course title: Selected Topics in Mgt.

case: Sporting Goods Store

Bill Thompson is the new manager of a retail sporting goods store in Vermont that is

part of a national chain. Bill, who is 25 years old, has been working for the company for four

years. Before his promotion, he was the assistant manager for two years at a company store

in Delaware. Last week he was briefly introduced to the employees by his boss, the regional

manager.

The profit performance of this store is below average for its location, and Bill is looking

forward to the challenge of improving profits. When he was an assistant manager, he was given

mostly minor administrative duties and paperwork, so this assignment will be his first opportunity

to show he can be an effective manager. The base salaries of the 20 employees who work in

Bills store are set by the company, but appraisal ratings by the store manager influence the size of

an employees annual merit raise. These recommendations must be justified to the regional manager,

especially if they are not consistent with individual and department sales. Bill can suspend

or fire employees with the approval of his boss, but in practice it is difficult to do so unless the

recommendation is supported by a strong case.

The store layout and most prices are set by the headquarters office. However, store performance

can be affected to a limited extent by the store manager. One way is to keep the cost

of employees low is by making sure they are working efficiently and not taking excessive sick

days. Another way is to ensure that employees are providing a high level of customer service so

that customers will return to make other purchases rather than going to a different store next

time. Customer service depends on knowing the products well, being polite, providing prompt

service, and making sure that inventories of popular goods are maintained so that customers can

find what they want. Pay is low for this type of retail selling job, turnover is high, and it takes a

few months for a new employee to learn the merchandise well enough to be helpful to customers.

Thus, it is also desirable to keep competent employees satisfied enough to stay with the

company.

Although it is only his first week on the job, Bill believes that he has already discovered

some of the problems at this store. Among the various departments in the store, the ski department

has the highest potential profits during the winter, because skiing and snowboarding are

popular winter sports in Vermont. At the current time the departments sales are about average

for company stores in the Northeast region, with potential for considerable improvement. On

several occasions Bill noticed a line of customers waited to be served in the ski department, and

he overheard some of them grumbling about how long it takes to get served. One customer

said he was leaving to go to another store that didnt make him wait all day to have the privilege

of spending hundreds of dollars on ski equipment. Bill observed that Sally Jorgenson, the

department manager, spends a lot of time socializing with her salespeople and with customers,

including friends who drop in to visit and talk about ski conditions, resorts, fashions, equipment,

racing, and so forth. Bill, who doesnt ski, cannot understand what they find so interesting to talk

about. He wonders why anybody in their right mind would want to spend a small fortune and

risk permanent injury to hurtle down a mountain in blizzard conditions, and then stand in long

lines and ride up a freezing chairlift just to do it all over again!

use these theories to solve these question

Questions

1. How much of each type of power does Bill have at this time?

2. What influence tactics could be used in this situation to influence Sally? Explain what you

would actually say to Sally in the process of using each tactic.

3. What should Bill do to improve store performance?

Personality Traits and Effective Leadership (1 of 3) TABLE 7-1 Specific Traits Related to Leadership Effectiveness . . High energy level and stress tolerance Internal locus of control orientation Emotional stability and maturity High core self-evaluations Personal integrity Socialized power motivation Moderately high achievement orientation Moderately high self-confidence Moderately low need for affiliation . . . Personality Traits and Effective Leadership (2 of 3) Energy Level and Stress Tolerance Self-Confidence Internal Locus of Control . Emotional Stability and Maturity . Core Self-Evaluation Power Motivation . Personal Integrity . Narcissism Achievement Orientation O Need for Affiliation . The Big Five Personality Traits