Management Manual
For Powder Hound Skis
By: Jessica Koch
Date: April 28, 2018
I. Introduction
Powder Hound Skis is a company built around the needs of skiers out in the back
country. Our mission is to help serve skiers in the back country with products that will not fail
them in the most extreme conditions. We bring this philosophy into our office as well. We want
to provide our management and employees with all the tools and techniques they need so that
they do not fail.
The purpose of this manual is to help provide management with an understanding of
the management principles implemented at Powder Hound Skis. It will also serve as a reference
point for management when guidance is needed in decision making. This manual will discuss
the recommended techniques used by past managers that have been proven to work and have
shown the most optimum results. The planning, organizing, leading, and controlling techniques
will all be discussed in this manual.
II. Planning
At Powder Hound Skis, our planning process starts with Treacy and Wiersema’s three
generic value disciplines; operational excellence, product leadership and customer intimacy.
There are also four rules that must be obeyed to succeed:
1. Provide the best offer in the marketplace, by excelling in one specific dimension
of value.
2. Maintain threshold standards on other dimensions of value.
3. Dominate your market by improving the value year after year.
4. Build a well-tuned operating model dedicated to delivering unmatched value. (p.
186)
Of the three disciplines, we put most of our focus on customer intimacy, but it is important to
note that the other two disciplines should not be neglected.
It is important to note that customer intimacy does not mean just great customer
service, as it is much more than that. Getting to know the customer on a higher personal level is
the key to this strategy. To succeed at this, it requires higher levels of investment in
understanding our market segment and using this insight, so we can offer creative solutions to
their problems, solutions that far exceed what our competitors can offer them. (Davies)
Focusing on being reliable, offering products to customers on time and above their
expectations, and knowing the customers will help our managers to plan accordingly for our
business.
Generally, “decision authority is given to employees who are close to the customer”
because building tight bonds with the customer will help drive the business as well as help
make important decisions. (p. 187) Management should frequently pair up with these
employees to get feedback they hear from the customers. This allows the business to develop
innovative technology that solves problems for our customers. Since a big focus is on the front
end with customer intimacy, its important for managers to not forget about the operational
end. A smooth and efficient back end, such as timely shipments and always making sure we
have the product in stock, will also play a significant role in keeping the customer happy. All of
this will help to build our relationships with customers and build excellent brand loyalty.
With customer intimacy being our focus, we also implement the use of the Balanced
Scorecard to help further develop our plans. Developed by Robert Kaplan and Davis Norton, the
Balanced Scorecard helps to translate the businesses strategy into specific goals and objectives
and allows the company to monitor performance. (p. 227) The Balanced Scorecard is broken
into four subareas; customers, learning and growth, internal processes and financial
performance. Since focusing on just one area alone is not sufficient enough for a business to be
successful, each of these areas is crucial to understanding the overall performance of the
company.
