JIU
BBA 310: Management
8.1

CASE ANALYSIS PORTFOLIO

Abstract
In studying how to be a more effective and overall better manager, I’ve made a list of all the best practices I hope to rule by. I will go from assignment to assignment starting with my paper from 1.1 titled Effective Management of People. 1- A perfect leader is passionate about the company and only wants to make it better by bringing in only the best to help the company flourish. To me, a perfect leader/manager is someone who is sensitive to the needs and attitudes of his employees but also knows how be firm and somewhat demanding. Being a friend to your employees does work but a manager must never forget that the company comes first.
2.1- Case Analysis on Motivating Employees: Don’t play favorites. Everyone needs treated fairly.
3.1- Case Analysis on Strategic Management: Happy customers mean repeat and new business. Word of mouth is everything.
4.1- Case Analysis on Managing People During Change: Be inviting to my employees and let them know that I am available to talk to them about the change. I will also assure them that we will all get through any change together.
5.1- Case Analysis on Managing Work Teams: Inspire creativity by providing an incentive.
6.1- Case Analysis on Empowered Decision Making: Make decisions myself unless I feel that another employee has either a spectacular idea or its time to select a successor.
7.1- Case Analysis on Managing Organizational Change: Change is an inevitability, so just make sure everyone is prepared.
I have three best practices that I will try to follow once I am a manager. They include: • I will treat my employee’s time as if it’s as important as mine. The best managers earn respect by being every bit as prompt with their own employees as they are with their own boss. It shows that the manager values his/her employees as individuals- a feeling that in all likelihood will be mutual. • I will not become intoxicated by personal power. A little power goes a long way and it’s easy to abuse. When too many people are eager to please a manager, it’s tempting to take advantage of that. The best managers realize that positional power is a privilege, and wield it judiciously. • I will earn the trust of those that I manage. The best managers are credible and always true to their word. In short, trustworthy.

1. EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF PEOPLE
According to Guy Kawasaki, “The most important thing is to hire people who complement you and are better than you in specific areas. Good people hire people that are better than themselves.” He also believes that “the role of a leader is to produce followers and to be able to achieve this, a leader should compensate for their weaknesses by hiring individuals who compensate for their shortcomings.” When hiring employees who are “better than you” in certain areas, work performance will soar and become difficult to surpass (which is the ultimate goal). A manager has the perfect team when all his employees are better at their job than him. That is a highly positive outcome. However, when one of these “super” employees starts to figure out that he knows more than his manager, a mutiny may evolve. They may end up wanting the manager’s position and pay. This is an obvious negative outcome. Theme 2 in Module 1 focuses on diversity in the workplace. Something called similarly attraction phenomenon is explained. It consists of people tending to be attracted to others who are similar and that a manager needs to be aware of their own actions and the actions of the employees they are managing. On the whole, diversity is key. Kawasaki talks briefly about hiring employees who are as passionate about the company and products being sold or whatever the case may be. Basically everything in Module 1 rotates around Kawasaki’s strategy. To Kawasaki, a perfect manager/leader is someone who looks for employees that compensate him. A perfect leader is passionate about the company and only wants to make it better by bringing in only the best to help the company flourish. To me, a perfect manager/leader is someone who is sensitive to the needs and attitudes of his employees but also knows how to be firm and somewhat demanding. Being a friend to your employees does work but a manager must never forget that the company comes first.

2.1 CASE ANALYSIS ON MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES
As motivation in 2000 for Xerox to keep its employees, I believe they had to show a clear plan for rebuilding the company from the ground up. Careful planning and decision making put Xerox back in the game. First, the management team had to be motivated. Leaders cannot effectively motivate employees unless they are motivated themselves. Another way Xerox could’ve motivated their employees is by allowing them to voice their concerns as well as offer suggestions. One way for the CEO of a company to communicate priorities to a worldwide workforce is by recording a video message then have it distributed to every last person on the payroll to view. Informational posters and memos would be posted in break-room and emailed for everyone to see. Not all risk is bad, and that’s just how Xerox CEO Ursula Burns could’ve encouraged her employees to take calculated risk. Plus, existing employees took a risk when they didn’t jump ship despite the oncoming crisis. In order for an organization to attract and keep individuals for such a long period of time, I believe they need to offer incentives to those individuals. Incentives like bonuses, promotions and even simple recognition are ways to keep employees loyal and happy. I used to be a manager at a movie theater here in West Texas where the majority of my employees loved to eat. As an incentive for them to work harder, I bribed them with food. This means that if they reached a certain goal, they could order in a pizza or go to the food court in the mall for some Chinese or some burgers. This tactic always worked for me.

