The mail notice read:

A faculty ID card must be shown to withdraw books from the library, to use the faculty dining facilities, and to obtain the faculty discount at the University bookstore. To schedule an appointment for an ID photo, call the Personnel Office at 555-5858.

Jane Mills had been a full-time instructor at the University for a year but had not yet obtained a faculty ID card. Last year she had been informed that ID photos would only be taken on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 3:30—all times when she was teaching classes. When the August notice came around, Jane placed a call to Personnel.

On Wednesday Jane arrived 30 minutes early at the Personnel office, hoping the picture could be taken and she could leave. She waited in line for a few minutes behind two men who were completing application forms. When she arrived at the head of the line, Jane informed the woman behind the desk that she was early for a 3 o'clock appointment for a faculty ID card. . . .

Assignment

1. Is the Personnel Office a service department? Who are its customers?
2. What could the people in the Personnel Office have done to make Jane's encounter more positive? Could the procedure have been changed? Was changing the procedure necessary?
3. How could some of the confusion in this situation been avoided?
4. As an employee of the same organization, what is Jane's responsibility for improving quality?
5. If you were the woman's supervisor in Personnel and overheard the interaction above, what action would you take?