Presented to the DSI Department

De La Salle University-Manila Term 3, A.Y. 2020-2021

In partial fulfillment
of the course
In DSIOPMA K34

CASE STUDY 1: HAZEL CASE

Submitted by:
De Guzman, Athena Micah B.
Dy, Maria Viviene Alyssa R.
Feliciano, Seth Rafael V.
Lopez, Mari Felicity A.
Roaring, Geoffrey Ivan L.

Submitted to:
Mr. Willy Cuason

July 02, 2021

 Table of Contents
I. Summary of Findings 2
II. Background Information 3
III. Problem Statement 3
IV. Analysis of Alternatives 4
V. Detailed Recommendations 6
VI. Answer to Case Questions 8
1. Question 1 8
2. Question 2 10
3. Question 3 11
4. Question 4 12
5. Question 5 12
6. Question 6 13
7. Question 7 15
VII. Learnings 16
References 18

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I. Summary of Findings
Hazel has decided to make a huge decision by ending her job search to
set up her own lawn care business after finding out that she could earn a living
that way. However, she is just new to this kind of setup and still has a lot to learn
in managing her business operations. According to Stevenson (2021), business
operation is the core of what an organization does. That being said, Hazel, as the
operations manager, must learn how to head and operate her business to
effectively manage various aspects of her business. This includes properly
planning, organizing, leading, and controlling her business.
The five main problems that were addressed in this paper were: the
operational services of her lawn care business, the methods to optimize its
operational efficiency, the concepts/ideas that would improve her services, the
risks associated with managing her business, and how she can ensure its
sustainability. To begin, Hazel should plan on what kind of lawn service she could
offer per season. This way, she can branch out into an all-year-round operation
and satisfy the needs of her customers despite the seasonal changes. To
optimize the operational efficiency of the business, she should designate the
tasks to her part-time employees in a way that would best work for them–in line
with their specialties or strength. To further increase the productivity and
efficiency of her workers, she should provide sufficient training for her workers.
This will be a win-win situation for both Hazel and her part-time workers because
it will not only assure quality service but also lessen the risk of injuries on the part
of her employees.
Just like any other business, Hazel wants her business to succeed and
give her a higher return. To make it happen, she should think of other services
that she could offer. This way, she will be able to expand her business and reach
a wider set of potential customers and increase her brand visibility. Lastly, to
ensure the sustainability of her service, Hazel should plan on scheduling
maintenance for her equipment now and then to make sure that it is in good

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 shape. This way, they can avoid any inconvenience and would help in minimizing
her carbon footprint.

II. Background Information

After working for the same company for fifteen years, when the company
went through tough times and decided to terminate a lot of employees, Hazel
decided to find a new job. She tried applying for different jobs however, it was
more difficult than expected and her funds were starting to run out. As a result,
she started to lose hope however, she was able to find means to earn income by
mowing her own neighbors’ lawns and this was where she got the idea to start
her own business that is geared towards providing lawn care services to clients.
She was excited to start a new journey in her life however she was also afraid of
handling the business on her own but despite having doubts, she was still
determined to continue what she had started. At first the progress of her
business was slow, however, the demand for her services suddenly increased
and she also started to perform other services such as fertilizing lawns, weeding
gardens, and trimming shrubs. Her business started going well so she decided to
hire new assistants to cater to more clients and she wanted to start expanding
her business to earn more income. This case study will focus on how Hazel can
efficiently deliver her lawn care services efficiently, how she can further improve
the services she offers and how she can sustain her business and be able to
further expand her services in the future despite the threat of competitors.

III. Problem Statement

Hazel shifted from being an employee to becoming an employer herself -
her boss. It is a new path for Hazel that’s why she’s still in the process of learning
how to properly manage and operate an organization, especially that her
business is a service type of business. As mentioned by Stevenson (2021),
operations management assigns and formulates the framework that drives

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 decisions related to product and service design, capacity planning, process
selection, location selection, work management, inventory and supply
management, production planning, quality assurance, scheduling, and project
management. It is the reason why operating a business is a huge responsibility
especially for Hazel who is just starting. The main problems that need to be
solved in Hazel’s case are:
1. Why does Hazel need to properly and responsibly manage the business
she decided to open and run? How would she address the operations
which are the core functions of every business?
2. What are the ways and methods that Hazel may use to optimize efficiency
in managing the operations of her newly-built service business in the field
of lawn services?
3. What are the ideas and concepts that would sky-rocket Hazel’s lawn
service business?
4. In terms of risks in operations management, how would Hazel handle the
risks associated that may or may help or not help the business?
5. How would Hazel ensure the sustainability of her business especially that
competitors are present in her chosen industry?

