Faundamental of management Assignment, University Malaysia

 

INTRODUCTION

Management is defined as the process of getting things done, effectively and efficiently, with and through other people. It also refers to the primary activities or functions that managers perform. Management teaches us to understand how people behave in organizations, and the nature of power, influence and leadership. It is important to know that management plays a significant role in leading a company to success. Without proper management, a company cannot succeed. But there is this one important thing we cannot ignore if we are to talk about management, which is organizational culture.

Culture is something that is perceived, descriptive and shared. However, people tend to associate culture with things that are related to ethnicity and social groups, making no mention of organizational culture. Although this is not wrong, organizational culture does exist in every organization. Organizational culture is described as the shared values, principles, traditions and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act. It should be paid much attention as oftentimes an organization’s culture is vital in leading the organization either to success or failure.

In order to find out how much impact an organization’s culture has on employees and the organization, our group decided to choose Hush Puppies. There are a few reasons we choose this American footwear brand. The first reason is that it has a high reputation and good brand image for its products. Next, its long history selling products in Malaysia. Then, it is huge and global enough, selling products in more than 140 countries. In order to carry out the assignment, we managed to conduct an interview with Mr Lee, the supervisor of the Hush Puppies outlet at AEON Mall Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Our questions cover four main scopes. The first thing is the business core of Hush Puppies and its background. Next, how Mr Lee manages the employees in the organization and challenges faced in managing the employees. Thirdly, the working culture in the organization. Things like how the culture was built and what the cultural activities are done by the organization to establish the organizational culture among the employees as well as the focus of its organizational culture are also discussed. Then, the obstacles faced by Mr Lee with the employees during the process of implementing or building the organization culture and his ways to overcome the problem.

In the following pages, readers will know more about organizational culture based on the information we got from the answers to the aforementioned interview questions. We have also compiled and divided them to three main parts of the assignment, namely company background, employees in organization and organization culture. This assignment provides readers a thorough image and insights about what organizational culture is and what kind of a role it plays in an organization, as well as the impact it brings to the employees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.0 Company Background

 

 

Having originated in the US, Hush Puppies is a brand marketed internationally, selling casual shoes for men, women and children for more than five decades. Not only do they sell footwear, they also sell many more, ranging from watches, handbags, cold weather essentials, scarves to socks. Being a subsidiary of Wolverine World Wide, the headquarter of Hush Puppies is located in Rockford, Michigan. Wolverine World Wide markets and fully licenses the Hush Puppies name for footwear in more than 140 countries around the world. In addition, the Hush Puppies name is also licensed for non-casual fashion categories, including apparel, eyeglasses and luxury toys. Out of all the countries, Canada was the first international licensee in 1959. In the 1960s, Hush Puppies began selling in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Japan, followed by much of Central and South America in the 1970s. The company uses a Basset Hound, a kind of short-legged dog species, named Jason as its logo.

The history of Hush Puppies dates back to as early as 1958 when Wolverine was working extensively on developing a practical method of pigskin tanning for the US military. Back then, pigskin was considered as one of the most durable skins and the US government was keen to use it in gloves and other protective materials for soldiers. At that time, Chairman Victor Krause developed the concept of "casual" pigskin shoes to appeal to postwar suburbia in his country. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the brand became instantly recognised as a casual staple of American life.

The Basset Hound logo of Hush Puppies has also become a well-known symbol for shoes all around the world. However, the company did not choose this logo out of nowhere as there is a story behind it. The name Hush Puppies came from a trip to Tennessee by Jim Muir, the company’s sales manager. Upon finishing his fried fish dinner at the home of a customer, he asked why the fried corn dough ball was called "Hush Puppies". The customer then replied that, "fried dough is used by farmers to quiet their barking dogs." Muir reckoned that "Hush Puppies" would be a very good name for Wolverine’s new comfortable casual pigskin shoes because when the feet hurt, they are like barking dogs. And so, the Hush Puppies brand was born.

