For each of the three generic strategies (i.e., cost leadership, differentiation, and focus), which of the four competitive uses of information is most powerful?
> 1. Prepare a service blueprint for Commuter Cleaning. 2. What generic approach to service system design is illustrated by Commuter Cleaning, and what competitive advantages does this design offer? 3. Using the data in Table 3.5, calculate a break-eve
> 1. Describe the growth strategy of Federal Express. How did this strategy differ from those of its competitors? 2. What risks were involved in the acquisition of Tiger International? 3. In addition to the question of merging FedEx and Flying Tigers pilot
> 1. Prepare a service blueprint for the 100 Yen Sushi House operation. 2. What features of the 100 Yen Sushi House service delivery system differentiate it from the competition, and what competitive advantages do they offer? 3. How has the 100 Yen Sushi
> 1. Prepare a run chart on each of the incident categories. Does she have reason to be concerned about burglaries? What variable might you plot against burglaries to create a scatter diagram to determine a possible explanation? 2. What is unusual about th
> Conduct a Google search on “project finance” and find employment opportunities in project finance. What is the role of finance in projects?
> Could firms in the “world-class service delivery” stage of competitiveness be described as “learning organizations’?
> Discuss the difference between time variance, cost variance, and schedule variance.
> Explain why the PERT estimate of expected project duration always is optimistic. Can we get any feel for the magnitude of this bias?
> Are Gantt charts still viable project management tools? Explain.
> Illustrate the four stages of team building from your own experience.
> Give an example that demonstrates the trade-off inherent in projects among cost, time, and performance.
> Identify dependent and independent demand for an airline and a hospital.
> Service capacity (i.e., seats on an aircraft) has characteristics similar to inventories. What inventory model would apply?
> How is a service level determined for most inventory items?
> How valid are the assumptions for the simple EOQ model?
> Discuss how information technology can help to create a competitive advantage through inventory management?
> Determine if the U.S. service sector currently is expanding or contracting based upon the Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) found at ISM Report on Business on the Institute of Supply Management website: http://www.ism.ws/pubs/ismmag/.
> Compare and contrast a continuous review inventory system with a periodic review inventory system?
> How would one find values for inventory management costs?
> Discuss the functions of inventory for different organizations in the supply chain (i.e., manufacturing, suppliers, distributors, and retailers).
> What changes in (, (, and ( would you recommend to improve the performance of the trendline seasonal adjustment forecast shown in Figure 11.4? Figure 11.4: Profile of Operator Requirements and Tour Assignments Number of operators 25 20 15 10 5 0 12
> Why is the N-period moving-average model still in common use if the simple exponential smoothing model has superior qualities?
> Suggest a number of independent variables for a regression model to predict the potential sales volume of a given location for a retail store (e.g., a video rental store).
> The number of customers at a bank likely will vary by the hour of the day and by the day of the month. What are the implications of this for choosing a forecasting model?
> For each of the three forecasting methods (i.e., time series, causal, and subjective), what costs are associated with the development and use of the forecast model? What costs are associated with forecast error?
> What characteristics of service organizations make forecast accuracy important?
> Discuss how the M/G/( model could be used to determine the number of emergency medical vehicles that are required to serve a community.
> Give an example of a firm that began as world-class and has remained in that category.
> What are some disadvantages associated with the concept of pooling service resources?
> For a queuing system with a finite queue, the arrival rate can exceed the capacity to serve. Use an example to explain how this is feasible.
> Example 13.1 presents a naïve capacity planning exercise and was criticized for using averages. Recall the concept of a "bottleneck" from Chapter 5, "Supporting Facility and Process Flows," and suggest other reservations about this planning exercise.
> Discuss how one could determine the economic cost of keeping customers waiting.
> When the line becomes long at some fast-food restaurants, an employee will walk along the line taking orders. What are the benefits of this policy?
> Suggest ways that service management can influence the arrival times of customers.
> Select a bad and good waiting experience, and contrast the situations with respect to the aesthetics of the surroundings, diversions, people waiting, and attitude of servers.
> Suggest diversions that could make waiting less painful.
> Suggest some strategies for controlling the variability in service times.
> Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_Management and discuss the ethical issues associated with yield management.
> What is the value of self-service in an economy?
> Will the widespread use of yield management eventually erode the concept of fixed prices for any service?
> What possible dangers are associated with developing complementary services?
> Illustrate how a particular service has implemented strategies for managing both demand and capacity successfully.
> How can computer-based reservation systems increase service capacity utilization?
> What organizational problems can arise from the use of part-time employees?
> What explains the continuing trade surplus in services for the United States?
> What is the inherent conflict in a franchising arrangement?
> Chili’s, a United States based restaurant chain that offers Mexican food, has its largest establishment in Monterrey, Mexico. Why is Chili’s so successful in Monterrey?
> Recall that service operations can be classified as processing people, goods, or information. What challenges are faced in each category when globalization is undertaken?
> Conduct a Google search and find the definition of “location intelligence.” What use can be made of geographic information?
