CASE: THERMATRIX

In 1985, a company called In-Process Technology was set up to produce and sell a thermal oxidation process that could be used t reduce industrial pollution. The initial investors acquired the rights to technology developed at a federal government laboratory However, for years the company performed dismally and •1991 was still only earning $264,000 annually.

In 1992, current CEO John Schofield was hired to turn things around. Under his tutelage, the company was reorganized renamed Thermatrix. Schofield realized the potential the technology in the environmental marketplace. He was le to raise more than $20 million in private equity offerings over several years to produce, market, and distribute the product. In June of 1996, there was a successful public offering of Thermatrix in the financial markets.

Thermatrix's philosophy was to give customers more than competitors gave without charging more. The company targeted large corporations as customers, hoping to use its client list as a selling tool. In addition, realizing that they were small, thinly capitalized company, Thermatrix partnered with many of its clients in developing solutions to the clients' specific environment problems.

Eventually, Schofield located the Thermatrix operations group in Knoxville, Tennessee, because of the low cost of living and the large pool of highly trained professional workers. Thermatrix was able to attract good employees using stock options and other competitive compensation. Sixty employees presently work for the company, and annual sales have risen to about $15 million.

Thermatrix also has become a player in the international place. In 1997, 35% of company revenue came from overseas business. By 1998, it was expected that more than 60% F its revenues would be derived from overseas customers. A main key to the company's success has been its customer satisfaction. In 2001, Thermatrix sold its Wahlco Environment

Systems assets and refocused its efforts on its core business, the application of its flameless thermal oxidation technology.

Discussion

1. Thermatrix has grown and flourished because of its good customer relationships, which include partnering, delivering a quality product on time, and listening to the customer's needs. Suppose company management wants to formally measure customer satisfaction at least once a year and develops a brief survey that includes the following four questions.

Suppose 115 customers participated in this survey with the results shown. Use techniques presented in this chapter to analyze the data to estimate population responses to these questions.

Now suppose Thermatrix officers want to ascer-tain employee satisfaction with the company. They randomly sample nine employees and ask them to complete a satisfaction survey under the supervision of an independent testing organization. As part of this survey, employees are asked to respond to questions on a 5-point scale where 1 is low satisfaction and 5 is high satisfaction. Assume the data are at least interval and that the overall responses on questions are normally distributed.

The questions and the results of the survey are shown here. Analyze the results by using techniques from this chapter

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