The service sector science education health care is highly developed. Operations management. The importance of the service sector in modern society

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Introduction

The relevance of the topic is that our modern society cannot be imagined without services and, as a consequence, without the service sector, which is one of the fundamental elements of society and a specialist in the service sector needs to have a good understanding of the structure of the service sector and know the main points of each area of activity of a service enterprise.

Every day we consume services and sometimes, without knowing it, we provide them to other people. Providing services to each other, producing and consuming services is what distinguishes us from our primitive ancestors, who did not have the concept of services in general. Our civilization, with the progress of its transformation, has identified a special niche for the service sector, without which a civilized society can no longer do.

The life of a modern person, one way or another, is connected with services. After all, trade in services includes the provision of utilities, communications, banking business, wholesale and retail trade, transportation, as well as insurance, legal, medical, educational services, etc. The quality of services determines the income of the state, the profit of companies, the comfort, safety, and welfare of consumers.

The connection here is direct and obvious: high-quality services attract attention and make people want to use them to make life easier. The gradually developing positive situation in retail trade allows consumers to compare one service with another, and also pushes competitors to provide constantly improving services while ensuring their quality. The need to develop the service sector requires a significant restructuring of the population's consumption structure, a significant increase in the share of services and a reduction in the share of material consumption. It is necessary to radically improve the quality and culture of service, expand the network of relevant enterprises, increase the volume of sales of services, and introduce new types and forms of them.

The purpose of my test is to understand the general concepts of what a service actually is, what specific features it has, to embrace the whole concept of the service sector and to consider what operational features it has.

The specific objectives of the test are to:

Using the example of our society, show what role the service plays in general, basic concepts;

Highlight the specifics of the service sector;

Understand the outline of the service industry;

Consider the features of the service sector in the modern world

The objects of study of this topic will be the service sector, a society in which there is an exchange of services on different conditions, as well as the direct relationship between a person and the service sector in modern society.

1. Service sector. Basic Concepts

Every day, leaving home, we begin to come into contact with the social environment, consuming, producing, and of course using all kinds of services. Sometimes we cannot touch or somehow materially feel the service. However, in our world, the concept of service has a wide range of definitions. One of which implies that a service is a purposeful activity, the result of which is expressed in a useful effect that can satisfy one or another human need, which may initially be the object of supply and demand in the market.

A service is a purposeful activity, the result of which is expressed in a useful effect that can satisfy one or another human need, which may initially be the object of supply and demand in the market. The concept of “service” has a wide range of definitions. In general terms, services are usually understood as various types of activities that do not have an explicit material form.

firstly, they are invisible;

secondly, they cannot be stored;

thirdly, the production and consumption of services, as a rule, coincide in time and place.

This determines the features of international trade in services compared to international trade in goods.

There are two types of services:

services that are mediated by property. They are related to consumer goods (material);

services not related to material products. Their action is aimed at a person or at the conditions in which he is located, their production is inseparable from consumption (intangible).

A specific service industry is international tourism.

Specific features of international trade in services include:

Regulation within the country by relevant legislative provisions;

The absence or presence of the fact that a service crosses the border does not serve as a criterion for its export;

Services are not stored, they are produced and consumed at the same time;

The production and sale of services are under greater state protection (in most countries they are fully or partially state owned) than the sphere of material production;

International trade in services has a major impact on trade in goods;

Not all types of services, unlike goods, can be traded (services for personal consumption).

In general terms, services are usually understood as various types of activities that do not have an explicit material form.

The differences between services and goods in material form are that,

they are invisible;

cannot be stored;

production and consumption of services tend to coincide in time and place.

The huge difference between a service and other goods is that a service is intangible, that is, it cannot be touched or touched. The seller can only describe the benefits that result from the provision of this service. The difficulty in working with services and consuming them is that it cannot be stored in time, and also the time of production of a service usually coincides with its consumption. A service can only be provided when an order arrives or a client appears.

As a result, the next feature of the service arises - inconsistency of quality. This problem can only be avoided by introducing certain service standards. In international understanding, these features of services are taken into account when dividing trade in goods and services.

There are two concepts of service, the first is private, that is, actions in relation to another person aimed at satisfying his needs. The second concept is considered in the context of economic theory. According to this theory, a service is all kinds of benefits provided in the form of activity, as well as goods that can be produced, consumed and transferred at the same time. In order to separate services, they need to be classified.

In 1964, scientist Stanton divided services into the following 10 groups:

1. housing services;

2. family services (home repairs, landscape maintenance, cleaning of living quarters, etc.);

3. rest and entertainment;

4. individual sanitary and hygienic services (washing, dry cleaning, cosmetic services, etc.);

5. medical and other health services;

6. private education;

7. business and other professional services (legal, accounting, consulting, etc.);

8. insurance and financial services;

9. transport services;

10. communications services.

Currently, this classification has undergone some changes and now the classification of services occurs according to UN standards, in which services are divided into 160 different types and 12 main sections:

1. Business services -- 46 industry types of services.

2. Communication services - 25 types.

3. Construction and engineering services - 5 types.

4. Distribution services - 5 types.

5. General educational services - 5 types.

6. Environmental protection services - 4 types.

7. Financial services, including insurance - 17 types.

8. Health care and social services - 4 types.

9. Tourism and travel - 4 types.

10. Services in the field of organizing leisure, culture and sports - 5 types.

11. Transport services - 33 types.

12. Other services.

As society develops and productive forces grow, a certain development of the service sector occurs. There is an increase in employment in this area, an increase in the technical equipment of labor, and the introduction of increasingly advanced technologies. Currently, the role of services, as one of the most important sectors of the economy, is very large and relevant. This is due to the increasing complexity of production, the saturation of the market with goods of both everyday and individual demand, and the rapid growth of scientific and technological progress, which leads to innovations in the life of society. All this is impossible without the existence of information, financial, transport, insurance and other types of services. Services are also an integral component of trade in goods (especially technically complex ones), since the sale of goods requires an increasingly developed network, which consists mainly of services provided during sales and after-sales services.

