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Kudler Fine Foods Week 2

Organizational Behavior

Introduction

Kudler Fine Foods is ready for a change. In this proposal, we will outline the corporate culture and analyze the organizational structure. We will go on to examine the leadership style of Kudler based on the organizational performance and include evidence of employee motivation. We will conclude by evaluating external and internal drivers of change.

Culture

It is difficult to “define” an organization’s culture. The culture consists of the attitudes and personality of the collective group of employees and is often directed by leadership. Kathy Kudler is the founder and president of Kudler and she dictates much of the action that goes on in the organization. Through her dedication to her gourmet products, she has established the personality of Kudler Fine Foods.

As is evidenced through memo and email communications, the attitude of the organization is friendly and open. These communications often contain jokes and personal references. Further, being a small business with only 3 stores, many employees know each other on a more personal level and interact as friends.

Through their strategic objective, expanding services, improving efficiency of operations and increasing the consumer purchase cycle as a means to increasing the loyalty and profitability of its consumers, Kudler demonstrates a commitment to not only the customer, but also to the growth of their organization. They appear to be an informal organization, offering parties in the store to show customers how to prepare specialty foods.

The culture is upscale and chic as is evidenced by their gourmet menus and products which draw high margins. They emphasize social networking with their gourmet products. Kudler strives to differentiate themselves from lower-end markets by providing customers with points that can be redeemed for high end gift items, airline first-class upgrades or other specialty foods. They further their reputation as a high-end store by...