Kudler Fine Foods Is an

Kudler Fine Foods is an enterprise that prides itself on providing customers with fresh produce that is organic and free of preservatives. The company has three stores spread throughout the city. The third store was added recently. The primary problem that Kudler Fine Foods faces appears to be logistical and managerial. Kathy the owner, want to guarantee the quality of the produce that is present in her stores. To this end she has been dedicated to purchasing the produce herself. This in itself is not problematic.

However, the logistical problems arise when Kathy does not have the time to take care of her other responsibilities. It appears that she has not trained anyone else to inspect the produce so that they quality is monitored. In addition, no one else has the authority to make important decisions as it relates of management decisions. When Kathy is ill the stores are placed in a difficult position because there is no one who can make certain critical decision.

Her failure to delegate some of this responsibility has hindered her ability to manage all of her stores efficiently. This is the most drastic problem for Kudler Fine Foods. If this is not remedied the stores will not survive. The responsibility that Kathy carries is too much for one person. She simply cannot be everywhere at once. To this end, another approach to management must be adopted. If the company is to remain profitable and continue to expand, it must alter the management strategy.

In having the three stores, it would be ideal for her to hire and train at least one more manager that has the same kind of author that she does. This manager would be trained as it pertains to the quality of the produce that Kathy expects in her stores. In adapting this type of managerial approach Another problem is that the company is throwing away or donating a great deal of their inventory.

While it is commendable that the company give away some of the produce, it is also a bit of a quandary because it means that this produce is not being sold. The company is buying produce and not able to sell a great deal of it to recoup what is being spent. This must be remedied. The company must begin to carefully monitor sales volumes.

That is, if the company is ordering 100 pounds of bananas, selling 60 pounds and giving away 40 pounds-they need to only order 60-65 pounds because this is all that they can sell. According to the case study the company is in the process of making everything automated so that they can monitor sales volumes electronically. Currently this is being done manually. Manual monitoring of sales volumes is inevitably problematic, because of the difficulty associated with tracking sales.

In making everything automated as it pertains to all the produce that the company purchases, there will be much less waste and greater profitability. The organic nature of the products that the company offers all seems to have a detrimental effect on profitability. Kudler may have to eliminate certain product offerings. This is particularly true if these products are not selling very well. In addition, the owner of the company may have some success in negotiating a lower price for those products that do sell well.

The owner should be careful not to settle for whatever price she is quoted. Another issue is payroll expense. All companies have problems with getting payroll expenses to a reasonable level. However. Kudler seems to have a problem in being able to pay highly specialized workers at the rate of the market. In addition, when on the specialized workers gets sick or quits it is difficult to find a replacement. Some of this will be remedied when the aforementioned problems are handled because it will create greater cash flow.

The company must ensure that it can pay workers what they are worth. Failure to do so can be catastrophic and provide other stores in the industry with a competitive advantage. In addition, when employees are paid a living wage they are more productive because they are not worrying about their expenses or working a second job. Another problem is the desire to expand further away from the current base of operations. Although the store already has several locations, these locations are relatively close to one another.

As such Kathy is able to visit each one regularly. In some instances she visits all three on the same day. However, if she plans to expand the company into other regions of California her current management approach must be abandoned and she must hire and train a team of managers.