COMPARATIVE_STUDY_ON_USAGE_OF_COMMERCIAL_VEHICLES_“BEST”_AND_INDIAN_RAILWAYS’’

7/27/2019 COMPARATIVE_STUDY_ON_USAGE_OF_COMMERCIAL_VEHICLES_BEST_AND_INDIAN_RAILWAYS

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COMPARATIVE STUDY ON USAGE OF COMMERCIAL

VEHICLES BEST AND INDIAN RAILWAYS

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UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

NCRDS

STERLING COLLEGE OF ARTS, COMMERCE &SCIENCE

NERUL, NAVI MUMBAI

COLLEGE CODE: 331

PROJECT REPORT ON

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON USAGE OF COMMERCIAL

VEHICLES BEST AND INDIAN RAILWAYS

SUBMITTED BY

RAVISHANKAR AGNIHOTRI

PROJECT GUIDE

PROF. K. PRASUNA

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE COURSE OF

BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (B.M.S)

T.Y.B.M.S. (SEMESTER V)

ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-14

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am thankful to STERLING INSTITUTE OF ARTS, COMMERCE

AND SCIENCE for giving me an opportunity to work on the project of the

analysis of emotional quotient from employees perspective. I am highly

thankful to my esteemed guide Mrs. Prasuna for her support throughout the

completion of this project.

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DECLARATION

I RAVISHANKAR AGNIHOTRI Student of NCRDS STERLING

COLLEGE OF ARTS, COMMERCE & SCIENCE, studying in B.M.S

(Semester V) hereby declare that I have completed this project report on

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON USAGE OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE

AND INDAIN RAILWAYS

And has not been submitted to any other University of Institute for the

award of any degree, diploma etc. The information is submitted by me istrue and original to the best of my knowledge.

Date: _________ ___________________

Place: Nerul Navi Mumbai (RAVISHANKAR AGNIHOTRI)

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Index

SR. NO CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1 Executive summary 6

2 HISTORY OF BEST 7

3 History of Indian railways 9

4 An overview 12

5 Pest analysis 14

6 Market segmentation 28

7 4 Is for BEST and Indian railways 32

8 7 Ps for BEST and Indian railways 42

9 Quality dimension (RATERS) 59

10 Comparative study for BEST and Indian Railways 67

11 Critical Incidents case study 96

12 Complaint handlings 99

13 Fish Bone case study 102

14 Future of Roadways and Railways 104

15 Conclusion 112

16 Bibliography 113

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project is a detailed comparative study of usage of commercial vehicle,

best and the Indian railways. It contains a wide study on PEST-

Environment (Political, economy, social and technology environment). A

SWOT analysis is also made on commercial vehicles. History of both BEST

and the Indian railways is explained in the project with the help of various

books and interview from employees of the Indian railway and BEST,

suitable examples are also given.

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HISTORY OF BEST UNDERTAKING

The Bombay Tramway Company Limited was formally set up in

1873. The Mumbai Municipality was given the right to buy up the concern

after the first 25 years or after every period of 7 years thereafter. After this

contract was entered into between the Bombay Tramway Company and the

Municipality, the Government of Mumbai enacted the Bombay Tramways

Act, 1874, under which the Company was licensed to run a tramway service

in the city. The tram-cars were of two kinds-those drawn by one horse and

those drawn by two. In 1905, a newly formed concern, the Bombay ElectricSupply & Tramways Company Limited bought the Bombay Tramway

Company and the first electrically operated tram-car appeared on Mumbai

roads in 1907. The passing years aggravated the problem of rush-hour

traffic and to ease the situation, double Decker trams were introduced in

September, 1920.

Mumbai saw its first bus run on 15th July, 1926. The people of

Mumbai received the bus with enthusiasm, but it took quite sometime

before this means of conveyance really established itself. For several years,

it was looked upon as transport for the upper middle classes. Those were

the days when the tram was the poor mans transport, carried one all the

way from Sassoon Dock to Dadar for a mere Anna and a half, that was nine

paise. The bus fare for the same journey was four Annas that are 25 paisa.

In response to the pleas made by the Government and the Brihan

Mumbai Mahanagarpalika, the Company extended its services to the

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northern part of the city in 1934. Double deck buses were introduced in

1937 in order to cope better with the growing traffic.

The first Limited Bus service in Mumbai, and probably the first in the

country as well, started running in 1940 between Colaba and Mahim.

Pursuant to the option given to it under the Deed of Concession

granted to the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramways Co. Ltd, the Brihan

Mumbai Mahanagarpalika acquired on 7th August, 1947, the assets of the

combined Undertaking, namely the operation of tramways and distribution

of electricity in the city of Mumbai as a going concern. By mutual

agreement, the Corporation also took over the operation of the bus services,

which was run by the B.E.S & T Company Ltd.

Thus, the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Company was

municipalized and came to be known as Bombay Electric Supply &

Transport Undertaking. The Undertaking has completed 50 years of its

municipalization on 7th August, 1997.

The intricacies of Mumbai transport system can easily baffle any new

comer from the countryside. To use a figure of speech, the city inhales and

exhales through the BEST bus services. The changeover from horse-driven

trams to buses has been spectacular.

When the Corporation took over the Company in 1947, there were

242 buses in operation on 23 routes and these buses carried 2.38 lakh

passengers per day. At present, there are 3380 buses carrying 45 lakhs

passengers daily on 335 routes.

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HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

The history of Indian Railways dates back to the British Raj. The idea

of establishing a rail network in India was first mooted by the British

authority in consideration of the huge size of the country, not unmixed with

political, strategic and economic expediencies. Britain needed a fast and

reliable transport system for troop movement (to counter armed rebellion)

and for exploitation of the vast resources of India.

The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and

with the Thal and Bhore Ghats inclines first occurred to Mr. George Clark,

the chief Engineer of the Bombay Government during a visit to Bhandup in

1843. Thus the first railways in the sub-continent came into being on 16th

April, 1853. It ran over a stretch 21 miles from Bombay to Thane amidstthe loud applause of a vast multitude and the salute of 21 guns. Shortly

after, the first passenger train steamed out of Howrah station destined for

Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles on 15th August, 1854. Thus the first section

of the East Indian Railway was opened to public traffic, inauguration the

beginning of railway transport on the Eastern side for the Sub-continent.

In south the first line was opened on 1 st July, 1856 by the Madras

Railway company. It ran between Veyasarpandy and Walajah Road (Arcot),

a distance of 63 miles. In the north a length of 119 miles of line was laid

from Allahabad to Kanpur on 3rd March, 1959. The first section from

Hathras Road to Mathura Cantonment was opened to traffic on 19 th October

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1875. Since then the Indian railways has not looked back and made

impressive strides in shouldering a major share of transportation needs in

the country.

In a short period, the Indian Railways has earned the distinction of

being the largest railway network in the world. Operating on more than 1,

07,000 track kilometers, it carries more than 11 million passengers in a day

and transport 40% of the freight.

Now, the Indian Railways system is divided into 9 zonal railways, a

metro railway, Calcutta and Delhi, the production units, construction

organizations, and other railway establishments. Each division presented in

the table below, is usually headed by a general manager.

There are around 11,000 trains running in India out of which 7,000

are passenger trains.

