1

MKTG 3010 Spring 2020
Critical Thinking Skills – FedEx Office Exercise

ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

I.

The purpose of this exercise is to help you develop and understand your empirical and

quantitative skills, your critical thinking skills, and your business writing skills.
To those ends, aspects of the exercise tap your abilities in the following areas:

1. Your ability to discern relevant facts or data.
2. Your ability to evaluate (process, synthesize, or manipulate) relevant facts or data.
3. Your ability to deduce conclusions (interpret) or contextual information from relevant facts or data.
4. Your ability to identify primary problems or needs from a situation or set of information.
5. Your ability to interpret data, needs, problems, and parameters associated with a situation.
6. Your ability to elucidate assumptions you make as well as to identify contextual

characteristics and limitations associated with the data you used to evaluate the situation.
7. Your ability to construct a presentation that advocates a solution to a key problem or need.
8. Your ability to project the benefits of suggested solutions—its effects on parties involved

II. How the FedEx Office Exercise works: Read the case study carefully before you begin this

exercise.
You will be given a case to read. Be sure to read the exercise carefully—taking as much time as
you believe is necessary. The case will:

• Specify your role; who your client is; and contain data as to the situation your client
faces.

• Then, determine the relevant facts or data from the description of the situation.
• Drawing from the facts you have selected, specify the problems that your client, its

employees, or to your client’s customers are facing, remembering to focus only on the
problems that your product or service can solve.

• Taking into account the facts or situational parameters you selected and the problems
you have deduced from those facts or situational parameters, estimate the larger
implications associated with the problems the client presently faces.

• Present solutions that your product or service can offer and provide detailed
explanations on how the solution applies.

• Relate the benefits of your solution to the specific beneficiary – your client, its
employees, or the client’s customers.

You will have to organize the analysis based on the format presented in class by the instructor. You
will present your analysis with the following sections:

1. SITUATION: Relevant Facts (separate section for seller and buyer)
2. PROBLEMS: Analysis of Talon Training’s Problems
3. IMPLICATIONS: Larger, Future Implications if Problems Are Not Solved
4. SOLUTIONS: FedEx Office Solutions for the Specified Talon Training Problems
5. BENEFITS: Benefits of the FedEx Office Solutions to Talon Training

SPIN questions are included at the end of the Situation, Problems, and Implications sections
but should only be created after the analysis for each of these sections has been completed.

2

Remember – it is not enough to identify facts, problems, implication, solutions and benefits;
you must analyze them in detail.

SECTION 1: SITUATION

I. Relevant facts – specify all of the relevant facts associated with the situation as outlined in the
case study. Include facts for both the seller (FedEx Office) and the buyer (Talon Training) and
utilize the format provided by your instructor.

The first part of your exercise, related above, is to help you develop your skills in evaluating a
situation faced by another. You will specify the relevant data associated with the situation. As
you determine the relevancy of the data, start to evaluate the impact of the data or situational
parameters on parties involved and consider the potential outcomes of the problems on the
parties involved (client, client’s employees, customers, and others).

II. Situation questions – write and present a minimum of four (4) Situation Questions the will
uncover the relevant facts that are needed to understand the Talon Training background and the
complete Talon Training process for producing and shipping materials.

SECTION 2: TALON TRAINING PROBLEMS

I. Analyze Talon Training’s problems – identify and completely analyze a minimum of four
problems that the seller can solve. Do not include internal human resource problems that have no
relevance to the potential solutions that the seller may provide.

II. Problem questions – Write and present a minimum of four (4) Problem Questions that will
uncover four different problems that FedEx Office can solve that relate to Talon Training’s process
for producing and shipping materials

SECTION 3: IMPLICATIONS TO TALON TRAINING

I. Implications of the problems – specify and completely analyze a minimum of four (4)
implications related to the four problems. Each implication must relate to one of the four identified
problems and demonstrate the larger effect that will occur without a resolution to the problem.

II. Implication questions – Write and present a minimum of four (4) Implication Questions that
would reinforce the larger, more painful, and future implications that could occur if the problems
are not solved.

