The case for Delgado Mobiliario,

management Barcelona, Spain

Saqlain Javed
A case study report by:
Khan
 Table of content

Sr. topics Pg. no

no
1. Discussion: 2-3

QnA
2. Case study report:
4-7
I) statement of problem
ii) suggestions for possible solutions
iii)evaluation of solutions
iv)selection of a solution

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 Discussion:

Q1)What type of manager was Carlos Delgado, the founder of Delgado

mobiliario?

Ans: Carlos Delgado the owner of Delgado mobiliario was known for his
discipline and he adopted strict traditional methods and techniques. Carlos Delgado
was the president of Delgado mobiliario for nearly 50 years, and under his
leadership he has expanded his small furniture store to a million dollar company.

Carlos Delgado started with a small store selling chairs and tables made of wood
product but possessed great management skill with the help of which the company
raised its annual sale to $500 million. He was keen and focused on attaining his
business goals.

Q2) What management techniques do Ricardo SEMCO recommended in

maverick?

Ans: In the book “Maverick” Ricardo SEMCO who is a firm believer of flexible
management style suggested a management without control technique. In this
technique he advices top executives to eliminate hierarchy and bureaucracy and to
relinquish their tight control as this encourages employees to put in their best
interest and in the best interest of their organization. This management technique
had resulted in tremendous growth, development and creativity at SEMCO. This
technique enables employees input into decision making, flexible working hours
and transparency in management system.

Q3) What led Juan Carlos to reorganize Delgado Mobiliario so radically?

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Ans: For the past years since Juan Carlos succession at Delgado mobiliario has
decreased in terms of productivity, sales and earnings were also low. The reason
for such downfall was because of Juan Carlos poor management techniques,
leading low employee morale towards the company. The impact led to shutdown of
several weaker stores in Spain.

This led Juan Carlos to reorganize the Delgado mobiliario in order to sustain in the
market.

Q4) How did the new policies and procedures affect Delgado Mobiliario?

Ans: After 6 months of Juan Carlos new management style, the company had
continued on its downward trend, the sales in the last 2 quarters, were the lowest in
10 years and the production at the factories had also decreased along with
employee morale. Quarterly earnings were down by 2.7% and many longtime
employees had quit.

Q5) What kind of manager is Juan Carlos?

Ans: Juan Carlos, unlike his father, he was more of a demanding manger, he lacked
vision and was inconsistent and has drastically failed to manage the empire his
father has built. Juan Carlos gave too much attention to details and was over
exacting to standards. Unlike his father, he lacked leadership qualities which led to
the downfall of the Delgado mobiliario.

Q6)What would you do if you were Juan Carlos?

Ans: If I was Juan Carlos, I would be consistent with my management techniques

as it is very hard for the organization to adopt new policies and management
techniques; I would ensure healthy employer-employee relationship in order to
keep the employees morale. Also to increase the firm’s productivity, I would
provide competitive pay to the employees, provide them with flexible working
hours and ensuring work-life balance among the employees, this will ensure better

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productivity from employees and drive their interest towards attainting the
organizations’ objectives.

Case study report:

Statement of the problem:

A well established company Delgado mobiliario, a manufacturer of beautiful fine

furniture has factories and furniture outlets throughout Spain and also in Europe.
The furniture company was established by Carlos Delgado and under his
leadership the company proved out to be the largest furniture company in Spain.

After his death in 2000, Juan Carlos (his son) became the president. But he failed
at following the footsteps of his legendary father. Delgado mobiliario had taken a
trend in terms of productivity, sales and earnings. The employees also tend to show
low morale towards the organization as some show up late to the work or leave
early or didn’t show up at all. Juan Carlos tried adopting numerous management
techniques but unfortunately had failed in implementing them successfully, which
resulted in the downfall of the company.

Possible solutions:

I. Effective communication and leadership qualities

II. Practicing one management technique with consistency, so that the
organization can adapt to the rapid changes effectively.
III. Flexibility in working hours, competitive pay system including bonuses,
building accountability and transparency among employees and executives
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Evaluating of possible solutions:

I) Carlos Delgado had proven to be a good leader, due to this quality he has built
this empire which was not seen in the case of Juan Carlos. In order to build high
employee morale, Juan Carlos should communicate the problems with the
employees as communication solves 80% of the problems.

ADVANTAGES:

 Running an Organization - For smooth operations of the organization,

internal communication should be well implemented.
 Motivation - When internal communication is well implemented, it
motivates the employees of an organization. Internal communication
generally provides a good relationship among senior staff and subordinates.
It is only through communication that every member can feel as part of the
organization. This acts as a motivating factor.
 Coordination - To achieve set goals in any organization, coordination among
all departments is needed. A company cannot run smoothly without
coordination.
 Job Satisfaction - When an organization has a sound internal
communication, all employees feel happy and job satisfaction is kept. When
an employee is satisfied, an impact will be seen on performance.

DISADVANTAGES:

Conflict - Conflict is one major internal communication disadvantages. Some

employees may use the internal communication benefits to argue with each other
or with the management. Conflict can result in tension and disruption of
operations.

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II) In case of Juan Carlos, he has been changing management techniques rapidly
which becomes difficult for the organization and the employees to adapt such
changes in a short period of time. Juan should run a management style and look for
its output in long term. Since it takes time for the employees to adapt with new
policies and rules; depending upon the degree of strictness of control. Changing to
completely new and different operation procedures might require training,
communicating the process from top to bottom hierarchy positions.

III) If the workers are showing absenteeism or turning up late to work which can
be due to various personal or other reasons, so in this case adopting flexibility in
working hours could be a solution to allow employees to increase their morale.
Also paying competitively would ensure high productivity in the employees.
Ensuring transparency in management system will ensure more accountability and
drive employees towards achieving organization objectives since they will be part
of the decision making.

ADVANTAGES:

 Maintaining open and honest communication with staffers and letting them
in on the company’s strategic plan and changing circumstances can help
build staff loyalty. Employees are likely to have a higher degree of morale
and job satisfaction when they feel like they're involved with the company.

 Reduces tardiness and absenteeism

 Reduces employee turnover

DISADVANTAGES:

 There are always people who will take advantage of flexible working hours
 The standards need to be the same / or compensatory for all. Everyone must
have an element of flexible working / benefit or it can lead to internal
dissent.

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Selected solution:

I think the solution to the case would be- Juan Carlos should have adopted
effective communication and leadership skills which were seen in the case of his
father Carlos Delgado. Good communication is an essential tool in achieving
productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an
organization. Employers who invest time and energy into delivering clear lines of
communication will rapidly build trust among employees, leading to increases in
productivity, output and morale in general. Poor communication in the workplace
will inevitably lead to unmotivated staff that may begin to question their own
confidence in their abilities and inevitably in the organization.
The importance of strong communication runs deep within a business.