Briscoe

.Disciplinary Writing sets formal writing tasks that help students critically process course concepts and content in commonly accepted disciplinary formats and conventions.
EXAMPLE:

Case studies from Jon Briscoe's MGMT 635: Organizational Behavior and Management

Student model

Rubric

1st Assignment: Au Bon Pain Case Analysis:
The "case" of Au Bon Pain is found in the article "May the Force Be With You."
The case presents several methods Ron Shaich used to try to motivate his store managers. For several reasons these methods failed one by one.
Your assignment for this case analysis is to (1) determine why the store managers the case discusses have not been effectively motivated; (2) recommend a plan of action with specific recommendations for how to motivate the store managers in a sustainable fashion; and (3) make recommendations for motivating them that also achieve the values and performance goals of the organization.
There should be a good balance and congruence between analysis of the past and recommendations for the future.
You should use several course concepts in analyzing this case and supporting your recommendations--pay special attention to those on motivation and job design. Make sure sources are cited professionally and use the original source whenever possible.
A key to this assignment lays in selecting from among the many theories and frameworks those that ae most useful for understanding this particular case. Remember, we are focused here on motivation not compensation in spite of the title of the article.
This case analysis should be 4-6 pages long.
The paper should be double-spaced with one inch margins and no smaller than 12 point font. Please attach a cover page with your name and don't put your name elsewhere in the analysis so as to preserve anonymity in grading. This assignment will be graded according to guidelines found in the syllabus.
Additional assignments: Details will be distributed in class.
A Note on Studying Cases for Class Discussion:
Because case discussion will be utilized during a significant portion of class time, please make sure to be ready to discuss the case when you come to class. The following guidelines will be useful to you as you prepare for case discussion--
Case analyses-- your preparation before class and our collective discussion during class of cases (primarily Harvard Business School Cases) representing problems and situations faced by real managers and leaders in real organizations. Such analysis allows you to vivariously be exposed to important organizational situations faced by other organizations as well as how others in the class would respond to such situations.
The purpose of case analysis is not necessarily to generate the right answer as a class. Rather, its purpose is to help you generate effective analysis and solutions and to learn from others in the class different and valuable perspectives.
No single way to analyze a case is best. In HBS teaching, note 9-376-241, John S. Hammond recommends general guidelines for case preparation which you can adopt to see which method works best for you.
.
SAMPLE CASE ANALYSIS FOR MGMT 635
.

     Ron Shaich was a recent M.B.A. graduate when he met Louis Kane in 1982. Kane would convince Shaich to become the president of Au Bon Pain. It was a company consisting of three bakery-cafes located in prime locations in Boston. Lacking any sense of purpose or direction, it was a company requiring dramatic action.
.

     Faced by operations that were expensive and losing money, delivering poor service, and experiencing high employee turnover, he set out on a plan. He put into place a new management team on the corporate level, let go in-store bakers and shut down the wholesale side of the business. Further, he replaced the store managers with new ones and paid them the going rate. In an effort to motivate the new managers, he set up a program in 1982 that provided monthly bonuses to them based on their stores sales above a budgeted level, providing the store stayed within bounds on its food and labor costs.
.
     Now, after setting these things in place, he partook on an aggressive growth plan. With this cam a normal set of growing pains. These focused on ways to motivate his store managers and ways to create management bench strength that could step in when new locations opened.
.
     Straich was finding with the growth that he was no longer able to give the stors managers the support they expected. So, in April of 1984 he hired a vice-president of operations. He soon found out that even with the addition of this top manager, problems still existed. They seemed to center around the compensation plan put into place in 1982.
. all this is summary;
get to analysis

     Due to issues such as change and growth, managers moving from store to stroe, and unclear record keeping, no clear guidelines for bonuses were in place. The almost capricious determinations by Shaich were coined by store management as "pennies from heaven." Further destoying their morale, the new v.p. was hiring his managers at $6,000 to $7,000 higher than them (note also that many were from his old employer McDonalds). Seeing this and the fact that he had no interest in taking care of the present managers, Shaich fired the v.p. in June, 1985.
.
     It was time for yet another phase to be entered. Shaich addressed the issues of rising turnover, sinking morale, and operational chaos. He raised the starting wages of crew members by $.50. Turnover and hiring remained a big issue despite the higher pay. As to the managers, he raised salaries of the capable ones and returned to the company's roots of promoting from within. Although important measures, they failed to address regaining confidence of the customer.
.
     Realizing this latest plan was not working, he turned to Len Schlesinger, a Harvard professor, for assistance. He joined the company as a partner and executive vice president. He formed a compensation committee made up of top store managers, The result was a plan that had managers paid according to their level of responsibility and the sales activity of their stores. The managers very quickly figured out that being assigned to higher-volume stores meant making more money. Thus the nes system had little impact on the actual performance of the stores.
. all summary

