Market Basket employees
Market Basket employees attained great success in their collective action against the sacking of their CEO, Arthur T. First, these employees had a strategy before beginning their demonstration. In this strategy, the employees set their objectives that they would not go back to work before the reinstatement of their CEO, Arthur T. Additionally, the employees had an exemplary power exercise whereby the store directors supported the employees and led them the front line. The employees also planned a publicity strategy whereby, their grievances were heard not only by the board members but also by the general public. The employees, directors, customers, and attorneys joined in the strike, participating in different ways. The employees also built strong alliances with the customers, whereby they did not go into the strike alone. If the customers continued buying from the company during the strike, the employees’ collective action would have weakened, as stated in Bonner, (2018). The customers did not only boycott purchases in the company but also joined the striking workers. By involving different stakeholders in the strike, the employees of Market Basket attained great success.
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The strike by the Market Basket employees garnered massive support from the public sector. In his work, Arthur developed close relations with the management, where he advocated for customer satisfaction. In his management strategies, Arthur T. emphasized that the company would achieve great success by working closely with the customers. The customers thus developed high regard and love for the company and the CEO. According to Ton, Kochan, & Reavis (2014), Arthur T also showed respect for the customers by imposing a 4% discount on goods in the next year. The cut was aimed at helping the employees, costing the company more than $170 million. When the customers learned that the CEO who had worked so much for their well-being was sacked, they had to join the workers in supporting his reinstatement. The organization of the strike ensured that senior employees worked together towards the restoration of the CEO. The public was aware of the sacking of experienced workers in the company, with the vice-president operations and the vice president being the longest-serving employees sacked by emails. The dispute thus garnered the public’s support through the collective action of the employees and excellent management strategies by the sacked CEO.
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The occurrences in this company have various implications for US businesses and organizations. Organizations are now aware of their employees’ collective action, which implies that the organizations have to weigh the consequences of their actions before taking them. In sacking senior employees, organizations have to ensure that they have an excellent basis to avoid the collective effort of the employees. Organizations have to adopt better hiring and firing procedures, which prevent conflicts with the employees. In sacking senior management officials, organizations must follow specific procedures to avoid retaliation of the employees. Organizations are left with little power over the employees, who can disrupt all the activities within an organization. These organizations must work in implementing strategies for ensuring that they have control over the employees. To prevent a repetition of the occurrence at Market Basket, organizations must have policies limiting the employees.
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Market Basket has numerous downfalls in dealing with employees and customers. First, in its employment policy, the organization does not have clear guidelines for the sacking of employees. Due to the lack of this policy, the company witnessed a crisis arising from biased sacking by the management board. Secondly, the organization focuses more on its goals rather than the overall objectives of the company. When Arthur T made a 4% discount on products, the management decided to sack him, which implies that they were angered by the decision (Ton et al. 2014). The company’s objectives include customer satisfaction, which the CEO aimed at achieving by lowering prices. On the other hand, the company’s management was focused on higher profits, which implies that it was focused on their own goals rather than those of the company.
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The dispute between the CEO and the management affected all the stakeholders in the organization. The organization was significantly affected, with huge losses being registered due to the boycott by the customers. Customers moved to other stores, refusing to buy from this organization for six months, which implies that the company registered the losses form the dispute (Affirmative Portfolios, 2019)). The workers were also affected by the conflict, with the workers not going to workers for more than six months. The workers were not paid for the period they spend on strike, which implies that they experienced numerous hardships. Among the leadership, the leaders learned a great deal from the strike. In the beginning, the leadership thought that the employees would resume duty with their needs not being met. However, when the employees remained focused on their duty, ensuring that the management heard their grievances. The customers were also affected by buying commodities from other stores. These stores could have increased their prices, which implies that the customers spend more money. The organization must ensure that they develop better strategies to prevent such occurrences in the future. The workers could be subjected to strict rules in the future, while the leadership must take reasonable measures in the future. The customers must embrace the newly set strategies, which could include increased pricing.