Analysis of the Mrs. Fields - Case Study Example

?Mrs. Fields Case Study [N a m e] ANALYSIS OF THE CASE STUDY AND ASSUMPTIONS: Randy and Debbi, the husband and wife team, were able to create magic by the launch of their cookies business. They worked, from the very start, to provide the customers with high quality and best cookies and created a clear edge in the market. With the growing popularity of their products and business, they expanded not only in local market but also in international market. In this process of international expansion, Fields kept in mind the local preferences of different markets and made changes accordingly (Richman, 3). However, the main reason behind the dramatic success of the Mrs. Fields’ Cookies was its exceptional management philosophy and management information systems (Richman(a)). In the process excessive international expansion, Randy and Debbi, made sure that they have control over all branches and were not in favor of franchising the outlets. According to them, franchising would have resulted in hurting their management philosophy and quality of business (Richman, 5). Debbi believed in guiding the employees with example and regularly visited its stores in this regard. Management information system of the Mrs. Fields’ Cookies was designed in order to keep control over all stores and to provide the required information to all store managers in order to take better decisions. Information systems at each store helped the managers in the process of taking important daily operational decisions (Richman, 6). Hence, less autonomy is given to the store managers and employees. On the other hand, LPB had completely different management practices and philosophy. The store managers and employees of LPB were provided with the required autonomy and freedom to take important decisions regarding day to day operations at the bakery. Apart from this, LPB does not have the carefully and cleverly build information system. Randy and Debbi were not able to understand these differences and modify the information system according to the new requirements, which in turn resulted in losses after the acquisition of the LPB by the Fields. INTIAL ACTIONS OF FIELDS UPON ACQUIRING LPB AND ITS ANALYSIS: The first most action taken by the Fields upon the acquisition of the La Pettie Boulangerie (LPE) was the reduction of the overall staff of the bakery chain. The administrative staff was reduced to 3 from 53 (Richman, 9). The reason provided by the Fields for this was that all overhead activities and tasks were integrated with the existing management structure and organization, this includes several important tasks like human resources, finance, training and several other. The three people kept belonged to operations and research and development department (Richman, 9). This step of reducing the staff and merging overhead functions with existing organization allowed to cut down the overall cost of operations. Apart from this, integration of the operations and reduction of staff was supportive to the management practices of Debbi and Randy and they could have gain more control. Although, this decision was taken by the Fields in order to manage the acquisition more effectively and efficiently but at the same time this decision would have resulted in resistance on part of the store manager and other employees of the LPB. The decision of reducing the staff would have discouraged and de-motivated the employees and at the same time the level of trust over the new management would have reduced. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIELDS AND LA PETTIE BOULANGERIE: Debi and Randy were of the view that La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB) was similar to their own business. However, it was important to acknowledge first that the similarity between both businesses was only limited to the type of industry in which they were operating, as the products were related to each other. Debi and Randy wanted to enter into a whole new segment in the bakery industry and for this purpose acquired La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB), but they were not able to understand the difference in terms of the size, management structure, philosophy, organizational culture, and different practices. La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB) was into the business of providing the customers with the breads, croissants, and other baked products which were baked from the frozen dough. Along with this, it also offered sandwiches and hot soups (Richman, 9). Fields in their attempt of expanding the business of Mrs. Fields’ Cookies into further bakery products, forgot that their practices and management philosophy was different from that of La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB). La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB) was different from Fields in many aspects. The organization was more traditional and more autonomy was provided to the staff and managers of the stores. Along with this the products of La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB) were made from the frozen dough, whereas Fields had direct its employees to use the fresh dough. Debbi and Randy were wrong in their perception that the La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB) business was similar to them in terms of customers, products, management philosophy, and challenges. IMPLEMENTATION AND INTEGRATION OF FIELDS INFORMATION SYSTEM AT LPB: One of the biggest challenge in the acquisition of La Pettie Boulangerie (LPB) by the Fields, was to implement and integrate the information systems of Fields with the new business. The existing information systems were designed keeping in view the needs and requirements of the Mrs. Fields’ cookies outlets. Each information system was designed according to the requirements of the overall business and keeping in view the management structure and hierarchy. The Management Information System (MIS) was formulated in order to facilitate the store managers in the process of decision making and reduce the extra duties on them. The information systems at each stores were designed to take decisions not only about the daily operations of the store but also about the recruitment and personnel management. The store managers if wanted some kind of change in the decision, then they have to contact the corporate head office (Richman, 9). On the other hand, management practices at LPB was completely changed from it. The store managers can take decisions on their own and were provided with greater autonomy. Apart from this as the number of products were increased and also the method of preparation was changed the information systems should incorporate all these details in order to be successfully implement in the LPB. RANDY’S EXPLANATION OF THE LOSSES AFTER ACQUISITION: According to Randy, the losses after the acquisition of the LPB were because of the high amount of expenses on part of the organization in the process of this new venture of bakery store. According to him, Fields had long term strategy and will able to reach its full potential because of the exceptional operating practices and experiences. At the same time, Fields advocate high and thorough consumer and market research and knew the demands of the target market (Richman, 10). However, one thing which was missed by the Randy was the integration of the information system in the new business and modifying according to the new requirements. In order to be able to get control of the new business and achieve profits in it the most important step is to understand the changes in the management practices and incorporate the new requirement in the information systems. FUTURE OF LPB AND ITS EMPLOYEES: After the modifications in the information systems according to the new requirements and its implementation in the LPB, the employees and store managers of LPB will also be trained to get accommodate with the new practices. The integration of the management structure and information technology by the Fields, leave the store managers with very less autonomy and power of decision making. In order to implement the management philosophy of Fields at LPB in an effective and efficient manner it is necessary to train the employees according the operational practices of the Fields. In this way, Fields will be able to overcome any resistance on part of the employees and store managers of the LPB. Works Cited Richman, Tom. "Mrs. Fields' Secret Ingredient". Inc. (Oct. 1987a). Feb. 2012. Richman, Tom. "Mrs. Fields' Secret Ingredient," Harvard Business School (Oct.1987b): 67-72. Read More