Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Zappos Customer Loyalty Team

Laseter, Timothy M...

Case

Zappos Customer Loyalty Team

Laseter, Timothy M.; Carter, Scott; Goldberg, Rebecca

OM-1452 | Published October 13, 2011 | 15 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Zappos' senior leadership must decide whether to continue to schedule the call center shifts based on seniority or to consider a new plan that makes use of Uber-style surge pricing to pay workers higher hourly rates for the more demanding shifts. These shifts also happen to occur when the bulk of the East Coast buyers call in--early in the morning in the Arizona-based call center. Tony Hsieh, Zappos' renowned CEO, sits in on a meeting with the two call-center managers while they debate the best approach. This updated case also discusses new trends in Zappos company culture and market position, with its adoption of Holacracy and Teal.

Core pedagogical focus is on queueing theory, sometimes called waiting line management.