Mohammed Abul and his family own the Long-lasting Boot (LLB) store. LLB is a specialty boot store located in the downtown area in a medium sized Scottsdale, Arizona and sells a broad line of boots to all members of the family including a novelty pet line. The store sells boots for work and recreation as well as a line of expensive cowboy boots for the tourist trade. The business is twenty-five years old. It has a reputation for being the best place to get boots in the community because of the selection, quality, and customer service. They will even work with custom designed boots for people with unusually sized feet or medical problems. The boots in some instances, work boots in particular, are considered expensive by middle class buyers but the construction quality is so long-lasting that it makes the higher prices seem worthwhile. Abul, who is 32 years old and just out of the military after 10 years of service, has returned to find the business at a crossroad.
The store is successful but sales are very slow growing at the moment. The family is looking to boost sales by developing a competitive edge for the future. Up until now the business has been successful because of the company’s ability to anticipate changing boot styles. In the past three years, sales have remained constant but growth has waned. Despite sales, the use of loyalty reward cards and staying open later in the evening, revenue has not grown. Yet, total sales in the Central City metropolitan area including the suburbs have grown substantially. Stores that sell in volumes like Wal-Mart and Payless have boot sales that pull in three times the sales of LLB.
Currently the structure of LLB has been adhoc in nature. The long-term decisions are made by the family. Joseph Abul (father, and his sons, Mohammed Abul (marketing) and Ali Abul (store manager). Fatima Abul (mother) oversees staff and Adoul Abul (brother of Joseph) does the purchasing. Yara Abul (daughter) handles the finances. There are two full-time sales associates and 8 part-time associates not including the new assistant and the cowboy boot associates. Store hours are M, T, W, F, S 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Thurs 10:00 am to 8:30 pm.
• Explain the type of culture that will enhance the organizational alignment of people in LLB;
• Explain what organizational culture is and how it relates to the structure of the organization;
• Explain why you chose the organizational culture as opposed to others that you did not.