Assessment Front Sheet

Case Study : Joy of Chocolate

Assessment Title
Qualification Module Code and title
HND in Business F84T 34
Managing people and Organisations

Student ID Assessor’s Name

02000296 – Nismah Niyazie

Cohort Deadline Submitted on

Batch 4 and 5 1/9/2019 31/8/2019

No. Learning Outcome Task no

2 Analyse factors that influence workplace performance 1-4

Learner Declaration

I certify that the work submitted for this Assessment is my own and research sources are
fully acknowledge.

Student Signature:………………………………… Date:………………..

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Assessment Brief

Module Code and Title F84T 34

Managing people and Organisations
Qualification HND in Business
Deadline 30/8/2019
Assessor’s Name

Assessment Title Case Study : Joy of Chocolate

The following assessments are based on the case study of Joy of Chocolate. It deals with
the background and development of J.O.C. and the people involved with the company. It
then relates the further development towards a merger/takeover of CG chocolates.
Answers to questions can use either of these businesses before the merger.

You must provide evidence from the case study in your answers.
Scenario / Context
You should read the case study below and follow the task instructions at the end.

J.O.C. (Joy of Chocolate) was created in 1999 by Suzy Campbell and is based in Stirling.
She funded her new business with her redundancy package from Safeway Stores where
she had been General Manager. Suzy’s motivation was to fulfil her ambition of having her
own business and achieve her dream of creating gourmet chocolates. In the five years
prior to her redundancy Suzy had spent her holidays achieving professional qualifications
in chocolate making and before starting the business she had spent six months gaining
valuable work experience with various chocolate firms in Europe. In the early days Suzy
considered survival a major achievement but as time passed her ambitions for the
business grew.

Suzy’s career in retailing had given her valuable managerial experience. She was skilled in
forward planning and had sales expertise developed through the years working with food
suppliers. Suzy believed that existing chocolate suppliers focused on importing a finished
product rather than developing their own goods.

Suzy quickly realised that there was a niche in the market supplying a wider range of
gourmet chocolates to business customers. To penetrate this market Suzy had firstly,
targeted luxury restaurants and hotels with gourmet chocolates for their guests and

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secondly she approached organisations offering to supply them with corporate gifts.

Suzy knew that the way forward was close attention to detail and offering a unique
product to potential customers. She intended to complement this by offering products
with local connections. This would help the business to operate effectively and efficiently.
Her aim was to create the gourmet chocolates that would be enhanced with local
produce such as heather honey, whisky and locally grown fruit. She wanted the business
to become known for excellence and innovative products.

With assistance from the bank, Suzy invested in the latest equipment for the business’s
specialist chocolate making factory. J.O.C. gained a reputation for excellence and Suzy
developed good relationships with several exclusive restaurants and hotels. She ensured
that customers received orders on time and developed a reputation for dependability.
J.O.C. also worked closely with some restaurants to create specialist chocolates for their
specific requirements. This meant that J.O.C. had achieved the dual objectives of securing
sales and developing new products was being met.

Suzy fostered good relationships with her main suppliers of chocolate and cocoa from
the Dominican Republic and Ivory Coast. There were two main farmers supplying the
raw material allowing J.O.C. to have alternative sources to enhance taste. Suzy
decided to limit the number of suppliers so that she could develop a very close
relationship as she did not want to run the business with price as the key factor. Suzy
believed in ethical responsibility and supported the Ethical Trading Initiative. The aim
was to create self-help in the communities supplying the cocoa and this fitted in with
her aim of creating a positive culture in all aspects of the business. Back at the factory
all staff were supported in developing their skills, and training for the production staff
ensured a high level of expertise throughout the business.

Growth of the business

Two key appointments from the outset were Leon Houmond and Hafiz Shah. Leon was
appointed as Head of Chocolate Development, Concept Chocolatier; and Hafiz as
Chocolate Production, Factory Manager. Leon had previously trained in Switzerland,

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working alongside Suzy when she was undertaking her qualifications. She knew Leon
was a diligent, creative individual and would prove to be an important part of the
team. Suzy and Leon met every Monday afternoon to discuss potential developments.
This allowed Suzy to be involved in creating chocolates but also time away from the
business to visit customers ensuring that their individual needs were being met and to
meet with suppliers to discuss future needs for production.

The aim of appointing Hafiz was to ensure Suzy did not have to manage chocolate
production in the factory. Hafiz had previously worked for a specialist food firm. He
knew the importance of adhering to hygiene regulations and how team working can
be an aid to success. Hafiz and Suzy met on Monday morning to discuss the weekly
production programme, following which, Hafiz met with the team leaders to discuss
and assign tasks and discuss any potential problems. He believed in trusting his team
and did not routinely check progress as everyone knows what is needed’. Hafiz
ensured all employees undertook a job development review every four months in
addition to being advised on a monthly basis how they were performing. In this
approach Hafiz felt he was empowering the team. Part of this was ensuring job
rotation to allow employees to build their knowledge and as their skills developed the
employees were able to make contributions as team members. This allowed teams to
maintain standards and encourage a positive culture of staff development resulting in
job enrichment, benefiting the company as staff became motivated through work not
just money.

