You are asked to write a Case Study Report on the following topic:
You have very recently been appointed as an Assistant Manager of a retail outlet of a national fashion chain called ‘Posh Togs’. The outlet is located in a medium sized town in the West Midlands. In total the outlet employs approximately 100 staff, these are split into teams each specialising in different areas of the store. You have worked for the company for 18 months as a member of one of the teams. The Store Manager recognised that you have the potential to become an effective team leader, hence your promotion. The outlet has not performed well over the last 18 months partially due to recent closure of a number of companies in the area, and the impact of this on the retail businesses in the town. As a result, profits are down compared to the figures over the last five years. Concerns have been raised by the Regional Manager about the way that the teams within the outlet have being managed. She feels that members of teams are conflicting with each other and that this is contributing to the poor performance of the teams and this is impacting on the performance of the outlet.
In your interview for your new role, the fact that you were studying for your HND in Business was discussed, and in particular your knowledge relating to the importance of teamwork in organisations. In an attempt to turn the business around you have been asked by the Store Manager to improve team working. The rationale for this approach is to improve the service and boost sales by enhancing the relationships within and between the teams.
Your brief is to produce a Report for your Store Manager outlining the main ways in which the ‘Posh Togs’ store you work for can improve teamwork in order to assist the company reverse its recent poor performance. Your Report should have three main sections which addresses the following:
Section 1: Discuss the main benefits of group working
Section 2: Analyse the main stages in team development
Section 3: Identify and evaluate barriers that can impact on team working Within your Report should you should reflect on how the theories we have discussed in lectures and seminars can be applied to ‘Posh Togs’ to improve teamwork.
Present your answers to the assignment in a Report format. A guide to Report structure is available on Canvas in the useful documents section for the module.
Helpful Hint 4: Make sure that you provide clear links to the case study, remember your report is to your Regional Manager and she is interested in your suggestions to improve teamworking within the outlet.
Helpful Hint 5: Throughout your report, make sure that you evidence that you have read around the topics by making clear references to literature. When choosing literature you must use appropriate academic sources. Please avoid using websites such as Wikipedia.
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