This week has been a rollercoaster in my life. I had surgery this week and I’ve been
recovering ever since. As they say
though, the show must go on. This week
in class we focused on process improvement and production, operation, and
location.
This week we also did a case study on Roxanne Quimby, one of
the founders of Burt’s Bees. It was an
interesting story about how finding a business and doing well isn’t the
end. Quimby had made a great business
making natural, handmade products out of beeswax and other natural products
from Burt’s beehives. She had grown it
naturally and organically. She used
inexpensive local labor, and really had a love and a passion for what they
did. They were also growing at a steady
rate, but it wasn’t enough. She saw the
writing on the wall and knew they couldn’t keep growing where they were. She had to make a hard choice and move the
company. Was it the right decision? What was the future of the company? Many people in our class discussed how moving
and changing what they made wasn’t in line with the vision of the company. I disagreed.
Too often people think a company’s vision is what they make. I think a company has to have a bigger vision
than that. A vision is about helping the
customer, changing the world, and I think Burt’s Bees’ stayed to their vision
and continued to be a successful company after the move.
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