Shazia is hung out to dry in boardroom spindry

Who’d have thought that women couldn’t wash and iron?  Since when were tips given for appalling customer service?  And which BBC producer decided to run with one of the biggest travesties in Apprentice history?

I got the distinct impression that there was someone in the production team shouting into Sir Alan’s earpiece “No! Don’t fire the interesting people! Fire the boring woman! Think of the ratings!”

Still, onwards and upwards. Next week the teams have to organise the launch of a major airport terminal.  And here is our summary of the programme.

Week Two of The Apprentice, and the cream of Britain’s mangement potential are given the complex task of…well, washing some soiled hotel bedsheets and ironing some shirts and boxer shorts.

The Task - setting up a laundry, selling laundry services
Aim: to maximise profits

What was provided (apart from the chaffeur driven cars, Blackberrys etc etc)
- Industrial laundry available until 2.00.a.m
- Opportunity to pitch to win laundry contracts from trade customers

What happened?

The Boys:

- Benefited from ex-Army man Simon Smith - who had a good understanding of what is involved in running a laundry and managed the logistics superbly
- Took the initiative and grabbed all the ironing equipment in the house (increased capacity)
- Did some market research on competitor pricing so that they had a good idea of what existing laundry operators charge (vital in the trade pitch)
- Strong project management by Raef
- Focused on high utlisation of production capacity - got to the laundry early and kept the production line flowing; the job was done with time to spare!
- Find a profitable niche segment - washing bedding - higher price in the domestic market £20

The Girls:

- Project Manager Jenny - hour spent on a sales lecture & things went worse from there; a truly dreadful project manager
- No idea about pricing & no effort to research the market
- Lost control of quality - garments went missing, and the team were fined £50

For example - the first trade pitch

- 1,000 pieces of laundry from a hotel: normal price £200
- Girls offered £5,000
- Boys won the contract for £200, though they might have been able to negotiate for slightly more.  That one deal was enough to win the competition

Next pitch laid on by Sir Alan - Fishmongers job - normal price £60

- Girls pitch £10 - and win a loss-making contract
- Boys pitch 50 & decline to go lower (smart move)

What this task was all about

- Sensible pricing - a reasonable rate for the work involved
- Maximising production capacity - the laundry shut by 2.00 a.m which restricted the available capacity if the cleaning was started late
- Operations - strong organisation & teamwork - hot and sweaty work
- Quality control - keeping control of the cleaning quality and ensuring that the right garments were returned to the right customer

What went wrong

- Ridiculous pricing by the girls - £5 to launder a pillowcase - you can buy them new for less
- Asking for tips - blagging (some would say this was extortion)
- No need to think about value added - e.g. a 24 hour hotline for a service that only lasted 16 hours
- Losing customer garments - a disaster for customer service

