Case 1.A Big Brothers of Fairfax County
Big Brothers of America is a social service program designed to meet the needs of boys ages six to 18 from
single-parent homes. Most of the boys served by the program live with their mothers and rarely see or hear from their fathers. The purpose of the program is to give these boys the chance to establish a friendship with an interested adult male. Big Brothers of America was founded on the belief that association with a responsible adult can help program participants become more responsible citizens and better adjusted young men.
The program was started in Cincinnati in 1903. Two years later, the organization was granted its first charter in New York State through the efforts of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt. By the end of World War II, there were 30 Big Brothers agencies. Today there are 300 agencies across the United States, and more than 120,000 boys are matched with Big Brothers.
The Fairfax County chapter of Big Brothers of America was founded in Fairfax in 1966. In 1971, United Way of Fairfax County accepted the program as part of its umbrella organization and now provides about 85 percent of its funding. The remaining 15 percent is raised by the local Big Brothers agency.
Information about the Big Brothers program in Fairfax County reaches the public primarily through newspapers (feature stories and classified advertisements), radio, public service announcements, posters (on buses and in windows of local establishments), and word-of-mouth advertising. The need for volunteers is a key message emanating from these sources. The agency phone number is always included so that people wanting to know more about the program can call for information. Those calling in are given basic information over the telephone and are invited to attend one of the monthly orientation sessions organized by the Big Brothers program staff. At these meetings, men get the chance to talk to other volunteers and to find out what will be expected of them should they decide to join the program. At the end of the session, prospective volunteers are asked to complete two forms. One is an application form and the other is a questionnaire in which the person is asked to describe the type of boy he would prefer to be matched with, as well as his own interests.
The files on potential Little Brothers are then reviewed in an attempt to match boys with the volunteers. A match is made only if both partners agree. The agency stays in close contact with the pair and monitors its progress. The three counselors for the Big Brothers program serve as resources for the volunteer.
The majority of the inquiry calls received by the Fairfax County agency are from women who are interested in becoming Big Sisters or from people desiring information on the Couples Program. Both programs are similar to the Big Brothers program and are administered by it. In fact, of 55 calls concerning a recent orientation meeting, only five were from males. Only three of the five callers actually attended the meeting, a typical response.
Although the informational campaigns and personal appeals thus seem to have some effect, the results were also generally disappointing and did little to alleviate the shortage of volunteer Big Brothers. There are currently 250 boys waiting to be matched with Big Brothers, and the shortage grows weekly.
Big Brothers of Fairfax County believed that a lack of awareness and accurate knowledge could be the cause of the shortage of volunteers. Are there men who would volunteer if only they were made aware of the program and its needs? Or is the difficulty a negative program image? Do people think of Little Brothers as problem children, boys who have been in trouble with the law or who have severe behavioral problems? Or could there be a misconception of the type of man who would make a good Big Brother? Do people have stereotypes with respect to the volunteers—for example, that the typical volunteer is a young, single, professional male?
Questions
1. What are some possible marketing decision problems? State whether the decision problems are discovery- or strategy-oriented.
2. What are some relevant marketing research problems for the decision problems you have identified?
3. What types of information would be useful to answer these questions?
4. How would you go about securing this information?
Case 1.B Transitional Housing, Inc. (A)1
Transitional Housing, Inc. (THI), is a local nonprofit organization located in Madison, Wisconsin. THI provides assistance to homeless and very low income individuals and families in finding emergency shelter, food, employment, transitional housing, and affordable apartment housing. These services are provided through four basic THI programs (see exhibit below for details):
1. The Drop-In Shelter: An emergency drop-in shelter for men located at Grace Episcopal Church.
2. The Hospitality House: A day shelter for homeless and very low income men and women.
3. The Transitional Housing Program: Provides transitional living arrangements for families and single men for six months or more depending on the needs of the individual/family and the unit.
4. The Housing Opportunity Program: Helps families in obtaining a lease.
As part of its planning, the board of directors of THI was interested in determining ways to improve the organization’s services. Their original thought was to conduct a survey of the organization’s paid staff, volunteers, and guests (the homeless staying at THI or using its facilities or services), to determine which programs of THI they found particularly useful, which should be revised, and what other programs or services might be of more assistance to guests.