> What are the benefits of using intermediaries in the service distribution channel?
> What are the characteristics of a service that would make communication a good substitute for travel?
> How would you proceed to estimate empirically the parameter "(" in the Huff retail location model for a branch bank?
> Pick a particular service and identify shortcomings of its site selection.
> Reconsider Figure 7.13 the value stream map of small business loan approval process. If the process were conducted entirely online, what value-added activities could be eliminated? What is the overall efficiency of an online process?
> Explain why the introduction of Six Sigma at 3M was blamed for stifling creativity.
> What are the limitations of "benchmarking?"
> Explain how the application of the PDCA cycle can support a competitive strategy of low cost leadership.
> Discuss why Deming’s 14-point program was rejected by U.S. firms but embraced by the Japanese following World War II.
> How can the recovery from a service failure be a blessing in disguise?
> Is it possible for an economy to be based entirely on services?
> Identify activities that compare Walmart’s vertical integration efforts with maintaining an arm’s-length relationship with suppliers.
> Why do service firms hesitate to offer a service guarantee?
> How would you train yourself to be a successful consultant in the service sector?
> Illustrate the four components in the cost of quality for a service of your choice.
> Identify areas within a few selected service industries (e.g., health care and hospitality) that can benefit from external consultants.
> Why is measuring service quality so difficult?
> What features of social media have service firms leveraged in developing their competitive strategies?
> How do the five dimensions of service quality differ from those of product quality?
> How has social media affected the growth of the service industry?
> The CRAFT program is an example of a heuristic programming approach to problem solving. Why might CRAFT not find the optimal solution to a layout problem?
> What ethical issues are associated with micromarketing?
> Discuss the implications of service outsourcing for employees, stockholders, customers, and host-country economy when a firm outsources a call center overseas.
> For example, 5.3, the Ocean World theme park, make an argument for not locating popular attractions next to each other.
> Explain why the goods analogy of a supply chain is inappropriate for services.
> Select a service and discuss how the design and layout of the facility meet the five factors of nature and objectives of the organization, land availability and space requirements, flexibility, aesthetics, and the community and environment.
> How can effective goods supply chain management support environmental sustainability?
> From a customer perspective, give an example of a services cape that supports the service concept and an example that detracts from the service concept. Explain the success and failure in terms of the services cape dimensions.
> If the roles played by customers are determined by cultural norms, how can services be exported?
> Compare the attention to aesthetics in waiting rooms that you have visited. How did the different environments affect your mood?
> How does use of a "service script" relate to service quality?
> What ethical issues are raised in the promotion of sales during a service transaction?
> Illustrate how the type of work that he or she does influences a person's lifestyle. For example, contrast a farmer, a factory worker, and a school teacher?
> Comment on the different dynamics of one-on-one service and group service in regard to perceived control of the service encounter.
> What are some drawbacks of increased customer participation in the service process?
> What are the organizational and marketing implications of considering a customer as a "partial employee?"
> Give an example of a service in which isolation of the technical core would be inappropriate?
> How can we design for self-recovery when self-service failures occur?
> What are the limits of the production-line approach to services?
> Conduct a triple bottom line evaluation for a hospital by identifying its social, economic, and environmental attributes that enhance the sustainability movement.
> Critique the “Distinctive Characteristics of Service Operations” by arguing that the characteristics of, customer participation, simultaneity, perishability, intangibility, and heterogeneity, may apply to goods as well.
> Compare and contrast sustainability efforts in service operations and manufacturing.
> What are challenges of the sharing economy with respect to regulation, insurance, and trust issues?
> Give examples of service firms that use the strategy of focus and differentiation and the strategy of focus and overall cost leadership.
> State the order of the differential equation and verify that the given function is a solution. (1 - t2)y’’ - 2ty ’ + 2y = 0, y(t) = t
> Answer parts (a), (b), and (c) of Exercise 9 if the person takes a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 6% interest rate and intends to pay off the entire loan in 15 years. Exercise 9: The Federal Housing Finance Board reported that the national average p
> The Federal Housing Finance Board reported that the national average price of a new onefamily house in 2012 was $278,900. At the same time, the average interest rate on a conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.1%. A person purchased a home at the
> The National Automobile Dealers Association reported that the average retail selling price of a new vehicle was $30,303 in 2012. A person purchased a new car at the average price and financed the entire amount. Suppose that the person can only afford to
> A person took out a loan of $100,000 from a bank that charges 7.5% interest compounded continuously. What should be the annual rate of payments if the loan is to be paid in full in exactly 10 years? (Assume that the payments are made continuously through
> Answer the question in Exercise 5 if John contributed to his savings account at the annual rate of $3000 per year for 10 years. Exercise 5: Twenty years ahead of her retirement, Kelly opened a savings account that earns 5% interest rate compounded conti
> Twenty years ahead of her retirement, Kelly opened a savings account that earns 5% interest rate compounded continuously, and she contributed to this account at the annual rate of $1200 per year for 20 years. Ten years ahead of his retirement, John opene
