Reviewing the Market Basket Case

Situation

To meet the challenges of today's business world American managers must enlist employee support for corporate goals. To do so, they must understand human as well as technical and economic issues. They must provide vision and leadership. And they must present a self-image of a company that knows where it is going.

Alfred T. Demoulas did this at Market Basket, as evidenced in the summer of 2014, in an astounding outpouring of employee backing for a management approach that embraced not only shareholders but also those other elements too often set aside in today's business world: employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, and members of the local communities. (See attached review of company activity.)

Did his mission to gain control of Market Basket succeed thanks much to his commitment to his employees? It certainly seems so - at least enough to make it worthwhile to warrant a study of this extraordinary story of employee loyalty to its selected leader.

However, a full case study requires much time and effort to reach proper, professional conclusions.

In the interim, one highly important step that can be taken is to set up a guide of fundamentals for this and similar case studies - a benchmark that looks at the following basic factors for effective employee management: productivity; motivation; employee desires; information management; employee training; and customer service.

The purpose of this paper is to provide such a guide, for managers, students, employees, and others interested or involved in administration development.

Enlisting Employee Support - Fundamental Points

Productivity and Motivation

To satisfy the growing demand for goods and services, it is necessary to improve productivity by introducing new approaches that will help companies handle ever-expanding workloads without commensurate increases in costs.

In examining productivity, however, we must remember that productivity is much more than statistics and flow charts. Productivity is a way of life, an ethic for the individual, the manager, and the company. This philosophy must be an essential element in the fabric of an organization. The effort to improve productivity will only succeed if everyone in the organization becomes involved and shares the same corporate image. Senior management must understand, believe in the goals, and properly direct the program. They must motivate employees to help in identifying productivity improvement opportunities.

But how does management motivate today's worker? Widespread uncertainty exists about motivation. Many managers believe that it would be impossible to isolate specific motives for the behavior of their employees. If that is the case, then the real question may be whether practicing managers have a positive image of their employees. Do the managers act on the belief that employees are ready and willing to make a contribution to the productivity of the enterprise, given opportunity and encouragement?

A major concern is the perception employees have regarding the quality of work life. Employees want a sense of personal participation, of personal awareness of what is going on around them, of open channels to career growth Most employees look for meaningful work, self-development, and choice as a basis for their commitment to achievement of company goals.

Employee Demands
Employee demands will continue. Demands for increased benefits, for an increased say in the conduct of business and in the conditions of employment. Managers must respond to these demands.

Management's first step may be to survey employees' desires and understanding of the company's image and practices. The findings of this survey are turned over to an individual or committee. Its mandate is to investigate the questions raised by the survey, assess and weigh needs against current procedures and, where possible, recommend and institute change. The value of soliciting and listening carefully to employee concerns must be recognized. But there are trade-offs involved, and any action on employee concerns must be tempered by a proper respect for business objectives.

Demographic Diversity
The key challenges here, for all managers, will be those of balance and demographics. The company will strive to improve productivity while attending to the quality demands of the employees.

Flexible work scheduling, job restructuring, individualized compensation packages, protection of employee rights, balancing of work and family obligations, participation in decision-making - these will be keynotes of the workplace. But such activity will occur against a backdrop of changing demographics. Demographics shape the image of the workplace and corporate priorities. Among demographic trends are the aging of the babyboomers, the prospects for increasing ethnic and cultural diversity in the workplace, and the shortage of entry-level workers. Younger employees will commit themselves as long as companies provide experience, salaries, and benefits needed to pursue particular careers or lifestyles. Older employees will be increasingly concerned with job security. To attract and retain qualified workers, companies must build corporate cultures based on respect and fair treatment, and a shared vision of the company's mission. Attracting and retaining qualified workers will demand systems built on sensitivity to the variety of values people will bring to the job.

Communication and Information
The manager must recognize the significance of the demographic situation and appreciate all the more the importance of information management: getting the right information to the right person or machine, at the right time, in the right environment, at the right cost.

A common quality shared by successful executives is a highly developed ability to communicate their image of the company. They establish rapport with their employees and appeal to a common interest to get the job done. They are adept at reading nonverbal signals. They build bridges to broaden the employee's job concept and increase overall on-the-job effectiveness. In this fast-paced age, information must be shared, and shared quickly.

