Analysis of Environment and the Existing Service - Assignment Example

?New Service Development Proposal Table of Contents Introduction 3 Analysis of Environment and the Existing Service 3 PEST Analysis 3 Political Environment 3 Economic Environment 4 Social Environment 4 Technological Environment 4 Existing Services 5 Consumer Behaviour towards the Museum Sector of UK 5 Results of Research and Justifications for the New Services 6 New service development process 9 Adding Value for the Customers 11 Conclusion 12 References 14 Bibliography 16 Introduction In its recent endeavours, Derby museum has been seeking to introduce new services in order to make it more attractive and delightful for the people visiting the museum and spending their valuable time there. Contextually, the service proposed through this report, to be included by the organization, would emphasise on building customer satisfaction by rendering them with extra services such as serving them with coffee, looking after their conveniences and clarifying their queries regarding the items showcased in the museum. The management of the organization can also promote the museum in UK especially among the youth and students through the new service development plan implementation. Notably, the objective can be done accomplished through staff training. Analysis of Environment and the Existing Service PEST Analysis Political Environment It has been observed that building cross party political support is quite vital for organizations in the museum sector of UK. It has been analyzed that due to the social, educational and cultural value of the museums, the government has been quite supportive towards the industry in UK. The government also provide funds to museums in order to develop them (Crown, 2013a). Economic Environment It has been observed that museum industry has been a major part of the tourism industry of UK. Eventually, this factor had a significant impact on the economic factors affecting the museum industry of the country. It has been noticed in this regard that museum and galleries are prime attractions for both the international and the local visitors in UK. However, in recent times, the numbers of visitors who visit museums have been observed to considerably fall (NMDC, 2010). Social Environment It is believed that the operations of any kind of museum would strengthen the society owing to which it intends to deliver education, inspire people, nourishes mind and behaviour of the people of the society. Moreover people of UK thing of museum as a place in which people visit and inspire them. People believed that Cultural heritage are also be preserved by museums (Museum Association, 2013). Technological Environment Technology is an important aspect of the museum industry. It is believed that through the incorporation of advance technology in museums, customers belonging to the young age could be attracted at a larger proportion. The government of the country thus seeks to implement advanced technology in museums so that maximum number of people (specially the youth) shall visit museums and gather knowledge about culture and heritage of UK (Tallon & Walker, 2008). Existing Services Derby Museum functions as an independent trust that operates for and on the behalf of the people of Derby. They also provide services to channelize information related to art, history and social culture that are accessible by the community at large. It has been observed in this context that the main aim of the organization is to showcase and inform about various types of arts to the common public so that it could delight as well as inspire the people visiting the museum towards the heritage of the region and the world (Derby Museum, n.d.). Consumer Behaviour towards the Museum Sector of UK Consumers are undoubtedly quite vital in any kind of industry structure including museums. In the recent phenomenon, there have been rapid changes in the behaviour and tastes of the customers of UK non-profit service industry which has again created a significant impact on the prosperity and growth potentials of UK museum sector. It has been analysed in this regard that museum is one of the most preferred leisure place for family audiences of UK who attempt to spent their leisure time visiting museums. It has been further noted that customers are also keen to purchase museum products owing to the influences of globalisation and increasing customer awareness (Wu, n.d.). It has also been observed that one of the prime groups of audiences for the museum sector of UK comprise of student and educational institutions which are keen to gather knowledge about different aspects of cultural heritage and historic events (Oana, n.d.). Results of Research and Justifications for the New Services When assessing the recent changes in the museum industry in UK, it can be observed that there has been a constant fall in the number of people visiting the museums in UK. The tables below hereby depict a clearer picture of the fall in the total number of visitors in some of the top museums of the UK (Crown, 2013b). Fig: Monthly Visit Figure in British Museum (Crown, 2013b) Fig: Monthly Visit Figures of Geffrye Museum (Crown, 2013b) Fig: Monthly Visit Figure of Imperial War Museum (Crown, 2013b) One of the major reasons to cause such fluctuations have been identified as a limitations of the museum authorities to deliver customer satisfactory services. Undoubtedly, this particular