C&S Wholesale Grocers: SelfManaged TeamsGroup 2 the President & CEO of the company is concerned that whether the company would be able to meet the needs of all its customers and maintain high level of customer satisfaction for which the company was known throughout New England. . Rick Cohen.Introduction This case is about a 70 year old warehousing and distribution company by the name of C&S Wholesale Grocers. .Statement of Problem Considering the precarious position at hand. Rick Cohen is trying to decide whether and how to implement the concept of Self Managed Teams in the company’s warehouse. C&S: Company Background • Founded by Israel Cohen and Abraham Siegel in 1918 • Innovation and attention to customer servicecornerstones of C&S’s success • Professional in client dealings • Forged relationships with over 2 dozen military bases by 1988 . Brattleboro • C&S’s business got doubled in Northeast .A&P • Single large customer of C&S • Sales of C&S increased by 35% • Warehouse moved to a new location. Challenges faced by C&S • • • • Rising operational costs Shrinking margins Quality control Customer relationship management . • Hired more supervisors to improve coordination • No accountability • Overcrowded workspace due to increase in workforce • Increased work hours led to physical exhaustion.approaching 90% • Rise in soft costs • Increased paper work .Problems galore at Brattleboro • Hired new employees. hence morale of employees dropped • High turnover rate.Who did not have much knowledge & supervisors had to train them which meant lower efficiencies due to loss of time • No coordination among the workforce. is testified by his Action of moving the warehousing facility to Brattleboro Was aware of the need to win a large supermarket location quickly immediately after relocation . Massachusetts • Completed undergraduate studies at the Wharton school • In 1987.Rick Cohen • Raised in Worcester. Lester retired • Proactive personality. became President & CEO of C&S when his father. Unlike competitors he was ready to implement self.managed teams . careful in his approach for the progress of the organization Emotional Stability.He was in agreement with Harris on the possibility of implementing self-managed teams concept in C&S Conscientiousness. responsible.• Big 5 personality traits Extraversion.Convinced his father to move out the warehouse from Worcester to Brattleboro Agreeableness.He was well-organized.He was calm and composed even though the festive season was arriving which would test the warehouse to its limits Openness To Experience. He was open minded in his approach to explore new options which other competitors did not do .He intuitively believed that increased employee involvement leads to improved performance P-type.• According to MBTI model N-type. He believed The team should be self selecting rather than assigned Should be paid bonuses for accuracy and receive deductions for errors He believed in employee involvement which would lead to higher satisfaction levels .• McGregor theory Y. • Implementation of Herzbrg’s two factor theory: Hygiene factors Since salary is not the only satisfier. inculcating a growth oriented approach in the employees . he linked it with performance He wanted to improve the working conditions as employee turnover rate was very high Motivators He wanted to empower the teams which would make them more responsible and accountable He linked salary to performance. He wished to form teams which would be handling a particular no of cases per shift High Uncertainty Avoidance.He wanted the same legacy to continue which was developed by his grandfather .Culture At C&S As Envisioned • As per Hofstede’s theory Collectivism.Rick was aware of the ground realities and wanted to transform operations to be profitable in the long run Long-term orientation. to exit..• As per the EVLN model Rick wants to turnaround the prevalent attitude adopted by employees.e. i. instead they should voice their opinions and the incentive system would ensure to a certain extent that they would remain loyal towards the organization .