Making Business Decisions I

Business is booming. The Broadway Cafe is operating better than ever and you have achieved your goal of driving operating costs down, which helps to drive revenues up.  One of your best new products is a small coffee press from China.  Customer can create a drawing on a special piece of paper that is sent to China and created as the outside of the coffee press.  Customers are ordering the presses for everything from children’s drawing for mother’s day presents to marriage proposals.  You also have many customers participating in the coffee-of-the-month and tea-of-the-month club where they receive two pounds of a unique blend each month from Brazil Beans and China Teas. 

PROJECT FOCUS:

Yesterday, a dock workers union strike began and shut down all of the west coast shipping docks from San Francisco to Canada. Work will only begin when the union agrees to new labor contracts, which could take months. You need to quickly assess the impact of the west coast dock shutdown on the cafe.

• How will you keep business running if you cannot receive your shipments from Brazil Beans, China Teas, and the custom coffee press machines?
• What strategies do you recommend to help the business continue working while the supply chain is completely disrupted by the dock workers strike?