Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface -- Understanding services -- The important role services play in an economy -- The nature of services and service encounters -- Customers: the focus of service management -- Globalization of services -- Service strategy and competitiveness -- Ethical challenges in service management -- Building the service system -- Technology and its impact on services and their management -- Design and development of services and service delivery systems -- Supply chains in services and their management -- Locating facilities and designing their layout -- Operating the service system -- Managing demand and supply in services -- Supplement queuing and simulation -- Service quality and continuous improvement -- Supplement tools and techniques of total quality management -- Service productivity and measurement of performance -- Management of public and private nonprofit service organizations -- Tools and techniques for managing service operations -- Forecasting demand for services -- Vehicle routing and scheduling -- Project management -- Linear and goal programming applications for services -- Service inventory systems -- Appendix areas under the standard normal curve.