Seasonal demand is particularly important to the greetings card industry. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Valentine’s Day and other occasions have all been promoted as times to send (and buy) appropriately designed cards. Now, some card manufacturers have moved on to ‘nonoccasion’ cards, which can be sent at any time. The cards include those intended to be sent from a parent to a child with messages such as ‘Would a hug help?’, ‘Sorry I made you feel bad’ and ‘You’re perfectly wonderful – it’s your room that’s a mess’. Other cards deal with more serious adult themes such as friendship (‘you’re more than a friend, you’re just like family’) or even alcoholism (‘this is hard to say, but I think you’re a much neater person when you’re not drinking’). Some card companies have founded ‘loyalty marketing groups’ that ‘help companies communicate with their customers at an emotional level’. They promote the use of greetings cards for corporate use, to show that customers and employees are valued (a). What seem to be the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies adopted by these card companies? (b). What else could card companies do to cope with demand fluctuations?
> Blackberry Hill Farm (BHF) has developed two businesses to complement their traditional farming activity over the last 6 years. The first is a service operation opening up the farm to paying visitors who can observe farming activities and enjoy tours, wa
> Quentin Cakes make about 20,000 cakes per year in two sizes, both based on the same recipe. Sales peak at Christmas time when demand is about 50 per cent higher than in the more quiet summer period. Their customers (the stores who stock their products) o
> A company that produces concrete paving slabs is introducing a new range of ‘textured’ nonslip products. To do this it must invest in a new machine. Demand is forecast to be around 10,000 units per month for the first year and approximately 24,000 units
> A data centre is ‘a facility composed of networked computers and storage that businesses or other organisations use to organise, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data. A business typically relies heavily upon the applications, services and
> Consider the music business as a supply network. How did music downloads and streaming affect to artists’ sales? What implications did electronic music transmission have for record shops?
> It sounds like a joke, but it is a genuine product innovation. It’s green, it’s square and it comes originally from Japan. It’s a square watermelon. Why square? Because Japanese grocery stores are not large and space cannot be wasted. Similarly a round w
> A janitor called Murray Spangler invented the vacuum cleaner in 1907. One year later, he sold his patented idea to William Hoover whose company went on to dominate the market. Now, the Dyson vacuum cleaner has jumped from nothing to a position where it d
> According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a circular economy is ‘one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times, distinguishing between tech
> Innovation becomes particularly important at the interface between offerings and the people that use them. Consider two types of website: (a). Those which are trying to sell something such as Amazon.com. (b). Those primarily concerned with giving informa
> We have to get this new product and fast’, said the Operations Director. ‘Our competitors are close behind us and I believe their products will be almost as good as ours when they launch them.’ She was talking about a new product that the company hoped w
> One product for which customers value a very wide range of product types is that of domestic paint. Most people like to express their creativity in the choice of paints and other home decorating products that they use in their homes. Clearly, offering a
> This case uses publicly quoted information (usually from the companies’ own websites) to compare three well-known fashion retailers, all based in Europe. These three retailers are Benetton, based in Northern Italy, H&M, based in Sweden, and Zara, based i
> Xexon7 is a specialist artificial intelligence (AI) development firm that develops algorithms for various on-line services. As part of its client services it has a small (10 person) help-desk call centre to answer client queries. Clients could contact th
> DSD designs, makes and supplies medical equipment to hospitals and clinics. Its success was based on their research and development culture. Although around 50 per cent of manufacturing was done in-house, their products were relatively highly priced, but
> Examine this simple domestic project. The project definition is to make ‘breakfast in bed’ consisting of a boiled egg, toast and orange juice, using the minimum staff resources and time, and to a high quality (egg fres
> In the oil industry, project teams are increasingly using virtual reality and visualisation models of offshore structures that allow them to check out not only the original design, but any modifications that have to be made during construction. (a). Why
> Funding comes from a variety of sources; to restore the literally irreplaceable buildings we work on. We try to reconcile historical integrity with commercial viability, and rely on the support of volunteers. So we need to involve all stakeholders all th
