Problem:
In what ways might the first-come, first served rule be unfair to the customer waiting for service in a bank? What service rule would you recommend for a bank? Why? In what ways might the first come, first served rule be unfair to the customer waiting for a service in a hospital? What service rule would you recommend for a hospital? Why?
Some of the ways that a first come first serve model can be unfair to customers in a bank is from a time standpoint, some customers only want to make a deposit or take money out of their accounts, which could take as little as a few minutes and thus the next customer in line would be right up. Some transactions can take up to an hour, and for transactions like this it is unfair to the customer that is only looking to make a quick withdrawal or deposit. I would make a point of telling customers who will require a longer transaction, to come back during times when they aren't as busy, I would also want to hire more tellers during peak hours as well. The bank could also set up a special line for transactions that only require a few minutes to complete as well. I would suggest the Multichannel, single phase approach for the bank. This I feel would cut down on the amount of wait time for the customers and they wouldn't get as irritated either knowing that something is going on with the lines. Concerning the first come first serve in hospitals is unfair to the customers waiting for kind of the same reason with respect to some procedures take less time than others, some people go into the hospital with just checkups while others go in with more advance problems that need more time to be dealt with. On checkups and other problems that require not much time, the hospital could open another branch or have special appointments in schools (like with yearly physicals). A hospital can set up things to divert a customer's attention like cable TV or for the kid's video games and toys. For the hospital I would choose the Multichannel, multiphase approach.