3.1 CASE ANALYSIS ON STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
I currently work as a shift manager at a Quiznos Sub. I’ve been employed there since the beginning of the year which is more than enough time to know the ins and outs of the store.
S- strengths
W- weaknesses
O- opportunities
T- threats Quiznos’ strengths are that they offer real gourmet product. Our ingredients are shipped in weakly from a specific vendor, and if we run out of some ingredients, the store owner will run out and personally purchase fresh (sometimes organic) ingredients. Our product isn’t processed or frozen (mostly). I work in a small store with only 8 employees. Sometimes the lunch rush is so backed up that it takes 15+ minutes to get the last person in line to the front of the line. My store is the only store in a city with a population of over 140,000. So, when people decide that around lunch time that want a hot, quality sub, they come to us. Because of the long line during the lunch rush, my store has received a few negative reviews on our website. A store having only 8 employees is definitely our weakness. On the other hand, with the store being so small, we can achieve multiple opportunities. Quiznos Subs recently filed for bankruptcy protection. According to CNN Money, “All but seven of Quiznos 2,100 restaurants in the United States and 30 other countries are independently owned franchises, and will remain open and operating as usual.” The store I work in is owned and operated independently, so if the company does go under, we still remain open and selling subs, just under a different name. The opportunity to branch out and become something different is upon us. Here lies an opportunity. As we all know, Subway is our #1 competitor. They have about 40,000 locations in 100 countries. At one point, Quiznos once had more than 5,000 stores and could have threatened rival Subway’s hold one the sub market. Subway’s prices are much lower than Quiznos’ with more of a selection to choose from. Subway offers a 12 inch sub for $5 while the same sub would cost double at Quiznos. There is a Subway on almost every corner while a Quiznos exists in every other town. Subway is the strongest threat we see. In order to make our weaknesses our strengths, we should probably hire more people and install a second cash register. This would cut down on the wait time by minutes. Happy customers mean repeat and new business. Word of mouth is everything. In order to rival Subway to make them not so much a threat, Quiznos could come up with new product and definitely lower sandwich costs.

4.1 CASE ANALYSIS ON MANAGING PEOPLE DURING CHANGE
With the ability to turn the company around and return back to the black, the company has secured the jobs of its employees. Since this article, I’m sure the company has attracted the attention of lots of hopeful would-be employees. I can imagine a company as large as Camden Property Trust needs to communicate with every last employee. In order to do so, they may send out personalized memos, cards or even dvds with the message on it. This would be the most effective way to communicate with a large group of employees. In my opinion, Camden increases its credibility to staff when the CEO dresses up as Captain Kirk. Fun things like that show the employees that the man in charge of running the company knows how to show that he isn’t a stone-cold selfish robot. It lets the employees know that they should feel comfortable going to him if they either need to express a concern or lodge a complaint. Once again, it opens doors for future employees to join the workforce. With the company forgiving some leases under certain financial situations, it allows its employees to not have to worry so much about trying to collect late rent payments or about arguing with tenants. I used to be an assistant manager at a movie theater and I have experienced some nights with no end to my stress. Most weeknights, there was only one girl behind the concession stand who would have lines to the front entrance if there was a fairly new movie playing. Never-ending, long lines would mean that I had to jump in and help take care of the customers. Some customers were extremely rude about having to wait so long which made for a not-so-great experience for me.

