The first Coles grocery store was started in 1914 by George Coles in Collingwood, with the philosophy of lowering the costs of living for Australian families. He used a small inheritance to start the small grocery store, and it was immediately successful. The location was good, and George had given careful consideration to the needs of balancing family and work life, maintaining a contented staff and creating a store environment that others would respect. Following the Second World War the organisation went through rapid expansion, shifting from full service stores where staff would help pick products for customers, to what we consider normal today with self-service stores. The expansion in stores meant that the organisation had to give more focus to activities other than food retailing, with logistics, warehousing and distribution systems becoming increasingly central to business operations. Coles has continued to grow and adapt with technological innovations a hallmark of the companys approach to business. In 1993, the Internet provided a new opportunity for the business to explore value creation, and the flybuys program attracted 3.5 million members within its first year of operation. Coles was also early to market in trialling online shopping, with trials in Melbourne starting in 1999. Further market innovation came with the diversification to petrol stations, with Coles Express service stations forming part of Coles market offering in 2004. Coles has continued to expand and break new ground under its new ownership. Acquired by Wesfarmers in 2007, Coles has focused on a mix of customer experience and sustainability initiatives.

QUESTIONS

1 Based on the information available in the case, sketch a picture of the organisational structure after the rapid growth following WWII. What type of structure is this? Explain.

2 Based on the information available in the case, sketch a picture of the organisational structure following the adoption of modern technologies (such as the Internet) and diversified products (such as service stations). Has the original type of organisation structure changed? Explain.

3 Should Coles consider an alternative structure? What types of factors would need to exist or emerge to make changing the organisations current structure a priority?