BBM 8th Semester
Service operation management Board Question Paper 2022

Mention four characteristics of service.

What is the role of inventory in service?

Give the concept of winning customers in the market place.

Write the importance of benchmarking in service.

What is bottleneck in service?

What do you understand by service process matrix?

Describe competitive environments of services.

Define service product. Describe product life cycle strategies.

Distinguish between focused and unfocused service operations with examples.

Describe the ways for making continuous improvement in services.

What is capacity management? Explain the important ways to improve resource utilization.

If you are a service manager of tourism business in Nepal, how do you handle current problem and challenges of your organization?

Define service operations management. Describe the emerging issues of service sectors of Nepal.

Distinguish between quality and productivity. Describe the quality tools used in analysis and problem solving in service sector.

Explain briefly ABCs of inventory control. Describe continuous review system and periodic review system of inventory.

"Operations planning and control is concerned with the sequencing, allocation and control of capacity and ensuring the flow of resources to meet the schedule." Comment on the statement.

Read the following cases carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Central Samui Beach Resort Hotel is the leading full-service resort hotel on Koh Samui, a tropical island paradise in the Gulf of Thailand. The hotel is located on the palm-fringed Chaweng beach, the longest and most beautiful beach on the island. The 'new colonial' style hotel has 208 rooms, which overlook the tropical gardens, swimming pools and beach. The hotel has excellent facilities, including swimming pools, tennis courts, fitness center, spa and three restaurants.
David Good is the general manager of the hotel and he explained why guests choose this hotel. There are three main reasons why our guests come here: location, space and service. Our location is ideal, a beautiful island with a superb all year round climate, but also we are located on Chaweng beach, which is the best beach with the best nightlife. Indeed, I reckon we have probably the best piece of property on the best bit of the best beach on the whole island. Space, too, is important. Guests don't like to feel cramped. We have large gardens and common areas so that our guests are able to spread out. They really seem to appreciate that.
Finally, there is our service, which is as good as you will find in the best hotels around the world. It is very traditionally Thai. Our staffs are very good-natured and friendly and they provide genuine hospitality and warmth. This has a big impact on our guests. We receive many thank-you letters and guests often send us the photographs they have had taken with the staff, asking us to pass them on with thanks. We also have a large number of returning guests, running at around 5 per cent, and growing, which is amazing given the short length of time we have been open.
The hotel provides an outstanding level of service and David went on to explain what this means. First, we have very few problems or complaints. Indeed, I can honestly say we have no big issues that result in negative feedback. We do, like any hotel, have some minor issues, just small irritations. Right now, for example, we occasionally have problems with water pressure. Some people don't have quite as clear a sea view as they might have hoped, with some trees and bushes in the garden slightly obscuring their view. Some say the curry was a little too spicy.
Second, high quality service is about consistency. Consistency is important. When our guests come back, they very much expect the same high level of service that delighted them the first time and that continues to delight them. The issue for us is to provide that same level of service – the smiles, the greeting, and the helpfulness – day in, day out.
Thirdly, it's about the little things, personal touches, such as taking time with guests; a few minutes here and there to acknowledge people, or spend a few minutes talking with them. The guest-relations staff, for example, sometimes sends small gifts to our guests if it's their birthday or if they are a returning guests or if they're on honeymoon or it's their anniversary. We try and track all these things – little surprises here and there. It's these small things that really stick in people's minds
Questions:
a. How does the Central Samui Hotel go about providing outstanding customer service?
b. By delighting customers on their first visit to the hotel, is David in danger of raising expectations so that they won't be delighted on subsequent visits?
c. What are the advantages and disadvantages of providing both complaints and compliments for the hotel and the customer?
d. What recommendation will you make for improvement of service quality of Samui?