Midlands state university

Faculty of commerce
Department of business management

Name. Chapanda Kudakwashe Gracious

Registration No. R0645087
Level 4.2 (PDP)
Programme. Business Management

BM403 Assignment
Question. Examine the problems that students are facing at
the bursar’s office and how the system can be improved
especially queue management.

Due date. 11 February 2010

Problems faced by students at bursar’s office
Long queues
Queues at bursar’s office are ever long especially as the semester begins. Arriving
students are met with long lines which makes them very uncomfortable to pay their
school fees. Due registration deadlines students are forced to wait patiently in those long
lines. Clearly nobody enjoys waiting in long lines. Just like in business, time is precious.

Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (1998), defined a queue as a line of waiting customers

who require service from one or more servers. Servers typically are considered to be
individual stations where customers receive service. Experts suggest that no aspect of
customer service is more important than the wait in the line to be served. A customer
waiting in line is potentially a lost customer.

Slow servers
The employees at the bursar’s office are very slow and this makes the students in the
queue uncertain of whether they are going to be served or not on the same day. It often
happens that some of the students have to go back home without being served after a day
long wait in the queue. From my observations I have discovered that a server may take
more than ten minutes on one customers. In most cases the workers are busy making
conversations without paying enough attention to their work.

Duncan, (2005), noted that, in any service system a queue forms whenever current
demand exceed the existing capacity to serve. This occurs when servers are so busy that
arriving customers cannot receive immediate service. Such situation is bound to occur at
varying times and service times also vary.

According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (2004), fluctuations in demand for service

are difficult to cope with because the consumption and production of services occur
simultaneously. Customers typically arrive at random and place immediate demands on
the available service. If the service capacity is fully utilized at the time of his or her
arrival, then the customer is expected to wait patiently in line. Varying arrival rates and
service time requirements result in the formation of queues.

People who skip the line

Students are having so many problems with their fellow students who are very good at
skipping the line. Goldman, (2009), suggested that, the moment a customer sees a later
arrival being served first, however, anxiety about how long the wait will be is
transformed into anger about the unfairness of it all. This can lead to a testy if not
explosive situation, and the service provider is just as likely to be the target of the anger.

Sometimes the security officers who will be trying to make order at the queuing students
are the very same people who facilitate the skipping of lines. Take for example when a
security officer meet someone he or she knows, its definite that they will allow him or her
to be served first.

The staff members

The are so many people who come at the servers claiming that they are members of the
staff so that they can served first. Of course the students will be quite about it since they
feel that they are at the mercy of the servers who are uncaring about them.

Confusion
A new arrival may be confused of which line they should take because there so many
lines at different windows. An ignorant student may think that all the queues are for
paying school fees and wait in the wrong line. Many of the new students are not sure of
where they should go after they have paid their fees. One would find many students
standing idle not knowing where to go.
How the system can be improved
Goldman, (2009), pointed out that long customer queues can lead to dissatisfied
customers and lost business. The management should take some measures to reduce the
queues and improve operations. How well the management manage the queues in the
service industry can have a tremendous impact on customer service.

Opening additional teller windows

According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (2004), management can vary the service
capacity effectively by opening and closing service lines to meet changes in demand. The
university can open additional teller windows when the length of queues becomes
excessive. Cross training employees also adds to this flexibility.

Knowing the peak periods

Goldman, (2009), stated that managers must gather data on the nature of the demand and
queues. By understanding when their queues form most often, they can create a staffing
plan that meets this demand. The university may find out that most of the students will be
paying their fees during the first days of the semester. During this period additional teller
windows can be opened to cater for the demand.

Improving employees working pace

The behavior of service personnel toward customers is critical to the success of the
organization. As noted by Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons , (2004), under the pressure of
the long waiting lines, a server may speed up and spend less time with each customer.
Unfortunately a gracious and leisurely manner then becomes curt and impersonal.
Sustained pressure to hurry may increase the rate of customer processing, but it also
sacrifices quality.

Make the students occupied during the wait

Just as “nature abhors vacuum,” people dislike empty time. Fitzsimmons and
Fitzsimmons, (1998), pointed out that, empty or unoccupied time feels awful. It keeps us
from other productive activities; frequently is physically uncomfortable; makes us feel
powerless and at the mercy of servers, who we may perceive as uncaring about us; and
perhaps worst of all seems to last forever.