Hush Puppies’ early instant fame did not come out of nowhere as they introduced the very first casual shoes at the National Shoe Fair in Chicago way back in October 1957. It was a pair of No. 74 Camel. It became a sudden hit and it was remarkably profitable as Wolverine’s new pigskin casuals. With its high fame, it successfully made it across the pond as there were British bands who wore Hush Puppies shoes, such as The Rat Pack. Hush Puppies also captivated the British royal family with its charm. It can be seen in an event in which Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wearing it on a 1959 visit to the US. Moreover, by mid-1959, Hush Puppies had produced its first millionth pair of shoes. According to a report in 1963, 1 in 10 adults in the US owned a pair of Hush Puppies shoes. Hush Puppies' rapid international success led to the company's renaming as Wolverine World Wide in 1964 and joining the New York Stock Exchange.

Furthermore, a 1965 event in which Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards was involved further proves the quality of Hush Puppies products as Hush Puppies claimed that their rubber soles saved the life of the guitarist when he accidentally touched the guitar against an ungrounded microphone at a concert in California. Though the electric shock knocked him unconscious, the medics believed that the crepe-soled Hush Puppies shoes he was wearing helped insulate and saved his life.

The popularity of Hush Puppies also made its way into a number of songs. One thing worth mentioning is Jimmy Buffett’s album, Living and Dying in 3/4 Time. In 1974, “Come Mondy”, the song off of the album that contains reference to Hush Puppies reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as number three Easy Listening and number 58 Country. The lyrics in the third line of the first verse goes as ‘I got my Hush Puppies on.’ In the same year, Hush Puppies also patented Wrong-Free Suedet® that specifies three important elements which are scuff proof, stain proof and water resistant.

Fast forward to 1990, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev even invited Hush Puppies to do business in the Soviet Union. This made Hush Puppies become the first American company to manufacture and sell footwear in the Soviet Union.

However, something happened to their sales in the mid-1990s. According to the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell, the sale of Hush Puppies decreased to 30,000 pairs a year, and Wolverine was considering stopping the operation of the brand in 1994. But Hush Puppies suddenly became "hip" in Manhattan's downtown clubs and bars where young people were "buying them up" at small shoe shops. Three ambitious American fashion designers John Bartlett, Anna Sui, and Joel Fitzpatrick began displaying them in their collections in the fall of 1995. Depending on the word mouth, Wolverine sold 430,000 pairs of shoes, and four times the following year. In 1996, Hush Puppies won prizes for the best accessories at the Fashion Designer Council Designer.

In 1994, the company's history of Wolverine referred to it as' Taking a signal from fashion designer John Bartlett, the new designers who were hired Maggi Mercado revived the 1950-style style such as "Duke" (oxen Duke) oxford and "Earl" on, offering waterproof suede shoes at rainbow colors such as Green Pepto-Bismol and Green Day-Glo. Both Bartlett and Anna Sui display shoes in their 1995 collections. Hush Puppies soon appeared in famous stars like Lady Diana, Jim Carrey, Sharon Stone, David Bowie, Tom Hanks, Dennis Rodman and Sylvester Stallone. Hush Puppies also benefited from trends towards dressing-down at work, filling up the fashion gap between tennis shoes and dress shoes. Wolverine sent video footage with tips for casual wear at work to up to 200 businesses across the United States. In 1958, in the ultimate retro confiscation, the company turned on the slogan "We're casual" that launched the Hush Puppies. By 1995, tony stores like Barneys in New York and Pleasure Swell in California struggled to store shoes in stock. In providing proof of sales increase due to internal change, sources continue: 'In 1996 Bloom was rewarded for his remarkable achievement with the chairman named.'

Further proof of internal change has been a major factor in sales growth from Jeffrey L. Lewis, the Director of Marketing from 1992 to 1996 and Vice President and Marketing Director from 1996 to 2001 in his professional history which encompasses '60% increase in domestic Hush Puppies sales 1992- 'Double Hush Puppies couples all over the world 1992-1997' and (part 1996-2001) '2,000% increase in suede shoes sales with halo-strapping effect' as well as many other details supporting consistent sales and marketing changes and continuously.

