Functional Area Interrelationships Marcus Jackson University of Tennessee BUS/475 March 05, 2010 Professor Jenkins

Functional Area Interrelationships Kudler Fine Foods states that they are “Shopping the world for the finest food” (Kudler Foods, n.d.). Current food items offered by Kudler include bakery items, meat, seafood, produce, wine, cheese, and dairy. To be successful the organization incorporates mission, vision, collaboration, and stakeholder ideas. For this paper the team analyzed Kudler Fine Foods and the primary reasons for the company’s existence, the organizational structure, the collaborative process, lateral collaboration, vertical collaboration, and the key stakeholders in achieving organizational goals.
Primary Reasons for Kudlers’ Existence Kudler Fine Foods is a forerunner in the restaurant business with creating and serving first-class foods. Kudlers’ business foundation is serving consumers exceptional foods, cheeses, and wine. The objective for Kudler Fine Foods is to contribute elegant foods and wines to clientele in a superior environment. Kudler Fine Foods has three different locations, La Jolla, Del Mar, and Encinitas. The three stores are in elegant neighborhoods, which is an enjoyed by customers. Each store is roughly 16,000 square feet that providing a wholesome environment to consumers. Kudler Fine Foods stocks each store with the highest quality of foods both imported and domestic to satisfy customers. The position of Kudler Fine Foods in the food industry is to provide specialty food stores with upscale products from around the world to customers seeking elegant tastes. Kudlers’ mission is to provide first-class products for its luxurious foods, and attaining exceptionally skillful employees who will help customers with purchasing exceptional delights. Kudler goes through considerable measures to guarantee its fine foods. Kathy Kudler, who is the founder of Kudler Fine Foods, went on to find a contingency to provide gourmet dishes to customers after constant traveling to open her first store in La Jolla, California.
Organizational Structure According to Business Dictionary.com (2011), “Organizational structure determines the manner and extent to which roles, power, and responsibilities are delegated, controlled, and coordinated, and how information flows between levels of management” (para. 1, organizational structure). The organizational structure for Kudler Fine Foods has a pyramid type matrix for departments in different categories. A director for finance and accounting interacts with the accounting clerk and computer support specialist. This director reports information to the administration assistant before any reports goes up to the President. The three store managers receive information and advice from the administrative and human resources director. These two departments communicate with the administrative assistant and the human resources assistant for reporting company information. The last section for the structure of Kudler Fine Foods is the store operations director. The two areas that communicate to the store operations director are the inventory and purchasing manager. Each of the three stores has a structure for employees such as cashiers, baggers, stockers, and clerks communicating to the assistant manager. Kudler has a department manager for the different products the company sales, each of these areas such as meat and seafood, spirits, cheeses, wines, and bakery have a separate manager who communicate with the employees in these departments. This organizational structure for Kudler Fine Foods is a very effective process for selling products and services for the company when communicating within the chain of command. Collaborative Process and Action Plan Collaboration is “a process in which autonomous actors interact, through formal and informal negotiation, jointly creating rules and structures governing their relationships and ways to act or decide on the issues that brought them together” (Thompson & Perry, 2006, p. 23). Kudler Fine Foods relies in the collaboration process with its staff to continue providing fine quality foods to the local area while expanding, and opening new stores in the process. The company has a strategy and action plan that involves three parts. The first part is the strategic sales objectives with corresponding financial goals and roll-out schedules. The company will focus on a new customer focused programs, better information management, targeted awareness building, and increased behind the scenes efficiency. The second part is tactics by marketing mix, timing, and relationship to strategic sales objectives. The organization will streamline the product (existing products and new offerings), pricing (pricing, promotions, and discounts), promotions (customer and sales), and place (expansion, emphasis on locations or customer regions). The third part of its action plan is to improve their customer relationship, management strategies, and tactics. Lateral and Vertical Collaboration and Action Plan Kudler Fine Foods’ mission is to the commitment of providing their customers with the Finest selection of the very best foods and wines so that their culinary visions can come true. The company’s vision is to be the premiere gourmet grocery store for those knowledgeable shoppers searching for the finest meats, produce, cheeses, and wine. Kudler Fine Foods’ president, Kathy Kudler has a special and close interaction with her staff making the collaboration process easier between them. Each of the store’s department managers also have the responsibility to check with their counterparts at the other stores on the pricing, quality, and delivery of the merchandise they order. One example of the lateral collaboration is that each of the store department managers is “encouraged to combine orders between the stores. If the manager thinks there would be a cost savings resulting from ordering a larger quantity of a particular item or multiple items, he or she is contributing to cutting costs” (Kudler Fine Foods, n.d., p. 1). The lateral collaboration efforts between the department managers allow the company to obtain the best price, quality, and delivery possible for their purchased merchandise. In addition to lateral collaboration, there is also vertical collaboration, which