In the context of the development of market relations, as well as economic and political cataclysms occurring in our country, significant changes are being observed in the service sector. Under the current crisis circumstances in Russia, the volume of services specifically inherent in a market economy (banking, financial, insurance, real estate, legal) is increasing significantly. The range of services related to the management and maintenance of government bodies, as well as law enforcement agencies, has increased. As the country's economy integrates into the global economic space, the import and export of services develops, and fundamentally new technological foundations for the functioning of a number of services, including information services, emerge.

There is an increasing expansion of the basis for the reproduction of market and non-market services. At the same time, market services are gaining an increasingly significant share in the total volume of services.

According to international statistics, over 40% of foreign investments are invested in the development of the service sector, which confirms the relevance, interest and vision of the development prospects of this sector of the economy.

2. Structure of the service sector

In global economic practice, it is customary to differentiate the service sector into two subsectors:

Production of material services

Production of intangible services.

The production of material services includes transport, housing and communal services, and trade.

The production of intangible services, in turn, includes education, healthcare, social services, art, management, insurance, etc.

What is the difference between these subsectors? If we consider the connection between the production of services itself and the material object, we can see the following differences. In the production of material services, this process is inextricably linked with the material object. For example, trade changes the ownership of these very material objects, just as transport changes the location of the object. However, in the production of intangible services, the material object is more divorced from the production process itself. In the latter case, most often the role of the object is a person. All of the above differences do not always clearly separate a material service from an intangible one. An example is tourism, since it includes transport services and at the same time excursion services. This means that in this situation, tangible and intangible services can be used in one type of service in the service sector.

The service sector (industry approach) usually includes:

Trade (wholesale and retail);

Food and accommodation services

(hotels, restaurants, etc.);

Transport;

Communication and information services;

Services for supply, procurement and storage of material and technical resources;

Credit, finance and insurance, real estate transactions and other services to ensure the functioning of the market;

Education, culture and art;

Science and scientific services;

Healthcare, including physical education and sports;

Household services (services for the maintenance and repair of housing, industrial and household services and utilities);

Personal services (non-production, household services, hairdressing salons, photo studio services, shoe shine, etc.);

Public administration services.

This industry classification of the service sector is in effect in many countries, including Russia.

F. Kotler, as the founder of marketing theory, proposed classifying services according to the following criteria:

First, is the source of the service people or machines? Among the services whose source is a person, there are those that require either professionals (restaurant business, management consulting), or qualified specialists (waiters), or unskilled labor (janitors, lawn care). Among the services the source of which is a machine, there are those that require either the presence of automatic machines (vending machines), or devices controlled by operators of relatively low qualifications (taxi), or equipment operated under the control of highly qualified specialists (airplanes, computers).

Secondly, is it necessary for the client to be present when services are provided to him? If the client's presence is mandatory, the service provider must accommodate the client's requests. Thus, restaurant owners decorate their establishments beautifully and play soft music.

Third, what are the client's motives for purchasing the service? Is the service intended to satisfy personal needs (personal services) or business needs (business services)? Typically, service providers develop different marketing programs for personal service markets and business service markets.

Fourth, what is the motive of the service provider (commercial or non-commercial) and in what form are the services provided (individual or public service)? The combination of these two characteristics results in completely different types of service systems.

It is also possible to classify services according to other criteria:

a) by the amount of capital costs;

b) according to the level of qualification of the performers;

c) by the complexity of technological processes;

d) by the social status of the clientele (individuals and legal entities).

In the literature one can also find a division of the service sector into three sectors:

tertiary - infrastructure (transport, communications, electricity and heat transmission);

quaternary - distribution and exchange (trade, insurance, finance);

five-fold - social and managerial (management, science, education, healthcare, art).

2.2 Evolution of the service sector

The next aspect that needs to be considered when studying the topic of the service sector is the evolution and development of the service sector from ancient times to the present day. At the very early stages of human development, the service sector already existed in its various manifestations. As progress developed and new types of material production appeared, the service sector also improved. Deep transformations of the public consumption system have given an even more powerful impetus in this direction.

The very first manifestation of the use of the service sector in the social structure of society was noticed in primitive society. For example, each tribe had leaders, they were in some way administrative subjects, that is, one of the areas of administrative activity in the service sector. Shamans and priests also provided social services. The army, in turn, provided property protection services. Historical sources indicate that in ancient society such service sectors already appeared that were very similar to modern ones. For example, there was trade, transport, education, art, army, healthcare. Until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, these areas were improved and communications, management, marketing, audit, and insurance were added to them. With the advent of a new era of human development in the conditions of high technology and a scientific and technological boom, the industrial economy is changing to a post-industrial one. This entails an increase in the production of services per capita.

However, until the mid-20th century, the service industry was considered a minor part of the global economy. This area was mainly occupied by people with a low level of education. The reason for this was the erroneous opinion that the service sector does not bring a sufficient level of income to the economy and is not in demand among the population. During Soviet times, the service sector developed very slowly compared to Europe and the USA. Only after the scientific and technological revolution did the service sector begin to occupy a significant place in the economies of many countries. It is no coincidence that the post-industrial era is rightly called a service era.