In early 1994, the Wolverine company's general report for sales was much better with 'Net income for 16 weeks ended on January 1, 1994 to $7.7 million or $1.08 per share, compared to a $571,000 loss or $0.08 per quarter in 1992.' Report The following report mentions the contribution of Hush Puppies: 'This Hush Puppies section reports higher income significantly'; 'Our restructuring of our Hush Puppies brand and maximizing our constant growth of our Wolverine Work and Outdoor Group will continue to lead the Company's revenue growth in 1994'; and 'Recovery is behind us.'

After all that, the sales of Hush Puppies have steadily grown. In 2010, there were more than 18 million Hush Puppies shoes sold in over 150 countries, making it one of the five largest footwear companies in the world. In 2011, Hush Puppies partnered with fashion designer Anna Sui again on a collection that debuted at her show during New York Fashion Week.

In 2012, Hush Puppies partnered with Vibram, an Italian footwear company, to create FIVE, a hybrid of foam and function engineered for comfort. In 2013, Oprah Winfrey, a famous American celebrity, named Hush Puppies her favourite shoe brand. In the same year, Hush Puppies invented an invincible all-weather footwear for women with the technology WeatherSmart.

The current president of Hush Puppies is Mark Nael while the Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President is Barbara Scott. The Head Office of Hush Puppies is located at 1400 Industries Road Richmond, IN 47374, United States. Customers can also reach them via this phone number, 866-699-7365. In order to make it convenient to the public, Hush Puppies has also created an official website, www.hushpuppies.com. Information about new products is updated regularly at the website. The website contains information about its address and contact number as shown above. All kinds of feedback and complaints can be made through its contact number and website. Apart from that, customers can also leave comments on social media like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter as Hush Puppies have created accounts on each of the social media.

Hush Puppies has a mission and vision that their company should practice as long as they do business. The mission for Hush Puppies is to manufacture and market casual shoes and shoes and is also dedicated to creating new product ideas to enable unique perspective users on shoes.

Next, Hush Puppies has also made many classic variants of Hush Puppies suede oxford, Hush Puppies manufactures casual winter shoes of Hush Puppies in smooth skin and suede.

In addition, with a full product line for men, women, and children, Hush Puppies has used the philosophy of excitement, a comfortable and pure style for every shoe made and provides high-quality casual shoes for all segments of the whole family and compete with international brands such as CLARKS and ECCO.

Hush Puppies' vision at Wolverine Worldwide is "to build a family that has the most admirable brand lifestyle and lifestyle in the world." Hush Puppies wants to succeed with this vision, Hush Pupppies Company should continue to pursue our innovative ideas and products. The Hush Puppies believe that success does not just happen. This is a direct result of a person with a common goal that works together to achieve that success. People with passion. People who drive.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Hush Puppies get to find the most talented individuals in the Hush Puppies industry, drawing them with enthusiasm for what they are doing and the desire to achieve great things. Every professional reflects on the value of hard work and commitment while adding their own uniqueness to the many brands of our company. To work at Wolverine Worldwide is to become part of the Hush Puppies family. Each member contributes his unique skills to help drive the company forward, through innovation and growth.

 

Figure 1 shows the Organization Chart of Hush Puppies in outlets

          In the store of Hush Puppies, General manager taking responsibility to approve the changes and event in the shops and he also manage the area managers. There will be an area manager who manage the shops in each state. For example, an area manager manage all the shops in Kuala Lumpur. The area manager often travel to the shop to ensure the operation of the shop in good condition. There will be only one shop manager in each shop who is managing the shop. The shop managers hold a great responsibility to the shop, they take responsibility for the customers, employees, stocks, furniture and shop. They often communicate with the head quarter and make sure that the employees doing their jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.0 Employees in the organization

