Case Analysis #2
- Due Feb 3 by 11:59pm
- Points 100
- Submitting a file upload
Read QuikTrip case found in the Module Learning Resources and address all 4 questions at end of the case. Use the references in the case to gain more knowledge of the case. Some of the URLs in the references are outdated, therefore, you need to research for updated information from original sources.
You are required to apply in-depth knowledge of Organizational Behavior Management acquired from the textbook, research, and instructor feedback to analyze the case. The Case Analysis must follow the following guidelines:
- You must give quality answers that show mastery of the case, using clear logic, and supporting facts. Also, the answers must directly address the case using chapter readings and research.
- Case Analyses test the understanding of key elements of Organizational Behavior Management and the industry, therefore, they must be thoroughly addressed.
- You must use citations with references to document information obtained from sources. The key elements of Organizational Behavior Management are found in the sources listed in the syllabus (it is your duty to search for them, read, analyze, evaluate, summarize, paraphrase in your answers, and cite the authors who wrote the articles, books, term papers, memoirs, studies, etc. What it means is that you will have not less than 5 references from the listed sources.
- Grammatically correct paper, no typos, and must have obviously been proofread for logic.
- Questions must be typed out as headings, with follow up answers in paragraph format, and a summary or conclusion at the end of the paper.
The Case Analysis must be in APA format and it is due no later than the specified time (Friday 11:59 pm).
Case Analysis #2
· Due Feb 5 by 11:59pm
· Points 100
· Submitting a file upload
Read QuikTrip case found in the Module Learning Resources and address all 4 questions at end of the case. Use the references in the case to gain more knowledge of the case. Some of the URLs in the references are outdated, therefore, you need to research for updated information from original sources.
You are required to apply in-depth knowledge of Organizational Behavior Management acquired from the textbook, research, and instructor feedback to analyze the case. The Case Analysis must follow the following guidelines:
1. You must give quality answers that show mastery of the case, using clear logic, and supporting facts. Also, the answers must directly address the case using chapter readings and research.
2. Case Analyses test the understanding of key elements of Organizational Behavior Management and the industry, therefore, they must be thoroughly addressed.
3. You must use citations with references to document information obtained from sources. The key elements of Organizational Behavior Management are found in the sources listed in the syllabus (it is your duty to search for them, read, analyze, evaluate, summarize, paraphrase in your answers, and cite the authors who wrote the articles, books, term papers, memoirs, studies, etc. What it means is that you will have
not less than 5 references
from the listed sources.
4. Grammatically correct paper, no typos, and must have obviously been proofread for logic.
5. Questions must be typed out as headings, with follow up answers in paragraph format, and a summary or conclusion at the end of the paper.
The Case Analysis must be in APA format and it is due no later than the specified time
(Sunday 11:59 pm).
QuikTrip
QuikTrip: Staffed by Passionate and Compassionate People
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma and then completing a tour of duty with the Air
Force, Chester Cadieux had “endured something that he describes as ‘10 months of frustration’
as a printing salesman. He had no clear plan of how to escape from the printing business, but
he knew he wanted to own and operate his own company.”i To scratch his entrepreneurial itch,
Cadieux, in collaboration with a long-time friend from junior high school, had opened a small
convenience grocery store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 25, 1958. Cadieux and his
partner offered little product selection and had high prices, just like their competitors, and they
barely eked out a profit during their first few years in business.ii For the next several years,
QuikTrip expanded the number of stores in its chain but continued with limited product selection
and high prices. Meanwhile, competitors were springing up everywhere. Then, Chet Cadieux
had a marketing revelation, and he began to transform QuikTrip into the company it is today.iii
Cadieux refocused QuikTrip’s product offerings toward high-volume items, such as branded
beer, soda, cigarettes, coffee, and candy, and eliminated low-volume items, such as canned
vegetables. He cut down the prices of the products as well. He added gasoline as a product for
sales during the early 1970s, and then made it a major product offering in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. Like its other product offerings, QuikTrip takes a lower gross margin on gasoline
sales than its major competitors, but the organization makes up for it with much greater volume
of the product sold.iv
Today, the company’s website describes QuikTrip as follows: “QuikTrip Corporation is a
privately held company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. . . . QuikTrip has grown to a $9
billion company with 580+ stores in 9 major metropolitan areas. Those revenues place QuikTrip
high on the Forbes [italics inserted] listing of largest privately held companies. QuikTrip’s
strategy is to be the dominant convenience/gasoline retailer in each market, and to reach that
level not through sheer numbers of stores, but through key, high-volume locations. With over
10,000 employees, Fortune [italics inserted] magazine has ranked QuikTrip high on the list of
Best Companies to Work for the last nine years.”v
How has QuikTrip, under Cadieux’s leadership, achieved this phenomenal level of success?