The management team enhanced this positive culture by emphasising the individual
as part of the team and rewarding employees to ensure all orders were completed
and delivered on time. As part of the quality culture, all staff knew the importance of
strict adherence to Health and Safety, Food Production regulations and keeping waste
as low as possible. Staff were aware that success was not just dependent on sales, the
key was active team working and development. The management team emphasised
that quality and the continued success of the firm depended on everyone contributing
as an individual part of the team to achieve targets. To emphasise the importance of
everyone working to the same goals, Leon and Hafiz agreed to involve staff in new

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products with blind tasting. On a large display board, staff could volunteer for tasting
in advance. Once a month the volunteers were chosen to participate in a tasting of
new products. Staff were also encouraged to suggest a name for new chocolates. This
was another factor that helped in creating a positive work culture.

In 2004 the company experienced financial difficulties and were close to being
declared bankrupt. The bank compelled Suzy to accept the appointment of one of
their accountants as a member of the J.O.C. management team as a condition of their
continued financial support. The bank employee appointed, Amina Zan, had many
years’ experience working with firms operating in the food and beverage industry.
Amina identified inconsistent cash flow as the major difficulty in the business. Suzy
had failed to exert pressure on hotels and restaurants to pay their bills promptly and
at the same time J.O.C. were paying their cocoa suppliers each month as part of the
Ethical Trading Initiative. This was the root of the cash flow problem. A key role for
Amina was ensuring survival of the business by focusing close attention on the cash
flow and working with Hafiz to keep costs and waste down to a minimum.

With the business’s finances stabilised, the management team decided that the way
forward was to further develop staff. From the outset Suzy engendered a culture of
training and development in all areas of the business. This facilitated internal
promotion of staff and ensured a positive work and team culture throughout the
business. In 2006, to assist staff development further, J.O.C. approached the local
college to offer work placements in the departments of finance and production. The
aim was to raise the company’s profile as a possible route after college to potential
future employees.

By 2008 Hafiz had two assistants Mary Taylor and Adrian Buchanan. Mary had been
with the company since 2001 and been promoted through the team working system in
the company. Now she has helping to organise and supervise production with special
responsibility for controlling quality of supplies. This meant that Mary had to
accompany Suzy on her visits to local suppliers to discuss produce and allow Mary to
ensure deliveries met the company’s high standards. Adrian was appointed after

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Amina had stabilised the finances of the business. Amina had encouraged Hafiz to
appoint an assistant with specific responsibility for waste. Adrian was ideally suited to
the level of attention required to controlling the company’s waste and maintaining the
quality of the products. He kept a detailed record of all activities on the production of
chocolates. His view was that employees grow into jobs and should be allowed to
make mistakes as part of the learning process and by promoting a team mentality
mistakes were more easily picked up. He sees his role as facilitating and supporting
the operational staff. Adrian also involved the teams in keeping waste to a minimum.
He introduced a project to combat waste and lower costs involving staff from all areas
of the factory as part of the project team. The project team then took their ideas and
conclusions back to their work colleagues. This allowed the teams to measure their
success in meeting targets through costs and through quality of the products,
strengthened team morale and helped employees take pride in their work.

The business grew quickly and by 2011 had 15 full time employees and the
management team were looking for ways to grow. Suzy knew that an extensive
marketing/sales input was required but the main constraint was her contribution to
creating chocolates which still remained her top priority. The business was growing
and it was now difficult for Suzy to be involved in every aspect of the business as this
was draining her mentally and physically. However she still insisted in being involved
in the creation of new chocolate products. Leon resented decisions being taken by
Suzy which impacted on the creation of new chocolate products. He called them
‘weekend decisions’ and felt excluded from the thought processes that led to Suzy’s
decisions in this regard. This led to a drop in his morale and motivation which in turn
had an impact on the creative team he led. Leon then allowed his team to follow
Suzy’s instructions and led to him only doing what he was told to do by Suzy. Leon’s
lack of input was noticeable to his colleagues and he began to consider leaving the
company.

Previously Suzy had identified the exclusive hotels in Ayrshire and the Scottish Borders
as a market that J.O.C. could exploit. Their products were unique and gave them a
significant edge over their competitors. This possible increase in business would mean

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extra work in the factory. The existing teams could only meet this demand by working
extra shifts. Hafiz with the assistance of Mary and Adrian organised the teams but
they knew that they needed additional staff. However Suzy wanted to ensure that any
new staff were thoroughly trained and developed over time and insisted that Hafiz
create a three month training programme for new employees. This had an impact on
the time required for orders. Suzy simply could not develop the market with the
existing staff levels, J.O.C. needed to expand. She now realised the business had to be
organised in a self-sustaining way and had to find a way of involving other staff in the
running of the business.

