ISY00243 Case Study
ISY00243 Case Study
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S3 2019
Concept: Raina Mason XXXXXXXXXXModified: Renae Agrey S3 2019
Southern Cross University
S3 2019
Case Study Part 1Note: This case study is to be used throughout this Session to answer questions in set activities, which will be compiled into a report. Part A of the report, an “Initial Investigation” is to be submitted at the end of Week 6. The final report (including your Part A adjusted after Mikeer feedback) is to be submitted in Week 12.
You should use all relevant parts of the case study to inform your answers for the report.
Introduction
Natural-Lee produces organically certified vegetables, fruit and nuts, honey, decorative plants and eggs that are grown with permaculture principles and biodynamic soils. It initially started in Kevin Lee’s backyard. He and his friends started a community garden, and due to increasing demand for local grown organic food, it has grown into a commercial venture.
The business prospect has expanded in recent years with the return of Kevin to his family property that historically had been used as a station for cattle grazing. Although it was a major commitment, Kevin has turned much of that land into a food forest. He did not do this all by himself. He and his friends have worked tirelessly, and now they have employed horticulture and agriculture students from Southern Cross University’s Plant Science faculty to assist on the property.
With the range and volume of produce, along with the outputs of the animals, in addition to the growing number of customers, Kevin is finding it hard to keep the track of things. An information system may provide a way to help manage the increasing complexities of the business. You have been
ought in as a business analyst to assist with its organisation.
Background Briefing
The Early Days – Growing up on the Station
Kevin Lee believes that he had been born to be on the land, following as he did, in his fathers’ and grandfathers’ steps with their love and passion for living sustainably and green. Of course there were also differences...especially as Kevin was now passionately dedicated to growing produce rather than attending to sheep and cattle. Kevin has some cows for milk and manure, and recently acquired chickens to provide different manure for fertilizing, in addition to egg production.
Kevin grew great organic produce without the use of any pesticides or artificial fertilizer. He practiced companion planting to help protect crops from insect attack, and he cycled different crops from year to year to aid soil health. Kevin ca
ied in his memory an immense body of information about soil types, weather, seasons, crops, crop rotations, soil preparation, and composting. Being a station boy, he also knew many things about animal husbandry too.
Living on a station is rough. As managers you have to deal with drought conditions and with a lack of infrastructure such as grid electricity and council water feeds. Basic survival is always at the forefront. Careful planning is a must.
Premium Pricing
Kevin had given up his occupation as an electrician when he returned to the station to dedicate time to his permaculture activities. He is now committed to growing and selling produce. People happily pay top dollar because of the high quality of food, and the ‘organically grown’ status that it holds.
Kevin does not sell his produce through the local farmers market. With the success of the community garden, his customers come to him! Customers would phone through an order the day before they wanted to pick up the produce, and Kevin would relay the long list of offerings that he knew he had available and ready for harvest. This could take a lot longer than most people wanted to spend on the phone. Kevin worked from memory and would recite a list from start to finish, even though there were some products that various customers never, ever bought, never wanted, and were never going to buy.
Kevin was a ‘chatty patty’ and loved to talk with each and every customer. He enjoyed the conversation. But, it was time consuming and it took him away from attending to his duties. In reality, while all of the customers liked Kevin and loved his produce, many really wished to have a quicker and easier way of placing their orders without the need to always be asked directly by Kevin about products that they were never, ever going to purchase. Many customers were frustrated that Kevin would always take a long same order every week as a regular, weekly, customer. Surely, they thought to themselves, there must be a better way.
The Produce Pick Up
Customers would drop by to pick up their weekly box of produce. This was fine in the early days while his farm was quite small, but things had escalated dramatically in the last few years. Kevin had a growing body of workers to assist him. His farm and produce were well regarded but popularity and demand was now causing congestion at the pick-up area. Kevin was considering the practicalities of beginning a home delivery service direct to customers.
