The new president of an old established company is facing a problem. The company is currently unprofitable and is, in the president’s opinion, operating inefficiently. The company sells a wide line of equipment and supplies to the dairy industry. Some items it manufactures and many it wholesales to dairies, creameries, and similar plants. Because the industry is changing in several ways survival will be more difficult in the future. In particular, many equipment companies are bypassing the wholesalers and selling directly to dairies. In addition, many of the independent dairies are being taken over by large food chains. What research questions must be asked to help the new president make the right decisions?
The President’s first step should be to conduct a self assessment analysis on the company to determine if there are deficiencies are and if so what is causing them. This would include, yet is not limited to meetings with management, reviewing documentation, assessing staff files, and observations of processes. He needs to research to find out whether it is caused by internal production problems, poor organization, ineffective cost controls, or possibly a weak sales management. He should look for signs of process inefficiency by asking if there are long wait times or large work backlogs. He should also, look for underutilized functions and areas that go for long periods without work Another thing the new President should do is interview key process contributors (management, floor employees, and current customers) to get their feedback on what is and is not working and what their needs are. Inquire about what they do and why. Discover what information and tools are needed to perform each job. Identify who the recipients are of which goods and why they need what they receive. He should focus on consulting with and making improvements for current customers because it is likely more economical to retain a customer than to obtain a new one. The president should also conduct an industry analysis, maybe using Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, to discover the trends, opportunities, and conditions as well as develop an adequate business strategy. Examining the dairy industry and the company’s future in it would likely be aimed towards discovering market trends in consumption patterns and distribution systems. It would also include surveying the dairies and large food chains to see if anything other than price is prompting them to buy directly from the equipment companies. Maybe instead of trying to compete on a larger scale the company may find it more profitable to concentrate on selling more of a lesser variety.
After obtaining this information one could settle on whether to accept or reject the president’s contention that inefficiency is the problem and make the right decisions for the benefit of the company. Additionally, it would allow him to determine such things as whether any overlooked prospects exist and if the trend is likely to change sooner or later.

You are the office manager of a large firm. Your company prides itself on its high-quality customer service. Lately, complaints have surfaced that an increase number of incoming calls are being misrouted or dropped. Yesterday, when passing by the main reception area, you noticed the receptionist fiddling with his hearing aid. In the process, a call came in and would have gone unanswered if not for your intervention. This particular receptionist had earned an unsatisfactory review three months earlier for tardiness. Your inclination is to urge this 20-year employee to retire or to fire him if retirement is rejected, but you know the individual is well liked and seen as a fixture in the company. A. Hypothesis 1. The phone is malfunctioning. 2. The hearing aid may need a new battery 3. The receptionist’s hearing aid is not compatible with the phone. 4. The receptionist hearing aid is not helping him hear normally. B. Testing
Calls are being dropped or misrouted. So the question is, why are the calls being dropped or misrouted? First thing would be to check the phone to see if it is in working order. By making some test calls to that line and routing them to see if they are going to the correct extension. After making several test calls and the phone is going to the proper destination hypotheses one is rejected.
The next thing is to assure that the receptionist’s hearing aid does not need a new battery. He could take a short break to replace the battery. To see if that would help rectify the issue. If that does not change anything then that hypothesis is rejected.
Thirdly, the compatibility of the phone should be checked for hear aid compatibility. The American National Standards Institute has a ratings scale for compatibility between hearing aids and phones. When operating in acoustic (Microphone) mode, the ratings are from M1 (worst) to M4 (best).When operating in electromagnetic mode, the ratings are from T1 (worst) to T4 (best). So one could look up the rating or call the maker of the phone to check the rating. The best possible rating is M4/T4 meaning that the phone works well in both modes. If the is rating is good then that hypotheses would be rejected as well.
Finally, the receptionist was fiddling with his hearing aid. The initial fitting for a hearing aid is typically not enough. They should go to an audiologist or hearing instrument specialist several times over the course of months to get retuned. It should be kept in mind that hearing aids are incapable of truly correcting a hearing loss; they are an aid to make sounds more accessible. So, in light of that the possibility exists that the receptionist hearing may not be able to be adjusted to normal. If the audiologist cannot clear the receptionist to do his job effectively the hypothesis is not rejected and the receptionist could be terminated.