De La Salle University - Manila

Master of Business Administration

A Case Study on Nordstrom
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
in Human Resource Management with Organizational Behavior (HRM535M)

Submitted By:
Austria, Kristofferson
Cua, Raymond Gerald
Reyes, Bernadette
Vital, Jhona Jane

Submitted To:
Dr. Mary Margaret Que
A Case Study on Nordstrom 2

Summary / Synthesis
The Nordstrom family started their retail empire in the year 1901 by opening a shoe store
in Seattle. From a humble downtown store, it now has over 100 outlets in 10 states that sell shoes
and apparels. The company has generated billions of sales and millions of earnings over the
years and has consistently performed well financially. As of 1995, Nordstrom employs around
35,000 employees. The company remains to be a family operation.
Nordstrom has a unique culture called the Nordstrom way which emphasizes the
importance of delivering customer service that is above and beyond the call of duty. Every
Nordstrom employee is expected to live and breathe customer service and this has allowed them
to gain a very positive reputation among their customers. The Nordstrom management also paid
their employees well with base pay rates that are well above the industry average. However, no
company is perfect. Nordstrom encountered problems along the way to becoming the global
retail empire that they are today. Nordstrom has a decentralized management structure where
each manager is given autonomy to operate their departments the Nordstrom way. This
decentralized approach has brought the company a lot of success as it allows managers to get
very creative in providing excellent customer service. Some employees are not happy with the
way they are being treated by management though. One of the major issue is the concept of SPH
or Sales per Hour wherein employees receive either their commission percentage times their total
sales for that pay period or their hourly rate times their total work hours depending on which is
higher. Issues of unfair labor practice as a result of too much pressure on employees to reach
sales quotas and render long unpaid working hours have started to become more common.
Nordstrom continues to receive good support for a large percentage of their employees but in
order for the company to maintain their success, they need to resolve their labor problems before
it escalates into a much bigger issue. At the same time, Nordstrom needs to ensure that they
remain as a company that is well loved by customers because of their one of a kind service.



A Case Study on Nordstrom 3

Point of View
The group will take the point of view of Nordstroms top management. Being a family-
owned and operated company, any change in Nordstrom shall be initiated by its top executives,
who are all part of the Nordstrom clan (by birth or by marriage).
Statement of the Problem
What should Nordstroms top executives do to gain the continued support of their
employees and keep them well-motivated and productive, which would allow the company to
continue delivering the Nordstrom way of customer service?
Statement of Objectives
1. Improve employee engagement and morale
Employees in the workplace are different in many ways; thus, a single motivation
approach will not be effective. Managers already apply different strategies to implement an
effective motivating scheme. However, it seems that not all serves its purpose of bringing out the
best from a person. Motivation comes from how a certain individual perceives life, ambitions,
beliefs and goals. With this, the management must accept the fact that a set of motivating tools
must be considered to produce competitive, creative, and determined people to achieve the
organization's goals.
In addition, evaluating employees based on their job description is also an important
factor here. Job description is very essential both for the employees and the employers - for
employees because it gives them the idea of how to fit in to the organization by performing the
assigned responsibilities and for the employers because it allows them to align every personnel's
duty to the organizational goals. This can be a basis for employers to properly evaluate
performance of each members of the workforce to avoid unfair treatment that can result to a
demotivated workforce.
2. Implement the Nordstrom way in such that employees understand its true meaning
and purpose
A Case Study on Nordstrom 4

