...Raleigh and Rosse (R&R) is a retailer of luxury goods such as clothing, handbags, accessories, footwear, jewelry, fragrances, and watches, etc. R&R had a total of 38 stores in USA as of 2009. R&R has established a good reputation for its extraordinary customer service since 1920. Beginning in 1992, R&R began to use the firm’s “Ownership Culture” program. The heart of the Ownership Culture was SPH (Sale-Per-Hours), the system to measure sales performance such as weekly sales, weekly revenues, and a customer satisfaction metric. In 2002, the company was named one of the “Top 100 Employers to work for” by Fortune magazine. Between 1995 and 2007, R&R grew by more than 225%. However, in the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, this had a big impact on R&R, which revenues declined tremendously. Moreover, in 2007, Linda Watkins became the CEO of R&R. And later on in 2010, R&R sales associated filed a class action lawsuit under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Thus, Linda not only has to deal with the lawsuit but also has to build up the company’s image and reputation. (Simons, 2011) 1. What is the cause of the problems described in the case? How serious are these problems? How would you quantify the potential financial risk to R&R. The SPH program was the cause of the problems because it put a lot of pressure on store managers and sales. Even though this program stimulated the store managers and sales to work hard in order to be the...
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...Human Resources Management Prof. Rita Campos e Cunha CASE STUDY: TEAM MEMBERS: ANA MARTA GAMAS #2792 JOÃO TIAGO GALHOFO #2773 JOÃO MIGUEL MATOS #2617 1) What is the cause of the problems described in the case? How serious are these problems? The case study bring us Raleigh & Rosse, one of the greatest retailers of luxury goods, including clothing, accessories, shoes, and fragrances in the US. Born in New York in 1903, it soon became a family business heating his fasted development in the 90s by taking advantage of the increased entry of European luxury houses in the US market. In 2002 was retail leader and perceived has a reference in the industry when it came to sales service. Plus, it was even referred as one of the “Top 100 Employers to Work For” by Fortune magazine. R&R’s customer service was the envy of the industry in terms of their quality and personalized service. The...
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...4353 OCTOBER 10, 2011 ROBERT SIMONS MICHAEL MAHONEY Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service Grasping the iconic “golden horseshoe” door handle, CEO Linda Watkins strode into Raleigh & Rosse’s Palm Springs, California, store and surveyed the sales floor. Ambient lighting was subdued while hidden halogen ceiling lamps artfully spotlighted merchandise and signage. Display cases made from polished exotic woods projected visual warmth and sophistication. A harpist played Mozart crisply in the background. It was just over a week into January 2010, and the store, swept clean of holiday decorations, had bright spring colors on display. Watkins noticed many sales associates engaged with customers, but foot traffic was below expectations for a Saturday afternoon. Her cellphone rang. “Linda, I got your voicemail. Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its sales associates in a class action lawsuit?” asked Brian Rosse. He could barely contain his anger. Watkins moved to a quiet corner of the sales floor. “Sorry, Brian. R&R was served notice late Friday,” she said. “Looks like it’s a rehash of the ‘working off the clock’ charges that we dealt with last year. Logan [R&R’s general counsel] isn’t too worried about the merits.” “But think about the negative publicity, the damage to our brand and image!” “We’ve already engaged our PR agency to work on communications strategy. This is not great news, Brian, but I’m determined to find a way to manage it. Why don’t we discuss the...
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...Raleigh – Rosse Case Summary Raleigh and Rosse is a luxury goods retailer which sells goods such as clothing, jewelry, handbags etc. R&R is reputable company with 38 stores nationwide and is known for its exceptional customer service and strong customer loyalty. The company was very successful and was even named one of the “Top 100 Employers to Work For” by Fortune magazine. The company started an “Ownership Culture” program which began in 1992 which uses a Sale per Hours system which measures the sales performance of employees in weekly sales, weekly revenues, and a customer satisfaction metric. The program was intended to create a more entrepreneurial and accountable working culture. In this program, R&R hired sales associates from college and focused on training them. Despite its success, the recession had a negative impact on R&R and resulted in declined revenues. Furthermore, in 2010, sales associates from R&R filed a lawsuit against R&R under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. R&R is faced with bad reputation due to the lawsuits and accusations of forcing employees to work overtime which resulted in a negative brand image and hurt revenues. The Sales per Hour program placed a lot of pressure on the sales associates leading to a more competitive work environment and forced the employees to work longer hours off the clock. R&R forced its employees to take customer satisfaction to extremes by running personal errands and doing personal favors for their customers...
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