CONTEXT

•For Debbi, point was not to make money, but bake great cookies
•Store designs were controlled, imparted “feel-good” feeling
•Refused to franchise their stores as it meant loss of control over the end product
and loss of touch with the customer
•Less hierarchy, no official organization chart, communication as needed
•Strategic goal of MIS – to put decision making and intelligence into PC, in order
to free the manager to sell cookies
•Non-routine activities– organic structure (low formalization, horizontal
communication)
•Pooled interdependence (through MIS) among store at different locations
•Small staff in order to keep jobs interesting and decision making fast
Submiited by Group 3, Section C
 IT’s role & Challenges
 Encouraged people to think new, creative applications
 Automate routine elements (low variety & high analyzability)
 Exceptions arising were fed into the system to make it respond to it
without further input from manager (job enrichment)
 Information system helped Debbi maintain a degree of personal
involvement, improved decision-making
 Technology leveraged Debbi’s ability to project her influence into more
stores than she could reach without it

 Company had more information than people could act upon

 Huge expenditure for starting the bakery program
 High employee turnover

Submiited by Group 3, Section C

Recommendations

 Need to improve control, possibly through hierarchy, as growth

without control equals disaster

 Past expansions were accommodated in the information systems,

but there was already information overload

 Franchising has to be thought of as the size is becoming too big to

control “personally”

 Better qualified professional managers to assume more

responsibility at local level

Submiited by Group 3, Section C