Homework Questions
Choose either the Independent Auto Sales and Service (IAS) case on page 16, or the Network Nutrition Distributors (NND) case on page 17. For either case, answer all of the Strategy Planning Questions on page 17. Make sure that your writing is clear, understandable, and properly formatted and edited, including checking for proper spelling and grammar. Provide a cover page, reference page, and at least two accurate APA source citations for your answer. You may reference the textbook or other appropriate academic sources. These can be web-based sources, but do not use Wikipedia entries as part of your final submission.
Scenario/Summary
BUSN258 – You Decide Assignment
ScenarioRolePlayersDeliverable
Scenario
You just took a new job as general manager with a manufacturing company. They brought you in because sales and profits are declining. As you look into the company sales and profits issues during the first few weeks, you also observe that in addition to the declining sales, the company has complaints from customers about a variety of issues, including late shipments, defective products, and wrong invoices. Your sales and manufacturing groups blame each other and the customer for the issues, including misleading information given to the customer by sales, incorrect information from the customer regarding specifications, and unrealistic ship dates. On Thursday morning of your third week, a customer called with a complaint about a defective product. The cost of the complaint could be significant. The department managers all have different opinions on how to handle the complaint. By Thursday afternoon, you find that some of the required information to make the part was missing. It was a rush job. The information is normally requested from the customer by customer service. By late Thursday, you have the following positions:
Role
You have two roles here. The first is how to handle the complaint from the customer. Secondly you must decide on the customer relations position you want for the company.
Players
Bob YeaderSales Manager
Dori LatelyOperations Manager
Jennifer Garland CFO
Monica MiltonCustomer Service RepresentativeSam SpanielCustomer
Deliverable
Given the scenario, your role and the information provided by the key players involved, it is time for you to make a decision. If you are finished reviewing this scenario, close this window and return to this Week’s You Decide tab, in eCollege, to complete the activity for this scenario. You can return and review this scenario again at any time.
Your Role/Assignment
Assignment
Read the You Decide scenario and decide on a response. Your goal is to identify the critical issues in the scenario and determine how you would resolve the situation. Write a report correctly formatted of at least 250 words. Submit the report via the Dropbox. Remember to check your work for spelling and grammar issues before turning it in.
Homework Questions
Continuing either the Independent Auto Sales and Service (IAS) or Network Nutrition Distributors (NND) case that you started in Week 1, answer the Strategy Planning Questions listed on page 77 at the end of Chapter 4. Answer all three questions (including all sub-questions) completely—your response should be at least 200 words, properly formatted, clearly written and organized, and checked for spelling and grammar. Make sure to include a title page.
Objectives
- Interview: After completing your assigned readings for this week, interview someone who has a customer relations/customer service role, or responsibility where the person has organizational responsibility and knowledge of the company’s customer relations policies. This person could be in your own organization, or in any other company. Ask the interviewee to describe the role and importance of customer relations/customer service to the organization, and the top three customer relations/customer service issues faced by the organization. In case of a last minute conflict, it is best to have a second choice lined up.
- Supporting Research: Based on what you learned in the interview, you’ll conduct online research using scholarly resources, which can be found in the DeVry Online Library (available under Course Home) and online research sources such as Google. Locate at least four articles (two must be from scholarly resources) that discuss the current business climate for this company for inclusion as sources for your paper. What are current trends in this business (or in the overall industry of which this business is a member) that might impact customer service, customer satisfaction, or customer loyalty positively or negatively?
Examples
- Toyota is a business in the auto industry. Customers want safe cars. Recently, Toyota had a series of setbacks from brakes failures to acceleration issues. Toyota has a history of great customer relations, but now appears to have to reshape its image. Other car companies are using safety and quality messaging against Toyota (insert accurate APA in-text source citation here). Toyota needs to address its customer service programs and customer relations for both existing customers and potential new customers.