Improving people's living standards, as well as taking the economy to a new level, has made it possible to increase the production of intangible products. The Second World War had a very negative impact on the development of the service sector, since at that time industrial production became the main sector of the economy. In countries on whose territory military operations took place, the material base of service industries was destroyed to one degree or another and after the war did not meet even the greatly reduced needs. In the post-war period, the rapid development of service industries was largely resumed, and the position of this sector in the economic structure is steadily expanding.

In the mid-20th century, the United States became a leader in the level of development of the service sector. However, not only the United States is investing heavily in this sector of the economy, but also developing countries are seeing a sharp growth in the service sector. From all of the above we can draw the following conclusion. The service sector, having gone through a long path of development and undergoing many changes, is currently at the same level, and in some countries even higher than such sectors as industry and agriculture. The most important pattern of the evolution of the service sector is that it does not develop in isolation from material production in the integration of these types of activities, and the efficiency of the modern economy largely depends on the depth of integration.

3. Features of the service sector in the modern world

The very concept of providing services involves special attention to a person from a psychological point of view, as a client. Direct your attention to meeting needs, be prepared in advance for difficult situations in the service process, since each client is an individual. Any request and desire must be fulfilled for the quality of the complex, since any discrepancy or omission in working with the client entails a negative mark on the entire reputation of the service facility or entity. Therefore, most modern companies operating in the service sector have rules.

Firstly, all company employees are aimed at implementing the company’s main business process - quality service to customer requests. Secondly, in order to qualitatively satisfy client requests, employees who directly deal with clients must reach the level of one-on-one interaction - a personal, not impersonal approach to each client, but starting, oddly enough, with a correctly learned role.

The service sector has a number of distinctive features and operating mechanisms that cannot always be strictly classified, since changes in customer demand, the emergence of new services, as well as a high level of variability in consumed intangible goods dictate new trends and force us to reconsider old rules in servicing consumers of certain types. other services.

We can only summarize the main features of the operation:

First, unlike goods, services are produced and consumed mostly simultaneously and cannot be stored. This gives rise to the problem of regulating the demand and supply of services.

Secondly, services are often contrasted with products, although in industry the role of services is increasing, which may include equipment repair, after-sales service and other services related to the sale of goods. It can be said that in many cases there is an element of product in a service, just as in the sale of a product there is an element of service. The close intertwining of the sale of goods and the provision of services makes it difficult to isolate and account for services.

Thirdly, the service sector is usually more protected by the state from foreign competition than the sphere of material production. Moreover, in many countries, transport and communications, financial and insurance services, science, education, healthcare, and utilities are traditionally fully or partially owned by the state or are strictly controlled and regulated by the state. The import of services, according to the governments of many countries, can pose a threat to national security and sovereignty, so it is regulated more strictly than trade in goods.

Conclusion

service sector society

In conclusion, it is worth emphasizing that the service sector itself is young and is being modified at tremendous speed. Currently, the service sector is one of the most promising, rapidly developing sectors of the economy. It covers a wide field of activity: from trade and transport to financing, insurance and intermediation of all kinds. Hotels and restaurants, laundries and hairdressers, educational and sports institutions, travel agencies, radio and television stations, consulting firms, medical institutions, museums, theaters and cinemas belong to the service sector. Almost all organizations provide services to one degree or another.

Despite some features of this area that complicate work with clients, throughout the world over the past 20 years there has been a high increase in labor productivity in the service sector. The concept of “services” in mass perception is increasingly identified with a complex of high-tech and intellectual business and financial services, as well as with the branches of science, education and healthcare. The wave of renewal also captured traditional industries: trade, transport, consumer services, recreational industries, etc.

In addition, the very concept of “service sector,” without exaggeration, is comprehensive. It includes household, medical, legal and many other services, that is, it not only affects all aspects of people’s daily lives, but makes it truly high-quality and complete. For this reason alone, it would seem that service - in the broad sense of the word - belongs to those areas of business that do not require special support from the outside. After all, people are willing to pay money, and sometimes considerable money, for the services they provide.

The service sector, as we already know, belongs to the tertiary sector of the economy, but in conclusion it should be emphasized that the rapid development of the tertiary sector, and especially the sphere of production services, is an inevitable condition and prerequisite for the civilizational transition of the economy to the market, post-industrial stage of development.

Bibliography

material service society

1. Belyaev M.I., “Myology”. Moscow, 2000

2. Demidova L.S. “US Service Industry: Factors Accelerating Dynamics”, Moscow, 2005.

3. Kulibanova V.V. Marketing: Service activities. St. Petersburg, 2006.

4. Kulibanova V.V. Service activities. St. Petersburg, 2007.

5. Morozova E.Ya., Tikhonova E.D. Economics and organization of enterprises in the social and cultural sphere. St. Petersburg, 2005.

6. Pesotskaya E.V. Services marketing. St. Petersburg, 2000.

7. Portal of the consumer services market - www.marketcenter.ru

8. Rodionova I.A. "World economy. Industrial sector", St. Petersburg, 2002.

Tarushkin A.B. "Institutional Economics", St. Petersburg, 2004

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The role of services in the modern economy

Lapochkina Anna Anatol"evna

student, faculty of Economics Ulyanovsk state University Ulyanovsk, Russia

Bajgulova Alsu Anvarovna

Candidate of economic Sciences Associate Professor, Department of Economics and the organization of production Faculty of management Ulyanovsk state University Ulyanovsk, Russia

Abstract: The article discusses the scope of services and its role in today's global economy. In recent years there has been a tendency to increase the role of services, and service sector growth is outstripping the growth of material production. This situation is typical not only for the developed countries but also developing countries. Development of services directly affects the standard of living of the population. The growing scale of the global trade in services will inevitably lead to the need of establishing an international regulatory mechanism.

