Case Discussion Questions

See my notes for preparing a case for an overview of how to prepare a case.
 

For ALL CASES, students should be prepared to discuss:
 

  • What service marketing concepts are illustrated in the case?
  • Based upon what is presented in the case, what is the key marketing problem/issue?  Explain the issue, and defend your selection.
  • What alternatives are available to the firm?  What recommendation(s) would you make?

 

 

EuroDisney Case Questions

  • What is the (American) Disney experience like?  What makes Disney’s traditional service concept so successful?
  • Why has Tokyo Disneyland been prosperous?
  • How does the experience differ between Tokyo Disneyland and EuroDisney?
  • What is EuroDisney’s target market, and what are the implications for the development and organization of the park?
  • What do you think of Disney’s decision to build a theme park in Europe?  To locate in France?
  • What are some of the questionable tactics that EuroDisney employed?
  • Was EuroDisney successful in its first 100 days?  Why or why not?  (Provide some support/evidence to substantiate your claim.)
  • What, if anything, should be changed at Euro Disney?

Custom Research Inc.

  • How does a company like Custom Research serve its clients and make a profit?

  • What trends in the industry at the time the case was written are important to note? 

  • What are the pros and cons of having the same person both selling a research project to a customer and actually carrying out the research?

  • Are all their clients equally profitable?  Evaluate the procedure used by Jeff Pope in dividing customers into categories of profitability.  What are the problems in the way the analysis has been done?

  • Why not keep all clients that cover direct costs?  On the other hand, what are the problems associated with serving clients based on their profitability?

  • Should Custom Research continue to serve all of its customers?  If not, which customers would you suggest keeping?  (How should Customer Research decide which customers to serve and which to neglect?)  What criteria would you use in making this decision? 

  • In general, how would you deal with customers you don't want to keep?

 

Shouldice Case Questions

  • How does the Shouldice Hospital experience differ from a "normal" hospital experience?
  • What is the bundle of benefits purchased by the consumers?
  • Who is the target group of customers and what do they have in common, apart from a hernia?  Be prepared to describe them (in terms of their common characteristics).
  • How are the benefits delivered to those customers?
  • How efficient is its "production process"?  Do you see any problem areas, bottlenecks, or fail points?
  • What are Shouldice Hospital’s major strengths and weaknesses?  Which of these are the most important?
  • How successful is Shouldice Hospital?  How do you account for its performance?
  • What growth opportunities are available to Shouldice?  Which, if any, would you recommend?  Why?

 


Bugs Burger Case Questions

  • Who is BBBK's target market and what is BBBK's positioning strategy?

  • Describe the service guarantee developed by this firm and consider whether or not it is an effective service guarantee (using the criteria suggested in the text and/or in class discussion).

  • How does the guarantee support the role of service standards for BBBK?

  • How does the company involve the customer in the guarantee?  How does it gain compliance from customers in preparing for the service?

  • What role do the "front-line" people play in the delivery of the service?

  • What major problems/issues do you see confronting this organization?  How would you address them?

 

 

GE Medical Systems Case Questions

  • Why is GE shifting into Services?

  • What types of services is GE focusing on, and where do the growth opportunities appear to be?

  • What are the services offered by GE Medical Systems (GEMS)? Who are their customers? What trends in the industry will affect their future growth?

  • Describe TiP and the philosophy/strategy behind it. What are the goals of TiP? How does it fit GEMS’ overall strategy?

  • Why has TiP TV been so successful? What are the benefits to customers? Does GEMS have a sustainable competitive advantage in TiP TV?

  • The GEMS is moving from "free" to "fee" services.  What are the arguments for and against "free" vs. "fee"?

  • Should GEMS consider moving the TiP customer education organization from a cost center (with the primary goal of customer satisfaction) to a P&L center? What are the implications and challenges?

  • Analyze the effectiveness and benefits of GEMS’ service guarantee for on-site applications training.

 

 

Northwest Airlines and the Detroit Snowstorm

  • What exactly went wrong?  Why did it go wrong?

  • Who, or what, was responsible?

  • What could have NWA done in response to this situation?  What should have NWA done?

  • Could this situation have been avoided?  If so, how?  If not, could it have been mitigated (and if so, how)?

  • Why did this situation create such a fuss?

  • What are the potential negative consequences for NWA resulting from this situation?

  • What should NWA (or other airlines) learn from this situation?

  • What should other service providers learn from this situation?

 

 

Merrill-Lynch: Supernova

  • What is Supernova and how is it different from traditional financial advising models?

  • What is the value proposition for customers?

  • What does Supernova offer to Merrill-Lynch? Does Merrill-Lynch need Supernova to be successful or grow in the future?

  • What changes were required to implement the Supernova process—for Financial Advisors?  For Merrill-Lynch itself?  What were the risks and potential benefits for both?
  • Paint a picture of a Financial Advisor’s day using the Supernova process.  How is this different from typical day under the old process?
  • Should Merrill-Lynch roll out Supernova on a national level?  Defend your position.
    • If yes, how would you recommend Merrill-Lynch as a company proceed in rolling out Supernova? What are the challenges and hurdles that must be overcome for it to succeed? How can they overcome these challenges?
    • If no, what course of action would you recommend?
 

 

Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service

  • What factors accounted for the extraordinary success of Starbucks in the early 1990s?  What was so compelling about the Starbucks value proposition?  What brand image did Starbucks develop during this period?

  • Why have Starbucks' customer satisfaction scores declined?  Has the company's service declined, or is it simply measuring satisfaction the wrong way?

  • How does the Starbucks of 2002 differ from the Starbucks of 1992?

  • Describe the ideal Starbucks customer from a profitability standpoint.  What would it take to ensure that this customer is highly satisfied?  How valuable is a highly satisfied customer to Starbucks?

  • Should Starbucks make the $40 million investment in labor in the stores?  What is the goal of this investment?  Is it possible for a mega-brand to deliver customer intimacy?