Assignment: Goods and Services

Objectives

• Distinguish between goods production and service operations
• Identify the factors involved in operations planning
• Relate quality to productivity
• Explain how one can manage for quality
• Identify the tools used for total quality management

Assignment Overview

This assignment presents questions about goods production operations and service operations.

Deliverables

Answers to the exercise questions

Step 1 Answer the following questions.

Write the answers to the following questions:

• What are the three different kinds of production-based utility?
• What are the major differences between goods-production operations and service operations?
• What are the major differences between high-contact and low-contact service systems?
• What are the five major categories of operations planning?
• What are the input resources and finished products in the following services?

o Real estate firm
o Child-care facility
o Bank
o City water and electric department
o Hotel

• Analyze the location of a local firm where you do business (perhaps a restaurant, a supermarket, or a manufacturing firm). What problems do you see with this location? What recommendations would you make to management?

• Find good examples of a synthetic production process and an analytic process. Explain your choices.

• Explain how productivity and quality can be used as competitive tools. Use a specific product, good, or service as an example.