Sr.No. Zones in the Indian Railways Headquarters

1 Central Mumbai

2 Eastern Calcutta

3 Northern New Delhi

4 North Eastern Gorakhpur

5 North East Frontier Maligaon(Guwahati)

6 Southern Chennai

7 South Central Secunderabad

8 South Eastern Calcutta

9 Western Mumbai

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AN OVERWIEW

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The figure above shows the main factors influencing the process of

Marketing Management in any commercial organization. The single most

important factor is the wants and needs of the organizations target

customers, and hence these are shown at the epicenter of the diagram. The

wants and needs of the target customers determine the significations of the

marketing mix, which is embodied in the marketing management system

(comprising systems of marketing planning, organization/implementation

and control), as illustrated in the third innermost ring of the diagram.

However, marketing management in developing a strategy to satisfy the

needs of its target market must also adapt to a microenvironment, as shown

in the corners of the rectangle in the diagram, consisting of market

intermediaries (or distribution channels), suppliers, competitors and public

(including shareholders). It must further adapt to a macro environment,

shown at the outer extremities of the diagram, consisting of demographic

and economic forces, political and legal forces, technological/physical

forces, and social and cultural forces. Thus marketing management must

take into account all the factors and forces in the marketing environment in

developing its strategy to serve the target market. This applies as much in

the case of a global corporation as it does in the case of small domestic

business and within this range certainly applies to railway and roadway

organizations.

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PEST ANALYSIS -BEST UNDERTAKING POLITICAL

The political situation of any country strongly influences any industry

that wishes to flourish in the framework of the country. The Heavy Motor

Vehicle Industry is also affected strongly by the action and decisions taken

by the men with authority.

The government is instrumental in the passing of the various laws and

acts, which govern the working of the industry and has a very strong

bearing on the success of the industry. The clause of disallowing the use of

old vehicles would have led to an increased demand for the Heavy Motor

Vehicles. For e.g. it has been estimated that the recent Supreme Court

verdict to pull off any vehicle more than 15 years from the road is expected

to increase the demand by about 15000 units.

Buses for State Transport Undertakings: the buses used by the STUs

account for almost 90% of the bus sales. The budget of how many buses are

to be ordered is dependent on each state government. If the government is

hard pressed for funds the number of replacement units for buses ordered

will be low. This will have a great influence in the demand and the

profitability of companies in the manufacture of buses.

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PERMITS:

There are basically three types of permits that are required to be taken by

any transporter. They are:

National permit: This is the permit issued by the transporter, permitting him

to move in minimum 5 states. If more states are to be covered thanrespectively the permit fees has to be paid. Hence the government takes a

consolidated tax payment at the time of issue of permits and thereafter the

transporter does not require paying tax at each and every permitted state. It

is renewed every six months.

State permit: This is a permit allowing the transporter to move freely within

a particular state. The tax payments and the privileges enjoyed are same as

National Permit but the only distinguishing factor is that it can move only

within one particular state. It is renewed every six months.

Temporary permit: This is similar to National Permit but instead of the

period of 6 months it is allowed only for 15 days for all the states but the

transporter here has to pay individual taxes for each state unlike

Consolidated in National Permit.

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Depreciation policy: The government decides the amount of depreciation

that can be charged on the use of Heavy Motor Vehicles. Since corporate

and institutional customers normally purchase the Heavy Motor Vehicles,

they rely heavily on the depreciation that can be provided for tax shelters

since it helps show a lower net profit and higher notional expenses. The

increase in depreciation rates therefore can help push the sales since it will

spur more Heavy Motor Vehicle buying on account of the tax shelters

received. In the past, the GOI changed the depreciation norms to control the

tax collection from corporation. For example: the decrease in depreciationrates from 33% in 1989-90 to 20% in 1990-91 led to drop in Heavy Motor

Vehicles.

Infrastructure development: All the vehicles according to their weight have

to pay a fixed amount of tax known as toll tax. The government uses this

money for the development of roads, maintenance etc.

SOCIAL

Strikes/war/communal riots: These incidents directly affect the service

delivery process. This may result in low demand, loss of property and many

cases injury to the people customers and employees.

Festivals: In case of festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Diwali etc the

demand for road transport goes down and there can be damage to the

vehicle.

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Holidays/vacations: This is another time of the year when the road

transporter can face low or high demand depending on the sector he is

catering to.

Even, some companies have purchase buses for picking up the employees

and dropping them back home e.g. Larsen and Tubro Fiat, UTI etc.

A/C luxury buses: In an honest effort to attract the private vehicle owners to

BEST buses and thereby reduce the congestion to some extent on Mumbai

city roads which affect the mobility of vehicles, BEST has introduced 51 air

conditioned buses. These buses have:

Luxury seats with soft fabric, carpeted flooring jack-knife doors at entrance

and exit, wide corridor for easy movement, etc.

Low floor buses: BEST has received demands from various sections of the

society who are working for the welfare of the physically handicapped,

regarding need for introducing low floor buses in the city. In response to

these demands and suggestions, BEST has launched the trial run of low

floor buses provided by TELCO and Ashok Leyland. This trial is for 6

months.

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Special transport arrangements are made and extra buses under

various Action Plans are operated during the year on various social/

religious occasions. The Undertakings also pays special attention to operate

extra buses to clear the stranded passenger traffic on account of dislocation

of Railways, heavy rains and similar such events. The Undertaking also

operates extra buses on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays to clear theexcursion traffic at various picnic points.

There are special buses started for ladies and disabled persons. Even

students up to 12th standard get concessions on the fares known as student

concession. The Undertaking has a well-equipped Training Center for the

traffic staff and designed program to re-educate them on such relevant

topics as fuel conservation, safety measures, behaviour with the public etc.

Training is also imparted in Refresher Courses to improve driving habits of

the drivers under which officers check the habits of drivers constantly and

as a result of which there is a great reduction in accidents. In the Refresher

Courses, the stress is on an image revamp from a mere BEST employee to a

concerned individual who cares for passenger comfort.

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ECONOMIC

It is a known paradox that the economic condition really affects the

economic condition. This is shown by the fact that all the industries in any

economy are interconnected and an increase or decrease in the activity of

any one industry has a direct or indirect bearing on the activity of the other

industries.

Trade cycles: Trade cycles such as recession or prosperity have a direct

impact on road transport services. When there is recession or slowdown in

the economy and other industries such as travel and tourism, exports-

imports, the level of economic activities are low as a result there is low

demand for transportation services such as passenger transport. This has a

direct impact on the operations and profitability of this industry. It is during

this time that the transporters need to effectively manage demand and

supply and market their services to retain their customers.

Pricing: The fair prices for passenger transport is directly regulated by

government incase of public transport like BEST and indirectly incase of

private such as cargo or private bus contractors. In case of private

transporters the government fixes the minimum and maximum limits for the

prices. So it has a direct impact on the price mix of road transport.

Fuel prices: Earlier government regulated and directly controlled the prices

of the fuel- diesel and petrol- and thereby had a direct impact on the fuel

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prices which determined the cost. Thus the price offered by the road

transporters was directly influenced by the government pricing policy.

TECHNOLOGICAL

Age of the vehicle: P.U.C. under the RTO regulations all vehicles

over 15 years of age are to stop running on road, taking into

consideration the environmental and pollution factors. The emission

of gases from these vehicles is hazardous to the environment.

However it has been noticed that the emission factors not only

depends on the age but also the distance traveled by the buses and themaintenance of such vehicles over their life. This aspect is

completely ignored by the RTO authorities.

