Delievering the Ivring Promise

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The case “Delivering the Irving Performance” discusses how Irving Oil is having trouble implementing a performance measurement system. Al Bugbee, Cate Rafferty and Jesse O‘Rourke, members of the scorecard development team have until January to make a decision that will keep the family tradition flowing. The firm’s strategy was to operate differently from its competitors by means of cleanliness, organization, helpfulness and friendliness. Their biggest challenge has been finding a way to drive front line employee behaviour, but the challenge that Irving faced was deciding the appropriate number if measures that would influence the behaviour of the convenience retail workers.

The main issue the development team is having is related to the Irvings VOC data system. The 25 percent satisfaction rating was disheartening to Al and the question the development team needed to answer was whether this was the correct way to measure customer satisfaction. The third design issue is how to capture the data. The firm partners with a data management firm to conduct random customer surveys automatically generated from the store register. There is a debate about the size of the sample and the integrity of the data. The case walks the students through the process and the levels of design decisions that are made. The case provides the firms unique strategy map and the students are challenged to insure the measures fit the map.

Problems or Issues

1. Imagine you are Jesse O’Rourke preparing for the meeting with Al that afternoon. Prepare the following items and any other analysis you think necessary for the meeting:

a. In you opinion why is the scorecard tool a good device for the CR business? Are the linkages between strategy and key success factors strong?

b. Looking at Exhibit 6, mark each goal as “actionable” or “measureable” and see if there are better choices for the dynamic scorecard measures than the ones the team chose. What...