     It is not unusual for a manager at any level to get caught in a quandry of putting out fires and not stepping back to address issues in a more visionary perspective. Shaich could feel the pressure at key times but was unable to develop a more comprehensive plan to motivate his store managers. Ironically, [a plan needed to address the initial issues he said] <grammar when he joined the company; maximixing profit potential at stores, poor service levels and high crew turnover.
. is this the plan?
unclear as stated

     Many companies, when faced with the need to reinvent themselves, go through some type of strategic planning process. This can include the defining of a vision, mission statement, core values and a strategic plan. At this time, a recommendation is to create this so that simple questions can be answer of "Who are we (as defined by our culture)?" and "Where are we going?
.

     Ron Shaich defined his vision very simply: "Don't build another fast-food business. Create a company where I'd want to work." This should be posted clearly in every store's back of the house.
. |
|good idea

     In listening to Ron, the mission of Au Bon Pain is to "Be a truly better food-service sompany. As a given have good food-- food you want to eat. Have a general, and passionate, concern for our customers. Attract people to work here who sincerely care by doing things better than the conventional ways. Create opportunities for them through a focused sales growth effort."
.
     From the vision and mission sattement, it is evident that the core values of this company are: concern for the curstomer; quality of food; grow the company through in-store sales and new stores. still summary by the way
. |
|collapse these 3
|into one concise
|paragraph
|

     In dealing with the strategic plan, one area of focus is defining the ideal store manager. McClelland's Theory of Needs describes a prototype for the type of person who would succeed in a stors manager's setting. His theory defines someone who has a need for achievement. This individual prefers a job situation with personal responsibility, feedback and an intermediate degree of risk. Research has shown that someone consistently showing these traits are successful in entrepreneurial-like activities such as managing a self-contained unti within a large organization. During the interview process, it is important to question or test the individual to see if these traits exist.
.

good idea

     Now that ideal candidates have been chosen, annual goals need to be set for the store managers. These need to be set around the company's core values. The concern for the customer would involve a method of determining customer satisfaction. Survey methods would be used to determine quality of food and level of service. Next, there should be an incentive related to obtaining sales increases while maintaining control of food and labor costs. Lastly, a standard should be set for in-store employee turnover. This embodies the "place I would want to work" vision.
. good-- might tie to
various theories

     Now that the template is set as to how a manager will be graded and ultimately bonused or promoted, steps need to be in place to motivate them to succeed. Evidence has supported the Goal-Setting Theory that states that specific goals lead to increased performance and that difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than easy goals. The company should be able to set some basic standards for goals system-wide. They should then approach the individual manager and have them actively participate in the process of the finalized goals for their store. Evidence tends to indicate that the individual will be more committed to the choices wherein they have had a voice in their setting. Further, given that the company has selected someone with a need for achievement, this Goal-Setting Theory dovetails well.
. aha--you're ahead
of me

     After delineating these clear goals, communication is necessary on an ongoing basis. Such things as monthly conference calls, quarterly meetings, newsletters, period comparison spreadsheets and emails are valuable tools. There is no doubt that these tools when matched with their goals can motivate the store managers. The Reinforcement Theory points this out. It states that people will allocate their effort more on tasks that are being reinforced. Having measurable goals will succeed in shifting their efforts to meet them.
.
     Schlesinger attepmted to pay store managers on their level of responsibility. It resulted in them switching to higher volume stores versus increasing their store performance. Some type of job rating code needs to be established to allow for a clearer understanding of base pay compared to responsibility. The Equity Theory concludes that employees will compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others. Then, perceived inequities will influence the degree of effort the employee exerts. Therefore, constant dialogue with store managers regarding their reward relative to their production should be made. This should include comparisons within the company, but also within the industry.
.

good

     The final issue deals with high crew turnover. The fast-food industry, like most service industries, is suffers due to high turnover. There are high costs associated wit turnover due to hiring costs, hours of training, uniform costs etc. Au Bon Pain was experiencing an even higher rate than the industry despite paying higher than competitors. The fast food industry brings with it a unique work force. Restaurants are turning to foreign-born individuals for its work force, primarily of Mexican descent. Although Maslow's Hierarchy Theory might work for typical United States employees, there are differences that result with someone from a Mexican culture. Where Maslow saw a desire by people to move in an orderof physiologicalm safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization, someone from a Mexican culture may place more emphasis on strong security needs.>why? growth needs fairly universal Thus, a $.50 does not have as great of an impact. An environment must be created by a store manager that promotes the crews' need for strong job security.
. important issue, but
not focus of paper

