Katie’s Kitchen

September 14, 2023

Hutton Patterson & Ryan Haines
Ms. Bottema
BOH4M
Primary Problem
The primary problem for Tom is that he is unprepared to run this business. Through his
relationships with others and the statistics of the business since gaining ownership, he is proving
to be an ineffective manager.
Planning
- Not telling the employees about the significant change that came when he gained
ownership: That they will be working the same amount of hours each week
- Failed to create a business plan when he decided to obtain the business, thought it would
run as usual.
- Example of failing to create a business plan was not analyzing the work environment and
seeing what was/wasn’t working before.
Leading
- Going home at the busiest time of day (dinner time)
- Not being able to pick up the phone when he is needed by other employees
- Having an argument in front of customers, causing them to walk out; creating negative
perception of a once-beloved restaurant.
- Failed to motivate the staff members to work together.
- Samantha lacked people skills, and would constantly get upset and shame employees,
with Tom in agreement. This failed to motivate employees and made them scared to
make mistakes.
Organizing
- He would not let employees have time off and would organize all their shifts without
them knowing.
- He would try to establish patterns in the staff by giving them the exact same shift
everyday but this caused the employees to be unhappy and prevented the work-life
balance that they expect.
Controlling.
- Got rid of the profit sharing program because profits were down 25%.
- Leaving at the busiest time and expecting business to be run as usual, but won’t allow
others to make decisions; unable to let others do the work.
- Doesn’t pick up calls when he is home allowing for no decisions to be made “without his
blessing”.
- Allowing for maltreatment of employees and customers.

Suggestion
A suggestion for Tom could be to contact Katie and present the problems to her. She knows the
business best, so she could provide solutions to Tom to get business running as it once did. As
well, if he can offer better training for interpersonal skills, then communication to employees and
customers will be more effective.