Case 1- Does This Milkshake Taste Funny?

Q1) George stein is a college student working for Eastern Dairy in the night shift. During his
tenure he faced a major ethical dilemma of whether to get away with the filters from the pipe
and let the production of milkshake mix get contaminated or not. There were 5 other workers
with George and they were least cared about the hygiene and quality of the product. Paul was
so-called self-employed leader of the group who advised George to remove the filters
however, George was not fully convinced by the idea as he was concerned about the harmful
effect of the contamination on the kids and people drinking the milkshake in different fast-
food joints and drive-ins.
Q2) If I was at George’s place, I would not remove those filters from the pipe as I’m properly
aware about the harmful affect that the contaminations of maggots can cause to the users,
spoiling the long-term reputation of the organisation. The consequences could be delay in
order completion and various disagreements with the co-workers specially Paul for not
following his advice; however, completing targets in unethically way would be completely
meaningless. I would further try to bring the issue to the notice of management and would
request the, to take necessary actions
Q3) There were several issues that can be pointed out through this case study like lack of
proper training, absence of proper management, accountability etc. in order to keep such
activities in check management need to imply with various actions starting from hiring a full-
time floor manager, responsible to create a proper working environment by ensuring that
healthy ethical standards are followed while achieving the targets.
Another issue that requires an attention is lack of ethical understanding and knowledge of
business ethics and ethical decisions. These core values are to be embedded in every decision
of the organisation. Proper training is to be provided which can be referred by the employees
whenever such ethical problem rises up.
Case 2- The Tao of Timbuk2
Q1) In reference to the custom messenger bags, the key competitive dimensions forming the
reason of sales is its supreme quality and the speed of delivery. Timbuk2 have a proper
quality procedure for their messenger bags and hence the product is extremely durable
without any defects. The bags are custom made according to the preference of the customers
giving a sense of exclusivity to the consumers. Another reason behind winning customers
hearts it their fast delivery using overnight delivery options and making the product available
directly to the customers in 2 days.
Competitive priorities will be same of the new laptop bags as well with quality being the
major focus point. As these laptop bags are being made in china, speedy delivery can now be
put into question and may not be as fast as the custom messenger bags as they were made in
san-Francisco itself.

Q2) Assembly line of china is quite different from that of San-Francisco in almost evert
dimensions. In china the assembly line is standard where similar sort of products are made.
Continuous production is required in china’s plant. The san- Francisco plant is where they
follow the customised assembly line, products are made according to the exact specification
of the consumers requirements and hence workers are required to manufacture individual
products in limited quantity. As the workers in San-Francisco are required to produce
customised orders they require a complete different skill-set which is not required by the
china workers as they are supposed to run a set line method to run the machines in the factory
for standardised production. Volume also differs to a large extent as in china plant products
are made and stored in inventory whereas in San-Francisco products are customised and
made as per the orders. Automation doesn’t work in San-Francisco as every order is different
as per customer specification but if we talk about china plan, level of automation is high as
they cater to mass production. Lastly the raw material is high in San-Francisco plant as they
require the material to process the order, however, finished good inventory is minimum
because orders are shipped via overnight delivery as soon as they are made. In case of china
raw material in less as everything Is used for production, but finished good inventory is on
the higher end.
Criteria China Plant San Francisco Plant
Volume / rate of production High Low
Required skill of the workers Medium-High High and Diverse
Level of automation High Low
Amount of raw materials Lower Higher
Finished goods inventory Higher Lower

Q3) differentiation as a strategy can be used for manufacturing at the San-Francisco plant as
its prime focus is on the production of customised product for the customers as per their need
and requirements. Cost focus strategy can be used in manufacturing at china plant as their
focus is on mass productions and standardised products.