7-1. Describe, in your own words, the meaning and significance of business operations. What do we mean when we talk about operations? What does it encompass? What does it exclude?

7-2. What are the major differences between goods-production operations and service operations?

7-3. What are the major differences between high-contact and low-contact service systems? Give an example of each, comparing and contrasting them.

7-4. Identify the three kinds of utility and describe each one briefly.

7-5. Apply the five major categories of operations planning to your college or to a local business.

7-6. What type of business strategy does Disney use to attract customers to its theme parks? What does the company do to implement its strategy? What are the key operational characteristics?

7-7. Choose three different businesses that you frequent and rate the quality of their service or product on a scale of 1–5, with 1 being poor quality and 5 being high quality. Explain the standard that you applied for each business to determine quality. Was it the same standard, or did you apply a different standard to each one? If so, why?

7-8. If you were a member of a quality improvement team at your college, what would be five specific high-impact recommendations that you would support? Of those five, which two would be the most important, and briefly explain what strategies you might employ as a college administrator to implement those two recommendations.

7-9. Map out the process for enrolling in classes at your school by drawing a process flowchart that shows the stages in the activity, and then tell how you would use that flowchart as part of a methods improvement approach to operations planning.

7-10. Interview the manager of a local service business, such as a restaurant or hair salon. Identify the major decisions involved in planning that business’s service operations.