Page 470 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

CHAPTER 14 • Foundations of Control 469
down men’s workout wear and then selling them in feminine hit 12 percent, Lululemon had no choice but to pull the pants
colors—Wilson believed that women would prefer working out off the store shelves. The CEO at that time said the pants had
in clothes that actually fit them. So, in addition to fashionable passed quality assurance tests, but admitted that the only way
styles, he concentrated on technical elements including seam- to actually quality test the product was to put them on and bend
less stitching and breathable fabrics. And surprise, surprise: over. And the company hadn’t done that … until it was too late.
women were willing to pay $100 or more for his company’s That was in 2013, and the company is still trying to get
workout clothes. Lululemon was off and running. Like many back to where it was in terms of customer loyalty and sales
smaller companies, executives numbers. Although the com-
focused on the product and not Losing your pose… pany’s core business is still
so much on the “infrastruc- women, it is seeing strong
ture” side of the business (hu- growth in men’s and girl’s
man resources, IT, finance). That works … up to a point. When businesses. It’s no longer one of the fastest-growing compa-
the chief information officer was hired, she actually found it nies, but it has certainly learned something about the impor-
fairly easy to implement the technology she felt was needed tance of control!
because there wasn’t really anything in place to work around.
One area where former executives felt focus was lacking Discussion Questions
was in the production area. No rigorous manufacturing model 14-22 What type (or types) of control—feedforward, concurrent, or
was in place. There were no schedules or deadlines. The com- feedback—do you think would have been helpful in this situ-
pany countered that by saying it wanted to remain flexible. But ation? Explain your choice.
the manufacturing weakness was also evident in the lack of 14-23 Using Exhibit 14–2, discuss if and how this situation could
people who had expertise in the technical aspects of clothing have been prevented.
manufacturing, such as quality control or control over raw ma- 14-24 Could Lululemon’s controls have been more effective? How?
terials. Which brings us to the problem of sheer yoga pants— 14-25 What role would information controls play in this situation?
yoga pants being a core product of the company. As customers Customer interaction controls? What other controls do you
began returning the product and as the product complaint rate think might have been useful?