Hank Pembrook is the owner of The Greenery, a chain of a dozen plant nurseries in a large western metropolitan area. The Greenery has been very successful and has the largest market share of any nursery in the area. Not surprisingly, Hank is pleased with his nurseries. They stock a wide selection of trees, plants, and gardening supplies, and Greenery customers come back because the staff is highly knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Hank has never been one to sit on his laurels (even box laurels!), though, so he has been looking at ways to improve customer service and enhance the overall profitability of his nurseries. Hank has a good friend, Felipe, who is a bit of a “computer nerd.” For years, Felipe has bombarded Hank with ideas about how he could improve Hank’s business through the wonders of technology. Hank has finally agreed and has instituted two cutting-edge systems designed to improve business at The Greenery. The first is a wireless information system designed to improve communication and inventory control among the various branches of The Greenery. All associates at The Greenery now have personal digital assistants that allow them to schedule appointments and send and receive e-mail. In addition, the system allows for immediate updating of inventory and pricing, which can be shared at all branches of The Greenery. Adopting this system required outfitting each person with his or her own PDA as well as purchasing the complex business software for inventory control. It cost Hank about $25,000 for the necessary hardware and software. 

CASE ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

1. As a “people person,” how would you advise Hank? What can he do to increase the use of his wireless data system and his customer assistance centers? 

2. What different kinds of suggestions for increased adoption of these systems might be made by supporters of the media richness model, the social information processing model, and the dual capacity model? Is there a way to combine these approaches to help Hank out of his bind? 

3. Was Hank realistic in his assessment of the possible advantages of these systems? What would research tell us about the likely outcomes of wireless data systems and the customer assistance centers?