SOM Assignment Essays

SOM Assignment Essays SOM Assignment Essay SOM Assignment Essay Question no. 1 Which of the eight elements of the service marketing mix are addressed in this case? Give examples of each â€Å"P† you identify. Answer. Product Element: Beckett’s core product is dentistry services in a quality environment. All facilitating supplementary services increase the value of her core product. She tries to differentiate her core product from her competitors in terms of quality. Place Element: Place is the Dr. Beckett’s Dental Office. Time can be the working hours of the office. Process Element: Patient is the direct recipient of dental service, so it is a people processing service. Patients must be physically present to receive the service. Productivity Element: She wants to differentiate her service in terms of the quality. She moved a new office to provide an efficient environment for employees. People Element: Dr. Beckett employees are her people. She motivates her staff with training, vacations. She gives importance to her staff’s suggestions and staff‘s motivation increases. Physical Environment: Dr. Beckett’s new office is modern and attractive. Her  staff wears uniforms which match with the decoration of office. Price Elements: Price is higher than other competitors. Other than financial costs, patients have non-financial costs which can be listed as: physical, psychological and time expenditures. Promotion Element: There is no advertising. Main tool is â€Å"word of mouth†. They use VCR to show the dental processes. Also a literature is available for the patients about after treatment procedures. Question no. 2 Why do people dislike going to dentist? Do you feel Dr. Beckett has addressed this problem effectively? Answer  Patients can have nonfinancial costs in dental service. These are psychological, physical and time cost. Yes, I think Dr. Beckett has addressed this problem effectively. She knows that patient must have a dental treatment and tries to do the best job and make them as comfortable as possible. Question no. 3 How do Beckett and her staff educate patients about the service they are receiving? What else could they do? Answer  Ã‚  Dr. Beckett and her staffs provide videos about the dental operation to educate patients. They can have before and after treatment photo album for new patients and this may be reduce their fear. Also brochures can be useful to educate patients. Apart from educating the customer, maybe she can have a dentist partner to balance the excess demand. Question no. 4 What supplementary services are offered? How do they enhance service delivery? Answer   Both facilitating and enhancing supplementary services are offered. Facilitating supplementary services: Beckett’s patients know dental procedures before the treatment. (Information) When patients make an appointment for dental care (order taking) Enhancing supplementary services: There was a small conference room with toys for children. They can play with toys when their parent’s receiving dental service (safekeeping) Before and after treatment, Dr. Beckett and her employees consult with patients. They consult them about how to maximize their treatment outcomes. (Consultation) Dr Beckett’s office provides a comfortable and modern environment to patients. Patients can listen classical music, drink a cup of coffee, and sit on comfortable chairs. Also employees make follow-up calls to patients  after treatment which is a competitive advantage in service Question no. 5 Contrast your own dental care experiences with those offered by Beckett’s practice. What differences do you see? Based on your review of this case, what advice would you give (a) to your current or former dentist and (b) to Dr Beckett? Answer My dental care experience is absolutely different from Beckett’s practice. My dentist office is poorly designed and there is no rescheduling option. She always makes me wait more than 30minutes. There is no headphone, classical music or abundant of flowers. She has what she needs. But her dental practice is perfect; I feel no pain when I have operations. a)Although if she redesigns her office and provide more f acilitating and enhancing supplementary services, I will be more happy. It is clear that there is a tradeoff between the cheap cost and expensive cost. If you want to be in a comfortable environment, you should pay more money. b)From my point of view, Dr. Beckett provides her service in a quality environment. May be she can offer pet care for patients who have pets. Also a parking place can be a good idea.