Garden Depot Case Report
January 16, 2018
Jacob Allen 6279798
Murray Martin 6260590
Rohan Mahant 6255640
Damon Chapman 6265888
MGMT 1P96 S10
Submitted to: Dr. Michael Robertson
Executive Summary
Overview
The Garden Depot is a small, family-owned floral company located in Barrie, Ontario. The Depot has a 12 000 square-foot retail store, a lawn maintenance division, and a landscaping division. Janice Bowman is the active office manager and has 13 years of experience in her position. Derek Sinclair is the current landscaping manager and had very little previous experience in retail. Mr. Sinclair is also the son-in-law to the president of the company. Janice Bowman feels that Derek Sinclair is not doing his job correctly and that there needs to be changes in the company for her to start doing her job properly.
Problems
The problems that are present at The Garden Depot can be divided into 3 categories that are structural, customer service, and inventory/invoicing. These are the main issues that are causing the company the most problems in its current state. Most of these problems are occuring from the hiring of Derek Sinclair in the landscaping manager position.
Causes
The causes for these problems include the lack of fit between individual and process. Derek Sinclair is not skilled enough to be in the position he is in and do the day to day activities that his position requires. There is a lack of fit between individuals and structure. This lack of fit primarily concerns Dave Sampson, the general manager, and Janice Bowman, the office manager. There is a lack of fit between process and task. Many of the jobs at Garden depot are done without the formal processes and training needed for the task to be completed successfully.
Goals
- Have staff properly trained
- Prevent internal theft
- Ensure every employee is working on the proper task
Actions
The process for training employees at Garden Depot needs to be improved by implementing a new system for whenever a new employee is hired. Every employee needs to be updated on their current position and job responsibilities that apply to their individual job. Also Derek Sinclair needs to be fired from the company.
Recommendation
We believe that the preferred course of action should be removing Mr. Sinclair from his current position. This should happen immediately because the faster he’s gone, the quicker the company can start to get back on track of being productive and organized. After Mr. Sinclair is fired, Janice Bowman will replace him, taking over his position as the manager of the landscaping division.
Overview:
The Garden Depot is a small, family-owned floral company located in Barrie, Ontario. The Depot has a 12, 000 square-foot retail store, a lawn maintenance division, and a landscaping division. Janice Bowman is the active office manager and has 13 years of experience in her position. Derek Sinclair is the current landscaping manager and had very little previous experience in retail. Mr. Sinclair is also the son-in-law to the president of the company. Janice Bowman feels that Derek Sinclair is not doing his job properly and that there needs to be changes in the company for her to start doing her job properly.
Problems:
Customer Service: The Garden Depot (GD) has many customer-service related issues that may be costing the firm a portion of its customers and, in the long run, it's reputation. Customers calls are not being answered in a timely manner, if at all. Janice Bowman has noted that many of the customer complains she receives are in regards to Derek St. Clair's lack of follow-up with their inquiries. It also appears as though GD is unable to meet customer demand, causing jobs to be pushed to the following season. GD's inability to meet demand ultimately means lost revenue and long wait times for customers. We have also become aware of the fact that Mr. Sinclair has authorized a project in which the customer was not charged for the services that had been provided. This is an unnecessary expense for GD to bear and may set unrealistic customer expectations moving forward.