We produce fun to ride bikes for adults at the lowest possible price, fitted to their needs. Our customers are a part of our family, and we strive to make their biking experience fun.

• At all times, we show the customer respect and respond to their concerns with empathy.
• We make all adjustments on bikes sold by us free of charge.
• We provide classes to new customers on flat tire repair monthly.
• We liberally use “please” and “thank you” and “may I help you?”
• Our customer is always right!

We have just a few rules for the employee while at work. Those rules are: No smoking, No alcohol, No display of bias of any kind, and we do not tolerate mean or bad words. You must be ready to start work each morning at 8 am. We end the workday at 5:00 pm or when the customer is happy.

In June of 2018, the United States increased tariffs on Chinese made goods imported into the US. A tariff is a tax on goods coming into a country and are used to make the price of products produced outside a country more expensive so that the made in the USA option is more attractive. Over 90 percent of all bicycles sold in the U.S. are imported from China. For the Magic Bike Company, finding another manufacturer outside of China to manufacture 10-plus different bike models will not be an easy task.

To survive in today’s complex world, organizations like ours need to generate, embrace, and execute on new ideas. That takes creativity and a creatively capable workforce. It’s the secret sauce, or in evolutionary terms, it’s what keeps you fit. Organizations without it can’t compete.

Given these facts, our company has decided on a new and improved strategy. We will no longer import bike frames from other nations. We will source our in-house designed bike frame design to the Detroit Bike Company for construction. Other components will be purchased based on performance and price. One of our personnel needs is for a person or persons to manage the sourcing of these component to suppliers. He or she will be responsible for the qualiity, price and delivery of these components.

In the future The Magic Bike Company's strategy will be to assemble bikes at the Wixom warehouse. We will develop 3D printing skills and pursue producing carbon fiber components in-house while exploring a partnership with Ibis Cycles in their Carbon 831 project.

 

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Great People Investment

We understand that the ability to attract and motivate great people is critical to the success of our company. A company is just a group of people that are assembled to create a product or service. If we can get great people to join the company working towards a common goal, we will increase our chances to end up with a great product. A great product attracts buyers, and the more buyers we have, the more successful we will be.

Our immediate need is for additional expertise in the following areas:

• An individual skilled in modern bike design, including eBike design.
• An individual skilled in “make or buy” studies and skilled/educated in making purchasing and sourcing decisions.
• An individuals skilled in 3D printing and carbon fiber construction.
• An Engineer skilled in 3D printing.
• Soon we will require a skilled workforce to assemble bikes.

Mr. Master is the only person authorized to make a job offer after reviewing the interview process for fairness. And, he will be responsible for conducting background checks.

Taking Corrective Action

 

 

To produce bikes that provide value for our customers at the lowest possible cost we as managers need to take an active interest in the development of our employees. The leader leans into the wind and provides the pace and direction.

• At all times we respect and respond to the concerns of our employees with empathy.
• We will attempt to be fair and free of bias at all times.
• We have a few rules for the employee while at work. Those few rules are No smoking, no drinking, no bias of any kind, and we tolerate no bad words. You must be ready to start work at 8 am. We end the workday at 5:00 pm or when the customer is happy.
• We liberally use “please” and “thank you” and “may I help you?” when addressing fellow workers and customers!

While driving to Chicago with Ms. Lau, I received a call from a customer who had a bad experience while visiting our headquarters. This customer overheard one of our employees talking on his cell phone, arranging to buy a large quantity of OxyContin.

• The customer was angered by our price increase and was making up the story.
• The employee was ordering synthetic oxytocin, which is sometimes used to induce a woman to start labor for his wife, who is expecting their first child.
• The employee has recently been quick to display anger while at work. Interpreted as displeasure due to the salary freeze, but he could be using oxycodone an opioid medication.
  

Upon arriving back at the office, Ms. Lau and I concluded that there was a high probability that Joe was using OxyContin, a highly addictive opium derivative drug.

Develop a one page written dialog between yourself and the employee Joe.

Your employee called a meeting to receive input on a significant design change. The meeting was scheduled for Friday at 1 PM. The meeting had no published agenda, there were people invited that were not required and some who could have provided help and direction were not invited. The call-in number for those offsite was inoperative, and there was no speaker for the phone when the correct number was made available. The meeting eventually started at 1:25 and was handicapped by the room only being reserved until 2 PM. No resolution to the design issue was achieved, and another meeting was called for the following week.

Document a discussion with Joe regarding the effectiveness of the Friday meeting. Include the dialog from the first several minutes of the conversation and the location of the meeting. Provide suggestions to Joe for improving future meetings and elaborate on the importance of the meeting to the future of the team and his career. Your tone maybe stern or friendly and if your think it is appropriate blunt and to the point.

We understand that the ability to attract and motivate great people is critical to the success of our company. A company is just a group of people that are assembled to create a product or service. If we are able to get great people to join the company and work together towards a common goal, then we will increase our chances to end up with a great product. A great product attracts buyers, and the more buyers we have, the more successful we will be.

Your assignment as the Engineering Manager is to pick one of the above scenarios and develop a written dialog between yourself and the customer and yourself and the employee. Mail your response to Joe as a pdf – click here.

“Your call is very important to us”

Your company spends $6 on digital ads to get a click, and one in a hundred clicks leads to an inquiry. Which means that every inquiry sitting in the queue cost you $600. Inquiries are a bit like cronuts, in that they go stale quickly. Waiting an extra day to get back to just one person probably costs you more than the entire day’s salary of a customer service salesperson.

Your company spends $2,000 a day on rent for its showroom. And you paid that rent (along with all of those ads) for a month before John walks into the store. The uninterested, undertrained, under-compensated salesperson is finishing up a personal call, John gets bored and leaves. That (non) interaction cost you $20,000. Jon, the reservationist, is overwhelmed by incoming calls, and he’s snippy when a regular calls for a table this Saturday night. So the patron, rebuffed and feeling disrespected, goes to a different restaurant, loves it, and never returns. Let’s see–10 business dinners a year at $200, including tip and wine–you can do the math.

Are these people problems? Or are they management problems? You decide and mail your solution as a pdf – click here.