IT: Just as integration of IT in all business activities, transportation

sector has not been an exception to it. More and more logistical

software are being used for jobs like keeping track of the vehicles on

the move, organizing database of the customers, maintaining relations

with the customers etc.

CNG Natural Gas Bus

Articulated Single Deck Bus (Vestibule Bus)

Automated Fare Collection System

System Concept

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PEST ANALYSIS- INDIAN RAILWAYS POLITICAL

Railways are owned and managed by the Government of India and

thus profit is not the main motive. It is meant to serve all the sections of the

society, more so the economically and social backward class.

The government lays down policies to be followed by the employees.

The GOI decides the fares but has decentralized certain powers such as the

General Managers of Zonal Railways are given to finalize tenders and

contracts up to a value of 15 crores at their own level.

The GOI has adopted proactive strategies for railways aimed at

income generation and cutting costs. Passenger awareness programmes are

also being taken up through public announcements, posters, films etc. For

income generation, one example could be of the various ads and posters

displayed in the stations.

The public sector undertaking of Indian Railways such as IRCON,

CONCOR, Konkan Railways Corporation has helped to create an

international corporate image.

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Privatization: the GOI was deciding to privatize the Indian Railways but did

not, since the general public started protesting against the decision to

privatize, because if the private companies entered the consumers would

suffer because the would levy high transportation costs.

SOCIAL

Railways have played a very important role in social revolution as it

is gradually wiping out the socio-economic disparities and bringing the

people of various regions close to each other. Mahatma Gandhi traveledthrough the 3rd class compartment to unite the people of India fight against

the British. For e.g. People belonging to various classes travel in one single

local train everyday.

Railways are an environment-friendly mode of transport as it uses the

energy more efficiently than road transport. Mostly all the trains run on

electricity hence it saves fuel. There is no pollution.

Its share in total transportation has declined from 89% to 40% in

freight and from 70% to 20% in passenger transport.

Safety: a non-lapsable Special Railways Safety Fund of Rs.17, 000 crores is

created to wipe out the backlog of replacement of over-aged assets and

safety enhancement within the next 15 years. For e.g. the seating

arrangement of the railways have been changed from previous trains for

better utilization of the space available and comfort.

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Social status: It plays a very important role because people choose to go by

train which suits their status. E.g.: the middle class would prefer super fast

trains like Shatabdi, Rajdhani Express while the poor class will have to

travel by the local trains which will take days together to reach the

destination.

Social obligation and care for weaker section, senior citizen, students,

disabled persons etc enjoy concession benefit from railways. New initiative

in this area during the last three years include reduction of age limits for

special concession to senior women citizens from 65 to 60 years, blind and

mentally challenged persons can now travel in AC classes on concessionalrates. Free second class monthly season tickets for school going children up

to 10th standard for travel between home and school was also introduced.

Even tickets and coupons at concessional rates are provided to student

classes. Even patients suffering from diseases like cancer are given tickets

at half rates and also preferred in waiting lists.

ECONOMICAL

Conserves foreign exchange: Indian Railways have a number of production

units spread all over the country, with modern electric and diesel

locomotives and other equipments which they are able to export through

aggressive marketing and foreign tie-ups which help to conserve the much

needed Foreign Exchange.

Indirectly affecting the economy: The Government is not generating

revenue from the Indian Railways since it cannot increase the fares and so

has to resort to other measures of earning revenue and has to mainly cut

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down its expenses, only then will it be able to contribute something to the

economy.

Growing economic burden: To fulfill the demands of growing population,

new stations and platforms are built which increases the cost of

infrastructure and its maintenance. Thus, it can reduce the economic burden

by earning revenue through other sources.

TECHONOLOGICAL

The reservation systems have been computerized which helps people

to book the tickets from any station. People can also book tickets on theinternet, but people face problems while buying season passes if the

computer fails. There are coupon validating machines on most of the

railways stations.

Super fast and express trains have been introduced. There are also

metro rains in many cities like Kolkata and Delhi.

The Konkan Railways have developed the anti-collision devices on

intensive field trial basis through GPS. Even the sky bus metro is another

innovative and economic and eco-friendly mass rapid transportation

solution devised by Konkan Railway. SST (self stabilizing track) devised by

Konkan railway corporation will enable trains to run at a higher speed and

prevent them from accidents.

Better and improved signaling systems (one of the best in the world).

There is a train every 3 minutes in peak hours (local).

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Palace on wheels in Jaipur can be taken as the best example for

technological advancement or innovation.

Now, the Indian railways have the best of facilities, improved

engines, machines and technology.

Railways have established their own intra-net Rail net. It provides

networking between railway board, zonal headquarters, divisionalheadquarters, production units, training centres etc.

Telecommunication new trends: To give improved telecommunication

systems on railways, optical fibre based communication system has been

adopted and laying OFC has increased to 7,700 routes kms this year. Rail

Tel Corporation has been created to make a nationwide broadband

multimedia network by laying optical fibre cable along the rail tracks. This

system will provide better operational and passenger amenities and

additional revenue to railways.

Automatic Ticketing: Delhi Metro has introduced, for the first time in the

country, ticketing and passenger control through a completely Automatic

Fare Collection system.

The ticket, which could be a card or a token, is purchased from the

Ticket Counter. The passenger then proceeds to one of several gates that

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separate the Paid Area from the Unpaid Area. Here, the passenger will hold

the ticket close to the machine to the right of the gate. If valid, the gates will

open automatically, and the passenger can pass to the Paid Area. If not

valid, the message 'GO TO OFFICE' will be displayed on the machine and

the passenger will need to contact the Customer Service Staff.

Ticket Options:

Travel Card:

Most convenient for the frequent commuter. Stored value cards,

Travel Cards are available in the denominations of Rs. 100, 200 and

500.

- Refundable Deposit: Rs.100 only

- Validity: One Year

- Renewal: No extra charge

- Facility to check balance on Card: Ticket Reading Machines at all

Metro Stations.

Tourist Card:

For unlimited travel over short periods. There are two kinds of cards -

1 day and 3 day.

- Value of 1-Day Card: Rs 50

- Value of 3-Day Card: Rs 150

- Refundable Deposit: Rs 100

Token:

- Single-Journey Token: For one way journey

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- Value will depend on the destination. Valid only on the day of

purchase.

How to use your Travel Card / Tourist Card / Token:

Travel Card/ Tourist Card:

Hold your card close to the machine for the gates to open.

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Tokens:

For entry just hold it close to the machine. At exit, drop a Single-

Journey token into the slot.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Markets consist of buyers and buyers are not homogeneous in terms

of their demographic profiles, wants, purchasing power, geographical

location, buying attitudes, and buying practices. Therefore it is unlikely that

a broad marketing strategy applied across the entire spectrum of customers

will succeed, because the needs of some customers will not be met in this

process.

By contrast, separate marketing strategies focused on individual

customer groups, each consisting of customers with similar characteristics

and needs, are more likely to succeed. These customer groups are called

market segments and the process of identifying and separating these groups

for the purposes of developing marketing plans and strategies and of

managing sales force activities are called market segmentation.

BEST UNDERTAKING

Basis of segmentation Segments

Income or comfort wise Without AC & AC bus.

Speed wise Unlimited bus, limited bus, super fast

bus, non stop bus

Sex wise Ladies special bus.