- Yume, the owner of a local Thai restaurant, has recently introduced a customer loyalty program where customers earn points for purchases that can be redeemed for free food and drinks; and customers love it! The American Restaurant Association says that loyalty programs are growing in popularity, especially in small boutique establishments, where there is a more personal connection between the owner and the customer (insert accurate APA in-text source citation here). Yume’s customers are very loyal and very satisfied, so since service improvement may not be entirely necessary, she may be able to expand her relationship with her customers by selling her sauces and cookbooks to her customers. This venture may also attract new customers!
Potential Research Sources:
- Hoovers.com
- Moody’s online database
- Ebscohost
- ABI/Inform database
- NetLibrary
Each of these resources contain business articles and other resources that may assist you in answering the case study questions.
- Analysis and Recommendations: Using what you’ve learned from the interview and your research, analyze the customer service environment at this company. How can customer service be improved? What are your recommendations to this company based on what you’ve learned?
- Additional requirements: Prepare a 750 word (minimum) paper addressing these questions, using APA style and formatting. Pay particular attention to the accurate citation of your interview source, and your secondary research sources. Full contact information for your interview source (interviewee name, company name, phone, and email address) is required, and should be included as a separate Appendix page following your Reference page.
Week 1: Conduct Interview
During Week 1, you should decide who you are going to interview for the case study, make arrangements for the interview, and conduct the interview.
Week 2: Conduct Research
During Week 2, you should be conducting your online research and begin to write your paper.
Week 3: Write and Submit Case Study 1
During Week 3, you’ll finish writing your paper. For APA format guidance, please refer to the APA Tutorial in the Syllabus. Ensure that the body of your paper, excluding cover page and sources, exceeds the 750-word count minimum, and that all of the assignment requirements have been met. Then, submit your paper.
Guidelines
Case Study FAQ
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about this assignment.
Q1. I don’t know anyone in customer relations/service, or my company doesn’t have a customer service function. What do I do?
A: Find someone with customer relations/service responsibility, in any business, anywhere. You may have to get on the phone and make some calls. Tell them you are a college student and need 10 minutes of their time. People are almost always happy to help a student.
Have a backup in case your first choice for an interview has a conflict at the last minute. Conflicts and conciliation can happen, so it is best to be prepared.
Q2. Do I have to do an interview?
A: Yes, a personal or phone interview with another person is required. Full contact information for the source should be provided in your paper for verification purposes.
Q3. I do this for my company, can I just talk about my experience?
A: No, see Q2, above.
Q4. My firm doesn’t have customers, what do I do?
A: Every organization has a destination for its products or services – even government agencies, non-profits, and charities. You can use internal or external customer relations and service issues for this paper. If this is still an issue, see Q1, above.
Q5. How do I cite a personal interview as a source reference?
A: See the APA Tutorial in the course Syllabus.
Scenario/Summary
Customer Feedback and Recovery
ScenarioRolePlayersDeliverable
Scenario
You are a general manager with a service company. You are hearing comments from your sales group that customers are unhappy with your company. The comments range from poor service, missed assignments, to technical failures. When you ask for specifics, you get a general view of dissatisfaction from your sales group, but not a clear view if there is an issue. You have met with several of your large customers in the past few months, and they have not indicated that there is an issue. If anything, your impression from customers is that things are going well. Your company is growing and there are new customers and some new sales people.
Role
Would you investigate customer complaints further? If so, how would you proceed to understand if there is a problem with service?
Players
Bob YeaderSales ManagerDori LatelyOperations Manager
Jennifer GarlandCFOMonica MiltonCustomer Service RepresentativePhilip FriedService Manager
Deliverable
Given the scenario, your role and the information provided by the key players involved, it is time for you to make a decision. If you are finished reviewing this scenario, close this window and return to this Week’s You Decide tab, in eCollege, to complete the activity for this scenario. You can return and review this scenario again at any time.
Your Role/Assignment
Assignment
Read the You Decide scenario and decide on a response. Your goal is to identify the critical issues in the scenario and determine how you would resolve the issue. Write a report correctly formatted of at least 250 words. Submit the report to the Dropbox. Remember to run the spelling and grammar check on your work before turning it in.
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Objective: Case Study 2 |
1. Companies with Good and Bad Service: Using the DeVry Online Library (available under Course Home) and
online research sources such as Google, research the customer
relations/customer service reputations of two(2 – no more, no less)
companies of your choice.
