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A paper on improving customer service
The importance of providing quality customer service, in line with business’s expectations
A paper on improving customer service
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1. Introduction
In 1981, John Sorinto began selling hand sewn teddy bears out of a cart in Burlington, Vermont. He began doing this after playing with his son and noticing that the majority of stuffed animals were manufactured in other countries. He figured that teddy bears were an American tradition, and therefore, some quality teddy bears should be made in the United States. This was how the Vermont Teddy Bear Company was founded ().
During the first fourteen years, Vermont Teddy Bear experienced continued growth and success. However, in 1995, they began to have some troubles as they experienced changes in leadership and an identity crisis. One of the things that drove the success of Vermont Teddy Bear in the earlier years was its Bear-Gram service. Customers could call a toll-free telephone number and place a special order for a bear similar to how people might send someone flowers for a special occasion. Additionally, Vermont Teddy Bear had used only quality American materials and craftsmanship in their bears. Vermont Teddy Bear¡¦s main focus had been ¡§to design, manufacture, and direct market the best teddy bears made in America using quality American materials and labor¡¨ (). But, in 1996, the new leadership at Vermont Teddy Bear decided that it would be cost-effective to use some foreign materials in their bears, and they also began to move towards retail sales and limit their focus on the Bear-Grams ().
2. Organizational Environment
In order to plan for future success of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, we need to be able to analyze the external and internal environmental trends of the organization. These trends might include customer service, human resources, production and manufacturing, financial resources, product quality and craftsmanship, stakeholders opinions and the organizations culture. By categorizing and placing values on these factors allows us to rank them to show company performance, probability of success, and market potential.
3. Strategic Management Process
In most corporations, top management must initiate and manage the strategic management process. To do this, they often request that the different divisions within the organization propose their own strategic plans (Wheelen, et al. p. 36). This allows top management to compile and evaluate these proposals in order to create an overall corporate strategy. When considering the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, it seems that the most appropriate scenario would be for a top-down approach to strategy planning.
Although the commercial focused on using the teddy bear as a way to comfort kids with parents in the military, it also showed that video chat is also a way to stay connected with families. The teddy bear is a great way to comfort military kids because it allows them to hear their loved ones whenever they are feeling down, it is a way to give them hope. In the commercial, it is seen that when the little girl gets hope when she hears her dads voice. The commercial also shows how our culture uses video chats to see and hear loved ones who are away on military duty. This is an alternative way to keep a family member on duty close, because if gives individuals a chance to see them in a way that makes them feel that they are there. According to the Military Times, “the story highlights the brand’s dedication to reliable product, especially when people depend on them for a meaningful purpose.” This is shown throughout the commercial, because the little girls father relies on the Duracell batteries to give his little girl hope with the teddy
Once ferocious beasts, bears in popular society now represent a human-like, expressive, docile, creature. Internationally, bears are used for as mascots in today’s society, examples include Smokey the Bear, Coca Cola Polar Bear, Snuggle Fabric Softener Bear, and Kumamon. These mascots are each unique in that they contribute different characteristics to the concept of virtual bears. Smokey Bear was created in 1944 to educate Americans about the prevention of forest fires. Being one of the first bear mascots used in popular media, tracking the physical appearance of Smokey
Newell,perry, Claire, Simon. "Disney Toys Made in ‘sweatshops’." The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers Ltd, 23 Dec. 2007. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. .
Eisner, A. B., Korn. J. H., Baugher, D., &Vojtkova, L. (2011). Build-A-Bear Workshop. Strategic Management (text & cases) 6th. C259-C267
Some of the most popular toys today came from Mattel Inc. Handler her husband and partner Elliot Matt created this organization having no idea what would come out of it. Shortly after Barbie’s first debut, Mattel was pushed to the top of the toy making industry. “Since her "birth," approximately 1 billion Barbie’s have been sold in four decades, making Handler's "child" the bestselling fashion doll in every major global market.” (Karen). The Barbie brand is valued at over 2 billon dollars making it the most successful of all time. Every year between 150-200 different Barbie’s are put on the market making this product one of the longest lasting ever. It is amazing how one invention could turn into such an icon. Another invention of Handler’s which is far less popular but still just as important, was her line “nearly me”. Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970 inspiring her to create a line of breast prosthesis. “Unable to find a satisfactory arti...
