Transcript Colruyt

Colruyt
Core Beliefs
Catholicism
Right to Privacy
Social Action by church
State Responsibility
Right private property
Right(c)of
workers
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Colruyt
Cont’d
Living Wage
Job Security
Worker Responsibility
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Colruyt
Socialism/Marxism
Learn to question ideas Learn to argue
rationality
Reject rationality as sole determinant
Accept Emotionality
Question different models
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Colruyt
Post Modernism
Marxism and Catholicism are two Grand
Narratives which individuals use to explain
the world and direct action
Modernism
“in any science which legitimizes itself by
referring to some grand narrative such as
the rational subject”
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Colruyt
Cont’d
A work or view becomes postmodern if it
was first modern
Post modernism is XXX and recurrent
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Colruyt
Post modernism does not hold in inevitable
progress arising from human action
Rationally argued positions do not constitute
the totality of knowledge
Lyotarch holds that discussion and conflict
lead to new inventions
Dissension is kept alive by equal access for
all to information
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Colruyt
Cont’d
Message interpretation is contextual and fluid
and culturally dependent
Need information from multiple sources
Flemish and French cultures
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Colruyt
Communication
“It is urgent that we learn to communicate.
Check whether words mean the same for all
parties; they seldom do. …achieve
understanding of the position of the other…”
Business Model:
+10
-10
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Colruyt
Role of IT
Organize operations around the computer
What we cannot do with the computer we
won’t do at all
IT has commercial consequences: Some
products cannot be sold.
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Colruyt
ISID
…how do I stay informed? I turn on my
monitor and scan memos which upper
management have received and sent. I scan
one hundred memos and that gives me good
insight in to the issues. Then I make my
rounds….
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Colruyt
ISID
…to understand society one needs many
models - economic, social, capitalistic,
Marxist, etc. They embody a collective
intelligence which is activated by open
communication among individuals. It
occurs in meetings, on the telephone and
by using ISID. Communication is key to
company success….
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Colruyt
ISD
a) User describes how IS improves the job
performance
b) Calculate IS contribution to company
c) Calculate IS development cost
d) Calculate how much he is willing to pay
for IS development
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Colruyt
Cont’d
e) Calculate maintenance cost
The request goes to steering committee and
then to IS department
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Colruyt
First the IS department planned IS
development and selected projects
Second the users selected the systems
Led to an enormous increase in IS
development
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Colruyt
Outsourcing
“Because of the huge outlays the role of the
IS department and outsourcing have been
debated vigorously. In the end we
concluded that outsourcing inevitably leads
to a loss of control.”
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Colruyt
Work Roles
“…shows me a competition’s flyer, stating a
lower price, then I give an immediate price
reduction.”
Clerks also exercise power over job choice
customer checkout
reshelving
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Colruyt
Cont’d
Decision Making
Independent decisions
group decisions
Consensus/Dissensus
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Colruyt
Emotions
“Someone says, “I feel discouraged you
backed me into the corner.” That person
speaks about his emotions. When others
understand these emotions that creates an
environment for human interaction.
Rationality and emotionality should be open
for discussion.
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Colruyt
Corporate Norms
Incorrect Flemish/French translation. Led to
unpleasant exchange of ire between translator
and employee.
Colruyt intervened and set limits to exchange.
Criticizing is fine but no invectives.
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Colruyt
Development and Training
1) Questioning during meetings about
situation, decisions, and rationality of
assertions create high levels of stress
and safeguards are needed to keep
stress within acceptable limits.
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Colruyt
2) Training involves self-empowerment
self-expression
assertiveness
communicative
competence
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Colruyt
Organizational Structure
1) Hierarchical but flat
2) Functional groups that form around a
specific problem and then disband
3) Management does not emphasize the
hierarchy
4) Power is not assigned from the top but
instead acquired
by individuals
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Traditional Supermarket
*Modernism, which is based on the concepts of
instrumental rationality, informs the company's
ideology.
*Socialization of the individual into larger group
entities.
*Fordism-mass production and mass marketing of
homogeneous products.
*The aim is mass consumption of a limited
assortment of products.
Colruyt Discount Supermarket
*Postmodernism, which is based on questioning
the grand narratives, informs the company's
ideology.
*Attention is on the individual.
*Postfordism-small batch production of many
heterogeneous products and niche marketing.
*The aim is individualized production and
selective consumption from among a very large
assortment of products.
*Rigid organizational structures coupled with top- *Flexible organizational structures couple with
down command structures and bottom-up
networked command and networked
communicative structures.
communicative structures.
*The organizational structures are based on
*The organizational structures are based on
bureaucratic concepts.
democratic concepts.
*Employees mistrust management.
*Employees trust management.
*Planning - short term.
*Planning - long term.
*Spatial centralization - product pricing on system- *Spatial decentralization - product pricing is
wide basis.
determined on a store-by-store basis.
*Managerial decision making - consensus seeking. *Managerial decision making - consent seeking.
*Managerial decision making - rationalism.
*Managerial decision making deconstructionalism.
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Table 2. Labour Structure
Traditional supermarket

