C&S Wholesale Grocers: SelfManaged Teams

Group 2

Introduction
This case is about a 70 year old warehousing and distribution company by the name of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Rick Cohen, the President & CEO of the company is concerned that whether the company would be able to meet the needs of all its customers and maintain high level of customer satisfaction for which the company was known throughout New England.

Statement of Problem
Considering the precarious position at hand, Rick Cohen is trying to decide whether and how to implement the concept of Self Managed Teams in the companys warehouse.

C&S: Company Background

Founded by Israel Cohen and Abraham Siegel in 1918 Innovation and attention to customer servicecornerstones of C&Ss success Professional in client dealings Forged relationships with over 2 dozen military bases by 1988

A&P
Single large customer of C&S Sales of C&S increased by 35% Warehouse moved to a new location, Brattleboro C&Ss business got doubled in Northeast

Challenges faced by C&S

Rising operational costs Shrinking margins Quality control Customer relationship management

Problems galore at Brattleboro

Hired new employees- Who did not have much knowledge & supervisors had to train them which meant lower efficiencies due to loss of time No coordination among the workforce. Hired more supervisors to improve coordination No accountability Overcrowded workspace due to increase in workforce Increased work hours led to physical exhaustion, hence morale of employees dropped High turnover rate- approaching 90% Rise in soft costs Increased paper work

Rick Cohen
Raised in Worcester, Massachusetts Completed undergraduate studies at the Wharton school In 1987, became President & CEO of C&S when his father, Lester retired Proactive personality- is testified by his Action of moving the warehousing facility to Brattleboro Was aware of the need to win a large supermarket location quickly immediately after relocation

 Big 5 personality traits

Extraversion- Convinced his father to move out the warehouse from Worcester to Brattleboro Agreeableness- He was in agreement with Harris on the possibility of implementing self-managed teams concept in C&S Conscientiousness- He was well-organized, responsible, careful in his approach for the progress of the organization Emotional Stability- He was calm and composed even though the festive season was arriving which would test the warehouse to its limits Openness To Experience- Unlike competitors he was ready to implement self- managed teams

 According to MBTI model N-type- He intuitively believed that increased employee involvement leads to improved performance P-type- He was open minded in his approach to explore new options which other competitors did not do

 McGregor theory Y- He believed The team should be self selecting rather than assigned Should be paid bonuses for accuracy and receive deductions for errors He believed in employee involvement which would lead to higher satisfaction levels

 Implementation of Herzbrgs two factor theory:

Hygiene factors Since salary is not the only satisfier, he linked it with performance He wanted to improve the working conditions as employee turnover rate was very high
Motivators He wanted to empower the teams which would make them more responsible and accountable He linked salary to performance, inculcating a growth oriented approach in the employees

Culture At C&S As Envisioned

As per Hofstedes theory Collectivism- He wished to form teams which would be handling a particular no of cases per shift High Uncertainty Avoidance- Rick was aware of the ground realities and wanted to transform operations to be profitable in the long run Long-term orientation- He wanted the same legacy to continue which was developed by his grandfather

 As per the EVLN model Rick wants to turnaround the prevalent attitude adopted by employees, i.e., to exit, instead they should voice their opinions and the incentive system would ensure to a certain extent that they would remain loyal towards the organization