Hazel's business case

In what ways are Hazel's customers most likely to judge the quality of her lawn care service?

Answer: They will give some feedback regarding the cleaning after done cutting their grass, the duration of how long the lawn care service will be done, length of the grass should not be too long or too short, and the health condition of grass.

Hazel is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities are forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and maintenance.

What kinds of things would likely require forecasts?

Answer: weather, seasons, and maintenance.

What inventory items does Hazel probably have? Name one inventory decision she has to make periodically.

Answer: parts of mowing machines, gas, and fertilizer. She has to make inventory decision periodically is the quantity of fertilizer.

What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt schedules and cause Hazel to reschedule?

Answer: workers' timetable, mow machine, and maintenance. Mow machine breakdown, workers get sick, bad weather and any emergencies happen will cause Hazel to reschedule.

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How important is quality assurance to Hazel's business? Explain.

Answer: It is very important because since Hazel just started her new business which mean she does not has enough number of customers. If she wants to maintain her business, it is important to keep her reputation and quality of the service in order to get repeat customers.

What kinds of maintenance must be performed?

Answer: oil change, sharpness of the blade, and regular check the mow machine's engine.

What are some of the trade-offs that Hazel probably considered relative to:

Working for a company instead of for herself?

Answer: She will waste time to find a job.

Since she is an employee, she will not worry lots of stuffs and she does not need to take care of so much stuffs compare to own a business.

Expanding the business?

Answer: She can earn more profit but for doing this, she needs a big capital to support her.

Launching a web site?

Answer: It costs a lot to have a web site, on the other hand, she can able to get new customers from other neighborhoods.

The town is considering an ordinance that would prohibit putting grass clippings at the curb for pickup because local landfills cannot handle the volume. What options might Hazel consider if the ordinance is passed? Name two advantages and two drawbacks of each option.

Answer: Advantages 1. It can increase Hazel's business because the customers would not wait the grasses grow too long to call the mow service.

2. Hazel also can start a new pick up service to help the customers to collect all the grass clippings and throw it away.

Drawbacks 1. The working volume is increased which means Hazel needs to hire more employees to assist her.

2. Hazel has to reschedule all her working hours and it might be increased her working hours compare to previous.

Hazel decided to offer the students who worked for her a bonus of $25 for ideas on how to improve the business, and they provided several good ideas. One idea that she initially rejected now appears to hold great promise. The student who proposed the idea has left, and is currently working for a competitor. Should Hazel send that student a check for the idea? What are the possible trade-offs?

Answer: Yes, Hazel has to pay the student because the student had provided good ideas which help improve her business. Since the student has left and currently working for Hazel's competitor, she has to make a contract that the information should not be share to anyone accept Hazel's company.

All managers have to cope with variation.

What are the major sources of variation that Hazel has to contend with?

Answer: Bad weather, workers do not show up during work time, and extra jobs.

How might these sources of variation impact Hazel's ability to match supply and demand?

Answer: Hazel will has to do extra jobs and the working hours are not stable.

What are some ways she can cope with variation?

Answer: Hazel can hire more part-time workers to assist her in case some of the workers take leave. She also can study more about weather forecast, so she can do some preparation when it is bad weather occurs.

Hazel is thinking of making some of her operations sustainable. What are some ideas she might consider?

Answer: Hazel can do the lawn service by herself, so she can save some costing to hire workers. And she can provide friendly service, and welcome the customers give feedbacks on every service she has done.

Hazel Revisited

What competitive advantage does hazel have over a professional lawn care service?

Answer: Hazel gains trustiness from her neighborhood because Hazel's company is nearer and they know her for a long time, so this makes her has an advantage from a professional lawn care service.

Hazel would like to increase her profits, but she doesn't believe that it would be wise to raise her prices considering the current state of local economy. Instead, she has given some thought to increasing productivity.

Explain how increased productivity could be an alternative to increased prices.

Answer: Hazel can cut down the number of the workers to do the lawn care service and decrease her workers' wages.

What are some ways that Hazel could increase productivity?

Answer: reward her workers, establish reasonable goals for improvement, and develop their operation for efficiency.

Hazel is thinking about the purchase of new equipment. One would be power sidewalk edgers. She believes adgers will lead to an increase in productivity. Another would be a chain saw, which would be used for tree pruning. What trade-offs should she consider in her analysis?

Answer: If Hazel purchases the new equipment, she can offer a new service to customers, which can increase her business profit.

On the other hand, if she does not purchase, she does not need to spend extra maintenance fees for the new equipment.

Hazel has been fairly successful in her neighborhood, and now wants to expand to other neighborhoods, including some that are five miles away. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?

Answer: Advantages : She can earn more profits, more new customers, and more people will know her company exists.

Disadvantages: The company will be more hard to handle, needs a big capital to support, and higher risk to lose her business.

Hazel does not have a mission statement or a set of objectives. Take one of the following positions and defend it:

Hazel doesn't need a formal mission statement and objectives. Many small businesses don't have them.

She definitely needs a mission statement and a set of objectives. They would be extremely beneficial.

There may be some benefit to Hazel's business, and she should consider developing one.

Answer: In my opinion, I will choose B. Mission statement is important to every company as it gives their employees a guide line and show what is the company direction to them.