1. Read the attached case analysis: Green Thumb, Inc.

1. Briefly explain the problems faced by Green Thumb (5 Points).
2. Draw and explain the existing organization structure of Green Thumb (5 points)

2. Recommend a new organization structure for Green Thumb. Clearly explain how the new organization structure will address the problems identified in 1a above (10 points)

GreenThumb, Inc.: managing people in a growing business Marie and Bob Jordan founded GreenThumb, Inc. six years ago. Capitalizing on Marie's experience in managing a retail lawn and garden center, Bob's experiences in a commercial greenhouse, and some funds from their extended family, Marie and Bob set out to make their dream a reality. Beginning modestly with a small greenhouse and an attached lawn and garden shop, they quickly established their business in the community. Marie's creative ads in the local newspaper, her flair for creative in-store displays and landscape ideas, and her outgoing personality really drove the sales and marketing side of the business. Bob's natural talent with growing plants and his previous experience as a field supervisor for a large corporate greenhouse provided a steady supply of quality bedding plants and flowers for sale in the store. At first, business was simple. During the first two years, Marie and Bob did just about everything themselves, filling in labor needs with the part-time help of a retired hobby gardener and several high-school students. Things were going so well that in the third year they decided to purchase six adjoining acres and begin growing some of their own nursery stock. By the end of their third year, the business was growing so rapidly that Marie and Bob had to begin adding full-time help-they just could not take the long hours required to handle all the work that the expanded business required. First, GreenThumb hired three managers: one each for the nursery, the greenhouse, and the retail store. Several workers reported to each of these managers, the exact number depending on the season. Bob acted as general manager and Marie assumed the role of assistant general manager. Marie handled everything when Bob was away on buying trips and kept the books and records. In addition, she kept her role as chief salesperson and marketer for the growing company. Adjusting to this expanded operation was a genuine struggle for both Marie and Bob: It became harder and harder to stay in touch with the customers, and it had been so much fun in the business initially. They seemed to spend their time doing more administrative things-hiring people, meeting with the managers, working on the firm's firiances. Less and less time was spent in the greenhouses, or with customers. Yet the business was successful and profits were good, so they continued to expand and grow. In their fifth year, things began to go wrong. By this time GreenThumb employed about 50 people during the peak season. Recently, a number of troubling problems had required a lot of attention from B ob and Marie. Some of these problems included: inven tory damage in the cramped warehouse, high turnover among part-time help, and Managing organizational scructure 3/7 unexplained escalating costs. Most serious of all was an increase in insect and disease problems in the nursery and greenhouse. While none of these problems were huge, together they were most disturbing-especially since they were leading to some dissatisfied customers, and lagging sales. Both Marie and Bob felt they had lost touch with the business. Bob simply couid not be on top of the technical problems because he was tied up with management problems. In fact, many of the disease problems they were encountering were beyond his experience and expertise. Similarly, Marie had no formal training in accounting, but she did realize that GreenThumb needed better financial infornation to make good management decisions. She had spent a lot of time learning the computerized records progran they used, but this was just not her area. This became extremely clear when financial statements illustrated that higher costs and lower sales had significantly reduced profits-and neither Bob nor Marie knew exactly why. To make matters worse, all the time with the books kept Marie from putting her marketing and sales skills to work. After a careful deliberation of the problens faced by GreenThumb, Bob and Marie interviewed and hired an aggressive young woman who had a degree in horticulture and had completed an internship with a larger grower. They also hired an accountant who had graduated from a business college five years before and had worked as an office manager in a local electronics store. Both Marie and Bob felt that these two new staft members, although relatively costly additions to the payroll, would pay off in improved productivity and financial control within GreenThumb. This plan worked well for GreenThumb for about a year. But then, early in March of her second year, the horticulturalist walked into Bob's office and quit. She said she was fed up with the way things were done at GreenThumb. After a rather emotional discussion, it became clear that her frustrations resulted from a series of incidents where she had strongly recommended several cultural practices to the nursery manager, only to be ignored. Finally, after she discovered that some new stock had been planted too deep and was likely to die, she had taken matters into her own hands. The nursery manager had been away for the morning, and she felt it necessary to handle the problem inmediately, so she told two part-timers to spend the morning resetting the stock. When the nursery manager returned and found that the horticulturalist had pulled the workers off the job he had assigned, he was livid and confronted her. There had been quite a scene in the field, and several workers seemed to enjoy the very, heated argument. Green Thumb has reached a point where it is truly riddled with people problems. The business his been profitable and has potential for considerably more growth. But Bob and Marie are almost overwhelmed-how did the people side of their thriving business get so out of control? How should they structure the business to address these problems? Green Thumb provides a good example of issues which organizational structure and people can give agribusiness managers. These situations can often give managers their best successes and some of their biggest challenges