Anna University
M.B.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
BA9274 SERVICES OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
(Regulation 2009)
Time : Three hours Maximum : 100 Marks
Answer ALL questions
PART A — (10 × 2 = 20 Marks)
1. Why is service sector important in the economy?
2. What are the five features of service package?
3. What is meant by moments of truth in services?
4. What does the production line approach of service system design suggest?
5. What does the service encounter triad depict?
6. Enumerate the SERVQUAL dimensions of service quality.
7. Enumerate the aspects of the psychology of waiting lines that a service manager must consider when using a queuing system.
8. List the various strategies for managing capacity.
9. How is the discount price determined in retail discounting model?
10. What are the major problems in measuring service productivity?
PART B — (5 × 16 = 80 Marks)
11. (a) Explain the distinctive characteristics of services and their implication for service operations.
Or
(b) Discuss the elements in the framework for formulating the strategic service vision.
12. (a) Discuss the servicescape framework in detail.
Or
(b) Discuss how service blueprinting can be used in developing a new service with an example of your own.
13. (a) Illustrate the use of walk through audit as a diagnostic instrument to evaluate the gaps in the service delivery system.
Or
(b) Explain the Gap model of service quality and discuss the possible measures to close the gaps.
14. (a) (i) Explain the Huff’s model for locating a retail outlet in detail. (8)
(ii) A temporary help agency wants to open an office in a suburban section of a large city. It has identified five large corporate offices as potential customers. The locations of these offices in miles on an xy
coordinate grid for the area are C1 = (4, 4), C2 = (4, 11), C3 (7, 2), C4 = (11, 11), and C5 = (14, 7). The expected demand for temporary help from these customers is weighted as w1 = 3, w2 = 2, w3 = 2, w4 = 4,
and w5 = 1. The agency reimburses employees for travel expenses incurred by their assignments; therefore, suggest a suitable location for the agency that will minimize the total weighted metropolitan distance for job-related travel. (8)
Or
(b) Discuss the elements of yield management system in detail.
15. (a) Discuss when and how the news vendor model of inventory can be applied to services.
Or
(b) (i) Describe the Clark and Wright savings heuristics for solving Traveling Salesman problem. (8)
(ii) Using the task times provided below, determine the number of vehicles required and the task sequence for each vehicle using the concurrent scheduler approach. The deadhead time is 30 minutes. (8)
Task Start End
1. 8.00 a.m. 8.30 a.m.
2. 8.15 a.m. 9.15 a.m.
3. 9.00 a.m. 9.30 a.m.
4. 9.40 a.m. 10.20 a.m.
5. 10.10 a.m. 11.00 a.m.
6. 10.45 a.m. 11.30 a.m.
7. 12.15 p.m. 12.40 p.m
8. 1.30 p.m 1.50 p.m
9. 2.00 p.m 2.40 p.m
10. 2.15 p.m 3.30 p.m