Scenario
Christina Poole owns two pizza restaurants in a city with a population of 1500,000 and is studying her company's operations to be sure they are functioning as efficiently as possible. About 70% of the ventures sales represents dine-in business, and 30% comes from deliveries. Poole has always attempted to produce a high-quality product and to minimize the waiting time of customers both on- and off - premises.
Poole recently read a magazine article suggesting that quality is ow generally abundant and that quality differences between businesses are narrowing. The writer advocated placing emphasis on saving time for customers rather than producing a high-quality product. Poole is contemplating the implications of this article for her pizza business. Realizing that her attention should be focused, she wonders whether to concentrate primary managerial emphasis on delivery time.
Questions
1. Is the writer of the article correct in believing that quality levels now are generally high and that quality differences among businesses are minimal?
2. What are the benefits and drawbacks of placing the firm's primary emphasis on minimizing customers wait time.
3. If you were advising Poole, what would you recommend?
4. How would your answer to the previous questions be different if Poole sold a $6 pizza? What if the pizza cost $25?