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Distance wise Short distance,

Medium distance,

Long distance.

Special busses for physically challenged people

Income or Comfort wise: This segment includes people who are quiet rich

and can afford to pay for the kind of luxuries provided. There are Air

Conditioned busses being made to cater to people who want to travel very

comfortably. Also in this kind of busses very less people are allowed to

stand so as to avoid the congestion. Also once the bus gets full bus stops

only at those stops where passengers wants to alight, hence avoiding

unwanted stops thereby saving the customers time and making service

delivery quicker.

Also there are busses without Air Conditions for those who cant

afford or for those who dont want to travel by the Air Condition busses. In

India majority of the population travels by these kind of buses.

Speed Wise: These kind of busses that differ on the time taken to each the

destination, the number of places at which the bus stops, etc. The customers

are also being charged accordingly. Cost and Time are inversely related,

i.e., lesser the time higher the cost of travel and more the time lesser the cost

of travel.

Sex Wise: Similar to railways, specials busses for womens are being run

during peak hours in order to make travel more comfortable.

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Distance Wise: Even buses are being segmented according to the distance

the customers want to travel, i.e., long distance, medium distance and short

distance.

RAILWAYS

Basis of segmentation Segments

Class wise / income wise

1st class ac sleeper class,

Ac 2 tier class car,

Ac 3 tier sleeper class,

Ac chair car,

First class ordinary,

Sleeper class ordinary,

Chair car ordinary,

General class ordinary

Sex wise Ladies special trainsSpeed wise Mail, Express, Ordinary fast, Super

fast, Luxury, Special.

Distance wise

Long distance,

Medium distance,

Short distance.

Indian Railways differentiates its markets according to abovecategories. The type of facilities provided in each and every segment varies

according to the needs of the customers or the ways the segment are being

framed. It can be the quality of services provided by the personnel, the kind

of materials provided like shawls, pillows, etc. to the customers, the kind of

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seats made for sitting, the kind of food provided, and so on. The kind of

service experience customers get is also different in each and every

segment.

Class Wise or Income Wise: This segment has been framed taking into

consideration the purchasing power or the classes of services the passengers

want to experience. Better the services higher the price paid for it. There are

trains, like PALACE OF WHEELS, where world-class services are being

provided like best quality of food, best personnel catering to the passengers,the kind of bedding, no delay in the service delivery, customization in

various services, etc. but also the cost of such experience is high.

There are even various trains that provide low quality of services and charge

low cost. These are for the weaker sections of the society who cannot pay

for the luxurious services.

Sex Wise: These kinds of trains are being run only in the local railways. No

long distance trains are being made ladies special. This segment is being

made to cater to womens during the peak hours in order to make the travel

more comfortable.

Speed Wise: This segment is being made to distinguish the time it takes to

deliver the service. Fast trains are able to make passengers reach their

destination at the least possible time, so as to save the time of passengers.

Due to which the cost of traveling in such kind of trains is quiet high.

Business class people prefer traveling in these trains.

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Distance Wise: This segment includes trains that run over long, medium

and short distances. The kinds of facilities that are provided in all three

trains differ according to the distance they cover like, bedding services that

are being provided in long distance trains only.

4 Is OF SERVICE MARKETING

4 Is are distinctive characteristics of services which create special

marketing challenges and opportunities.

FEATURE MARKETING

PROBLEMS

MARKETING

STRATEGY

INTANGIBILITY

Cannot be easily

displayed

Cannot be patented

Provide tangible clues

Stimulate word of

mouth

Use personal sources

Use post-purchase

communications

INCONSISTENCY

Standardization hard

to achieve

Hard to setup quality

control

Stress standardization

and performance

Focus on employee

training

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Can only predict

quality or

determine it after

service if

performed

programmes,

performance

evaluation

INSEPARABILITY

Harder to mass

produce product

Less efficient than

goods production

Customer must be

present

Needs strong training

programmes,

incentives

Focus on personal

attention

INVENTORY

Value can be short

lived

Capacity is infinite

Time period may be

limited

Cannot be

inventoried

Focus on

convenience, saving

time and fast service

Extended hours

Focus on competence

and service

Predict fluctuations in

demand

Manage capacity to

balance supply and

demand

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INTANGIBILITY

Intangibility is a characteristic of a service indicating that it has no

physical attributes and as a result, impossible for a customer to taste, feel,

hear or smell before they buy it. Therefore the customers for many,

services, has to buy them 'on trust' since they cannot be inspected before

use. However, before purchasing a traditional product, a consumer can

touch, taste and sample the product.

The intangible nature of services makes consumers concerned about

their providers. For example; some major scandal of stocks left many

people uneasy about the financial instability of National Stock Exchange

and investor's trust was shaken. Many people lost faith in the system. "In

fact people are getting greatly concerned now about the service providers,

their back ground, their qualifications and, this is why there is need for

'license to practice' for barbers, beauticians, and estate agents. Service

products are mostly intangible; they have to be marketed with tangible

evidence. This is what is referred to as "tangibilizing the intangibles".

For example:

A lawn care firm might place a small sign on the lawn indicating that

fertilizer has been applied.

A seal on the electric meter provides tangible evidence that

competent authority has tested it.

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A certificate issued by pollution control agency is a tangible evidence

of pollution under control.

The degrees printed on your visiting card is the tangible evidence of

the pollution under control.

INCONSISTENCY

Inconsistency is also referred to as variability or heterogeneity. The

inconsistency occurs largely because of:

Different service providers perform a given service on different

occasions.

The service performed by an individual provider may differ over a

time.

Interaction between customer and provider may vary by customer.

Every time a service is performed, the process and the customer

experience is different. Services that are provided by individuals (rather

than machines) will vary, depending upon which individual performs theservice, and these will even vary with the same service provider from one

job to the next. The service will also vary according to the degree to which

customers or clients are involved in the production of the service.

The degree to which the service organization designs the service

delivery system to control variability will influence the heterogeneity (or

quality) of the service experienced by the customer.

If customer uncertainty must be lessened, mechanizing, automating,

standardizing and rationalizing available options can reduce heterogeneity

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in services. However, heterogeneity may be desired by those customers who

want customized service, rather than standard approaches that are less than

optimal for their individual situation (say, in engineering design or in

factory layout).

The existence of inconsistency problem is more in services than

products. Tangible products can be good or bad but with modern production

lines, the quality can be achieved to a reasonable extent of standardizations.

But it is impossible to standardize service industry output. For examples:

Indian airlines, for example, do not give the same quality of serviceon its each flight.

The performance of an artist in a theatre is not of same standard in

each performance. .

The front office manager of a hotel does not provide same quality of

the service to each customer he deals.

In order to provide consistent services the companies should pay

special attention to a product planning stage of their marketing programmes.

Companies that are highly equipment based or less people based are able to

reduce inconsistency in services.

For example:

Companies, which have installed automatic car wash facilities, are

providing consistent services.(Mechanizations).

Banks that have installed ATM are providing consistent services.

(Automation)

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Mc Donald's have been able to achieve consistency in service

delivery by following a production line approach to services". They have

been able to standardize every aspect of service operation down to the width

of smile that each customer should be greeted with.

