Susan Lee, a final-year business student, had breakfast and then clicked onto the Internet to check the local weather forecast. It predicted rain, so she grabbed an umbrella before leaving the apartment and walking to the bus stop for her daily ride to the university. On the way, she dropped a letter in a mailbox. The bus arrived on schedule. It was the usual driver, who recog- nized her and gave a cheerful greeting as she showed her monthly pass. The bus was quite full, carrying a mix of students and office workers, so she had to stand.
Arriving at her destination, Susan left the bus and walked to the College of Business. Joining a crowd of other students, she took a seat in the large classroom where her finance class was held. The professor lectured in a near monotone for 75 minutes, occasionally projecting charts on a large screen to illustrate certain calculations. Susan reflected that it would be just as effective, and far more convenient, if the course were transmitted over the Web, or recorded on CDs or videotapes that students could watch at their leisure. She much preferred the marketing course that followed because this professor was a very dynamic individual who believed in hav- ing an active dialogue with the students. Susan made several contributions to the discussion and felt that she learned a lot from listening to the analyses and opinions of her fellow students.
She and three friends ate lunch at the re- cently renovated Student Union. The old cafete- ria, a gloomy place that served unappetizing food at high prices, had been replaced by a well-lit and colourfully decorated new food court, fea- turing a variety of small kiosks. These included both local suppliers and brand-name fast-food chains, which offered choices of sandwiches, as well as health foods and a variety of desserts. Although she had wanted a sandwich, the line of waiting customers at the sandwich shop was rather long, so Susan joined her friends at Burger King and then splurged on a caffe latte from the adjacent Hav-a-Java coffee stand. The food court was unusually crowded today, perhaps because of the rain now pouring down outside. When they finally found a table, they had to clear off the dirty trays. “Lazy slobs!” commented her friend Mark, referring to the previous customers.
After lunch, Susan stopped at the automated teller machine, inserted her card, and withdrew some money. Remembering that she had a job interview at the end of the week, she telephoned her hairdresser and counted herself lucky to be able to make an appointment for later in the day because of a cancellation by another client. Leav- ing the Student Union, she ran across the rain- soaked plaza to the Language Department. In preparation for her next class, Japanese for Busi- ness, she spent an hour in the language labora- tory, watching an engaging video of customers making purchases at different types of stores, then repeating key phrases and listening to her own recorded voice. “My accent’s definitely get- ting better!” she said to herself.
With Japanese phrases filling her head, Susan set off to visit the hairdresser. She liked the hair salon, which had a bright, trendy decor and well- groomed, friendly staff. Unfortunately, the cutter was running late and Susan had to wait 20 min- utes. She used this time to review a chapter for the next day’s human resources course. Some of the other waiting customers were reading magazines provided by the store. Eventually, it was time for a shampoo, after which the cutter proposed a slightly different cut. Susan agreed, although she drew the line at the suggestion to lighten her hair color. She sat very still, watching the process in the mirror and turning her head when requested. She was pleased with the result and complimented the cut- ter on her work. The process, including the sham- poo, had lasted about 40 minutes. She tipped the cutter and paid at the reception desk.
The rain had stopped and the sun was shin- ing as Susan left the store, so she walked home, stopping to pick up clothes from the cleaners.
Study Questions
This store was rather gloomy, smelled of clean- ing solvents, and badly needed repainting. She was annoyed to find that although her silk blouse was ready as promised, the suit she would need for her interview was not. The assistant, who had dirty fingernails, mumbled an apology in an in- sincere tone without making eye contact. Al- though the store was convenient and the quality of work quite good, Susan considered the em- ployees unfriendly and not very helpful.
Back at her apartment building, she opened the mailbox in the lobby and collected the mail for herself and her roommates. Her own mail, which was rather dull, included a quarterly bill from her insurance company, which required no action since she had signed an agreement to de- duct the funds automatically from her bank ac- count. There was also a postcard from her op- tometrist, reminding her that it was time to schedule a new eye examination. Susan made a mental note to call for an appointment, antici- pating that she might need a revised prescrip- tion for her contact lenses. She was about to dis- card the junk mail when she noticed a flyer pro- moting a new dry-cleaning store and including a coupon for a discount. She decided to try the new firm and pocketed the coupon.
Since it was her turn to cook dinner, she wandered into the kitchen and started looking in the refrigerator and then the cupboards to see what was available. Susan sighed—there wasn’t much in there. Maybe she would make a salad and call for home delivery of a large pizza.
1. Identify each of the services that Susan Lee has used or is planning to use.