Copy of C & C Grocery Stores, Inc.

Team 3:

Chapter 3 Fundamentals of Organization Structure

Andrew Armstrong

Chuar Herr

Khou Herr

Daivd Ortiz

C & C Grocery Stores, Inc.

Case for Analysis

- Store Managers had no authority.

- Departments were unable to work together

- Lacks decentralized decision making

References:

Daft, Richard L. Organization Theory & Design. 11th ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2013.

Company Details

• Meat and produce Grocery Store
• Started in 1947 by brothers Doug and Bob Cummins
• Located in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Serve the customer attitude
• By 1997 C&C Grocery had over 200 stores
• In 1985 the store headquarters moved from Charlotte to Atlanta

Issues

Issue 1:

Store was slow to adapt to change

Purpose of the analysis:

Competition

1. Store was slow to adapt to change

2. Roles of the district store supervisor and the store manager were causing dissatisfaction

3. Cooperation within stores was low and morale was poor

4. Long term growth and development of the store chain requires reevaluation of long term strategy

-Information technology (IT).

-Communication

-A computerized system for ordering and stocking , but only use in the stores.

• Business started to drop off due to the declining economy and increased competition from larger retailers. Ex: Walmart, Target, Costco
• C&C Grocery knew they could not compete with large store like Walmart
• They considered ways to increase information technology and improve customer satisfaction, to separate themselves

Issue 1 Recommendations:

Issue 2:

Roles of the district store supervisor and the store manager were causing dissatisfaction

Issue 4:

Long term growth and development of the store chain requires reevaluation of long term strategy

Issue 4

Recommendations:

- Divisional structure

- POS system

-Inventory

- Marketing

- Advertisement

- Sales/ coupon

• Store managers were limited to operational activities
• Little knowledge about merchandising, meat, and produce
• Restriction kept store managers from learning general management skills needed for promotion
• Meat and produce were responsible for acquisition and sale of goods
• District supervisors were more concerned about store cleanliness and operation standards

% of market share going to traditional grocery stores in DECLINE

* Expand to accommodate non-

grocery lines

- Reevaluate C & C's future plans

* Within each store, new department

managers added for new grocery

lines (Horizontal linkage intact)

* Integration of new IT coordinator for each district team.

(liaison role)

Pharmacy

C & C Grocery

Issue 3: Recommendations

Grocery

(Food-items)

Issue 3:

- No cooperation within stores

- Morale was poor

- Informal, friendly atmosphere created by Doug Cummins was gone

Gourmet/

Specialty

* Lack of superior service and

convenience, product assortment and

availability

* Need to introduce non-food items for

one-stop shopping

* Investigate new technology to help

distinguish company

New

Specialists

IT

Coordinator

New

Department

Manager

1. Reorganize the district and the store structure

2. Store manager would have complete control

Issue 2 Recommendations:

• Horizontal Structure

• Departments report to store manager
• Store managers will get a sense of merchandising and sale of their product

Conclusion

• District managers need to focus more on development and training their store managers rather than store cleanliness
• Help coordinate the operations within the departments
• Let the store manager run his store

• Sustainability improvement happens from re-evaluation and change of structure and vision.

• C&C can improve their cooperation within each department with the help of liaison roles. This helps decentralize decision making within each department.

• Horizontal Information linkages and department coordination is key to ensuring decision success and be more adaptable to change.