A Case Analysis of the Management Actions at Sunflower Incorporated
Sunflower Management Case Analysis
A Case Analysis of the Management Actions at Sunflower Incorporated
Analysis of Sunflower Inc.: Sunflower Inc. is a large distribution company with over 5000 employees that functions as a bureaucracy, which needs to formalize its pricing and purchasing practices. The company purchases and distributes snack foods to retail stores across North America. Sunflower has one corporate office and the company is divided into twenty-two regions. Each region operates as an autonomous small business, which consists of its own leadership. According to Daft (2007), “…small firms are characterized by emphasis on being fast and flexible in responding to the environment” (p. 324). Even though Sunflower prefers to use the small business approach to increase profits—the company as a whole is ill-equipped to respond to environmental and market shifts, as well as some small companies. This is evident by the company’s inability to stay competitive. Addition, the company is suffering because it has not focused on improving its technology. . Its primary focus or concern is optimization, increasing profits and standardizing business functions. While organizations should be concerned about its bottom-line—it should also focus on flexibility, innovation and technology. These components are the true essence of a true organization. However, organizational size is not the primary challenge for Sunflower but rather how to simultaneously function as both a large and small company. Joe Steelman, Sunflower’s president understood that the company needed some restructuring if it was going to survive in the then current market. And Sunflower Inc. has hit the formalization stage in its organizational life cycle, hence the implementation of a standardized financial reporting system. Drat refers to the formalization stage as the installation and use of rules, procedures, and control systems (p. 328). In addition, while establishing
A Case Analysis of the Management Actions at Sunflower Incorporated
Analysis of Sunflower Inc.: Sunflower Inc. is a large distribution company with over 5000 employees that functions as a bureaucracy, which needs to formalize its pricing and purchasing practices. The company purchases and distributes snack foods to retail stores across North America. Sunflower has one corporate office and the company is divided into twenty-two regions. Each region operates as an autonomous small business, which consists of its own leadership. According to Daft (2007), “…small firms are characterized by emphasis on being fast and flexible in responding to the environment” (p. 324). Even though Sunflower prefers to use the small business approach to increase profits—the company as a whole is ill-equipped to respond to environmental and market shifts, as well as some small companies. This is evident by the company’s inability to stay competitive. Addition, the company is suffering because it has not focused on improving its technology. . Its primary focus or concern is optimization, increasing profits and standardizing business functions. While organizations should be concerned about its bottom-line—it should also focus on flexibility, innovation and technology. These components are the true essence of a true organization. However, organizational size is not the primary challenge for Sunflower but rather how to simultaneously function as both a large and small company. Joe Steelman, Sunflower’s president understood that the company needed some restructuring if it was going to survive in the then current market. And Sunflower Inc. has hit the formalization stage in its organizational life cycle, hence the implementation of a standardized financial reporting system. Drat refers to the formalization stage as the installation and use of rules, procedures, and control systems (p. 328). In addition, while establishing