The existing teams could only meet this demand by

The existing teams could only meet this demand by working extra shifts. Hafiz with the assistance
of Mary and Adrian organised the teams but they knew that they needed additional staff.
However Suzy wanted to ensure that any new staff were thoroughly trained and developed over
time and insisted that Hafiz create a three month training programme for new employees. This
had an impact on the time required for orders. Suzy simply could not develop the market with
the existing staff levels, J.O.C. needed to expand. She now realised the business had to be
organised in a self-sustaining way and had to find a way of involving other staff in the running of
the business.
At the same time Suzy had targeted these markets in Ayrshire and the Borders, she got in touch
with Charlie Large owner of CG Chocolates — a company which supplied hotels in Northern
England and Southern Scotland. Their discussion opened some new possibilities arising from the
fact that Charlie was considering retiring and had no clear successor to take over the business.
Over the following four months the two firms worked together on meeting the demand created
by hotels in Ayrshire and the Borders.
CG Chocolates
The company was based in Newcastle with 19 employees and was performing well in the local
market. This included good contacts with hotels plus one shop in the main shopping centre and
a contract with local councils to provide corporate gifts.
Charlie saw himself as an expert in all areas of the company and it is his drive and willpower which
have taken the company to this stage. The business was growing and it was now difficult for
Charlie to be involved in everything and this created tensions. He was well aware that without a

7 | P a g e
greater marketing/sales input then the firm would stagnate. Charlie started to yearn for some
time away from the business and started to consider retiring.
In his business Charlie believed that people are motivated by a reward and punishment system,
he also believed in a clear chain of command. Charlie followed through on this approach by giving
monetary bonuses every quarter. He decided who should get the bonuses and there was some
discontent that the process was not transparent. Staff believed Charlie tended to give higher
bonuses to those with whom he got on with best personally. Charlie would also invite selected
members of staff such as Sales Manager Jimmy Mulvenie and the Finance Manager Jack
Ridgewell to join him on afternoon visits to the local golf club which tended to exclude those who
did not play golf. Mistakes by anyone in the organisation would lead to an angry Charlie
confronting the culprit and threatening them with dismissal or in some cases actually sacking
them.
In the course of working with CG Chocolates Suzy learned more about these practices and, whilst
not agreeing with Charlie’s autocratic management style, realised that his staff were competently
trained and that taking over the company could assist in her expansion plans. It would mean
changing the work practices for CG Chocolates from their simple functional system. Suzy hoped