> Revisit the two examples towards the beginning of the chapter describing the type of projects undertaken by Disney Imagineering and the Crossrail project. Using, the three methods of distinguishing between projects that are described in the chapter (thei
> An automated sandwich-making machine in a food manufacturer’s factory has six major components, with individual reliabilities as shown in Table 14.2. Table 14.2: Component ……………………………………………………………………………………. Reliability Bread slicer ………………………………………………………
> The light bulb in the men’s lavatories of a factory finally burnt out after 70 years of operation. The manager at the firm said, ‘It is actually a little bit sad. I joined the firm when I was fifteen (he is now sixty-three) and it was there then.’ In fac
> One cause of aircraft accident is ‘controlled flight into ground’. Predominantly, the reason for this is not mechanical failure but human failure such as pilot fatigue. Boeing, which dominates the commercial airline business, has calculated that over 60
> Wyco is a leading international retailer selling clothing and accessories with stores throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The countries from which it sources its products include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Vietnam. It was shoc
> Action Response is a London-based charity dedicated to providing fast responses to critical situations throughout the world. The charity receives requests for cash aid usually from an intermediary charity and looks to process the request quickly and prov
> Look again at the example, ‘The Four Seasons Canary Wharf’. (a). The company has what it calls its Golden Rule; ‘Do to others (guests and staff) as you would wish others to do to you’. Why is this important in ensuring high-quality service? (b). What do
> Look again at the example, ‘Tea and Sympathy’. (a). Why do you think ‘Nicky’s Rules’ help to make the Tea and Sympathy operation more efficient? (b). The restaurant’s approach to quality of service seems very different to most restaurants. Why do you thi
> Understanding type I and type II errors is essential for surgeon’s quality planning. Consider, for example, appendectomy operations. Following a diagnosis of appendicitis, removal of the appendix is necessary because of the risk of it bursting, causing p
> Ryanair, the best-known budget airline in Europe, focusing on a popular routes and very low operating costs. For years, the boss of the airline, Michael O’Leary’s policy on customer service was clear. ‘Our customer service’, he said ‘is about the most we
> The owner of a small wedding photography business realises that the market is changing. ‘I used to take a few photos during the wedding ceremony and then formal group shots outside. It rarely took more than two hours. Around 30 photos would go in a stand
> Human error is a significant source of quality problems. Think through the times that (with hindsight) you have made an error and answer the following questions. (a). How do you think that human error causes quality problems? (b). What could one do to mi
> Step 1(a). – As a group, identify a ‘high visibility’ operation that you all are familiar with. This could be a type of quick service restaurant, record stores, public transport systems, libraries, etc. Step 2(b). – Once you have identified the broad cla
> A transport services company provides a whole range of services to railway operators. Its reputation for quality was a valuable asset in its increasingly competitive market. ‘We are continually looking for innovation in the way we deliver our services be
> For over 10 years a hotel group, had been developing self-managed improvement groups within its hotels. At one hotel reception desk, staff became concerned about the amount of time the reception desk was left unattended. To investigate this, the staff be
> Develop cause–effect diagrams for the following types of problem: (a). Staff waiting too long for their calls to be answered at their IT helpdesk. (b). Poor food in the company restaurant. (c). Poor lecturing from teaching staff at a university. (d). Cus
> McPherson Charles, based in Bristol in the West of England, has grown rapidly to be one of the biggest law firms in the region. Comprising 21 partners and a total of 400 staff it is an ambitious partnership aiming to maintain its impressive growth record
> Everything we do can be broken down into a process’ said Lucile, COO of an outsourcing business for the ‘back office’ functions of a range of companies. ‘It maybe more straightforward in a manufacturing business, but the concept of process improvement is
> Go back to Chapter 10 and re-read the description of the Theory of Constraints (ToC). Now consider the similarities and differences between ToC and lean synchronisation in terms of their overall objectives, measures of effectiveness, improvement method a
> • Examine the value-added versus non-value-added times for some other services. For example: (a). Handing-in an assignment in for marking if you are currently studying for a qualification. (What is the typical elapsed time between handing the assignment
