RadioShack: You've Got Mail
RadioShack Corporation's reputation suffered in the past due to an ill-managed company-wide layoff that utilized e-mail to notify employees of their termination. The poor communication choices used while handling the mass layoffs brought national attention to RadioShack. Many people found e-mail a dehumanizing method to inform the employees that they were being terminated (RadioShack, 2006). The current share price of $13.21 for RadioShack indicates that the corporate turnaround implemented by the CEO at the time of the layoffs, Julian Day, was not successful (RSH, 2011). Due to the changes in economy and corporate strategy it is impossible to assign total blame to the e-mail layoffs as the culprit in the waning success of RadioShack. Yet the national coverage of this event and the surprised response it elicited from management specialists indicate that this was not a popular decision (RadioShack, 2006). To regain a favorable public opinion RadioShack needs to mitigate the damage that has already occurred from this decision and integrate policies and procedures that prevent situations such as these from occurring again.
Clean Up the Past
RadioShack needs to reassure the public that future important transactions regarding the well-being of their employees will be done in a tactful, thoughtful manner. In a poll conducted by Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame in 2008 only 6% of Americans found resigning from a job via e-mail to be appropriate behavior (O'Rourke, 2011). If a representative group of Americans do not think it is appropriate to resign from a job by using e-mail they undoubtedly would not think an organization should layoff an individual via e-mail. The ...
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...e press release should also include the ethical statement that is integrated into the guiding principles and the procedure regarding termination; this will reflect RadioShack's sincere desire to regain public favor. These documents will also ensure that future communications with employees are tactful and defined.
Works Cited
Code of Ethics. (2007). Corporate governance: Code of ethics. Retrieved from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/preview/phoenix.zhtml?c=84525&p=irol-govconduct
O'Rourke, J. S. (2011). Management communication: A case-analysis approach. India: Dorling Kindersley.
RadioShack. (2006). RadioShack lays off employees via e-mail. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-08-30-radioshack-email-layoffs_x.htm
RSH. (2011). RadioShack Stock Quote. Retrieved from http://www.dailyfinance.com/quotes/radioshack-corporation/rsh/nys
Lowe’s begins their manual with an Introduction that includes employees’ and Board of Directors’ together. Lowe’s feels employees’ are equal and expects their executives to follow the same rules of conduct. Lowe’s includes ethics and code of conduct together as a framework of principles’ to guide employees’ in their day-to-day conduct. (Lowe's Internal, 2010)
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This formal report will show the history of Staples and Circuit City. Why did Staples is still in business as of today and why is Circuit City out of business? What were the business model or strategy used by Staples, and the strategy used by Circuit City? This report will analyze the history, business strategy, and financial history of the companies. The case also highlights the importance of sound strategic business decisions, target marketing, and customer input. Moreover, the case points to the need for a retailer in such a competitive marketplace, with both brick and online competitors, to find its competitive advantage and adhere to it.
Sears has created a “Financial Crisis” when hedge fund manager Edward Lampert took over control of the company. The mentality of investors of a CFO is an important viewpoint during crisis because it can help streamline process and reduce cost. Retail experience should be dominant the retail in order to feel the pulse of the consumer desires and to determine proper margin levels while eliminating inefficiencies in the organization. According to Marina Strauss of the Globe and Mail, “a sweeping change will be required to improve the retailer’s outlook”. She quoted the (CEO of Sears-Canada) Mr. McDonald saying in a memo that “Our store are too difficult to shop in. We have inconsistent execution…We do not offer the right product in the right market” (STRAUSS M., 2011).
In this book, there are several principals to communicating and simplifying the process in delivering a message; we choose to highlight three techniques that are commonly used in our society today. Measuring effectiveness, the use of employee surveys, and the inverted pyramid format of communication and employee benefits.
One indicator that there is a problem with employee satisfaction is that multiple, valued employees have left for other jobs citing low job satisfaction and cultural problems as their primary motivations for leaving. These employees asked for exit interviews and were disappointed that they had to request them. As further evidence that this problem exists, employees often answer informal questions about teamwork, job satisfaction, accountability and communication in a negative way. To gather further evidence of this problem, I propose that a survey be conducted to all employees to collect formal data on employee satisfaction and morale, among other things.