INSEPARABILITY

Inseparability is a characteristic of a service indicating that it cannot

be separated from the creator-seller of the product. Many services are

created, delivered and consumed simultaneously through interaction

between customers and service producers. Whereas goods generally, are

produced first and consumed later on. For example, a dentist creates,

delivers all his services simultaneously and the presence of the consumer is

required during the performance of the service. This means that in most of

cases, people are involved concurrently in the production and marketing

efforts of service organizations. In most of the cases the consumer receives

and consumes the services at the service producers premises 'so called

service factory'.

Since inseparability characteristic generally means the direct

interaction between the creator-sellers, it requires shortest channel of

distribution i.e. direct selling. Service cannot be stocked by distributionchain. This concept has a major limitation. For example, one-person say one

auto mechanic can only repair so many vehicles in a day. Thus individual

service seller's services cannot be sold in very many markets. This

characteristic limits the scale of operation of a service organization.

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There arc some services, which can be sold by a representative of the

main service producer e.g., travel agent, insurance, broker, but at the final

point of service delivery the creator-seller presence is unavoidable.

Institutions producing them generally sell such services.

INVENTORY

The inventory relates to perish-ability characteristic in services

marketing. The services cannot be easily saved, stored or inventoried.

Inventory problem exists with services because of its perishable nature.

For example:

A tax consultant who is available only nine to five, Monday through

Friday cannot serve the many people who work during those hours.

Empty seats in a stadium for a football game cannot be carried over

to provide more seating in the next.

Empty seat in a 10 A.M. flight to Bombay cannot be carried over to

provide more seating in next flights.

In a bank hours when tellers are idle, cannot be used to provide

quicker service at noon on Saturday when long lines are forming

An Indian Airline plane that leaves Delhi on way to Bangalore with

thirty empty seats forever loses the opportunity to sell those thirty

seats though the expenses for the flight are same as they would have

been had the plane been full (less only a few rupees for the thirty

meals).

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The inventory is always associated with the cost of carrying the

inventory. With services, inventory costs are more subjective and are related

to capacity utilization i.e. when a service is available but there is no

demand. In idle service production environment, the inventory cost relates

to reimbursing staff along with any needed equipment e.g. if a doctor is

available but there is no patient during that period, the fixed cost of the idle

physician's salary is a high inventory carrying cost.

Another characteristic of many services is that demand for them

fluctuates considerably by season and by day of the week and even hour ofthe day. As an example consider long distance telephone services for which

the demand fluctuates according to time and period (say Diwali season),

public transportation has maximum traffic during peak hours i.e. morning

and evening office hours or a holiday traffic (Durgapuja days) or a special

event (Trade fair), and a restaurant with their lunch and dinner peaks.

The demand for banking services also fluctuates by day and hour.

The day before the holiday, weak end, most Mondays and Saturdays,

pension and salary days are heavier than normal banking hours.

The combination of perishability and fluctuating demand present

challenges for marketers engaged in product planning, pricing, promotion

and distribution of services. Service industries e.g. telephone companies try

to spread out demand for their services by pricing off peak hours to make

them more attractive to callers.

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Restaurants offer "happy hour" rates to off load traffic to earlier

dinner hours

Mc Donald use part time employees (counter persons) to meet the

peak hour rush.

Strategies used in order to tackle this challenges (4 IS):

INTANGIBILITY

Since services are intangibles various tangible clues are required to

be provided in order to make customers feel that some kind of service has

being provided and there has been increase in the value.

Railways and Bus Services:

Better booking or ticketing arrangements.

Better lightings on the railway stations or bus stops also inside the

trains or busses.

Clean and well built railway stations or bus stop.

Proper urinal facilities at the railway stations or bus depots.

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Cushioned seats inside the trains or busses.

Proper display of reservation charts in case of trains or time schedule

of busses.

Drinking water facilities at railway stations or bus stops.

Well-trained personnel for complaint handling or grievances.

Thus a service provider need to see to it that the customer is delighted with

overall service experience

INCONSISTENCY

One can always expect inconsistency in the service delivery, as customer

himself is involved in the service production also various other factors lead

to inconsistency.


Better-trained and motivated employees (both frontline and back-

office).

Maintenance of equipments, i.e., busses and trains.

Planning and organizing the procedures.

Decreasing the use of manpower or using more of automated

procedure.

INSEPERABILITY

In service delivery, both the producer and the consumer are inseparable, i.e.,

both are required to be together Railways and Bus Services:

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Decreasing the interactions between the producer and consumers

Proper training of the employees.

Proper maintenance of service factory.

Trying to segment the consumers.

INVENTORY

Services cannot be overproduced and stored so as to deliver at a future date.

Both production and consumption at the same time.


Prediction of fluctuation in demand.

Balancing demand and supply using modern techniques to do so.

Understanding the consumer behavior.

7 Ps OF TRANSPORT

PRODUCT

PRODUCT LEVELS:

Core Benefit:

It is the main or core reason why the customer will buy the service of

the service provider. More like the basic purpose or necessity.

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Basic Product:

The core benefit is converted into a basic product. That is the service

that can use by the customer in order to fulfill his/her needs.

Expected Product:

It refers to the set of attributes and conditions expected by the

customers when they purchase the service.

Augmented Product:

It is the additional features that the bank provides which exceeds the

customers expectations.

Potential Product:

42

AUGMENTED

BASIC

POTENTIAL

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Innovations and product differential is the bases of a Potential

Product. If the buses and railways alter their services according to the

requirements of the individual customers they reach this level.

BEST

The product-service is the bus transportation service. The service is

the same whether you travel by BEST or by a private transporter. Thus

BEST has a well-recognized brand name. Its quality in providing the service

is legendary.

The three product levels in BEST are: -

The basic product: of the bus industry is transportation of the people

from one place to another.

The expected Product:

1. Timeliness

2. Safety of passengers

3. Brand name of provider

4. Proper ticket dispensation and checking

5. Proper planning of structure of bus for easy entry and exit.

6. Cleanliness

The Augmented Product:

1. Reservation of ticket

2. Softer seats and air condition bus

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3. Concessions for certain sector of society like freedom fighters,

military men.

4. Permanent Reserved seat for ladies, old people and

handicapped people

5. Automatic ticket fare collection

The potential product :

1. Providing separate line to BEST bus on maximum number of route

2. Less waiting plan

3. Disaster management

4. 24 hour service on maximum route

RAILWAYS

For railways, this is the service offered to customers, both existing

and prospective. However, the term also implies some notion of the

attributes of a service its basic design, or its essential features; its

presentation, or how it is packaged; its associated support level (which is

usually related to the capacity of the organization to deliver an acceptable

standard of support for the product, or service); and its branding, or its

association with a particular image or identity. The core products of railway

organizations are transportation services, but increasingly railway

organizations are diversifying their activities in fields which are not wholly

related to their core business, such as commercial property, or real estate,

development.

For a railway passenger service, the design and presentation

characteristics of the product are generally: the route covered; the service

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frequency; the achieved transit time (or interval between departure and

arrival); the carriage seating standard and configuration; the decor,

cleanliness and riding comfort of the rolling stock; the nature and standard

of meals provided enroute; the comfort, cleanliness and convenience of

station or terminal facilities;

And the convenience of connections with other rail services or with other

transport modes.

Mumbai suburb railway - In case of suburban RAILWAY BASIC

and EXPECTED product is same as BEST. However AUGMENTEDproduct of RAILWAY, some features are same as expected product and

many times below the expected product. For e.g. one may expect timeliness,

cleanliness, and safety, while traveling in train which usually lacking.

