Service Operations Final Exam

When yield management is implemented, which one of the following does not result? A) Consumer surplus increases. B) Multiple prices are offered. C) Capacity is more fully utilized. D) Market for the service is segmented.

Consumer surplus increases.

Which of the following is not an essential feature of a queuing system? A) Calling population. B) Queue configuration. C) Service process. D) Customer.

Customer.

Which of the following strategies is inappropriate for managing capacity and demand? A) Smooth customer demand by offering price incentives. B) Scheduling staff to meet variations in forecasted customer demand. C) Decrease customer participation in the service process. D) Promoting off-peak use of facilities.

Decrease customer participation in the service process.

______ variability is not one of the five sources of customer-induced variability. A) Arrival B) Capability C) Effort D) Demand

Demand

Which of the following is not part of the queuing system features? A) Calling population. B) Queue configuration. C) Queue discipline. D) Departure process.

Departure process.

Which of the following is not a strategy for managing capacity? A) Developing complementary services. B) Using part-time employees. C) Forecasting demand. D) Scheduling shifts.

Developing complementary services.

Spatial distribution of demand is important to consider in which of the following services? A) Restaurants. B) Banking. C) Emergency ambulance services. D) Motels.

Emergency ambulance services.

When franchising, which of the following is not an issue for the franchisee? A) Establishing a brand. B) Franchise contract. C) Degree of discretion D) Conflict resolution.

Establishing a brand.

When outsourcing facilitator services, which one of the following is not a consideration? A) Knowledge of alternate vendors is important. B) Involvement of end user in vendor identification. C) Experience with particular industry is important. D) Detailed specification written by user.

Experience with particular industry is important.

The 'cookie-cutter' concept best describes which of the following expansion strategies? A) Focused service. B) Clustered service. C) Focused network. D) Diversified network.

Focused network.

Which of the following is a strategy for closing the gap between customer expectations and management perceptions of customer's expectations (GAP 1)? A) Standardization of service delivery. B) Improved market research. C) Employee empowerment. D) Investment in training.

Improved market research

According to Maister, which of the following statements is not true for waits? A) Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time. B) Anxiety makes waits feel longer. C) In-process waits feel longer than preprocess waits. D) Unfair waits feel longer than fair waits.

In-process waits feel longer than preprocess waits.

Which one of the following is not true of multiple queue configurations? A) Jockeying is eliminated. B) Division of labor is possible. C) Service provided can be differentiated. D) The FCFS rule is not always followed.

Jockeying is eliminated.

For a chase demand strategy, which of the following does not have a high trade-off? A) Employee utilization. B) Labor-skill level. C) Labor turnover. D) Supervision required.

Labor-skill level.

A 5:00 p.m. pickup for FedEx was not workable in Spain owing to extended business hours. This is an example of cultural adoption under which of the following global service strategies? A) Beating the clock. B) Service offshoring. C) Following your customers. D) Multicountry expansion.

Multicountry expansion.

Which of the following queue configurations permits opportunities for division of labor and service differentiation? A) Multiple queue. B) Single queue. C) Take a number. D) Self-serve.

Multiple queue.

Which one of the following is the most important for a continuous review system? A) Constant lead time. B) Fixed order quantity. C) POS scanning. D) Normal demand distribution.

POS scanning.

Which of the following is not an effective way to manage the psychology of waiting? A) Prominently display time with a large analog clock. B) Inform customers when long waits are anticipated. C) Use diversions to occupy customer waiting times. D) Employ a take-a-number system to ensure fairness.

Prominently display time with a large analog clock.

Which of the following is not a source of uncertainty in managing a supply chain? A) Supplier delivery performance. B) Manufacturing reliability. C) Customer demand. D) Quality control.

Quality control.

Which of the following dimensions of service quality is most important to customers? A) Empathy. B) Assurance. C) Reliability. D) Tangibles.

Reliability.

In the long run, if service capacity is inadequate for the arrival rate, which one of the following will likely occur? A) Servers will slow down. B) Customers will demand less. C) Reneging will occur. D) Prices will be increased.

Reneging will occur.

