Abstract

Tirumala is one of the largest and busiest pilgrimage centers in the world, having a history of 2000 years. Over the years, the pilgrimage center has witnessed a continuous increase in the number of visitors, with the average number going up from 20000 a day in 1990s to 65000 a day in 2012. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which administered the Tirumala temple along with a few supporting services to pilgrims, experienced great difficulty in managing the darshan queue. With the objective of reducing the waiting line, TTD approached academic consultants. These consultants began devising different strategies of reducing the waiting line from the 1990s. Though things have improved a lot, there is still much that need to be done. This case study elucidates the different types of strategies to manage the waiting line and reduce the waiting time that TTD had been trying out from the 1990s. It also explains certain constraints that TTD was facing and a few new proposals.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Discuss and understand waiting line/queuing theory with the help of Tirumala.
• Elucidate how TTD managed the waiting line and discuss the constraints related to the management of darshan queue
• From the general management perspective, discuss the learning points from TTD’s strategies to manage/reduce waiting line.
• Discuss how the new strategies/proposals could be effective for TTD
• Discuss what TTD could do in future to overcome its challenges in managing the waiting line.

Keywords

Tirumala, Waiting Line, Queue, Waiting Line Management, Managing Queue, Tirupathi, Pilgrimage Center, Operations and Strategies, Customer Focus , Strategic Management, Operations Management, Decision Making, TTD, Consulting, Projects