But RAILWAY taking steps for providing better product for e.g.

RAILWAY encouraged suggestion by commuters who used the new three

coach Mumbai rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) train on western

RAILWAY. MRVC is planning to bring new local to the city.

PLACE

Place, means not just the locations of producer facilities, but the

locations of all points of sale at which customers may have access to the

product or service. Place refers to the contact point between the service

provider and the customer. Two main issues considered regarding the

decision of the place are accessibility and availability of the service to the

customer.

BEST

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The buses travel the required destinations as per the scheduled

timetable. The buses are able to reach the remote areas. IN the case of

BEST it has a wide network of buses that help to transport the commuters

from one place to another. The BEST try cover almost each place in the

city. BEST has bus stop after every 500 900metres. As BEST is public

utility it is also operated in remote area in spite of loss on that particular

route due fewer commuters. The aim of BEST is to provide service to each

and every person city in spite of loss.

RAILWAYSIn the case of railways, these will include not only passenger stations

and freight terminals, but corporate/regional/divisional headquarters,

centralized railway reservations offices, hotels, travel agents, and freight

forwarders offices and terminals.

With more than 38,500 miles (62,000 kilometers) of track length,

India's rail system, entirely government-owned, is the sixth longest in the

world. As on 31 March 1999, there were 62,809 route kilometers, and 6896

stations. RAILWAY also tries to cover maximum area to facilitate service

to people.

In Mumbai suburban RAILWAY around 65 station with more than

140 km of track length i.e. after 2-3 km there is one station .in Mumbai

station are in central place of area so it is easy to reach and accessible to the

commuter It is observe that commuter in Mumbai prefer BEST for short

distance say 2-5 km and RAILWAY for long distance say more than 5 km.

PRICE

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Price is one element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; all

the other elements produce costs. Prices are easiest marketing mix elements

to adjust; product features, channels and even promotion take more time.

Price also communicates to the market the companys intended value

positioning of its product or brand.

Pricing decisions occupy a place of outstanding significance,

especially in a utility undertaking. Making available the public

transportation facilities to the masses and strengthening the infrastructure

base for an all-round development of the country cant be possible unlesspublic transport contribute substantially to the development process. This

necessitates due attention on the financial health of Indian railways and

BEST for this, one cant underestimate the pricing decisions.

BEST

For tickets of BEST, the pricing model used is the cost oriented

method, where all direct costs (drivers charges, conductors charges) and

indirect charges (maintenance of busses, depreciation on busses etc) are

added up with the profit margin to arrive at a price.

Price of normally depends upon

1. Fixed cost: it refers to the interest on capital, depreciation costs,

registration and insurance expense, taxes to be paid, expenses on

general upkeep of vehicles, administrative expenses

2. Semi fixed costs; it refers to the salaries of drivers, cleaners, and

conductor, miscellaneous expenses that vary with the running of the

vehicles.

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3. Variable cost: this includes cost of fuel, oil, which are incurred when

the vehicles are on the move and maintenance costs that are directly

attractable to a particular journey. The variable costs are generally

directly proportional to the distance moved.

4. Vehicle utilization: BEST would be interested in getting maximum

mileage out of his vehicle. The BEST prefer to move it at the

maximum possible and permissible speed so that transit time would

be less and he can have a better utilization of bus

5. Government policy: apart from above cost government can issue

legislation, frame guideline, issue directives regarding price.The pricing of tickets of BEST are quiet flexible, they rise with any

major rise in the cost of diesel or oil. They also have different price levels

for the same service. Students below 12th standard, freedom fighters and

military men are offered concessions in all BEST busses.

RAILWAYS

Being a public utility undertaking, the Indian Railways dont have any

freedom to adjust it fare and freight structure corresponding to an increase in

the prices of various inputs used in the process of offering the services. The

policy of price restraint followed by the Indian Railways on socio-economic

considerations is the root and branch cause of containing financial constraint.

This makes it essential that the pricing decisions are made rational. The

pricing strategies need to establish a fair match between the social and

commercial considerations.

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The pricing policy is not uniform. Some of the commodities used as

industrial raw materials, some of the articles transported to face the natural

calamities, some of the materials transported for welfare purposes and some

of the users experiencing it difficult to pay even the cost-based or subsidized

fare and freight rates. On the other hand, affluent business houses also use

Indian railways. If the railways start the process of offering concessional

services to all, the process of expansion and development would hardly be

activated.

Hence the railways are marked based on 5 principles

Cost of service principle the transport charges are based on the actualcosts incurred on the services

Value of service principle fixation of rates on the value of service

Principle of differential charging Allow different charges on different

commodities for same distance

Principal principle of zonal charging Division of area into several

zones and discourages short hauls and encourages longer ones

The suitability of a particular principle depends upon the prevailing

conditions vis--vis emerging trends.

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Concessions are given in passenger train also to a variety of segments some

of which are:

1. Orthopaedically Handicapped/ Paraplegic persons along with an escort

(for both) traveling for any purpose.

2. War Widows. - Traveling for any purpose

3. (a) Bonafide students:

i. Up to the age of 25 years and

ii. Up to the age of 27 years in the case of SC/ST students. - For

going to hometown and educational tours.

(b) Students - Girls up to 12th class and boys up to 10th class fortravel between home & school

4. Teachers of Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools - for

educational tours.

5. Bharat Scouts & Guides - for scouting duty.

Senior citizens, students, disabled persons etc. enjoy concessional

benefits from Railways. New initiatives in this area during the last three

years include reduction of age limits for special concession to senior women

citizen from 65 to 60 years, blind and mentally challenged persons can now

travel in AC classes on concessional rates. Free second class Monthly Season

Tickets (MSTs) for school going children up to tenth standard for travel

between home and school was also introduced.

In this way, social obligation towards society is also discharged.

Handy information pamphlets in local languages containing details of

different types of concessions to which passengers are eligible and other

relevant passenger information will be made available at Book Stalls and

RAILWAY Counters on payment of nominal charges.

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Railways recently decreased its passenger fare in Mumbai by 1

Rs.

In Mumbai BEST is economical for short distance and for long

distance train is economical. BEST also takes more time in long distance

journey compare to railway. So people prefer train for long distance and

BEST for short distance.

PROMOTION

Promotion is nothing but making the customer more and more aware

of the services and benefits provided Promotion is a descriptive term for

the mix of communication activities, which a service organization carries

out in order to influence the public on whom their sales depend. It is an

element in an organizations marketing mix that serves to inform, persuade,

or/ and remind people about an organization or individual goods, service,

image, ideas, community involvement or impact on the society. Marketing

is the result of all activities aimed at enhancing customer awareness of, and

stimulating demand for, products or services. Typically, these activities

include: advertising in all of its forms (point-of-sale, direct mailing, print

media and broadcast media); sales force representation; and PR (public

relations).

Mumbai suburban RAILWAY and BEST do not normally undertake

aggressive promotion.

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Reason for not undertaking aggressive transport:

1. Monopoly: suburban RAILWAY and BEST as being public utility

enjoying monopoly in public transport. So they do not have any

competition from other service provider

2. Price s: suburban RAILWAY and BEST have cost oriented pricing

method .due to this they keep very nominal price for service. Due to

this reason BEST and RAILWAY have advantage over other service

provider like rickshaw and taxi.

