Cuevas, Clio Margaret TE305 May 26, 2014

Case Study: Hazel

1. In what ways are Hazels customers most likely to judge the quality of her lawn care
services?
Hazels customers will judge the quality of her lawn care services through the
following:
- Health of her own lawn
o Green grass
o Neatness and cleanliness of the lawn
- Past customers
- Conformance

2. Hazel is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities are
forecasting inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and maintenance.
Forecasting inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance and
maintenance are important functions of an operations manager. All of these
works are for Hazel to do alone and thats a big respnsibility.
a. What kinds of things would likely require forecasts?
I think the following needs forecasting:
- Weather and Climate Condition: Hazel needs to know whether the condition
of the weather is good in order to prepare for rain drizzles or other
unwanted weather.
- Demand for Lawn Services: Hazel needs to know when the demand for the
service is needed in order to have a plan of when to have discounts and
when the demand is not that good at all.
- Cost of Equipments and Related Materials: This will help Hazel to be able to
update her prices and to know whether she needs to increase or decrease
her expenses.

b. What inventory items does Hazel probably have? Name any inventory decision
she has to make periodically.
The items she has probably are:
- Mower
- Seeds
- Fertilizers
- Rakes
- Grass cutter
- Oils
- Lubricants
- Air filters
- Spare parts of the machinery
Fertilizers need to be purchased periodically. This type of item is purchased in bulk
because itll be cheaper and this is one of the main items needed in a lawn service. If
she buys the fertilizers during off-peak, itll not be good for her business because the
fertilizers will be wasted.
c. What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt schedules and
cause Hazel to reschedule?
The scheduling of mowing lawns will be dependent on the number of employees
available during the preferred date and the number of customers asking for the
service. First of all, Hazel would schedule the customers- when the service will be
done in the customers yard. Second, Hazel will schedule which employees will go
with her in every customer and how many employees will be needed. Third,
schedule of the periodical mowing service for the customers. Fourth, schedule of
maintenance for the equipments and inventory management.
The following may be the reason for Hazel to reschedule:
- Calamities: If there is storm, obviously, the service cannot be done so itll be
rescheduled.
- Personal Emergencies: These types of problems may arise anytime and this
may cause the business to close suddenly.
- Seasons: The seasons will determine the peak of the service and through this,
the business may have reschedules at times in order to go with the weather
and the change of the season.

d. How important is quality assurance to Hazels business? Explain.
Quality assurance will determine Hazels loyal customers. If the service of Hazels
business is good, the customers will be satisfied and will hire her again for the
following moving schedule. With the feedback from her current customers, the
business may have more customers if its good and her credibility will be better. If
on the other hand, she cannot do a good work, the trust and confidence the
customers have given her will be lost. In line with it, shell be losing her customers as
well.
e. What kinds of maintenance must be performed?
- Equipment Maintenance is needed in order to know whether one of her
equipment needs lubricating or needs to be replaced.
- Checking of the fertilizers expiration dates.
- Cleanliness of her facility.
- Customer Service because this will help her get the trust of the customers. If
the customers feel like they are really taken care of, they would constantly
want to hire your service.
3. What are some of the trade-offs that Hazel probably considered relative to:
a. Working for a company instead of for herself?
Working for a company will lessen the decision making Hazel makes in terms of
business. Itll give her constant hours of work only and will sustain her daily
necessities through her salary.
Starting her own business, on the other hand, will give her the flexibility of her time
since shes the boss. Her decision-making skills will be tested and it will create a
good opportunity for her to improve in the business. Itll also be a chance to have
higher income and higher risk of failing as well.
b. Expanding the business?
Expanding the business will generate more risks in the business because there would
be additional investments to observe. In addition, the more cost will be incurred due
to the expense in the building of new facilities, buying of new equipments, hiring of
employees and these may lead to altering the usual system.
c. Launching a Web site?
This is costly but this will be a good marketing strategy to publicize the service
offered. Though it is good publicity, the business needs to think of how wide their
scope is. If the customers will be near their business establishment, that would be
good but if the customers are from a different town, operating expense due to
transportation cost will shoot up.
4. The town is considering an ordinance that would prohibit putting grass clippings at the
curb for pickup because local landfills cannot handle the volume. What options might
Hazel consider if the ordinance is passed? Name two advantages and two drawbacks of
each option.
Option 1: Grass cutting could be more frequent in order to leave the grass clippings on
the lawn.
Advantages:
- The grass would shade out weeds and have a more efficient root system.
- Less expense for Hazel because grass clippings can be used as fertilizers.
Drawbacks:
- Leaving too much grass clippings may damage the lawn.
- Hazels cost on equipment will increase because she has to buy mulching
mowers in order to maintain the lawn.
Option 2: Gather the grass clippings and make compost out of it.
Advantages:
- Reduce the cost of buying fertilizers.
- Create the right fertilizer depending on the type of lawns her customers
have.
Drawbacks:
- More cost when creating own fertilizers due to the chemicals needed.
- More time and effort needed in handling the composition of the grass
clippings.

5. Hazel decided to offer the students who worked for her a bonus of $25 for ideas on how
to improve the business, and they provided several good ideas. One idea that she
initially rejected now appears to hold great promise. The student who proposed the idea
has left, and is currently working for a competitor. Should Hazel send that student a
check for the idea? What are the possible trade-offs?
Hazel should send a check to the kid for the idea especially if shes using it now. It would
be morally correct and ethical to give credit to the person who gave the idea. Though
the kid is in the competitors side right now, I think it would still be right to send the
check. Hazel sending the check may seem like a bad move in the eyes of the others. It
may seem like shes bribing the kid or stealing it from the competitor but if people will
be able to see what the situation or scenario is, it would not be misunderstood.