Men's Wearhouse

In a growing environment transcending to the decline, Men’s wearhouse was able to surpass its competitors and retain its successful trend. The key factor is the importance given to the employees. Zimmer always put forth the employees first and only then the customers. Inorder to treat customers likje kings, he felt that employees have to be treated like kings. Zimmer’s involvement in the anti war movement influenced his iconoclastic views. The Company’s expansion and growth was largely attributed to the fact that Men did not like to shop. The stores were small in size and not located in large malls thus cutting down on overheads and optimizing profits.
The employees shared an incredible loyalty to the Company showing their continuance of commitment. Zimmer’s charismatic media presence made him more significant to his employees. Zimmer’s belief in tapping the unravelled potential of the employees was a key to his success. The concept of servant leadership changed the traditional perspective of Boss –Employee relationship to thee Provider – Customer relationship. Mentoring has been widely advocated. Zimmer believed that interaction with people meaningfully created positive energy and maintained the organization as a “high touch” one. While prioritizing his stakeholder groups, Zimmer put the employees first. He believed that to maximize shareholder value, you have to place it at the bottom of the heirarchy.
In contrary to the conventional trend of concentrating on merchandising and marketing Zimmer’s focus was on store operations, which was considered critical to the success of the business. Wardrobe consultants were paid salary and commission. Commissions were based on individual performance.More than 50% of the salary was based on commission for legal reasons. There was an employee stock ownership plan. Training was more for sales and not as much for management.Hiring was centralized. The process of hiring was based more on personality and skills rather than experience. Nepotism was not encouraged. Emphasis was placed on providing feedback as part of a coaching and development effort to enhance the sales skills.Monthly newsletters and videos were circulated for effective communication. The Company encouraged socializing with each other. The Company had a number of meetings for training and development. There was a multi-unit managers meeting, a Suits High meeting and a Suits University meeting.
The Key management principles advocated were: Maximizing the individual’s self-esteem. This would lead toa higher self efficacy. The second principle was servant leadership. The other principle was to ask for help when you need it. Identifying success as not individual success but as growth and success of the peers.
In an industry charecterized by varied competition from retailers, to department stores to specialized chains, to maintain its stand is challenging. It would be difficult to maintain the competitive edge based on the unconventional management principles and to remain in close association with the managers. The Company should however capitalize on the win-win principle.

Gary Loveman and Harrah’s entertainment

When Gary Loveman, Professor of Harvard Business School was offered the position of Chief Operating Officer of Harrah’s, it raised many eyebrows. Gary was faced not only with the daunting task of channelising the performance of Harrah’s into a marketing – focused company but also to prove himself before the skeptical onlookers. He felt if he was on the right track, he could reach the coveted position of the CEO when the right time comes.
The Harrah’s business model was directed toward the gaming business, geographic expansion and customer service in sharp contrast to its competitors.

Diamonds in the Data Mine

When competitors were still reeling under the effects of the fast dwindling economy Harrah’s was able to retain its stand. This was largely due to the exceptional customer service and retention of customer loyalty. As per Harrah’s approach, securing customer loyalty or rather mining the customer database was achieved through the following steps
Acquiring a rich repository of customer information
Develop marketing strategies targeted toward the clientele
Identify core customers
Gather specific information about customers and appeal to them
Reward employees for prioritizing customer service.

Customers of Harrah’s are made to feel they are special enticing them to return again and again. This is again a strong illustration of the theory that behavior is a function of the Person and environment. When the atmosphere is conducive, customers feel comfortable and behave in the desired fashion. To have a devoted clientele in a fickle minded industry is highly surprising. Database marketing and analytical tools have been a strong aid toward this approach.
Rather than depending on the frills, the company steered toward expanding its frontiers and focusing on its prime revenue – the casino. Customer relationships was given a lot of importance. The Total Gold rewards program aided the technical analysis of customer preferences. This analysis revealed the unexploited potential spending of gaming money of customers. Customer worth was calculated and lifetime worth was evaluated. The Company decided to treat customers as per their potential worth and reward them accordingly. Marketing was driven toward customer aspiration. Triggers were set and analyzed. The preference of the customers toward the slots were taken into account.
Customer satisfaction was designed to reinforce loyalty. Employees were suitably rewarded based on improved customer satisfaction. Score-driven customer satisfaction allowed the growth of the company.

Sins of Commission

Incentives and Commission – a boon or bane? While in some cases it encourages short term growth and improves performance, it evinces a lot of unwarranted results. The first illustrated incident wherin the couple ultimately decide to choose a different dealer exemplies this fact. Customer service and encuragement of dealer loyalty should be stressed for desired results. The next incident regarding the truckers in New Mexico displays how a well intentioned strategy went awry. Either the workforce should have been increased or the hazards of carrying overweight garbage and speeding should have been stressed enough. Assigning manageable tasks in the required timeframe might have been more efficient in this case. The belief that employee compensation contributes to the company performance and management issues is a misconception as this can produce undesirable effects. Instituting merit pay for teachers to teach children has found to lead to cheating on the part of teachers. Behaviour is a function of the person and the environment and these cases elucidate this fact.