Chattanooga Ice Cream Case Analysis
Chattanooga Ice Cream Division Case Analysis
Abstract The Ice Cream Division of Chattanooga Food Corporation had shown declining sales for 5 consecutive years through 1996. That was the year that they lost their third largest customer, Stay & Shop. A turn around had to take place but the Ice Cream Division leadership was unsure how to accomplish this. The division was run by Charlie Moore, grandson of the company founder. Charlie was a very democratic leader but had major issues controlling and leading his team of vice presidents. The team was very dysfunctional considering they did not trust each other, had open conflict that was often malicious and mostly unproductive, a very apparent lack of commitment to work with each other, and the biggest issue appears to be avoidance of accountability. Moore had to get his team on the same page and quickly. Each management team member has their own issue with the other team members. Moore needs to publicly put the loss of Stay & Shop in the past and let everyone on the team know that it is all of their responsibilities to get together and become a functional team to make sure that no other business is lost. He needs to leverage this as an opportunity to finally build his team in a way that functions as needed but also in a way that he can ultimately manage in a style he is comfortable with. This paper will examine the problems with the team and propose how Moore can get this accomplished.
Situation Chattanooga Ice Cream Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chattanooga Food Corporation founded in 1936, sold ice cream products primarily to supermarkets and regional food chains. It was one of the largest regional manufacturers of ice cream in the United States. Chattanooga showed revenues of $150 million in 1996. This was down from $185 million just five years before, due in part to a decline in per capita consumption and increased competition. A further consideration was the
Abstract The Ice Cream Division of Chattanooga Food Corporation had shown declining sales for 5 consecutive years through 1996. That was the year that they lost their third largest customer, Stay & Shop. A turn around had to take place but the Ice Cream Division leadership was unsure how to accomplish this. The division was run by Charlie Moore, grandson of the company founder. Charlie was a very democratic leader but had major issues controlling and leading his team of vice presidents. The team was very dysfunctional considering they did not trust each other, had open conflict that was often malicious and mostly unproductive, a very apparent lack of commitment to work with each other, and the biggest issue appears to be avoidance of accountability. Moore had to get his team on the same page and quickly. Each management team member has their own issue with the other team members. Moore needs to publicly put the loss of Stay & Shop in the past and let everyone on the team know that it is all of their responsibilities to get together and become a functional team to make sure that no other business is lost. He needs to leverage this as an opportunity to finally build his team in a way that functions as needed but also in a way that he can ultimately manage in a style he is comfortable with. This paper will examine the problems with the team and propose how Moore can get this accomplished.
Situation Chattanooga Ice Cream Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chattanooga Food Corporation founded in 1936, sold ice cream products primarily to supermarkets and regional food chains. It was one of the largest regional manufacturers of ice cream in the United States. Chattanooga showed revenues of $150 million in 1996. This was down from $185 million just five years before, due in part to a decline in per capita consumption and increased competition. A further consideration was the
References: Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78-90. Goleman, D. (1998). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 76(6), 93-102. Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: a leadership fable, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Sloane, C. (1997). The Chattanooga ice cream division. Harvard Business School Cases, Jul1997, 1-11. Appendix Figure 1