When it comes to this or that activity, it is natural to talk about the basic rules of such activity, about a number of generally accepted norms, the observance of which prevents errors in service interaction. In this case, these will be the principles of service activities.

Ensuring freedom of choice of goods and services. There should be no imposition of services, no forced assortment. The wider the opportunity to choose, the more dynamically the demand changes, the greater development opportunities the service production sector receives.

Comfort for the consumer. Services must be provided where, when and in a form that suits the consumer as much as possible.

Energy in interpersonal contacts. The provision of a service is necessarily associated with the establishment of human contact, mutual understanding and communication on the basis of good relations.

Comprehensive service. When purchasing a particular service, the consumer should be able to receive the entire range of additional and related services from the minimum necessary to the most appropriate.

Adequacy of the technical level of service to modern requirements. The technical level of equipment and technology ensures modern quality of services and service activities. Without the accelerated development of the service industry based on the latest technical achievements, it is impossible to ensure a timely and adequate response to changing consumer demand.

Information support for consumers and producers. The consumer and service provider must be mutually informed about all aspects of the provision of services and service activities.

Correspondence of the volume, level and quality of services to effective demand. Only in this case is a balance achieved between the needs of society, a specific service organization and the individual consumer.

1.4. The importance of the service sector in modern society

The main functions of the service are:

a) bringing to the consumer tangible and intangible benefits in accordance with individual tastes and requests through the provision of appropriate services;

b) servicing the process of their consumption;

c) creating conditions for everyday life, recreation and leisure;

d) promoting an increase in free time and its rational use.

This is the special personal significance of the service: it directly shapes the conditions, image and standard of living of the population, that is, it implements the social component of the economy, especially in market conditions.

Let us define service activity as an area of human relationships for the implementation of public, group and individual benefits. One party in this relationship, having diverse needs, wants to receive certain benefits, and the other party, by providing specific services, provides them with the opportunity to possess such benefits.

In addition, a service competently designed for public relations:

contributes to increasing the efficiency of social and, in particular, material production, primarily through increasing labor productivity and creating conditions for optimizing the labor process;

ensures the maintenance of the reproduction of the economically active population on a socially necessary scale through specific types of activities (education, retraining, medicine) affecting the intelligence and physical condition of workers;

optimizes the structure of non-working time of the economically active population;

increases the level and quality of life, creates an optimal structure of needs for a historically specific society and contributes to their real satisfaction;

creates conditions for the normal life of the economically inactive population (children, disabled people, elderly people, etc.) through specific types of activities that affect the structure of their free time, intelligence, health, personal property;

promotes the balance of income and expenses of the economically inactive population;

forms in its structure such key factors of material growth as scientific knowledge, intangible forms of accumulation, information technologies, etc.;

has a significant impact on ensuring the national security of the state and society.

Thus, considering service from the point of view of its participation in the production and reproduction of social life, it is easy to notice that in all spheres of the social structure and at all its levels, the institution of service to one degree or another reveals its presence and its influence.

The role of the service sector in the development of society is ambiguous, but without its participation the progress of society cannot be ensured.

The service sector is directly involved in the creation of goods (production of consumer goods to individual orders, restoration of consumer properties, etc.), which increases the country's gross national income.

The bulk of service sector enterprises are small or family businesses and use their advantages in the narrowly local services market, having a high ability to quickly respond to changing consumer demand for services. We are talking about small businesses, which are inseparable from the service sector, where the main layer of entrepreneur-owners is formed. Thus, the problem of creating new types of goods and services that are of higher quality and more attractive to people is solved, and an opportunity for innovation appears, which contributes to the development of entrepreneurial activity, the population receiving additional income, and an increase in the number of jobs and the working population.

An example of the active role of services is the functioning of the recreation and entertainment sector. In the leading countries of the world, a powerful recreational complex has developed and operates, covering a network of service enterprises (sports, cultural and entertainment, tourism, etc.). At the same time, the material production sector in the country's economy has grown rapidly, specializing in the production of goods for recreation, trade, public catering and consumer services. This complex created the basis for the massive development of active forms of recreation. Under these conditions, public preferences develop in favor of general health and sports recreation.

This area is associated with the preparation of the employee to participate in the labor process, which creates a workforce of a new quality as the main part of life. One of the important aspects of creating a new level of workforce quality is the work to create programs and methods for improving the quality of working life, as well as professional training programs.

The service sector directly affects the economy and rational use of a person’s free time, time for his development as an individual, a family man and a citizen. With the growth of the social division of labor, the ratio of working and free time, the ratio of work and leisure activities changes.

With the development of modern civilization and the improvement of people's quality of life, the requirements for environmental protection are increasing. This is associated with an increase in the volume of traditional services for landscaping and urban improvement, water supply, sewerage and garbage collection. New types of services related to waste disposal and improvement of environmental conditions are emerging.

The development of the service sector is an integral part of the implementation of the state's social policy. This is due to the growth of social security and health care services.

The service sector directly influences the spiritual revival of society through socio-cultural services. Compared to other services, socio-cultural sectors have a pronounced external effect. Due to this, it is customary to classify socio-cultural services as socially significant benefits, i.e. to goods with special merits. What education, culture and healthcare have in common is their special significance for human development. Expenditures on socio-cultural services are considered as investments in human capital. By increasing their educational and cultural level and strengthening their health, each citizen ultimately contributes to the enhancement of the educational, cultural and health potential of the entire society.

The service sector contributes to the revival of large-scale production and scientific and technological progress of society. The experience of the leading countries of the world indicates that the largest industrial firms with their highly developed scientific and technical potential, production and sales apparatus are engaged in the manufacture of equipment for the process of providing services. All this requires professional training for all categories of service enterprises.

