Improve collaboration between Stores and Corporate teams, enhancing business performance

Project Definition:

The team started by researching clients and the retail industry to get a comprehensive view of the client's business model. We then confirmed the project’s scope and expectations for the final deliverables.

The team approached this topic by leveraging five pillars of internal connection and collaboration: organizational structure, procedure/process/policy, internal communication channels and tools, work culture, and management capabilities of management personnel within the apparatus. Using these to guide our thought process, the team brainstormed hypotheses, categorized and ranked these hypotheses, discussed them with the sponsor, and eventually agreed to focus on four main topics:

• Communication norms, processes, and procedures.

• Tools/Tech/Device supports communication, connectivity, and internal collaboration.

• Representation of local perspectives.

• Alignment in KPI metrics between the store and corporate.

Research:

The team used primary and secondary research methods for this highly qualitative project. In the primary research, the team developed interview questionnaires around four key topics to clarify the situation, understand how insiders feel, limitations to connect, and opportunities for enhancement. The team interviewed three groups of subjects: corporate employees, regional/district managers, and store employees to take a multidimensional view of the problem and compare the urgency and desires of the stakeholders, as well as assess their perceptions regarding the importance of increasing connectivity and cooperation. We conducted 19 interviews, including 11 interviews with corporate team members, 2 interviews with district managers, and 6 interviews with store employees.

In secondary research, the team conducted both academic research and corporate case studies on employee engagement as key topics follow:

• Academic research/ studies and successful application of these research/ studies on topics:

  • Collaboration as a team and collaboration within the organization.

  • Building trust within the organization, building trust in vertical management.

  • Organizational communication (communication in the modern, complex organization., Corporate communication tools, and innovations on the market).

  • Organizational structure, models/structure for multi-layer corporate.

  • Useful metrics to measure collaboration, using metrics to drive business performance.

• Case studies regarding employee engagement for similar industry companies

Due to time, information, and resource constraints, the team focused on understanding the positive effects of improving communication efficiency, connectivity, and internal collaboration on business performance. To compensate for the lack of data for quantitative analysis, the team used resources to systematize client's internal engagement channels/tools/software, model communication flows, and categorize interview respondents' responses. This helped stakeholders quickly grasp, identify limitations, and form an awareness of the importance of the problem.

Root Cause Analysis & Recommendations Development:

After conducting initial interviews with the client's employees, understanding the current situation, and forming initial thoughts about the primary cause of the issues, the team used design thinking to define the root causes of the problem. We grouped interview data into four main groups according to the flow of communication: corporate to store, store and corporate, store to corporate, and store to store. With each of these communication flows, the team developed solutions for root causes and applied an impact/input matrix to analyze these solutions.

The team then developed the 6-page report in more detail and continued to conduct interviews with employees. These interviews confirmed the root causes and assessed the feasibility of the proposals. We also continued to exchange emails with these subjects during the report’s development to verify and validate the information.

Impact Assessment:

Finally, to assess the impact of the proposals, the team used secondary research, such as research from renowned universities to predict the results of successfully implementing the collaboration improvement recommendations. To compensate for the lack of quantitative computation, we also developed appendices to provide guidelines for and examples of calculating impact based on hypothetical information with the desire to make it possible for project recipients to perform further analyses when sufficient internal data is available.

Truong Dinh

MBA2 - Michigan Ross