Delamere Vineyard
“Delamere Vineyard is a small, integrated winemaking business in Tasmania, specializing in pinot noir (red) and chardonnay (white) wines. Richard Richardson, Delamere's owner and winemaker, manages and operates the vineyard and winery largely alone. His products have won praise and awards in the past, but Richardson strives continuously to improve. Delamere competes in the high-priced segment, in which quality is paramount. Richardson is well equipped as a winemaker--with a Ph.D. in agricultural chemistry and 15 years' experience.” (Harvard Business School, 2000) Winemaking is a very exclusive, yet competitive business that requires great care and understanding of customer demands.
Problem
Richard Richardson, winemaker at Delamere Vineyard, is facing a change in his production of wine with uncertainty because of his ongoing desire to improve quality and sales. He has relied on his scientific knowledge to steer his company and now would like to move forward and improve his quality of wine and increase profit. Richardson is in the process of upgrading his production process to produce a better quality product based
on customer satisfaction and wine critics, and needs to make a decision on how he will implement this.
Objectives/Goals
Richard Richardson is facing challenges for the new direction of his company. He needs to make some decisions as to his innovative way of wine production to enhance the quality and increase his profit and sales. Richardson needs to improve customer satisfaction for his pinot noir and chardonnay wines. Richardson has to improve his marketing and advertising for the vineyard to increase sales and profit. Richardson needs to find a niche in the wine industry and set his wine apart from the other vineyards. Richardson has been making mediocre wine for the past 15 years and desires to set his company apart by increasing the quality and production of his wine to boost profit and sales. “At
Cited: (2010, Aug. 6 ). In Six Thinking Hats. Retrieved Aug. 17, 2010, from http:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats Hayashi, A. (2001). When to Trust Your Gut. Harvard Business Review, pp. 3-11. Stauffer, D. (2002). How Good Data Leads to Bad Decisions. Harvard Management Update, pp. 1-5. Stryker, P. (1965). Can You Analyze This Problem?. Harvard Business Review, pp. 73-78. West, J. (2000). Delamere Vineyard. Harvard Business School, pp. 1-21.