2. Supporting Research: Choose one company with an excellent customer service reputation,
and one with a poor (or less than perfect) customer service reputation. Compare
and contrast the customer service reputations of these two companies. Your
paper should address the following questions.
a.
What is the company with good
customer relations doing right?
b.
What is the company with poor
customer relations doing wrong?
c.
What are the results of the
actions of the companies? For instance, financial, public relations, or
employee issues?
d.
What specific, actionable
recommendations would you give for improving customer satisfaction for each
company?
3.Additional requirements:Prepare a 750 word (minimum) paper addressing these questions, using
APA style and formatting. Pay particular attention to the accurate citation of
your research sources.
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Week 4: Choose |
During Week 4, you should choose your two
target companies and begin your research process.
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Week 5: Conduct Research |
During Week 5, you should be conducting
your online research and beginning to write your paper.
|
Week 6: Write and |
During Week 6, you’ll finish writing your
paper. For APA format guidance please refer to the APA Tutorial in the
syllabus. Ensure that the body of your paper, excluding cover page and sources,
exceeds the 750-word count minimum, and that all of the assignment requirements
have been met. Then submit your paper.
|
Guidelines |
Case Study FAQ
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions
about this assignment.
Q1) The company’s web site doesn’t show
anything about their customer service reputation, policy etc., what do I do?
A: Do your homework, which means do
your research. The company’s web site will not be sufficient for objective
information. Make phone calls, look for articles online, go to the library—a
company’s web site is a starting point. Your job is to use all of the
information available to you through all outlets to address these questions.
Claiming to be unable to find any information is not a viable option. If this
is the case, choose another company.
Q2) How can I tell if their service is
good or bad?
A: Start with your own experience, and
choose companies with which you are familiar. Read everything you can find
about the company and soon, a picture will emerge that tells you a story about
their service levels, their approach to business, and the relative happiness of
their customers. Based on this information, you can formulate your own analysis
of the relative effectiveness of the company’s service efforts.
HINT: The
more thoroughly you show that you have the capability to think about these two
companies in their respective positions in the marketplace as it relates to
their service programs, the better your chances of getting an A on the paper.
If you claim to have looked on the web and found little information; if you
make generalized statements that indicate a lack of thorough, specific
research; if you fail to accurately cite your sources in APA style or present a
paper that is not spelling/grammar checked, your grade will suffer. Get
creative, find a way to answer the questions and address the assignment
requirements. Good luck!
Scenario/Summary
Managing Employees to Give Great Customer Service
ScenarioRolePlayersDeliverable
Scenario
You are Bob Yeader, a Sales Manager of a small printing company. One of your sales people asked for a meeting. The meeting was difficult. The sales person, Pat Lawson, broke down in the meeting. Pat said the work was too much and the customers too demanding. Where Pat used to be able to get all the work done in one week, there was now too much work. Your internal staff has noticed that Pat seems stressed. You wonder if customers are seeing the stress. Pat has been with your company for 15 years, but is ready to quit. You know that there is more work, after all there are more customers, and you recently put in place some new procedures and technology to make service to customers better and increase sales. Pat is the only one struggling; at least you thought so. You are wondering what your options are.
Role
Your role is to come up with a solution for Bob’s situation. If you were in Bob Yeader’s position what would you do? Define the problem(s) as you see it. Determine possible solutions and pick a solution to implement immediately.
Players
Chris NihilHR ManagerGeorge FishCustomer ServiceJack MasonBob Yeader’s ConsultantMonica MiltonCustomer Service Representative
Deliverable
Given the scenario, your role, and the information provided by the key players involved, it is time for you to make a decision. If you are finished reviewing this scenario, close this window and return to this week’s You Decide tab in eCollege to complete the activity for this scenario. You can return and review this scenario again at any time.
Your Role/Assignment
Assignment
Read the You Decide scenario and decide on a response. Your goal is to identify the critical issues in the scenario and determine how you would resolve the issue. Write a report correctly formatted of at least 250 words. Submit the report to the Dropbox. Remember to run the spelling and grammar check on your work before turning it in.
