Hazel

Hazel had worked for the same Fortunc 500 company for almost 15 years. Although the company had gone through some tough times, things were starting to tum around. Customer orders were up, and quality and productivity had improved dramatically from what they had been only a few yours carlie duc to a companywide quality improvement pro- gram. So it came as a real shock to Hazel and about 400 of her coworkers when they were suddenly terminated following the new CEO's decision to downsize the company.

After recovering from the initial sbock, Hazel 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 funds were being depleted and she was getting mote discouraged. There was one bright spot, though: She was able to bring in a little money by mowing lawns for her acigkibrs, She got involved quite by chance when she beard ODC Aeighbor remark that now that his children were on their owo, nobody was around to cut the grass. Almost jokingly,

case Hazel asked him how much he'd be willing to pay. Soon Hazel was mowing the lawns of five neighbors. Other neigh bors wanted her to work on their lawns, but she didn't feel that she could spare any more time from her job search.

However, as the rejection letters began to pilc up, Hazel knew she had to make an important decision in her life. On a rainy Tuesday moming, she decided to go into business for ferself-taking care of neighborhood lawns. 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, Hazel was deter mined to make a go of it.

At first, business was a little slow, but once people realized Hazel was available, many asked her to take care of their lawas. Some people were simply glad to tum the work over to her; others switched from professional lawn care services. By the end of her first year in business, Hazel Imcw she could carn a living this way. She also performed other services such as fertilizing lawns, weeding gardens, and trimming shrub bery. Business became so good that Hazel hired two part-time workers to assist her and, even thon, she believed she could expand further if she wanted to.

a. Working for a company instead of for herself? b. Expanding the busiess? c. Launching a website?

augston 1. In what ways are Hazel's customors most likely to judge the quality of her lawn care services?

2. Hzel is the operations manager of ber business. Among the responsibilities are forecasting, inventory management schicdaling, quality assurance, and maintenance. a What kinds of things would likely require forecasts? 6. What inventory itens does. Hazel probably have? Name

ocidyantofy, decision she has to make periodically. c, What scheduling must she do? What things might occur

to disrupt schedules and cause Hazel to reschedule? d. How important is quality assurance to Hazel's business?

Explain. ... What kinds of maintenance must be performed? 3. What are some of the trade-offs that Hazel probably con

sidered rolative to:

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Hazel Revisited

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will lead to an increase in productivity. Another would be a chain saw, which would be used for trec pruning. What

trade-offs should she consider in her analysis? 4. 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 advan tages and disadvantages of doing this?

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(Refor to p. 30 for the Hazel Casc.) 1. What competitive advantage does Hazel have over a pro

fessional lawn care service? 2. Hazel would like to increase her profits, but she doesn't be

licve that it would be wise to raise her prices considering the current state of the local economy. Instead, she has given some thought to increasing productivity. a Explain how lucreased productivity could be an alterna

tive to increased prices. b. What are some ways that Hazel could increase

productivity? 3. Hazel is thinking about the purchase of new equipment.

Orde would be power sidewalk edgers. She belicves edgers