Posted: May 25th, 2022

Chicken Farmers ODI Case Study

Optical Distortion

The purpose of ODI was to develop a product that could partially blind chickens, which would lead to their consuming less and saving farmers money over the duration of the chickens’ life. The product that ODI developed was a contact lens for chickens. This lens was to be an improvement upon the situation for chickens, which previously were debeaked by farmers to prevent the pecking order from getting out of hand and the chickens progressing to cannibalism. Debeaking was a process by which chickens literally had their beaks cut off at different angles, weakening their ability to peck one another. The issue with debeaking, however, was two-fold: first, it produced serious trauma on the chicken, and resulted in hens not laying eggs for at least a week; second, it caused the farmer to have to fill the feed trough 3/8’s of an inch higher because the chickens’ beaks were now smaller.

Thus, while debeaking helped reduce the rate at which chickens killed one another, it did not actually solve the problem of pecking. The ODI lens was a new product that looked to address directly the issue of hen-pecking. By putting lenses in the eyes of the chickens that impaired their vision and reduced their range of sight to just 12 inches, the farmer could control how well the chicken could see. Because part of the aggressive, pecking nature of dominant chickens is to hold their heads up high, the lenses worked to make all chickens look weak and submissive: if a chicken could see no more than a foot in front of its face, it kept its head lower to the ground so as to better find food. Plus, it could not recognize the combs of chickens (a way to establish pecking order) and so there was no more pecking — with lenses in their eyes, the pecking order was neutralized (Clarke, 2009, p. 5).

This was really an ingenious method that was discovered by accident when in the 1970s a chicken farmer realized that the chickens with cataracts on his farm were less aggressive and consumed less. This got a few entrepreneurs thinking about how they could replicate this stigma in the chickens. Blurred lenses became the solution (Clarke, 2009, p. 1).

However, now the company ran into a new problem: how to fund the business and penetrate the market at the same time. As Clarke (2009) acknowledges, “Chicken farmers are an independent-minded breed of men” (p. 7) and would not pay high prices for a new product that they had not personally tested. Thus, a box of lenses was priced at $20. While this would produce a low profit margin for ODI, it was felt that this was the best way to penetrate and saturate the market — if the box was priced any higher, farmers might be less willing to give it a try. On the other hand, once purchased and tried, farmers would likely be hooked and prices could then be raised. Getting the farmers hooked first through the use of advertising, salesmen and finally through actually trying out of the product, was the first thing.

This case study of ODI is very interesting and tells a lot about the kinds of things that chicken farmers think about and how entrepreneurs go about starting a business — getting the patents, perfecting the product, analyzing start-up costs and then trying to figure out how to penetrate the market.

Ethical concerns that might be raised by ODI’s product today could focus on animal cruelty. Deliberately blinding a chicken so as to reduce farmers’ feed costs and loss of chicken life might seem cruel, but it makes sense too from a chicken’s perspective and could be seen as a safeguard against chicken killing and vicious pecking by other chickens. There are other products that perform a similar service without having to impair the vision of the chickens, but it is uncertain whether they are as effective, theoretically speaking. For example, HenSaver produces an apron that the chicken wears on its back that is meant to protect it from vicious pecking (HenSaver, 2015).

Nonetheless, the ingenuity that went into the development of the ODI product is impressive and it would be interesting to see how the company did, whether it actually got off the ground and succeeded or whether it ultimately failed to find a foothold in the market. A cursory search on the Internet yielded no solid results other than promising webpage that initially looked like the company’s page — but upon inspection revealed itself as a page dedicated to the ODI case study and had actually no affiliation with the company whatsoever.

Thus, in conclusion, this is one case study that could use a follow-up: how the company solved its issues (or if it ever really did) and whether the lenses ever took off among chicken farmers — these are points that I would like to know, as they would give a better sense of how the company solved the problem of penetrating the market. If I were the company, I would consider giving out free samples first — and that would really hook farmers (no cost up front other than the labor of installing the lenses). This would not require salesmen because the lenses could be easily distributed to the farms without needing to actually make a “pitch.” Then, later, once tried by the farmers, the demand will produce the income. This would give the company an opportunity to save on upfront costs (hiring multiple salespeople) and would reduce the risk of farmers not willing to buy a box for their chickens. It would cost the company in terms of giving lenses away for free — but this is a small investment really in the company’s future going forward.

References

Clarke, D. (2009). Optical Distortion, Inc. (A). Harvard Business School.

HenSaver. (2015). Chicken Saddles. Retrieved from http://www.hensaver.com/hen-saver-hen-apron-saddle.html

---

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

• Plagiarism free papers
• Timely delivery
• Any deadline
• Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
• Subject-relevant academic writer
• Adherence to paper instructions
• Ability to tackle bulk assignments
• Reasonable prices
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Get superb grades consistently

 

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

• When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
• We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

• The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
• We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
• Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment  Help Service Works

1.      Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2.      Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3.      Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4.      Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!

---