Bill Thompson is the new manager of a Vermont sporting goods retail store that is part of a national chain. Bill, who is 25 years old, has been working for the company for four years. Prior to his promotion, he was an assistant manager for two years at a company store in Delaware. Last week, his boss, the regional manager, briefly introduced him to the employees. The profit performance of this store is below average for his location and Bill is looking forward to the challenge of improving profits. When he was an assistant manager, he was assigned mainly minor administrative tasks and paperwork, so this assignment will be his first chance to show that he can be an effective manager. The company sets the base salaries for the 20 employees who work at Bill's store, But the store manager's appraisal qualifications influence the size of an employee's annual merit raise. These recommendations must be justified to the regional manager, especially if they are not consistent with individual and departmental sales. Bill can suspend or fire employees with the approval of his boss, but in practice it is difficult to do so unless the recommendation is backed by a strong case. Store layout and most prices are set by the head office. However, the performance of the store can be affected in a limited way by the store administrator. One way is to keep the cost of employees down by making sure they work efficiently and don't take too many sick days. Another way is to ensure that employees provide a high level of customer service so that customers come back to make other purchases instead of going to a different store the next time. Customer service depends on being knowledgeable about products, being courteous, providing prompt service, and making sure that inventories of popular products are maintained so that customers can find what they are looking for. Pay is low for this type of retail job, turnover is high, and it takes a few months for a new hire to learn the merchandise well enough to be useful to customers. Therefore, it is also desirable to keep competent employees satisfied enough to stay with the company. Even though it's only her first week on the job, Bill thinks he's already figured out some of the problems at this store. Among the various departments in the store, the ski department has the highest potential profit during the winter, because skiing and snowboarding are popular winter sports in Vermont. At this time, sales for the department are about average for company stores in the Northeast region, with considerable potential for improvement. On several occasions, Bill noticed a line of customers waiting to be served in the ski department, and overheard some of them complaining about how long it takes to be served. One customer said he was going to another store that didn't make him "wait all day for the privilege of spending hundreds of dollars on ski equipment." Bill observed that Sally Jorgenson, The department manager, she spends a lot of time socializing with her salespeople and customers, including visiting friends who talk about ski conditions, resorts, fashions, equipment, races, etc. Bill, who doesn't ski, can't understand why they find it so interesting to talk. He wonders why anyone in his right mind would want to spend a small fortune and risk permanent injury to plunge down a mountain in blizzard conditions, then stand in long lines and ride an icy chairlift only to do it all over again! ! he cannot understand why they find it so interesting to talk. He wonders why anyone in their right mind would want to spend a small fortune and risk permanent injury to plunge down a mountain in blizzard conditions, then stand in long lines and ride an icy chairlift, only to do it all over again! he cannot understand why they find it so interesting to talk. He wonders why anyone in their right mind would want to spend a small fortune and risk permanent injury to plunge down a mountain in blizzard conditions, then stand in long lines and ride an icy chairlift, only to do it all over again!

Questions:

1. How much of each kind of power does Bill have right now?

2. What influence tactics could be used in this situation to influence Sally? Explain what you would actually say to Sally in the process of using each tactic.

3. What should Bill do to improve the store's performance?