The Ethical Dilemma

Misalignments.

When I first started going to school at BYU I decided to get a part-time job as a hostess at a local restaurant (for these purposes I'll leave out the name of the restaurant). I only worked there a few months then decided that it wasn't the right working environment for myself and quit. I've often thought back to that restaurant and wondered what it was that I didn't like and what it was that made working there difficult. Now, with a better understanding of the 7-S model and misalignments in businesses, I think I have an idea of what wasn't working so well at this particular restaurant.

I believe the biggest area where misalignment could be found at this restaurant was in the style. This particular restaurant was a well established, family run business which had been in the community for many years. Over the years, ownership of the establishment had moved from the original owner to his son. Yet, the father continued to be around and continued to try to be in charge whenever he was in the restaurant. The management styles of the father and son were drastically different, that all employees were left having to adjust their attitudes for whoever was in for that day and whoever was in charge. The father wanted the restaurant to continue to have a mom-and-pop feel to it, while the son was much more concerned with running it as an actual business that could turn profits. He didn't care as much about making the customers feel at home and giving them the whole experience as he did about making money and turning tables quickly. I got in trouble a few times by either the father or the son for doing something which the other had instructed me to do, and I watched around me as this happened to most of the employees. Ultimately, we were all dragged into the awkward dynamics and issues that existed within this family.

I decided that this work environment was not for me for various reasons, and this misalignment was just one of the few. I'm often surprised sometimes when I visit this restaurant now many years later and see some of the same employees still there. As individuals we can probably all identify countless misalignments in our lives. I know personally there are certain standards I set for myself and goals I hope to achieve, yet often find myself just barely short of. I think that if I look closely at my life and what it is that is causing me to fall short of these goals, ultimately the cause would be various misalignments in different aspects of my life.

The Tale of Trendy Tots

A few years ago I worked for a small children's boutique, Trendy Tots, when they first opened. I was recently told by a friend that Trendy Tots had gone out of business. I was not one bit surprised. In fact, I was only surprised to hear that they had lasted this long. From the start, I could tell it was a business headed for failure. But at the time, I wasn't exactly sure why I thought that. I couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly I thought their problem was and why I was so sure they would eventually have to give up and quit. With my recent forays into the study of strategic management, I think I now have a little bit better idea of what went wrong for Trendy Tots.

From the start, the owners of Trendy Tots were after a strategy of differentiation. They wanted to provide unique, high quality products that couldn't be found anywhere else. As a result, they charged a high price for their products. Unfortunately, there were a couple problems with this strategy. First, while they charged a high price, the products they were selling weren't actually the best quality. Prices were inflated simply for name brand items, and name brand items just aren't that popular in the children's departments. Second, there simply wasn't a market for what they were selling in the area they were located. Prices were too high and styles were too extreme for the small town, lower income area where they were located. The biggest customers were often grandmas who were in town for the week visiting all they're many grandchildren. This customer base, however, couldn't sustain the business since these weren't permanent customers. They were in town for a short time, made maybe two stops into the store, and then never returned.

Two other elements negatively affected Trendy Tots business, and those were competition and suppliers. While direct competition wasn't necessarily an issue, since no other children's retailers had many of the products sold in the store, there was still plenty of competition in the children's market. Within a mile, there were countless children's stores, all of which offered lower prices and greater selection, while still allowing parents to find cute, acceptable things for their kids. Most of the competition were chain stores, which had a long, successful history backing them, allowing them to stay strong and in business even during the slow times. Finally, the suppliers of Trendy Tots were a nightmare. While a few of the suppliers were well-established and well-run businesses, many suppliers were actually stay at home moms who did crafts on the side, which crafts they then went and sold to various local stores. While these suppliers allowed the owners of Trendy Tots to find the truly unique pieces, they didn't have the capacity to handle large orders, and often times inventory came in late from suppliers and there were always requests from customers that were too large for anyone to handle.

While the idea of Trendy Tots was a good one, there was no way it was going to last where it was. To have any sort of chance, the owners needed to assess the market a little bit better and set up in an area that could actually handle it.

Google's Old But New Chief Executive

Larry Page, one of Google's co-founders, will take over the chief executive position in April, returning to the position he once had to give up to appease the concerns of investors. People are feeling like Page is ready for the position now and has more experience. The change still makes some people hesitate though, but many are saying that strategically nothing has changed for Google.

The change is meant to simplify the management structure of Google and streamline decision making. Facebook is one of Google's biggest competitors and it is an extremely powerful and successful company. Google's most powerful presence is as a search engine, and over the years more and more substitutes have become available to internet users, many stealing some of the market share from Google. Facebook continues to unveil more internet applications that show that the rivalry between Google and Facebook is going strong. Many believe the changes at the top were made in an effort to get a tech guy at the top to allow better competition with Facebook's team. These changes show Google's focus on their rivals and their hopes to beat out the many substitutes that keep infiltrating the market.

Article found here.