Case Study

Working Smarter at Continental Furniture International

Please analyze the case and write up your response. You must use good grammar and well-structured sentences and paragraphs. Use of bullets is okay where they clarify or support the analysis. Your analysis should be easy to follow and use good logic and reasoning based on the case information and the material you have learned. You may insert figures and tables if they help in understanding of the case.
Make sure you:
1. Summarize in a few sentences the setting for the case
2. Identify the key players/stakeholders. An organization chart is very useful in many of the cases.
3. Fully identify the issues in the case. This will require careful reading, horizontal thinking across numerous issues, and some detective work on your part.
4. Once you have a solid understanding of the case, the players, and the issues to be addressed, answer the discussion question(s) posed below for the case.

Assume that you are submitting your write-up to a senior executive in your company. The length of the write-up should be no more than 3 pages. (Keep in mind that executives are generally very busy people and the sooner and more clearly and concisely you get your ideas across the better they will be received).

Discussion Questions

1. Why was Joel’s team caught off guard by the hostile reaction of the truck drivers to the “technical” pilot of the Energy Telematics project at the Omaha depot?
2. Why did the “Great Green Challenge” succeed while the Energy Telematics project hit road bumps right out of the gate? What are the lessons learned for Joel and his team?
3. Develop a plan for Joel and his team to get the Energy Telematics project unsuspended. The plan will need details of who, what, when, where, and why.