Peppercorn Dining: Case study A. Background of the case Peppercorn Dining is a college dining place whereby the partners of Square One Consulting named Roger, Lynn and Erica, are having lunch in the afternoon when Drew Randall, the manager of Peppercorn Dining identifies Erica who had worked there a few years back. Then, the consultants have a short conversation with Drew, whereby he tells them about some challenges that Peppercorn Dining is facing at the moment. Drew highlighted mainly on the staffing problem, which forced several students to stop working there. Although Drew was aware of it, he could not sort out the fundamental cause of the problem that was affecting Peppercorn’s workforce. Hence, Drew finds professional advice from the consultants. The entry and contracting process went on very well, Drew raised his concerns about the performance of the diner and transparently expressed his main objective which was to “increase productivity and to improve employee’s morale”. Since Erica was a former employee at Peppercorn Dining, she had personal relationships with most of the current employees there. This has enabled the consultants to negotiate a contract with Peppercorn easily and quickly. Apart from that the process of identifying the organization’s culture, sources of power, and informal practices were also easy and smooth. Erica was also seasoned with the language of the organization and was therefore able to find out the main cause of most of the problems faced by Peppercorn. Finally, the contract that was presented to the company drafted the consultants’ fees as well as the proposed schedule of the times and dates that they planned on gathering information from Peppercorn. B. Main problems of the case ● One of the major issues that Peppercorn Dining faces is that of lack of communication ● The inefficiencies of the restaurant are increased because of the ineffective order and inventory systems ● The three major employee categories that work at the restaurant do not get along with each other well, i.e., conflicts exist among them ● Employee morale and productivity is reduced because of the shortage of equipment. The washing needs of the restaurant remain unmet because of the poor dishwashing machine ● The feedback session will also, include the issues that the cashier has to face ● The workers feel unrecognized and disrespected because of the manager’s high inaccessibility C. SWOT Analysis 1. Internal environments a. Strengths i. Having loyal employees would enable the store to weather stressful situations more thus providing a consistent level of service ii. An employee with good negotiation skills b. Weaknesses i. Low Work Morale and employee dissatisfaction because of excessive workload ii. No permanent Staff workers iii. Ineffective Division of Tasks iv. Lack of Customer and Management Feedback 2. External Environments a. Opportunities i. Students’ feedback is key to better sales b. Threats i. Part of the workforce are working students so negative feedback from them could drastically influence the restaurant’s reputation and might influence sales. ii. Difficulty in adapting to market changes D. Alternative Course of Action 1. Alternative 1 – Individual based model a. Advantages i. Describe the behavior of a system as a whole by establishing procedural rules for the individuals ii. Allows more realistic assumptions b. Dis-advantages i. More limited perspective ii. Can only handle limited entities 2. Alternative 2 – Non-statistical analysis a. Advantages i. Focuses on qualitative data collected ii. Focuses on observation and interviews b. Dis-advantages i. Includes the use of formal techniques to determine sample size ii. Doesn't provide an objective way to control sampling risk 3. Alternative 3 - Reward System a. Advantages i. It can increase the morale of the employees and; ii. It can increase the productivity of the employees b. Dis-advantages i. It may lose effect after a while ii. It can increase the pressure of the employees E. Recommendation I recommend that the manager of Peppercorn, Drew Randall could use a non-statistical analysis and he should have arranged a meeting to introduce Square one to the staff members of the dining unit and explained to them why the consultants were present. In this way, the need for the employees to keep questioning the consultants about the reasons for their presence would have been eliminated. There are three tiers of management at Peppercorn. Because of so many management levels, the inefficiencies of the dining unit are further increased as some staff members report to different managers. Although it appears like the staff members at the Peppercorn are loyal as they have been working there for so long, several conflicts exist and need to be resolved. Employee morale would be reduced if these issues continue to stay. F. Conclusion It can be concluded that the problems faced by Peppercorn Dining if it solicits Square One Consultant’s services and implements all the suggestions and advice provided by the consultants to improve its systems and operations. The restaurant may need to take radical measures to implement some recommendations. But, do not implement all the advice and recommendations of Square One may cause the failure of Peppercorn Dining in enhancing employee productivity and morals. Hence, it may cause wastage of a lot of money, time and resources. Case Study - Ben Jerrys (A) Team Development Intervention A. Background of the case Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream in 1978. Over the years, Ben & Jerry's evolved into a socially-oriented, independent-minded industry leader in the super-premium ice cream market. The company has had a history of donating 7.5% of its pre-tax earnings to societal and community causes. Ben and Jerry further extended their generosity by offering 75,000 shares at $10.50 per share exclusively to Vermont residents, so that they may help those who first supported the company; Ben and Jerry's wanted residents to profit from their venture as well. In addition, steady growth and a widely recognized brand name helped Ben and Jerry's obtain 45 percent of