THE WALLACE E. CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
MD254: e-Service Operations Management
Spring 2003

MD254 Home

Week 6
Aligning the e-Service Product and the e-Service Process

Assigned Readings
MD254WEBSITE, “A Product-Process Matrix for Electronic Consumer Services,” Heim, G.R., and K.K. Sinha, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2000. [Note: FITZ, Chapter 9: Internet Service contains much of the same as in the article]
HANDOUT, “The Real-Time Service Product: Conquering Customer Time and Space,” R.T. Rust and R.W. Oliver, in: New Service Development, J.A. Fitzsimmons and M. Fitzsimmons (eds.), Sage Publications, 2000.
HANDOUT, “Customerization: The Next Revolution in Mass Customization,” J. Wind and A. Rangaswamy, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 1, Winter 2001, p. 13-20.

Class Discussion Assignment
Apply the product-process framework in the Heim and Sinha paper. Visit the websites of a few e-retailers and try to classify their e-service products in one of the four categories of the e-product taxonomy: Niche Market, Market Extender, Dynamic Mass Market, and Customized Mega Market. For example, visit www.michelescelebrations.com, www.baltcoffee.com, www.gemm.com, and www.autoweb.com. Come to class ready to discuss the above.

Case Study Assignment
None.

Keyword Legend
E-SERV = E-Service: 24 Ways to Keep Your Customers …
ECOM = E-Commerce Operations Management
EOM = E-Operations Management
FITZ = Service Management: Operations, Strategy and Information Technology

Related Readings: For Further Information
Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, Service Management: Operations, Strategy, and Information Technology, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2001, Chapter 9 ("Internet Service")

Related Readings: Traditional (Person-to-Person) Services
Haksever, et al., Service Management and Operations, Prentice Hall, 2000, Chapter 6 ("Positioning and Marketing of Services"), Chapter 8 ("Design and Development of Services and Service Delivery Systems")