3.1 Types of employees

Hush Puppies has a vision, which is “to build a family of the most admired performance and lifestyle brands on earth.” In order to achieve this, they are relentless in pursuit of innovative ideas and products. They believe that success doesn’t just happen, it is a direct result of people with common goals working together. People with passion. People with drive. They seek the most talented individuals in the industry, attracting those with passion for what they do and desire to achieve great things. Each and every professional in Hush Puppies mirrors their values of hard work and commitment while adding their own uniqueness to the many brands of their company. To work at Hush Puppies is to be part of their family. Each member contributes his or her unique skills to help drive the company forward, through innovation and growth. As one of the largest non-athletic footwear companies in the world, Hush Puppies is a great place to start or expand their career. Built around brands such as Merrell, Sperry and Saucony, their fleet of company-owned retail stores provide the employees ample opportunity to learn and grow. It also equips them with the skills required to work in a world-class retail environment. Hush Puppies also seeks service-oriented employees who have a passion for their brands and aspire to live the lifestyle, who strive to the best at what they do, and who like to have fun while they work. Their employees are empowered to create amazing experiences every hour, every day.

3.2 Type of Employees by Employment Status

Sales Associate - This position creates amazing experiences for their consumers every hour, every day. Sales Associates are responsible for engaging customers, being fully knowledgeable about store products and policies, operating point of sale register, accurately recording transactions, handling cash, credit and other forms of payment, detecting theft and other security risks, and handling inventory.

Key holder - A Key Holder is accountable for executing store opening and closing procedures and providing direction to Sales Associates in the absence of store management. Key Holders set the example for team members always do the right thing and have fun while they work.

Store Manager - The Store Manager is responsible for overall operational excellence, exceeding store financial and key performance metrics. This is accomplished by recruiting, hiring and developing the best talent in the industry. This position provides leadership and sound store operations, analyzes the business and leverages tools and insights to increase sales and service. Creating an environment where people desire to return to work and shop, leading community involvement programs that inspire others to participate and exhibiting a passion for the brand lifestyle is key to a Store Manager’s success.

Assistant Store Manager - This position supports the Store Manager in all aspects of overall operational excellence, as summarized above. The Assistant Store Manager coaches and develops a cohesive team of highly motivated Sales Associates that are ready to take on progressive responsibilities, creates amazing experiences for consumers, drives store revenue and profitability, and sets operational standards. A successful Assistant Store Manager will create a stable environment that allows the Store Manager will create a stable environment that allows the Store Manager to introduce innovative and progressive business ideas and assist other stores.

Full-time, part-time, and seasonal opportunities are available. Hush Puppies offers employees a full menu of progressive benefits, flexible scheduling and discounted product purchases. Employees get different entitlements depending on their type of employment. For example, full-time, part-time, casual, fixed term, shift workers, daily hire, weekly hire, probation and outworkers. Hush puppies have 2 types of employees which is full-time and part-time. Full-time employee is a person works a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer. Full-time employees often comes with benefits that are not typically offered to part-time workers. Hush puppies have given some benefits to full-time employees such as annual leave, sick leave, SOCSO, EPF and EIS. Full-time have varies between the company and the shift of employee. The standard working hour is 8 hours per day and 6 working days per week. A part- time employee is defined in the Act as an employee covered by the Act whose average hours of work as agreed with his/her employer do not exceed 70% of the normal hours of work of a full-time employee employed in a similar capacity in the same company. For example, full-time employees work in Hush Puppies is 48 hours per week, a part- time employee will be an employee whose average hours of work do not exceed 33.6 hours per week. Hush Puppies also paid overtime applies where a part-time employees works in excess of their ‘normal hours of work’. Special loading apply where hours exceed the normal hours of works of a full time employee, as well as for work on public holidays and rest days. Another distinction between part-time and full-time employees in Hush Puppies is that they paid differently - salaried and hourly. In Hush Puppies, full-time employees will be salaried while part-time employees are paid on hourly basis. In the workplace, as in all work environments, it’s important for employees to focus on communication, teamwork, morale and an overall professional tone. Being the people we are, we can get in the way of our goals. One step that can help improve how we interact is to identify our personality archetypes, weakness and strengths alike. We can only improve hoe we work with others once we’ve acquired some sense of self-awareness.