Employees are people of different personality, thinking and attitude which can somewhat
bring hardships for the management. One way to get through it in the case of Nordstrom is to let
the employees and the stakeholders appreciate and understand the real meaning of its goals and
what it really stands for, namely customer service, productivity, and teamwork. If the employees
are able to look at it the same way as the management, misalignments can be avoided.
3. Create a work environment that focuses on offering the best to the customers
Customers are essential part in the success of an organization. Companies exist to offer
products and services of value to the people. In creating and offering of goods and services, the
benefits that it gives to its consumers must be considered. Customer expectations must be met
and if possible, exceeded in order to meet target revenues and excellent reputation.
4. Identify the right organizational structure (decentralized/centralized)
The processes within the management must be defined in order to create a more
systematic and consistent way of doing things. Otherwise, there will be confusion among
employees as to what standards to follow. Furthermore, bias would arise because of the varying
standards. Some may feel a certain level of effort is enough, while others would go beyond what
is expected. There will also be an unequal treatment over the employees because of the
disparities. Therefore, regardless of the organizational structure in place, there needs to be a clear
set of guidelines that everyone will adhere to.
Areas of Consideration
The following are the issues faced by Nordstrom:
1. Sales per Hour (SPH) as a basis for reward and punishment
SPH (employee sales as a percentage of selling hours) is used by the company as a basis
for its commission and even promotion. However, the company also relies on SPH to punish
employees with low SPH by giving them bad work schedules, fewer working hours, or even
termination. Employees, thus, in turn, tend to increase their SPH by decreasing their selling
A Case Study on Nordstrom 5

hours and working off the clock. Because of working off the clock, the employees are paid less
despite working after the required work hours.
2. Misguided notion on Selling and Non-Selling Hours (Off-the-clock work)
The company did not provide a clear difference of selling and non-selling hours. If an
employee considers all his or her working hours as selling hours his or her SPH will go down.
Thus, the anxiety of having a low SPH entails the employee to record some of the working hours
as non-selling hours (such as sending thank you notes, etc). This would result to unpaid and
unrecognized efforts. The broken clock in the company poses a concern because the
employees mandatory weekend meetings are not properly recorded as selling hours.
3. Excessive competition and peer pressure
The highly competitive culture at Nordstrom gives the employees too much pressure
which sometimes results to an unhealthy work environment. Employees tend to outpace each
other in their sales figure to receive the awards such as Pacesetter, All-Star, among others. Due
to the fierce competition, the employees focus on their individual performances which
sometimes lead to doing all means possible to surpass a colleague. There is also an issue with
peer pressure. When employees see their peers render off-the-clock work in order to improve
their SPH, they are pressured to do the same as to not be labeled as a weak performer.
4. Decentralized management approach
Because of the decentralized system at Nordstrom, the managers are given too much
power to hire or terminate an employee at their own choice. The managers tend to abuse this
power to mandate the employees to reach their sales target, even forcing the employee to work
off-the-clock. There were even instances where a department manager committed discriminatory
actions in order to meet a certain standard.
5. Unclear performance expectations
Employees are evaluated based on their performance on three criteria namely customer
service, productivity and teamwork. However, employees are not given sufficient information on
A Case Study on Nordstrom 6

how they are actually rated on each of these performance factors. Managements message to new
employees is to seek information from tenured co-workers and supervisors. This lack of formal
evaluation process has resulted to abusive behavior from department managers seeking to meet
their department sales quotas.
The group also used the following frameworks and theories to analyze the situation
presented in the case to be able to provide viable alternative courses of action.
Bases of Power
A decentralized management approach is not necessarily a bad thing. However, when
management fails to use the appropriate style in influencing the actions of its workforce, then
low job satisfaction and de-motivation is bound to happen. In the case of Nordstrom, top
management has given the department managers the keys to drive the direction of their
respective departments however they see it fit so long as they meet the sales targets. In the
fashion retail industry, there is usually an acknowledgement from sales clerks that the
department manager is the person in charge of the overall performance of the department. Thus,
it can be said that department managers have legitimate power in their departments. According to
(Robbins & Judge, 2011A), legitimate power represents the formal authority to control and use
organizational resources based on structural position in the organization. Despite the existence
of this power though, department managers exercise the use of coercive power primarily because
of the pressure that branch managers and top management places on them. According to
(Robbins & Judge, 2011A), coercive power base depends on fear of the negative results from
failing to comply. Several Nordstrom department managers resort to excessive display of power
to encourage their staff to render unpaid extra hours, work even when they are not feeling well,
and give up personal time offs, and compete with one another. The threat of getting a poor
performance evaluation and sales figure which leads to lower pay and possibly even dismissal,
causes employees to put up with the unfair treatment and unhealthy business practice. Employees
who have had enough had no choice but to just resign from their jobs.