3. Place: commuter can access RAILWAY station and bus stop veryeasily because after every 2-3 km there is one station and after every

500-900 meters there is one bus stop.

BEST

BEST also started promoting its service as environment friendly. In

order to decrease pollution in Mumbai, government insists that people use

public transport system. So BEST is now focusing on this issue to

encourage more and more people to travel by its bus. Also the BEST is

planning to increase the strength of CNG buses in its fleet. CNG is a clear

burning fuel, with no black smoke and very low particulate emissions. Thus

CNG engine is environmental friendly. Low noise level of the engine. This

will add to passenger comfort.

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RAILWAYS

Of the different forms of promotion, sales representation has been

the most widely used in railway business. However, railway sales forces

have mainly had a passive or reactive, rather than a proactive, role,

servicing existing customers rather than seeking out and securing new

customers, order taking rather than order generating. Furthermore, these

sales forces have not been organized in a way, which would assist them to

actively promote railway services and secure new business.

But in recent year, because of tough competition of from airlinesindustry, RAILWAY now promoting its luxury trains like Rajdhani express,

Shatabdi express, and air condition 1st class services of other express train.

For example recently they introduce new imported coach from Germany in

Rajdhani express and also provide best services in catering, cleanliness, in

special and luxury train etc. RAILWAY has also started educating and

advertising new services like reservation of ticket through Internet, SMS,

and holiday special train during rush to traffic during holidays and festival

seasons.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Physical Evidence is the environment in which the service is

delivered with physical or tangible commodities and where the service

provider and the customer interact. Physical evidence makes a huge impact

on the customer. Physical evidence provides customers means of evaluating

the service.

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BEST

The Bus Stops and Bus Depots play a vital role in enhancing Physical

Evidence of the Service. They are usually kept neat and clean. Again the

flexes on the bus stops, which are put up for advertisements play a role.

Now, more and more bus stops are having seating facilities or a rooftop.

Again the interiors of the buses are kept simple and user-friendly; seats are

in good conditions, which all add up to make the journey of the customer a

happy journey. Buses are always clean. There is only one backdrop in case

of BEST is that appearance of ticket is not good and it is very difficult tounderstand for commuter as it does not show place, date, time, etc. ticket

just show the price. So there is great chance of cheating from both parties.

RAILWAYS

Physical evidence contains all the visible features of a service. These

have to be carefully designed for each segment of market. Physical

Evidence refers to the physical evidence available to customers in the layout

and presentation of railway facilities that their needs are actually being met.

The design, layout and signage of passenger stations, for example, must be

such as to convey the impression to travelers that the railway really wants

their business. This it will do by ensuring that platforms, concourses,

ticket/reservations offices, waiting rooms, toilets, baggage lockers, bus

interchange and transfer facilities, etc, will be comfortable and convenient

for all categories of travelers to use. These facilities also have a critical

influence on customer acceptance of the railway product.

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It can be of the following: -

Train: The engine of the train, the color of the train the interiors of the train

all form a part of physical evidence. The announcements warnings and

cautions written on the walls of the train also form an integral part of the

physical evidence. Different features are provided for different class of

passengers. Like the second class had wooden planks for seating. Sleeper

class has leaner seats than the two-tier class. The first class people are given

a cabin of their own sometimes with an inbuilt toilet and cooking facilities.

Also the lighting and the fans form a part of the physical evidence. The fangrill is seldom clean. It is always full of spider webs. Also the differentiation

between the compartments is made. For example in the Mumbai Suburban

RAILWAY System first class is marked by red and cream lines where as the

ladies compartment is marked by green and cream lines. Also some types of

trains are distinctive than others. Like the Rajdhani train is always red and

yellow and the Shatabdi train is always blue. Also the tourist trains like

Palace On Wheels have facilities like lounge, bar, library, restaurants, etc.

Station: The station is mostly the platform, which is made of concrete. The

ticket window, the advertisements and the FOBs form a part of the physical

evidence. Also the indicators, the tone in which the announcements are made,

the tea stalls and the bookstalls, ticket-validating machines, weighing

machines and the billboards showing various fares or train names and/or

timings all form a part of it. Also the uniforms of the coolies may form a part

of the physical evidence.

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Tracks: The tracks, the signals on the way and the appearance of the

motorman and the signal giver, the cleanliness of the surroundings all form a

part of the physical evidence.

Others: Other type of physical evidence would include the ticket, Goods

shed/Container Freight Station (CFS), the website, uniforms of the ticket

checkers, the reservation forms, seasonal passes, the identity cards, food

provided, the bedding which includes the pillows and sheets, the water and

drinks provided and the packing of the food and other amenities.

Overall physical evidence of RAILWAY is not satisfactory. Colour

of train and engine, colour of interior is not good, fans and light many time

not working, quality of light and fan also inferior, bathroom and toilet are

usually dirty, many seats are unclean and broken, station are always dirty,

public address system is inaudible, etc.

PROCESS

The process mix constitutes the overall procedure involved in using

the services offered. It is very necessary that the process is very customer

friendly. In other words a process should be such that the customer is easily

able to understand and easy to follow.

BEST

BEST has been successful in developing a process of boarding the

buses and alighting the buses. People generally get down from the front gate

and board the bus from the rear gate. When the commuters get in from the

rear gate and there is nobody else left to board, the conductor will send an

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alarm bell to the driver, which is audible. Driver will drive only when all the

passengers who want to get down will do so, irrespective of the bell.

RAILWAYS

In suburban RAILWAY commuter has to take ticket or pass to travel,

after that he travel to destination. According to the need of the different

commuter there are different train for different destination and there are also

fast wheel train and slow wheel train. There is same gate for boarding and

gate down so daily commuter make their own system and way. Train stop

for 30 seconds at each stop.In case of long distance train, one have to fill up reservation form in

which one have to provide information regarding number of train, date of

journey, destination, no. Of people etc. it is very simple form. Submitting

this form on the reservation counter one can get reservation and ticket

which give all information about train, seat no., departure time, no. of

person, PNR no., fare, action the date of journey person have to get the seat

shown on ticket and have to show ticket to ticket checker.

PEOPLE

People play a major role in service organizations. It is their

responsibility to see that the customers needs and wants are satisfied. This

requires the employees to be well motivated & focused about their job. The

providers have to be in the highest state of readiness and also in the highest

level of skill. PEOPLE - in service marketing includes

EMPLOYEES

OTHER CUSTOMERS

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EMPLOYEES They are the representatives of the company. Their

performance can create a positive as well as negative impact of the service

process and the image of the company. Keeping people factor healthy is

one of the prime concerns of the company.

BEST

In case bus transport, driver, conductor, cleaner, mechanical engineer,

worker at depot are part of people mix. Driver and conductor have to be

polite and commuter friendly. They are actually come into contact withpeople so they have take care of need of people for ex drive bus safely,

allow passenger to board and get down safely, etc. on other hand cleaner,

engineer, and worker of depot should also be accurate as condition of bus

and safety of passenger depend upon them.

RAILWAYS

Railways are a service industry; hence the railway employees

responsible for delivery of service are conspicuous to users and indeed are

directly accountable to users for service quality.

It almost goes without saying that people are a railway organizations

most important resource. So it is that a railways people resources will be

vitally important to the realization of its marketing goals. It will not matter

how advanced and sophisticated are a railway.

