Service Quality Management Simulation
Resource Page

Rogelio Oliva
Mays Business School, 325M Wehner - 4217 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843
Phone (979) 862-3744; Fax (979) 845-5653
roliva@tamu.edu




Service delivery processes differ from product manufacturing as the servers (employees) and the elements being processed (customers) are humans -- with psychological attributes, perceptions, and expectations. Furthermore, services are produced in front of customers and often with direct collaboration from them, thus bringing employees and customers physically and psychologically close. Customers' perception of the service experience is not only affected by the conditions under which the service is delivered, but also by the employees' attitudes towards the customer. Similarly, employees' attitudes towards and perceptions of their job are influenced by customers' attitudes towards the service. This co-evolution of perceptions and expectations is further confounded by the fact that services are intangible, thus making it difficult to assess customer requirements and to fix an objective service standard. Clearly, the study of services requires an interdisciplinary approach; an integrated understanding of the organizational and behavioral components of the social systems that produce and consume the service, as well as the physical and technological characteristics of the service delivery system.

Managerial decisions in tightly-coupled environments like this often generate counter-intuitive results that are further confounded by the fact that consequences are often separated from their causes by long delays and organizational boundaries. Learning in this context is difficult as managers, in the absence of precise and timely feedback, often derived the wrong lessons from their experience. To help managers better understand the long-term consequences of their decisions on service quality we have developed a Service Quality Management Simulation that captures the main operational characteristics of service delivery processes, as well as the behavioral components of customers, managers and employees. The operating premise of any simulation exercise is that experience is an effective teacher. As managers observe the consequences of their actions in the simulator, they create new explanations on how the world around you functions.



In addition to the realtime help in the simulation, the Wiki help file, and the video describing the basic functionality of the simulation -- all available to players online -- the following resources are available to support the instructor.

The simulator, its uses, and benefits are described in

Oliva R, Bean M. 2008. Developing operational understanding of service quality through a simulation environment. International Journal of Service Industry Management 19(2):160-175.

The theory behind the simulator is developed in

Oliva R, Sterman JD. 2001. Cutting corners and working overtime: Quality erosion in the service industry. Management Science 47(7):894-914. Resources

A managerial version of the theory and its implications are available at

Oliva R. 2001. Tradeoffs in responses to work pressure in the service industry. California Management Review 43(4):26-43. Reprinted in IEEE Engineering Management Review 30(1):53-63.

I've used the following Harvard Business School case (and teaching note) to bring some of these concepts into the classroom

Oliva R, Hoffer-Gittell J, Lane D. 2002. Southwest Airlines in Baltimore and Supplement. Harvard Business School, Cases 602-156 and 602-157. Boston, MA.

Oliva R. 2002. Southwest Airlines in Baltimore (TN). Harvard Business School, Teaching Note 603-055. Boston, MA.

With this case I often use a smaller version of the simulator focusing just on the dynamics of service productivity as a function of growth, turnover, and the employees' learning curve.

Oliva R. 2002. Learning curve for service organizations. Forio Business Simulations. San Francisco, CA.

Finally, the following two teaching notes provide some guidelines on how to use a simulation in the classroom environment

Oliva R. 2000. Learning from simulations: Guidelines for the 'Building Service, Driving Profit' interactive simulation. Harvard Business School, Supplement 800-248. Boston, MA.

Oliva R. 2001. 'Building Service, Driving Profits' interactive simulation (TN). Harvard Business School, Teaching Note 801-483. Boston, MA.




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Last updated November 27, 2012.

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