A Case Study on Nordstrom 7

Two-Factor Theory
The two-factor theory, or also known as motivation-hygiene theory, can be used to
describe why several employees are dissatisfied with their jobs in Nordstrom. According
(Robbins & Judge, 2011B), the two factor theory states that the intrinsic motivational factors
such opportunities for advancement and personal growth, responsibility, and fulfilling work
causes job satisfaction while extrinsic motivational factors such as salary, quality of supervision,
working conditions, and job security, causes job dissatisfaction. Several applicants are blinded
by the financial benefits they can get when employed by Nordstrom because the company is
known as having a base pay that is well above the industry standards. In Nordstrom, if you are a
consistent high-performer, chances are you will be financially rewarded and duly recognized.
This has allowed Nordstrom to hire a lot of very good sales people. However, the concept of
SPH the company implements have caused several employees to be considered as
underperformers which translate to lower incentives and pay. The constant pressure to deliver
excellent customer service and high sales figures at the expense of the employees welfare have
resulted to a very stressful and unhealthy work environment which has led to a demotivated
workforce.
Model of Organizational Justice

A Case Study on Nordstrom 8

The model of organizational justice illustrated above is a good framework to describe
why a lot of employees perceive Nordstrom to be an unfair employer. According to the model,
there are three key elements in organizational justice and Nordstrom in some way have failed in
all key elements. First is distributive justice, which describes a persons perception of the
fairness in the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals (Robbins & Judge, 2011B).
While top sales people get duly rewarded for their efforts via commissions and recognition
awards, the concept of SPH has required employees to work off the clock without any guarantee
of getting duly compensated for their efforts. The second element is procedural justice which is
the perceived fairness in the distribution of the rewards (Robbins & Judge, 2011). In Nordstrom,
the department managers have an almost complete autonomy in running their departments. They
get to solely decide how employees are evaluated and rewarded. The third element is
interactional justice which is an individuals perception of the degree to which they are treated
with dignity, concern and respect (Robbins & Judge, 2011). In an effort to meet the quotas set by
top managements, store and department managers in Nordstrom sometimes resort to
discriminatory actions such as requiring a person to dress up a certain way or to change their
accents, and inhumane business practice such as requiring a person to work even when they are
not fit to do so.
Team Effectiveness Model

A Case Study on Nordstrom 9

In using the team effectiveness model for Nordstrom, we can treat each department as a
team. By using the theories presented by the model as a guide, Nordstroms decentralized
management style which provides a high-level of autonomy on each department to run their own
business can actually allow the organization to conduct highly successful operations in each
department. According to (Robbins & Judge, 2011C), "we can organize the key components of
effective teams into three general categories. First are the resources and other contextual
influences that make teams effective. The second relates to the teams composition. Finally,
process variables are events within the team that influence effectiveness. Nordstrom already has
some of elements in each of the components fulfilled so the focus should be in accomplishing
those that are still lacking.
Under the context component, adequacy of resources is certainly not an issue as the
company is able to easily fill-in open positions. Leadership and structure requires a bit of work
because although there is a clear person in charge in the person of the department manager, the
department lack structure in that the role of each person is not well-defined. People are
encouraged and sometimes required to do tasks that are outside their immediate responsibilities
in the name of customer service and high sales numbers. Climate of trust is almost non-existent
due to the extremely competitive environment which causes employees to compete with one
another instead of working together in unison. Lastly, performance evaluation and rewards
system requires a lot of improvement as the current process is subjective in that department
managers and branch managers are the sole evaluators of employee performance. Add that to the
fact that the criteria for evaluation are not properly explained to employees.
Under the team composition component, abilities of members are certainly not an issue as
Nordstrom is able to consistently hire highly skilled sales people. Personality of members is
something that Nordstrom also has to look into as there are certainly individuals who are good in
working on a team setup. These people should be utilized to help the department promote a
culture of teamwork. Allocation of roles and member preferences are also areas that Nordstrom
should look into. Each person has their own strengths and weaknesses and their own preferences
that should be considered in assigning the employees their roles. For example, there are people
who are innately good in connecting with other people. Nordstrom can assign these employees a
more customer facing role.
A Case Study on Nordstrom 10

