Smith Plumbing is facing some serious problems. After some major organizational changes, their profits have dropped and their customer base has shrunk significantly. The new president has implemented a system where plumbers return to home base to have their previous job signed off on by two supervisors. The sign-off process includes an interview, a checklist, and a carbon copy form. Only then can plumbers receive their next assignment. Another source of frustration is that the instructions with the sign-off process are unclear, causing each supervisor to complete it in a different way.
Plumbers complain that this has significantly reduced their available field time, particularly since supervisors are not always available. As well, the new president has discontinued the Smith Superstars membership program, which gave customers one free service after ten paid services. There have been many complaints from customers about this change.