______ is a characteristic of social media that is not useful to service firms. A) Easy access B) Requiring specialized skills C) Immediacy D) Flexibility

Requiring specialized skills

Which one of the following is not an example of detection costs? A) Rework. B) Collecting quality data. C) Process control. D) Periodic inspection.

Rework

Mayo Clinic is a service firm that would fall under which of the following categories? A) Single location and single service. B) Single location and multiservice. C) Multisite and single service. D) Multisite and multiservice.

Single location and multiservice.

Which of the following features is not associated with the periodic review system? A) Order consolidation. B) Fixed order quantity. C) C items. D) Small safety stocks.

Small safety stocks.

Which item below would not be a good candidate for a planned shortage model? A) Exotic sports car. B) Donor transplant organ. C) Sale item. D) Staple.

Staple.

Which of the following is not one of the major considerations in planning multinational operations? A) Cultural transferability. B) Technological compatibility. C) Network development. D) Host government policy.

Technological compatibility

Which one of the following is not an approach to service recovery? A) Case-by-case. B) Systematic-response. C) Unconditional guarantee. D) Early intervention.

Unconditional guarantee.

Which one of the following is most affected by the bullwhip effect? A) Customer. B) Retailer. C) Distributor. D) Wholesaler.

Wholesaler.

All of the following are benefits of a multisite type of expansion except ______. A) ability to reach a mass market quickly B) reduced financial risk from local economic downturn C) preemption of competitors by capturing premium locations D) retention of control

ability to reach a mass market quickly

In the ABC inventory classification, C items can best be described as ______. A) expensive B) among the most numerous C) having a high stockout cost D) requiring close attention

among the most numerous

The A/B/C notation classifies queuing systems on the basis of ______. A) arrival rates and queue discipline B) queue discipline alone C) arrival rates and service rates D) arrival rates, service rates, and number of servers

arrival rates, service rates, and number of servers

All but one of the following is a reason for outsourcing services: ______. A) avoids coordination expenses and delays B) allows the firm to focus on its core competence C) provides access to latest technology D) leverages benefits from supplier economies of scale

avoids coordination expenses and delays

The costs of quality for services include all of the following except ______. A) failure costs B) prevention costs C) control costs D) detection costs

control costs

All but one of the following is a caution when considering outsourcing services: ______. A) loss of direct control over quality B) jeopardize employee loyalty because of job-loss fears C) costs might increase D) in-house capability to perform service will atrophy

costs might increase

A gap in service quality is not the difference between ______ A) customer expectations and management's perceptions of customer expectations B) the service delivery and the results that are communicated externally to the customer C) customer expectations and management's perception of the delivered service D) the perceptions of the delivered service that are translated into service quality specifications and the actual service delivery

customer expectations and management's perception of the delivered service

The strategy of segmenting demand is feasible only when ______. A) demand is not from a homogeneous source B) demand is cyclic and predictable C) arrivals for service are random D) making appointments is impossible

demand is not from a homogeneous source

American Express, which offers financial and travel services on a global basis, is an example of a ______ A) focused service B) focused network C) clustered service D) diversified network

diversified network

The difference between a customer's ______ of a service and the ______ of the service delivered is called GAP 5. A) perceptions; perceptions B) perceptions; expectations C) expectations; perceptions D) expectations; expectations

expectations; perceptions

In the A/ B/ C analytical queuing model classification, M is used to denote ______. A) exponential inter-arrival time distribution B) deterministic inter-arrival time distribution C) general distribution with mean and variance D) Erland distribution

exponential inter-arrival time distribution

A diversified network is not feasible with complex services. True False

false

ABC analysis is an application of the 80-20 rule. True False

false

Balking is the term used to describe the phenomenon of customers leaving a queue that they have joined before service is rendered. True False

false

Profit-per-partner is the multiplication of "margin"and "productivity." True False

false

Service tangibility increases as the focus of the service moves from property to people to process. True False

false

The "bullwhip effect" is a phenomenon in the physical supply chain that describes the inventory stocking levels at various stages. True False

false

Taxes and insurance would fall under _____ costs. A) ordering B) receiving and inspection C) holding or carrying D) shortage

