Buddy’s Snack Food Company Essay

The case discusses the scenario of Buddy’s Snack Food Company. It is a family owned company that has produced and marketed potato chips since 1951. Buddy’s business quickly turned in to a multi million dollar franchise, competing with the likes of Frito Lay, but is losing its market share. Buddy’s son, Buddy Jr. , now runs the company and recently, his son Mark has joined the company. After joining as a salesperson, he was quickly promoted to sales manager with a fresh MBA in marketing. Mark has been making some substantial changes in the sales division and employees have been reacting to it. This paper will discuss the major issues and objectives of the company, as well as alternatives and solutions. Major issues of the company The primary issue of the company, at first seems to be the loss of market share. That is a common concern for all members of the organization. Mark, Buddy Jr. ’s , was hired in hopes that he could come up with new marketing strategies that could turn the company around and regain its market share. That gave rise to another issue, which was employee dissatisfaction and de-moralization. Mark’s new policies and, to some, even his quick promotion made the employees upset and lose faith in the company. As a result, employees are now less enthusiastic about their work or are overworked and can not perform efficiently. Such a situation can further worsen Buddy’s Snack Food Company’s market share due to inefficient employees. Also, the new policies had been implemented very quickly, following Mark’s quick promotion and the lack of communication and familiarization to the firm’s employees created a gap between the manager and the subordinates. Another issue that seems to be evident is the absence of any employee benefit programs. Employees don’t seem to be appreciated or rewarded for their good performance and are dealt with seriously, if the performance rating is low. Apart from this, there seems to be no concern about the employees’ living situation; single mothers are being required to attend extra sessions, when they have other responsibilities. This can affect their performance greatly in a negative way. Also, some of the employees seem to be unfit for the job and are not taking it seriously, while others are working hard. The two types need to be distinguished because if both of them are held accountable for similar reasons, the better employee is de-moralized. The company needs to change the way it manages its staff to ensure a better future. Finally, some of the employees are upset about Mark being ‘handed’ the position of the sales manager just because he’s the son of the owner. Many employees had been working hard towards getting that position and are now discouraged by the new change. Strategic goals and objectives Buddy’s company operates under the conventional strategies and objectives. It is a regular snack food business with a family-like working environment. Mark, after he acquired the position of sales manager, introduced some new policies. One of them was that if a certain sales employee receives a below average performance rating for any quarter, they would have to attend a mandatory session. The coaching session would be more or less a training/refreshment session where the employee’s issues are discussed and improvements are recommended. Unfortunately, this new move has not been very popular among the workforce. The issue is that some employees actually are underachievers and inefficient, while others are good employees, with an exceptional past record, but could not perform up to the standard because of the business situation and the declining market share. When the two types of employees are treated equally, the employee who works hard is de-moralized. Alternative strategies If Buddy’s Snack Food Company wants to achieve their goals, they would have to adopt a new strategy. The current approach is proving to be unpopular among the employees and would only result in an inefficient, de-moralized and overworked staff, and such a group of people are not fit to work as a team and achieve goals. Some of the alternative strategies would be: †¢ Better employee care package for staff members with families and children, with suitable work shifts. Employee appreciation: bonuses, incentives, employee-of-the-month program etc. †¢ Customer feedback on the sales representatives. †¢ A revised form of employee performance rating based on the current economic and business situation. †¢ Training and refreshment programs for all employees on a monthly or quarterly basis to ensure there is good communication, all problems are addressed and issues are discussed. Also, the employees’ performance would be measured in a better way through such meetings. †¢ More opportunities and promotions of employees showing consistent and excellent performance. Recommended Strategies and Hopeful Outcomes  Of all the alternative strategies discussed Buddy’s needs to adopt some or all of them to move towards their goal. A better employee care package is necessary as good employees like Lynda Lewis could benefit greatly from them. As a single mother of three sons, she has a lot of responsibility at home. An employee care package with flexible working shifts would allow her to spend more time with her family and perform even better than she already does. Also, the company can hold events like a mini funfair or a sporting event that would enable employees’ family and children to participate in the business and contribute. This would not only be a good marketing move by creating a better image of the company and advertise their name, but also an incentive for employees to feel happy and at-home when they work. Apart from this, employees need to be appreciated for their good work. With just an Employee of the Month program with a reward bonus, employees would be more enthusiastic about their work and perform better. Such incentives not only boost staff morale, but also the overall business because employees would work more and earn more in order to get the reward. Customer feedback would help the management know which employees are good team players and which are not. This would help in filtering out the ones that actually need the coaching sessions. Also, the management needs to consider the current economic situation that the company is going through before rating the employees’ performance. Such an evaluation would be fair. Training sessions for all employees every quarter or meetings would promote communication. All issues and problems would be addressed and the subordinates would have a chance to openly talk to the managers. Such communication allows the employees to be more comfortable working and feel that their opinion matters as well. Other than that, issues that the management might not even know about come into consideration and solutions are discussed as well. Working as a team motivates employees to perform better. Lastly, give promotion opportunities to hardworking employees rather than members of the owner’s family fresh out of college who might not know the company as well as the salesperson with more experience, working hard to keep it all together.