5.1 CASE ANALYSIS ON MANAGING WORK TEAMS
New Seasons Market hires employees that live in the local neighborhood which helps each store to know the specific needs of its customers. The grocery store chain forces each individual store to form a Green Team; this allows the employees to work, think and accomplish different projects together. According to the article, “One suburban store even developed an intricate car pool program for employees to encourage a reduction in drive-alone car trips.” The stores have allowed each Green Team to act separately from other stores in the area. Apparently, a friendly competition has developed between the stores; this means each team is sticking together. The Green Teams are functional teams. As defined by Dr. Freeman, functional teams “…tend to be related to a specific function such as production, idea generation, problem solving or a specific project.” The Green Teams of New Seasons Market have accomplished a variety of projects related to the local community. Projects like wetland and wilderness cleanup and planting gardens to low-income families bring each team happiness. The Green Teams are highly successful. One group of employees in one store came up with the idea in order to knock out issues in their store. The article states, “Corporate managers (who also have their own Green Team) agreed that it was such a good idea that now every store is required to have a Green Team.” Plus, their story is being told and documented for the rest of the world to emulate. Any PR is good PR. Say the local community isn’t doing so well financially or the crime rate is up in that particular community. This makes the Green Teams not want to do any community work for fear of their own safety. No one would blame them for skipping community work that day. Another problem may arise in turnover rate in the store. This would eventually mean no Green Team in that specific store. Because each Green Team has freedom and support from corporate management, there aren’t too many rules that need to be followed. Any potential conflicts may have to be resolved by corporate management. If the problem isn’t solved, this could mean the Green Team will be disbanded. For fear of being dissolved, conflicts need to be handled within the group. I am a shift manager at a Quiznos restaurant here in West Texas. We are the only store within a 20 mile radius. The nearest store is located in our sister city 20 minutes away. Because we are so separated, we could develop friendly competition between the two stores. For instance, the store that sells the most product in one week gets a pizza party. This inspired creativity and drive and could prove to be highly profitable to the company.

6.1 CASE ANALYSIS ON EMPOWERED DECISION MAKING
In the case of a disaster such as a ship sinking followed by a legal battle, Skaug’s deferred decision making strategy might have been inappropriate. If such a disaster were to happen, the legal team would need stacks of paperwork and documentation to try to settle the case. In order to have to the paperwork released, the legal team would need permission from the president or CEO. Deferring this permission/decision to others would be highly inappropriate at that time. A hospital is such an unstable environment that requires quick (sometimes unsure) decisions that could save a life. Most times, the chief is the one who absolutely needs to be making those decisions. Someone’s life is on the line. Work on Wall Street is just as unstable as working in a hospital. Instead of lives at stake, money is at stake. Millions of dollars can be lost in the lost in the blink of an eye. From my readings, it sounded like Skaug was giving the small mechanical decisions to others. Decisions like different ship parts and how to implement and changes that could better the ship’s frame taught the employees to think rationally, practically, and smart…perhaps to think like a possible passenger on board. If I were a manager under Skaug I’m not sure I would feel incredibly comfortable and secure enough to make decisions. However, it would also make me feel that Skaug trusted me to the point of taking the company in my own hands. On the other hand, if I were Skaug, I would feel two different ways in particular. I would feel that the employees need to be able to handle their own load and feel confident with their decision. Or, as a CEO, I would feel obligated to make the decisions myself. I’m a CEO for a reason, so I need to act like one. A decision that an employee made could easily back-fire if the employee didn’t have the necessary knowledge to make said decision. For instance, an employee that was just hired on shouldn’t be given the responsibility to make decisions that could make or break the company. Also, if an employee has a personal vendetta against Skaug and wants to get revenge, he or she could make a decision that could bring the company under much scrutiny and ultimately to an end. As a day-shift worker at Quiznos, I have to suffer through the lunch rush on a daily basis. I could build the foundation of the sandwich (make), put the veggies on and wrap the sandwich (wrap), or jump on register to complete the process. I am the fastest worker, so if I choose to be on wrap or register that day, I will find myself waiting around for a sandwich to wrap. So, I often decide to be on make in order for my time to fly by. Sure its more work, but it makes my time go by much faster.

