Page 32 - CL How to Read a Case Study

Teaching Note Paragraph 3

But on the day of his heart attack he was thinking about his staff and the problem
of the coffee cups which as part of a cost cutting exercise had been replaced with
styrofoam ones. Staffers – and even executives - were so incensed by the tiny
cost-cutting move that they put it on a list of the top 10 mistakes they said the

company had made in the past five years.

Morale is on Munoz’s mind. Why are coffee
cups so important?

How important are styrofoam cups to the
operation of the company?

What does this cost cutting exercise say
about the company and its management?

Of the top 10 company mistakes

introducing styrofoam cups would not
normally rate so highly and as a
consequence speaks volumes about the
state of morale and culture of the
company.