Under the team process component, common plan and purpose has to be properly
communicated to the employees instead of just showing them numbers and targets to hit.
Employees and management should work together in discussing and agreeing on what needs to
be done to accomplish the goals of the department. Management also needs to come up with
specific and challenging goals that are still realistic under normal working conditions and it is
presently not the case. The extremely competitive environment has also resulted to high conflict
levels among team members to the extent that some employees have accused their colleague of
stealing their sales.
Alternative Courses of Action
ACA 1 Apply a centralized organizational model where most of the direction and
strategy are driven by top management to ensure that each department has a consistent way of
running their operations.
Pros
This ACA promotes a standard approach in managing each team or unit in the
organization. The company can have defined strategies and policies from the top
level management to guide all employees. With this, the thinking of unfair
treatment can be avoided and the actions and decisions of everyone will be
centered on the organization's goals.
A performance management process that is consistent across different branches
can be implemented. This will reduce the subjectivity of the performance
appraisal process and the use of coercive power to threaten employees that they
will be given poor performance ratings if they fail to meet the managers
standards.
The company can provide a consistent level of customer service across different
branches.
Cascading information and changes can be easier with a centralized structure.

A Case Study on Nordstrom 11

Cons
Employees may think that too much control is being put on them which may
result to being demotivated.
This may hinder the employees' chance to freely think and act the best way they
can. Defined rules sometimes limit an individual to perform and decide out of the
normal circumstances because of the fear of violations and punishments.
Creativity may suffer because with a centralized management strategy, the
managers and sales team will feel less empowered and will not be able to provide
a more personal approach to customer service, which is one of the main thrusts of
Nordstrom.
With reduced autonomy, department managers might find it difficult to devise
ways to meet challenging sales targets. This could ultimately lead to greater
expense and lower sales for the company.
ACA 2 Maintain the same decentralized organizational model but require each
department to follow a strict employee recruitment and selection process to ensure that the
organization only hires people who can thrive and be comfortable in a highly competitive work
environment.
Pros
At the onset, the company will be able to select only those qualified individuals
who are a good fit with the organizations culture. The company will save on
costs by avoiding wrong hires and will have higher chances of hiring employees
who are willing and driven to work under constant pressure to reach challenging
goals.
The company can reduce complaints of unfair labor practice because majority of
their employees would comprise of those who are built to succeed under an
environment of long working hours and extreme pressure.
A Case Study on Nordstrom 12

Despite maintaining the decentralized form of the organization, each manager will
now follow a specific process in hiring and recruitment, which are clear and
standard across the whole organization.
This ACA does not require major changes to the Nordstrom way of doing
business. Nordstrom will retain their customer service culture, which they have
been able to achieve by promoting competition and doing whatever it takes to be a
winner attitude. The Nordstrom culture has been a key to their continued
success and excellent reputation in the eyes of their customers.
Each department can continue to practice creativity in accomplishing challenging
sales targets and providing unrivaled customer service.
Cons
The organization might be limiting its pool of potential employees and might miss
those who do not explicitly show a competitive spirit during the hiring process.
There are no guarantees that employees who have displayed a drive to succeed
and thrive in a highly competitive environment can actually do so.
This ACA does not address the issue of abuse of power from department
managers.
ACA 3 Maintain the same decentralized organizational model but require each
department to give more emphasis on rewarding teams rather than individuals. Individual
performance will still be valued but at a lesser degree.
Pros
This ACA promotes cooperation within the team. As such, the employees will
help each other to meet their targets. Too much individual pressure will be
avoided as the members of the team will work together to achieve their common
goal.
The employees will stop surpassing each other (either through ethical or unethical
practices) to be recognized and be rewarded. Instead, the employees will help
A Case Study on Nordstrom 13