At the same time Suzy had targeted these markets in Ayrshire and the Borders, she
got in touch with Charlie Large owner of CG Chocolates — a company which supplied
hotels in Northern England and Southern Scotland. Their discussion opened some new
possibilities arising from the fact that Charlie was considering retiring and had no clear
successor to take over the business. Over the following four months the two firms
worked together on meeting the demand created by hotels in Ayrshire and the
Borders.

CG Chocolates

The company was based in Newcastle with 19 employees and was performing well in
the local market. This included good contacts with hotels plus one shop in the main
shopping centre and a contract with local councils to provide corporate gifts.

Charlie saw himself as an expert in all areas of the company and it is his drive and
willpower which have taken the company to this stage. The business was growing and
it was now difficult for Charlie to be involved in everything and this created tensions.
He was well aware that without a greater marketing/sales input then the firm would
stagnate. Charlie started to yearn for some time away from the business and started
to consider retiring.

In his business Charlie believed that people are motivated by a reward and

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punishment system, he also believed in a clear chain of command. Charlie followed
through on this approach by giving monetary bonuses every quarter. He decided who
should get the bonuses and there was some discontent that the process was not
transparent. Staff believed Charlie tended to give higher bonuses to those with whom
he got on with best personally. Charlie would also invite selected members of staff
such as Sales Manager Jimmy Mulvenie and the Finance Manager Jack Ridgewell to
join him on afternoon visits to the local golf club which tended to exclude those who
did not play golf. Mistakes by anyone in the organisation would lead to an angry
Charlie confronting the culprit and threatening them with dismissal or in some cases
actually sacking them.

In the course of working with CG Chocolates Suzy learned more about these practices
and, whilst not agreeing with Charlie’s autocratic management style, realised that his
staff were competently trained and that taking over the company could assist in her
expansion plans. It would mean changing the work practices for CG Chocolates from
their simple functional system. Suzy hoped that Hafiz and Leon would agree to
oversee and manage the factory in Newcastle. Additionally in the future the company
would be able to bid for larger contracts

Suzy called a meeting with Hafiz, Leon and Amina to discuss her proposal. After the
discussions Leon was surprised but pleased. He felt this could be the opportunity to
rekindle his motivation and allow him to create and develop his own chocolate
creations. Hafiz was uncertain as he was settled in his post in Scotland but agreed to
think about the proposal. Amina sought more information on the financial details but
agreed to discuss the proposal with the business development team at the bank.

New business development

Amina secured funding to allow Joy of Chocolate to merge with CG Chocolates. Leon
agreed to move to Newcastle but Hafiz did not, so Suzy asked for alternatives. Hafiz
suggested that Mary Taylor was ready for another promotion and could be involved in
running the factory. Another benefit to this would be that Leon could be more

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involved in managing the business by developing new custom as well as creating the
chocolate products. These changes would allow Adrian Buchanan to be become more
involved in Mary’s former role in Stirling and facilitate internal promotion. These
moves were agreed.

Newcastle operation

The recession in the UK affected expenditure in the economy. The competition in the
luxury gift market intensified but there was still demand for quality. In his new role at
Newcastle Leon decided that an area that could be further developed was the
corporate gift business. This part of the business had not been fully developed by
J.O.C. but the former business, CG Chocolate, had been successful in gaining contracts
with local councils. Leon realised that the public sector were cutting budgets so he
needed to consider other markets. One area of business that still required corporate
gifts was sporting events. There were opportunities in relation to the London Olympics
and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games but these were ‘oneoff’ events. Leon
recognised that this afforded the potential to supply quality chocolates and that J.O.C.
could offer unique chocolates that were related to the sporting occasion. J.O.C.
management team were excited by Leon’s proposal. It was an opportunity for the
merged business and it was agreed that Leon should recruit a marketing and sales
specialist. Organisation post-merger

Suzy Campbell remained Managing Director of the new merged business. Hafiz Shah
continued to run the factory in Stirling with his assistant Adrian Buchanan and Leon
Hourmond was appointed manager of the Newcastle operation with Mary Taylor as
his assistant. Suzy knew this gave her the chance to reorganise and introduce changes
to the Newcastle operation to bring it in line with the more nurturing culture of the
Stirling factory. Amina resigned from her job with the bank to join J.O.C. full time as
Finance Manager. Amina would continue to organise the finances which allowed Suzy
to focus on making sure the new structure functioned as well as possible. Part of this
was to ensure that the project team model would operate both in Stirling and
Newcastle.