holding or carrying

The purpose of differential pricing is to ______. A) make peak period usage unattractive B) make off-peak usage attractive C) charge customers according to their ability to pay D) adjust capacity to demand

make off-peak usage attractive

Sources of value in service chain management include all but one of the following: ______. A) bidirectional optimization B) management of productive capacity C) management of mobile workers D) management of perishability

management of mobile workers

Multinational expansion by a service firm is ______. A) often driven by customer demand B) vital for growth C) not recommended for labor intensive operations D) primarily a defense strategy

often driven by customer demand

Inventory management costs include all of the following, except ______. A) ordering B) purchase C) receiving D) shortage

purchase

Service level influences ______. A) reorder point and safety stock B) reorder point and backorder quantity C) safety stock and backorder quantity D) backorder quantity and lead-time demand

reorder point and safety stock

In the design of an inventory system all of the following is considered except ______. A) type of customer demand B) relevant inventory costs C) constraints D) safety stocks

safety stocks

Pooling of servers results in reduced waiting time because ______. A) the mean service time for the pool as a whole is now constant B) servers are utilized better C) multiple queues are replaced by a single queue D) Both the mean service time is now constant and servers are utilized better.

servers are utilized better

For seasonal items a ______ system could be used to manage inventory. A) continuous review B) periodic review C) retail discounting D) single-period model

single-period model

The following are all advantages of the single queue system, except ______. A) the arrangement guarantees fairness by ensuring that the FCFS rule applies B) the anxiety of "Am I in the fastest line?" is eliminated C) the problem of line cutting is reduced D) the customer has the option of selecting a particular server of preference

the customer has the option of selecting a particular server of preference

Service capacity decisions have all of the following strategic characteristics, except ______. A) the decision to invest in capacity will attract competitors B) financial investment in capacity must be balanced against the costs of lost sales C) inadequate short-term capacity needs can generate customers for the competition D) hostile customers can result from inadequate capacity following a marketing campaign

the decision to invest in capacity will attract competitors

The cost of service capacity is determined by ______. A) the number of customers waiting B) the total number of customers C) waiting time D) the number of servers on duty

the number of servers on duty

Making knowledge available to customers at low cost is called ______. A) embellishment B) transfer C) replacement D) co-production

transfer

'Shelf life 'can be a constraint on the amount of inventory held. True False

true

A bank is an example of a service provider with a single-level bi-directional service supply relationship. True False

true

A queue is said to be finite if there is an upper limit on the number of consumers who are allowed to be in it. Consumers who come after the queue is full, either balk or are refused entrance. True False

true

Consumers develop expectations for a low divergent set of products and services from franchises. True False

true

Customer demand variability is the most difficult factor to determine in a goods supply chain. True False

true

For a standard service system to operate over the long run, the servers must be idle part of the time. True False

true

Outsourcing can expose a firm to data security and customer privacy issues. True False

true

Penalties for late delivery or nondelivery are part of shortage costs. True False

true

Planning for service capacity involves prediction of consumer waiting associated with different levels of capacity. True False

true

Simulation can be viewed as a laboratory for experimenting with service systems. True False

true

The service inventory-hedging strategy benefits the firm by directing skill-enhancing activities into idle time slots. True False

true

The central idea in the retail discounting model is that ______. A) money can be made selling below cost B) turnover of stock generates money for future investment C) the percent mark-up over cost is discretionary D) discount pricing generates sales

turnover of stock generates money for future investment

Faced with variable demand and a perishable capacity, a service manager can smooth demand by ______. A) using part-time help during peak hours B) scheduling workshifts to vary workforce needs according to demand C) increasing the customer self-service content of the service D) using reservations and appointments

using reservations and appointments

Several approaches to demand management exist, but only ______ seeks to maximize revenue. A) promoting off-peak demand B) reservation systems C) offering price incentives D) yield management

yield management

Which of the following is not a role that inventories play in a distribution system? A) Decoupling. B) Speculative. C) Anticipative. D) Cyclical.

Anticipative.

Which of the following is not a benefit to the franchisee of a franchise? A) Brand name. B) National advertising. C) Economics of scale. D) Autonomy.

Autonomy.