3.3 Type of Employees by Personality

In Hush Puppies, they are several types of employees by personality. One of them is the lazy one. Lazy employees are then divided into five categories based on their respective characteristics. One of them is known as the vanisher. The vanisher is the kind who goes invisible at odd times without explanation. Perhaps the worker simply calls in sick on a day, or shows up late for work on the day. For the vanisher, Hush Puppies will give deduct the salary and give the warning. Other than that, the type of lazy employees is the victim. There are hundreds of excuses for workers to call in late, and the victim is often not afraid to make things up to get out of work responsibilities. This type of behavior early on and don’t stop. In Hush Puppies Retail, a first or second excuse, whether it’s car trouble or sickness, can be convincing, but document it anyway. By the time a fifth or seventh excuse is thrown, the manager will want to make sure you’ve documented it all so the pattern is apparent and doesn’t continue that long before take action.

3.4 Challenges of management

In Hush Puppies, the management has its share of perks and rewards. Managers are usually in a position to influence and lead change. In Hush Puppies, being a manager means a better compensation package and not having to sit in a cubicle. Most importantly, there’s nothing like the satisfaction of helping a team reach their goals and perform at their best. Dealing with performance has been and always will be the primary source of Hush Puppies Retail’s problem. This, however, can be prevented with better selection practices and then by setting clear performance expectations. While this type of problem appears, the manager will identify a problem, the sooner get an engage in constructive feedback, the faster facilitate a change in behaviour. If the behaviour does not improve, a transparent, fair and time-boxed progressive discipline process is called for. So, confront performance problems as soon as they appear. Furthermore, the challenges of management is making the right hiring decision. Choosing a great employee is quite difficult because you’re going to end up dealing with a few of the other problems if you choose wrongly. Thus, the manager of Hush Puppies uses a suitable selection process. Get trained in selection interviewing; consider using validated selection assessments; get multiple inputs, offer realistic job previews or shadowing, and work with a good Human Resources Management or recruiter. Other than that, Hush Puppies had going on one case is about team conflict. As a manager, we want our employees to collaborate, work as a team, and play nice in the sandbox. When one employee comes to you with complaints about another employee, it puts the manager in an awkward position of having to arbitrate the dispute. It is important to distinguish between task or personal conflict when alerted to a situation among team members. Task conflict is proven to be healthy and leads to the consideration and development of alternative ideas. Personal conflict is toxic to teams and must be eliminated immediately. The manager have to work hard to clarity team values early in the formation process. The value outline acceptable and aspirational behaviours, and every employee support to the values is a requirement. If the conflicts are personal, conduct a fair, frank discussion with the involved parties and indicate that behavior adjustment is expected immediately. If the conflict continues, eliminate the individuals from the team. Lack of communication is a challenge between managers and employee as well. Navigating different communication styles and the prioritization of communication in the workplace is a challenge most employees face. A lack of effective communication hinders a team’s efficiency and can also impact employee’s level of trust among each other and management. And although communication covers an array of workplace obstacles, I find this mostly comes down to managing different perspectives. One powerful tool in Hush Puppies is to use these three works “tell me more”. While it’s useful when manager don’t understand, this phrase is especially helpful when manager think know what employee means or is trying to express. Only 32% of workers were report as being engaged in their jobs in Hush Puppies. The majority of employee were reported as not engaged, and the others were actively disengaged. This situation don’t bode well for the workplace. Dedicated employees are perceived to be engaged, excited about work and committed to work. Extensive research has shown that higher engagement among employees affects innovation, productivity and profitability in companies, a priority for most managers. Needless to stay, lack of participation means lack of motivation. On the other hand, changes in workplace also become a challenge for manager. Workplace changes include changes from management and movement of people to process changes or customer changes. Either way, another common challenge that is coping with changes in workplace. One thing that stands out for manager that is challenging our assumptions. If things around them change, can they challenge their assumptions about what they think should happen, or how will that affect them? This could be another very powerful tool. Different perspectives and communication styles can also transition to relationships with clients and patrons. This is another common challenge I have heard from employee of Hush Puppies. It is also an opportunity to challenge assumptions and find new solutions so that both sides can increase mutual understanding. It’s a good place to use the communication tools to get clients and patrons to “tell me more” open up conversations and further resolve issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.0 Organizational culture

