Question: Need the answer for question 'b' only (a) SPORTING GOODS STORE Bill Thompson is the new manager of the retail sporting goods store in Vermont
Need the answer for question 'b' only
(a) SPORTING GOODS STORE Bill Thompson is the new manager of the 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 at 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 eflective manager. The base salaries of the 20 employees who work in Bill's store are set by the company, but appraisal ratings by the store manager influence the size of an employee's annual merit raise. These recommendations must be justified to the regional manager, especially if they are inconsistent 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 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 polito, 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 Bul 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 department's sales are about average for company stores in the Northeast region, with potential for considerable improvement. One several occasions Bill noticed a line of customers waiting 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 didn't 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 does nct 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 chair-lift just to do it all over again! Source Copright 1987 by Gary YUA Required: Based on the above case study, how much of each type of power does Bill have at this time? (10 marks) (D) Answer the question, "Who should do the appraising?" (5 marks) (c) Bullying can take many forms. What are the four main forms of bullying in the workplace? What can be done about it