...Tales of Woe, Concord Bookshop Kathleen E. Haertel HCS587 September 23, 2013 Virginia Weatherston Tales of Woe, Concord Bookshop With today’s ever advancing technology, a company needs to have a competitive edge to make a profit, thus making change inevitable. The Concord bookshop was a small New England bookstore that were feeling the financial strains in today’s aggressive market, because of this the owners felt the need to restructure the company for it to remain a viable and profitable company .A new organizational model is necessary for a business to gain profit and survive in the market, Spector (2010) unfortunately there were some areas that were not handled correctly or effectively in the restructuring of the company that led to its failure. The first phase that failed was for the owners to come in and announce that changes were going to happen without notifying the employees of their areas of concern, this was the financial aspect of the company, the managers did state that “things are not so bad.” The owners response was very matter of fact that they wanted to move in another direction. One thing that may have helped in this phase would have been for the owners to have had meetings with the employees and discuss areas that the owners felt needed to be addressed; these long- term employees were blind-sided regarding as to what was to come. The second area of...
Words: 415 - Pages: 2
...A Novice Manager’s Tale of Woe Synopsis: The case study starts off by introducing Tricia Monet and how she was hired by the company Personal Reflections as an assistant manager for the Sioux City Store. Tricia was a middle child that had come from a family that was very close. (Note: this probably led/taught her to want to get along with those around her) Tricia had received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and her only real work experience had come from an accounting firm job that she worked for less than one year. The organization had a very structured hiring and training program, however the company lacked any formal ongoing/follow-up training program. Personal Reflection hiring practices included not allowing the store manager to have any involvement in the hiring decision. (Note: not good hiring practice could lead to animosity between workers) Sioux City store was set up to have one store manager and three assistant managers. When Tricia reported to work she was confronted by a disorganized store, a confrontational store manager (Heather Munson), and only one other assistant manager (one short). Within a month the other assistant manager quit and the store manager had gone on disability leave. Tricia was left to run the store by herself for over a month by herself and approximately 30 part-time employees. (Note: regional manager should have come to help) After 45 days of running the store by herself, management hired three assistant managers (Amy, Lori, and...
Words: 2131 - Pages: 9
...“A Novice Manager’s Tale of Woe” Tricia Monet is a store director at a retail store called “Personal Reflections”. Personal Reflections is a national chain of personal care and household products. Tricia moved from Illinois with her fiancé to Sioux City, Iowa. Tricia has a bachelors in Accounting, but decided she wanted to do something different. She saw the position for assistant director and Personal Reflections and applied. She was hired with under the director Heather Munson. Assistant directors were scheduled in 9-hour shifts there were three assistant directors who could potentially all be working at the same time along with part-time as well as seasonal employees. Tricia worked under Heather Munson clashed from the beginning. Tricia felt interrogated; the store that Tricia was assigned to consistently fail to meet sales goals, the store was un-organized. Tricia was yelled at for organizing the store and after 1 month she was ready to quit. Munson then stated that she was going on disability leave which put Tricia in a temporary store director, which then took on fully when she found out Munson was not returning. In the process Tricia had fully organized the store, brought up sales and had trained three new assistant store directors; Amy, Lori, and Tammy. Lori soon became Tricia’s right-hand man because she wanted to achieve everything. Amy was one of the easiest to get along with, and Tammy struggles with paper work and adapting to a new environment. ...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...A Novice Manager’s Tale of Woe Synopsis: Tricia Monet is 23 years old with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. Due to her fiancé’s job, she was relocated to Sioux City, Iowa. Prior to her move Tricia had spent almost a year working for an accounting firm but later decided that she wanted to make a career change. After her relocation, she applied for an assistant director position with a company called Personal Reflections and was offered the position just hours after her interview. She accepted the job offer and received a two week training which was extremely helpful for her, being that she had no experience in a managerial role. Tricia began her role in her new position on August 1. It started off rocky, almost immediately, and in a matter of months things took a drastic turn with her new job. The store that Tricia worked for was apart of a National Chain. Each location was ranked on a level 1-4 based on its sale revenue with one being the highest. The Sioux City location was a level 3 store under the direction of Heather Munson. Before Tricia even began her position, Munson had already felt disgruntle at the fact that she was never included in the selection process for hiring the three assistant directors for her store. Munson and Tricia’s work relationship started off on a bad note. Every encounter that Tricia had with Heather made her feel as though she was being questioned. Tricia made an effort to bring some structure to the disorderly, messy store and was reprimanded...