          Organizational culture is the values and beliefs that are possessed and shared by the members of an organization. The organization culture is created by a member who plays a crucial role in the company such as the founder of the company. It has a direct influence to the work environment of the employees and the organization culture will affect their performance as well. The Hush Puppies outlet that I have interviewed along with my assignment group members is in AEON Mall Kota Bharu. Mr Lee is the manager of the Hush Puppies shop in Kota Bharu and he shares that the company in Malaysia is concerned about the organization culture as it provides a vision of the daily activities to the employees.

The organizational culture consists of seven dimensions which are innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness and stability, respectively. However, only some of them are seen in Hush Puppies’ organization culture.

First of all, innovation and risk taking is defined as the degree to which the management would encourage the employees to be more innovative and willing to take risk. Mr Lee allows the employees to unleash their innovation in pursuing sales. To enhance their innovation, Mr Lee gives more freedom to the employees so that they can make decisions wisely. It also helps push them to think out of the box. For example, the staff asks for contact numbers from the customers so that they can reach out to the customers on social media. Also, the marketing department of Hush Puppies often spreads their innovative strategies to the outlets. For example, different strategies are used to increase their sales such as promotion, casual gift set, voucher, membership card and offers of ‘buy one free one’. The promotion process starts with planning and the marketing department need to design the advertisement poster by themselves. Besides, the employees are encouraged to spread the promotion news through websites, social media, friends and relatives as soon as possible to increase the sales. One of the strengths of Hush Puppies is having a variety of products. Hush Puppies’ shoes are suitable for everyone, regardless of age and gender. Not only are they designed for adults, but also children. Besides, other than footwear, there are also watches, handbags, cold weather essentials, scarves, socks and backpacks. The products are always prepared with several colours and designs to so that customers can choose the one they like.

There will be a lot of promotion for the card members. The marketing department will focus some of the promotions to the card members. A card members of Hush Puppies are usually loyal to the Hush Puppies products and this can prove that the Hush Puppies product are more affordable to the card members. The special promotions for card members including discounts and free gift. Promotions were meant to bring changes and improve the current status of the company. Therefore, Hush Puppies need to take risk to execute the promotions as the selling price of the stock is been decreased in order to increase the sales, while the increment of the profit is not guaranteed. Hush Puppies carried out promotions frequently were hold purpose of stock clearance, increase their popularity and attract lower and middle income customers. There were many promotions which have been executed in 2018 such as Hush Puppies extra 30 percent promotion for sandals and second pair is at 50 percent but it is exclusive for Hush Puppies members in October as the picture shown below.

 

 

 

 Besides, the “Hush Puppies Summer Fiesta 2018” promotion sold bag, footwear, apparel and accessories from as low as RM40. Besides, there will be game booths and food trucks and the customers can stand a chance to win vouchers and amazing prizes worth up to RM18,000 from 26^th September 2018 to 6^th October 2018 and held form 11AM to 7PM and take place in Wisma Sulisam, Shah Alam.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, the second dimension that is part of the organization’s culture is attention to detail. Attention to detail refers to the degree to which management requires the employees to carry out analysis habits and pay extra attention to detail. Mr Lee said that in order to influence the employees to have analysis habits and pay attention to detail, he must become the role model by doing it himself. A great example of this is Mr Lee is extra careful when communicating with customers because the way he talks and does has a big impact on the customers and the brand.  Having a nice attitude is important to make them find the brand trustworthy. So, in order to achieve that, as what Mr Lee said, good choice of words and phrases used is important. He usually greets customers with a “hello,” say “nice to meet you,” “thank you,” and “goodbye.” expressed that other than speaking, paying attention to body language is important as well because it allows you to realize the personality and emotion of the customers. By know the types of customer can allows the employees to speak positively depends on the suitable customers because customers is an individual who becomes emotional easily.