As noted by Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (1998), services that consist of several stages
can conceal waiting by asking people to walk between successive stages. There are
innumerable other ways to fill the time: reading matter, television monitors, live
entertainment, posters, artwork, toys and cookies and pots of coffee. The waiting period
can be used to educate customers about a certain subject

Make those in line feel the service has started

Handing a procedural documents to the waiting students convey a sense that the service
has started. In fact people can tolerate longer waits within reason, if they feel service has
began better than they can tolerate such waits if service has not even started.

According to Khanna, (2009), customers become dissatisfied more quickly with an initial
wait subsequent waits after the service has begun.

Alleviate waiting anxieties

Whether rational or not, anxieties may be the single biggest factor influencing the waiting
customer. Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (1998), pointed out that, managers must
recognize these anxieties and develop strategies to alleviate them. In some cases this may
be a simple matter of having an employee acknowledge the customer presence.

Take-a-number arrangement
According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (1998), a simple strategy for avoiding
violations of the first-come first-served queuing policy is the take-a-number arrangement.

The number currently being served may be displayed so that the new customer can see
how long the wait will be. This will allow the customer to move around without any fear
of loosing his or her position in line.
Use of a single queue
Another strategy for fostering first-come first-served service when there are multiple
servers is use of a single queue. A new arrival joins the back of the line; the first person
in the line is served by the next available server.

As noted by Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (2004), anxiety is relieved, because there is

no fear that later arrivals will slip ahead of their rightful place. Often customers who have
guaranteed their place in this way will relax and enjoy a few pleasantries with others in
the line.

Separate server for the staff members

According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (1998), a management sensitive to the
concerns of all its customers will take measures to avoid an image of obvious
discrimination. One solution might be to conceal the preferential treatment by locating in
an area that is separate from the regular service line.

Give employees enough resources

Goldman, (2009), noted that, standardizing employees work will help move the queue
along as well. The management should make sure that they understand the nature of their
work and take measures to provide the employees with everything possible that will
make the work more productive. For example if there are few computers the management
should make sure that enough computers are available.

Make customers feel they are valued

Casserley, (2009), stated that, when a queue forms, it is critical that people feel they have
been treated fairly. A queue system that discourages “pushing in” eliminates many of the
psychological issues that contribute to stress in the queue.

Clear evidence that a queue is being managed by the service provider is important. If a
system is not in place, those waiting will not be confident that the service provider values
their time appropriately.
Provide progress feedback
Khanna, (2009), the process must include positive feedback of progress. Clues that allow
customers to estimate their own likely waiting time or at least understand that the queue
is progressing provide reassurance that the wait is not an uncertain one.

Start and end points must be visible

Duncan, (2005), also suggested that, the process must be clearly identified; start and end
points must be visible. Where more than one queue is in operation perhaps for different
types of service or goods, it must be clear to consumers what the purpose of each queue
is.

Conclusion
“A complete absence of waiting only would be possible in a situation where consumers
are asked to arrive at fixed intervals and service times are deterministic,” Fitzsimmons
and Fitzsimmons, (2004), page 283. thus as long as service time vary, delays can be
encountered even when arrivals are scheduled by appointment. Therefore waiting is
inevitable and service operations managers must consider how customers in a queue are
to be treated.

Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, (1998), also cited that, the economic cost of waiting can
be vied from two perspectives. For a firm, the of keeping an employee(internal customer)
waiting may be measured by unproductive wages. For external customers the cost of
waiting is the foregone alternative use of that time. Added to this are cost of boredom,
anxiety and other psychological distresses

While waiting can have number of economic interpretations its true cost is always
difficult to determine. For this reason the trade off between the cost of waiting and the
cost of providing service seldom is made explicit, yet service providers must consider the
physical, behavioral, and economic aspects of the customer waiting experience in their
decision making.
 References

1. Fitzsimmons J and Fitzsimmons M, (1998), Service Management: operations,

strategy and information technology, McGraw Hill, New York.

2. Fitzsimmons J and Fitzsimmons M, (2004), Service Management: operations,

strategy and information technology, McGraw Hill, New York.

3. Casserley C, (2009), Queue Management System for the Tourism Sector,

retrieved from http:/www.tiresias.org 08 February 2009.

4. Duncan D, (2005), Managing Real and Virtual Waits in Service Organizations,

retrieved from www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals.html 08 February 2009.

5. Goldman A, (2009), Managing Queues in the Service Industry, retrieved from

www.gaebler.com 08 February 2009

6. Khanna S, (2009), Method of Managing Queue, retrieved from www.faqs.org 08

February 2009