limitation can be mitigated through the implementation of new services. In order to obtain the desired efficiency of the visitors, museums should need to attract them through high quality services. The new service suggested through this report also focuses on this particular aspect suggesting that Derby Museum shall need to implement extra services like offering coffee to the visitors, provide place to rest for the elderly visitors, rendering adequate information and resolving queries of the visitors comprising students among others. The mentioned services could only be delivered with the help of effective as well efficient staff. This could be done by providing proper training to the employees. The primary necessity of providing employees of museum with proper training would be to facilitate the implementation and execution of the new services proposed in this report which essentially requires immense patience from the staff members. Notably, it has also been observed that staffs of museums need to have sufficient general knowledge regarding the antiques present in the museum and other information related to the place so as to resolve the queries of the visitors coming in the museum. These skills should be incorporated in the training process. Furthermore, the staff should also be trained in order to satisfy the needs of the visitors applying their efficiency to identify the customers’ every single requirement. This could be done through shaping the skills of the staff so that they could interact with the visitors, explain them the importance of particular antique present in the museum and encourage them simultaneously to visit the museum again and again rendering them with utmost satisfaction. Moreover, employees of the museum should also be trained in order to influence them to maintain a culture in the museum that would keep the interest of all the visitors intact and encourage them to visit the place again. These things would ultimately deliver a better performance for the museum and also enable a positive word of mouth promotion through the satisfied visitors which would be highly beneficial for the museum (Zeithaml & et. al., 2011; Poiein Kai Prattein, 2013). From the analysis of the importance of staff training to provide efficient services to the visitors in museum industry, it could be affirmed that the new service chosen for the Derby museum is justified and would be helpful for the growth of the organization in the long run rewarding it with better customer satisfaction. This would also be helpful for the company in fulfilling the desire of the customers from the museum and to encourage maximum number of people, especially students to visit the place. New service development process New services are implemented in any organization in order to meet certain needs and demands of the customers. It has been further observed that the new service would need to be incorporated through a certain process. In this regard training the staff of museum shall be the process through which the mentioned services could be delivered to the visitors of the museum efficiently. It has been observed that as it museums are included in the group of service industry it is vital to take special care in regard to the behaviour and the approach of the staff members (Fisk & et. al., 2008). At the initial stage of the new process development, i.e. to render added or extra services to the visitors, the gap between customers convenience needs and the services already being offered by the museum should be identified. This particular identification shall assist in structuring the exact services which should be required to obtain adequate customer satisfaction such as information deliverance, coffee services and relaxing platforms among others. Notably, the museum can utilise a survey method to obtain the feedbacks from the visitors and thus identify the requirements for the new services as proposed. In the following step the staff would be first explained about the nature and needs of the museum audiences as per the obtained data from the above stages along with the strategies to satisfy such demands. It has been observed that there are audiences belonging from various age groups who decide to visit the Derby museum. Each age group have its own tastes, preferences and needs. The employees would be trained about how to deal visitors of different age groups and what special care should be given to each age group as per the visitors’ conveniences maintaining patience and respectful attitude towards them (Talboys, 2011; Black, 2005). In the subsequent step the employees would be explained about the services that would be provided to the visitors. In this step the employees would be instructed to effectively monitor and identify the visitors, especially those belonging to the elderly age group and children and serve them with their needs efficiently. The employees should also be instructed to guide the visitors to each and every section of the museum and explain them about the importance of the antiques present in the museum. In this regard the staff of the museum would be provided with adequate education about the materials present in the museum. Again, in the process of satisfying the needs of the visitors the staff should be instructed to go a step further and provide coffee or tea at times to the customers so that maximum customer satisfaction could be attained. Moreover, the staff should also