Let's start with summarising the passage in a few points:
1. Investment in service must be evaluated like those in production and distribution
2. If a company provides service that avoids damaging reputation and keeps customers leaving at an unacceptable rate then investment in service wasted
3. Service is a deciding factor for customers only in extreme situations
4. Eg of a regional bank investing in wait time for a teller
5. Points not analysed - customer inertia to switch banks, will it attract new customers, is it easily imitable
6. Only merit - can be easily communicated to customers.
Coming to the questions:
Q1. Primary purpose
The passage clearly talks about aspects to evaluate when investing in service. This is clearly brought out in option B.
Q2. This question is clearly answered in the first point of our summary. Investments in service, production and distribution should be evaluated on similar parameters. Thus, the answer is C - "basis on which they need to be weighed"
Q3. In the passage the author does not point out any apparent business problem for the bank. In point no. 2 of our summary it talks about the two areas when investment in service might be a waste - which is what is also proved for the bank later. Thus, it had to be either service preventing a damaging reputation or which prevents customers from leaving at an alarming rate. In that case the best answer is Option A
Q4. In this question, check by elimination:
A. This was the only merit of the improvement: it could be communicated easily, so incorrect
B. There is no mention of measuring the customer experience in the passage, so incorrect
C. Scaling up and sustainability of the service improvement is not mentioned, so incorrect.
D. This is mentioned as a point by the author while critiquing the service improvement as a point not considered by the bank's managers. (part of point 5 in the summary), so CORRECT.
E. The service level of the bank is no where mentioned as being less than that of its competitors
So, the answer is D.
Q5. In this question also all points need to be considered:
A. By the tone and the first paragraph the author is clear that investments in service need to be well evaluated. So, incorrect.
B. The example does not mention that this investment was done at the cost of another area requiring urgent investment. So, incorrect.
C. Again, in the example only the particular area of service improvement is mentioned and no other alternate within service is mentioned. So, incorrect.
D. The author does not dive deep into aspects of service which should be invested in and which should not be invested in. So, incorrect.
E. The author is actually pointing out that the bank was doing fairly well when it comes to competition. In that respect investment in service was unnecessary. So, this is the correct option
Q6. In the example, the author has completely critiqued the investment put in by the bank. However, as a saving grace he mentions a sole possible benefit. The word "only" thus helps to showcase the limited value of the particular investment. So, the correct option is B.
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