Teamwork and Diversity Recommendations for Sanderson Soaps
This paper examines the organizational structure of Sanderson Soaps, a family-owned business experiencing rapid growth, and recommends changes to improve teamwork and workforce diversity across its divisions. Drawing on a case study, the paper proposes the formation of a governing committee at the executive level and recommends expanding and diversifying teams in the Product Development, Marketing and Sales, and Distribution divisions. The Accounts Division is held up as an internal model of effective teamwork. The paper argues that without deliberate structural changes — including broader team membership and demographic diversity — Sanderson Soaps will struggle to expand geographically, serve a wider customer base, and maintain competitiveness after the founders' eventual retirement.
- Introduction: Growth context and need for expanded teamwork
- Working Teams Change Recommendations: Division-by-division team expansion proposals
- Proposed Changes Rationale: Evidence-based reasoning behind each recommendation
- Insights on Teamwork and Diversity: Broader organizational lessons on diversity and collaboration
- Conclusion: Synthesis and warning about inaction
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper moves logically from diagnosis to prescription: it identifies specific structural problems in each division before recommending targeted solutions, making the argument easy to follow.
- Concrete data points from the case — gross sales figures, customer demographics, family-to-employee ratios — are used to ground recommendations in evidence rather than generality.
- The paper uses an internal benchmark (the Accounts Division) as a positive model, which strengthens the argument by showing that effective teamwork is already achievable within the same organization.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied case analysis: it reads organizational details closely, identifies gaps between current practice and best practice, and maps each recommendation back to a specific finding. This technique — problem identification followed by evidence-based prescription — is characteristic of business and management writing at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief framing introduction, followed by a division-by-division recommendations section organized with labeled sub-headings. A rationale section then explains the reasoning behind each recommendation using case data and cited scholarship. An insights section broadens the discussion to general principles of teamwork and diversity. The conclusion synthesizes findings and issues a forward-looking warning about organizational decline if changes are not adopted.
Introduction
From the outset, it is important to note that there is a clear need to increase the number of working teams at Sanderson Soaps. This assertion is largely founded on several factors. With the company's gross sales having reached $3 million last year, Sanderson Soaps appears to be on track to becoming a much larger enterprise. Indeed, the company was barely able to fill orders last quarter. The future growth of the company will be largely dependent on how well management harnesses the power of teamwork to advance the organizational agenda.
It should be noted that at present, the company does not operate as a cohesive team focused on accomplishing specific organizational objectives and goals. This is true at both the executive/managerial level and at the employee level. If the company does not embrace teamwork and increase the number of working teams, the Sandersons' dream of expanding into other markets and eventually establishing a nationwide presence will most likely not be accomplished.
References
Fox, W. (2007). Managing Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Heyman, P. (2011). Collaboration: Create a team culture. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Creating-a-Culture-of-Collaboration&id=6369127
Morgenson, F. P., DeRue, D. S., & Karam, E. P. (2010). Leadership in teams: A functional approach to understanding leadership structures and processes. Journal of Management, 36(1), 5–39.
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