Ch.5 Russell Service Design Test Bank Answers

CHAPTER 5

SERVICE DESIGN

CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Relate numerous statistics that demonstrate the predominance of services in the Canadian and the global economy. Services represent the fastest growing sector of the global economy and account for over 60% of global output and 45% of global employment. In Canada, services account for 76% of the labour force and 72% of GDP. The world’s most industrialized nations are predominantly service economies.

2. Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing. Services are acts, deeds, performances, or relationships that produce time, place, form, or psychological utilities for customers. In contrast to goods, which are tangible objects that can be created, sold, and used later, services are intangible and perishable—they are created and consumed simultaneously. Services can be distinguished from manufacturing by eight characteristics: intangibility, variability in output, more customer contact, perishability, inseparability between the service and service delivery, higher consumption than products, easily emulated, and services tend to be decentralized and geographically dispersed.

3. Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact. Service design and operations present unique challenges due to the intangible nature of services, the inherent variability in service delivery, and the co-production of value by the customer and service provider. The design process involves developing a service concept, defining the service package, and determining performance, design, and delivery specifications. The degree of contact between the customer and service provider has an impact on how individual services are designed and delivered.

4. Describe several tools used for service design including blueprinting and servicescapes. There are many different tools for designing services. Design tools such as service blueprints, servicescapes, service scripts, and waiting line analysis facilitate the design process. Service blueprinting is the process of recording in graphical form the activities and interactions in a service process. Servicescapes provide physical cues to service quality, which are needed because of the intangibility of services. Servicescapes design (1) the space and function where the service takes places; (2) the ambient conditions, such as music, temperature, décor, and noise; and (3) signs, symbols, and artifacts.

5. Use waiting line analysis to improve service. Since waiting is an integral part of many service-related operations, it is an important area of analysis. Waiting lines are analyzed with a set of mathematical formulas that comprise a field of study called queuing theory. Different queuing models and mathematical formulas exist to deal with different types of waiting line systems. Several of the most common types of queuing formulas were discussed in this chapter.

TRUE-FALSE STATEMENTS

1. The service sector accounts for over 70 percent of the employment in both the United States and Canada.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Relate numerous statistics that demonstrate the predominance of services in the Canadian and the global economy.

Section Reference: 5.1 The Service Economy

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

2. Service design and improvement techniques cannot be applied to societal problems, such as education, health care, and government services.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Relate numerous statistics that demonstrate the predominance of services in the Canadian and the global economy.

Section Reference: 5.1 The Service Economy

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

3. It is widely accepted that the effective design and the efficient operation of services are paramount to the health of the U.S. and Canadian economies.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Relate numerous statistics that demonstrate the predominance of services in the Canadian and the global economy.

Section Reference: 5.1 The Service Economy

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

4. In general, services are acts, deeds, or performances that provide a customer time, place, form, or psychological utility.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

5. Almost all consumer products consist of some combination of facilitating both goods and services.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

6. Service companies are centralized and geographically concentrated.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

7. In general, a service and its delivery system are inseparable.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

8. The mixture of physical items, sensual benefits, and psychological benefits provided to a customer with a service is known as quality function deployment.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

9. The mixture of physical items, sensual benefits, and psychological benefits provided to a customer with a service is known as the service package.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

10. A service package defines the target market and the desired customer experience.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

11. The service concept defines how a service differs from other similar products and how it will compete in the marketplace.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

12. When designing a service, performance specifications are converted into design specifications, and finally, delivery specifications.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

13. Service processes can be classified by the degree of labour intensity and customization.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

14. The service-process matrix is based on two characteristics: labour intensity and volume.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

15. The negative exponential distribution is the probability distribution most commonly used to describe service times.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe several tools used for service design including blueprinting and servicescapes.