Words: 1660 - Pages: 7
...Tricia Monet, a young woman from Missouri gets an assistant director job at a retail store called Personal Reflections in Sioux City, Iowa. Because the corporate policy indicates that store directors do not have say in the hiring process for assistant directors, Heather Munson, the director of this store showed animosity for Tricia upon her arrival. Tricia felt attacked and interrogated anytime she spoke to Heather, and was yelled at by her for trying to neaten up the cluttered store. As only one month passed, Tricia became very frustrated with Heather and considered quitting the job. While on the verge of quitting, Heather came to Tricia and told her that she would have to go on a leave of absence due to medical problems. Tricia was then required to take on the role of store director with only one month of retail experience. One month after that, the district manager informed Tricia that Heather would not be returning as the store director. By this time the district manager hired three assistant directors for the store and made an offer to Tricia for the store director position, which she accepted. It was October and the holiday season, which was the busiest time of the year, was approaching. Tricia got along great with her three assistant directors for the first month. They seemed to share all of the same ideologies and goals about the direction of the store, and even went to dinner one night to discuss the issues at the store. Tricia’s strategy as the store...
Words: 287 - Pages: 2
...Creating Change Within Organization Organization to remain successful changes must be made. Sometimes there are certain reasons that pushes organization to these changes. In the tales of Woe at concord bookshop,64 year old independent store regarded as one of the best in New England, faced clashes between owner and staff. The clash appeared to be rooted in finances. The owners of the concord bookshop implemented some changes to the organization without effective change process, and the staff totally resisted to these changes. "A dynamic competitive environment prompts organizational leaders to alter their strategies ,that process of strategic renewal place new expectations on employees at all levels "(spector 2010) Knowing that not all staff would take change positively. In the Tales of Woe at Concord bookshop the owner felt the need for change to regain financial status .However, they failed to involve the staff when this matter came up,Here they failed to complete the strategic renewal phase. According to spector (2010) a new organizational model is necessary for a business to gain profit and survive in the market. Spector (2010) referenced starting new business model as the "greenfield" Its always better to start new business from scratch with staff instead of "challenging of nurturing new business model with an existing model(spector,2010). Although none of the employees role was changed ,no employee was laid off, and no one's salary was cut, yet many of the employees...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
...Concord Bookshop Paper The article “Tales of Woe at Concord Bookshop” is about a small town bookshop that has been in existence for 64 years. Many people of the town enjoyed using the bookshop. The bookshop’s financial situation was considered to be the worst it had ever been, so the board of directors made a drastic decision to hire a new general manager. No changes were going to be made to any current employee. This paper will show the organizational change processes that were not implemented at the Concord Bookshop, which led to the change failure. The phases in an organizational change process are strategic renewal and organization change, behavioral changes, and employee participation and resistance to change. According to Spector (2010), strategic renewal requires organizational change and demands “wide-scale invention, reinvention, and redesign of business processes and organizational structures” (p. 4). For strategic renewal to be successful, organizations need to create new business models. The business model is the organizations approach to generating revenue and making a profit. Changing an existing business model is more difficult than starting a new one because changing an existing model requires organizational changes. These changes usually affect behavior patterns of existing...
Words: 501 - Pages: 3
...Descending into Despair with “La Belle Dame sans Merci” In his poem, “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” John Keats has emphasized the literary elements of structure, speaker, and imagery to create a story reminiscent of courtly love from the medieval era where the knight errant suffers for the love of the beautiful, mysterious and unattainable mistress. In the early nineteenth century, an interest in the ballad of earlier centuries was sparked by the romantic poets of the time, of which John Keats was one, and his poem, “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” became a true example of what became known as a literary ballad. Similar to the popular folk ballad that was sung, a literary ballad sticks to the basics of repeated lines and stanzas “in a refrain, swift action with occasional surprise endings, extraordinary events evoked in direct, simple language, and scant characterization.” (pg. 508) Literary ballads also tend to be more polished in regards to their style and their use of poetic techniques. In addition, they will exhibit a set rhyme scheme and a simple structure of stanzas that allows the poem to flow as if it were that song of years past. Keats’s poem consists of twelve stanzas of four lines, known as quatrains, each with a rhyme scheme of abcb. The poet has also taken care to write each line to a specific length. The first three lines of each stanza consist of eight syllables each, but the final line of the stanza is either four or five syllables long. Since a literary ballad’s...
