utey Barber Salon is a trendy barber salon that is located in a densely populated city called Maple.  Demand for the services offered by the salon is fairly high. It offers services such as haircuts, hair  styling, scalp massaging and conditioning treatment, straight razor and wet shave, beard sculpting,  facials and hair colouring. In addition to these services provided, the salon sells premium hair products  to customers. The salon has the ability to produce a maximum of 20,000 haircuts and hairstyling per  year. Demand for haircuts and hairstyling over the last five years can be seen in the following table:- Year Demand for haircuts  and hairstyling 2017 11,500 2018 12,200 2019 13,400 2020 14,000 2021 14,500 Although the business does not have a written vision and mission statement, it is clear in the minds of  management what they want to achieve and what they would like to be in the future. Currently, customers can walk in at anytime to be served. At times, customers have to wait in line for a  long time. This is creating some challenges for the operations manager. He needs to overcome this  challenge in order to utilize his resources more efficiently. Competition in the hair salon business is intensifying. New firms are rising up and existing firms are  expanding their operations. Increasing competition is gradually eating away profit margins since costs  are increasing and customers are demanding lower prices for services. Management has to find some  efficient way to add value to their products and to overcome the competition.   Discuss two ways in which the barber salon can overcome the challenge of operating successfully in an environment of increasing costs while at same time customers are demanding lower prices.

Practical Management Science
6th Edition
ISBN:9781337406659
Author:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Chapter4: Linear Programming Models
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utey Barber Salon is a trendy barber salon that is located in a densely populated city called Maple. 
Demand for the services offered by the salon is fairly high. It offers services such as haircuts, hair 
styling, scalp massaging and conditioning treatment, straight razor and wet shave, beard sculpting, 
facials and hair colouring. In addition to these services provided, the salon sells premium hair products 
to customers. The salon has the ability to produce a maximum of 20,000 haircuts and hairstyling per 
year. Demand for haircuts and hairstyling over the last five years can be seen in the following table:-
Year Demand for haircuts 
and hairstyling
2017 11,500
2018 12,200
2019 13,400
2020 14,000
2021 14,500
Although the business does not have a written vision and mission statement, it is clear in the minds of 
management what they want to achieve and what they would like to be in the future.
Currently, customers can walk in at anytime to be served. At times, customers have to wait in line for a 
long time. This is creating some challenges for the operations manager. He needs to overcome this 
challenge in order to utilize his resources more efficiently.
Competition in the hair salon business is intensifying. New firms are rising up and existing firms are 
expanding their operations. Increasing competition is gradually eating away profit margins since costs 
are increasing and customers are demanding lower prices for services. Management has to find some 
efficient way to add value to their products and to overcome the competition.

 

Discuss two ways in which the barber salon can overcome the challenge of operating successfully in an environment of increasing costs while at same time customers are demanding lower prices.

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