Service Processes OK

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Chapter 09
Service Processes

True / False Questions

1. Most services consist of a bundle of goods and services known as the service package, which is
the major output of the development process.

True False

2. Effective management of services requires a clear focus on understanding operations, so much so
that it may even require the exclusion of consideration of marketing or personnel.

True False

3. Services often take the form of repeated encounters involving face-to-face interactions.

True False

4. The term "encounter" is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "meeting in conflict or battle" and is
used to also designate meetings between consumers and service systems.

True False

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5. A service business is an organization whose primary business requires interaction with customers
to produce the service.

True False

6. The customer is (or should be) the second most important focal point of all decisions in a service
organization.

True False

7. A service system with a high degree of customer contact is less difficult to control than a low
degree of customer contact service system.

True False

8. When recovering from a defective service encounter, a botched task calls for an apology.

True False

9. When recovering from a defective service encounter, a botched task calls for material
compensation.

True False

10. When recovering from a defective service encounter, poor treatment from a server calls for an
apology.

True False

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11. When recovering from a defective service encounter, a poor treatment from a server calls for
material compensation.

True False

12. Because little or no inventory is carried in a service operation, it is easy to separate the operations
management functions from marketing in services.

True False

13. It is difficult to separate the operations management functions from marketing in services.

True False

14. Marketing is responsible for fulfilling the service guarantee.

True False

15. The service-system design matrix identifies five alternative forms of service encounters.

True False

16. The service-system design matrix identifies six forms of service encounters.

True False

17. The "service blueprint" is a classification of services.

True False

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18. Poka-yokes are procedures that block the inevitable mistake from becoming a service defect.

True False

19. Poka-yoke is roughly translated from Japanese as "quality management."

True False

20. Poka-yoke is roughly translated from Japanese as "avoid mistakes."

True False

21. Service guarantees can be used at the service design stage to focus the firm's delivery system on
the things it must do well to satisfy the customer.

True False

22. One characteristic of a well-designed service system is that it is cost-effective.

True False

23. It is not necessary that a well-designed service system be robust.

True False

24. Choosing how to accommodate customer induced variability in a service business is the decision
of the front-line service provider.

True False

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25. An important aspect of service products is that they cannot be inventoried.

True False

26. Service strategy begins by integrating operations and strategy.

True False

27. The "back end" of the service encounter is more important than the "front end" because the "back
end" is where most service providers are paid.

True False

28. "Combine the pain" is an application of behavioral science to service encounters. It means that,
when something is going wrong for a group of customers, it is better to totally enrage one or a very
few customers rather than slightly annoying a large number of customers.

True False

29. A characteristic of a well-designed service system is that it manages the evidence of service
quality in such a way that customers are aware of the value of the service provided.

True False

30. Customer contact refers to creation of the service.

True False

31. The work process involved in providing the service must involve the physical presence of the
customer in the system.

True False

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32. A supporting facility is the same thing as a facilitating good.

True False

33. A facilitating good is something purchased or consumed by the buyer or items provided by the
customer.

True False

34. An implicit service implies psychological benefits that the customer may sense only vaguely.

True False

35. An explicit service is readily observable by the senses.

True False

36. Implicit services are not part of the service package.

True False

37. In services, the product is developed first and then the process to produce the service is
developed.

True False

Multiple Choice Questions

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38. Which of the following is a characteristic that can be used to guide the design of service systems?

A. Services cannot be inventoried.

B. Services are all similar.

C. Quality work means quality service.

D. Services businesses are inherently entrepreneurial.

E. Even service businesses have internal services.

39. Which of the following is not part of "the service triangle"?

A. Employees

B. Support systems

C. Customers

D. Service strategy

E. Service encounter

40. Which of the following refers to the physical presence of the customer in a service system?

A. Creation of the service

B. Customer contact

C. Intermittent production

D. Continuous production

E. None of these

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41. Which of the following is a major factor that distinguishes service design and development from
manufacturing design and development?

A. The service process and service product can be developed independently.

B. The service package has the same legal protection available to manufactured goods.

C. The service package is the major output of the development process.

D. Manufacturing is far more capital intensive than services.

E. Capacity decisions are much more critical in manufacturing operations.

42. Which one of the following is not a major factor distinguishing service design and development
from manufacturing design and development?

A. The process and product must be developed at the same time.

B. Many service organizations can change their service offerings virtually overnight.

C. Many parts of the service package are often defined by the training that individuals receive
before they become part of the service organization.

