Please answer the discussion questions and write them in print!

26 PART 1. THE ORGANIZATION AND ITS ENVIRONMENT CASE FOR ANALYSIS How Joe Coulombe Made Trader Joe's a Success Story Trader Joe's, an upscale specialty supermarket chain, was design of his stores was to create the feeling of a Hawaiian founded in 1967 by Joe Coulombe, who then owned a few resort: employees wear loud Hawaiian shirts, store man. convenience stores that were fighting an uphill battle agers are called captains, and the store dcor uses lots of against the growing 7-11 chain. 7-11 offered customers a wood and contains tiki huts, where employees provide wider selection of lower-priced products and Coulombe customers with food and drink samples and interact with could not compete. For his small business to survive, them. Once again, this helped to create strong values and Coulombe decided to change his strategy and supply up norms that emphasize personalized customer service. scale specialty products such as wine, drinks, and gourmet Finally, Joe Coulombe's approach was strongly influ- foods to customers. Coulombe changed the name of his enced by the way he went about controlling salespeople. stores to Trader Joe's and stocked them with every variety From the outset he created a policy of promotion from and brand of California wine that was then being within the company so that the highest-performing sales- produced. He also began to offer fine foods like bread, people could rise to become store captains and beyond in crackers, cheese, fruits, and vegetables to complement and the organization. And, from the beginning, he recognized encourage wine sales. His planning paid off, customers the need to treat employees in a fair and equitable way to loved his new upscale supermarket concept and the pre encourage them to develop the customer-oriented values mium products he chose to stock sold quickly, and they and norms needed to provide personalized customer serv- were more profitable to sell. ice. He decided that full-time employees should earn at From the beginning Coulombe realized that finding a least the median household income for their communities, new niche in the supermarket business was only the first which averaged $7,000 a year in the 1960s and is $48,000 step to help his small, growing company succeed. He knew today-an astonishingly high amount compared to the pay that to encourage customers to visit his stores and buy of employees of regular supermarkets such as Kroger's and more expensive gourmet products he needed to provide Safeway. Moreover, store captains, who are vital in helping them with excellent customer service. So, he had to find create and reinforce Trader Joe's store culture, are re- ways to motivate his salespeople to perform at a high warded with salaries and bonuses that can exceed $100,000 level. His approach to organizing was to decentralize au a year. And all salespeople know that as the store chain ex- thority and empower salespeople to take responsibility for pands they may also be promoted to this level. In sum, meeting customer needs. Rather than instructing employ Coulombe's approach to developing the right way to or- ees to follow strict operating rules and to get the approval ganize his small business created a solid foundation on of their supervisor before making customer-specific deci which this upscale specialty supermarket has grown and sions, employees were given autonomy to make their own prospered.2 decisions and provide personalized customer service. Coulombe's approach led employees to feel they "owned" Discussion Questions their supermarkets, and he worked to develop a culture 1. What was Joe Coulombe's approach to organiza- based on values and norms about providing excellent cus tional design? tomer service and developing personalized relationships 2. What specific decisions did he make to create with customers, who are often on first-name terms. Trader Joe's organizational structure and culture? Coulombe led by example and created a store environ 3. Go online and see how Trader Joe's is performing ment in which employees were treated as individuals and today. What new problems of organizing has it felt valued as people. For example, the theme behind the been facing as it has grown