Mr Lee cares about hygiene, he will make sure that there is no garbage on the floor. He mentioned that sweeping the floor frequently is still not enough, it is necessary to vacuum the floor. Appearance of the shop is one of the main reason to attract the customers. So the design of the shop is important as the colourful slipper and arrangement of the shoe is the best tools to decorate their shop. Stock count will be carried out per week by Mr. Lee to avoid the products stolen by the employees or the customers. Mr Lee will receive the task from the head quarter regarding the annual planning. It shows that the headquarter of Hush Puppies concerns for detail as they will figure out the plan and allow the employees to execute the strategies easily. Mr. Lee always reminds the employees to thumbprint four times a day which is before the work start, before and after lunch and after the working hour. This is because the human resource executive from the head quarter of Hush Puppies will have a routine checkup for the thumbprint machine to ensure the thumbprint machine work well and ensure the employees did not forget to thumbprint.

Mr. Lee mentioned that he cares about team work, helping each other is very common and he will carry out action if there is a conflict among the employees. He said it is better for managers and supervisor in the outlet to handle the complaints from the customers because they have enough conceptual skills and experience in this field compare to a promoter. He suggests the promoters to ask for help from their seniors when they face any problems because this action can reduce the tragedies. Hence, the employees can learn the compromise skills from their senior when they are observing the negotiation between their senior and customer. Mr Lee will open the shop at 10a.m. sharp and close at 10p.m. because these details will change the perspective of customer upon their service. Punctuality of the employees also represents moral and trustworthy to the managers and company. It is an action which needed to practice every day to convert it into a habit.

Next, the retailers in Hush Puppies store provides another personalized service which are accepting a credit cards. Retailers accept credit cards when customer purchase the merchandise through browse the Hush Puppies website which is www.hushpuppies.com.malaysia or via online which is ZALORA MALAYSIA. Hush puppies also provide a proper facilities. In the perspective of facilities for example equipment, technology, supplier will allow the product to maintain in the best condition. Air conditioning is available in the store for the customer and also to the employees. For any enquiries customer can always visit the website of Hush Puppies and it can assist the customers to meet their needs without obstacles.

 

After I enter the shop, the employees inside the Hush Puppies shop shown a friendly smile to my assignment members and I which I think it makes the customers feel comfortable. Head Quarter of Hush Puppies will never forget to decorate wall mirrors in the outlet because it is necessary for foot-wear and cloth store to attract customers. Hush Puppies wants their product to maintain with the “comfort and leisure” as the appeal and with outstanding skill in producing elastic foot-ware. Hush Puppies has an excellent marketing strategy. It appears in movies and Golden Awards as well, which not only increases product exposure but also increases brand awareness. The cute LOGO Basset hound is not only eye-catching but also hobby and easy to attract the attention of public.

 

Then, outcome orientation is the third type of organization culture. Outcome orientation tells the degree to which manager focus on results of outcomes rather than on how these outcomes are achieved. The Hush Puppies Malaysia is exploiting the reward and punish strategies to improve the stuff’s performance. Commission will be provided to the promoters depends on their sales and it is an effective way to manage the outlet’s profit. Vouchers will be provided as a gift to reward the employees who performed well in their sales. Geoffrey Bloom as the CEO of the company who immediately decrease the company’s department and focus on five specific departments, which not only saves unnecessary expenses, but also improves efficiency and ensures the achievement of goals.

