Service Management & Insurance

St. Joseph’s College of Commerce (Autonomous)

End Semester Examination – March 2013

1. Com – VI Semester

SERVICE MANAGEMENT & INSRANCE

Time : 3 hours                                                                                                             Max. Marks: 100

SECTION – A

1. Answer all the questions.                 (10×2=20)

 

1. Give the meaning of Annuity.
2. Give two examples of possession processing.
3. Mention two ways of settlement of claims.
4. What is serqual scale?
5. Write the meaning of market targeting.
6. Mention the pricing objectives.
7. What do you mean by word of mouth communication?
8. Define Empowerment.
9. What is essential evidence and peripheral evidence?
10. Explain branding in services.

 

SECTION – B

 

1. Answer any four                                                                              (4×5=20)

 

11. What do you mean by grace days?  Mention in detail the various privileges available to assured.
12. Critically evaluate the importance of health insurance to an employee.
13. Explain how you can strike a balance between demand and supply in a service organization in order to have maximum customer satisfaction?
14. Analyze the customer activities involved in selecting, using and evaluating a service.
15. Evaluate the various roles of the customer in the service delivery process.
16. What is IRDA? Explain the main functions of IRDA in the insurance industry.

 

SECTION – C

 

• Answer any three                                                                        (3×15=45)

 

17. In his book, “India 2020 – A vision for the new millennium”, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam says that service sector provides essential inputs to other two sectors namely agriculture and industry.  The global service economy is booming.  In today’s context owing to globalization of economies, information technology, the role of service sector has assumed a new dimension.  According to you, what are the factors which have led to the growth of service sector in the global economy?

 

18. What do you mean by life assurance? Explain the various life insurance policies available to customers.
19. Explain the strategies a firm may employ to create and build strong loyalty bonds with its customers.
20. What is general insurance? Explain the different types of general insurance.
21. What is service GAP? Draw the gap model mentioning the various service gaps and suggest its remedies.

SECTION – D

 

1. Case Study – Compulsory question. (15 MARKS)

City Bus Services

The bus service within the X Municipal Corporation area was established in 1952 to help the city people commute effectively. Since then, the population of the city has grown from a mere 300,000 to well over 30, 00,000 with even a larger population living on the outskirts or in the surrounding villages. The growth in population has also resulted in the geographic spread of the city. The farthest points within the municipal limits are as much as 10 kilometers away from the municipal corporation buildings.

Despite the best efforts from the transport company and the municipal corporation, which runs the transport company, the problems of road commuting remain acute. At least 20% of the buses are off the road on any given day due to maintenance problems. These problems seem to originate from the very high average age of the bus fleet brought about by the lack of available funds to replace the older buses. In addition, the shortages of spare parts and com­ponents due to acute shortage of funds are also endemic.

Due to the unreliability and low frequency of the bus services, most of the city dwellers are dependent upon personal modes of transport such as two wheelers and motor cars. High number of vehicles and low road density/ the traffic snarls, low average speeds, and pollution are causing the city to almost burst at its seams.

Recently, a new General Manager took charge of the bus company, he noted a number of problems with the present bus service. The problems identified by him include very

 

high demand for services during the peak times of 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5p>m, to 8 p.m. Despite the inability of the bus service to cope during the peak hours, the average revenue earned per bus per day is quite low. As a matter of fact, it is insufficient to run the bus company in a profitable manner. The recent Supreme Court rulings on the maximum age of a bus to be only 15 years has meant imminent threat of scrapping at least one third of the fleet Due to the nature of the peak hours during the day time and later in the evenings, the buses operate at low capacity-Due to very high number of tariff variations, the bus system requires both a driver and a conductor. The total employee bill including the perquisites etc. accounts for over 35% of the total costs.

Now, the company offers concessional passes to students, workers, and other citizens at the price of 30% of two-way commuting cost for the entire month. There is a great demand to offer free bus facility to those who are physically challenged or are elderly.

Questions

• What are the challenges faced by the new General Manager?
• What are the various means by which the transport company could cope with the demands?