The Howe 2 Ski Stores are a chain of three ski and windsurfing shops located in the suburbs of a large western coastal city. Maria Howe, a ski enthusiast and business major, opened the first store 10 years ago after her university graduation with financial backing from _ her family and several friends. From its inception, the Howe 2 store was intended to provide state-of-theart equipment and clothing for skiers at all ski levels, from beginner to champion. It was to be staffed by employees who were themselves advanced skiers and could provide expert advice on the choice of clothing and equipment, and it was intended to have a quick response time that would permit the last-minute purchase of equipment and clothing to a ski trip.

Howe originally drew from a pool of skiing friends and fellow students to staff the stores and still prefers to hire part-time employees with skiing expertise who might leave in a year over more stable, full-time employees with less expertise and interest in the sport. Whether administrative staff, cashiers, clerks, or moulders (employees who fit bindings to skis), employees were encouraged to keep up to date on the latest skiing equipment and trends, attend ski vendor shows, try out demo equipment, and give feedback on the store’s inventory to help provide the highest quality equipment and advice for the customer. Suggestion boxes were placed in the store, and Howe herself regularly collected, read, and acted upon the suggestions made by the clerks and customers. She developed special advertising campaigns to build an image for the nearby slopes to increase the market. As the business grew, Howe even added a line of rental equipment to lower the costs and encourage people to try the sport.

Although profits grew irregularly due to weather effects and the faddish nature of the sport, Howe’s efforts paid off in the long term, and within four years business had grown sufficiently to permit the opening of a second Howe 2 Ski Store in another suburb about 16 kilometres from the location of the first store. To even out sales across the year, about six years ago Howe took a chance on the growing windsurfing market and the coastal location and added a line of equipment for this sport. This expanded market has enabled her to smooth out the number of sales occurring throughout the year.
Three years ago, Howe was able to open a third store, located within a 25-kilometre radius of the other two locations. Although managers have been hired to run each of the stores and the total number of employees has grown to 65, Howe’s basic strategy has remained the same—high quality, state-of-the-art products, a knowledgeable staff, and quick response time. Profits from the stores have continued to grow, although at a slower rate. Competition from other ski stores has also increased noticeably within the last two years.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the main problems occurring in the Howe 2 Ski Stores? To, what extent are the problems due to personality and characteristics of the _ work environment?

2. What behaviours need to be maintained or increased, and what behaviours should be reduced or eliminated?

3. What do you think of Maria Howe’s attempt to respond to the difficulties in the stores? Use operant learning theory and social cognitive theory to explain the effects of her merit performance system. Why wasn’t it more effective?

4. What do you think Maria Howe should do to respond to the difficulties in the stores? Refer to operant learning theory and social cognitive theory in answering this question.

5. What organizational learning practices might be effective for changing employee behaviours?
Consider the potential of organizational behaviour modification, employee recognition programs, and training and development programs. Explain how you would implement each of these and their potential effectiveness.

6. What advice would you give Maria Howe on how to address the problems in her stores? Should she pay more attention to the personalities of the people she hires and/or should she make changes to the work environment? What employees and what behaviours should she focus on? Explain your answer.