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Part - II

Introduction

As machine technology once changed an agricultural economy into an industrial economy, today's information technology is transforming our industrial economy into a service economy. The availability of computers and global communication technologies has created industries for collecting, processing and communicating information. Today everyone on the globe can be in instant communication with everyone else, and this revolution is changing world society in many ways. As an example the emerging private satellite network industry, provides uplinks and downlinks for personnel training, product introductions, credit checks, billing, financial exchanges and overall telecommunications.

Kmart was among the first retail giants to establish a private satellite network using the new small-dish antenna VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) placed on store roofs to receive and transmit masses of data. The VSAT at each Kmart is linked to the company's Troy, Michigan, data center via a satellite transponder leased from GTE Spacenet. The communications network has allowed Kmart to coordinate its multisite operations better and to realize substantial benefits, such as improved data transmission about the rate of sales, inventory status, product updates, and, most important. Credit authorizations for customers. The instant accessibility of credit histories can significantly lower the risk of nonpayment that credit card companies face, thus lowering the discount rate that reverts back to the retailer. This savings alone eventually will pay for the cost of the satellite network.

The Strategic Service Concept

If we consider a building, which begins in the mind's eye of the architect and is translated onto paper in the form of engineering drawings for all the building's systems: foundation, structural, plumbing, and electrical. An analog to this design process is the strategic concept with the system elements outlined hat achieves the strategic objectives. The service concept becomes a blueprint that communicates to consumers and employees alike what service they should expect to give and to receive.

These system elements are:

Structural:
Delivery system: Front and back office, automation, customer participation.
Facility design: Size, aesthetics, layout.
Location: Customer demographics, single or multiple sites, competition, site characteristics.
Capacity planning: Managing queues, number of servers, accommodating average or peak demand.

Managerial:
Service encounter: Service culture, motivation, selection and training, employee empowerment.
Quality: Measurement, monitoring, methods, expectations versus perceptions, service guarantee.
Managing capacity and demand: Strategies for altering demand and controlling supply, queue management,
Information: Competitive resource, data collection.

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* The author is presently studying at NITIE