each other, providing a more relaxed and friendly environment, but still
working towards achieving their targets.
Nordstrom will retain their customer service culture, which they have been able to
achieve by promoting competition and doing whatever it takes to be a winner
attitude albeit in a team setup.
Each department can continue to practice creativity in accomplishing challenging
sales targets and providing unrivaled customer service. Having a team setup might
even result to more creative ways to satisfying the needs of customers as inputs
will come from several people within a team.
Cons
The current practice in the organization links individual performance to specific
rewards and recognition. Sudden change in the structure might be opposed by
some employees, especially those who used to working alone and are always high
performing as they will now need to work with other members of the team.
Some employees might feel that their performance is getting dragged down by
poor performing team mates.
Conflicts may arise among employees within a team if ever they have varying
levels of competitiveness. This may lead to further dissatisfaction among them.
ACA 4 Maintain the same decentralized organizational model but require each
department to ensure that each employee has sufficient understanding of the concept of Sales per
Hour (SPH) and unrivaled customer service, to let them appreciate how it allows the company to
become profitable and how it can be beneficial to them.
Pros
Employees will see the value of their efforts, and get past the notion of the
company, being simply focused on their SPH. Through proper communication,
employee satisfaction may improve. If ever some employees still do not agree
with the principle and decide to leave, at least the company has weeded out those
that are not fit for the companys culture.
A Case Study on Nordstrom 14

This ACA does not require Nordstrom to implement major changes to their
existing business operations and management strategy. Departments will continue
to have the freedom to be creative in achieving their sales targets.
Nordstrom will retain their customer service culture, which they have been able to
achieve by promoting competition and doing whatever it takes to be a winner
attitude.
Cons
As mentioned in one of the pros, this ACA may result to increased attrition, and
lead the company to incur hiring costs.
This ACA does not address the issue of abuse of power from department
managers.
Recommendation
A set of decision criteria was formulated to properly identify the best alternative that
Nordstrom should take. Weights were given to each factor, based on how the company would
perceive its importance.
1. Employee well-being
o Weight: 25%
o Description: This pertains to the welfare of the employees considering the
extreme practice of competition within the company.
o Rationale: Because of the evaluation system within Nordstrom, there was a
natural tendency for the employees to be competitive just to receive a high SPH.
Not only are they forced to decrease the number of hours they report, but they
are also competing against each other to win the different contests, like achieving
the Pacesetter status to the point that it is not healthy anymore. The course of
action needs to put this into consideration so that the company can maintain, if not
improve its reputation, not only to its employees, but also to its customers, avoid
lawsuits, and ultimately remain sustainable.
A Case Study on Nordstrom 15


2. Simplicity of Implementation
o Weight: 20%
o Description: This pertains to how much change there will be in the organization
once the action is implemented.
o Rationale: The opinions of the employees towards The Nordstrom Way vary.
While some criticize it, others thrive in it. And so, the change that needs to
happen should be something that is not drastic, so as not to affect the motivation
of the others. This also covers the cost of implementation. As always, the lower
the cost, the better.
3. Creativity and Customer Satisfaction
o Weight: 30%
o Description: This pertains to preserving the companys culture and goal, which is
to provide unrivaled customer service.
o Rationale: As the case has mentioned, The Nordstrom Way is what keeps them
apart from their competitors, and the culture of creativity within the managers and
employees allows them to do this. This is evident with the feedback they have
been receiving from their customers. The course of action needs to keep this in
check as this is where the success of the company lies.
4. Goal and Process Alignment
o Weight: 25%
o Description: This pertains to the level of standardization within the company and
the alignment of goals within a department that the course of action will put in
place.
o Rationale: With the freedom vested upon by the top management of Nordstrom to
its managers, things may have gotten out of hand for some. At some point, there
needs to be a controlling mechanism to ensure that the system is fair across all
employees, and dissatisfaction is minimized. A company that has better alignment
from top to bottom would also find it easier to cascade information and changes,
A Case Study on Nordstrom 16