SECTION 4: FEDEX OFFICE SOLUTIONS

Potential seller solutions to the buyer’s problems – present and explain in detail with supporting
FedEx Office features a minimum of four solutions that the seller can offer to solve the buyer’s
problems. Do not offer internal human resource solutions unique to the buyer’s company.

This part of your exercise is intended to help you develop your ability to amass, consolidate, and
present a solution to a complex set of problems or situation. Using the data gleaned from the exercise,
you will develop potential solutions to the problems. To support the solutions, you will need to specify
and support your solutions with specific features and benefits. To underpin the problem and sub
problems, you will need to relate relevant data and specify implications of those facts, data, or
situational parameters. Essentially, you are stating and justifying your interpretation of the situation—
drawn from the data presented or evident.

3

SECTION 5: BENEFITS OF THE FEDEX OFFICE SOLUTIOSN TO TALON TRAINING

Benefits of the potential solutions – identify and explain in detail a minimum of four benefits that the
buyer will experience resulting from the implementation of the seller’s solutions. The benefits should
clearly identify the specific beneficiary related to the buyer – overall company, employees, clients,
trainers, etc.

Assumptions – list any that you are making (implied or unstated facts). For example, it is reasonable
to assume that a client seeks to grow revenue and profit.

Okay. Take a breath. Keep in mind that you are simply trying to help your client and your client’s
customers achieve their goals. Rather than simply blurting out random ideas, you are going through a
thought-driven process. Chances are good that you have done such things at work or in personal
problem solving.

Your written submission is an internal report. Therefore, write it as professional business document
with clarity and conciseness. Use full descriptive sentences that analyze the facts from the case.
Format the document with clearly identified sections and headings for each of the required analysis
areas. Remember that you will create SPIN questions only for the Situation, Problems, and
Implications sections and the SPIN questions are created after your thorough analysis.

The required file format is Word ( x) or PDF ( ) and upload the file to the Canvas assignment.
Do not email the file to your instructor. It must be uploaded to Canvas to be graded.

Okay. Given your assignment, go ahead and read carefully through the data presented in the following
section. Take your time. Read through the situation several times. You will glean different bits of
information each time. Then, initiate the analytical structure related in the previous paragraph.

4

MKTG 3010 Spring 2020
Critical Thinking Skills – FedEx Office Exercise

CASE STUDY OVERVIEW

Your Employer – FedEx Office

You are an account representative with FedEx Office. Your job is to secure relationships with client
organizations. Your company melds the parcel moving capabilities of FedEx with printing and data
capabilities. Your customers are businesses that need to distribute information to their clients or internal
users (e.g., training information, product information, manuals). Unlike main line UPS or FedEx, your
employer does not move parcels or freight. Instead, your company helps clients disseminate data to users.
In most cases, the data and information disseminated are non-routine (i.e. specific to a certain product,
project, or program). An example would be copying, packaging, and shipping training materials and
operating manuals to sixty-four hospitals and other facilities owned by Trinity Health group.

FedEx Office can print, store, disseminate, package, and otherwise prepare documented materials. Its
facilities are located in all U.S. cities with populations in excess of 20,000. The firm ships to any location
that can be reached by road. Data can be transferred between any of the nearly 2,000 FedEx Office
locations. All locations feature printing, binding, cd or DVD burning and other data packaging
capabilities. All locations are served by FedEx pickup and delivery. All locations offer a range of
delivery options (next day, same day, two business days) very similar to those offered by UPS.

FedEx Office can ship across the world. In some nations, agents of FedEx Office (other firms) engage in
delivery. FedEx Office facilities are located only in the United States (all fifty states) and across Canada.

Your Prospect – Talon Training

Talon Training contacted you by telephone. Talon Training is a global training services company that
provides an array of packaged training programs to businesses across the United States and in 60 other
countries. The company headquarters is in St. Louis, MO. It has sub-offices in San Antonio, TX and
Portland, OR.

Talon Training has been in business since 2002. Chris Jones and Dylan Smith started the company as co-
founders. Jones focused on developing “Voice of the Customer” program that has enabled Talon Training
to provide tailored solutions and services to a wide variety of industries including finance,
pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, logistics, retail and energy. Jones is a professional IT resources trainer
and holds several national standards certifications in the IT area. Jones earned an MBA from Wharton.