IV. Analysis of Alternatives

The main problems that need to be addressed in Hazel’s case are the
following: operational services of her new business, methods to optimize
operational efficiency in her new lawn service business, concepts on developing
her lawn services, risk-management associated with her lawn services, and
sustainability of her lawn service business.
The following alternatives would address these main problems as Hazel
establishes her lawn services:

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All-year-round/seasonal operations
Hazel should consider operating her business in an annual period; she
should consider the operations of her lawn services that would satisfy seasonal
changes in a year such as winter, spring, summer, and autumn. In this case, she
should plan what kind of lawn service she would offer per season.
Task assignments for workers
As Hazel hired two part-timers for her lawn services, she could designate
tasks that would be feasible to them. The tasks should be delegated in such a
way that they are in line with the specialties or strengths of her two part-time
workers. This would optimize labor efficiency for Hazel’s lawn services.
Expansion of lawn services
Planning Hazel should further expand her lawn services and branch out.
As she has already started performing other services like lawn fertilization,
garden weeding, and shrub trimming, she would potentially develop and grow her
business on a larger scale by expanding these established services.
Lawn mowing training
Performing lawn services would always suggest having equipment for
workers to use and specific tasks for workers to execute. The risk would be that
Hazel’s workers may get injured while performing lawn services without adequate
knowledge of the lawn mowing equipment and tasks. Hazel should provide
sufficient training to address and avoid these risks.
Lawnmower maintenance
Hazel should consider doing lawnmower maintenance for her business to
sustainably maintain a lawn services routine. This would provide efficiency in
performing her lawn services and would exhibit energy conservation with her
lawn mowing equipment and activities.

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V. Detailed Recommendations
All-year-round/seasonal operations
As aforementioned, it would be great to develop Hazel’s operations by
branching into an all-year-round operation. This would suit the different seasons
that pass the year such as winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
Assuming that her neighborhood would be in the suburban area wherein
services of snow removal are unavailable, it would be best for her to capitalize on
this and offer it to her existing customers/neighbors. These services would
include snow removal on doorway paths that lead to the house along with garage
snow removal. This service can also extend to those that need their roof to be
cleaned off from the snow. This particular service would require simple
equipment such as shovels, boots, and a wheelbarrow. Although, if Hazel will
pursue this venture, she could also invest in equipment such as snowblowers to
make things more efficient.
As for the summer season, Hazel could offer her usual services but also
expand into offering services such as garden maintenance. The aforementioned
would include mulch application to keep the garden’s soil moist, and planting
replacement which aims to reorganize the lawns of her customers and add
aesthetic appeal. Although offering these services would require further
investment in the aforementioned materials as well as finding suppliers to provide
for her service.
Lastly, the season of autumn wherein leaves fall and pile up all over the
place. In relation to this season, a service that Hazel can provide would be
autumn cleaning which involves raking fallen leaves and disposing of them for
the customer. To execute this plan, Hazel would have to acquire equipment such
as rakes and wheelbarrows for easy cleanup and transportation. Another
essential material is the need for trash bags wherein the leaves would be held
until disposed of. It is also recommended that Hazel has a car or a pickup that
could carry the aforementioned equipment to reduce the time of travel and effort.

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Task assignments for workers & Lawn mowing training
Task assignments for her part-time workers would be a crucial element in
her service business. In this way, the tasks would not conflict with each other and
cost them time and efficiency just because they were not aligned. The way that
this can be implemented would be to list down general tasks that her current and
future service plans entail. By doing so, Hazel creates a system for each service,
eliminating time to plan for each job. Furthermore, these tasks are to be recorded
as a manual for them to adhere to. Which then serves as their guidelines in
whatever the service the customer has hired them to do so. More importantly,
these manuals will include the necessary information, materials, and equipment
needed to get the job done, again increasing efficiency in their operations. Lastly,
the tasks would already provide the necessary skills needed, which can easily be
evaluated by the two-part time workers and play to their strengths and
weaknesses. The latter would arise for the need for training, which can be
included for future operations should the workers decide to work full time.
Nonetheless, training would still be important to assure quality service to their
customers, thus Hazel would have to invest time and effort to teach the basics to
her part-time workers. Training them would require hands-on training and
demonstration of how to properly handle and use the equipment. This can be
done before the said service appointment and further guided and applied during
the service appointment as well. Performance appraisals and feedback from
customers are essential for quality assurance and customer satisfaction.
Expansion of lawn services
In the long run, Hazel would want to let her lawn service business develop
and flourish in the larger market to be able to have a broader reach of potential
customers. This would help her business be known to the public eye and would
help her maintain or obtain higher profits. Hazel may opt to expand and diversify