Section Reference: 5.4 Tools for Service Design

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

16. The trade-off between the cost of improved service and the cost of making customers wait provides the basis of waiting line analysis.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

17. A single-server waiting line model can be applied to every type of waiting line system.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

18. Waiting lines form only when service operations are understaffed.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

19. Waiting lines form because customers arrival times and service times are not always equal.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

20. The calling population is the source of customers used in waiting line analysis.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

21. The number of arrivals per unit time to a service facility is often described by a Poisson distribution.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

22. Balking occurs when a customer waiting in a line moves from one line to another because he believes it is moving faster.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

23. If service times are exponentially distributed then service rates are normally distributed.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

24. If the average service rate is smaller than the average arrival rate, an infinitely large waiting line (queue) will form.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

25. Queue discipline specifies the order in which waiting customers are served.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

26. The number of parallel servers in waiting line analysis is referred to as the number of phases.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

27. Mathematical formulas used in waiting line analysis provide only optimal solutions.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

28. The constant average values of operating characteristics that a system attains after a long time is referred to as a steady state.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

29. As the level of service improves in a waiting line system, the cost of service usually increases.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

30. Service quality in waiting line systems sometimes depends on the psychology of waiting.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

31. A waiting line system is said to have a finite calling population if the size of the population of customers from which arrivals originate is known.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

32. Waiting line analysis should be applied only to situations with an infinite calling population.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

33. Channels refer to the number of parallel servers in a waiting line system.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

34. One of the basic assumptions for the single server model is that the calling population is finite.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

35. Which of the following is a major societal problem that depends on complex customer-focused processes that can benefit significantly from an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to its study and analysis?

a) education.

b) health care.

c) disaster relief.

d) all of the above.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Relate numerous statistics that demonstrate the predominance of services in the Canadian and the global economy.

Section Reference: 5.1 The Service Economy

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

36. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a service?

a) intangible

b) variable output

c) difficult to emulate

d) perishable

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

37. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a service?

a) tangible

b) variable output

c) easy to emulate

d) perishable

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

38. In a waiting line system, the ___ reflects the probability that the server is busy and the customer must wait.

a) utilization factor

b) queue discipline

c) average number of customers in the system

d) probability the system is idle

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

39. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a service?

a) centralized

b) geographically dispersed

c) consumed more often than products

d) service and service delivery are inseparable

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

40. A dentist office is an example of a

a) service factory.

b) mass service.

c) service shop.

d) professional services.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

41. An airline is an example of a

a) service factory.

b) mass service.

c) service shop.

d) professional services.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

42. A grocery store is an example of a

a) service factory.

b) mass service.

c) service shop.

d) professional services.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

43. A teacher is an example of a

a) service factory.

b) mass service.

c) service shop.

d) professional services.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

44. The service-process matrix is based on the following two characteristics

a) degree of customization and labour intensity.

b) design specifications and delivery specifications.

c) performance specifications and degree of customization.

d) labour intensity and delivery specifications.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

45. A service blueprint contains which of the following elements

a) influence and physical evidence.

b) customer actions.

c) support processes.

d) all of the above.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Describe several tools used for service design including blueprinting and servicescapes.

Section Reference: 5.4 Tools for Service Design

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

46. Which of the following in not a basic element of a waiting line?

a) arrivals

b) servers

c) cost of waiting

d) waiting line structure

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

47. The ___ is the source of customers for a waiting line system.

a) calling population

b) arrival rate

c) service line channel

d) service line phase

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

48. The number of arrivals per unit of time at a service facility can frequently be described by a

a) normal distribution.

b) Poisson distribution.

c) binomial distribution.

d) beta distribution.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

49. The ___ refers to the order in which waiting customers are served.

a) calling population

b) queue discipline

c) number of channels

d) service rate

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

50. The number of channels in a queuing process

a) denotes the number of servers in sequence a customer must go through.

b) denotes the size of the calling population.

c) denotes the number of parallel servers for servicing customers.

d) denotes the average queue length.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

51. In general, as the number of servers in a waiting line system increases

a) service cost increases and waiting cost decreases.

b) service cost decreases and waiting cost increases.

c) both service cost and waiting cost increase.

d) both service cost and waiting cost decrease.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Knowledge

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

52. If the average time to serve a customer is 3 minutes, then the service rate, µ, is ___.

a) 3 per hour

b) 12 per hour

c) 16 per hour

d) 20 per hour

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

53. If, on average, it takes 90 seconds to serve a customer, then the hourly service rate, µ, is ___.

a) 90 per hour

b) 40 per hour

c) 30 per hour

d) 1.5 per hour

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

54. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive at the rate of 20 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a mean service time of 2 minutes per customer. What is the service rate per hour for the espresso stand?

