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CASE: Biddy’s Bakery (BB)

Biddy’s Bakery was founded by Elizabeth McDoogle in 1984. ness students from a local university for advice as part of their
Nicknamed “Biddy,” Elizabeth started the home-style bakery in course project. They had offered some suggestions but were
Cincinnati, Ohio, as an alternative to commercially available most impressed with the efficient manner with which she ran
baked goods. The mission of Biddy’s Bakery was to produce a her operation. Recalling this experience, she decided to contact
variety of baked goods with old-fashioned style and taste. The the same university for another team of business students to
goods produced included a variety of pies and cakes and were help her with her predicament.
sold to the general public and local restaurants. After considerable analysis the team of business students came
The operation was initially started as a hobby by Elizabeth and a up with their plan: Biddy’s Bakery should primarily focus on pro-
group of her friends. Many of the recipes they used had been passed duction of the McDoogle pie in large volumes, with major sales to
down for generations in their families. The small production and go to a local grocery store. The team of business students discussed
sales facility was housed in a mixed commercial and residential area this option with a local grocery store chain that was pleased with
on the first floor of “Biddy’s” home. Elizabeth (“Biddy”) and three the prospect. Under the agreement Biddy’s Bakery would focus its
of her friends worked in the facility from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. making production on the McDoogle pie, which would be delivered in set
and selling the pies. The operation was arranged as a job shop with quantities to one store location twice a week. The volume of pies
workstations set up to perform a variety of tasks as needed. Most of required would use up all of the current excess capacity and take
the customers placed advanced orders, and Biddy’s Bakery took away most of the capacity from production of other pies.
pride in accepting special requests. The bakery’s specialty was the Elizabeth was confused. The alternative being offered would
McDoogle pie, a rich chocolate confection in a cookie crust. solve her capacity problems, but it seemed that the business
would be completely different, though she did not understand
Meeting Capacity Needs how or why. For the first time in managing her business she did
Initially sales were slow, and there were periods when the busi- not know what to do.
ness operated at a loss. However, after a few years Biddy’s Bakery
began to attract a loyal customer following. Sales continued to Case Questions
grow slowly but steadily. In 1994 a first floor storage area was ex- 1. Explain the challenge Elizabeth faced in meeting her ca-
panded to accommodate the growing business. However, Biddy’s pacity needs. What should she have considered before moving
Bakery quickly outgrew its current capacity. In May of 2000 Eliz- into the larger facility?
abeth decided to purchase the adjacent building and move the 2. What is wrong with the proposal made by the team of
entire operation into the much larger facility. The new facility business students? Why?
had considerably more capacity than needed, but the expectation 3. What type of operation does Biddy’s Bakery currently
was that business would continue to grow. Unfortunately, by the have in place? What type of operation is needed to meet the pro-
end of 2000 Elizabeth found that her sales expectations had not posal made by the team of business students? Explain the differ-
been met, and she was paying for a facility with unused space. ences between these two operations.
4. Elizabeth senses that the business would be different if she
Getting Management Advice accepts the proposal but does not know how and why. Explain
Elizabeth knew that her operations methods, though traditional, how it would be different.
were sound. A few years ago she had called upon a team of busi- 5. What would you advise Elizabeth?
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CASE: Creature Care Animal Clinic (B)