Test questions for topic 1:

What is meant by service activities?

What are the specific features of the services market?

What distinguishes service activities from other types of human activities?

What is the purpose of service activities?

List the main areas of service as an institution of service activity.

What is the essence of such a specific feature of the services market as uncertainty of results?

What are the principles of modern service?

What is the essence of comprehensive service?

What is the role of the service sector in modern society?

How does the service sector affect the quality of life of a modern person?

The concept of technology in the service sector. Areas of application of new technologies in the service sector

Information technology (IT) consists of computer and telecommunication technologies. Computer technology is based on hardware and software and is necessary for storing and processing data and information. Telecommunication technology also consists of related hardware and software and is used to transmit data and information. At the same time, at present there is also such a concept as new information technologies, based on new information and computer means of obtaining, storing, updating information and knowledge.

It is safe to say that all service companies use new technologies. However, the level of sophistication of technology and the extent of its application varies across industries. This is largely due to the nature of the activity. Some organizations, such as telephone companies, software companies, and Internet service providers, are in the emerging information technology field. Other firms invest in technology mainly to stay competitive.

The main reasons for investing in new technologies:

1. Maintaining or expanding market share. Some companies often use market share as a key measure of their performance, although it can sometimes be an inappropriate, misleading indicator. Some service firms may feel pressured to invest heavily in technology to maintain market share, even if there is no need to increase output or productivity.

2. Avoidance of risks or opportunity costs. Some organizations invest in technology to reduce or completely avoid possible risks. For example, hospitals are investing in modern technology to avoid malpractice litigation and also to benefit from improved diagnostic and treatment options brought about by new technology. Airports install explosive detectors to prevent terrorist attacks. In the same way, many airports install modern radar systems to detect changes in wind speed, which is often the cause of aviation accidents near or on the airport premises.

3. Creating flexibility to respond to changes in the company's economic environment. The economic situation in the market is constantly changing. Changing degrees of government intervention (as well as non-intervention) in a country's economy, increased competition, increasing complexity of processes and changing consumer tastes all contribute to the uncertainty and degree of complexity in the environment in which service firms operate. Flexible information technology systems often help cope with rapidly changing environments.

4. Improving the internal environment of the company. Many firms are investing in technology to make work easier for employees and create a positive work environment by eliminating tedious tasks and making work more interesting.

5. Improving the quality of services and interaction with clients. Quality and customer satisfaction are the focus of many service firms today. Some dimensions of customer satisfaction and service quality include reliability, stability, accuracy and speed of service delivery. When information technology is used effectively and competently, it can enable a company to deliver all of these elements to the market to achieve long-term customer commitment.

Technology as a competitive advantage

Despite the disconcerting lack of a positive relationship between information technology investment and productivity, there is no denying the enormous impact that technology has had and continues to have on our lives through many products and services.

If a company is an early adopter of technology and uses it competently, it gains an important strategic advantage over its competitors. Competitive advantage is what sets a company apart from its competitors. A competitive advantage may be speed of service delivery, increased package size, lower price for the same quality, or better “fit” to customer needs, and technology is what can help achieve these goals.

Whether by keeping abreast of technological advances or conducting research on their own, companies today are aggressively seeking competitive advantage.

It is very common for advertising claims to proclaim that the advertised company's product is “new,” “brand new,” or “new and improved.” It is therefore appropriate to shed light on what options exist for an organization when planning the development of new services.

1. Significant innovations. These are “new services all over the world”, the markets of which are not yet precisely defined and sized. They involve a high degree of uncertainty and risk. A striking example of this type of innovation is: overnight delivery of small parcels introduced by Federal Exp ress, space tourism, and the provision of the opportunity to use Internet services while flying on an airliner.

2. Launch of new activities. Using existing services already recognized by consumers, they offer their application in new conditions. For example, healthcare organizations that offer general practitioner services, laboratories, and x-rays may also offer pharmacy services under one roof so patients can get all the services they need in one place. Car security alarm installation services can be offered at car repair centers.

3. Development of new products for an existing service market. This category offers new services to existing consumers that were not previously offered by the service company. Examples include banks that introduce their own card (Visa or MasterCard) or offer investment funds, insurance services for bank depositors, as well as museums that open gift and souvenir shops and restaurants for visitors.

4. Expansion of the product range. Additions of services to an existing service line that increase the current offering are called product line extensions. This may be due to increased technical capabilities or maintenance requirements. Examples include services offered by the telephone company, such as caller identification, number redial (when the desired subscriber's number is busy). This category also includes new airline routes and new university lecture courses.

5. Product improvement. Product improvement consists of changing certain characteristics of a service in order to provide consumers with better quality or increased value of the service. This may be in the form of faster service or embellishment, e.g. adding various properties that improve the appearance of the service. For example, many ATMs print out your account balance after each deposit or withdrawal. Another example is the free car wash that some agents provide during car sales when performing routine services such as engine oil changes.

6. Change in product style. This is a more modest means than a highly visible product improvement. This category includes the renovation and restoration of the building or premises where the service is provided, as well as new uniforms for employees, a new company logo. An important place in this case concerns the aesthetic properties of services, which are determined by style, fashion and design.

When discussing service design and creation, we will assume that the new service falls into one of the first three categories.

Factors driving the creation of new services

The main reason for developing and creating a new service is the desire to meet new and changing consumer needs. There are also other reasons, the most important of which are:

Financial goals. The management of many service firms is under constant pressure to meet financial targets related to profit, market and revenue. These goals can be achieved by improving quality and customer satisfaction for existing services. Another way is to introduce new services. As has been shown, there are several degrees of “newness” for services. However, only the first three of these categories are most likely to increase market share and revenue and help the organization achieve its financial goals.

