Galbraith Grocery Chain

Our Group's mini case examines the organizational design structures of a large online retailer’s acquisition of a high-end grocery chain. The fate of the acquired company will be impacted by the implementation of Jay R. Galbraith's five key categories in the STAR Model™. Galbraith's model tracks: People, Processes, Structure, Strategy, and Rewards. The online retailer experienced hyperactive growth for years, while the high-end grocery chain experienced a financial crisis due to over-expansion and sagging sales. The online retailer plans to strengthen its dominance in both the e-commerce and physical commercial space with its expansion into the grocery industry. Maintaining the original name of the grocery chain, to retain the chain’s

For the new organization design structure between the online retailer and the grocery chain to be effective, alignment with People, Processes, and Structure is mandatory. There is an expectation for a major culture clash between the two companies because the grocery chain has a supportive and empathetic culture, whereas the online retailer has a culture fueled by driven results and measuring market gains in the spirit of industry domination. People:

Both organizations have existing robust human resource policies for obtaining and retaining talent. The grocery chain fosters a culture of professional development and personal growth with a focus on training. The online retailer is considered to be a more attractive place to work with a much higher stock price, greater global reputation, and a more innovative and growth-oriented company. The human resource policies at both companies are similar. Both identify and develop talent for their organization.

With a hierarchy supported by a hands-on and forward-thinking chief executive officer, senior management, and several specialized departments, over the years, its organization structure swells and contracts, as it sees necessary. This aggressive flexibility is a major reason for its commerce dominance. Motivated by its acquisition of the grocery chain, the online retailer's main strategy is to provide the ultimate convenient shopping experience to its customers. It steadfast connection to external trends is one of the main indicators to drive its internal structure. Now, with a new business to add to its organization, a new area with specialized knowledge about the grocery business is a necessity. In the short-term, it seems a simple solution is to keep the grocery chain's current hierarchy structure with executive-level and other senior management through a reasonable transition period until a careful review of processes is carefully considered. There is an executive overlap; therefore, the structure needs reconciliation in order to provide clear direction and execution of the main strategy. Both the online retailer and grocery chain foresee challenges with its marriage of People, Processes, and Structure. Therefore, special focus on shared communication is an important and urgent transition project for sets of executive and senior