Words: 1298 - Pages: 6
...solicit thee from darkness to promote me?” “A new species would bless me as its creator” “I ought to be thy Adam, but rather I am a fallen angel” “I shall satiate my ardent curiousity” “Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful” “I am an outcast in the world forever” “I am malicious because I am miserable” “If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear” “”I know that for the sympathy of one living being I would make peace with all” “Secrets of heaven and hell” “The apple was already eaten” “One thought, one conception and one purpose” “It was the secrets of Heaven and Earth that I desired to learn” “Was man so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base” “I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral from my tale” “Why did I not...
Words: 482 - Pages: 2
...is shown in pieces like “Morte Darthur” or “The Franklin’s Tale,” from “The Canterbury Tales.” The forbidden love shown in these tales is always were one person is married and the other is not. “The Franklin’s Tale,” “Morte Darthur,” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” all reveal how forbidden love will end tragically. Each of these works has a married woman who is either loved by another or is in love with another. However, no matter the case the one with the forbidden love is aggrieved in the end because they love cannot become mutual or accepted by others. “The Franklin’s Tale” tells of a woman, Dorigen, and a knight, Arveragus, who marry for love. Arveragus must go to battle for a few years and a nobleman, Arelius, comes to light that loves Dorigen. Arelius and Dorigen make a bet where if Arelius wins Dorigen must become his bride. She agrees confidant in his ability to fail in this task. Arelius succeeds, though, with the help of a sorcerer after two years of despondency. When Arveragus arrives home he finds Dorigen distraught, upon hearing the bet he decides that she must keep her side of the bet, though it pains them both greatly. Upon hearing of Arveragus and Dorigen’s pain Arelius resends the bet. Arelius’s love for Dorigen causes great pain to Dorigen and Arveragus as they weep for the loss of the other (“The Franklin’s Tale,” line 808). Arelius curses his birth and the loss of his love (“The Franklin’s Tale,” line 885). “Morte Darthur” tells of Lancelot and Guinevere...
Words: 745 - Pages: 3
...James Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues” is yet another literary masterpiece encompassing the adversity and perseverance of African Americans throughout history. Entranced by the metaphorical weight of the blues, I heard its heaviness intertwined with the throe of the characters as the deafening melody of Harlem’s woe rang from the pages. Baldwin depicts his underlying theme of oppression in the experiences of his characters. Early in the story, the narrator reflects on the day of his father’s funeral when his mother tells him of his uncle’s unjust demise. “Your father says he heard his brother scream when the car rolled over him, and he heard…them white men shouting…And, time your father got down the hill, his brother weren’t nothing but blood and pulp.” (Baldwin 56). Even the narrator himself recalls the tragic death of his two-year-old daughter, Gracie, and the desperation that led to him contacting his brother. Moreover, Sonny was lost in a sea of torment and addiction. “I can’t get anything straight in my head down here and I try not to think about what’s going to happen to me when I get outside again. Sometime I think I’m going to flip and never get outside and sometime I think I’ll come straight back. I tell you one thing, though, I’d rather blow my brains out then go through this again.” (Baldwin 51). Baldwin also illustrates the theme of oppression in his portrayal of Harlem. But houses exactly like houses of out past yet dominated the landscape, boys exactly like the boys...
