Read the case found at the end of Chapter 2 in your textbook and  write a two- to three-page paper (excluding title and reference pages),  according to APA style guidelines, on the following items.

• Develop service concepts that Bert Nystrom should deliver in Build-it stores.
• Describe the operational challenges he faces in delivering these services.

Use at least two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook, to support your points.

Case exercise: Build-It home improvement stores, Sweden

Bert Nystrom was the managing director of Build-It AB, a chain of do-it-yourself (DIY) stores across Sweden. The Build-It concept was modelled on the same lines as the American company, Home Depot, but didn’t seem to enjoy the same level of success. This was frustrating given that home improvement is the number one use of disposable income. That said, it is clear that customers are expecting a great deal from their home improvement stores, not least because DIY is so important in their lives.

Bert observed customers leaving his stores and, although they were spending money, they didn’t seem to be delighted with the service or with their purchases. Routine customer satisfaction surveys didn’t really give much insight, suggesting customers were satisfied, but not delighted, with Build-It. However, there was no consistent message as to what Build-It should do to improve the satisfaction scores.

He decided to talk to some of the customers in the store to try to understand what they were really looking for and to get some clues as to whether Build-It was delivering what they wanted.

Jenny Soderstrom said:

    It’s OK here, but I feel intimidated by the store – there’s so much stuff, I don’t know what I need and haven’t a clue about how to use it. Everyone else looks so competent, able to explain exactly what they need, that I feel a bit pathetic in asking for help about how to mend a leaking tap! More often than not, I give up and leave the store without buying anything, feeling pretty bad, and reluctantly deciding to pay someone else to do this for me. This isn’t what I want, but it seems to be the only thing I can do.

Marcus Wallenberg added:

    My wife and I have invested a great many krona in improving our home. We spent years creating our perfect home. Every time we go to Build-It we set off with a picture of what we’re trying to achieve in our minds. It’s not just the end result that’s important, but knowing that we’ve been a part of its creation gives us such a buzz, so going to Build-It is part of this. It’s a real mixture of experiences for us. Sometimes we’re delighted with the service we receive, we get exactly what we need to complete our latest project and we know what we need to do to make it happen.

    Unfortunately, not every visit to Build-It is this good. Sometimes we would like to take time to discuss different options with someone who knows what can be done. Unfortunately, some employees are neither competent nor at all interested in our projects. It feels like they want to take our money and get rid of us as quickly as possible.

Frederik Åberg commented:

    I’m a self-employed craftsman. I’ve been building house extensions and carrying out small building work for 20 years. I know what I want when I go to Build-It and I need to get in, get served, and get back to work. I need bigger quantities than the general public, slicker service, and I don’t want to have to have to wait to be served because employees are discussing simple projects with people who simply don’t know what they’re doing.

Bert Nystrom was beginning to realise that Build-It was a long way from matching the promise of Home Depot, which seems to be able to deliver on their advertising line of ‘You can do it – we can help.’ Home Depot seemed to be so much more than simply a DIY store where customers went to buy wood, nails, paint and tools. Another of Home Depot’s customer objectives is to ‘teach the skills to build your dreams and your dream home’. Bert was pondering how to turn these nice advertising slogans into something that could be delivered in his Build-It stores.

Questions

1

Identify and develop the service concepts that Bert Nystrom should deliver in Build-It stores.

2

What operational challenges does he face in delivering these services?

This is the book reference

 Johnston, R., Clark, G. (2008). Service operations management: Improving service delivery (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN: 9781405847322. 

1) APA FORMATE 

2) ADD REFERENCES

3)350 TO 400 WORDS

QUESTIONS 

1. What should Mark have done if Jack still was not able to resolve the problem?
    
2. Would it make sense for Mark to assign this problem to someone else now, after Jack
   could not solve the problem the second time around?
    

    

McRoy Aerospace was a highly profitable company building cargo planes and refueling tankers for the armed forces. It had been doing this for more than fifty years and was highly successful. But because of a downturn in the government’s spending on these types of planes, McRoy decided to enter the commercial aviation aircraft business, specifically wide-body planes that would seat up to 400 passengers, and compete head on with Boeing and Airbus Industries. 

During the design phase, McRoy found that the majority of the commercial airlines would consider purchasing its plane provided that the costs were lower than the other aircraft manu- facturers. While the actual purchase price of the plane was a consideration for the buyers, the greater interest was in the life-cycle cost of maintaining the operational readiness of the aircraft, specifically the maintenance costs. 