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 her lawn service business through performing other lawn care-related services.
Since she already started performing other services like lawn fertilization, garden
weeding, and shrub trimming, she could develop these services as an addition to
her lawn mowing service. She could also consider other lawn care services like
mulching, lawn protection, and feeding, etc.
Lawnmower maintenance
Since the equipment is very crucial to be able to perform lawn services, it
should get its proper and sufficient maintenance. Hazel should give important
consideration to sustain a regular maintenance check-up for its lawn equipment
that would make sure that they are in their best condition. This can be best done
by inclusion in the aforementioned manual to be used by Hazel and her
part-timer workers. Moreover, it is best to check on the necessary equipment
needed for the job two to three days prior to the job to ensure that there are no
defects and that they are able to take action in the event that maintenance is
needed. The equipment would then be a lot more efficient and sustainable in
terms of energy conservation and being environment-friendly. In this way, energy
consumption would also be a lot less when using the equipment, minimizing
Hazel’s carbon footprint.

VI. Answers to Case Questions

1. Hazel is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities are
forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and
maintenance.
a. What kinds of things would likely require forecasts?
The kind of things that would require forecasts would be the prices of
lawn-mowing machines since as time goes by, equipment prices may increase in
value. Second, the number of machines to be ordered since she has to consider
the possibility of an increase in demand so she will need more equipment and
she might also need to replace some broken equipment. Third, hiring more

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assistants to cater to more clients and provide better services. Fourth, the a
possible threat of competitors since more professional lawn mowing services
may be available in the future. Lastly, the demand of the other neighboring
houses that require her services since if she decides to expand her business, an
increase in demand is expected so she should be prepared to satisfy the demand
and cater to new clients.
b. What inventory items does Hazel probably have? Name one inventory
decision she has to make periodically.
The inventory items Hazel probably have are certain equipment that is
required for lawn mowing such as a lawn mowing machine which is used for lawn
care services, chemicals, fertilizers, and manure which are essential in
maintaining the lawn of her clients, Water Sprinkle and other cutting materials
that can be used as an alternative in case the lawn mowing machine breaks
down. One inventory decision she has to make is to order fertilizers and manure
periodically since if these are not used on the lawn regularly, weeds may start to
grow which could make the lawn care services useless.
c. What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt
schedules and cause Hazel to reschedule?
One of the scheduling Hazel must do is the appointments with her
customers to keep track of the services each client needs and whether the
schedule requested by the client will match with the availability of her assistants.
Some of the things that may disrupt schedules and cause hazel to reschedule
would be cancellation of appointments, broken lawn mowing machines,
uninformed leaves taken by her assistants, Natural factors such as typhoons or
snowfall which can affect the schedule of her lawn mowing services, and
non-availability of fertilizers and manures.
d. How important is quality assurance to Hazel’s business? Explain.
Quality assurance is important to Hazel’s business because to sustain her
business, she needs to deliver her lawn mowing services as promised which are

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 to properly mow the lawn, trim shrubs or weeds, and apply chemicals, fertilizers,
and manure to maintain the mowed lawn. She should also deliver her services as
scheduled to earn the trust of her clients.
e. What kinds of maintenance must be performed?
The maintenance tasks that hazel needs to perform is her lawn mowing
machine since it is the main equipment used to deliver her lawn care services
and when her machine is maintained properly, it could reduce the cost of the
business, maintain quality assurance and consistency of her services, Deliver
services as scheduled to increase her credibility and build a good reputation for
the business.
2. In what ways are Hazel’s customers most likely to judge the quality of her lawn
care services?
Reliability and Assurance
Hazel’s customers may judge how Hazel was able to provide the lawn
service as promised, in the terms of her customers. They may judge how Hazel
was able to perform the lawn service in a manner that was complete and
accurate in a single work, costs charged to the customers were proportional to
the work done, the scheduled lawn service was dependable, and the lawn
service assured successful work to the customers.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Hazel’s customers may judge her credibility and trustworthiness,
especially that customers may compare her with other professional lawn service
providers. Customers may judge whether or not Hazel’s lawn services are
credible in terms of the characteristics and reputation her service goes about.
They may also criticize whether or not Hazel’s lawn services value the
customer’s best interests in such a way that they can trust Hazel to perform her
lawn services guaranteed that it will satisfy her customers.
Efficiency

