Devil's Den Case Study
Case Analysis: Dilemma at Devil’s Den
Corly Fernandez
National University
MGT 602 Midterm Examination
October 11, 2011
Situational Analysis
Devil’s Den is a snack bar located on campus at Mt. Eagle College and is managed by contract with an external company, College Food Services (CFS). The snack bar itself is staffed with employees and managers that are mostly freshman and sophomore students of Mt. Eagle College. Susan was a business student in her junior year and was working at Devil’s Den part-time to earn some extra money. She was troubled by how business operations were being conducted by fellow employees and managers. What she discovered was that there was a lack of business rules in place, employees were taking advantage of and stealing from the store, and the employees were not being held accountable, by anyone, for the illegal activity they were conducting. Employees were allowed free food while on duty, however many of them took advantage of it and extended that privilege to friends and other customers. It was commonplace for anyone to take items from the store for free and with no consequence. Most of the occurrences were happening on weekends and night shifts—the day shift manager was a store manager employed by CFS. All other employees were picked by the student managers. Susan believed that these actions were occurring because of low wages, inconvenient hours, and unfavorable job-related duties. As a result, turnover was high and job qualifications for managers and employees were minimal. The dilemma that Susan faced was that she felt she needed to report this to CFS, but did not want her report to affect the possibility of being promoted to student manager.
Strategic Management Issues Relating to Devil’s Den
Issue 1: Devil’s Den does not have a clearly established or defined vision or mission statement. What direction the company is headed in is decided by the CEO. By establishing a strategic vision, the CEO can set the
Corly Fernandez
National University
MGT 602 Midterm Examination
October 11, 2011
Situational Analysis
Devil’s Den is a snack bar located on campus at Mt. Eagle College and is managed by contract with an external company, College Food Services (CFS). The snack bar itself is staffed with employees and managers that are mostly freshman and sophomore students of Mt. Eagle College. Susan was a business student in her junior year and was working at Devil’s Den part-time to earn some extra money. She was troubled by how business operations were being conducted by fellow employees and managers. What she discovered was that there was a lack of business rules in place, employees were taking advantage of and stealing from the store, and the employees were not being held accountable, by anyone, for the illegal activity they were conducting. Employees were allowed free food while on duty, however many of them took advantage of it and extended that privilege to friends and other customers. It was commonplace for anyone to take items from the store for free and with no consequence. Most of the occurrences were happening on weekends and night shifts—the day shift manager was a store manager employed by CFS. All other employees were picked by the student managers. Susan believed that these actions were occurring because of low wages, inconvenient hours, and unfavorable job-related duties. As a result, turnover was high and job qualifications for managers and employees were minimal. The dilemma that Susan faced was that she felt she needed to report this to CFS, but did not want her report to affect the possibility of being promoted to student manager.
Strategic Management Issues Relating to Devil’s Den
Issue 1: Devil’s Den does not have a clearly established or defined vision or mission statement. What direction the company is headed in is decided by the CEO. By establishing a strategic vision, the CEO can set the
References: Grace, K.S. (2003). The Nonprofit board’s role in setting and advancing the mission. Boardsouce.org. Retrieved on October 11, 2011 from http://www.boardsource.org/Knowledge.asp?ID=3.56 Mackey, J. Values overview. Wholefoodsmarket.com website. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/corevalues.php Thompson, A.A., Peteraf, M.A., Gamble, J.E., Stickland, A.J. (2010). Crafting and executing strategy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin Companies.