Ohio Strong Amy Johnson is the founder, owner, and CEO of Ohio Strong, a private Cincinnati-based retail chain specializing in Ohio novelty items. When you wear the Ohio Strong logo, you are proclaiming to the world that you are proud to be an Ohioan and a member of the Buckeye State. Ohio Strongs 138 employees are also extremely proud to be a part of the company. Ohio Strong conducts an annual job satisfaction survey and has found that the employees are very satisfied with their work and committed to Ohio Strong.

When the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly hit Ohio in March 2020, Amy Johnson was required by law to shut the doors on all seven of its locations, including its headquarters. Following a progression of school, restaurant, and bar closings, all retail shops were ordered closed by late March. During this time, Ohio Strong took a major hit. As it was not allowed to open to the public, in-person and walk-in sales suffered greatly during this time. Revenue from these locations ground to a halt while the overhead costs did not disappear.

In early May, the governor of Ohio announced that retail stores would be permitted to open to a limited capacity on May 12. Filled with excitement, Amy and the rest of the senior leaders began drafting plans to reopen Ohio Strongs seven stores and were hopeful that things might return to normal again. Despite the excitement among senior leadership, Amys interactions with the general managers (GMs) seemed unexpectedly grim. In a Zoom meeting with the GMs on May 4, the atmosphere was remarkably quiet. When she delivered the news about the reopening, the GMs seemed quite uneasy and silent. She did not know what to make of this and was at first somewhat frustrated with the lack of enthusiasm. Dont look so grim! she exclaimed to the managers. We will be reopening soon! Isnt that exciting?

The next day (May 5), Amy woke to an inbox filled with messages. Employees were alerted to the news of the reopening from a company-wide letter sent out from Chief Operations Officer Bill Thompson the previous evening. She was surprised to see that while some employees were excited at the prospect of returning to work, others had serious concerns. One employee described their fear about spreading the virus to their elderly parents and a lack of communication about how employees safety would be addressed. On the other hand, the accounting team requested to work entirely remotely as team productivity had actually increased when working remotely.

It was clear to Amy that there were several issues in play. We need to figure out some way forward for Ohio Strong to survive and compete with other retail establishments. We need to decide our strategy and whether opening right away would even be viable. Amy thought back to an interview with a famous restaurant and bar consultant on the news the other night. He felt that businesses should be thinking of the economic ramifications for opening during a period of ambiguity in consumer trust. Opening too soon might be jumping the gun. Regardless, as things currently stood, online sales alone were just not viable right then.

But importantly, there was the issue of health and safety. What, if anything, will we do for our customers and employees? We must think this through carefully and delicately. Make the wrong move, and employee morale and performance will suffer, and some employees may even try to look for work elsewhere. Ohio Strong must be strong internally, now more than ever. We also have a responsibility for the sake of our customers to earn their trust. What will we do for them to earn their trust? How are we going to weather the impact of this devastating pandemic? she thought.

Questions

1. How should Amy respond, if at all, to the employee emails?

2. What systematic changes, if any, should Amy make to improve the job attitudes of the employees of Ohio Strong?

3. How can Ohio Strong earn the trust of its customers, employees, and the general public?