Sundown Bakery - Case Study Example

Sundown Bakery Summary: Carol Teinchek and Bruce Marshall initiated operating the Sundown Bakery on a small-scale with a single shop and a bakery individually run by Carol and Bruce, respectively. Realizing the need for expansion, Carol employed Marina from El Salvador and a Korean college student Kim as part-time clerks in the shop. Similarly, Bruce sought assistance for the 24-hour operation of the bakery through the aid of French-Canadian master baker, Maurice. Thus, while Carol focused on management of general sales distribution and Bruce spent most of his time at the office than in the bakery, Maurice and Kim were left to deal with the sole supervision of the bakery and the shop.

When the business grew beyond its original place, Sundown Bakery was established in the mall with two shops and two kiosks so that this implied an increase in demand and investment to handle the significant changes and adjustments thereof by hiring Hans Mikelson as a new operations manager. Based on his experience with coffee chain and various insights regarding business expansion as aligned with the new schemes, there emerged a totally different system of two dress codes to follow and employee manual to save time allotted for orientation.

Due to circulating memos, it turns out that Mikelson’s means directed the company to a huge change that was rather unfavorable especially to old-time employees. Moreover, new employees hardly recognized Carol and Bruce and in general, the Sundown Bakery was confronted with the challenge of shifting characters among employees as observed even by the owners who were themselves unable to remedy the situation. Problem: Even if the Sundown business went on smoothly after the employment of additional workers Marina, Kim, and Maurice, the turning point took place by the time Mikelson applied his philosophy which he might have treated as an economic tactic.

However, instead of progress with sales and work efficiency, trouble rose out of the dress code implementation and conveying necessary details via memos which amply reduce the chance of the employees to communicate with each other. Mikelson as well as Carol and Bruce had overlooked the fact that ethnic diversity already bore impact in communication between employees. Since memos were disseminated with less personal interaction, this resulted in misunderstandings and diminished the capacity for exchange of ideas between employees and workers.

Furthermore, tenured employees had seen the change as a negative aspect of seniority, thinking that the administration attempts to exercise power irrationally by using memos to give orders.Recommendations: Carol and Bruce should have remained hands-on at least with the company activities of utmost importance particularly when it came to concerns about policies, strategies, and orientation of new employees. Constant communication and openness even with only up to the immediate subjects of their supervisors is crucial in order for these subordinates to become reacquainted with the original principles which made the organization successful and realize how the mission and vision of Sundown Bakery may be brought to full understanding across-the-board.

As owners, Carol and Bruce ought not to have allowed Mikelson to take absolute control of the operations according to the ways he knows because no limited approach is able to function alone in determining optimum process and outcome for the business. Business partners Carol and Bruce must make it a point to explicate the Sundown’s roots and the company’s natural behavior of growth as influenced by environmental factors and distinct profiles of working individuals. This way, the operations manager would have the opportunity to perceive a larger picture and consider things that have truly and consistently mattered for the organization on account of diverse population of workers coming from different cultures.