Colruyt discount supermarket
Employees focus on a single task with
a high degree of task demarcation
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Employees focus on multiple tasks with a low
degree of task demarcation
Employees have little formal education
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Employees have much formal education-store
clerks have high school diplomas and managers
possess university degrees
Little on-the-job training
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Much on-the-job training
Little job rotation
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An extensive job rotation policy
Limited worker job responsibility
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Extensive worker responsibility-clerks perform
multiple assignments ranging from checkout duty
to reshelving and cleaning the store=s interior
Limited worker empowerment
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Extensive worker empowerment-clerks decide
when and how to perform their multiple job
responsibilities
A hierarchical management structure
with decision making located at the
top of the organization
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A flat management structure with decision
making throughout the organization
Limited job security for full-time
employees
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Much job security for full-time employees
High employee turnover
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Little employee turnover
Homogeneous labour markets

Heterogeneous labour markets
No job security for part-time
employees
*Adapted from Clegg (1990)
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Figure 1: Approximate Colruyt Organization Chart
President
and Board of Directors
Director
Personnel
Director
Warehousing
Director
Food Distribution
Director
Technical
Services
Director
Sales
District Manager
Store Manager
Section Manager
Shop-Floor Employees
Shop-Floor Employees
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Table 3. Interactive System for Information Dissemination
Characteristics and specifications
Monthly volume

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Documents: 100,000
Printed pages: 1 100,000
Response time
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On-line documents: 1 second
Archived documents: 15 seconds
Data base storage

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Recent documents: direct access storage
Old archive: optical disk
Data base structure
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Three VSAM file types:
Glossary: Keywords, Document numbers
Text: Texts, Documents numbers
Title: Keywords, Document numbers
Document search
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On keyword with Boolean operators
Document confidentiality
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Restricted: Keywords and contents accessible only
to individuals named in the document
Nonconfidential: Keywords and contents accessible
to anyone
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Document access
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

Terminals
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Restricted: 5%
Confidential: 15%
Nonconfidential: 80%
Total number: 700
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Janson
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Subject
Product offered
Traditional Supermarket
Wide product assortment offered in
standard package sizes.
Inventory is replenished
periodically.
Supply driven inventory policies.
Stockouts are infrequent.
Store
Environment
Aesthetically pleasing store interior.
the intended message - a pleasing
store interior corresponds to quality
products.
Customer assistance is limited to
friendly service at the checkout.
Support
Average to long customer waiting
times are the rule.
Policy on Cost
reduction
Cost reductions are achieved by
paying low wages, few benefits, and
by using many part-time employees.
Adapted by Clegg (1990)
Colruyt Discount Supermarket
Extensive product assortment offered at belowcompetitor cost and in many different package sizes
made possible by using IT.
IT-based daily inventory replenishment.
Demand driven inventory policies using IT-based
historical customer purchasing figures.
Stockouts are rare
Sober store interior lacking any but the most basic
architectural features.
The intended message - a sober store interior enables
low prices.
Clients receive IT-based assistance throughout the
store.
Clients are assumed capable of making rational
purchasing decisions when provided the correct and
right amount of information - product contents, product
unit cost, and product preparation guidelines.
Short customer waiting times made possible by
extensive IT application - during slack times checkout
clerks restock shelves.
Cost reductions are achieved by employing few but
mainly full-time employees, by improving employee and
organizational efficiency and effectiveness, and by
bargaining for large-volume based product cost
reductions.
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