Industrial Engineering & Management

Seldom, if at all, a neighborhood convenience store will conjure up images of managerial sophistication. Its typically modest offerings project across the routine and somewhat regimented purchases of ordinary consumers. They come from all ages, gender, and background — husbands and wives returning home from work; people on the move; or impetuous kids rushing in to pick up candy or a bottle of Coke. And located in either quiet or otherwise busy neighborhoods, neither their internal ambience nor outward observances suggest even a modicum of challenge that sustains the spirit of uncompromising courtesy that is churned out hour-after-hour in its Have a Nice Day cliché to its customers. Why should 7-Eleven be any different?