Please read this case study carefully and address the stated questions at the end. Please make sure that your answer/analysis provides some exact points rather than being too general. For example, you talk about what you will look into, if you were in Georgiana's position, based on the provided information and numbers in order to have that included in the report. Also, what quantitative analysis tools and methods; e.g. forecasting or inventory management, would you think can be used to help Georgiana better assess this situation? You can also use some web sources, by making sure to cite them, to develop more concrete analysis. CASE STUDY Hamerson and Partners Albert Hamerson is Managing Director of his Georgina has several ideas for improvements - family firm of builders' merchants. He is the third many emerging from her university studies in generation to run the company and is keen for his mathematics and business. She wants to develop daughter, Georgina, to join him when she leaves uni- these ideas, and imagines herself as an 'internal versity. Georgina is also keen to join the company, consultant' looking around the company, finding but she is not sure what kind of job she wants. areas for improvement and doing projects to Hamerson and Partners is essentially a whole- make operations more efficient. One problem is saler. They buy 17,000 different products from that her father has had little contact with quanti- 1,100 manufacturers and importers, including all tative analyses beyond reading the company the usual materials needed by builders. Their main accounts. He makes decisions based on experience customers are small building firms, but they have gained through 35 years of work with the com- some long-term contracts with bigger organisa pany and discussions with staff. He is not sure that tions, and many one-off and DIY customers. The Georgina's mathematical training will be of any company works from four sites around Dublin and practical value. Cork and employs over 300 people. After some discussion, Georgina agreed to Georgina feels that the company is getting write a report describing the type of problem that nd the times. She assumed that computers she could tackle. She will outline her approach to would reduce the amount of paperwork, but when these problems and the benefits the company she goes into company offices she is surprised at could expect. Then she will spend some time in the amount of paper. For instance, she thought her next vacation looking in more detail at one of that most orders would be collected automatically these problems. through the company's website, but she saw that they were also written on scraps of paper, printed Question forms, faxes and downloaded e-mails. When she If you were in Georgina's position, what would walks around the stores, things still seem to be you put in your report? What benefits do you organised in the way they were 20 years ago. think that she could bring to the company