     In summary, Au Bon Pain has been presented with a plan to motivate its store manager. This plan has been crafted by viewing the needs of an ideal manager and matching those with the core values of the company.
            86 B
Some creative solutions here. But the 1st 3 pages are almost exclusively summary-- very little analysis + uses of theory. This was (diagnosis) 1/2 of the assignment. Well written + good effort overall.
                   JB

.
.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT EVALUATION
Comprehensiveness-- problem/topic is outlined and understood on a broad scale.
               Poor                Needs Work               OK X              Good               Excellent
Key elements of the case or assigned topic are captured, focused upon and well explained in terms of:
      Content--what needs to be changed (if applicable to the assignment)
               Poor                Needs Work X              OK               Good               Excellent
     Process--how it might be changed (if applicable to the assignment)
               Poor                Needs Work               OK               Good X              Excellent
Accuracy-- facts and course concepts are used with accuracy
               Poor                Needs Work               OK              Good X              Excellent
Course concepts-- relevant and key course concepts are used to illuminate the problem/ topic
               Poor                Needs Work               OK X               Good               Excellent
Soundness of ideas-- ideas make sense logically/ intuitively
               Poor                Needs Work               OK               Good X              Excellent
Practicality of Recommendations-- recommendations are realistic and could feasibly be implemented in the "real world" (if applicable to assignment)
               Poor                Needs Work               OK               Good X              Excellent
Effective Use of Space-- space is used effectively in balancing summary versus getting to key facts, diagnosis vs. solutions, etc.
               Poor                Needs Work X              OK               Good               Excellent
Focus-- the paper is clearly focused and not circuitous
               Poor                Needs Work               OK X              Good               Excellent
Grammar-- the paper is free from grammatical errors (spelling, sentence structure, etc.)
               Poor                Needs Work X              OK               Good               Excellent
Style/ Presentation-- the style and presentation (formatting, etc.) of the paper are professional in tone, effective, and "clean."
               Poor                Needs Work               OK               Good X              Excellent

(home)

