Service Systems Engineering and Management (Operations Research Series)

Recipient of the 2019 IISE Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Joint Publishers Book-of-the-Year Award

This is a comprehensive textbook on service systems engineering and management. It emphasizes the use of engineering principles to the design and operation of service enterprises. Service systems engineering relies on mathematical models and methods to solve problems in the service industries. This textbook covers state-of-the-art concepts, models and solution methods important in the design, control, operations and management of service enterprises.

Service Systems Engineering and Management begins with a basic overview of service industries and their importance in today’s economy. Special challenges in managing services, namely, perishability, intangibility, proximity and simultaneity are discussed. Quality of service metrics and methods for measuring them are then discussed. Evaluating the design and operation of service systems frequently involves the conflicting criteria of cost and customer service. This textbook presents two approaches to evaluate the performance of service systems – Multiple Criteria Decision Making and Data Envelopment Analysis. The textbook then discusses several topics in service systems engineering and management – supply chain optimization, warehousing and distribution, modern portfolio theory, revenue management, retail engineering, health systems engineering and financial services.

Features:

• Stresses quantitative models and methods in service systems engineering and management



• Includes chapters on design and evaluation of service systems, supply chain engineering, warehousing and distribution, financial engineering, healthcare systems, retail engineering and revenue management



• Bridges theory and practice



• Contains end-of-chapter problems, case studies, illustrative examples, and real-world applications

Service Systems Engineering and Management is primarily addressed to those who are interested in learning how to apply operations research models and methods for managing service enterprises. This textbook is well suited for industrial engineering students interested in service systems applications and MBA students in elective courses in operations management, logistics and supply chain management that emphasize quantitative analysis.

A. Ravi Ravindran, Paul M. Griffin, Vittaldas V. Prabhu