CONFEDERATION KITCHEN MICHAEL PATTERSON

CASE STUDY

Group 2: Courtney Vinnie Vennae Su Yun Jeanette

Summary

Confederation Kitchen: St. Catharines, Ontario Services: bathroom & kitchen designs, installations and renovations for existing and new homes Sold across Canada & the U.S. Founded in 1982 by Jim Allen Employs 165 people Company suffered significant drop in revenue and profit in fiscal 2007 because of the U.S. housing market

The Changes

Jim Allen, the owner, is looking for someone to take over his business Confusion caused by the succession plan of managers because employees were changing jobs and the chain of command was severed Unorganized, inefficient, and chaotic This affected the workflow, quality of products and the revenue of the company Everyday I come to work, I seem to have a different boss, and each one has different ideas about how things should be run.

The Problem Replacing Allen

Patterson was told he would be reporting to William Peak, but Tim Snyder told Patterson to report to John McAtter Patterson and McAtter have internal conflicts with each other that are not expressed or mediated Performance reviews are not up to date Patterson does not know if he should address these problems in the meeting or what to expect at the meeting

Original Structure

Everyone reported to one person, Allen.

Revised Structure

***Employees view restructure is problematic because some managers are not knowledge in their new departments

Internal factors

Hiring externally:
Causes

distress with current employees More training is needed for the new hires Company loyalty and employee retention is threatened

Disconnect between managers and employees Rumors within the company

Unorganized

chain of command

External Factors

Profit and Revenue are decreasing due to housing market

Recommendations
1.

2.
3.

Fix the miscommunication Implement the role of HR Department Restructure the chain of command

Course of Action
1. Fix the miscommunication:
Survey

the employees to figure out where the miscommunication starts Hold gatherings for management and employees

2. Implement the role of HR Department

Training

& development programs to further employee retention Develop skills Hire internally to increase company loyalty

Course of Action (Continued)

3. Reconstruct the organization
President General Manager

Manufacturing

Engineering

Office Management

Marketing

Human Resources

Information Technology

Accounting

Customer Service

This is the structure that had been successful for the past 23 years prior to the reorganization of 2005. By simply adding the general manager role, Jim can allow the General Manager to shadow him and really get an understanding of how Jim runs the company. Eventually allowing Jim to phase out of the day-today activities and successfully succession plan without causing too much confusion in other departments.

Benefits/Consequences of Recommendations

Benefits:
Structure

was previously successful Employees are trained more Departments are more interconnected Hiring from within to increase promotions & loyalty

Consequences:
Culture

might become shaky because it will take time to adjust to new changes Pay cuts may be necessary during reconstruction