Actions of competitors. One of the strongest motivations for creating a new service occurs when competitors introduce new services that are gaining acceptance among consumers. Idle time and inactivity usually lead to a decrease in market share and profits.

Globalization Increased global trade and foreign direct investment have created new markets and created new opportunities for service firms. This creates a need to develop new services or modify existing ones in order to meet the needs of different countries and cultures.

Technical and technological progress. Along with new products, new needs are created, which, in turn, require the creation of new services.

New consumer products. New consumer products such as VCRs and personal computers have created a need for related services: video tape rentals, tape and computer maintenance, and training services for developed accounting programs.

New equipment. Advances in engineering technology help manufacturers introduce new equipment and improve existing ones. This, in turn, leads to the introduction of new services. For example, faster computers increase data storage capacity and computation speed for all types of data processing, hence making it possible to create new and complex software. The invention of the ATM made banking services available around the clock.

Electronic networks. Electronic networks such as the Internet and the World Wide Web are among the most important technological developments of the late 20th century, making possible the creation and delivery of many new services.

Increasing or decreasing the amount of government intervention in the economy. Some important industries are exempt from government regulation: transportation by road, telecommunications, banking, financial, educational services. This has allowed many companies to enter markets that were previously closed to them and offer new services. While legal restrictions have been removed in some areas, they have been created in others, such as environmental and consumer protection laws. Such laws typically create a need for new legal, engineering and consulting services specializing in environmental and consumer issues.

Franchising growth. Franchising is a type of licensing when the company that owns a well-known trademark allows another company to put this trademark on its products, but at the same time receives the right to control the quality of the products, an initial payment and a percentage of the gross profit. This system makes it possible to distribute new services to other markets while maintaining high product quality.

Balance of supply and demand. Many service firms experience significant fluctuations in demand for their services. Product manufacturers can cope with this problem by stocking inventory when demand is lower than supply and using inventory when demand exceeds supply. The temporary nature of most services precludes service firms from taking advantage of this opportunity. Therefore, when demand is lower than supply, expensive equipment and personnel sit idle. A more realistic alternative is to offer services that have the opposite cycle to the existing set of services. In other words, service firms facing fluctuations in demand may try to develop new services that will be in higher demand when demand for existing services is low, and vice versa.

Development of new products and services: similarities and differences

The first similarity between products and services is that they are designed to provide customer problem solving, satisfaction, or benefit: “Kodak sells memories,” “Revlon sells hopes.”

The second similarity is that the development of both products and services is a product of human activity. First, the human mind generates some new idea, and then calculates how it can be implemented.

The third similarity is that consumers rarely demand the creation of a particular product or service. Consumers may express some needs, but usually cannot clearly name them in terms of goods and services, but they readily respond to what is offered to them.

Now let's note some important differences.

1. Demand for raw materials and resources. Making a product requires many resources such as raw materials, semi-finished products, labor and energy. In the service sector, raw materials are rarely used; tools and equipment are used, but they are not always necessary to provide services, especially intellectual ones. Airplanes are required for air travel services, but a couch is not required for mental health services.

2. Compliance with standards. Compliance with specifications and standards (type, quality and quantity of materials to be used, dimensions of various parts and tolerances) in the production of goods is very important, since deviations exceeding the tolerances will lead to the production of defective and sometimes even dangerous goods. When development is completed and product production has begun, all products must be identical to the prototype and to each other.

The result of service development is a concept and a description of the process of implementing this concept. Service design may create standards, but usually there are very few of them, and deviations from these standards do not necessarily make the service “defective” or lead to undesirable consequences. A service can be tested in a benchmark experiment, but each subsequent execution will be different because different consumers and service providers are involved in the process. Once the development is complete and the service is offered to the consumer, no two executions of the service are exactly the same, just as each consumer's experience is unique.

3. The complexity of making changes. Changing a product is becoming increasingly expensive. This is usually expressed by the 85/15 percentage rule, which means that approximately 85% of a product's cost is determined by decisions made during the first 15% of its development period. Once product development is completed and committed, it is not easy to change it, since production will have to carry out exactly the same development again for all components. Service development, on the contrary, is not a static or rigid documentary source; modification and adaptation are possible during the implementation process, moreover, sometimes it is even necessary to meet the diverse needs of consumers. In addition, changing the design of a service does not entail as many costs as changing the appearance of a product.

Tools for service development

Many service quality problems can be solved by incorporating quality issues into the design of the service and delivery system.

Using integrated design. Product development and creation consists of many steps, such as idea generation, determination of technical and financial feasibility, process and prototype development, packaging and distribution system development. The traditional approach is to perform all these actions in a sequential manner. One of the problems with the traditional approach is that the entire development process takes too long. For example, American car manufacturers used to spend about five years to design and assemble a new car model, while the Japanese did it in three years. This means that developers and production engineers did not communicate with each other. Typically, technologists find many weak points in the project, for example, parts that cannot be produced in the way intended by the developer, and in these cases the project is returned for revision. This procedure could be repeated several times during the development process. When the problems between the developer and the technologist are completely resolved, they move on to issues of material supply to determine which components need to be purchased. Inevitably, design problems arise again as some parts turn out to be too expensive or take the supplier a long time to produce. The project is returned to the developer again.

Japanese manufacturers use an approach that involves teamwork with overlapping functions (integrated or simultaneous design). One of its main advantages is that all functions (development, production, supply, distribution, marketing, etc.) are represented in the project group and their representatives interact with each other.