a) 30 customers

b) 20 customers

c) 15 customers

d) 2 customers

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

55. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The probability that the server is busy and a customer will have to wait is

a) 0.20.

b) 0.60.

c) 0.80.

d) 1.00.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

56. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The probability that the server is idle and a customer may be served is

a) 0.20.

b) 0.60.

c) 0.80.

d) 1.00.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

57. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The probability that there are exactly 3 customers in the system is

a) 0.0000.

b) 0.1024.

c) 0.4096.

d) 0.5120.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

58. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The probability that there are more than 2 customers in the system is

a) 0.128.

b) 0.488.

c) 0.512.

d) 0.640.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

59. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The average number of customers waiting in line for service is

a) 4.0.

b) 3.8.

c) 3.5.

d) 3.2.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

60. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The average number of customers in the system (i.e., waiting and being served) is

a) 4.0.

b) 3.8.

c) 3.2.

d) 2.0.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

61. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per hour. The average time in minutes a customer spends waiting in line for service is

a) 0.114 minute.

b) 0.143 minute.

c) 6.84 minutes.

d) 8.58 minutes.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

62. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per minute. The average time in minutes a customer spends in the system (i.e., waiting and being served) is

a) 0.114 minute.

b) 0.143 minute.

c) 6.84 minutes.

d) 8.58 minutes.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

63. Consider an espresso stand with a single barista. Customers arrive to the stand at the rate of 28 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. Service times are exponentially distributed with a service rate of 35 customers per minute. If the arrival rate remains at 28 customers per hour and the stand’s manager wants to have the average time a customer spends in the system (i.e., wait line time and service time) to be a maximum of 6 minutes on average, then the service rate must

a) decrease by 2 to 33 customers per hour.

b) decrease by 3 to 32 customers per hour.

c) increase by 3 to 38 customers per hour.

d) increase by 2 to 37 customers per hour.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Analysis

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

64. A small diner has one employee and a counter with seating for 8 customers. The diner does not package food for takeout. Customers arrive at the diner at the rate of 20 per hour (Poisson distributed). Service times are exponentially distributed and average 24 per hour. Customers that arrive when all seats are taken do not enter the diner. What is the probability that there are no customers in the diner?

a) 0.2068

b) 0.7933

c) 0.8333

d) 0.1667

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

65. A small diner has one employee and a counter with seating for 8 customers. The diner does not package food for takeout. Customers arrive at the diner at the rate of 20 per hour (Poisson distributed). Service times are exponentially distributed and average 24 per hour. Customers that arrive when all seats are taken do not enter the diner. What is the probability that the diner is full and an arriving customer does not enter?

a) 0.8333

b) 0.1667

c) 0.2067

d) 0.0481

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

66. A small diner has one employee and a counter with seating for 8 customers. The diner does not package food for takeout. Customers arrive at the diner at the rate of 20 per hour (Poisson distributed). Service times are exponentially distributed and average 24 per hour. Customers that arrive when all seats are taken do not enter the diner. What is the average number of customers in the diner?

a) 2.0432

b) 2.8352

c) 3.7536

d) 5.4837

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

67. A small diner has one employee and a counter with seating for 8 customers. The diner does not package food for takeout. Customers arrive at the diner at the rate of 20 per hour (Poisson distributed). Service times are exponentially distributed and average 24 per hour. Customers that arrive when all seats are taken do not enter the diner. What is the average number of customers waiting (average queue length)?

a) 2.0420

b) 2.8364

c) 3.9785

d) 5.9782

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

68. A small diner has one employee and a counter with seating for 8 customers. The diner does not package food for takeout. Customers arrive at the diner at the rate of 20 per hour (Poisson distributed). Service times are exponentially distributed and average 24 per hour. Customers that arrive when all seats are taken do not enter the diner. What is the average time a customer spends in the diner?

a) 3 minutes

b) 5.975 minutes

c) 6.44 minutes

d) 8.94 minutes

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

69. A small diner has one employee and a counter with seating for 8 customers. The diner does not package food for takeout. Customers arrive at the diner at the rate of 20 per hour (Poisson distributed). Service times are exponentially distributed and average 24 per hour. Customers that arrive when all seats are taken do not enter the diner. What is the average time a customer spends waiting?