Organizations management systems if the railways existing and

potential customers do not feel that railway staff are listening and

responding to their needs. What is required, therefore, is total customer

awareness from the very top to the lowest levels of staff in the railway

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organization. Inevitably, this in turn will require that a customer awareness

culture be instilled throughout the railway organization by its senior

management, who in most cases must first make the mental transition

themselves,

In RAILWAY, driver, motorman, guard, ticket checker, employee at

reservation counter, employee at station, catering people, RAILWAY

engineer, station manager, RAILWAY police, etc are part of people mix of

the RAILWAY. Driver, motorman, guard, RAILWAY engineer,

stationmaster, RAILWAY police should be efficient and accurate as safety

of passenger depend upon them. Employee at reservation counter, employeeat station, and ticket checker should talk politely and with empathy with

passenger as there are consumer who gives them revenue and profit.

Catering people should keep them clean and dress well. They should also

prepare healthy and tasty food.

Customer: People mix not only includes employees but also customers.

The customers are to be treated with respect and courtesy. For ex if a

vegetarian Jain female traveling in train and male passenger beside her is

non-vegetarian eating non-vegetarian food. Certainly that lady does not like

to travel by train again.

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QUALITY DIMENSIONS (RATER)

Since the services are intangible, multifaceted in nature it becomes

hard to evaluate the quality of service operation in comparison to goods.

Customers are often involved in service production, particularly in people

processing services therefore a distinction needs to be drawn between the

process of service delivery and the actual output of service. Gronroos and

others also suggested that the perceived quality of service will be the result

of an evaluation process in which customer compare their perception ofservice delivery and its outcome against what they expected.

The most extensive research into service quality is strongly user oriented.

Hence Zeithaml, Beery, and Parasuraman identified ten criterias used by

consumers in evaluating service quality (Credibility, Security, Access,

Communication, Understanding the customer, Tangibles, Reliability,

Responsiveness, Competence, Courtesy) But many of them were

overlapping and hence they prepared a 5 Dimension model known as

RATER..

Now the service quality is pooled into five dimensions likely

Reliability

Assurance

Tangibility

Empathy

Responsiveness

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It is basically the five parts of the stars.

RELIABILITY

TABGIBILITY ASSURANCE

EMPATHY RESPONSIVENESS

RELIABILITY

Reliability means the ability to perform the promised service

dependable and accurately. It is also known as the No Excuses service

delivery. The customer must develop a feeling that they can depend on that

particular service provider for their problem.

ASSURANCE

Assurance is the knowledge, courtesy and the accuracy of employees

and their ability to develop trust and confidence among their customers that

they would be provided with the best of services.

TANGIBLITY

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Tangibles are appearances of physical facilities, equipments,

personnel and communication materials. The things that a person can touch

or see.

EMPATHY

Empathy is the ability to provide caring and if possible individualized

attention to the customer.

RESPONSIVENESS

Responsiveness is the willingness to help the customer and provide

him with immediate and fast service.

BEST

RELIABILITY- Thousands of people regularly travel by Best buses to

reach their destinations. In peek hours many of the commuters depend on

these buses to reach their offices, workplace, etc. It is also one of the

cheapest modes of transport as during peek hours the Taxis, Auto

rickshaws, and even private vehicles may prove costly due to heavy traffic

jams at most places in Mumbai. The facility of these Best buses is available

at almost all the parts of Mumbai, and also the frequency of this buses and

the customer carrying capacity is quite good. Though its a bite slow in

transporting people but still its quite reliable.

ASSURANCE- The commuters traveling by the best buses are quite

assured of reaching the correct destination as the correct and quite visible

transport route of the bus is displayed on front side and also on the left hand

side of the bus. Also the conductors and drivers of these buses are quite

polite and helpful to the passengers in guiding them to the right

destinations. (Of course there are some exceptions to this.) BEST do have a

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good amount of credibility among the passengers as their slogan says

Safety is our Motto and they also market themselves as the Safest mode

of Transport.

TANGIBLES- In case of BEST the tangibles which the passengers can see

or touch are the Seats, Cleanliness maintained in buses, Uniformity of the

uniforms, Tickets, etc. Seats provided by the Best buses are quite

comfortable and also separate seats are provided for Ladies and also the

Physically Handicapped people. Expect few bits of tickets lying on the floor

good quality of cleanliness is maintained in these buses as they are washed

every single day. Uniforms of the conductor are clean and different from the

commuters so they are not misunderstood as fellow passengers and there is

uniformity in their uniforms. E.g. - Khaki uniform for the conductors and

Blue uniforms for the Ticket checkers. Tickets are also simple showing the

fare rate on it and quite easy to carry.

EMPATHY- As Empathy is the ability to provide caring and if possible

individualized attention to the customer, but in case of BEST though

complete individualized attention is not quite possible but at the same time

they are quite approachable and easy to contact as there number of depots

located in different parts of the cities. These depots provides with the

information on the time schedule of the buses also the routes used by these

buses and they also issue Concession bus passes to various school andcollege students. The staff at the depots and the staff in buses are quite

humble, polite, and helpful.

RESPONSIVENESS- The BEST is quite responsive to its customers as

they try their best to provide immediate solution to the problems of their

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customers For E.g. - If the Best buses while transporting people breakdown

due to flat tyre or any other kind of technical problem then the passengers

traveling by that bus are shifted in another best bus and they are not charged

for it and the ticket of the bus which is punctured is also valid in the new

bus in which they are shifted. Another E.g. is the recent floods of 26 July

when most of the transport facilities were not working due to heavy rains,

the services of BEST was an exception. BEST buses were the only mode of

road transport moving on roads filled with waters till there was a traffic jam.

The staff of BEST buses showed their responsibility towards their

passengers and while the private vehicle owners were leaving their vehicleson roads, the staffs of BEST buses were there with the passengers till the

traffic started moving on the next day. Some 647 of BESTs buses were

damaged in rains but the BEST didnt wait for the repair of the parts of the

buses instead they simply replaced it and the buses were back on road

within hours. These show the responsiveness of BEST towards their

customers.

RAILWAYS

RELIABILITY-Provides safe and dependable train services;

Notified standards are set for various services wherever possible;

Ensure adequate passenger amenities in trains and at railway stations;

Provides courteous and efficient counter services; and

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Responsible and effective grievance redressal machinery is set up, at

various levels for time bound resolution of complaints and grievances as far

as possible.

It is also one of the cheapest modes of transport and its quite fast and also

has a good passengers caring capacity and hence its reliable.

ASSURANCE-

Railway Time Tables containing details of various trains run by the Railway

Administration and other relevant information for passengers are made

available at most of the railway stations. Railways also make all endeavors

to provide information to passengers on telephone at important stations

regarding arrival/departure/reservation status etc.

The position of running of trains is updated regularly and the latest

available position is announced on the Public Address System at the

important stations and it is also made available to passengers ontelephone/personal enquiries.

Computerized Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) capable of

providing information to the public automatically over the phone is

provided to facilitate easy access to information at stations handling large

volume of passengers.

Handy information pamphlets in local languages containing details of

different types of concessions to which passengers are eligible

Documents

COMPARATIVE_STUDY_ON_USAGE_OF_COMMERCIAL_VEHICLES_“BEST”_AND_INDIAN_RAILWAYS’’