According to Cadieux, QuikTrip’s success is due to providing customers with high-quality
products and excellent service.vi Cadieux emphasizes the importance of employees and the
“human touch” in QuikTrip’s success. He says, “[w]e’ve been able to compete successfully
because of our people. We hire better people, train them better[,] and pay them more. We are
obsessed with keeping the stores clean and well-merchandised and with providing a rewarding
customer experience overall.”vii
QuikTrip insists on hiring “nice” people who like people.viii In describing QuikTrip’s employees,
Cadieux says: “They’re friendly, they’re efficient, they’re smart, [and] they’re extroverts. . . They
have a strong work ethic. They want to be a hero to every customer who comes through the
door. They’re ambitious. They want to work hard.”ix “Other key qualities for QT hires include the
ability to work in teams, the humility to learn from others, and an appreciation for diversity.”x
QuikTrip stresses excellence in customer–employee interactions. QuikTrip considers its
employees to be a “living brand and [the company] devote[s] a great deal of time and energy to
training and developing them so that they reflect the brand’s core values.”xi In reacting to
2
employees being a “living brand,” QuikTrip’s customers comment on two definingperhaps
even uniquecharacteristics of QuikTrip employees: the employees seem to be glad to work at
QuikTrip and they seem to like one another.xii
Can Quiktrip’s recipe for success be a management revelation for other businesses?
Discussion Questions
1. How would you describe the attitudes and emotions of the typical QuikTrip employee? How
do these attitudes and emotions influence the employees’ work behaviors?
2. How would you describe the attitudes of Chester Cadieux regarding QuikTrip’s employees?
What implications do Cadieux’s attitudes have for how he manages the company and leads
the employees?
3. How might the employees’ attitudes and emotions influence how they deal with customers
from an ethical perspective?
4. In reference to the question at the end of the case: What useful lessons can other
companies learn from QuikTrip’s recipe for success? Explain your answer.
SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal
Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business
Administration, Valparaiso University.
i Anonymous, “Retail Entrepreneurs of the Year: Chester Cadieux,” Chain Store Age 77(12) (December 2001): 60.
ii Ibid.; J. Gorham, “A Very Smart Retailer,” Forbes 163 (2) (January 25, 1999): 66 (3 pages).
iii Anonymous, “Retail Entrepreneurs of the Year”; Gorham, “A Very Smart Retailer.”
iv Gorham, “A Very Smart Retailer.”
v Quiktrip.com, “Who Is QT,” http://www.quiktrip.com/Who-is-QT (accessed June 16, 2011).
vi Anonymous, “Retail Entrepreneurs of the Year.”
vii Ibid.”
viii N. Bendapudi and V. Bendapudi, “Creating the Living Brand,” Harvard Business Review 83 (5): 124–132 (7
pages).
ix D. Cassell, “QT Culture,” Candy Industry 174 (9) (September 2009): RC14 (5 pages).
x Bendapudi and Bendapudi, “Creating the Living Brand.”
xi Ibid.”
xii Ibid.”
- SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Valparaiso University.
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