To develop and create a service, this is not only a mandatory approach, but, as a rule, requires the participation of service employees:

· service personnel are psychologically and physically closer to consumers, and, therefore, can determine their preferences;

· employee involvement increases the likelihood of their recognition and understanding of new services;

· they will warn developers against organizing a structure that will suppress the interests of consumers;

· service employees are an important source of useful ideas for improving the quality of services.

Reliable design. The core idea of robust design is to create a product whose performance is not affected by adverse environmental conditions outside of normal operating conditions. For example, a pocket calculator should not be dropped or used in a hot or steamy environment. However, if the calculator can withstand these harsh conditions, it is said to be a durable product.

Service providers and consumers are people with their own strengths and weaknesses. The differences in personality and demographic characteristics that they reveal can create situations that fall outside normal operating conditions. However, it is possible to calculate maintenance situations under possible emergency conditions and evaluate ways in which these situations can be prevented.

Po k a -Uo k e, or fault tolerance methods. Roka-Woke (Japanese for "avoid mistakes") are devices and procedures that signal when errors may be made. The Roka-Woke warning signal indicates the existence of a problem, and the Roka-Woke control system stops production when an error occurs and forces the operator to correct it before continuing work. However, error prevention actions should be developed not only for employees, but also for consumers when they are involved in the service delivery process. There are many ways in which Rock-Walkie can be adapted for the service industry:

In banking, for example, managers believe that eye contact with consumers is very important, and to ensure such contact, they require tellers to note on a check sheet what color the customer's eyes are before beginning the transaction.

If a set of surgical instruments is placed in special recesses on trays, and at the end of the operation you make sure that the set is complete, you can avoid the mistake of leaving the instrument in the cavity of the person being operated on.

Stands in amusement parks will protect vacationers from moving mechanisms.

Establishing a chain to order the queue will prevent conflict from occurring.

Sound signals in vending machines will remind the subscriber to pick up the card.

Installing a bell on the door of a car service station will prevent a customer's arrival from going unnoticed.

Attaching a serial number to each arriving vehicle will ensure that customers are served in the order of their arrival at the station.

Benchmarking. Benchmarking was developed by Hegoh Corporation in the late 1970s. as a result of one of many quality improvement programs. Benchmarking is a type of business process optimization in which the “ideal” business process is not built speculatively, but is borrowed from outside or inside (let’s say, in another department). Benchmarking is not just about copying the ideas of other organizations. Its main goal is to understand what levels of execution are possible for various processes, as well as to obtain knowledge from the best performers, including from other areas of the business. Service firms already use benchmarking for existing services. For example, Marriott used benchmarking to borrow from fast food companies' processes for hiring, training, and paying employees, and from Disney World's practices of parking cars and working with employees on quality improvement programs.

Service Design Principles

The enormous diversity of services raises an important question: are there uniform principles that apply to service design, or is each service so unique that there are few principles that apply across all sectors and services? Although each service is unique, there are basic principles that can and should be applied to service design if the goal of service development is to create value and customer satisfaction. The main principles of development and creation of services:

1. Know your customer (market segment definition). Consumer knowledge involves learning all possible and necessary information about the target market at an acceptable cost, including demographic information - age, gender, income, geographic distribution of the population and lifestyle. Such information helps the organization determine the needs of potential customers. Whenever possible and economically feasible, information about consumers may be obtained directly from them.

2. Determine which consumer needs must be satisfied. Obviously, consumers have many needs. It should also be obvious that an organization cannot satisfy all the needs of all customers. A service that will satisfy a basic need will be a basic service. There are usually other services that provide additional benefits to consumers. These are called additional services. Additional services are developed and offered to meet needs that may not be common to all consumers. They are often optional and may incur additional costs (information, consultation, order acceptance, storage, exceptions, hospitality, invoicing and payment transactions, easy to understand service price document).

Not all additional services are suitable for all types of services. Some of them are required for the delivery of the core service. Without them, maintenance becomes impossible. The relative importance of value-added services depends on the nature of the service. Obviously, a service firm that is unable to deliver a core service will not survive for a relatively long time; Therefore, providing the core service without failure, at the level expected by customers, is the first and fundamental step in creating value. The system must be designed to deliver the core service flawlessly. Failures in core service represent a failure of service and organization in the eyes of the customer, no matter how well the additional services were designed or delivered. However, a good provision of a basic service is almost never enough to compete successfully in the market, since there are competing companies that can also provide the same services without failure. Therefore, a service firm can create more value for customers by increasing the variety of additional services that are highly valued by the customer and delivering them in the way the customer expects. The definition of core and supplementary services leads to the creation of a “service concept”.

3. Develop a service strategy and position the service for competitive advantage. The key question to answer here is: “How do you differentiate your service from your competitors and what is the basis on which you offer value to consumers for the price of the service?” The first part of this question is related to the “strategic vision of the service”, the second is related to “positioning”. Differentiation is the main driver of competition. An organization can differentiate its services based on various benefits, including cost, reliability, uniqueness of benefits, speed, service personalization, convenience, accessibility, prestige, or longevity. The service must be ideally positioned, that is, create a unique place for it in the eyes of consumers relative to the services of competitors.

4.Develop service, delivery system, human resource requirements and physical assets simultaneously. This principle can be expressed as: “Use comprehensive planning.” When applied to service development, integrated planning includes the simultaneous or parallel development and creation of a service and its delivery system, the creation of personnel selection criteria and the selection of a location. In other words, development should be a team effort with representatives from all parties that will be involved in creating and delivering the service. If possible and economically feasible, customers should also be included in the project team.

5.Develop a service process from the consumer/employee perspective. Once the right service concept is in place, the most important aspect of development is the design and creation of processes. Since almost all services are essentially processes, the service process requires special attention.