> An insurance underwriting process consists of the following separate stages. What is the ‘value-added’ percentage for the process? (Hint – use Little’s law to work out how long ap
> Consider this record of an ordinary flight. ‘Breakfast was a little rushed but left the house at 6.15. Had to return a few minutes later, forgot my passport. Managed to find it and leave (again) by 6.30. Arrived at the airport 7.00, dropped Angela off wi
> Re-examine the description of the Toyota production system at the beginning of the chapter. (a). List all the different techniques and practices that Toyota adopts. Which of these would you call just-intime philosophies and which are just-in-time techniq
> Think through the following three brief examples. What type of control (according to Figure 10.13) do you think they warrant? 1. The Games Delivery Authority (GDA) was a public body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructu
> Read the following descriptions of two cinemas. Kinepolis in Brussels is one the largest cinema complexes in the world, with 28 screens, a total of 8,000 seats, and four showings of each film every day. It is equipped with the latest projection technolo
> It takes six hours for a contract laundry to wash, dry and press (in that order) a batch of overalls. It takes three hours to wash the batch, two hours to dry it and one hour to press it. Usually each day’s batch is collected and ready for processing at
> Revisit the example on the Blood and Transplant service at the beginning of the chapter. (a). What are the factors that constitute inventory holding costs, order costs and stock-out costs in a National Blood Service? (b). What makes this particular inven
> Aarens Electronic (AE) produces ‘precision custom coating and laminating services to a wide range of customers, amongst the most important being, Phanchem to whom it supplied dry photoresist imaging films, a critical step in the manufacturing of microchi
> Our suppliers often offer better prices if we are willing to buy in larger quantities. This creates a pressure on us to hold higher levels of stock. Therefore, to find the best quantity to order we must compare the advantages of lower prices for purchase
> A fruit canning plant has a single line for three different fruit types. Demand for each type of tin is reasonably constant at 50,000 per month (a month has 160 production hours). The tinning process rate is 1,200 per hour, but it takes two hours to clea
> A supplier makes monthly shipments to ‘House & Garden Stores’, in average lot sizes of 200 coffee tables. The average demand for these items is 50 tables per week, and the lead time from the supplier three weeks. ‘House & Garden Stores’ must pay for inve
> Revisit the example, ‘United drags passengers off its plane’. (a). How should the airline have handled the situation? (b). After the incident attracted so much negative publicity, United announced a new upper limit of $10,000 in compensation for passen
> A German car manufacturer defines ‘utilisation’ as the ratio of actual output for a process to its design capacity, where design capacity is the capacity of a process as it is designed to operate. However, it knows tha
> In a typical 7-day period, the planning department of the pizza company programs its ‘Pizzamatic’ machine for 148 hours. It knows that changeovers and set-ups take 8 hours and breakdowns average 4 hours each week. Waiting for ingredients to be delivered
> A Pizza Company has a demand forecast for the next 12 months that is shown in Table 8.5. The current workforce of 100 staff can produce 1,500 cases of pizzas per month. Table 8.5: Month ………………………………………………………………. Demand (cases per month) January …………………
> Many companies devise a policy on ethical sourcing covering such things as workplace standards and business practices, health and safety conditions, human rights, legal systems, child labour, disciplinary practices, wages and benefits, etc. (a). What do
> If you were the owner of a small local retail shop, what criteria would you use to select suppliers for the goods that you wish to stock in your shop? Visit three shops that are local to you and ask the owners how they select their suppliers. In what way
> A chain of women’s apparel retailers had all their products made by Lopez Industries, a small but high-quality garment manufacturer. They worked on the basis of two seasons; Spring/Summer season and Autumn/Winter. ‘Sometimes we are left with surplus item
> The COO of Super Cycles was considering her sourcing strategy. ʻI have two key questions, for each of our outsourced parts, what is the risk in the supply market, and what is the criticality of the product or service to our business? As far
> A gourmet burger shop has a daily demand for 250 burgers and operates for 10 hours. (a). What is the required cycle time in minutes? (b). Assuming that each burger has 7.2 minutes of work required, how many servers are required? (c). If the burger sho
> At the theatre, the interval during a performance of ‘King Lear’ lasts for 20 minutes and in that time 86 people need to use the toilet cubicles. On average, a person spends 3 minutes in the cubicle. There are 10 cubicles available. (a). Does the theatr
