Verified Document

How Best To Manage Team Diversity Essay

¶ … Hot Topic so successful as a retailer? What makes them so popular with their employees? How can they keep their success going? Hot Topic is a youth-oriented apparel and accessory store featured in malls across the country. What is so impressive and unusual about Hot Topic is the way in which it has been able to remain successful for so many years. It is a 'trendy' store that has continued to be trendy for many generations of teens.

Hot Topic's CEO Betsy McLaughlin recently resigned from the company and has been credited with fostering its success over the decades (McLaughlin resigns from Hot Topic, 2011, California Apparel News). McLaughlin was responsible for the creation of one of the company's subsidiary divisions, the 'Torrid' line of clothing which showcases attractive fashions in plus sizes for teens (McLaughlin resigns from Hot Topic, 2011, California Apparel News). Just as Hot Topic is unique as a mall store and fulfills many teens' unmet needs for a style that is more hardcore and gothic than the offerings of the Gap and the Limited, Torrid satisfies an unmet need for overweight teens to look stylish.

The company's atmosphere is teen-focused atmosphere...

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

This encourages employees to engage in out-of-the-box thinking. "Eighty percent of the merchandise we carry is not available at any other mall store" (Pendleton 1997:1). Hot Topic strives to create a product image and product lines that are radically and profoundly different from those of competitors. "Hot Topic tries to limit the risk by ordering its trendy merchandise only 30 to 60 days ahead" (Pendleton 1997:1). Rather than trying to create a company that is 'all things to all people,' Hot Topic hones a cutting-edge appeal.
Its corporate headquarters encourages workers to remain part of the teen culture the company is trying to serve. "Hot Topic has, literally, no walls between departments. The 75 employees, who show up to work in jeans and T-shirts, toil at their desks near monitors constantly beaming MTV...The company encourages its generally youthful staff -- mostly around age 20 at the stores -- to frequent dance clubs and concerts. Spot a trend, report on it, and Hot Topic will pop for the ticket" (Pendleton 1997:2). Early on, this strategy proved to be very effective for the company. When a Hot Topic employee saw Gwen…

Sources used in this document:
References

McLaughlin resigns from Hot Topic. (2011). California Apparel News. Retrieved:

http://www.mydigitalpublication.com/display_article.php?id=680276

Pendleton, Jennifer. (1997). Melrose pace: Hot Topic brings urban hip to suburban malls.

Los Angeles Times. Retrieved: http://articles.latimes.com/1997-04-12/business/fi-47924_1_hot-topic-malls
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

How Best to Manage Team Diversity
Words: 610 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Online Education -- Research Method Response Diverse teams utilize diverse opinions and approaches and are generally more effective in their accomplishment of tasks. Yet "diversity appears to increase group conflict." In what ways does diversity make conflict into a positive result? Diversity can result in positive outcomes even through the process of conflict resolution in teams. That is because the conflicts that can arise as a function of diversity within teams can

Overcoming the Pitfalls of Team Leadership in Decision Making
Words: 2374 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

Team Decision Making -- Pitfalls and Solutions Anyone who has ever been a member of any type of team can likely readily testify concerning the difficulties involved in reaching a consensus on even minor and straightforward issues such as seating arrangements, so it will likely come as no surprise to modern practitioners that the team decision-making process is fraught with a wide array of pitfalls, some of which can cause a

Motivational Practices at America's Best Managed Companies
Words: 3175 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

Organizational Behavior -- Walmart Organizational Behavior - Wal-Mart Organizational behavior is critical components in a company in order help to determine the effectiveness and efficiency. When we look at organizational behavior, we are looking at how an individual acts or relates to each in a working environment. There are certain key components that as we look at this organization that we focus on, such as this organization's culture and their communication and

Team Leadership Overview of Theory
Words: 870 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

People are less apt to blame a leader, more apt to take responsibility for the team when something goes wrong (Hackman 2004). Threats Control over the final decision is not held by a leader but is left to the group, reducing accountability and rewards and thus depriving the organization's leader of carrot-and-stick motivators like individual performance reviews ("Team leadership," 2008, NCREL). Personal conflicts can stymie team performance, and ineffective meetings can act as

Team Communication: Using Conflict Wisely
Words: 1441 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

If this is present within a group of people, then their performance will be enhanced by their mutual support (both practical and moral)" (Blair 2008). Groups, and members of a group, must have strong interpersonal and managerial skills, to become self-managing units. A group must exercise collective leadership, not merely be lead by a single individual (Blair 2008). Even if one person may be designated as a leader, the group

Teams Tm 423 This Module's Case Develop
Words: 1683 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Teams TM 423 This Module's Case develop a successful project team. The core case a description actual team development situation: Poole, C. (2003). Three-week project turnaround. Retrieved http://c2./cgi/wiki-ThreeWeekProjectTurnaround http://www. Project teams: Why so many project teams fail, how to help them succeed 'Teamwork' is one of the most common buzzwords in corporate lingo today yet creating a fully functional team can be extremely hard work. The process of team development presents challenges

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now