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 Hazel’s customers may judge the quality of her work and how efficiently
she was able to perform her lawn services. Customers may judge the duration of
how long Hazel can perform the lawn service without wasting time. Customers
may also evaluate themgoodsHazel was able to accomplish the lawn service with
little to no wasted costs that she may charge her customers when work was done
poorly.
3. What are some of the trade-offs that Hazel probably considered relative to:
Working for a company instead of herself
If Hazel decides to work for a company instead of setting up her own
business, she wouldn’t have to worry about being completely on her own and she
can receive the benefits that the company offers. However, this would also mean
that she has to adhere to the company’s guidelines and work for a certain
amount of time per day instead of being her own boss and managing her time
based on her preference.
Expanding a business
If Hazel decides to expand her lawn care business, she can attract more
potential customers. However, expanding her business also means that she
would have to invest her money in gardening equipment and hire more workers
that would increase the cost of her services. Expanding her business would not
guarantee her a higher profit as her customers might look for other alternatives
that offer the same service.
Launching a website
If Hazel decides to launch a website for her lawn care business, she can
reach a wider set of audience and increase her brand visibility because of its
accessibility. However, launching a website would also mean that she will incur
expenses related to setting up and maintaining the website. Furthermore,
launching a website may not result in a higher return if it is not marketed properly.
Therefore, there would be a risk that Hazel might incur losses.

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4. The town is considering an ordinance that would prohibit putting grass clippings
at the curb for pickup because local landfills cannot handle the volume. What
options might Hazel consider if the ordinance was passed? Name two
advantages and drawbacks of each option.
Transform the grass clippings into product fertilizers
Hazel may opt to stock the grass clippings she’d collected from her lawn
services and utilize it as fertilizers. This may encourage her to branch out and
offer the grass clippings as fertilizers to her customers with gardens at home,
making it a product she can sell. This will also consider the possibility of her
earning additional profit not just from her lawn services but also from the potential
product of grass clippings fertilizer. However, a drawback is that considering this
potential product may require her to increase costs since she will be branching
out with her business, offering both service and good. Additionally, this option will
be risky for Hazel because customers may either favor and avail the product or
the service, which may cause unwanted waste of expenses.
Utilize the grass clippings as lawn care
After mowing the lawn, Hazel may opt to recycle the grass clippings and
return them to the lawn. According to Bauer and Weisenhorn (2018), grass
clippings of an inch or less can be left on the lawn where they will filter down to
the soil surface and decompose fast. This will provide new sources of organic
nutrients for the lawn and would sustain the environment. It would also require
less cost for Hazel in terms of collecting the clippings. However, it would require
additional work and effort for Hazel to return the grass clippings to the lawn.
Additionally, customers may dislike the idea of the grass clippings returning to
their lawn since they paid for a lawn mowing service.
5. Hazel decided to offer 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

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 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 trade-offs?
Innovation is a very significant factor that makes a business up and
running in the long run. It is the driving force that makes the business sustainable
and fresh in the eyes of its customers. Therefore, the proposed idea of the
student who left which holds a great promise is important for the business since
Hazel’s business is currently thriving and at its peak. Sooner or later, the people
would want to see and avail other services from her business so it’s important to
provide new ideas that will ensure the betterment of service through Hazel’s
business. The ethical way to acquire the idea is to make a deal with that student
first. Hazel shouldn’t just use it without the student’s consent because that would
be unethical and would result in future damage to the company. The student may
sue Hazel since it would be like she stole his/her idea. Thus, Hazel should make
a deal with the student whether she would buy it at a certain price and the
student could receive a commission for every service availed related to that idea
or she would rehire the student and let him/her manage that idea on the business
with additional incentives and compensation accordingly. It’s important to note
that Hazel needs to win the trust of the student, especially that the student is on
the side of her competitor. The business may be jeopardized if ever the student
chooses to give his/her idea to the side of the competitor since it would tighten
the competition even more between their businesses. Therefore, Hazel should
make a competitive deal with the student to win that student or the idea proposed
by the student. However, the best trade-off that Hazel could provide is a position
in her company such as the head of research and development since that certain
student could still think of any other ideas that may hold a greater promise since
as mentioned, innovation is truly important as it’s the fuel that keeps the business
up and running.
6. All managers have to cope with a variation.

