Reimagining Service Design for Agrea: A One-Island Economy

Date

1-2021

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Remund Jordan D. Labios

Committee Member

Remund Jordan D. Labios, Renen Szilardo C. De Guzman, Jewel Joanna S. Cabardo

Abstract

AGREA was established to build a replicable one-island economy in the province of Marinduque while helping eradicate poverty on the island. The enthusiasm and dedication of Cherrie Atilano in showcasing the importance of agriculture led to the foundation in 2014 of the company, which is also considered a social enterprise. To date, the company continuously creates programs focused on the development of the livelihood of the community, specifically, farmers, fishermen, and youth.

This paper explored the role of service design and introduced tools to evaluate service performance and, thus, contribute to the service innovation of the company. To emphasize their efforts towards helping Marinduque become a self-sustaining island, AGREA should further analyze goals and evaluate each of their services as these are key factors in achieving their goal. This stressed the need to examine service performance qualities that are focused on the company’s goals rather than on their specific service.

Service marketing plays a crucial role in businesses, especially service providers. As it includes marketing and operation functions, it requires the integration of different perspectives from both functions of the organization. One of the key ideas of service marketing is not only to market the service but also to understand the customer experience. This study explored how service quality and different service design methods integrate various concepts to develop a structured system of service that can be used by an organization like AGREA. Service design is a multidisciplinary approach that enabled the researcher to understand the action, people, and emotions behind the service. Additionally, it allowed in-depth communication between different interfaces in the entire service process.

The increasing programs that AGREA offers involve diverse customer interaction thus, this stresses the need for service design. Service design is aimed to provide a standard quality measurement aligned with the goal of the company that indirectly affect its customers and directly affect the management. It hopes to address the challenges that should arise and create customer driven goals on the opportunities at hand. Accordingly, the study investigated the internal environment of the business, and the techniques were used to create a broader perspective on the interrelation of the processes involved in AGREA’s services. This approach led to the identification of possible factors to be considered in creating a clear service assessment framework.

The main objective of this study was to increase the understanding of the service performance of AGREA in order to provide better customer and employee management. Furthermore, this research was conducted to analyze and provide a comprehensive explanation of the service performance of the company. Different design tools were utilized in this study to determine the service performance of the business. Data gathering was primarily done through online interviews, surveys, and phone calls. The supporting secondary data, on the other hand, were collected from different publications. All information from the management and different sources were presented and interpreted descriptively.

The business provides services that are anchored in its core goals namely: zero waste, zero hunger, and zero insufficiency. As for the scope of this study, the researcher investigated the general processes that AGREA undertakes in providing its services that are hinged on the concept of educational learning. In the past six years of providing services, the absence of a formal service design within AGREA was recognized. Considering this, the information in this research alone cannot state that this negatively affects the company’s performance. Hence it provided opportunities and stressed the importance of service design to achieve a one-island economy.

Service quality methods were used to gain a good understanding of the current service situation of the company. Using the gap model framework, the gaps in the performance of the company were derived. First, indistinct research focus and lack of market segmentation were identified that proved the existence of Gap 1. Second, the insufficient customer-driven standards greatly contributed to Gap 2. From this, it was evident that there an absence of structured service design. The unsystematic service development process was also identified that affected their service positioning. Third, the lack of interactive communication among the management and its customers affects how AGREA creates and delivers their service which created Gap 4. Accordingly, the presence of the gaps mentioned was evidence that Gap 5 exists. Maybe directly or indirectly, but the management actions from developing service to understanding customer affect their service performance.

From this, strategic alternatives were formulated to enhance the service performance they provide. One of the major recommendations of the research is the creation of a service blueprint that can be a suitable guide to potentially evaluate, improve, and develop new approaches to their current services. Other alternatives were categorized based on the gap model framework. Listed also in the study are questions that address situations beyond its scope for further research.

Overall, it was recommended that the company should invest more in understanding the needs of customers and aligning their services with the goals of attaining a one-island economy in Marinduque. The study also created a prototype user persona that could be used by the company to align their services better. This would help them focus on a specific market consequently addressing the concerns and suggestions easily. From the user persona, a service blueprint was also created that incorporated the gaps identified.

Language

English

LC Subject

Agriculture, Economic Aspects

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2021 M17 H47

Document Type

Thesis

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