D. The service package, rather than a definable good, is the output of the development process.

E. Service operations can be protected by patents; manufacturing operations cannot.

43. Which of the following are alternative possible service encounters included in the service-system
design matrix?

A. Mail contact

B. Warranty

C. Sales call

D. Field service

E. None of these

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44. Which of the following is an alternative possible service encounter included in the service-system
design matrix?

A. Face-to-face distance

B. Internet

C. Questionnaire response

D. Automated teller (ATM)

E. Response card encounter

45. In the service-system design matrix, a face-to-face total customization service encounter is
expected to have which of the following?

A. Low sales opportunity

B. Low production efficiency

C. High production efficiency

D. Low degree of customer/server contact

E. None of these

46. In the service-system design matrix, a mail contact service encounter is expected to have which of
the following?

A. High sales opportunity

B. High degree of customer/server contact


D. Low sales opportunity

E. None of these

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47. In the service-system design matrix, a face-to-face loose specs service encounter is expected to
have which of the following?

A. Low sales opportunity

B. Low production efficiency


D. Low degree of customer/server contact

E. None of these

48. In the service-system design matrix, an Internet and on-site technology service encounter is
expected to have which of the following?

A. High sales opportunity

B. High degree of customer/server contact

C. Low production efficiency

D. High production efficiency

E. None of these

49. Which of the following is not a strategic use of the service-system design matrix?

A. Enabling systematic integration of operations and marketing strategy

B. Design of the service package

C. Comparing how other firms deliver specific services

D. Indicating evolutionary or life cycle changes that might be in order as the firm grows

E. Clarifying exactly which combination of service delivery the firm is in fact providing

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50. There are many applications of poka-yokes in service organizations. Which of the following is one
of the three-T's used to classify poka-yokes?

A. Task

B. Time

C. Teamwork

D. Trust

E. Talent

51. There are many applications of poka-yokes in service organizations. Which of the following is one
of the three-T's used to classify poka-yokes?

A. Talent

B. Teamwork

C. Trust

D. Treatment

E. Time

52. Which of the following is one of the three contrasting approaches to delivering on-site service?

A. Airline approach

B. Self-service approach

C. Fast food approach

D. Do-it-yourself approach

E. Internet approach

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53. Which of the following is one of the three contrasting approaches to delivering on-site service?

A. Quality approach

B. Stock market approach

C. Production-line approach

D. Retail approach

E. Professional approach

54. Which company is mentioned in the text as a pioneering of the production line approach to
delivering on-site service?

A. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

B. McDonald's Corporation

C. Prudential Insurance Company

D. Southwest Airlines

E. Citibank

55. Which of the following approaches to service design is characterized by having the customer take
a greater role in the production of the service?

A. Production-line approach

B. Personal-attention approach

C. Quality approach

D. Do-it-yourself approach

E. Self-service approach

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56. Which of the following is not an element of a good service guarantee?

A. Unconditional (no small print)

B. The customer controls the process

C. Easy to understand

D. Easy to communicate

E. Meaningful to the customer

57. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a well-designed service system?

A. Robust

B. Cost-effective

C. Puts customers in charge

D. User-friendly

E. Effectively links "front office" with "back office"

58. Which of the following is a characteristic of a well-designed service system?

A. Provides an unconditional service guarantee.

B. Each element of service system is consistent with the operating focus of the firm.

C. The front end of the service encounter is equal to the back end.

D. It segments the pleasure for the customer.

E. It lets the customer control the process.

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59. Which of the following is considered a high-contact service operation?

A. On-line brokerage house

B. Internet sales for a department store

C. Physician practice

D. Telephone life insurance sales and service

E. Automobile repair

Fill in the Blank Questions

60. In the service-system design matrix, what kind of production efficiency is expected from a service
encounter designed to be "face-to-face loose specs"? ______________________________________

________________________________________

61. What is the designation of the approach to service design characterized by having the customer
take a greater role in the production of the service? _______________________________________

________________________________________

62. What are the physical resources that must be in place before a service can be offered called?
______________________________

________________________________________

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63. What are the psychological benefits that the customer may sense only vaguely called?
___________________________________

________________________________________

64. In a service operation, what are the materials purchased or consumed by the buyer called?
_____________________________________

________________________________________

Essay Questions

65. Contrast the "personal attention approach" to service with the "assembly-line approach." In your
opinion, which is superior? Why?

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66. Describe the role of service guarantees from the marketing and the operations perspective.

67. How does the degree of customer contact relate to the kinds of skills needed by service workers
and the degree of training they require?

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