1.

In what ways are the Hazel’s customers most likely to judge the quality of her lawn care
services?

The Following are some the ways the customers could likely assess the quality of a lawn care service.

• How much fertilizer is applied annually?

• Does the company apply nitrogen fertilizers?
• What features the lawn mower has to have to keep the area look its best?
• Are sprays or granular fertilizers used?
• What does the company guarantee about its service?
• Does it provide any kind of lawn care education to the homeowner?
• Is the lawn and garden service flexible -- and is the level of service worth the cost?

The Customers are more likely to compare the quality with other competitors in terms of the
features provided, in terms of maintenance and the in time delivery of services. Also, making the
customers aware of basic lawn care tips to maintain their lawn is one feature that could surpass

2. A. Hazel is the operations manager for the business. Among her responsibilities are forecasting,
inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and maintenance. What kind of things
would likely require forecasts?

Based on current set of customers (both residential and commercial) and the amount of enquiries she has
received from prospective clientele she can forecast about the business in the near future. She can opt for
a monthly/ annual contract so as to ensure consistent business. Based on this forecasting she can decide
on the number of part time workers she needs to hire to do the Job. She can also decide on what new
equipments need to be purchased based on the scale of the businesses she expects. Based on the current
contracts at hand, she can also record the details , analyze them and also forecast on what kind of
variations( urgencies, emergencies, unforeseen circumstances) occur in her day to day business and also
consider such variations in projecting future business.

2. B. What Inventory items does Hazel probably have? Name one Inventory decision she has to
make periodically

Some of the Inventory items for maintenance and operational supplies are

• Weed eater twine

• Aerator
• Sod Cutter
• Turf Equipments
• Brush Cutter/ Harvester
• Tillers/ Cultivators.
• Rotary mowers
• Weed killer concentrate (like Spectrum, Brush killer) and other chemicals
• Water Spiller
• Oil filters/Hydraulic Oil and filter
• lawn mower blades
 Blades of various equipments are units, which needs periodical monitoring and which needs to be
changed at regular intervals to maintain the quality.

2. C. What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt schedules and cause Hazel
to reschedule?

She must do the scheduling of allocating the workloads to specific work centers and determining the
sequence in which lawn care operations are to be performed. Scheduling must also be done on the timing
use of available equipments and Human Resources, availability of customers, their needs and wants,
Proximity of the customers.

Disruptions

Emergency needs of a customer may cause disruption in schedules. Since workers are available on a part
time basis their availability factors may also cause disruption. Apart from these, the operating conditions
of the equipment and climatic conditions add to the disruption in schedules. The efficiency of equipments
needs to be checked at regular intervals to avoid disruption in services. Also, Seasonal conditions
especially during winter, proper scheduling must be done to avoid delay in delivering the services.

2. D. How important is quality assurance of Hazel’s business? Explain

Quality of service provided is what differentiates a company from the rest. Since Hazel’s business is a
startup, quality is an important factor that she needs to overlook every time so as to gain an advantage
over other business..Quality leads to

• Enhanced Reputation for the company.

• Ability to command premium prices.

• Increased Market share

• Greater Customer Loyalty

• Fewer Production/Service Problems

• Higher Profits

Owing to these benefits, we say quality maintenance is a high priority factor which improves the growth
of the company in the long run.

2. E. What kind of maintenance needs to be performed?

The maintenance will primarily deal with all the equipments she uses and also vehicle maintenance.
Equipments would mean, the mowing blades, replacing worn out equipments, refilling gas etc.

Vehicle maintenance deals with changing oil, gas etc.

3. What are some of the trade-offs that Hazel probably considered relative to:

• Working for a company instead of for herself?

– By working for herself she can have greater flexibility of work timings, more
Independence regarding the way she wants to execute her work and better financial
returns in case her business does well.

– By working for a company she can avoid the monetary risks involved as an entrepreneur.

• Expanding the business?

– By expanding the business she can get more clients and hence more returns and profit.
Also, she can make her company global. But this expansion of customer base might have
a negative impact on the service provided to clients.

– By not expanding the business she will restrict her growth and profits. In this case she’ll
be in a better position to maintain and improve her service to existing clients and can thus
charge them higher for premium service.

• Launching a Web site?

– Launching the website will require a substantial monetary investment. But the returns
will also be high as the website will have a global reach.

By not launching the website, Hazel will save money but using alternate methods of publicity will reach
out to lesser number of people compared to the website. In which case she’ll have to depend on word of
mouth publicity, for new clients

4. The town is considering an ordinance that would putting grass clippings at the curb for pickup
because local landfills cannot handle the volume. What options might Hazel consider if the
ordinance is passed? Name two advantages and drawbacks of each option

1) Grass cycling

Grass clippings can make up a significant portion of a household’s waste. During the peak growing
season, they can amount to almost 35% of all waste materials collected.

By recycling grass clippings (or “grass cycling”) and keeping them in your own yard, you are recycling in
the truest sense, returning nutrients to your soil. The added benefit of grass cycling is that you are
fortifying and strengthening the turf naturally. The clippings returns nitrogen and other nutrients back to
the soil. And, with grass being comprised of over 90% water, the clippings supply valuable moisture to
your lawn.
A few drawbacks are that leaving grass cuttings in the lawn prevents the grass lying beneath it to get
adequate sunshine, hence preventing its proper growth. If herbicide treated grass are not treated
appropriately, they can do more harm than good.

2) Usage in compost pile

A compost pile is a teeming microbial farm. The microbes in a compost pile go to work for you, breaking
down leaves, grass clippings, fruit and vegetable waste, and other organic matter.

Mixing compost material into your yard or garden loosens heavy clay soils, allowing better root
penetration and improving plant growth. It also improves the infiltration and percolation of water through
the soil, improves a sandy soil’s capacity to hold water and nutrients, and may help add essential nutrients
to any soil. Plus, it improves the health of your plants by improving the soil; provides a natural, healthy
way to dispose of organic-matter wastes; creates a healthy environment for earthworms; reduces the need
to buy trash bags and soil conditioners; and reduces disposal costs in towns that charge for hauling yard
waste. A few disadvantages lie in that it attracts pests and if not done properly could do more harm than
good.

5. Hazel decided to offer the students who worked for her a bonus of $25 for ideas on how to
improve the business, and they provided several good ideas. One idea that she initially rejected now
appears to hold great promise. The student who proposed the idea has left, and is currently
working for a competitor. Should Hazel send that student a check for the idea? What are the
possible trades – offs?

Yes, Hazel should send the check to the student whose idea she is going to implement, as it would be
wrong on moral grounds if she doesn’t.

The trade – offs would be:

If she sends the check: Though it will be a monetary transaction, (which assuming: was not
documented) so she need necessarily not send it. But if she does, it will benefit her in ways of
generating goodwill for her business being ethical. Secondly, the student can work for spreading
a positive word of mouth amongst his/her colleagues, so that if she goes for another such move,
they should be more than willing to join her in which in the long run would help her in getting
better ideas for business. But, as the student has joined her competitor this news might spread
easily and chances are that the competitor also implements the same idea or might go one step
ahead.

If she doesn’t send the check: On the other hand, if she doesn’t send the check, this news will also
spread in the market as the student is now a part of the business. This might lead to formation of a
negative image of her in front of clients and competitors. This might as well affect her business.
And probably next time if goes for another such idea program, students won’t be willing to join
her
References

http://www.lawncare-business.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_4860031_hire-lawn-care-services.html

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/startupkits/article190462.html

http://www.lawncare.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/a/Lawncaretools.htm