BADM 281C Group 3

This Makes Scents

Running Case Study: Part One

1. What issues, in order of priority, should Jessie and Ashton address?

a. Employee that cut herself on broken cologne bottle.
i. Write incident report
ii. How much time off is needed
iii. Does she need WCB
iv. Other accommodations relating to injury
b. Address employees about the new hours of 9-6
c. Create Employee handbook regarding rules and guidelines
i. Clarification for overtime payments and stat holidays
ii. Distribution of overtime and extra shifts
iii. Vacation hours
iv. Banking hours
d. Have a mandatory staff meeting
i. Should Jessie and Ashton hire more people
ii. Address all Employee issues including new hours, and
accomodations
iii. Ask about working together to come up with a set, recurring,
weekly schedule with shifts picked by each employee, the only
time it would change is for time off or illness
e. Individual meetings with any employees/ issues that continue to be a
problem
2. In addition to the problems identified by employees, what other actions
should Jessie and Ashton take? Why?

Jessie and Ashton should take action by having mandatory staff meetings

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 BADM 281C Group 3

with their employees and discuss problems like scheduling, vacation time and
overtime pay. If individual employees continue to be unsatisfied after the meeting
they could then follow up with individual meetings where they discuss privately
and in detail what needs to be done to resolve their individual problems. Jesse and
Ashton need to implement a better system that can book employee’s vacation time
requests, and show who is taking time off to make planning vacations around
available time off easier. Jessie and Ashton should discuss the possibility of
opening another store location to fill the supply and demand of its customers.
Doing this could help to resolve the issue of rude customers if they are able to keep
up with their inventories. Finally, they will agree to accommodate the employee
needing to pick up their child from daycare by giving him morning shifts that will
always end at 4 so he is able to get off in time to pick his kid up.

3. What can be done to change the culture within the company?

There a few things we came up with that could possibly help change the culture
and attitude within the company. The first idea we came up with is that Jessie or
Ashton, preferably both, could attend a course on HR and small company relations.
Also, an anonymous dropbox so that suggestions, issues, and concerns could be
voiced without fear for the employee of repercussions .The last thing that could
help create a tighter knit community is a company event to help relieve workplace
tensions and strengthen relations, this could also help the workplace to be seen as a
more lighthearted environment.

4. Why are all the employees going to Jessie with their problems? How can a
more equitable partnership and sharing of responsibilities be established?

Since Jessie feels like Ashton isn’t investing as much time in the company, Jessie

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 BADM 281C Group 3

had unknowingly taken over the position of “acting manager” therefore, all
employees automatically think to go to her about general complaints. One reason
why employees are going to Jessie with their problems is that Ashton isn’t treating
employees time-off requests fairly and does not know the employees' true rights.
The four complaints that were not specified in the case study but were stated,
appeared to be directed at Jessie. Those employees wanted to address her directly
about the problem in attempts to resolve the issue.

5. What can Jessie and Ashton do to enhance the communication between the
two of them?

If Jessie and Ashton wish to continue to grow their business and work
effectively together, as well as maintain their friendship they will need to ensure
they enhance the communication between them. The first thing the partners should
do is develop a Team Charter. This is a document that defines the vision/purpose,
values, operating rules, and accountabilities of the team to ensure the business is
successful. This is something that should be initiated by Jessie and Ashton first and
then implemented with their store employees as well. Some other ideas that can be
implemented for effective communication include setting up weekly meetings
where they have set aside time to address the week’s tasks, store issues, and staff
and customer complaints. This will give designated times for Jessie to debrief
Ashton on any growing frustrations. Jessie and Ashton can also create a digital
agenda to outline their responsibilities and tasks for each week to ensure all of the
work is distributed evenly and so each partner knows who is taking care of which
task.

6. What can Jessie and Ashton do to enhance communication to employees?

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 BADM 281C Group 3

If Jessie and Ashton implement the Team Charter as noted in the previous question,
this will enhance the communication of role responsibilities for each employee so
everyone is aware of who is doing what task on a daily basis of running the store.
In addition to a team charter, Jessie and Ashton could create a company group chat
or communication book that could organize time off requests,quick way to have
shifts covered if needed, and team building activities. To better communicate
vacation requests, Jessie and Ashton could create a yearly vacation planner
whereby each employee would have the ability to see each other’s requests in
advance and work together to ensure they each have the time off and coverage
needed. Jessie and Ashton could also do a company newsletter announcing new
products, store events, and any issues that need to be addressed. Last but not least,
we think any team will have improved communication and teamwork if team-
building activities can be scheduled. These can either be done through a hired HR
professional that can take place during work hours, or an after-hours get together.
This promotes healthy working relationships and a better understanding of how
team members work effectively.

Project Plan

What needs to be done?

Case study 1- Sept. 25

● Questions 1- 6 need to be answered, all were done in group work in class

Case study 2 - Oct 9th

Case study 3- Nov 6th

Case study 4-Nov 18th

How will this be done?

● Mostly group work done together with class time provided, and addition time needed

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 BADM 281C Group 3

will either be arranged or questions will be split up and delegated within the group
● A google drive document will be used for all so everyone can access the document

Who is doing what?

● We all work together to put the bullet point answers then everyone is assigned a question to
turn the bullet points into a paragraph. Then once everyone is done Nicole will go through
and proof read everything and ensure that the ideas were properly elaborated.
○ Question 1- Nicole
○ Question 2- Justin
○ Question 3- Darion
○ Question 4-Stephen
○ Question 5- Lindsay
○ Question 6-Lindsay
○ Each case study we will rotate who has an extra question to turn into a paragraph.

Create a Timeline (Use the information from the previous page to plot out what work needs to be
done by whom and by when)

● Case study 1- spt. 25

○ September 24th all questions are supposed to be completed
○ September 25 we will read over everything together as a group before
submitting
● Case study 2 - Oct 9th
○ Meet october 4th at 5:30 pm
○ Use whatever class time is available and then set up further meetings if needed
○ Questions are expected to be completed October 8th
● Case study 3- Nov 6th
○ Meet november 1st at 5:30
○ Use whatever class time is available and then set up further meetings if needed
○ Questions are expected to be completed the day prior, november 5th
● Case study 4-Nov 18th
○ Meet november 10th at 5:30
○ Use whatever class time is available and then set up further meetings if needed
○ Questions are expected to be completed the day prior, november 17th

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