ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the service manager’s role in the service system from a social interaction perspective. Each section in this chapter lays out specific management techniques for use with the service provider. It discusses and enumerates the many and varied kinds of interactive role a manager must try to master, and how their ranking in the service organization affects their function within the exchange process. The second feature of the chapter explores a managerial program vision for a travel service company. How a vision is defined for internal and public consumption brings order to a social situation. Its design and development are investigated and laid out for the service provider, and help to define how to cope with and solve problems. For management service vision to be successful, it must embody positive management applications, which are described in detail. Part three of the chapter recognizes the importance of the frontline employee in maintaining customer satisfaction and the ultimate success of the management plan. This part warns of fostering role ambiguity, overlooking the lack of proper skills, and the loss of autonomy, which reduce the service provider’s effectiveness.