> A company has decided to manufacture a general-purpose ‘smoothing plane’, a tool which smooths and shapes wood. Its engineers estimated the time it would take to perform each element in the assembly process. The market
> The headquarters of a major creative agency offered a service to all its global subsidiaries that included the preparation of a budget estimate that was submitted to potential clients when making a ‘pitch’ for new work
> It is a real problem for us’, said Angnyeta Larson, ʻWe now have only ten working days between all the expense claims coming from the departmental coordinators and authorizing payments on the next month’s payroll. This really is not long enough and we ar
> One of the examples at the beginning of the chapter described ‘drive-through’ fast-food processes. Think about (or better still, visit) a drive-through service and try mapping what you can see of the process (plus what you can infer from what may be happ
> Revisit the example at the beginning of this chapter that examines some of the principles behind supermarket layout. Then visit a supermarket and observe peoples’ behaviour. You may wish to try and observe which areas they move slowly past and which area
> A direct marketing company sells kitchen equipment through a network of local representatives working from home. Typically individual orders, usually contain 20 to 50 individual items. Much of the packing process was standardised and automatic. The Vice
> McDonald’s is the best-known fast-food brand in the world (32,000 plus restaurants) and, since its foundation in the 1950s, is held to have totally changed the food industry. Innovatively, it was a self-service drive-in format with a very limited menu (b
> The international Frozen Pizza Company (IFPC) operates in three markets globally. Market 1 is its largest market where it sells 25,000 tons of pizza per year. In this market, it trades under the name ‘Aunt Bridget’s Pizza’ and positions itself as making
> A company produces a wide range of specialist educational kits for 5–10 year olds is based in an industrial unit arranged in a simple layout of with six departments, each performing a separate task. The layout is shown in Figure 5.9 tog
> Visit a branch of a retail bank and consider the following questions: (a). What categories of service does the bank seem to offer? (b). To what extent does the bank design separate processes for each of its types of service? (c). What are the different p
> Globalisation is very much a “mixed blessing”. There is little doubt that it has lifted millions out of poverty, but it has also led to the destruction of traditional cultures in developing countries and many jobs in the developed world.’ Draw up lists o
> The United Photonics Groups is a US-based corporation that manufactures lenses and precision instruments. It has a reputation for technical excellence and its products are reputed to be amongst the most technically advanced in the global market. Recently
> Slagelse Industrial Services (SIS) had become one of the Europe’s most respected die caster of zinc, aluminium and magnesium parts supplier for hundreds of companies in many industries, especially automotive and defence. The case describes the formulatio
> This case is essentially a story of how a relatively small factory, supplying ink jet paper to Hewlett-Packard and other customers moved itself from being a loss-making operation into a profitable position by gaining control of its processes. The case co
> Ferndale Sands Conference Centre is a conference venue of 52 rooms in Victoria State, Australia outside Melbourne. Established initially as a hotel, it was re-launched as a conference centre four years ago. The centre had managed to establish a presence
> The case relates the history of some improvement initiatives carried out at a (fictional) hospital in Sweden from the perspective of Denize Ahlgren the new Chief of Administration (COA) at St Bridget’s. Dr Pär Solberg, a clinician who also heads the hosp
> C.K. One’ founded subText in South East Asian computer generated imaging (CGI) market, three years ago. The case opens with him (the first time) needing to apologise to some clients, because of the failure of the businesses resource planning and control
> Concept Design Services (CDS) is a company that has changed from being a manufacturer, initially of precision plastic components and cheap ‘homeware’ to making very high quality homewares, then to offering a â
> “You’ve got to be kidding me!” said Amit Chopra, owner of the 215‐room Comfort Express in Jamestown. “No, I’m not kidding. He sold them all,” replied Sylvia Zepeda, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. Together, Amit and Sylvia served as the hote
> “I think I can buy it at a great price,” said Dan Flood. He was talking about the Watershed Restaurant. The property was for sale and Dan was meeting with Loralei Glenn, his friend and an experienced restaurant manager. “It’s losing about 7 cents on each
> “I think we have to do it,” said Paula, the director of operations for the five‐unit Hungry Henry’s pizza chain. Paul was talking to Henry Acosta, the chain’s founder. Paula and Henry were discussing the fact that their competitors in the area had extend