In 2004, Jones convinced four fellow IT trainers to form a co-operative. The trainers began training IT
managers in the technology area. Over the years, Jones and the partners built relationships with trainers
from other disciplines (e.g., LMS, Oracle, SAP, QuickBooks and other areas where business often job out
training.

Word of mouth and positive experience allowed Jones and the partners to establish an extended
network of 475 contractor trainers across the U.S. and Canada. Talon Training offers training
solutions for more than 19 specific applications.

5

Situational and Context-based Information

You have a video conference call with Chris Jones. It lasts for about forty minutes. During the visit, Jones
shares information with you and responds to several questions you ask. The following are notes and
observations you log during the visit.

Clients contact Talon Training via the internet or telephone. Based on client needs, Talon Training
devises a training plan and generates a bid. If the bid is accepted, Talon Training notifies a trainer or
training team and schedules the session. Then, the Talon Training staff confirms the printed materials
specifications and any online requirements. (Talon Training has learned over time that companies want to
provide employees with both electronic and hard copies of all training materials.) The step is materials
preparation including printing, collating and shipping. Occasionally, the client generates the materials.
Next, the training site is established and trainees are registered, contacted and sent preparation
instructions. Finally, training execution takes place on the designated site.

Talon Training has 28 full-time employees. Thirteen (13) full-time staff work at the St. Louis office.
Eight (8) full-time staff work at the San Antonio office and seven (7) full-time staff work at the Portland
office. At each office, training materials are prepared from documents proprietary to Talon Training.
Preparation usually involves customization (e.g., inserting the client’s logo, date, and producing any
mandatory materials such as document numbers or certificates).

Talon Training produces the materials in the quantities specified, prepares and labels flash drives or other
ancillaries, and packages and labels the shipment according to the delivery instructions.

The Talon Training full-time staff includes a mix of male/female employees and range in age from 24 to
50. The full-time staff primarily works forty hours per week. All of the full-time staff are capable of
running duplication equipment, handling document management tasks, and carrying out other office
tasks. One employee at each location, the site manager, handles scheduling and billing of the training
seminars. Jones and the original partners select and arrange compensation for the contractors who carry
out the training.

Talon Training materials ship to training locations via all the major package carriers USPS, UPS, FedEx,
DHL, and others as needed. The training location or hotel holds the materials and the contract trainer
(i.e. not a full-time employee) picks them up.

Status of Talon Training 2018

Talon Training’s revenues have fluctuated over the past few years. Historically, Talon Training
carried out more than 3,300 seminars. Each location dispatched approximately 22 seminars per week
over a 50-week training year (fiscal year). Base price for any seminar (net of materials) is $5000.
Base price covers a three-day seminar (including trainer travel time). Base price covers training for
eight trainees net of materials with an additional $500 for each additional trainee. In 2018, the
average seminar serviced 12 trainees.

Talon Training has an excellent reputation as a provider of training for human resources, Salesforce and
Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, QuickBooks and PeopleSoft. Jones knows that the core of 200 contract
trainers, who conduct slightly over sixty percent of the classes offered each year, are the key to Talon
Training’s success. The core trainers average ten 3-4 day sessions per year.

Contract trainers are nationally recognized experts in their fields. Most trainers once worked for large
corporations (e.g., Oracle, AT&T and Microsoft) and some trainers hold advanced degrees. All trainers
hold specific certifications that make the courses acceptable to certification bodies.

6

In 2018, Talon Training ran 3,100 sessions with an average billing of $5,750 per session for a gross
revenue of $17.8 million. The declining revenue in 2018 has prompted Talon Training to change
pricing.

Jones explained the Talon Training had cancellations between 2017 and 2018 and conceded that several
long time clients had cancelled training because of delays. One client indicated that his trainer was
unprepared. “The guy used a white board for the first two days of training. We paid for professional
training. I had several trainees complain that they could not follow the material and had to take copious
notes by hand.”

