Frei vs Bitner When it Comes to Business

Lean Management [Lean] Applying the principles of lean to your home life, use the A3 tool to "improve" some area of your home (e.g., kitchen, refrigerator, closets, cupboards, garage, etc.). If you only have smaller projects, you may have to do two events). You can use the A3 template in the Final Exam module.

A) Before you begin the work, note: • The goals and objectives of the event • The process or approach you will use (which may include a plan and step-by-step process; be sure to cite your source), and • Identification of the '7 Wastes' the project will address. B) In addition to the space on the A3, you are encouraged to provide some before and after images/video to support the current and end-state conditions.

Cleaning up the garage Reason for Choosing Issue Garage is a mess Garage is not fully organized Current Conditions - Everything is in boxes or on shelves but the items are not efficiently placed - Related and like items are not put together Problem Statement - The garage is not organized as efficiently and as neatly as it can be. This leads to it taking more time to find an item and other wasted time and resources in general.

Goal/Target Condition - A garage that is neatly kept and one where it is clear where everything is. The overall layout of the shelves and the items on the same should make more sense.

5 Why's - Efficiency - Cleanliness - Order - Appearance/aesthetics - Like items together Countermeasure Options Store items the proper way the first time Store new items right away rather than allowing disarray to return Evaluation of Options Shelving units Labels Bins Containers Toolbox Wall mounts/hooks Mapping out of desired/projected setup C) Identify and discuss the quantifiable changes, such as the amount of materials remaining/removed in the location, the pre- and post- space requirements, space made available, etc.

The overall items at the location will not change but materials will be needed to clean up. Depending on what items need to be stored and in what way, there may be the need for new bins of certain sizes, labels, etc. As far as space, the proper organizizing of the space should lead to less space used overall but additional shelving and bigger bins can maximize what can be stored or what is stored.

D) What goals were achieved? What other benefits did you realize after the event that you didn't consider before you started? How much time and money did you spend? The garage is now organized, clean and efficient. An unforeseen benefit was an advanced amount of confidence in the arrangement of the garage and new ideas for what else can be done to maximize and improve the space.

E) After the project and reflection, how would you alter your approach if you were to use these tools/process again? In other words, what lessons did you learn about executing the change that you could apply in the future? I learned that space, time and money can be wasted by a garage (or anything else like it) where space is not used to a maximized and properly efficient extreme. 2.

[Services] In the article by Frei ("Four Things Service Companies Must Get Right," Harvard Business Review, 2008), she presents the four elements of her service model. A) Identify and visit any service organization you wish (since she uses Starbucks in the article, please do not use them for this question). Using Frei's model, briefly discuss how that organization has structured their service business by describing how each of the four elements are designed and managed by the service organization you visit. The company that shall be used is McDonald's.

The offering is obviously the food and other items that are sold by the store. The funding mechanism is the prices charged for the items. Some items have slim profit margins but others (e.g. drinks) have much higher profit margins. The employee management system is in full effect as well. There are functional departments such as the grill area, drive through and the front counter and those areas are managed by shift managers, general managers and so forth. Finally, there is the customer management system.

This is executed by the having one or more queues in the restaurant at the counter and one outside via the drive thru (Frei, 2008). B) Analyze and comment on whether the four elements are aligned and all "pull together," (e.g., are decisions in one dimension supported by decisions in others?) or do they exhibit inconsistencies in the way the firm is executing Frei's service model.

Is the organization focused or are they, in her words, trying to 'do it all'? They do all pull together and are affected by each other. Indeed, the customer service chain will be affected if price points are off. People will not buy the product if the quality is not there (offering) or if takes too long to get the product served (timing). McDonald's is indeed trying to do it all but they have recently had mixed results (McDonald's, 2016).

C) Using Bitner's concept of "servicescapes," (see the Week 7/service operations module for the article) does the organization's servicescape support or detract from Frei's model? Which element(s) of the servicescape? How or why? There is absolutely support and cohesion between the two ideas and models. For example, the moderators of the service-scape are employee and customer response and that would make up the customer service aspect of the Frei model. There are things that are expanded upon in the.