C&S Wholesale Grocers: Self-Managed Teams

Group 10 Arin Chakrobarty

Karthik T Nikhil Mathur Pragya Madar

Sachin Pal Utkarsh Shah

Yojit Grover

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 company’s warehouse.

C&S: Company Background

• Founded by Israel Cohen and Abraham Siegel in 1918

• Innovation and attention to customer service- cornerstones of C&S’s 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&S’s 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 modelN-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 believedThe team should be self selecting rather than

assignedShould be paid bonuses for accuracy and

receive deductions for errorsHe believed in employee involvement which

would lead to higher satisfaction levels

• Implementation of Herzbrg’s 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 Hofstede’s theoryCollectivism- He wished to form teams which would

be handling a particular no of cases per shiftHigh 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