> Mary Margaret Glenn knew the going would be tough for the first couple of years. She was now finding out exactly how tough. After five years of working for others, Mary and her former college roommate had pooled their resources and purchased a small buil
> Bill O’Leary could see both sides of the issue. As the general manager of the 500‐unit Plazamar Hotel, he knew how important it was to remember that both members of his room revenue management team now sitting across his desk shared the same goals. What
> “I still don’t get it,” said Ahmir, “how can all the monthly loan repayments we make to the bank for the dining room expansion project we completed last year not be considered an operating expense? We make the payments out of the money we get from being
> Charlotte Lebioda grew up in the hotel business. Her parents owned and operated a 100‐ room limited service hotel for 20 years. When Charlotte graduated from hospitality school, her parents retired, turning the business over to Charlotte. Her hotel has a
> “I don’t get it,” said Tasha “are you telling me that we sold over ten thousand dollars’ worth of gift cards for the holidays but we didn’t make any sales?” Tasha was the assistant manager at the Logjam Restaurant, a casual operation featuring grilled st
> Lezinah Ncube has just taken a new job as regional manager of a limited service hotel chain. Her region includes six hotels, with each hotel consisting of approximately 150 rooms each. Each hotel also offers a small amount of meeting space and provides i
> “Are you sure you read it right?” asked Ahmed, the restaurant manager at the Golden Rose restaurant. Ahmed was talking to Bart, the restaurant’s bar manager. “I read it right, and it’s great news!” replied Bart. Ahmed and Bart were discussing the restaur
> David Berger was about to achieve his dream. Having finished culinary school and then completed his hospitality management degree, David was ready to seek the financial backing he needed to open what he firmly believed would be his first and a very succe
> Rodney Nicole was excited as he talked to his friend Ali Pennycuff. “I bought the truck!” said Rodney. “You bought the food truck you were looking at?” asked Ali. “I sure did. It will only take me a week or so to do the interior modifications I need and
> Samara Tate couldn’t have been happier. As she looked back on the past two years, she realized just how much how her hard work had paid off. First, she had been hired as a waitress at the exclusive Sycamore Country Club working in the “Member’s Only” din
> “This is a bit new for me,” said Maddie, the new controller at the 600‐room Fairmont Hotel. “I know,” said Marcus, the hotel’s general manager, “but you will catch on pretty quick I’m sure. And I am convinced you’ll do great job for us.” Maddie had just
> “I don’t know, Bharath,” said Arun Poddar, Bharath’s close friend and business partner. “It looks risky to me.” Bharath Chaturvedi had just proposed that Arun go into business with him by purchasing the Carlton Hotel. The 400‐room property was for sale a
> “Let me make sure I understand this. You want to set the rates for the third week in October at full rack, close out all discounts, and immediately block any inventory we are not contractually obligated to provide our discount intermediaries,” said Amand
> “I think it’s a great idea,” said Natalie Duke, the director of sales and marketing at the Rosewood Plaza Hotel. Natalie was telling Renée Watson, the hotel’s general manager, about her request to install an electronic programmable sign that would be in
> 1. Which is a factor used in the food cost %, contribution margin, and goal value analysis methods of menu analysis? A. Popularity B. Food cost % C. Contribution margin D. Variable costs 2. When using the food cost percentage matrix method of menu anal
> 1. Which is the formula that food service managers use to calculate their total revenue? A. Price x Number Sold = Total Revenue B. Price / Number Sold = Total Revenue C. Number of customers x Price = Total Revenue D. Number of customers / Price = Total
> 1. As the level of personal service in a hospitality business increases, operating costs A. increase and selling prices must also be increased. B. increase and selling prices must be decreased. C. decrease and selling prices must also be decreased. D. d
> 1. Last year a 500-room hotel was open for 365 days, had rooms department costs of $2,409,000, and achieved a 75% occupancy. What was the hotel’s CPOR for rooms department costs? A. $17.60 B. $176 C. $1,760 D. $1.76 2. In February, a restaurant had a b
> 1. Which of the following is calculated as: Current Assets – Current Liabilities? A. Working capital B. Cash flow C. Fresh cash flow D. Liquidity 2. Which is NOT a solvency-related ratio? A. Operating cash flows to current liabilities ratio B. Debt to
> 1. Which is NOT a proper way to express the ratio of “10 out of each 100?” A. 10 B. 0.10 C. 10% D. 10/100 2. Which is the formula used to calculate a ratio? A. Part / Whole= Ratio B. Whole / Part =Ratio C. Part x Whole =Ratio D. Whole x Part =Ratio 3.
> 1. Which action on the part of a manager would affect a business’s cash flow from investing activities? A. Selling marketable securities B. Increasing the size of food inventories C. Collecting $25,000 from accounts receivable D. Borrowing $50,000 to exp