the staff, from the cashier to the store department manager is directly involved with the customers. The company has five different departments; bakery, wine, produce, cheese, dairy, and meat, and seafood. The company’s reputation of shopping the world for the finest food depends in the exclusive selection of the fine foods the store offers and the unique customer experience each staff provides to the loyal and new customers. Kathy Kudler recognizes that the company’s staff has a direct impact dealing with the company’s clientele. She wants to continue to improve the satisfaction that each customer has and providing the finest gourmet food in the area. The strategy and action plan she created will develop a new program to offer cooking classes and to target new customers plus retaining loyal customers. Plus customers will benefit from learning new cooking skills while increasing the customer purchase rate for the business. The company will also use data analysis to track the items used the most when customers make their purchases. This initiative will assist the company to buy the best products while refining the processes and meeting the needs of customer satisfaction. Kudler Fine Foods will advertise using direct mail to target high-income families who enjoy specialty foods and entertain others with diverse product selection. In addition, the company will operate more efficiently using processes that will cut costs using the assistance from managers and suppliers. Key Stakeholders Key stakeholders are those influential individuals who are interested in the operation and performance of the business (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). For Kudler Fine Foods the key stakeholders are the staff, customers, wholesale suppliers, banks, and Kathy Kudler (Kudler Fine Foods, n.d.). To achieve organizational goals each stakeholder fulfills a particular role. The role of the staff in achieving company goals is in taking care of customer needs. Kathy knows that the staff is the daily contact for customers in communicating and providing quality service. Customers also play a role in the success of Kudler Foods. By providing feedback on promotions, interactions, quality of food, quality of service, and potential new products Kudler acts on the feedback to provide better products and services. Feedback provided to staff by customers is tracked and reported to Kathy upon her store visitations. The third stakeholders with a role in the achievement of Kudler goals are wholesale suppliers. Wholesale suppliers serve the role of providing customers fresh quality foods in a timely fashion. To represent the name Kudler and the term Fine Foods the organization must provide consumers with exactly that. The wholesalers play an important role in providing quality products to consumers. When Kudler Fine Foods is successful than the wholesaler is successful. Banks provide Kathy and Kudler Fine Foods credit, allowing the organization the opportunity to achieve goals of operating a successful business. By providing credit Kudler is able to add new stores, purchase additional product, and borrow money when times are slow. During the holidays the company buys additional surpluses of fine foods to have available for sale during their busy season. During the slow summer months the company borrows money from the bank to keep up with creditors. Kathy Kudler’s role in the success of Kudler Foods is in providing the vision for the organization, establishing company culture, and providing management. The most important role of a company’s leadership is to provide vision and direction. Kathy also establishes the culture for her three store locations. In management her role is to hire, fire, complete inventory details, placing orders, pay vendors, and control the finances. Recommended Collaboration between Stakeholders Collaborative interactions between key stakeholders are important to the success of Kudler Fine Foods. The team recommends collaborative stakeholder interactions between customers and staff, the staff and Kathy Kudler, and Kathy and wholesale suppliers. Customer and staff stakeholder collaboration provides the foundation for company success. This collaboration of ideas provides consumer feedback to be shared with management, and acted upon accordingly. The staff is also important in sharing new ideas, sale details, and gratitude to customers. The second collaborative interaction for the success of Kudler Fine Foods is between the staff and Kathy Kudler. For Kathy to provide a clear vision for the company, she requires collaboration with the staff. The staff has direct interaction with customers and can provide feedback provided by consumers. The staff may also have ideas to share with Kathy to benefit the organizations vision. Once Kathy establishes vision and culture premises, her direct collaboration with staff allows for easy implementation. The third collaborative interaction important to company’s success is with Kathy Kudler and the organizations wholesale suppliers. To provide high quality foods to customers Kudler foods must have quality relationships with the wholesaler’s they do business with. By collaborating, Kathy and wholesalers share new ideas, review potential new products, and analyze customer feedback. From the feedback and collaborative brainstorming Kathy and the wholesaler’s provide customers new quality foods demanded by consumers. Conclusion Kudler Fine Foods caters to a niche market of consumers seeking bakery items, produce, meats, and dairy products from around the world. Their founder and owner Kathy Kudler, who sets the direction for the company, leads Kudler. Analyzed by the team in this paper were the primary reasons for the company’s existence, the organizational structure, the collaborative process, lateral collaboration, vertical collaboration, and the key stakeholders in achieving organizational goals.

References Business Dictionary.com. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-structure.html Kudler Fine Foods. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler2/intranet/index.htm Pearce, J. & Robinson, R. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Thomson, A., & Perry, J. L. (2006). Collaboration Processes: Inside the Black Box. Public Administration Review, 66(6), 20-32.