However, the analysis of THI’s internal statistics and other published data indicated the need for THI to narrow its focus. Specifically, internal information indicated the number of agencies serving the male homeless population was decreasing, and the number of homeless families was increasing. Moreover, THI was currently the only Madison shelter that served the male homeless population, and this community appeared to be underserved. In fact, the number of homeless men staying at THI’s Drop-In Shelter had increased 89 percent, from 607 three years ago to 1,146 the past year. This was partly due to the closing of other Madison male shelters in the last three years. Finally, the THI shelter was filled beyond its capacity of 66 men per night. During the winter, there were frequently more than 90 men staying at the Drop-In Shelter on any given night, with many of them sleeping on the hallway floor.
Given this information, the board of directors decided to use the organization’s limited resources to focus first on the Drop-In Shelter. More specifically, the board asked for an evaluation of THI’s current facilities and the services for the homeless as well as a determination of what future services and facilities it should try to provide.
Questions
1. What is the decision problem? Is this decision problem discovery- or strategy-oriented?
2. What are some relevant research problems?
3. Discuss in general terms how you would address the board of directors’ concerns. Specifically, who would you obtain information from and how would you access these people?
1The contributions of Monika Wingate to the development of this case are gratefully acknowledged.
EXHIBIT 1.B-1
Programs Offered by Transitional Housing, Inc.
Drop-In Shelter
Located at the Grace Episcopal Church in the downtown area, the Drop-In Shelter (DIS) is a 46-person-capacity emergency drop-in shelter for men. Overflow capacity for 20 additional people is provided at St. John’s Lutheran Church from October through April. The basic services provided at DIS are shelter, food, personal grooming supplies, and counseling. Medical and legal services are also provided once a week through volunteers. The shelter is open to all men who are not incapacitated by drugs or alcohol and agree to abide by the rules of DIS. Operating hours are from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. seven days per week, 365 days per year. Both dinner and breakfast are provided for DIS guests through the support of approximately 1,200 volunteers (churches, community groups, and other interested individuals) who offer their help to DIS.
Hospitality House
Hospitality House (HH), located on the near west side, is a day shelter and resource center for homeless and very low income men, women, and children. HH is generally regarded as a warm, safe place for the homeless to congregate, where services are provided but are not mandatory. The basic services provided at HH are: assistance with finding employment and housing, help for obtaining benefits from other social service agencies, and mental health services. Telephones are available for the guests’ use, and guests may also use HH as a mailing address while they are staying at DIS.
Transitional Housing Program
The Transitional Housing Program (THP) operates 15 traditional housing sites throughout Dane County. There are 20 family units and 39 single units. Residents of THP may stay in the units for a period of six months to “permanent,” depending on the unit and the needs of the individual or family. Services provided to the residents of the THP include: money management, employment counseling, case management, and referrals to agencies involved in providing services needed by the individual or family. DIS is often the first step in the process of single men involved in THP.
Housing Opportunity Program
The Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) is a service provided by THI that is designed to aid families in obtaining a lease in their own name and staying in the site on a permanent basis. THI leases apartments from area landlords and subleases the units to homeless families, whoa are referred to THI through area shelters. During this time, THI assumes responsibility for any unpaid rent or repairs that may accrue. Maintenance checks are performed monthly and outreach services are provided to families involved in the program.
Case 1.C Supervisory Training at the Management Institute
University of Wisconsin–Extension is the outreach campus of the University of Wisconsin system. Its mission is to extend high-quality education to people who are not necessarily “college students” in the usual sense. The Management Institute is one of the departments within UW–Extension. It conducts programs aimed at providing education and training in at least a dozen areas of business and not-for-profit management.
The supervisory training area within the Management Institute designs and conducts continuing education training programs for first-level supervisors. The training programs are designed to improve a trainee’s managerial, communication, decision-making, and human-relation skills. They consequently cover a broad range of topics.
A continuing decline in enrollments in the various programs during the past several years had become a problem of increasing concern to the three supervisory program directors. They were at a loss to explain the decline, although informal discussions among the supervisors raised a number of questions to which they did not know the answers. Have people’s reasons for attending supervisory training programs changed? What are their reasons for attending them? Was the decline caused by economic factors? Was it because of increased competition among continuing education providers? Was it due to the content or structure of MI’s programs themselves? Was it because of the way the programs were structured or promoted? Were the programs targeted at the right level of supervisor?
Typically, the major promotion for any program involved mailed brochures that described the content and structure of the course. The mailing list for the brochures was all past attendees of any supervisory training program conducted by the Management Institute.
