Objective:
To
develop a thorough understanding of service blueprinting by analyzing
the service process for a given service company and graphically
capturing the process on paper.
Directions:
This assignment
is to seek out a service provider and develop a service blueprint. The
project should focus on a business, school, or nonprofit—just one small
division/department of one. The intent of the project is to construct a
thorough, detailed service blueprint for the chosen service provider.
In order to ensure we do not have teams blueprinting firms from the same
industry, and in order to receive full credit for this assignment,
topics must be approved by the instructor. (Approvals will be made on a
first-come, first-serve basis.) You must also confirm that the provider
will allow them to take pictures of the service process and/or physical
evidence by this date.
Requirements:
Graphical Portion of
Service Blueprint. This assignment is expected to allow students to
demonstrate (a) an understanding of the blueprint concepts from class
and (b) an ability to apply them in looking at a specific service
provider. Each blueprint should include the components listed in Chapter
9. Blueprints should have all lines clearly labeled, and arrows should
be included in your blueprint to indicate the order of activities.
Potential bottlenecks or failpoints in the service delivery process
should also be identified.
Visual/Pictorial Portion of the
Service Blueprint. To complement the graphical portion of the service
blueprint, each student is expected to visit the business/university
office/department chosen and to visually capture the different steps
(customer or employee actions) of the service delivery process and the
various components of physical evidence that customers experience.
Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to take pictures with a digital
camera. Students should secure permission to take pictures of the
service process from management of this service provider prior to
constructing the blueprint. Hyperlinks should be included in the
graphical portion of the service blueprint to each digital image. There
is no fixed number of images required, but a minimum of 5 images (in
jpeg format) would seem reasonable for most service blueprints; a larger
number of images would certainly be encouraged.
Written
Assignment. In addition to the actual blueprint, each student is to
write a short paper (1-2 pages, double-spaced) that addresses the
following issues:
(1) describe why this business/school/nonprofit was selected to blueprint;
(2)
describe three key elements of physical evidence revealed in the
blueprint (photos/images of these elements should be included in the
visual portion of the blueprint) and discuss how they influence the
customer’s experience;
(3) identify, number, and describe three
potential failpoints (points in the process where problems may occur)
and/or bottlenecks (points in the process where backups or slow delivery
may occur);
(4) suggest possible solutions/alternatives to address these (potential) problem areas;
(5)
discuss how a service blueprint might be used in each of the following
areas in this organization: marketing, human resource management, and
operations;
(6) discuss what was learned in doing this assignment and how it could be applied in the business world.
Electronic
Submission of Assignment. Both the blueprint and the paper should be
submitted in electronic format by attaching to the assignment link in
Blackboard. Blueprints can be (and have been) created using a variety of
software products. The most commonly used tools include PowerPoint,
MicroSoft Word, and MicroSoft Excel. (The final version of any files
submitted must be in PC format only; no Mac files will be accepted, as
the instructor has no easy way to open and read such files).
Formatting Guidelines for paper:
1” margins
12 pt. Ariel font
Double spaced
Use headings as appropriate
Cite Sources
Use APA style
My
service provider is about a university, you can choose any one small
division/department as you like, then I can change the name.
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