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The purpose of this paper is to devise a robust statistical process control methodology that will enable service managers to better monitor the performance of correlated service measures.

A residuals control chart methodology based on least absolute value regression (LAV) is developed and its performance is compared to a traditional control chart methodology that is based on ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Sensitivity analysis from the goal programming formulation of the LAV model is also performed. The methodology is applied in an actual service setting.

The LAV based residuals control chart outperformed the OLS based residuals control chart in identifying out of control observations. The LAV methodology was also less sensitive to outliers than the OLS approach.

The findings from this study suggest that the proposed LAV based approach is a more robust statistical process control method than the OLS approach. In addition, the goal program formulation of the LAV regression model permits sensitivity analysis whereas the OLS approach does not.

This paper shows that compared to the traditional OLS based control chart, the LAV based residuals chart may be better suited to actual service settings in which normality requirements are not met and the amount of data is limited.

This paper is the first study to use a least absolute value regression model to develop a residuals control chart for monitoring service data. The proposed LAV methodology can help service managers to do a better job monitoring related performance metrics as part of a quality improvement program such as six sigma.

This study examines the use of forecast combination to improve the accuracy of forecasts of cumulative demand. A forecast combination methodology based on least absolute value (LAV) regression analysis is developed and is applied to partially accumulated demand data from an actual manufacturing operation. The accuracy of the proposed model is compared with the accuracy of common alternative approaches that use partial demand data. Results indicate that the proposed methodology outperforms the alternative approaches.

This chapter will present a goal programming model which simultaneously generates forecasts for the aggregate level and for lower echelons in a multilevel forecasting context. Data from an actual service firm will be used to illustrate and test the proposed model against a standard forecast technique based on the bottom-up/top-down approach.

This chapter uses advance order data from an actual manufacturing shop to develop and test a forecast model for total demand. The proposed model made direct use of historical time series data for total demand and time series data for advance orders. Comparison of the proposed model to commonly used approaches showed that the proposed model exhibited greater forecast accuracy.

The purpose of this paper is to show how the content of a firm's culture, carefully developed by top managers, can create effective employee experiences and how this exemplary case of strategic culture shaping relate to various academic insights on intangible social or collaborative capital.

Inductive case study (of a large American convention hotel), highlighting the strategic crafting of a service‐firm culture, both descriptively (in terms of what took place) and analytically (in terms of various OB‐literatures).

Describes how organizational culture can be part of strategizing in terms of aligning cultural expressions regarding various employees' practices, including continuous organizational improvement. Analyzes and integrates various extant culture insights on service cultures and culture strength.

Insights are applicable to a wide variety of work settings beyond the hospitality and service sectors; it expands the view of organizational culture to the broader and more complex, strategic issue of how organizations can craft or amend cultures that fit their missions.

One may learn from this case (including the authors' reflections), how to put a well‐articulated service mission into operational practice: through taking a particular, desired culture quite seriously when creating employee experiences, so that they are effectively focused on that mission.

The paper illustrates specific tactics for implementing culture plus the value of developing a strategic approach to creating a particular culture. It offers a template of crafting a culture, based on the strategic pairing of managerial mission with action (or employee and client experiences). Strategizing with culture, also referred to as firm‐cultural content shaping, is meant for researchers and practitioners seeking to help develop a mission‐focused organizational culture.

Laser disk databases containing MARC records that can be retrieved, edited, and used to print cards and labels and/or to produce machine‐readable catalog records in some transferable form are compared for seven vendors: Gaylord Information Systems, General Research Corporation, The Library Corporation, OCLC, Solinet, Utlas, and the Western Library Network. Major areas of exploration include: database characteristics, access, display, editing, new records, hard copy products, hardware, and price.

In February 1989, Digital's VAX‐Station 3100 inaugurated a line of desktop mini‐computers that compete in price with high‐end personal computers. Gaylord's GALAXY Integrated Library System was installed on that platform at the Appomattox Regional Library in Hopewell, Virginia, in August 1989. Since then, GALAXY has been installed at over 140 libraries of varying sizes and types throughout the United States. Additional modules have been continuously added every six to twelve months: acquisitions, serials control, SuperNET networking modules, Datatrieve + easy report generator, and the new GALAXY Scheduler. Additional modules and enhancements continue to be developed at Gaylord as the company continues to invest heavily in new product research and development to meet the ever‐increasing demands of its rapidly growing customer base.