when the need arises. Similarly, a department that has a standard approach to
doing things will result to better teamwork and cooperation among its members.
Decision Criteria ACA 1 ACA 2 ACA 3 ACA 4
Employee well-being (30%) 25 18 23 10
Simplicity of implementation (20%) 5 15 12 20
Creativity and Customer Satisfaction (30%) 18 28 25 25
Goal and Process Alignment (20%) 20 10 15 10
TOTAL (100%) 68 71 75 65
With the defined criteria, the best alternative for Nordstrom would be ACA 3, which
suggests that rewards should be targeted more towards teams, rather than individuals. In this
scenario, the members of the sales staff would work together to achieve goals, instead of
competing against each other, and sacrificing work hours in the process. And this is the reason
why it scored second to the highest in Employee Well-Being.
For Simplicity of Implementation, it didnt score as high as ACAs 2 and 4 as this
entails changing the dynamics of how employees reach their goals. Managers would have to
change the way their contests work to foster teamwork. This may not fare well with the less
competitive employees, and so attrition should be expected. However, this can contribute to a
better set of workforce for Nordstrom.
For Creativity and Customer Satisfaction, ACA 3 scored relatively high because in a
team set-up, higher levels of output can be expected. By working together towards a common
goal, best practices will be shared and exhibited. Instead of every man for himself, ideas from
different people will build upon each other, intensifying the creative culture within the company.
This collaborative environment can only translate to better customer service, hence higher
customer satisfaction.
Finally, in a team set-up, employees get to discuss what their goals are, which would
result to better alignment, as opposed to having different interpretations per individual. There
would also be more consistency in the service that their customers would experience because of
the alignment in the strategy within the members of a team.
A Case Study on Nordstrom 17

Implementation
The group believes that the action plan to be performed by Nordstrom should focus on
improving its current set-up. Thus, the group suggests that the Nordstrom management do the
following steps to have sustainable business operations:
1. Promote team spirit within the organization and re-focus individual recognition to
teamwork recognition
The current structure of Nordstrom promotes individual effort. However, Nordstrom
management should cascade the need to change the focus from individual to teamwork. By doing
so, the employees will avoid having too much pressure on individual competition. They will be
able to channel their insights by improving the whole teams performance to achieve their sales
target. Though, Nordstrom should still recognize the individual output, especially those who are
top performing, it should emphasize teamwork more. Recognizing team effort will still keep
Nordstroms thrust of providing excellent customer service as well as addressing the need of the
employees to stop the cutthroat competition within their team. Team rewards and recognition
systems should be formulated by Nordstrom to ensure that the managers and the employees will
work together as a team.
Potential Barrier: Employees who are used to working alone, especially those who are
top performers may oppose working with the team as some employees might think that their
performances are dragged down by poor performing team mates. However, it is the
managements role to properly discuss to its employees the need to focus their efforts on
working with teams because of the advantages that the company and the individuals, themselves,
will obtain.
2. Devise other forms of motivation schemes
For the longest time, Nordstrom has relied on motivation schemes that focus on
rewarding an individual for being the cream of the crop. While this is in line with the companys
culture of competitiveness and being a winner that they are trying promote, it is not for everyone.
Nordstrom management team should devise other ways on keeping an employee engaged in their
A Case Study on Nordstrom 18

