illustrate it the author cites the example of state capitols. He argues that these buildings are usually the incarnation of not only statehood but also of ideals and values cherished in the given state, of the might, of the strength and the philosophy of it. Goodsell further elaborates on the topic detailing the element of state buildings as separate symbols (Goodsell, 2001).
And this very example leaves the open question: do the conclusions presented by the author touch upon only buildings? What about statues, monuments, public places?
References
Bitner, Mary Jo. (1992). Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employers. Journal of Marketing. Vol. 56, No.2.
Domahidy, Mary R. and James F. Gilsinan. (1992). The Back Stage Is Not the Back Room: How Spatial Arrangements Affect the Administration of Public Affairs. Public Administration Review. Vol.52. No.6.
Goodsell, Charles T. (2001). The American Statehouse. Lawrence: UP of Kansas.
