Case study #2: Nordstrom, Discussion and Analysis of the Issue

Nordstrom Case Study
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Introduction
After reading this case study, I have understood that the main problem is the harsh treatment of management with their employees. The second significant problem is off-the-clock working. Both of these issues made the work environment unsustainable. In order to ensure the competitive advantage, the sales team had to write many thank you notes to their customers, deliver purchases on time, and participate in meetings regularly. John W. Nordstrom was the major player, and Nordstrom was soon handed over to grandsons Bruce, Jim and John. All of them worked as the co-chairmen, and Jack McMillan was the president of the company. There was no set system of differentiating between selling and non-selling times, and this caused a variety of problems for the entire team. Workers had to struggle a lot since they did not have any idea of what types of works should be done to leave a good impact on existing and new customers.
Discussion and Analysis of the Issue
As is already mentioned, a lack of distinction between the non-selling time and the selling time existed. The time workers worked for was considered as selling hours, and these were used to calculate the selling-per-hour (SPH). It was found that the rate of selling-per-hour was lower than what it actually should be. This made many employees feel restless and they made many of their non-selling hours off the record. It was good if the management had provided clear information in this regard. Nordstrom should have kept a track of selling hours and non-selling hours. With time, it was found that workers kept under the category of non-selling hours were not benefiting the company.
Nordstrom’s workers were facing many problems due to peer pressure. For instance, every employee wanted to work in the shift that had maximum sales in order to get more and more money out of their sales. The competition among the staff was high, and policies like All-Star Rating put a lot of pressure on them. An ideal solution to this problem could be providing equal opportunities for all employees to earn something good. If someone was performing better than the others, then the company should have rewarded them well in order to grow sales.
The treatment with employees was not found to be good. They were lied about the distinction be...