"Pounce, Prance, Zip, Canyon, and Snip," came, without hesitation, from the mouth of my daughter when I presented her with five randomly selected Beanie Babies from the one hundred or so that are in her bedroom. She hardly had to think about her response as she named them for me. She knows them all by name. I was intrigued. My daughter, and my wife, are generally very selective in their interests and pursuits. There are no Tickle Me Elmos or Furbys in our house. We have never fallen prey to the lure of pet rocks or Cabbage Patch dolls, but the sheer number of Beanie Babies we possess has made me very curious about these cute little things. The current Beanie Babies phenomenon is somewhat baffling to me, as most popular crazes are. What makes these things so special that my daughter knows them all by name, or that people wait in line at six in the morning to buy them? Who exactly is buying them, and who are they being bought for? These are questions I felt I needed some answers to. Over half of the Beanie Babies that we own are now retired, which means nothing more than the fact that if we wanted to buy the same ones now, they would cost three or four times what they did when we bought them the first time. The maker of Beanie Babies, the Ty Company, retires certain models each month which drives the price of the retirees up, in secondary markets, immediately. Is this simply a statement that no more are being made, or is it just a marketing ploy to drive sales? Either way, I feel that anything that has cost my family over seven hundred dollars deserves to be looked in to.
As per Henry Mintzberg, former president of the Strategic Management Society, “strategy cannot be planned because planning is about analysis and strategy is about synthesis. Strategic planning involves a structure or framework, a set of procedures both formal and informal, and of course content. Beyond these basic elements, the underlying assumptions about strategic planning are that the future can be anticipated, forecasted, managed or even controlled, and that the best way to do so is to have a formal and integrated plan about it in place. The process of planning itself may turn out to be more important than the results, and that process requires both analysis and synthesis. Planning simply introduces a formal “discipline” for conducting long-term thinking about an institution, and for recognizing opportunities in and for minimizing risks from the external and internal environments.
Dess, G. G., Lumpkin, G. T., Eisner, A. B., & McNamara, G. (2012). Strategic Management: Text & Cases (6th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
...ils and new directions: papers of the third North American Fur Trade Conference. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980.
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., the Vermont-based manufacturer of ice cream, frozen yoghurt and sorbet, was founded in 1978, with a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of which was borrowed). It soon became popular for its innovative flavours, made from fresh Vermont milk and cream. The company currently distributes ice cream, low fat ice cream, frozen yoghurt, sorbet and novelty products nationwide as well as in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchised Ben & Jerry's scoop shops, restaurants and other venues.
In the 1990’s Mattel built or acquired production facilities in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. In 2007, China was making the majority of toys for Mattel. In China, Mattel tested products both at its own facilities and in special test labs. The company had specific standards with respect to lead in paint an...
Staying in touch with their customers would not enable Ben and Jerry to be as successful as they have become if their ice cream was not high quality as well. The second value the company espouses is to use only wholesome, natural ingredients. They began their operation on this premise, utilizing fresh Vermont milk and cream to create their frozen concoctions. During a period of volatility in the dairy market in 1991, the company went so far as to pay a dairy premium totaling a half million dollars to combat Vermont dairy farmers’ losses. This helped protect the family farmers who supplied the milk for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
When Richard Sears first began a small retail business selling watches in 1886, he could have dreamed of his store becoming a success but the success it has become, had to be beyond his expectations.
Toy World, Inc is a manufacturer of plastic toys for children, founded in 1973 by David Dunton. In the past, the company's production schedules had always been highly seasonal, reflecting the seasonality of sales. Jack McClintock, president and part owner of this company, is considering a proposal to adopt level monthly production for the coming year.
Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2013). Strategic management: planning for domestic & global competition (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.