A global travel company is naturally exposed to the risks of natural and man-made disasters. How do you organize a business successfully when it has to deal with dangers, from small breakdowns to major disasters, almost every day? Alan and Harriet Lewis have created a successful travel company based on their idea of ”extreme competitive …
Granite Rock is an exceptionally well-run company and, despite a 6% profit margin, it has consistently gained market share in a commodities business dominated by multinational giants. The case contains a brief history of Granite Rock from its inception in 1895 to 1992, the year the company received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. It …
Haidilao Hot Pot offers customers a delicious dining experience. As in most restaurants, the workforce consists primarily of young people born in underdeveloped suburbs. Equipped with the founder’s unique business values, they are enthusiastic and motivated to offer their clients exceptional service in a creative way. This case portrays the founder’s business experience, his values, …
ETrade pioneered the deeply discounted electronic brokerage business and has seen phenomenal growth through the extensive use of technology to achieve significant cost advantages over traditional companies. ETrade’s strategy was to pass on these cost savings through automation to its clients, as the fixed costs paid off across a larger number of accounts. In 1996, …
At the age of 39, Solmaz Altƒ ± n assumed command of Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly recognized that although the insurance market in Turkey was poorly penetrated, it was operating in a very competitive environment with price pressure and therefore cost control. As a result, customer satisfaction suffered. Despite the growing Turkish economy and a …
In October 2008, the Hong Kong University Libraries (“HKU Libraries”) successfully launched an initiative to introduce radio frequency identification (“RFID”) into its main library. With the RFID initiative, HKU libraries sought to effectively manage the public and private resources made available to the institution. In 2008, the libraries served a total of 102,676 registered borrowers …
Andy Carr, founder of a small consulting firm specializing in call centers, conducts an analysis of call center operations for Lion Financial Services (LFS). LFS operates three call centers that together employ 170 agents and handle 30,000 calls per week. Agents are divided into different “groups” according to their training and experience; Complicated rules are …
Dr. Richard Hofstetter wondered what would become of his Acoustic Disruption Technology (ADT), a technology that uses noise to change the behavior of different species of wood beetles. Initial laboratory tests showed that the adapted sounds would alter the behavior of pine bark beetles, making the insects less likely to attack a tree and generally …
Describes the design and implementation of a bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for the chain’s top management is getting store managers to “push themselves”, keep business orderly and organized, and be courteous and efficient with customers. The design of the bonus plan is simple: Instead of trying to measure the neatness of …
Suitable for marketing and operations management courses. The CS director at a customer-centric catalog electronics company asked a Six Sigma Black Belt to help him evaluate various ideas to effectively elicit and analyze user feedback in his CS department. A Design For Six Sigma project was conducted six years ago, and one of the goals …