Training
Managers are concerned about communicating with subordinates, with employees who may have a different set of values. Many managers seldom have the understanding or skills needed to get the best results. And so they turn to training programs. The problem is that management tends to see training as a quick-fix for a short-term need.

Training is more than an occasional motivator. It is a process, a valuable strategic tool to take the talent n people, refine it, relate it to the desired corporate image, and channel it into new productivity and customer service excellence.

The need for management training in motivational skills is recognized, and many types of training programs have been available for years. Most, however, do not take into consideration the complexities of the organization structure nor the realities of the job situation in which the manager must operate.

The effective manager will have to implement systems that serve the employees, not force them into extensive retraining. Several training topics come to mind, such as communications, motivation, interpersonal skills, participatory management, and service to the customer.

Customer Service
To convey a good corporate image through improved customer service, some companies concentrate on training at the lower levels, training customer-contact personnel in product knowledge, customer relations and sales skills. But such attempts to increase sales have been disappointing for many companies. Sustained behavior change has not usually occurred.

An alternative approach is to begin culture change at the top-management level. Rather than focusing on the traditional process of getting things done, the company tries to concentrate on the "customer". But to do so requires the shaping of a new corporate image, an image that management supports. Once top management has accepted this concept then the culture change is carried to lower levels of the company. But such a culture change requires time and understanding.

The company that now tells its employees to concentrate on customer service must address the implications of this culture change. Pleasing customers can be costly. So what comes first: short-term profit or customer satisfaction? And whom does the employee really have to please: the boss or the customer? Do you stick to the safe, old-time "company procedure" or do you encourage a spirit of risk and entrepreneurship? Front-line managers need clear signals from the top as they consider the needs of customers and employees.

Employee Involvement

Complex, multiyear strategy implementations require sustained commitment from employees and management to reap the benefits. The competitive leader of the future must pay now for future dominance by doing difficult things patiently. Without enthusiastic support from the top, the image of a corporate culture that rewards long-term efforts can totter and even fall apart.

Employee involvement in management decisions, in principle, has widespread support. But what are the specifics? Quality circles are often discussion groups that do not significantly enlarge the role of workers in the decision-making process. Still, QC recommendations can cut costs and improve quality.

Many U.S. manufacturers now recognize that guided employee involvement will help the company's image and profit margin. Flexible work practices, small-lot production, and cross-trained employees working in teams permit American firms to be more competitive on the world market.

But such teamwork requires employee acceptance of responsibility. Some employees thrive on this opportunity of self-development. Others dislike the pressure of teamwork and quit.

Tapping the creative energy of employees to reach the goals of the organization - sounds good.

But how do you as a manager convey the image of conscientious, participating management and still maintain control of the company?

One approach is to retain the policy-making role at top management level. Select the goal or problem. Sound out subordinates on the opportunities for improvement but do not abdicate your own responsibility to make demands. Communicate clear performance expectations. Make it understood what is being delegated. Monitor the project and provide required backup. Keep communications open and keep subordinates informed. To do the job right they need to know what is happening in other areas that might affect their work. Check on results and maintain a supportive atmosphere.

A major obstacle is lack of communication and understanding between corporate management and employees. The manager must state expectations clearly. Does the employee know what is expected of him or her? What appears to a supervisor as uninspired performance may be the manager's own failure to provide clear direction.

What often counts the most is the conduct of the manager - the image he or she gives in creating an atmosphere that encourages open communication and cooperation. The manager who seldom leaves his office to see what is going on may create the impression that he does not care. The manager should devote his efforts to creating a workplace in which opportunities and expectations are set forth so that the employee can make competent choices. By being a good behavior model a supervisor can do more to affect performance of his employees that could ever be accomplished by organizational rules or structure.

Commitment and productivity of employees are the keys to a company's success. Nurturing that kind of commitment requires that people at all levels of the organization have a shared vision of the company's objectives and image.
 
A graduate of the University of Connecticut's School of Business Administration Glen W. Swanson, a resident of Peterborough, has served as military officer, management consultant, project director, educator and author. Viewing management as a liberal art, Swanson's background includes a PhD in History from Indiana University, with concentration on Middle East and East Central European area studies, and more than 10 years of involvement in international business. Focusing on analysis, cultural awareness and global perception, he has extensive experience in information gathering, operations review, and  international affairs.