In what five ways does the problem of scheduling service systems differ from that of scheduling manufacturing systems?
What will be an ideal response?
1. In manufacturing, emphasis is on machines and materials, whereas in services it is on staffing levels.
2. Inventories can help smooth demand for manufacturers, but many service systems do not maintain inventories.
3. Services are labor intensive, and demand for this labor can be highly variable.
4. Legal considerations, such as wage and hour laws and union contracts that limit hours worked per shift, week, or month, constrain scheduling decisions.
5. Behavioral, social, seniority, and status issues complicate service scheduling.
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To earn a profit, managers must acquire, coordinate, and control all of the following resources EXCEPT
A) competitive products. B) people. C) services. D) money. E) raw materials and equipment.
Consumers usually perceive higher-priced products as ________
A) out of reach for all but the wealthy B) having high quality C) having low profit margins D) having cost-based prices E) being in the introductory stage of the product life cycle