Question

Which of the following qualities is NOT related to service operations?
1. Output is Intangible.
2. Customer contact is high.
3. Uniformity of output is low
4. Opportunity to correct quality problems before delivery is high

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : Opportunity to correct quality problems before delivery is high

Explanation:

Service operations:

• Service operation encompasses the day-to-day activities, processes, and infrastructure responsible for delivering value to the business through technology.

Services have a number of unique characteristics that make them different from products. 

Intangibility:

• The most basic and universally cited characteristic of services is intangibility because services are performances or actions rather than objects, they cannot be seen, felt, tasted, or touched in the same manner that we can sense tangible goods.
• For example, when we buy a cake of soap, we can see, feel, smell and use it to check its effectiveness in cleaning. But, when we pay fees for a semester in the university, we are paying for the benefits of deriving knowledge, skills and education which is delivered to us by teachers. Teaching is an intangible service. 

Inseparability:

• In most cases, a service cannot be separated from the person or firm providing it. Service is provided by a person who possesses a particular skill (singer, doctor, etc.), by using equipment to handle a tangible product (dry cleaning) or by allowing access to or use of physical infrastructure (hotel, train, etc.). Hence Customer contact is high.

Heterogeneity:

• Since services are performances, frequently produced by human beings, no two services will be precisely alike.
• The human element is very much involved in providing and rendering services and this makes standardization a very difficult task to achieve. Hence uniformity of output is low.

Perishability:

• Perishability refers to the fact that services cannot be saved, stored, resold, or returned. Since services are deeds, performances or acts whose production and consumption takes place simultaneously, they tend to perish in the absence of consumption.

No Transfer of Ownership:

• When we buy a product, we become its owner-be it a pen, book, shirt, TV or Car. In the case of a service, we may pay for its use, but we never own it.