7.1 CASE ANALYSIS ON MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Former CEO Phil Iosca took the reigns of the company and opened several retail stores throughout the country and also established online commerce. In 2009, under Iosca, Hanna Andersson began distributing merchandise wholesale through retail stores like Nordstrom. Vice President, Gretchen Petersen had held strong by Iosca’s side until he retired in early 2010. (Bollier, D. 1996) She continuously proved to be faithful to the company. Newest CEO Adam Stone has stepped in to communicate more effectively with the employees to make better, more strategic decisions. He makes all the employees feel heard. I would say Hanna Andersson’s leaders followed about half of Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change. The three leaders most definitely developed a change vision, they communicated the vision for buy-in, they empowered people and removed barriers and they never let up. (Kotter, 1996) As a result of considerable growth and development, Hanna Andersson’s cofounders figured they had to bring someone in to head an even bigger company. A CEO isn’t needed to oversee one mom-and-pop retail store. So, when the time came to expand, the Denharts knew they needed a bigger team. An online catalogue was created to continue selling more clothing and accessories. And, in 2002, Iosca opened more stores nation wide. In the very beginning, stiff competition posed a threat to the company, to its cofounders knew they needed organizational change. Reportedly, the company has changed ownership several times, which led to a new business direction for the company. With each new owner comes a fresh new set of ideas that could either benefit or destroy the company. Also, “The Denharts promoted from within the company to help initiate change and strategic growth…” (Bollier, D 1996) I feel that promoting from within is a genius move because whomever is promoted already knows what has and hasn’t worked for the company thus far. If a company stays current on its revenue, budget and stock information, they should be able to see the future of the company clearly and before anything becomes too serious. If sales are low and no one is investing in the company, then a change is imminent. I previously worked as a pharmacy technician at a CVS back home. When I started, the signature capture system was quite easy, simple and fast to complete in order to finish the sale and move on to the next customer waiting to pick up a prescription. Shortly after I started, CVS Caremark handed down a new system which backed up the lines and frustrated customers and employees alike. In order to prepare for this new system change, we all had to take a module online which simulated this new system.

References: 1. Guy Kawasaki (2004). An Introduction to Organizational Behavior. Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-organizational-behavior-v1.1/s07-01-advice-for-hiring-successful-e.html 2. Dr. Ina-Ann Freeman (2014). Theme 2: Diversity in the Workplace. Retrieved from http://courses.jonesinternational.edu/display.jkg?courseSectionId=33480&uid=89082&tpl=frameset 3. Dr. Ina-Ann Freeman (2014). Theme 1: Motivational Theories. Retrieved from http://courses.jonesinternational.edu/display.jkg?courseSectionId=33480&uid=89082&tpl=frameset 4. Katie Lobosco (March 14, 2014). Quiznos files for bankruptcy. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/14/news/companies/quiznos-bankruptcy/ 5. Talya Bauer and Berrin Erdogan (2013). 7.1 Facing Foreclosure: The Case of Camden Property Trust. Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/4?e=fwk-122425-ch07a_s01 6. New Seasons Market Inc. (2010). Business Week. Retrieved from http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=12004234 7. Ina-Ann Freeman (2014). Theme 1: Team Basics. Retrieved from http://courses.jonesinternational.edu/display.jkg?courseSectionId=33480&uid=89082&tpl=frameset 8. 2012books (2008). Empowered Decision Making: The Case of Ingar Skaug. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-organizational-behavior-v1.1/s15-06-empowered-decision-making-the-.html 9. Kotter (1996). Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change. Retrieved from http://www.kotterinternational.com/FileNotFound.htm?aspxerrorpath=/our-principles/changesteps/step-8/.aspx 10. Bollier, D (1996). Changing for Good: The Case of Hanna Andersson Corporation. Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-organizational-behavior-v1.1/s18-05-changing-for-good-the-case-of-.html