Reaching the Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints

2. Services On Demand

• Services Sectors

• Services as Available Versus Services On Demand

• Roles

• Viewpoints

• Conflict Resolution

• Summary

• Endnotes

Basic differences between goods and services are easy to see: Goods are tangible and can be consumed now or later, while services are intangible and cannot be produced in advance. Of course, many purchases consist of a mix of goods and services. Restaurants are roughly balanced. Gasoline purchases are 99 percent goods if you count the occasional once-over with a squeegee as a service. Airline flights are 99 percent services if you count refreshments as goods. So pure goods and pure services are just end points on a continuum of possibilities.

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