target the students who visit the museum and influence them in a way that they would convey the message of the importance of museum to their friends and colleagues and encourage them to visit the place through word-of-mouth (Talboys, 2011; Black, 2005). The final step in the training process of the staff should be to gather the feedbacks of the visitors regarding the museum services and encourage them to visit the place again. By obtaining the feedbacks from the visitors, the staff and the management of the museum shall be able to identify strengths and limitations of their performance that in turn would allow them to work towards betterment in future (Talboys, 2011; Edgett, 1994). Fig: New service Development Adding Value for the Customers When assessing the potential values to be obtained through the new services proposed in the report, it can be stated that these new set of extra or added services would be beneficial to the customers to obtain better knowledge regarding the place, its historic culture and heritage. To be precise, the customers will also be able to obtain quality services and reliable information regarding the museum which will certainly add on to their knowledge. Such disbursement of information shall further augment community oneness and contribute towards the preservation of cultural rudiments by a large extent. Furthermore, as the staff would be properly trained after the completion of the entire development process, they would be able to provide effective services to the customers and satisfy their needs with greater efficiency. Moreover, because of proper training the staffs would be able to answer the queries of the visitors making sure that their confusions are resolved effectively. Hence, it can be stated that the implementation of the new services in the organization would be advantageous for both the organization as well as the customers in the long run (Talboys, 2011). Conclusion From the overall analysis of the paper it can be summarized that a process of development and implementation of a new service in an organization is likely to impose significant positive impacts on both the organization as well as the customers. Contextually, in today’s highly competitive era, it has become quite vital to understand the needs of the customers and satisfy it accordingly. Based on this understanding, it can be suggested to the management of Derby museum to incorporate a set of extra services with due significance towards customers’ conveniences which can be implemented by providing training to the staff. Facilitated by the training facilities, the staff will be able to identify the customer needs more effectively and therefore gain efficiency in satisfying those needs delivering the proposed new services. As it could be depicted form the overall discussion, implementation of this service in the organization would assist them to enhance its performance in relation to customer satisfaction by a large extent. References Black, G., 2005. The engaging museum: developing museums for visitor involvement. Routledge. Crown, 2013a. The Coalition: Our Program for Government. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_187876.pdf [Accessed April 17, 2013]. Crown, 2013b. Museums and Galleries Monthly Visits. Data. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/museums-and-galleries-monthly-visits [Accessed April 18, 2013]. Derby Museum. No Date. About Derby Museum. Our Services. [Online] Available at: http://www.derbymuseums.org/ [Accessed April 17, 2013]. Edgett, S., 1994. The Traits of Successful New Service Development. Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp.40 – 49. Fisk, R. P. & et. al., 2008. Interactive services marketing. Cengage Learning. Museum Association, 2013. Love Museum. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.museumsassociation.org/download?id=143115 [Accessed April 17, 2013]. NMDC, 2010. Museums and Tourism. Documents. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/documents/what_we_do_documents/museums_tourism_briefing_jul10.pdf [Accessed April 17, 2013]. Oana, S., No Date. Consumer Behaviour in the Different Sectors of Tourism. Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, pp. 1-9. Poiein Kai Prattein, 2013. Training of Staff, Development of Local Potential / Human Resources. Home. [Online] Available at: http://poieinkaiprattein.org/culture/museums/new-use-of-media-by-museums---study-for-volos/12-training-of-staff-development-of-local-potential-human-resources/ [Accessed April 17, 2013]. Talboys, G. K., 2011. Museum Educator's Handbook. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Wu, K. L., No Date. Family Leisure Decision Making: Which Museums to Visit? University of Surrey, pp. 1-20. Tallon, L. & Walker, K., 2008. Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience. Handheld Guides and Other Media. [Online] Available at: http://www.lkl.ac.uk/people/kevin/book_chapter7.pdf [Accessed April 17, 2013]. Zeithaml, V. A. & et. al. 2011. Services Marketing – Sie. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Bibliography Gounaris, S.P., Avlonitis, G.J. and Papastathopoulou, P.G., 2006. Uncovering The Keys To Successful Service Elimination: ‘Project Servdrop’, Journal of Services Marketing, 20(1), 24–36. Johne, F. A. & Storey, C., 1997. New Service Development: A Review of the Literature and Annotated Bibliography. Innovation Research Unit, City University Business School. Read More