CHAPTER 9 Flashcards
Many services with _______ capacity face wide swings in demand.
This is a problem because service capacity usually cannot be kept aside for _____ at a later date.
limited
sale
The effective use of expensive ______________ is one of the secrets of success in such businesses.
The goal should be to utilize staff, labor, equipment, and facilities as productively as possible.
productive capacity
By working with managers in operations and human resources, service marketers may be able to develop strategies to bring demand and capacity into _________, in ways that create benefits for _________ and improve ____________ for the business.
balance
customers
profitability
This term refers to the resources or assets that a firm can use to create goods and services that are typically key cost components and therefore need to be managed carefully.
PRODUCTIVE SERVICE CAPACITY
In a service context, productive capacity can take several forms, including ___________, __________, _______, and _____________.
facilities, equipment, labor, and infrastructure.
DEFINING PRODUCTIVE SERVICE CAPACITY
Physical facilities to contain ________
Physical facilities to ____________
Physical equipment to process ________, __________, or _____________.
customers
store or process goods
people, possessions, or information
The level of demand exceeds the maximum available capacity, resulting in some customers being denied service and business is lost.
Excess demand
optimum capacity. No one is turned away, but conditions are crowded and customers are likely to perceive a deterioration in service quality and may feel dissatisfied.
Demand exceeds
are well balanced at the level of optimum capacity. Staff and facilities are busy without being overworked, and customers receive good service without delays.
Demand and supply
— Demand is below optimum capacity and productive resources are underutilized, resulting in low productivity
Excess capacity
This approach requires an understanding of what constitutes productive capacity and how it may be increased or decreased on an incremental basis.
Adjust the level of capacity to meet demand.
This requires a good understanding of demand patterns and drivers on a segment-by-segment basis, so that firms can use marketing strategies to smooth out variations in demand.
Manage the level of demand.
Most service firms use a mix of both approaches
_____________
_____________
Adjust the level of capacity to meet demand
Manage the level of demand
(ability to absorb extra demand)
The actual capacity level remains unchanged, and more people are being served with the same capacity.
e.g. the normal capacity for a subway car may offer 40 seats and allow standing room
for another 60 passengers with enough handrails and floor space for all.
Elastic Capacity
e.g. some banks extend their opening hours during weekdays and even open weekends. Universities may offer evening classes, and weekend and summer
Programs.
Utilize the facilities for longer periods
e.g. a restaurant can buzz tables, seat arriving diners and present menus fast, and the bill can be presented promptly to a group of diners relaxing at the table after a meal. In other instances, it may be achieved by cutting back the level of service — say, offering a simpler menu at busy times of the day.
Reduced the average amount of time customers
(or their possessions) spend in the process.
To manage demand effectively, firms need to ___________________ and drivers by market segment. Different segments often exhibit different demand patterns (e.g., routine maintenance versus emergency repairs).
understand demand patterns
Once firms have an ____________________ of their market segments, they can use marketing strategies to reshape those patterns. To understand the patterns of demand by segment, research should begin by getting some answers to a series of important questions about the patterns of demand and their underlying causes.
understanding of the demand patterns / understand demand patterns
ANALYZING DRIVERS OF DEMAND
. Understand why customers from specific market segments _______
this service.
select
ANALYZING DRIVERS OF DEMAND
Keep _____________ of transactions to analyze demand patterns.
(Sophisticated software can help track customer consumption patterns.)
good records
ANALYZING DRIVERS OF DEMAND
Record ________ conditions and other special factors that might
influence demand.
weather
are intended to guarantee that service will be available when the customer wants it.
Reservations
_________is something that occurs everywhere.
Waiting
Waiting for lines known to operations researchers as “________”
queues
________ occur whenever the number of arrivals at a facility exceeds the capacity of the system to process them
Queues
An average person may spend up to 30 minutes/day waiting in line equivalent to over a _____________!
week per year
It’s boring, time-wasting, and sometimes physically uncomfortable
Almost nobody likes to ______.
wait
usually on a first-come, first-served basis, or by offering customers more advanced queuing systems. (e.g., systems that take into account urgency, price, or importance of the customer)
By asking customers to wait in line,
______________________ or booking service capacity in advance.
By offering customers the opportunity to reserve
FILL INT THE BLANKS:
MANAGING WAITING LINES
- Rethinking the ______ of the queuing system (i.e., queue configuration and virtual waits)
- Tailoring the ________ system to different market segments (e.g., by urgency, price, or importance of the customer).
- Managing customers’ _________ and their _________ of the wait (i.e., use the psychology of waiting to make waits less unpleasant).
- __________ a reservations system (e.g., use reservations, booking, or appointments to distribute demand).
- Redesigning processes to _________ the time of each transaction (e.g., by installing self-service machines).
- design
- queuing
- behavior & perceptions
- Installing
- shorten
Customers proceed and transact through a single serving operation.
Single line single server single stage.
Customers proceed through several serving operations. B
ottlenecks may occur at any stage where the process takes longer to execute than at previous stages.
EX. AIRPORT
Single line sequential stages.
Offer more than one serving station, allowing customers to select one of several lines in which to wait.
Banks and ticket windows are common examples.
EX. BILLING COUNTER AT MALL
Parallel lines to multiple servers.
Commonly known as a “snake.” This type of waiting line solves the problem of parallel lines to multiple servers moving at different speeds.
This method is commonly used at post offices and airport check-ins.
Single line to multiple servers.
Involve assigning different lines to specific categories of customers.
Examples include express lines for five items or less and regular lines at supermarket check-outs, and different check-in stations for first class, business class, and economy class airline passengers.
Designated lines.
Saves customers the need to stand in a queue. This procedure allows them to sit down and relax, or to guess how long the wait will be and do something else in the meantime
Taking a number.