a) 2.5 minutes

b) 3.0 minutes

c) 6.44 minutes

d) 24 minutes

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

70. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. The service rate per server for this system is

a) 3.75 customers per hour.

b) 7.75 customers per hour.

c) 8 customers per hour.

d) 16 customers per hour.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

71. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. The probability that there are no customers in the system is

a) 0.800.

b) 0.536.

c) 0.369.

d) 0.111.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

72. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. The probability that an arriving customer must wait for service is

a) 0.7111.

b) 0.8000.

c) 0.8576.

d) 0.9327.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

73. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. On average, the total number of customers in the system (i.e., waiting and being served) would be

a) 1.600.

b) 2.844.

c) 3.200.

d) 4.444.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

74. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. The average number of customers waiting to be served would be

a) 4.444.

b) 2.844.

c) 1.600.

d) 0.893.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

75. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. The average amount of time, in minutes, spent in the system (i.e., waiting and being served) is approximately

a) 0.237 minutes.

b) 14.22 minutes.

c) 22.20 minutes.

d) 33.30 minutes.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

76. A service counter employs two servers. On average a server requires 8 minutes to process a customer and service times follow an exponential distribution. Customers arrive at the counter at the rate of 12 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. The average amount of time spent by a customer waiting in line is approximately

a) 0.370 minutes.

b) 2.844 minutes.

c) 14.22 minutes.

d) 22.20 minutes.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Application

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

77. The the time required to serve customers can frequently be described by a

a) normal distribution.

b) Poisson distribution.

c) binomial distribution.

d) negative exponential distribution.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

SHORT-ANSWER ESSAY QUESTIONS

78. Services can be distinguished from manufacturing by the following eight characteristics. Briefly discuss each of the characteristics. A complete answer will include a discussion on the impact the characteristic has on service design.

1. Services are intangible

2. Service output is variable

3. Services have higher customer contact

4. Services are perishable.

5. The service and the service delivery are inseparable

6. Services tend to be decentralized and geographically dispersed

7. Services are consumed more often than products

8. Services can be easily emulated

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Define services and their characteristics such that they are distinguishable from manufacturing.

Section Reference: 5.2 Characteristics of Services

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

79. Describe the service-process matrix.

A professional service, such as accountant, lawyer, or doctor, is highly customized and very labour intensive. A service shop, such as schools and hospitals, is less customized and labour intensive, but still attentive to individual customers. A mass service, such as retailing and banking, offers the same basic services to all customers and allows less interaction with the service provider. Services with the least degree of customization and labour intensity, such as airlines and trucking, are most like manufactured products and are thus best processed by a service factory.

The degree of contact between the customer and service provider has an impact on how individual services are designed and delivered. A large lecture class is taught differently than a senior-level seminar class. Charter airline flights entail more customer and provider participation than a commercial flight. Commissioning a work of art or custom building a home can involve the customer throughout the design and delivery process. Table 5.1 describes the design decisions involved in high-contact versus low-contact services. Think about how these decisions affect the operations and supply chain system.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the key aspects of the service design process and describe how they are affected by varying degrees of customer/service provider contact.

Section Reference: 5.3 The Service Design Process

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

80. Do waiting lines only form when the service operation is understaffed? Explain.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

81. What are the basic elements of a waiting line? Define each.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

82. What is a calling population in terms of a waiting line system?

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

83. What is queue discipline and queue length?

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

84. Briefly describe the traditional cost relationship in waiting line analysis.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

85. How are waiting line costs and service quality related?

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

86. How can psychology be used to improve waiting lines? Provide an example.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use waiting line analysis to improve service.

Section Reference: 5.5 Waiting Line Analysis for Service Improvement

Blooms: Comprehension

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

LEGAL NOTICE

Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. or related companies. All rights reserved.

The data contained in these files are protected by copyright. This manual is furnished under licence and may be used only in accordance with the terms of such licence.

The material provided herein may not be downloaded, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, modified, made available on a network, used to create derivative works, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without the prior written permission of John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.