Questions
1. What is the manager’s decision problem? Is this problem discovery- or strategy-oriented?
2. What are some relevant research problems?
3. Which research problem would you recommend pursuing? Why?
4. How would you recommend MI go about addressing this research problem? That is, what data would you collect and how might those data be used to answer the research question posed?
Case 1.D Wisconsin Power & Light (A)1
Recent changes in the utility industry have led to a more deregulated and competitive environment. In response, Wisconsin Power & Light (WP&L) has been shifting its focus from that of a product-driven company to one of a market- and information-driven company. Management has increasingly relied on information from marketing studies and has been incorporating the external data in their decision-making processes. WP&L’s espousal of a market-sensitive mentality has helped to shape the company’s overall business strategies. One current area of concern for WP&L involves environmental issues, so much so that one of the company’s goals is “to be a responsible corporate citizen, promoting the social, economic, and environmental well-being of the communities that it serves.”
WP&L, in an effort to realize its environmental goals, developed several programs for its residential, commercial, and industrial customers to foster the conservation of energy. The programs, which were classified under the BuySmart umbrella of WP&L’s Demand-Side Management Programs, consisted of such specific programs as Appliance Rebates, Energy Analysis, Weatherization Help, and the Home Energy Improvement Loan (HEIL) program. All previous marketing research and information gathering focused primarily on issues from the customer’s perspective, such as an evaluation of net energy savings, an estimation of the number of individuals who would have undertaken the conservation actions even if there was no program in place, and an evaluation of customer attitudes and opinions concerning the design, implementation, features, and delivery of the residential programs. Having examined the consumer perspective, WP&L’s current goal is to focus on obtaining information from other participants in the programs, namely employees and lenders.
The next task for the management of WP&L to undertake is a study of the Home Energy Improvement Loan (HEIL) program of the BuySmart umbrella. The HEIL program was designed to make low-interest-rate financing available to residential gas and electric WP&L customers for conservation and weatherization measures. The low-interest guaranteed loans are delivered through WP&L account representatives in conjunction with participating financial institutions and trade allies. The procedures for obtaining a loan begin with an energy “audit” of the interested customer’s residence to determine the appropriate conservation measures. Once the customer decides on which measures to have installed, the WP&L representative assists in arranging the low-interest-rate financing through one of the participating local banking institutions. At the completion of the projects, WP&L representatives conduct an inspection of the work by checking a random sample of participants. Conservation measures eligible under the HEIL program include the installation of natural gas furnaces/boilers, automatic vent dampers, intermittent ignition devices, heat pumps, and heat pump water heaters. Eligible structural improvements include the addition of attic/wall/basement insulation, storm windows and doors, sillbox insulation, window weather-stripping, and caulking.
Purpose
The primary goal of the current study is to identify ways of improving the HEIL program from the lenders’ point of view. Specifically, the following issues need to be addressed:
• Identify the lenders’ motivation for participating in the program.
• Determine how lenders get their information regarding various changes/updates in the program.
• Identify how lenders promote the program.
• Assess the current programs with respect to administrative and program features.
• Determine the type of credit analysis conducted by the lenders.
• Identify ways of minimizing the default rate from the lenders’ point of view.
• Identify lenders’ opinions of the overall program.
• Assess the lenders’ commitment to the program.
• Identify if the reason for loan inactivity in some lending institutions is due to lack of a customer base.
Question
1. Prepare a research request agreement that will address WP&L’s study objectives.
1The contributions of Kavita Maini and Paul Metz to the development of this case are gratefully acknowledged as is the permission of Wisconsin Power & Light to use the material included.
Case 1.E Hand-to-Hand Against Palm (A)
An electronics and personal computing firm has been watching closely the success of the Palm Pilot and seeks to introduce a competitive device, beta-named “Organize My Life!” or OML for short. The OML marketing manager has gathered some intelligence on the Palm Inc. sales and believes that, for all its success, some potential markets are being underserved.
Handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) were introduced unsuccessfully at first by Apple in 1993. Some analysts argue that the Newton, Apple’s market offering, was not clearly positioned to the consumers; others argue that they were simply ahead of their time. 3Com’s Palm Computing focused the PDA, limiting its functionality to calendars and appointments, contact directory information, and to-do lists, so as to convey its technological benefits more clearly to the potential user. In only five years, Palm achieved more than two-thirds of the global market to support this claim.1 Over 5.5 million devices have been sold, and sales continue to show strong growth (sales are expected to reach 13 million in the next two years).