Scenario: Innovative Widgets
Innovative Widgets has been operating successfully for over 50 years and became the largest manufacturer of widgets in Australia. The company is owned by the sons and daughters of the company’s founder, who all sit on the board of directors. Until recently the managing director was the grandson of the founder.
The grandson was appointed managing director fifteen years ago. Little changed at
Innovative Widgets during his leadership. The company had an enviable position as market leader and, with little competition, their market dominance was safe. About five years ago it was noticed that sales were beginning to slump. The owners soon discovered that the grandson was ill-equipped to face this challenge and they called in a firm of management consultants to help out.
Initially, the consultants undertook a pre-audit by talking to staff, looking at work processes and departmental records. They then produced an initial report identifying some areas for concern. They suggested that Innovative Widgets:
● were not aware of their external customer’s needs
● were not aware of internal customer needs
● did not have adequate policies and procedures for managing its customer service. The managing director needed help. He admitted that he had been complacent about his customers, saying that he had always adopted the ‘If it’s not broken, why fix it?’ approach to customer relations. He also asked what an ‘internal customer’ was – was it the staff members who bought widgets under the employee discount scheme at a discounted price?
The consultants had a lot of work to