the premium ice-cream market, yet the company stock price remained stagnant at $21 a share for several years. B. Main problem of the case Ben & Jerry’s maintains the strictest standards of product quality to ensure its customers get the full flavor experience each time they enjoy a pint or cone of Vermont’s finest ice cream. This attention to detail can be seen from “cow to cone,” as the company says, meaning that each step of its supply chain – from suppliers and distributors to manufacturing operations – must comply with the company’s three-part mission statement, which emphasizes product quality, economic reward, and a commitment to the community. Focusing on its manufacturing operations, Ben & Jerry’s maintains quality procedures for key performance indicators (KPIs) that ensure consistent product quality for every pint produced. To track quantitative data, the ice cream manufacturer had previously been using a paper-based system, which was proving to be cumbersome for operators and data administrators alike. Operators would take individual readings and calculate an average of those readings to plot on a paper chart. Quality assurance personnel would then perform manual calculations to compute trends and create reports. This system was not only slow and inflexible, but also costly in terms of man hours required for calculation and analysis. Ben & Jerry’s needed a fast and reliable way to collect and analyze the vital quality data of its super-premium ice cream products. C. SWOT Analysis 1. Internal environments A. Strengths Ben & Jerry’s maintains a high market share. This has been achieved in spite of a premium price point. The premium price of the product was supported by a highquality image, and high-quality products. B. Weaknesses Lack of management skills among the firm, not taking charge to cut down costs when necessary and the expenses are too high, they need to balance themselves out by cutting costs in labor and some ice cream parlors in Vermont due to the high contribution to debt from those stores. 2. External Environments A. Opportunities They could expand their existing product lines to compete with the “private-in house brands” offered by supermarkets, and in developing countries. B. Threats They face major competitors, like Nestle (Pillsbury), Kraft Foods, Dunkin Donuts, and Dean Foods. They also have competition from global food companies with similar products and any grocery store label products. Much of their competition seems to be merging together, in order to remain marketable in this economy. D. Alternative Course of Action The issues that affected Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream were an indication of the company being under-organized. In analyzing the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream case, the organization development practitioner needed to first utilize an intervention process which would aid in the resolution of the conflict that plagued the founders and management. Using an intergroup and leadership development intervention technique would have been more beneficial than the team building activities. Intergroup intervention is used when there is conflict between two groups in this case the founders, Ben and Jerry and management to aid in improving cooperation. Implementation of an intergroup intervention rather than team building exercises would allow management to better deal with their interpersonal conflict and also to aid in conflict resolution within the company. It would provide a means of evaluating the issues that the founders and management had regarding any processes. Once the issues between these two groups were resolved then the team building activities could be utilized. The conflict between the two groups was causing issues affecting the company’s goal which were clearly different between the two groups. The founders, Ben and Jerry's vision was more carefree and fun while the vision that management had was business oriented. The OD practitioner needed to ensure that the founders and management had a clear common goal as well as vision for the company by also developing an effective communication plan. E. Recommendation Organization development interventions can be used as a means of improving performance, processes, issues and goals of an organization. The organization development practitioner would need to first develop a plan that would address the issues between the founders and management. Jones et al. found that “one of the primary challenges organizations face when they seek to develop their leadership, especially more senior leaders, is convincing these people that they are in need of professional development (as cited in Davis, 2014, p. 107). The OD practitioner would convince management and the founders the reason why having a leadership development and intergroup invention implementation is essential for the company They should continue to try and find cost-cutting methods regarding waste reduction, energy conservation, and recycling. Also, they should frequently increase their product breadth and flavors to help keep their competitive advantage of major differentiation and also to help meet the ever-changing preferences of their customers, keep opening additional scoop shops to increase their market reach and help with brand loyalty and recognition and help withstand growing competition. Try to find cleaner manufacturing, disposal and distribution methods and technologies to help keep themselves in compliance with laws. Lastly, they should develop additional manufacturing plants and distribution centers outside of Vermont to reduce distribution costs, cut down on distribution-related emissions, and increase production volume of the company. F. Conclusion In conclusion, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. has established itself as an innovator and leader in product quality as well as corporate social responsibility and environmental consciousness. The biggest issue that they will have face is that, as they grow as a company, is how they will be able to continue to keep their uniqueness and strategy if they do become acquisitioned by a larger.
