In addition to the actual blueprint, each student is to write a short paper (4-5 pages) that addresses each of the following topics:

(1) Introduce the organization (pick any firm you know), describe the service(s) that you blueprinted, the target market for that service, and why you selected it;

(2) Describe the four key customer actions depicted in the blueprint and discuss why you believe each is critical to a successful service experience*;

(3) Describe the four onstage employee/SST actions depicted in the blueprint and discuss why you believe each is critical to a successful service experience*;

(4) Describe the four backstage employee/SST actions depicted in the blueprint and discuss why you believe each is critical to a successful service experience*;

(5) Describe the four distinct support processes depicted in the blueprint and discuss why you believe each is critical to a successful service experience*;

(6) Describe the key elements of physical evidence depicted in the blueprint and discuss why you believe each is critical to a successful service experience*;

(7) Identify, number, and describe the two potential bottlenecks and/or failpoints;

(8) Propose possible solutions/alternatives to address each bottleneck and/or failpoint;

(9) Discuss how a service blueprint might be used by an organization to make decisions with regard to marketing, human resource management, and operations;

(10) Think about your service process beyond your specific organization. Discuss what generally creates customers’ most negative experiences (for example: emotional hot spots, irritations, frustrations, time wasted, delays, etc.) for this service process.

(11) Discuss what was learned in doing this assignment and how it could be applied in the business world.

For (2), (3), (4), and (5), if your service blueprint has more than four actions or processes, select the most important ones.

* Note: For “critical to a successful service experience” think of how that activity potentially contributes to customer satisfaction. A question to ask yourself is, “If this employee action, support process, or physical evidence wasn’t present, how might the quality of the service provision be diminished?”

Use paragraphs and headings (and subheadings) to clearly organize your work. A topic/response format is good for your paper, with bold font for the 11 topics and regular font for your responses.