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a. Given that Hazel is in the law care business, there are a lot of variations
that are related to the inputs that her business gives into productivity,
part-timer and full-time worker wage, quality assurance, and the seasons.
One important factor that Hazel has to cope with is that there is no exact
uniform input for the service that she provides especially because not all
lawns are the same and vary from the different customers. Factors such
as workers and weather conditions are also important for there might be
schedules wherein the part-time workers are unavailable and certain
weather conditions are unfavorable to do lawn service.
b. Given that her business is not yet in the professional lawn mowing
services it might be difficult for her to adhere to the demand of the
customers. Since the desired outcome of the customers may not be
exactly what her lawn mowing service might produce. Moreover, she is the
only one who works full-time while her two other workers are only working
part-time which in turn may not meet the business supplying the needs of
multiple customers. If the demand for their services are high in certain
seasons and/or months it might be difficult to keep up and perform quality
work.
c. In order for Hazel to cope with these variations, it is important that she
makes thorough study and analysis in conducting quality lawn mowing
services, etc. This is to ensure that whatever job she has for a customer,
quality will be assured despite the differences in people’s lawns. Moreover,
records can be kept of past customer’s lawn in order to eliminate planning
and already have an idea of the landscape and the necessary needs for
the job. As aforementioned in the previous section of the paper, she can
make use of strategies such as establishing a manual to serve as a guide
in the performance of her service. To add to this, she can set standards
and criterias for her and her workers to adhere to in order to match with
the supply and demand. Through these actions, Hazel can somewhat

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 assure her customers that her business is efficient and effective when it
comes to their operations.
7. Hazel is thinking of making some of her operations sustainable. What are some
ideas she might consider?
Sustainability is one of the main objectives and goals of a business thus,
it’s important to always think of ideas and concepts that would ensure business
sustainability. In the case of Hazel, she could provide various promotions that
would sustain her business such as:
➢ MEMBERSHIP CARDS - Hazel could provide a membership card to her
customers to earn points that they can later use to avail discounted
services. It will encourage customers to avail her service more and
distinguish and would make an identity for her business.
➢ FLEXIBLE SERVICE OPTIONS - Hazel may allow his/her customers to
decide whether the business would use their equipment, materials, and/or
products or the business may use the customers’ own and preferred
equipment, materials, and/ or products at a discounted price since the
business will use the customer’s assets instead of their own. Through this,
the business may expand to a lot of customers according to their
preferences. The customers won’t be restricted to what they want to
happen in their yards.
➢ EXPANDING PARTNERSHIPS - Hazel could partner with the companies
where her business gets their lawnmowers, fertilizers, and other
equipment since it would help in growing the scope and reach of her lawn
services. She should focus on reaching out to the invested and interested
people in the field that her business is currently thriving. The partnership
will be like a mutual relationship between Hazel’s business and their
business wherein she would avail their assets while Hazel’s partners could
introduce her business to more new customers. Through this, both of them
will benefit from each other.

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VII. Learnings
Managing a business is both an honor and a responsibility because it is
such a difficult task to do but is surely worthy. To achieve success and glory in
running a business, hard work, patience, and appropriate decision-making are
needed to operate efficiently. Maximizing resources effectively is the key to
obtain better results for the company and it is done through different steps and
strategies such as focusing on which industry does the business included, how to
utilize inputs into outputs, and how to manage people as a system. Once it is
successfully implemented and done, the business operations will surely be
sky-rocketing towards great success.
It is essential to all the managers out there to acquire the right knowledge
and expertise in managing the operations by system design, operating decisions,
product and service design - depending on the nature of one’s business, capacity
planning, process selection, location, selection, work management, inventory and
supply management, production planning, quality assurance, scheduling, and
project management. It is a tedious task that requires a lot of experience and
skills however, it is important to note that it cannot be done by a single person
only. This is where the division of labor happens which is the most common
reason why other start-up businesses begin since many neglects this side of
operations. Just like Hazel, she needs to start hiring people because if she wants
to expand her business she should focus on expanding it and not on lawnmowing
the yards, fertilizing the plants, and watering the yards. It can be done by other
people that she will hire while she is focusing on how could the business further
improves and expands as time goes by.
Additionally, it is very significant too to always be flexible and adaptable to
the current changes and situations that may arise because the world is
constantly evolving, innovating, changing so as the business. It is not enough the
business is peaking at the moment because nobody knows up to when it will be

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successful so it’s important to consider the innovation and changes to happen
within the business to flow holistically with the changing world.
Operating and managing a business requires a huge responsibility. Living
and non-living things such as the resources and workers depend on the
manager’s capability to properly and efficiently utilize them for the betterment of
the company. Nevertheless, once that a person knew how things should be done,
glory and success would surely be knocking on the doors of the business.

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 REFERENCES
Stevenson, W. J. (2021). Chapter 1: Introduction to Operations Management. In
Operations management (14th ed., pp. 4–39). essay, McGraw-Hill Education.

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