Words: 413 - Pages: 2
...The Wife of Bath's View That Sovereignty is a Woman's Virtue in Marriage In The Wife of Bath's Tale, Chaucer focuses on a woman who desires to be independent in her marriage as she believes that a woman should play an influential role in the decision-making that takes place inside a marriage. The Wife of Bath is a domineering figure as she takes advantage of men's lust in order to exercise her dominance over the men she marries. In his treatment of The Wife of Bath, Geoffrey Chaucer has Alison claim that women should be able to do as they please without the interference or opposition of men. I will argue that Chaucer presents the perspective of Alison, the Wife of Bath, in such a way that the reader is inclined to agree with her, rather than to ridicule her. The Wife of Bath believes that she embodies love and commitment, but her lack of femininity also reveals how paradoxical and imbalanced her world view is. She wears the letter "A" that stands for "Amor Vincit Omnia" (love prevails over all), but she displays a lack of female qualities such as compassion. The Wife of Bath views herself as embodying female virtue, but her exterior reveals only an unattractive, ferocious appearance. The conflict between her internal and external appearance reveals how her view of marriage is inherently contradictory. She views marriage as a means for commitment but also a vehicle for women's independence. The Wife of Bath perceives marriage as based on virtue, and yet her unusual...
Words: 695 - Pages: 3
...sirs, because I am an ignorant man, At my beginning must I first beseech You will excuse me for my vulgar speech; I never studied rhetoric, that's certain; That which I say, it must be bare and plain. I never slept on Mount Parnassus, no, Nor studied Marcus Tullius Cicero. Colours I know not, there's no doubt indeed, Save colours such as grow within the mead, Or such as men achieve with dye or paint. Colours of rhetoric I find but quaint; My spirit doesn't feel the beauty there. But if you wish, my story you shall hear." THE FRANKLIN'S TALE In old Armorica, now Brittany, There was a knight that loved and strove, did he To serve a lady in the highest wise; And many a labour, many a great emprise He wrought for her, or ever she was won. For she was of the fairest under sun, And therewithal come of so high kindred That scarcely could this noble knight, for dread, Tell her his woe, his pain, and his distress. But at the last she, for his worthiness, And specially for his meek obedience, Had so much pity that, in consequence, She secretly was come to his accord To take him for her husband and her lord, Of such lordship as men have over wives; And that they might be happier in their lives, Of his free will he swore to her, as knight, That never in his life, by day or night, Would he assume a right of mastery Against her will, nor show her jealousy, But would obey and do her will in all As any lover of his lady shall;...
Words: 7356 - Pages: 30
...Concord Bookshop Paper Read “Tales of Woe at Concord Bookshop” in Ch. 1 of Implementing Organizational Change. Prepare a 350- to 700-word paper discussing the phases in the organizational change process including the following: • Describe 2 to 3 phases of the organizational change process that were not completed or implemented at the Concord Bookshop that lead to the change failure. • Format your paper according to APA standards. The Concord Bookshop is not a health care organization, but the organizational change process you study in this course applies to other types of organizations. In this assignment, you must focus on the change process. You observe how this process applies to health care organizations as you progress through the course. This assignment is due in Week One. |Content |Points |Points |Additional Comments: | |60 Percent |Available |Earned | | | |3 |X/3 | | |Discusses the phases in the organizational change process | | | | |Described 2 to 3 phases of the organizational change process that were not | | | | |completed...
Words: 281 - Pages: 2
...might pen these sad lines, that weep now as I write. 2. I call on you, goddess who does torment, you cruel Fury, sorrowing ever in pain: help me, who am the sorrowful instrument who (as I can) help lovers to complain. Since it is fitting, and truth I maintain, for a dreary mate a woeful soul to grace, and for a sorrowful tale a sorry face. 3. For I, who the God of Love’s servants serve, not daring to Love, in my inadequateness, pray for success, though death I might deserve, so far am I from his help in darkness. But nevertheless, if this should bring gladness to any lover, and his cause avail, Love take my thanks, and mine be the travail. 4. But you, lovers that bathe in gladness, if any drop of pity is in you, remember all your past heaviness that you have felt, and how others knew the same adversity: and think how, too, you have felt Love dare to displease if you have won him with too great an ease. 5. And pray for those that may have been in Troilus’s trouble, as you’ll later hear, that love bring them solace in heaven: and also, for me, pray to God so dear that I might have the power to make clear such pain and woe as Love’s folk endure in Troilus’s unhappiest adventure. 6. And also pray...
Words: 71071 - Pages: 285
