Here are some questions to help you analyze the background of the case:
• State the background as you understand it
• What business is Quinte MRI in?
• What facilities does Quinte MRI have? Who are their customers? (ANSWER: physicians)
• How long has Benton-Cooper been operating? How is business going?
• Who are you in the case? (ANSWER: David Wright and/or Kevin Saskiw)
• What is your role?
• What is the service being performed at Quinte? (ANSWER: completed diagnosis)
• How is it requested? How is it finished?
• What is the “marketing task”? How do you make money in this business?
• What is the available demand? What is the future demand?
Issue(s) Identification:
Here are some questions to help you discover the issues in the case:
• What is the root problem? Is anyone angry about the situation?
• How important are waiting times?
• What is the current throughput time – from doctor’s request to receipt of the radiologist’s diagnosis?
• Are there serious problems? Or, is this a typical start-up issue that will get better over time?
• Is this just a scheduling and communications problem?
• How urgent is the problem?
• What is the estimated number of scans per year over the next five years?
• What does the backlog tell you?
• How many scans per year are required to breakeven?
• What is the fixed cost per year? (ANSWER: $690,000 including MR technician’s salary)
• What is the per-scan: revenue, expenses, net contribution? What is the breakeven point for Quinte MRI? (ANSWER: revenue = $700; expenses = $140 + $5 + $50 = $195; net contribution = $700 - $195 = $505 per scan; BREAKEVEN = $690,000/$505 = 1,366 scans per year)
Criteria for Decisions:
Here are some questions to help you analyze the criteria for decisions:
• How much time do physicians expect to wait? (From request to results? ANSWER: 48 hours)
• What is the minimum number of scans per day? (ANSWER: Goal = 2/hour or 15/day)
• How could you continue