The intent of this book is to help business practitioners and students expand their knowledge of how waiting line analysis can be used to address situations beyond the simple examples they were presented in basic operations courses. Throughout the book, practical examples are given and worked out to aid in understanding the material presented. The first chapters begin with a review of those simple examples and the terminology used for waiting line processes. Following chapters cover more complex concepts related to multiple server situations, less common arrival and service distributions, limited population applications commonly used for maintenance activities, cost trade-offs between adding service capacity versus process improvements, and manufacturing applications.

Author Biography

KEN W. SHAW is an associate professor of accounting and the KPMG/Joseph A. Silvoso Distinguished Professor of Accounting at the University of Missouri. He previously was on the faculty at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has also taught in international programs at the University of Bergamo (Italy) and the University of Alicante (Spain). He received an accounting degree from Bradley University and an MBA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin. He is a Certified Public Accountant with work experience in public accounting. Ken teaches accounting at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has received numerous School of Accountancy, College of Business, and university-level teaching awards. He was voted the Most Influential Professor by four School of Accountancy graduating classes and is a two-time recipient of the OBrien Excellence in Teaching Award. He is the advisor to his schools chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Ken is an active member of the American Accounting Association and its sections. He has served on many committees of these organizations and presented his research papers at national and regional meetings. Kens research appears in the Journal of Accounting Research; The Accounting Review; Contemporary Accounting Research; Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis; Journal of the American Taxation Association; Strategic Management Journal; Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance; Journal of Financial Research; and other journals. He has served on the editorial boards of Issues in Accounting Education; Journal of Business Research; and Research in Accounting Regulation. Ken is co-author of Financial and Managerial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, and College Accounting, all published by McGraw-Hill Education.