Emma's Parlor
Case of Critical Analysis Emma’s Parlor
By Denise Pagliccia
Case Summary
Emma Lathbury’s shoulders sagged as she flipped the cardboard sign hanging in the window of her tearoom’s front door from “Open” to “Closed”. The normally indefatigable 52 years old owner of Emma’s Parlor was bone tired. Any doubts she’d harbored about the wisdom of seriously considering some major changes in her business were fast disappearing.
She hadn’t felt this weary since she’d left nursing in the early 1990s. After years of working as an intensive care nurse – with its grueling hours, emotionally draining work, and lack of both respect and autonomy – she’d development a bad case of burnout. At the time, she was convinced she could walk away from a secure, if difficult, profession and figure out a way to making a living that suited her high energy, outgoing personality. Then one day, she noticed an 1870’s vintage Gothic Revival cottage for sale in th small Illinois farming community near where she’d grown up, and the answer to her dilemma came to her with a startling clarity. She’d get the financing, buy the house, and open up a cozy Victorian tearoom. Emma was certain she could make it work.
Questions
1) At what business stage is Emma’s Parlor? At what stage is her Web-based organic tea business? What synergies exist between the two businesses? How critical do you think those synergies are to the success of each business?
Emma’s Parlor is in the success stage of business growth. The company is profitable both on the web and in the Parlor. She now employs about 20 people. Emma is in the process of deciding whether to stay involved and focusing on just the web or the tearoom. She is also considering turning the business over to an experienced restaurant manager or selling the tearoom outright. In the leading part of management at the success stage, the manager has to either learn to motivate employees or hire managers that can. In the controlling part of management at the
By Denise Pagliccia
Case Summary
Emma Lathbury’s shoulders sagged as she flipped the cardboard sign hanging in the window of her tearoom’s front door from “Open” to “Closed”. The normally indefatigable 52 years old owner of Emma’s Parlor was bone tired. Any doubts she’d harbored about the wisdom of seriously considering some major changes in her business were fast disappearing.
She hadn’t felt this weary since she’d left nursing in the early 1990s. After years of working as an intensive care nurse – with its grueling hours, emotionally draining work, and lack of both respect and autonomy – she’d development a bad case of burnout. At the time, she was convinced she could walk away from a secure, if difficult, profession and figure out a way to making a living that suited her high energy, outgoing personality. Then one day, she noticed an 1870’s vintage Gothic Revival cottage for sale in th small Illinois farming community near where she’d grown up, and the answer to her dilemma came to her with a startling clarity. She’d get the financing, buy the house, and open up a cozy Victorian tearoom. Emma was certain she could make it work.
Questions
1) At what business stage is Emma’s Parlor? At what stage is her Web-based organic tea business? What synergies exist between the two businesses? How critical do you think those synergies are to the success of each business?
Emma’s Parlor is in the success stage of business growth. The company is profitable both on the web and in the Parlor. She now employs about 20 people. Emma is in the process of deciding whether to stay involved and focusing on just the web or the tearoom. She is also considering turning the business over to an experienced restaurant manager or selling the tearoom outright. In the leading part of management at the success stage, the manager has to either learn to motivate employees or hire managers that can. In the controlling part of management at the