S. company reveals that Walmart 's mistreatment of its employees is harming the company 's reputation in the eyes of consumers, which is leading some of its most loyal customers to shop elsewhere (Negative Perception, 2014). Walmart leadership often denies the accusations being spewed about its organization but at the beginning of the 2015 holiday shopping season the company experienced its worst stock decline in over 15 years; the six to twelve percent decline is nothing to ignore (Hanauer, 2015). Critics blame Walmart’s subpar employment practices and low wages for driving away the middle class consumer in which the company heavily relies on (Hanauer, 2015). The company’s low pay wages contributes to the “demise” of the middle class (Hanauer, 2015). Often times Walmart employees can’t afford to shop with the company; this of course contributes to the decline in revenue (Hanauer, 2015). This concept is in keeping with the basic law of capitalism “When workers have more money, businesses have more customers – and when businesses have more customers, they hire more workers. It is this positive feedback loop between customers and businesses that is the fundamental driver of economic growth,” (Hanauer, 2015). It is obvious to me that Walmart is not longer living up to Sam Walton’s goal of being the best retailer in consumer’s
Sears has seen many different changes in business and has had to adjust to t...
Sears Holdings is a company built upon the heritage of Kmart and Sears stores, owner of many well-known brands, and is the provider of auto care and home remodeling. The company’s key operations are the stores in which it operates under the Kmart and Sears brands. Almost every state in the country has at least one Sears or Kmart store, and some U.S. territories also have locations. The company operates in the retail market, which is a highly lucrative industry, but has lost its ability to produce profits and to take charge as a leader in American
Baird, J. E., & Bradley, P. H. (1978). Communication Correlates of employee Morale. Journal Of Business Communication, 15(3), 47-56.
On January 22, 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection becoming the largest retailer ever to do so in U.S. history. Most industry analysts attributed the immediate cause of the company's bankruptcy filing to a dull holiday season and stiff competition from WalMart and Target as the chain's more fundamental problem. But competition wasn't the root cause of Kmart's consistently poor performance. The real reason for Kmart's poor performance is that Kmart never had a marketing strategy. Kmart completely misunderstood its market and was positioning itself in the wrong direction. Also, on the strategic side, there are issues of where stores were located. On the whole, Kmart stores did not seem to be sited as well as the stores of the competition. Then there was the issue of technology. While Wal-Mart was becoming the relentless efficiency engine that we know today by investing in technology and streamlining the supply chain, Kmart held back. As Wal-Mart developed an infrastructure that enabled it to lower prices, Kmart slipped into a price disadvantage. This paper discusses these strategic problems that led to Kmart's poor performance.
In mid September 2005, Ashley Swenson, the chief financial officer of this large CAD/CAM equipment manufacturer must decide whether to pay out dividends to the firm¡¦s shareholders or repurchase stock. If Swenson chooses to pay out dividends, she must also decide on the magnitude of the payout. A subsidiary question is whether the firm should embark on a campaign of corporate-image advertising and change its corporate name to reflect its new outlook. The case serves a review of the many practical aspects of the dividend and share buyback decisions, including(1) signaling effects, (2) clientele effects, and (3) finance and investment implications of increasing dividend payout and share repurchase decisions.
Tel was used to develop the culture of strong teamwork and togetherness. There is no hierarchy in the structure of the company. However, the dissonance of its culture and system is the main factor that led to One Tel decline. One. Tel failure had been indicated since there was a sharp fall in its share price in 1999 (Cook, 2001).
Gomez-Mejia et al. (2016) maintain that “clear communication, marking the occasion, and listening to workers” are several ways to facilitate the transition for the remaining staff (p. 195). HR can support the managers in this endeavor by providing counseling to assist layoff survivors, as well as terminated employees, in understanding and dealing with the changes (Sitlington & Marshall, 2011). Research suggest that communication from a variety of sources such as HR, help employees to understand the circumstances and increase their perception of fairness, which helps to negate the undesirable consequences of the layoff (Tourish, Paulsen, Hobman & Bordia, 2004). Proper information dissemination through the HR team can also help to squelch the spread of unfounded rumors, internally as well as externally through the media, according to Gomez-Mejia et al.
...ced in sales and therefore continued to earn rewards while those who did poorly were reprimanded and punished with further shortened schedules. The low morale reflected upon customers as they were angry with being forced to purchase worthless items and saw some of their favorite employees being maltreated and even fired. The greed of this company ran deep and its downward spiral is only just beginning to stop with the transition of ownership.