Jones elaborated that in the situation the trainer arrived at his hotel on Monday expecting that the training
materials would be there. Because of delays in processing at one of the offices, the training materials
could not be shipped until late the previous Friday. The training materials arrived Wednesday
afternoon—two days into the training. Jones further explained that three of the staff in the office
involved were ill due to a flu outbreak —causing a backup in processing. So the materials were shipped
out ASAP to the hotel rather than the training site—a restaurant chain.

Not only did Talon Training lose the restaurant chain as a client–the trainer involved, who was one of the
core, went to another training company. “That fellow took about $300,000 annual revenue with him,”
Jones conceded.

Jones observed that, although Talon Training can schedule sessions, it was getting more difficult to
prepare materials. Most of the clients – restaurant chains, banks, insurance companies, and certain types
of manufacturing companies, were small to mid-size. Therefore, they want Talon Training to prepare the
training materials rather than having to print, bind, and package the materials themselves.

Sometimes the larger companies (clients) choose to prepare the materials themselves and then processing
disasters occurred. PowerPoint slides were missing or out of order. Training binders were incomplete or
not available. Production of training materials occurred at the last minute which led to misspelled words
and format errors. In all cases, trainees assumed it was Talon Training’s fault and the contract trainers
became very frustrated handling the complaints and receiving poor evaluations for something that they
had no control over.

Jones noted that the trainers were responsible for getting the materials onto the training site. That
protocol had been in place since the inception of Talon Training in 2002. Jones conceded that several of
the core trainers were frustrated with having to secure the materials and haul them to the site. One fellow
noted that a competing firm shipped direct to the site and texted or called its trainers regarding arrival
time and location of materials. Jones conceded that ‘something needs to be done soon or we will be out
of business within 6-7 years.”

When asked why Talon Training did not ship direct to the training site, Jones sighed and explained that
most of the restaurant chains, banks, and manufacturing companies that the trainers deal with have large,
extensive facilities. In one case, a shipment delivery to a manufacturing office, the receptionist set the
shipment with boxes of equipment manuals and mail that had come into the office. The trainer arrived at
the corporate conference room, the designated training site. It took fifteen telephone calls to the carrier,
the human resource department, and the central manufacturing office to locate the training materials.
“That is why I hold the trainers accountable for shipping materials.”

7

When asked if the materials are customized to the client, Jones proudly stated, “You bet. That is a
strength of our programs.” Jones then noted that in two cases, the wrong organization name ended up on
the materials. Oracle materials prepared for the IT staff at Brinker International in Dallas, TX were
mislabeled with materials to be shipped to the IT staff at the School of Veterinary Science at Texas A&M
University in College Station, Texas. Fortunately, the parties saw the irony in that situation.

Jones admitted that, “our office staff is well-trained and compensated but still staff productivity is
declining.” Sometimes the office staff has family obligations that interrupt attendance at work. However,
Jones noted that replacing and training reliable, literate, staff for such positions is expensive. Talon
Training pays the average staff member $50,000 per year with $20,000 per year in benefits costs.
Therefore, staff costs are more than $1.9 million per year. Jones estimates that replacing a staff member
will run closer to $55,000 with $25,000 in benefits and other costs of employment. Last year, Jones paid
out $155,000 in overtime bonuses to staff attributable to rush jobs and business flux.

Goals for Talon Training
You ask Chris Jones why Talon Training seeks to continue in this business in light of labor and support
problems. Jones indicates that there is increased demand for outsourced training for technology needs
with anticipated growth of 8% (percent) per year for the next five years. “I really need to ramp up our
operations and growth,” Jones observes.

So what other problems exist, aside from delivery and preparation issues? Jones indicates that TrainWell,
a company started by a former Talon Training contractor, had begun to eke away at Talon Training’s
client base. Sam Frederick, founder of TrainWell, had lured away several of Talon Training’s core
trainers with more lucrative compensation and better support. “Oh,” you utter. You ask Jones if Talon
Training can sue TrainWell for pirating materials. Jones glares at you. “The trainer is the key asset here.
Any expert can develop materials. If I sue, core trainers will leave us like there’s a plague.”