Revision Presentation - Marketing Mix: Introduction to Pricing [17 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Making Operational Decisions [17 May 2012]
BUSS2 Magic Formula [15 May 2012]
How will General Motors respond to the problem of over-capacity? [16 Apr 2012]
Legislation forces Coke and Pepsi to change their recipe [9 Mar 2012]
Cut price cup cake deal goes wrong…... [22 Nov 2011]
Revision exercise - Chantelle’s Jigsaws [1 Oct 2011]
British manufacturer exploiting a niche [21 Jun 2011]
An end to outsourcing? [18 May 2011]
Lesson Worksheet - Capacity Utilisation [5 May 2011]
Revision games - Marketing Basics (True / False) [16 Feb 2011]
Q&A - Distinguish between price and cost [2 Jan 2011]
Q&A - Should a business use a “loss leader” as part of its pricing tactics? [31 Dec 2010]
Segmentation & Pricing - the Ice-Cream Price Pyramid [17 Nov 2010]
Cash flow Clue-doh! The Mystery is Revealed… [2 Nov 2010]
Making the FT Brand Sweat! [19 Oct 2010]
Pricing Strategy - Mobile Data Networks [14 Sep 2010]
Lessons from the business model of King & Allen [13 Jul 2010]
Sir Richard Branson on Virgin Atlantic Business Strategy [26 May 2010]
British vodka beats the world! [19 May 2010]
BUSS4 and British Airways - a marriage made in heaven [1 Mar 2010]
Strategic reaction to the UK recession - notes and observations [9 Feb 2010]
Taking Demand-based Pricing To Extremes [8 Feb 2010]
Video case study - substitute goods benefiting from the recession [1 Feb 2010]
Flexible working thrives in the recession [1 Feb 2010]
What business students can learn from how businesses have handled the recession [1 Feb 2010]
Video case study - New Balance quality in a successful UK factory [28 Jan 2010]
Product, pricing and profitability in a changing market [20 Jan 2010]
Capacity Utilisation - When Operating at Full Capacity is Bad News for Customers [2 Jan 2010]
Revision Presentation - Revenues and Demand [30 Dec 2009]
Q&A - When is it appropriate for a firm to use penetration pricing? [21 Dec 2009]
Q&A - Explain price skimming [21 Dec 2009]
Q&A - What is the difference between pricing strategies & tactics? [21 Dec 2009]
Q&A - Explain what is meant by price positioning [21 Dec 2009]
Q&A - What factors should a business consider when setting its prices? [19 Dec 2009]
Q&A - How does pricing link to the objectives of a business? [19 Dec 2009]
Q&A - What is price and why is it so important in the marketing mix? [19 Dec 2009]
Revision Presentation - Capacity Management [19 Dec 2009]
Operations in Action - Video Tour of the Amazon Depot [23 Nov 2009]
A tale of two bakers [16 Nov 2009]
Emerging markets drive demand for oil [16 Nov 2009]
Brompton Bicycles - Guardian Profile [9 Nov 2009]
Santa goes back to basics in attempt to reduce the cost of Christmas [29 Oct 2009]
Q&A - What is globalisation? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - How are businesses affected by unemployment? [27 Oct 2009]
Managing Cash Flow - Beware the Economic Recovery [26 Oct 2009]
Economist on Lean Production [20 Oct 2009]
Pricing strategies and tactics under investigation [15 Oct 2009]
Dyson launches a new premium product [14 Oct 2009]
Ukraine 1 England 0 - A match to remember? [12 Oct 2009]
Napster - Trying to compete, or getting desperate? [9 Oct 2009]
V-Water - from start up to exit [4 Oct 2009]
The lights go out for the nightclub market [26 Sep 2009]
Sony cuts the PS3 price to extend its life cycle [30 Aug 2009]
More trouble in the skies [27 Aug 2009]
Plastic car is a blast from the past [25 Aug 2009]
Sainsbury’s and Diageo pitch in to battle [17 Aug 2009]
Own label brands profit from the recession [4 Aug 2009]
Demand and supply in action - tea prices surge [4 Aug 2009]
The Death of Newspapers - to be replaced by Nichepapers? [2 Aug 2009]
Batch production in action - cricket bats [12 Jul 2009]
Standing room only - on Ryanair? [6 Jul 2009]
Instore Takes a Pounding [6 Jul 2009]
Swimsuit malfunction - a failure of quality or just the wrong size? [2 Jul 2009]
U2 on Tour - Investment appraisal and capacity utilisation rolled into one! [2 Jul 2009]
Stock control - de-stocking was over £5bn in Q1 of 2009 [2 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Outline the main costs and benefits of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Explain the causes of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
Q&A - What is inflation and how is it measured? [1 Jul 2009]
East Coast Rail Line is Nationalised [1 Jul 2009]
Recession Bites - new food shopping habits [29 Jun 2009]
Flexible unemployment [19 Jun 2009]
Budget Hotel Chain Now Feeling the Squeeze [17 Jun 2009]
Milk co-operative turns sour [4 Jun 2009]
How to improve a profit margin through a hidden price increase - the Snickers way [4 Jun 2009]
Q&A - What is a sales forecast? [31 May 2009]
Q&A - How can a business handle a loss? [26 May 2009]
Video case study - football shirt sponsorship under pressure [25 May 2009]
BA posts a record loss [22 May 2009]
Television suggestion - Blood Sweat & Takeaways [20 May 2009]
Video case study - the effect of deflation on businesses [19 May 2009]
Motivating employees - the end of the mobile phone sales shark? [17 May 2009]
AQA AS Business Unit 1 - Possible Evaluation Questions [17 May 2009]
A booming rental market – for car parking spaces [12 May 2009]
Q&A - What is training? [2 May 2009]
Swine Flu Vaccine - An Interesting Example of Batch Production in Action [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What is the link between product differentiation and a USP? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - How do changes in commodity prices affect businesses? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What are commodities and how are their prices determined? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What is market supply [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What is market demand? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What are the implications for UK businesses if the pound strengthens? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What causes an exchange rate to change? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What is an exchange rate? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - How are businesses affected by changes in interest rates? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What goes into the “marketing mix”? [1 May 2009]
Video case study - Jute in Time [22 Apr 2009]
How can the same product be cheaper to buy new than second-hand? [16 Apr 2009]
OCR 2880 (ACE) - Charging for Cargo [12 Apr 2009]
Demand and supply in action - oil [11 Apr 2009]

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