Perfect Pizza - Credit Card Processing Decisions

Abstract

This case is based on a consulting project the author conducted with a credit card processing company, although the names and the numbers have been adjusted for use in the classroom. The case describes the nature of the credit card processing industry and asks students to prepare worksheets and graphs to determine credit card costs from the merchant’s perspective and revenues from the processor’s perspective. The workbook tasks require the use of absolute and relative cell-referencing and the MAX function, and also contain formatting issues for spreadsheets and graphs. The students are also asked to write a memo and to respond to several questions about decision making by the merchant and by the processor. One series of open-ended questions asks students to reflect on uncertainty, information bias, and risk aversion as elements of the decision making process.