C&S Wholesale Grocers

1242 Words5 Pages
Diagnosis C&S wholesale grocers grew from a small company in 1918, to a multimillion dollar business through innovation and attention to customer service. Through this strategy they acquired large supermarket accounts, such as Big D and then later A&P. However the new accounts, put a lot of pressure on the business structure, and made Rick Cohen, the CEO, asses this business structure. Rick Cohen faced a dilemma of whether or not to restructure the company and adopt a new model of self managed teams. Cohen was also faced with the decision to adopt the model now with the holiday season approaching the busiest time for C&S or to wait after the holidays. He had read an article that credited self managed teams with enhancing a company’s quality, productivity, and competitiveness when implemented successfully. He had also experimented with five senior employees who joined to form a self managed team which had proved to be successful. C&S wholesale Grocers had accepted to act as the principal wholesaler to A&P stores throughout New England which increased their sales by thirty five percent. With the sudden increase in business, Rick Cohen noticed that the company is faced with a deteriorating work environment. Coordination of work and staff had become an issue. To address this problem, he hired more supervisors to oversee the process. The increases in the workforce lead to an overcrowding of workspace. The result was congested aisles that made it difficult for forklift operators to fill orders and store incoming product. The number of accidents increased and employees had become more prone to injuries as they worked more hours to finish their tasks. The deteriorating work environment had led to high staff turnover and low employee morale. A forklift operator in the warehouse had summed the situation best “We were all rushing around. No one had time to think…..”

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