Passage 36
The fact that superior service can generate a competitive
advantage for a company does not mean that every attempt
at improving service will create such an advantage. Invest-
ments in service, like those in production and distribution,
must be balanced against other types of investments on the
basis of direct, tangible1 benefits such as cosplayt reduction and
increased revenues. If a company is already effectively on a
par with its competitors because it provides service that
avoids a damaging reputation and keeps customers from
leaving at an unacceptable rate, then investment in higher
service levels may be wasted, since service is a deciding
factor for customers only in extreme situations.
This truth was not apparent to managers of one regional
bank, which failed to improve its competitive position
despite its investment in reducing the time a customer had
to wait for a teller2. The bank managers did not recognize
the level of customer inertia3 in the consumer banking
industry that arises from the inconvenience of switching
banks. Nor did they analyze4 their service improvement to
determine whether it would attract new customers by pro-
ducing a new standard of service that would excite cus-
tomers or by proving difficult for competitors to copy. The
only merit of the improvement was that it could easily be
described to customers.
225. The primary purpose of the passage is to
contrast possible outcomes of a type of business investment
suggest more careful evaluation5 of a type of business investment
illustrate6 various ways in which a type of business investment could fail to enhance revenues
trace the general problems of a company to a certain type of business investment
criticize the way in which managers tend to analyze the cosplayts and benefits of business investments
226. According to the passage, investments in service are comparable to investments in production
and distribution in terms of the
tangibility7 of the benefits that they tend to confer
increased revenues that they ultimately produce
basis on which they need to be weighed
insufficient8 analysis that managers devote to them
degree of competitive advantage that they are likely to provide
227. The passage suggests which of the following about service provided by the regional bank
prior to its investment in enhancing that service?
It enabled the bank to retain customers at an acceptable rate
It threatened to weaken the banks competitive position with respect to other regional banks
It had already been improved after having caused damage to the banks reputation in the past.
It was slightly superior to that of the banks regional competitors.
It needed to be improved to attain9 parity10 with the service provided by competing banks.
228. The passage suggests that bank managers failed to consider whether or not the service
improvement mentioned in line 19
was too complicated to be easily described to prospective11 customers
made a measurable change in the experiences of customers in the banks offices
could be sustained if the number of customers increased significantly
was an innovation that competing banks could have imitated
was adequate to bring the banks general level of service to a level that was comparable with that of its competitors
229. The discussion of the regional bank serves which of the following functions
within the passage as a whole?
It describes an exceptional case in which investment in service actually failed to produce a competitive advantage.
It illustrates12 the pitfalls13 of choosing to invest in service at a time when investment is needed more urgently in another area.
It demonstrates the kind of analysis that managers apply when they choose one kind of service investment over another
It supports the argument that investments in certain aspects of service are more advantageous14 than investments in other aspects of service.
It provides an example of the point about investment in service made in the first paragraph.
230. The author uses the word only in line 23 most likely in order to
highlight the oddity of the service improvement
emphasize the relatively low value of the investment in service improvement
distinguish the primary attribute of the service improvement from secondary attributes
single out a certain merit of the service improvement from other merits
point out the limited duration of the actual service improvement
相关文章推荐