Company Background on the work. The receptionist was also distracted, as were the
Creature Care Animal Clinic is a suburban veterinary clinic spe- animals.
cializing in the medical care of dogs and cats. Dr. Julia Barr The number of customers requesting grooming services was
opened the clinic three years ago, hiring another full-time vet- growing rapidly. Customers wanted to drop off their pets for a
erinarian, a staff of three nurses, an office manager, and an office “package” of examining, grooming, and even minor surgical
assistant. The clinic operates Monday through Friday during procedures requiring overnight stays. The space for grooming
regular business hours, with half days on Saturdays and ex- and overnight services was rapidly taking over room for other
tended hours on Wednesday evenings. Both doctors work dur- tasks. Also, most of the staff was not trained in providing the
ing the week and take turns covering Wednesday evenings and type of service customers were now requiring.
Saturdays.
Dr. Barr opened the clinic with the intent of providing The Dilemma
outpatient animal care. Overnight services are provided for sur- Dr. Barr sat at her desk wondering how to handle the operations
gical patients only. No other specialized services are offered. The dilemma she was faced with. She started her business as a medical
facility for the clinic was designed for this type of service, with a clinic but found that she was no longer sure what business she was
spacious waiting and reception area. The examining and surgical in. She didn’t understand why it was so complicated given that she
rooms are in the rear, just large enough to accommodate their was only providing a service. She was not sure what to do.
initial purpose.
As time has passed, however, the number of patients re- Case Questions
questing specialized services has increased. Initially the re- 1. Identify the operations management problems that Dr.
quests were few, so Dr. Barr tried to accommodate them. As Barr is having at the clinic.
one of the nurses was also trained in grooming services, she 2. How would you define the “service bundle” currently
began to alternate between her regular duties and pet groom- being offered? How is this different from the initial purpose of
ing. Pet grooming was performed in the rear of the reception the clinic?
area, as it was spacious and there was no other room for this 3. Identify the high-contact and low-contact segments of the
job. At first this was not a problem. However, as the number of operation. How should each be managed?
pets being groomed increased, the flow of work began to be 4. What should Dr. Barr have done differently to avoid the
interrupted. Customers waiting with their pets would com- problems she is currently experiencing? What should Dr. Barr
ment to the groomer in the rear, who had difficulty focusing do now?

INTERACTIVE CASE Virtual Company www.wiley.com/go/global/reid

On-line Case: Cruise International, Inc. consistent with the company’s mission statement and the com-
Assignment: Service Package and Processes at Cruise Interna- petitive priorities that it wants to emphasize.” This assignment
tional, Inc. Now that you have learned something about the will enhance your knowledge of the material in Chapter 3 of
big picture at CII, you believe it is time to learn some specifics. your textbook while preparing you for future assignments.
You call Bob Bristol to report your progress and ask for the de-
tails of your next assignment.
“I am pleased with your progress in familiarizing yourself To access the Web site:
with CII and its operations. Now it is time for you to tackle a • Go to www.wiley.com/go/global/reid
specific assignment under the direction of Leila Jensen, the hotel • Click Student Companion Site
manager aboard the MS Friendly Dreams I. Specifically, you
• Click Virtual Company
must develop a good understanding of the service package cur-
rently offered by CII to its customers and the service delivery • Click Consulting Assignments
process it uses. At the strategic level, the service package must be • Click Service Package and Processes at CII
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INTERNET CHALLENGE Country Comfort Furniture

You have just taken a position with Country Comfort Furni- You have been asked to help Country Comfort evaluate the
ture, a furniture manufacturer known for its custom-designed new product design it is considering. Perform an Internet
country furniture. The primary focus of the company has been search to identify at least two major competitors that Country
on kitchen and dining room furniture in the upper portion of Comfort would have if it chooses to pursue the new product
the high-price range. Due to competitive pressures and changes line. Next, identify key product design features of each com-
in the market, Country Comfort is now considering production petitor’s products, their target market, and price range. Based
of prefabricated kitchen and dining room furniture in the on your search, what are your recommendations to Country
medium-price range. Comfort on product design and current competition?

On-line Resources
Companion Website www.wiley.com/go/global/reid: • Find links to Company Tours for this chapter
• Take interactive practice quizzes to assess your knowledge and Ercol Furniture Ltd.
help you study in a dynamic way • Find links for Additional Web Resources for this
• Review PowerPoint slides or print slides for notetaking chapter
• Download Excel Templates to use for problem solving Institute for Supply Chain Management, www.ism.ws
• Access cases on Biddy’s Bakery (BB) and Creature Care
Animal Clinic (B) as well as the Virtual Company: Cruise
International, Inc.