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 You should answer all questions below.
 Your response for all questions should be a total of approximately 500 words in total.
 Your response must be specific to the particular organisation in the case study.
 It should not provide exhaustive lists of theory that do not apply to the example in
the case study.
Task 01- Explain a content theory of motivation and a process theory of motivation and
illustrate how they can explain actions of individuals in the case study.
Task 02 - Explain methods used by managers to improve job performance within the
workplace and justify their suitability.
Task 03 - Explain precisely the importance of team working and state how it operates in
the case study.
Task 04 – State and analyse three factors that affect team cohesiveness and performance.
Examine the influence of the three factors in the case study.

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Evidence Evidence
Summary of the evidence required by students
Checklist Checked

 explain and apply an appropriate content and an appropriate

process theory of motivation to explain individual behaviour in
a given situation
 highlight methods which management can use to improve job
Outcome performance in a given situation and explain their suitability
02  accurately explain the importance of teamwork and apply it to
a given situation
 identify and analyse at least three factors that affect team
cohesiveness and performance in a given situation and
examine their influence

Sources of information
Report guideline
 Report writing guidelines
Use font Times New Roman
Headings – font size 14 , bold
Body – Font 12
 Use Harvard referencing style for reference
 Need to submit Hard copy with the soft copy in MS.word format (Moodle)

You are also encouraged to use facilities such as the internet, journals, or library resources as well
as the teaching material given to you during the Unit.

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MOTIVATION
Motivation is the desire to achieve a goal and is important because it allows employees to go
beyond-their abilities and be creative.
Two types of motivational-theories: content-and process-motivational-theories.
 Content-motivational-theory is one of the theories used earlier and focuses on what
employee-needs are and try to fulfil those needs through motivation. But it doesn’t
clearly explain what motivates or de-motivates an employee.
Example: Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

(Lecture material)
Maslow believes that the physiological and safety-needs are the most significant and
motivates an individual to fulfil it. Once achieved, they try to fulfil higher-needs.
According to the pyramid, the most basic-needs are physiological-needs. Almost
every employee at JOC has access to these needs which is why they are focused at
work. [ CITATION tan11 \l 1033 ]
However their motivation would’ve been affected in 2004 when JOC was going
through a financial-crisis where they had a low-probability of job-security. Whereas
employee-performance would’ve increased when Mary was promoted, due to
increased chance of promotion.

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  Process-motivational theory focuses on how-motivation occurs and what kind of
process influences motivation. (Lecture notes)
Example: Vroom’s expectancy theory.
This theory explains how people choose from available actions. Vroom believes that
decisions will have their desired-outcomes which is what motivates people.

[ CITATION tan11 \l 1033 ]

The diagram defines each stage of the theory. Vroom states that all these factors are
multiplied: If any of these are zero then motivation would also be zero.
The staff in JOC has expectancy which is why they are very motivated. There is also
valence as employees are rewarded if orders are delivered on-time.

 JOB-PERFORMANCE
Different individuals have different perspectives of the work they do. This difference could
affect employees’ performance. The managers at JOC has implemented various methods in
improving job-performance;
Firstly, Hafiz created a three-month training program for new-employees and development
for existing employees’ skills. This improves the quality of JOC’s workforce which would
improve their overall-revenue. However, training is quite expensive.
Secondly, involving staff in new-products with blind-tasting. This would increase motivation
as JOC is being de-centralized here, allowing employees to be more associated at work.
Lastly, implementing Job-rotation. This benefits JOC as-well-as the staff as they would be
more-skilled and have an increased-knowledge. However, staff may demand for higher-
wages due to improved-skills.

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  TEAM-WORKING
Team-working is very essential in JOC because they require producing unique-
chocolates. This would allow JOC to come up with innovative-ideas that would allow
JOC to gain an-edge over its rivals as well as improve-efficiency. “Hafiz ensuring job-
rotation to allow employees to build their knowledge and as their skills developed the
employees were able to make contributions as team-members”. This improves motivation
of staff which affects their overall-performance where they would perform-better due to a
positive work-culture.

 TEAM-COHESIVENESS
Team-cohesiveness is the extent to which employees are attracted to the team and motivated
to remain in it. (Lecture-material)
Factors that affect team-cohesiveness:
 Personality-clashes - Leon went through a phase where he resented decisions being
taken by Suzy. This impacted the creative-team he led where their motivation
would’ve been affected since they weren’t sure of whose orders to follow.
 Competition-between-groups - when JOC merged with CG-chocolates, interaction
of exiting-staff with the staff at CG-Chocolates would’ve made them feel more
pressured to work better than the Newcastle-team. This would’ve improved staffs’
efficiency and motivation to work better than them; improving team performance.
 Shared-goals - Hafiz and Leon involved staff in blind-tasting for new-products. This
allowed the staff to be more involved and be able to share their opinions with the rest
of the team.

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