ASSIGNMENT – Chapter 3 Strategic Case Sundown Bakery

SUNDOWN BAKERY – Strategic Case Study

When Carol Teinchek and Bruce Marshall first started Sundown Bakery, the business was fairly simple. Carol ran the shop up front, while Bruce ran the bakery and ordered supplies. When the business began to grow, Carol hired two part-time clerks to help out in the shop. Marina had moved to the country two years ago from El Salvador, and Kim was a newly arrived Korean working his way through college. Bruce hired Maurice, a French Canadian, as an assistant.

The ovens were soon running 24 hours a day supervised by Maurice who was now master baker, and two assistants on each of three shifts. Marina ad Kim supervised the shop because Carol was usually too busy managing general sales distribution to spend much time with customers. Bruce still spent 3 or 4 hours a day in the bakery whenever he could get out of his office, but he spent most of that time coordinating production and solving problems with Maurice.

Within the next year, Sundown expanded from its original location, adding two new shops as well as two kiosks in local malls. Carol a d Bruce hired a new operations manager, Hans Mikelson, formerly a regional manager of a national chain of coffee shops. Hans had plenty of new ideas about how to operate an expanding business. He launched a website, added an extensive range of drinks and meal items to the menu, and instituted two drew cods – one for all counter help and another for kitchen employees. He also put together an employee manual to save time orienting new employees. Hans announced all of these changes by memos with store managers distributed to the employees.

Sundown’s expanding size led to a change in the company. The family feeling that was strong when Sundown was a small operation was less noticeable. The new employees barely knew Bruce and Carol; as a result, there was less give-and-take of ideas between the owners and workers.

Han’s memos on the dress code and the employee manual created a crisis. Old-time employees were furious about receiving orders from “the bureaucrats,” as management came to be called. Bruce and Carol recognized the problem and wanted to keep the lines of communication open, but the weren’t sure how to do so. “I’m just a baker” Bruce confessed in exasperation. “I don’t know how to run a big company.”

Another set of challenges grew out of the changing character of the employees. In the original location alone, Sundown now employed workers from seven different countries. Jose, who was born in Brazil, confessed to Bruce that he felt uncomfortable being managed by Carol. “It’s nothing personal,” he said, “but where I come from a man doesn’t take orders from a woman.” The Sundown employee profile was different in other ways. Two of the assistant bakers were openly gay; one of the sales clerks got around by wheelchair.

Carol, Bruce and Hans know that good products alone aren’t enough to guarantee Sundown Bakery’s continuing success. They need to improve the quality of communication among the growing team who make and sell their products.

You’re Carol and Bruce. Please discuss what you would do.