jobs that is not solely dependent on how much sales an employee generates or how much good
feedback an employee receives from customers. Not every employee can be a superstar but each
of them has a role to play in the organization. The road to a highly motivated workforce starts
with an understanding of what motivates employees. Nordstrom can work with third party
companies in conducting an employee pulse survey. Based on the results of the survey,
management can identify which areas they need to focus on. Nordstrom managers and
supervisors should also conduct regular checkpoint meetings with their staff just to check how
they are doing. The meetings can also be a good source of information on whats going around in
the grapevine. Nordstrom senior executives should also make it a point to regularly visit various
branches so they can personally meet the employees behind their success.
Potential Barrier: The decentralized management structure makes the implementation of
this engagement improvement drive a bit more difficult. Top management might have a hard
time in ensuring that all department managers cooperate in this initiative because they might be
too focused on meeting their departments sales targets.
3. Recognize non-selling hours still as work-related hours
SPH is Nordstroms tool for recognition and punishment of its employees. Reality is that
it has been key to Nordstroms strong financial standing all these years as it has allowed them to
minimize their cost and keep employees from being complacent about their performance. Even
in a more team oriented approach though, Nordstrom can continue to apply the concept of SPH.
And because it has been a subject of criticisms and complaints from several employees and
concerned groups, it is imperative that Nordstrom management clarify which work hours are
considered selling hours and non-selling hours. Truthfully, sending thank you notes and doing
extraordinary favors for their valued clients are considered non-selling hours, however, these are
still work-related hours. Thus, Nordstrom should think of ways on how to reward these non-
selling hours. It may not necessarily monetary in nature but could be in another form such as
giving food or transportation allowances or alternative benefits for their efforts in meeting the
customers demands. In turn, Nordstrom employees will feel that its management recognizes
their efforts, which will further motivate them to go the extra mile for their customers
satisfaction.
A Case Study on Nordstrom 19

Potential Barrier: The management may incur additional costs by providing rewards
(either monetary or non-monetary) on the employees non-selling hours. However, properly
recognizing these work-related hours will lessen the risk of having legal issues by not giving
correct remuneration to the employees.
4. Roll-out specific guidelines that each department should adhere to
Nordstroms decentralized management structure has worked wonders for them when it
comes to coming up with creative ways to provide that one of a kind customer experience. But
while it has been all glitter in the eyes of their customers, several employees feel that they are not
being treated fairly by their managers at the expense of a satisfied customer. Nordstrom should
by all means continue their decentralized management style. However, they should also draw a
line between what is acceptable behavior and what is not by coming up with a clear set of rules
and guidelines for branch and department managers to follow. Nordstroms one page employee
handbook is a clever way of introducing the Nordstrom culture to new employees but managers
should learn to apply that same rule in their treatment of employees. Once top management has
agreed on the set of guidelines that every department should adhere to, the human resources
department should conduct roll-outs in all Nordstrom branches and a special session for
managers. The rules and guidelines need not be extensive as a high degree of autonomy and
freedom should continue to be extended to every Nordstrom branch and department.
Potential Barrier: The organization can expect to encounter resistance from managers
who thrives on the autonomy that theyve been given. However, the potential gains from having
a consistent process at least on those gray areas of performance management can only improve
the overall treatment of employees.
Learning Points
Teamwork is an integral part of a companys success. Employees must understand that
the future of the company does not rely purely on an individuals effort and that the personal
abilities of one can affect various outcomes in the unit. Receiving individual recognition,
monetary incentives, and being among the top performers must not be the only focus of an
employee. Certain accomplishments can only be achieved with team work. In order for a team to
A Case Study on Nordstrom 20

be successful though, the objectives of the team and the role of each member should be clear. It
is possible to have a group with mostly high performers but if they do not blend well with one
another, chances are the team will be ineffective. Individuals may come together for a number of
different reasons, but their goals are the same to achieve peak performance and experience
success (Sugarman, 2004).
Motivation, as noted by Robbins & Judge (2011) is one of the most researched topics in
Organizational Behavior. The employees should be sufficiently-motivated to ensure that they are
productive as well as satisfied with their current task. Motivating employees may not always
come in the form of monetary benefits. The organizations structure and culture as well as the
bond among the employees may also serve as an effective motivating tool for the members of an
organization. We should always ensure that the motivation we provide to our employees is not
only aligned with the goals and objectives of the company but also satisfies the ethical and moral
principles of being a Lasallian business leader.
References
Robbins, S. B. and Judge, T. (2011A). Power and Politics. In Organizational Behavior (14
th
ed.,
Chap 13, pp. 454-485). Jurong, Singapore: Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd.

Robbins, S. B. and Judge, T. (2011B). Motivation Concepts. In Organizational Behavior (14
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