If the recipient of the service is the consumer's body (a medical examination in a hospital) or his mind (for example, a concert), then the process must be designed from the consumer's perspective. This should be emphasized because often the interests of various departments, such as accounting, human resources and transportation departments, dictate the parameters and nature of the process. As a result, it turns out that the consumer's waiting time increases, unnecessary tasks arise that he must solve, and a lot of time can be wasted in vain.

If the recipient of the service is the consumer's property or information, and the consumer is not required to be present during execution, then the process design must be done from the perspective of the service provider. That is, it is necessary to make sure that the service provider can provide it with the least amount of effort, and the process of providing the service is as pleasant as possible for him without harming the consumer.

6. Minimize omissions. The process of providing many services involves the involvement of clients or their property in the process. This usually increases the likelihood that something may not work correctly. The problem is usually caused by a lack or lack of communication. To reduce such problems, the service should be delivered by one service person from start to finish. If such a system is not possible, then a team approach can be followed: team members work together and are responsible for specific customers from the beginning to the end of the process.

7. Develop covert regulatory operations to support overt operations. Overt or office operations are those encountered by purchasers of services and those in which opinions about the service and the organization are formed. However, virtually all transactions that are invisible to the consumer affect open transactions and, consequently, consumer satisfaction. That is why it is so important to take this dependence into account when developing a service system. For most services, the hidden processes are very similar to manufacturing processes, and the premises in which these processes occur can resemble a factory. Above all, behind-the-scenes processes must be designed so that direct-to-consumer offices can run smoothly.

8. Incorporate data collection into process design. Service firms require data to monitor and evaluate customer satisfaction, to perform measurements and for quality improvement efforts, moreover, data is needed for accounting and management decision-making. The data collection mechanism established after the service has been delivered to consumers creates problems and makes the service provider's job more difficult. The data needed to monitor service delivery should be identified during service development and incorporated into the service system to minimize any additional work required from the employee or customer.

9.Determine the degree of consumer contact and participation. Customer involvement in the service process creates many challenges for management because it requires the customer to have a specific set of skills. Increased involvement often implies higher risks of errors and therefore higher costs. For most services, it is their nature that determines the degree of contact with consumers.

However, these settings can usually be changed. For example, if an organization seeks to reduce customer involvement in the service delivery process, it may automate certain aspects of the service.

10.Build flexibility and reliability into the system. There will always be consumers whose needs create situations that were not intended by the designers. There are also system failures caused by external factors such as natural disasters, power outages, and vendor errors. The maintenance system must be able to respond to these unplanned situations and continue maintenance. A very important step in this direction is the creation of flexible rules and processes. Rigid rules and processes make it difficult for employees and frustrating for consumers. It is very important that employees respond quickly and decisively to the situation and ensure customer satisfaction.

It should be taken into account that processes hidden from consumers, which can be characterized as a “production” type of process, have less flexibility than open ones.

11. Create a commitment to employee and customer service. The model for generating income in the service sector can be represented as the following chain:

· profit and growth of the company are associated with customer commitment,

· customer commitment is related to customer satisfaction,

· customer satisfaction is related to the value of the service,

· the value of the service is related to the productivity of employees,

· employee performance is linked to commitment,

· employee commitment is linked to their satisfaction,

· employee satisfaction is related to the internal quality of work life.

Various mechanisms can be used to encourage customer loyalty, such as airline frequent flyer programs or hotel frequent flyer programs.

Fair remuneration, bonuses, respectful treatment and a pleasant place to work are the main components of employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction depends on opportunities for promotion, rewards for work beyond standard requirements and empowerment

12. Continuously improve service. Product development is typically a difficult and expensive process. Service development changes are relatively easier to implement and usually cost much less. This gives most services a significant advantage. They are easier to change and improve both when receiving data from consumers about changing their needs and when competitive conditions change. In other words, services undergo continuous improvement more than products. A continuous improvement process must accompany the maintenance process.

Service development process

The idea of creating a new service is the result of human creativity. Although creativity cannot be programmed, designing and creating a service must be a well-thought-out and organized undertaking. Since the design and creation of services does not have a long history, most models proposed for the service industry are modifications of processes originally developed for goods. Consider the model proposed by Scheuing and Johnson, which goes beyond simply modifying the manufacturing model and takes into account the complexity of service development. It consists of 15 steps and can be divided into 4 stages: direction, development, testing and market development.

Direction

1. Formulation of goals and strategies for the new service. The service strategy should support the overall strategy of the company and be aimed at satisfying the selected needs of consumers in the target market. The strategy must be a solution to how to ensure that the value of the service exceeds the costs, and a service is created that creates such value for the consumer that he will buy it at a set price.

2. Generating an idea. Ideas for creating new services come from a variety of sources, including customers, their complaints, service employees, competitors and suppliers.

3. Thorough testing of the idea. This step involves a rough screening process, separating promising ideas from all others. Naturally, not every idea for creating a new service has value, and only a few will succeed in the market as new services. Feasibility and potential profitability are the main criteria in this process. Care must be taken to ensure that ideas are not put aside just because they seem unusual.

Development

4. Concept creation. The selected ideas are developed into a service concept. A service concept is a description of the set of benefits, solutions and value a service proposes to provide to consumers.

5. Concept testing. The purpose of concept testing is to eliminate from further consideration service ideas that would be unattractive to customers. A new service concept test is a research method designed to evaluate:

Does the user understand the idea of the service being offered;

Does the service respond favorably;

Does he realize that the proposed service will resolve his unmet needs.

The service sector science education health care is highly developed. Operations management. The importance of the service sector in modern society

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