1) Many organizations offer a combination of goods and services to their customers. As you learned in this chapter (Chapter One- Operation and srevice mangamnet Book), there are some key differences between production of goods and delivery of services. What are the implications of these differences relative to managing operations?

2) In the past there was concern about a "productivity paradox" related to IT services. More recently, there have been few references to this phenomenon. Using the Internet, explain the term "productivity paradox." Why do you think that the discussion of the topic has faded?

3) It was been said that forecasting using exponential smoothing is like driving a car by looking in the rear-view mirror. What are the conditions that would have to exist for driving a car that are analogous to the assumptions made when using exponential smoothing?