Ron Shaich was a recent M.B.A. graduate when he met Louis Kane in 1982. Kane would convince Shaich to become the president of Au Bon Pain. It was a company consisting of three bakery-cafes located in prime locations in Boston. Lacking any sense of purpose or direction, it was a company requiring dramatic action. .
Faced by operations that were expensive and losing money, delivering poor service, and experiencing high employee turnover, he set out on a plan. He put into place a new management team on the corporate level, let go in-store bakers and shut down the wholesale side of the business. Further, he replaced the store managers with new ones and paid them the going rate. In an effort to motivate the new managers, he set up a program in 1982 that provided monthly bonuses to them based on their stores sales above a budgeted level, providing the store stayed within bounds on its food and labor costs. . Now, after setting these things in place, he partook on an aggressive growth plan. With this cam a normal set of growing pains. These focused on ways to motivate his store managers and ways to create management bench strength that could step in when new locations opened. . Straich was finding with the growth that he was no longer able to give the stors managers the support they expected. So, in April of 1984 he hired a vice-president of operations. He soon found out that even with the addition of this top manager, problems still existed. They seemed to center around the compensation plan put into place in 1982. .	all this is summary; get to analysis
Due to issues such as change and growth, managers moving from store to stroe, and unclear record keeping, no clear guidelines for bonuses were in place. The almost capricious determinations by Shaich were coined by store management as "pennies from heaven." Further destoying their morale, the new v.p. was hiring his managers at $6,000 to $7,000 higher than them (note also that many were from his old employer McDonalds). Seeing this and the fact that he had no interest in taking care of the present managers, Shaich fired the v.p. in June, 1985. . It was time for yet another phase to be entered. Shaich addressed the issues of rising turnover, sinking morale, and operational chaos. He raised the starting wages of crew members by $.50. Turnover and hiring remained a big issue despite the higher pay. As to the managers, he raised salaries of the capable ones and returned to the company's roots of promoting from within. Although important measures, they failed to address regaining confidence of the customer. . Realizing this latest plan was not working, he turned to Len Schlesinger, a Harvard professor, for assistance. He joined the company as a partner and executive vice president. He formed a compensation committee made up of top store managers, The result was a plan that had managers paid according to their level of responsibility and the sales activity of their stores. The managers very quickly figured out that being assigned to higher-volume stores meant making more money. Thus the nes system had little impact on the actual performance of the stores. .	all summary
It is not unusual for a manager at any level to get caught in a quandry of putting out fires and not stepping back to address issues in a more visionary perspective. Shaich could feel the pressure at key times but was unable to develop a more comprehensive plan to motivate his store managers. Ironically, [a plan needed to address the initial issues he said] <grammar when he joined the company; maximixing profit potential at stores, poor service levels and high crew turnover. .	is this the plan? unclear as stated
Many companies, when faced with the need to reinvent themselves, go through some type of strategic planning process. This can include the defining of a vision, mission statement, core values and a strategic plan. At this time, a recommendation is to create this so that simple questions can be answer of "Who are we (as defined by our culture)?" and "Where are we going? .
Ron Shaich defined his vision very simply: "Don't build another fast-food business. Create a company where I'd want to work." This should be posted clearly in every store's back of the house. .	\| \|good idea
In listening to Ron, the mission of Au Bon Pain is to "Be a truly better food-service sompany. As a given have good food-- food you want to eat. Have a general, and passionate, concern for our customers. Attract people to work here who sincerely care by doing things better than the conventional ways. Create opportunities for them through a focused sales growth effort." . From the vision and mission sattement, it is evident that the core values of this company are: concern for the curstomer; quality of food; grow the company through in-store sales and new stores. still summary by the way .	\| \|collapse these 3 \|into one concise \|paragraph \|
In dealing with the strategic plan, one area of focus is defining the ideal store manager. McClelland's Theory of Needs describes a prototype for the type of person who would succeed in a stors manager's setting. His theory defines someone who has a need for achievement. This individual prefers a job situation with personal responsibility, feedback and an intermediate degree of risk. Research has shown that someone consistently showing these traits are successful in entrepreneurial-like activities such as managing a self-contained unti within a large organization. During the interview process, it is important to question or test the individual to see if these traits exist. .	good idea
Now that ideal candidates have been chosen, annual goals need to be set for the store managers. These need to be set around the company's core values. The concern for the customer would involve a method of determining customer satisfaction. Survey methods would be used to determine quality of food and level of service. Next, there should be an incentive related to obtaining sales increases while maintaining control of food and labor costs. Lastly, a standard should be set for in-store employee turnover. This embodies the "place I would want to work" vision. .	good-- might tie to various theories
Now that the template is set as to how a manager will be graded and ultimately bonused or promoted, steps need to be in place to motivate them to succeed. Evidence has supported the Goal-Setting Theory that states that specific goals lead to increased performance and that difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than easy goals. The company should be able to set some basic standards for goals system-wide. They should then approach the individual manager and have them actively participate in the process of the finalized goals for their store. Evidence tends to indicate that the individual will be more committed to the choices wherein they have had a voice in their setting. Further, given that the company has selected someone with a need for achievement, this Goal-Setting Theory dovetails well. .	aha--you're ahead of me
After delineating these clear goals, communication is necessary on an ongoing basis. Such things as monthly conference calls, quarterly meetings, newsletters, period comparison spreadsheets and emails are valuable tools. There is no doubt that these tools when matched with their goals can motivate the store managers. The Reinforcement Theory points this out. It states that people will allocate their effort more on tasks that are being reinforced. Having measurable goals will succeed in shifting their efforts to meet them. . Schlesinger attepmted to pay store managers on their level of responsibility. It resulted in them switching to higher volume stores versus increasing their store performance. Some type of job rating code needs to be established to allow for a clearer understanding of base pay compared to responsibility. The Equity Theory concludes that employees will compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others. Then, perceived inequities will influence the degree of effort the employee exerts. Therefore, constant dialogue with store managers regarding their reward relative to their production should be made. This should include comparisons within the company, but also within the industry. .	good
The final issue deals with high crew turnover. The fast-food industry, like most service industries, is suffers due to high turnover. There are high costs associated wit turnover due to hiring costs, hours of training, uniform costs etc. Au Bon Pain was experiencing an even higher rate than the industry despite paying higher than competitors. The fast food industry brings with it a unique work force. Restaurants are turning to foreign-born individuals for its work force, primarily of Mexican descent. Although Maslow's Hierarchy Theory might work for typical United States employees, there are differences that result with someone from a Mexican culture. Where Maslow saw a desire by people to move in an orderof physiologicalm safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization, someone from a Mexican culture may place more emphasis on strong security needs.>why? growth needs fairly universal Thus, a $.50 does not have as great of an impact. An environment must be created by a store manager that promotes the crews' need for strong job security. .	important issue, but not focus of paper
In summary, Au Bon Pain has been presented with a plan to motivate its store manager. This plan has been crafted by viewing the needs of an ideal manager and matching those with the core values of the company. 86 B Some creative solutions here. But the 1st 3 pages are almost exclusively summary-- very little analysis + uses of theory. This was (diagnosis) 1/2 of the assignment. Well written + good effort overall. JB