In principle, Kevin would be able to manage the growing customer base as he had almost unlimited access to land and water and sun, but he was now experiencing difficulties organising all of the food boxes for his customers. The personal details for his customers including their names, phone numbers and addresses where all kept in a “Customer Book” in the shed, but he had generally made little use of this as customers would typically ring him to place an order…and increasingly such calls were coming in at inconvenient times while he was attending to the food forest.
Kevin and Betty
Betty is ma
ied to Kevin and is fully supportive of his philosophy and approach to growing fruits and vegetables. She knew in her heart that it was scalable and that a similar approach could be used for land in other locations to serve different geographical areas. She also knew, however, that some of Kevin’s business practices in dealing with customers would need to be documented to enable standardisation, and altered to be made more efficient… for both the farm and customers.
The Workers
Kevin and Betty agreed that they should each focus on a different aspect of the business. Kevin would attend to all aspects of production and harvesting, while Betty would oversee all aspects of dealing with customers, their orders, their payments and their order pick-ups. Both were happy by this because Kevin was skilled and enjoyed the horticulture aspects and Betty was skilled in customer relations and service due to her previous work in accountancy and finance.
Betty was keen to acquire an Information System to handle the customer base, their orders, and their bills. She knew that it had potential to ease their business dealings and that new and emerging technologies could also be beneficial. Kevin, however, remained unconvinced of the benefits of computers.
The number of people working on the farm had grown substantially. On the demand side of things, Bill, Ba
ara, Brittany and Byron were each now sometimes taking orders from customers by phone, and reporting the orders directly to Betty. These four people also assisted at times with horticulture activities along with some other staff who were dedicated to the farm animal activities.
A collection of lists had been written up for some of the customers who would always simply order “their usual” (subject to availability and season)…and this collection of lists had been written on a large whiteboard in the shop next to a phone to aid quicker processing. The people who were on these lists came to be refe
ed to as “The Regulars”. To acknowledge such regular support, each was given an automatic 20% discount off the cost of their purchase.
As the produce available each week was subject to change due to weather and harvest readiness, there was sometimes confusion about what was actually available (or not) and so increasingly there were instances of customers being disappointed when they picked up their produce because it was not always what they had expected to receive. Sometimes there was also confusion about who had payed, or not payed, or partially payed.
Lilly and James both attended to the accounts receivable side of things, and again, answered directly to Betty. As the business had increased in size there were apparent inconsistencies emerging in how payments were made. Sometimes customers paid in cash, sometimes by credit, and sometimes in trade for their own goods or services.
There had also been some unpleasant scenes at the pick-up point due to too many customers a
iving at the same time, only to create a traffic jam. Arguments had erupted over confusion of who was to take away which box of farm goods. It was very confusing.
Betty hired Mike and Melanie to take over the pick-up activities. They made the firm decision that customers would no longer be able to come and get their box of produce, unless specifically pre-a
anged…but would have it delivered to their home. An imposed home-delivery service. Dillion was also hired as an assistant for both Mike and Melanie to do some of the heavy lifting and sorting of the customer produce boxes.
There was no risk of spoilage due to a delivery needing to be left at a customer’s door because Kevin had acquired individual customer eskies good enough to keep all things cool for 48 hours. Deliveries could thus be made to a client on any day of the week, but there was a need to minimise the number of trips to make the deliveries. Customers either lived North, South, East, West, or “close” to Kevin’s station. There will be more to say about delivery timetables later in the case study.
Kevin was saddened by how some aspects of the business had evolved. He was still committed to producing the best possible products for his clients, but there was a need to find some ways of better managing it all. In particular, there was a need to release himself from the client side of the business to attend to the production aspects, which he had always taken pleasure in.
To assist on the production side of things Kevin had hired Conrad, Co
ie, Monty and Nichole. Each answered to Kevin directly. Their specific tasks were to assist in all manner of the gardening such as weeding, planting, watering, fertilizers, picking and pruning.
To assist on machinery part of farming and delivery, Kevin had moreover hired Simon, Simon and Sarah. Simon and Sarah are both skilled at operating all manner of vehicles and machinery used on the property. They may be directed by Kevin to