Organizational Behaviour

Case Study $1$

$2024$ Sundance College $3$

Case Study $1$ Barrie Super Subs

$($This information is fictional and provided for instructional purposes only.$)$

Case Synopsis

Barrie Super subs is one of $300$ restaurant franchises throughout Canada. Each

operation has one manager, an assistant manager, a few team leaders, and many employees

$($mostly college and high school students who work part$-$time$).$

Most employees earn minimum wage. The manager and assistant manager get a bonus for

keeping costs $($wastage$)$ low. However, employees raise costs by helping themselves to food,

and by adding free ingredients when their friends order a sub. Errors are supposed to be

charged back to the responsible employee, but the night manager rarely writes this up because

of peer pressure.

The manager tried to reduce costs by reducing the free food allowance only to staff who work

six or more hours $($most work less than that minimum$),$ but employees still nibbled whenever

the manager or assistant manager were away. Morale fell and about $20$ percent of the

experienced employees quit. The high turnover and resulting staff shortages required the

manager and assistant manager to train staff and spend more time in food preparation $($even

though managers are discouraged from working directly in food preparation.$)$

Accidental wastage increased due to new staff, but deliberate wastage fell while the managers

were in the restaurant. However, wastage increased again almost immediately after the

managers stepped back from daily operations. In response, the manager withdrew all free food

allowance and threatened to fire employee caught consuming food.

Note: Barrie Super Subs is a revision of the famous $$Perfect Pizzeria$$ case, which was written

by J$.$ E$.$ Dittrich and R$.$ A$.$ Zawacki

$2024$ Sundance College $4$

Questions:

$1.$ What symptom$($s$)$ in this case suggest that something has gone wrong?

$2.$ What are the main causes of these symptoms?

$3.$ What actions should Barrie Super Subs$$ managers take to correct these problems?