Mar-3023 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Test Market, Cluster Analysis, Tow Truck
Document Summary
We have a service-based economy: % of us gdp by industry, trend of services in a global context. Factors contributing to service growth: aging population - baby boomers, increased leisure time, higher per-capita income, changing social and cultural values. Heterogeneity: real time, sources of variation, location variance, employee variance, customer variance, implications of heterogeneity. Service quality depends on many uncontrollable factors. Service delivery and customer satisfaction depend on employee & customer actions. There is no sure knowledge that the service delivered matches what was planned and promoted. It is impossible for a service operation to achieve 100 % perfect quality on an ongoing basis (which underlines the specific importance of management approaches, e. g. , recruiting & training, quality assurance tools). Inseparability = simultaneous production and consumption: the service provider"s physical connection to the service being provided. Often: provider must be physically present to deliver service.