Operations and support costs were a considerable expense and maintenance requirements were regulated by the government for safety reasons. The airlines make money when the planes are in the air rather than sitting in a maintenance hangar. Each maintenance depot maintained an inventory of spare parts so that, if a part did not function properly, the part could be removed and replaced with a new part. The damaged part would be sent to the manufacturer for repairs or replacement. Inventory costs could be significant but were considered a necessary expense to keep the planes flying. 

One of the issues facing McRoy was the mechanisms for the eight doors on the aircraft. Each pair of doors had their own mechanisms which appeared to be restricted by their location in the plane. If McRoy could come up with a single design mechanism for all four pairs of doors, it would significantly lower the inventory costs for the airlines as well as the necessity to train mechanics on one set of mechanisms rather than four. On the cargo planes and refuel- ing tankers, each pair of doors had a unique mechanism. For commercial aircrafts, finding one design for all doors would be challenging. 

Mark Wilson, One of the department managers at McRoy’s design center, assigned Jack, the best person he could think of to work on this extremely challenging project. If anyone could accomplish it, it was Jack. If Jack could not do it, Mark sincerely believed it could not be done. 

The successful completion of this project would be seen as a value-added opportunity for McRoy’s customers and could make a tremendous difference from a cost and efficiency stand- point. McRoy would be seen as an industry leader in life-cycle costing, and this could make the difference in getting buyers to purchase commercial planes from McRoy Aerospace. 

The project was to design an opening/closing mechanism that was the same for all of the doors. Until now, each door could have a different set of open/close mechanisms, which made 

 

2. © 2010 by Harold Kerzner. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. 

   

Case Studies 333 

 

the design, manufacturing, maintenance, and installation processes more complex, cumber- some, and costly. 

Without a doubt, Jack was the best—and probably the only—person to make this happen even though the equipment engineers and designers all agreed that it could not be done. Mark put all of his cards on the table when he presented the challenge to Jack. He told him wholeheartedly that his only hope was for Jack to take on this project and explore it from every possible, out-of- the-box angle he could think of. But Jack said right off the bat that this may not be possible. Mark was not happy hearing Jack say this right away, but he knew Jack would do his best. 

Jack spent two months looking at the problem and simply could not come up with the solu- tion needed. Jack decided to inform Mark that a solution was not possible. Both Jack and Mark were disappointed that a solution could not be found. 

“I know you’re the best, Jack,” stated Mark. “I can’t imagine anyone else even coming close to solving this critical problem. I know you put forth your best effort and the problem was just too much of a challenge. Thanks for trying. But if I had to choose one of your co-workers to take another look at this project, who might have even half a chance of making it happen? Who would you suggest? I just want to make sure that we have left no stone unturned,” he said rather glumly. 

Mark’s words caught Jack by surprise. Jack thought for a moment and you could practi- cally see the wheels turning in his mind. Was Jack thinking about who could take this project on and waste more time trying to find a solution? No, Jack’s wheels were turning on the sub- ject of the challenging problem itself. A glimmer of an idea whisked through his brain and he said, “Can you give me a few days to think about some things, Mark?” he asked pensively. 

Mark had to keep the little glimmer of a smile from erupting full force on his face. “Sure, Jack,” he said. “Like I said before, if anyone can do it, it’s you. Take all the time you need.” 

A few weeks later, the problem was solved and Jack’s reputation rose to even higher heights than before. 

Which Leadership style is most effective on Employee and Organizational Performance? 

Key factors to consider 

1. Different leadership styles 
2. Employee Performance 
3. What is your leadership style? 
4. Research Paper Guidelines 

• Length and elements: The paper length will be four (4) pages (2000 words) maximum (do NOT exceed the page limit), double spaced, and typed (this does not include your cover page and reference page).   

You must include a cover page with the title of your paper and your name.  After the cover page (but before the body of the paper) you must include an Abstract, which is a brief, comprehensive summary of the paper, no longer than 120 words.   

Finally, references should be listed on a separate page after the body of the paper. Please number your pages.  

• Number of references: Your paper should include a minimum of five (5) references.  

Appropriate sources included: you must cite your sources according to one of the following formats: MLA, or APA.   

• Appearance: All final papers should be proofread, and easy to read.   
• Format: Your paper should follow one of the following formats: MLA, or APA.   
• Guidelines: Follow the guidelines for your paper as described above.  
• A Research Rubric has been provided below for grading guidance.  

 2.  PowerPoint Presentation – This presentation will derive from your research paper (Which leadership style is most effective on Employee and Organizational Performance?). 

  Research Paper-   

• Content and Focus
• Organization 
• Style 
•  Sources/Format 
•  Conventions- errors, spelling, mechanics, grammar 

     PowerPoint Presentation-

• Effectiveness ​
• Sequencing of information 
• Originality 
• Spelling and Grammar 
• Use of Graphics 
• Organization