A.

CASE: Zion Power Systems

In preparation for discussion of the case, think about the following questions:
1. How should McCook and her team think about the problem? What decisions do they face? What
are the other ingredients of their problem, and which ones seem critical?
Ans: They should think it as a concern from an important customer. They should discuss about their
product specification.
They face the decision whether or not to sign a certification of their product.
The other important ingredients are chances of losing a major business partner. Whether or not their
product is going to work within specification.
But just because few engineers at STS are hesitant or having cold feet about CM-7, it does not mean that
CM 7 is not going to work within specification.
2. How would you describe the relationship between Bryce and Sunbelt? Is the nature of that
relationship relevant to the engineering teams recommended course of action?
The nature of relationship is mutually dependent customer and vendor. For Zion Power Sunbelt Tr
System account sfor 70 % of their revenue which is huge.
Yes it does. Because it is such an important relationship, Zion Power has to be careful in handling the
situation. They have to make sure they assure STS well. Also if possible promise to send an engineer to
look immediately to look after the CM7 related issues during the test. This will help to alleviate some
stress and concern from the mind of STS.
3. What does McCook and her team need to examine in order to arrive at a good decision? What
does it mean to make a good decision in this context?
They need to make sure the test is within the specifications of CM7 motors. Also verify that CM7
specifications are correct and verified.
A good decision is to make sure you have a happy customer at the end of the day.
4. Is there an obvious course of action for McCook? What issues, if any, complicate the
decision?
The obvious course of action for McCook is to pacify Tom, from STS. The complication arises from the
reliance of Zeon Powers business on STS and also from the doubt in minds of STS engineers.

C. CASE: Freemark Abbey (Intro)

Read the case and be prepared to discuss the question below, there is no need to do a
quantitative analysis, yet

1.

What decisions must Jaeger make in the face of the threatening storm? What uncertainties
must he take account of?

The decision is whether or not to harvest the Riesling grapes before the looming storm.
Uncertainties he has to account for to make his decisions are:

Whether the storm prediction is good enough. It just says 50 % chances of rain.
If it rains whether his grapes will develop botrytis mold or not?
The other important uncertainty is % of sugar his grapes will have (whether 20 % or less or 25%)
Acidity also needs to be monitored

D.

CASE: SeaWatch (A)

Read the Sea Watch (A) case, posted to Blackboard. Think about and be prepared to discuss the
following questions:
1.

Are there any Massachusetts towns currently being canvassed that should not be? Why or
why not? Do we need more information in order to decide? If so, what?

2.

Instead of the situation described in the case, suppose Len faced a different dilemma: a
constraint in management time, so that the canvass operation could entail only 20 cities or
towns each year. In that case, which towns should be canvassed?

3.

Suppose instead that the constraint was a shortage of canvassers to staff the Boston
operation. Which cities and towns should be canvassed under those circumstances?

Turn in a short document with the following.

a.

For Gross
i.

AVG

$3503.96

ii.

Median

Average

Median

$2241.00

iii.

Stdev

iv.

Histogram

Std Dev $4624.01