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Product guarantees or warranties have been around for generations, but formal approaches for establishing and examining warranties have been considered only during the past 20 years. A review of the literature on warranty models and analysis methods is provided, along with some suggestions for further research.

Consumers' perceptions of service quality are highly qualitative as well as subjective. Individual variation exists in the meaning of “low,” “medium,” or “high” levels of service quality. A framework for quantifying the service quality dimension levels for technical support service is presented in the current study. Results are combined with the utility values of the dimension levels obtained through conjoint analysis. Customers' behavioral intentions subsequent to the quality of the technical support they experience are also found empirically. The methodology presented in this research can be used in improving the comprehensibility and quantification of service quality.

A new finite element is developed that reduces the modeling required to define the constrained layer damping treatment. The new element emulates the traditional method of modeling constrained layer damping with plate elements on either side of a thin hex element. Trade studies are performed in the application of constrained layer damping treatments to beams and plates. The effects of the thicknesses of the constraining layer and the viscoelastic layer will be studied as well as some studies on the location of the damping treatment.

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