The cultural perspective to team management

A story of Super Yummy Ltd (SY Ltd)

1. The company background

James Richardson owns Super Yummy Ltd, a fast food shop in central London. Established in the 1950s, this has been one of the most successful companies in the fast food business, starting from very humble beginnings from a low class migrant family. From his home village, this migrant from Kazakhstan started by selling home-baked cakes at his home in Wivesfield before opening his first shop in London, which he ran for nearly 35 years before his daughter took over after his demise in 1990.

James inherited Supper Yummy Ltd from his mother who retired 15 years ago and since then James has been running it very successfully. The business has been growing thanks to James’s management style and strategic view, it has expanded opening three new branches across the city, one on Eltham High Way, the second at Gatwick Airport and the third one on Greenwich Street which is managed by Rajesh Kumar,  the Branch Manager, a brilliant young man with exceptional sales skills.

The number of employees increased from 12 in 2006 to 57 today from 8 different countries- the most diverse workforce the company has had in its history. Due to the nature of the business, apart from 15 core staff members in Finance, Procurement and branch manager positions; the rest are students who work on either part time or Zero hour employment contracts.  To keep up with the growth, James withdrew himself from daily operations and entrusted it to branch managers as he focuses more on coordination, his relationship with bankers and the strategic orientation of the business. However, he retains the position of the Managing Director of the company.

2. SY Ltd strong family tradition

Notwithstanding the growth of SY Ltd, the company still keeps its family tradition and James constantly reminds his team to consider themselves not just as workmates but brothers and sisters. During his Christmas Lunch with all the team members, he once again told them: “it is so unfortunate that we are now charging money from people who eat from us,.. (with a laugh) when my Grandfather started baking cakes from his home he was serving them to all the people in the neighbourhood as a gesture of sharing and socialising. To him it was a good family value to cook and share food with everyone…

He carried on by saying: “…even though it later became a business, remember we are a family of cooks whose food is to be served to all!… we do not sell food but the service!”

Today those family values still exist in the company, despite the fact that only a few team members come from Richardson’s family. A typical example was an extract of an email from Alex, the Eltham Branch Manager to his shift team leader which reads in part:

Hi Bro,

…..The Eltham High Way is due to be blocked for two hours this evening as they mount the x’mas lights…………

Would it be a good idea to delay the start of the evening shift or would you plan it otherwise?………

Cheers

At SY Ltd, it is not surprising to hear that James is having a hangout with any of the team members irrespective of his position, just like it is normal for him to send any one of them an email; “after all, family members have no boundaries in engaging.” He believes.

Besides cost minimisation, which is typical for any small business, open and direct communication has been one of the unique values of the company since the era of its founding father and it has been consistently kept as such today.

3. SY Ltd expansion plan

The business expansion being one of the main strategies for the next 5 years, last year James  decided to create a position of Business Development  Manager and Jan, a former McDonald’s manager in its Amsterdam branch, was given the job on consultant’s terms. This is a senior position in the company at the same level as branch managers and he reports to the MD.

Before any new branch is established, Jan is to do a thorough analysis and due diligence, his advice to James is very instrumental in deciding the viability of any branch as he relies on the cooperation of the branch managers to carry out his Due Diligence, the same cooperation is also required when he carries out his quarterly branch performance reports.

4. Growth and confrontation

Last year, Jan in the process of compiling his inter-branch Christmas performance reports, sent an email to Alfred who was the shift team leader on 24 and 25 December at the Greenwich Branch. However the email was not answered despite 2 reminders.

The extract of the second reminder reads in part:

Hi Alfred,

……The below requested data is long overdue

Jan,

This email, just like the first two not only was not answered but upset Alfred a Nigerian student working at the Greenwich branch as a part time worker and he reports to Kumar who heads that branch. “Why can’t he not even wish me a merry X’mas before asking for data?” He wondered. Though he did not reply to Jan’s email he reported to Kumar who didn’t say anything, nor did he send the data to Jan who badly wanted the data for the January 3 deadline. As quiet and soft-spoken, Jan did not show any sign of concern about the lack of response.

On January 7, during the management meeting, as Kumar entered the meeting room, he found Jan seated on the far end of the oval table, and did not even look at him but proceeded to his seat on the opposite side of the table without a word, something which was unusual. Throughout the meeting, Kumar could not hide his anger through his contributions and comments. The meeting went well in a family friendly environment and just like all the management meetings; it was concluded with lunch which was shared by all the members. Kumar who is known to be an outgoing and an ever-smiling guy, did not hide his bad mood this day, which was easily noticeable to every member of the team and James was faced with a challenge of identifying what was wrong with Kumar before his mood affected his performance and that of his team at the Greenwich Branch.

James called a one to one meeting with Kumar to find out what was wrong. What is happening? Who else may be involved?

Reflection points

• What is the source of Kumar’s anger?
• Why didn’t Alfred reply to any of Jan’s emails?
• Why did the second reminder make it worse in Alfred’s interpretation?
• Do you think Jan understands Kumar’s feelings?
• Could the lack of feedback from Kumar’s team have bothered Jan?
• What explains Jan’s reaction?
• Is Kumar’s reaction consistent with the SY Ltd expectations? Why?
• Can Kumar’s feelings be objectively explained?