SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICE STRATEGY

E d w a r d H . F r a z e l l e , P h . D . satisfied guests at Walt Disney World are those who had a dissatisfying experience. That notion seemed strange to me until I took a turn working side-by-side with one of their retail managers. She explained that the Disney cast members are trained to spot disappointed guests. There are not many of them, so they stand out. One day when I was shadowing the retail manager in one of their stores on Main Street USA, she noticed a little girl crying. The retail manager gently approached the little girl and knelt down next to her. She asked her why she was crying. She said that she had come all the way from Oklahoma to buy a Daisy Duck t shirt, but she could not find one in her size. The manager looked through the shirts on the shelf and could not find one. The manager thanked the little girl for pointing out that the shelf was empty and said that she would look in the back room. She gave the little girl a small Disney book to read while she was gone. A few minutes later the retail manager came back empty handed. She knelt down again to tell the little girl that they did not have the shirts in the back room either, but that she would call the other stores at Walt Disney World to find one. She gave the little girl another Disney book and went to the phone. The manager called three stores. The third store had the t- shirt in the little girl’s size. A Disney courier brought the t-shirt to the store in a special package and presented the t-shirt to the little | 5

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