Sendwine.Com Case Study
m e m o r a n d u m
To: Students in Marketing Management From: Michael Betz Date: Monday, October 11, 2010
Re: Second Memo Assignment – Sendwine.com
Problem Statement
The case study presents several challenges to Sendwine.com. Of those, I believe the following are the most notable, unordered:
Proposed Challenge Rationale Suspected Cause
Recruiting / Personnel With the rapid growth Sendwine experienced, and with the capital influx to support it, many new people were added to the organization in a short window. A lot of “new” without training and transition can be disruptive. Explosive growth forced a need to add people fast. With management spread thin and time at a premium, corporate strategy, onboarding, and training programs and corporate organization and communication probably suffered or didn’t exist.
Project Management Explosive growth and lots of opportunity fueled by immense venture capital inflows created a lot of things to get done. With existing management and staff maxed-out and time at a premium, time must be spent where it creates the most value. I suspect that little to any effort was spent prioritizing and organizing projects. Trying to pursue everything at once created lots of projects in progress (or WIP) but huge lead times and relatively slow project execution (completion).
Consistent Stocking The Sendwine business model distributes wine through local, mid-sized wine stores. There appeared to be no standard inventory selection that could be offered and assured in stock. Sendwine did not mandate a consistent inventory to be supplied across its distributors (or a method to inform customers of specific local inventory) resulting in variation, stockouts and substitution
Recommendations
Given the challenges presented, I propose implementing the following solutions to drive the corresponding expected outcome:
Proposed Challenge Suggested Solution Expected Outcome
Recruiting / Personnel Install a HR
To: Students in Marketing Management From: Michael Betz Date: Monday, October 11, 2010
Re: Second Memo Assignment – Sendwine.com
Problem Statement
The case study presents several challenges to Sendwine.com. Of those, I believe the following are the most notable, unordered:
Proposed Challenge Rationale Suspected Cause
Recruiting / Personnel With the rapid growth Sendwine experienced, and with the capital influx to support it, many new people were added to the organization in a short window. A lot of “new” without training and transition can be disruptive. Explosive growth forced a need to add people fast. With management spread thin and time at a premium, corporate strategy, onboarding, and training programs and corporate organization and communication probably suffered or didn’t exist.
Project Management Explosive growth and lots of opportunity fueled by immense venture capital inflows created a lot of things to get done. With existing management and staff maxed-out and time at a premium, time must be spent where it creates the most value. I suspect that little to any effort was spent prioritizing and organizing projects. Trying to pursue everything at once created lots of projects in progress (or WIP) but huge lead times and relatively slow project execution (completion).
Consistent Stocking The Sendwine business model distributes wine through local, mid-sized wine stores. There appeared to be no standard inventory selection that could be offered and assured in stock. Sendwine did not mandate a consistent inventory to be supplied across its distributors (or a method to inform customers of specific local inventory) resulting in variation, stockouts and substitution
Recommendations
Given the challenges presented, I propose implementing the following solutions to drive the corresponding expected outcome:
Proposed Challenge Suggested Solution Expected Outcome
Recruiting / Personnel Install a HR