Q 1 & 2

H: Ha ex case CASE Hazel asked him how much he'd be willing to pay. Soon Hazel was mowing the lawns of five neighbors. Other neigh- Hazel bors wanted her to work on their lawns, but she didn't feel that she could spare any more time from her job search uzel had worked for the same Fortune 500 company for However, as the rejection letters began to pile up. Hazel almost 15 years. Although the company had gone knew she had to make an important decision in her life. Ona through some tough times, things were starting to turn around. rainy Tuesday morning, she decided to go into business for Customer orders were up, and quality and productivity had herselfaking care of neighborhood lawns. She was relieved improved dramatically from what they had been only a few to give up the stress of job hunting, and she was excited about yours earlier due to a companywide qunlity improvement pro- the prospect of being her own boss. But she was also fearful of gram. So it came as a real shock to Hazel and about 400 of her being completely on her own. Nevertheless, Hasel was deter- coworkers when they were suddenly terminated following the mined to make a go of it. new CBO's decision to downsize the company At fint, business was a little slow, but once people realized After recovering from the initial sbock, Hazel tried to find Hazel was available, many asked her to take care of their employment elsewhere. Despite her efforts, after eight months lawas. Some people were simply glad to tum the work over to of searching she was no closer to finding a job than the day her, others switched from professional lawn care services. By she started. Her funds were being depleted and she was getting the end of her first year in business, Hazel knew she could more discouraged. There was one bright spot, though: She carn a living this way. She also performed other services such was able to bring in a little money by mowing lawns for her as fertilizing lains, weeding gardens, and trimming shrub- neighbors. She got involved quite by chance when she heard bery. Business become so good that Hazel hired two part-time One mighbor remarks that now that his children were on their workers to assist her and even then, she believed she could dwn, nobody was around to cut the grass. Almost jokingly expand further if she wanted to CASE Hazel Revisited (Reft to p. 30 for the Hazel Case.) 1. What competitive advantage does Hazel have over a pro- fessional lawn care service? 2. He would like to increase her profits, but she doesn't be lieve that it would be wise to miss her prices considering the current state of the local economy. Instead, she has given some thought to increasing productivity . Explain how increased productivity could be an alterna tive to increased prices. b. What are some ways that Hazel could increase productivity