Department of Decision Sciences & Managerial Economics

Faculty of Business Administration

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

DSME6100I Managing Service Operations

First Term, 2018-2019
Fiday 18:45-21:30 (Sapphire Room, Town Centre)

INSTRUCTOR

NAME: Dr. HUANG Junfei

Office: Room 913, Cheng Yu Tung Building
Phone: 3943 1654
E-mail: junfeih@cuhk.edu.hk
Office hour: 4:00-5:00pm, Friday or by appointment

TEACHING ASSISTANT

NAME: Ms. Zhao Yufei

Office: Room 951, Cheng Yu Tung Building
Phone: 3943 1588
E-mail: yufeizhao@link.cuhk.edu.hk
Office hour: By appointment

COURSE CONTENT

Eng:
Brief course description: This course is designed for students to learn the latest theories,
frameworks, concepts, techniques and to apply them in meeting the special challenges of
managing service operations. The focus is to develop analytical thinking skills that will
enable students contemplating careers in services to develop, evaluate and implement
strategies for a wide range of service producing organizations. Topics will include: 1). the
importance and economics of customer loyalty and approaches to build customer loyalty; 2).
formulation and implementation of service strategies and the strategic service vision for
greater business success; 3). management of the operational behavior of customers in service
delivery; 4). design of sustainable service models that successfully incorporate a customer’s
operating role; 5). analyses of customer data to inform managerial decision making; and 6).
management of changes in service settings.

Chi:
通過本科，學生將學到管理服務營運的最新理論、框架、概念和技術，並運用所學知
識以應對管理服務營運所帶來的挑戰。本科的重點在於學習分析思路和技能。這些思
路和技能將幫助學生開展、評估和實施一系列針對服務型企業的策略。所探討的主題
如下：1）客戶忠誠度的重要性和經濟意義，及建立客戶忠誠度的途徑； 2）服務策略
的形成和實施，及確保更大商業成功的服務戰略；3）在提供服務時客戶操作行為的管
理；4）設計可持續性的並考慮客戶營運地位的服務模型；5）分析客戶數據並開展對
應的管理決策；6）服務環境下的變動管理。

1
REFERENCE BOOK

1. James A. Fitzsimmons, Mona J. Fitzsimmons and Sanjeev K. Bordoloi, Service

Management: Operations, Strategy, Information, 8th edition (McGraw-Hill International
Edition, 2014).
2. F. Robert Jacobs and Richard B. Chase, Operations and Supply Chain Management, 14
Global Edition (McGraw-Hill Education, 2014)

COURSE ASSESSMENT

Course grade will be based on some or all of the following elements:

Class Participation (team) 5%

Homework (team) 15%
Mid-Term Exam 25%
Final Exam 55%
Total 100%

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Please note that it is “PARTICIPATION” not “ATTENDENCE”. Thus, you are required to
actively participtate in the class, which includes class discussions, raising questions and
providing feedback. You will obtain marks in participation by asking pertinent questions or
by responding to questions during class. You will lose participation marks by constantly
talking in class or missing a significant portion of the class.

HOMEWORK

Please hand in each homework by the start of the class on the date it is due. Late assignment
will NOT be accepted.

MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Test one will be 120-minute long and is given in class on Jan 18. It is closed notes and books
and this written test will be comprised of multiple choices and short answer questions.

FINAL EXAMINATION

The second test is closed notes and books. It is a comprehensive test, which covers all topics
taught in this course. It will be 2 hours long.

No individual make-up examination will be offered in this course.

COURSE STUDY OUTCOMES

After completing this course, students should be able to:

(1) Understand the latest concepts and theories in managing service operations
(2) Develop analytical thinking skills for managing service operations and design
sustainable service models
(3) Analyze customer data in service organizations and facilitate managerial decision
2
 making accordingly

CLASSROOM CONDUCT

No eating or drinking is allowed during class. Participating in class discussions are

encouraged, but private conversations with other classmates are disruptive and should be
limited. All electronic devices, including mobile phones, smartphones, iPads, or laptops, are
not to be used during class unless the professor specifically authorizes their use for a class-
related purpose. Violating this policy will result in a substantial penalization in the class
participation portion of your grade.

POLICY ON SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY

The Chinese University of Hong Kong places very high importance on honesty in academic
work submitted by students, and adopts a policy of zero tolerance on cheating and plagiarism.
Any related offence will lead to disciplinary action including termination of studies at the
University. Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic
work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy
and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

Course Outline:
This is just a tentative course outline. The schedule and topics maybe adjusted during the
semester according to course progress.

Week Topic
1 Introduction
2 Service Strategy and Location Selection

3 Capacity Management

4 Process Analysis and Little’s Law

5 Inventory Management - I & Revenue Management

6 Inventory Management - II

7 Mid-term Examination
8 Managing waiting lines
9 Queuing Models - I

10 Queuing Models - II
11 Demand Management and Forecasting (and Final Review)
12 Final Examination