ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AFTER THE CASE:

Grace had worked for the same large Spanish company for almost 15 years. Although the company had gone through some tough times, things were starting to turn around. Customer orders were up, and quality and productivity had improved dramatically from what they had been only a few years earlier, due to a company-wide quality improvement program. So it came as a shock to Grace and about 400 of her colleagues when they were suddenly made redundant following the new Director Generals decision to downsize the company.

After recovering from the initial shock, Grace tried to find employment elsewhere. Despite her efforts, after eight months of searching she was no closer to finding a job than the day she started. Her savings were being depleted and she was getting more discouraged. There was one bright spot, though: she was able to bring in a little money by gardening for her neighbors. She got involved quite by chance when she heard one neighbor remark that now that his children had moved out, nobody was around to weed the flowerbeds. Almost jokingly, Grace asked him how much he would be willing to pay. Soon Grace was tending the gardens of five neighbors. Other neighbors wanted her to work on their gardens, but she didnt feel that she could spare any more time from her job search.

However, as the rejection letters kept coming in a tough job market, Grace knew she had to decide. On a sunny Monday morning, she decided, like many others in a similar situation, to go into business for herselftaking care of neighborhood gardens. She was relieved to give up the stress of job hunting, and she was excited about the prospect of being her own boss. But she was also fearful of being completely on her own. Nevertheless, Grace was determined to make a go of it.

At first, business was a little slow, but once people realized Grace was available, many asked her to take care of their gardens. Some people were simply glad to turn the work over to her; others switched from professional gardening services. By the end of her first year in business, Grace knew she could earn a living this way. She also performed other services such as fertilizing lawns, tending vegetables, and trimming shrubbery. Business became so good that Grace hired two part-time workers to assist her and, even then, she believed she could expand further if she wanted to.

ANSWER THE QUESTION:

1. Grace is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities are forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and maintenance.
   1. What kinds of things would likely require forecasts?
   2. What inventory items does Grace probably have? Name one inventory decision she must make periodically.
   3. What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt schedules and cause Grace to reschedule?
   4. How important is quality assurance to Graces business? Explain.
   5. What kinds of maintenance must be performed?