Next, people orientation is the next type of organization culture. People orientation is a degree to which management decisions take into account the effects on people in the organization. The organization cares about the welfare of the employees as a birthday voucher were given to him on his actual birthday. The birthday voucher are only usable for buying Hush Puppies products and the vouchers value is depend on the value which stated on the vouchers. The managers will receive a greater value of birthday voucher compare to executives, as an appreciation for their loyalty to the company. An annual dinner will be carried out for all the employees in the head quarter. This activity allows the employees in the head quarter to have a chance to understand among the employees in the perspective of more than just the working matters. For example, they can shares about their own experience in how to achieve a work life balance and other knowledge.

Hush puppies runs the system which the amount of annual leaves for the employees is depends on how long they have been work for the company. For example, as long as the employee working for the company as a full time employee, the amount of annual leave will be increased in each year. There was a network among the employees of Hush Puppies because the manager encouraged to create their social media group among their team. For example, the employees of head quarter have their own WhatsApp group and it allows them to have the freedom of speech as long as they did not went beyond the sensitive topic. Employees in each shop have their own WhatsApp group as well because it enable them to ask question from the manager and solve problems. The social network strengthen the relationship among the employees and allow them express their own thoughts.

Followed by team orientation, which talks about the degree to which work is organized around teams rather than individuals. Hush Puppies is very concerned about the performance of a team as they will reward the outstanding teams. This culture has been practiced ever since Geoffrey Bloom became the CEO and he once said that ‘The team with the best players win”. Hush Puppies had cooperated with Job.street.com which is a website that announce vacancy of different company in their website.

The next type of organization culture is aggressiveness. Aggressiveness is the degree to which employees focus on aggressiveness and competitiveness rather than cooperation. The owner of the company always reminds the employees that the customers are their primary concern. In other words, customers are king and they are always right. Although the main mission of the employees is clear which is fulfill the requirement of the customers but the employees need to be aggressive enough to fulfill the requirement of the customer while considering the profit of the company.   He trains the employees to care for customers, listen to their requirement and complaints.  The promotion which have been planned will carry on from the marketing department to the employees of the outlets to cooperate to hang the poster in a strategic place to attract customers. The promoters has a lot of options and freedom as they can ask for help from their senior or handle it depends on their experience. Mr Lee rates the employees depend on their decision making, aggressiveness and quick reaction. This action will maintain the strong competition among the employees and pursue for a better position. Geoffrey Bloom as the CEO of Hush Puppies has lunch the company to a multinational corporations. Usually owner of a company will sells the product around the manufacture area, Bloom has an idea to promote the product to the whole world and making the Hush Puppies brand more popular.

Mr Lee himself is a cognitive and aggressive person with the way he talks and handle problems was excellent. He had accepted my request to interview very quickly and all the employees in the shop was able proceed the interview without being panic.

Lastly, stability is the degree to which organizational decision and action emphasize maintaining the status quo. Other than rewarding vouchers to the great performed employees in sales, the punishment will be carried out when the stuffs make some serious mistakes such as being rude to customer. The punishment involves demotion, sending warning letters and salary reduction to the employees. The punishment is to ensure that the same mistakes will never be repeated and the reputation of the company can be maintained or get even better. Hush Puppies using the thumbprint system to maintain the discipline of employees in outlets and in office to ensure they have worked for efficient working hours. A new promoter in outlets could not make a good decision due to their lack of experience. Hence, the promoters will be sent to training program to enhance their communication skills, knowledge about the Hush Puppies products and compromising skills. The cooperation of Hush Puppies with JobStreet.com allows Hush Puppies to maintain the amount of employees required.

RECOMMENDATION

Taking all the points into considerations, it is strongly recommended for company Hush Puppies in two main things. In some places, the Hush Puppies brand is not very easy to identify. The price of Hush Puppies is not close to people, so your company must not only pay attention to the quality of the brand. Hush puppies should carry out action to get the attention from the media. Hush Puppies can honor the celebrities by sponsoring the products to them just like the owner of the Nike did, who often honor the athletic. This action will not just increase the popularity of Hush Puppies but also make the products of Hush Puppies become a trend and celebrity also become one of their target market.

 

Conclusion

It can be seen that organizational culture includes an organization’s expectations, experiences, philosophy, as well as the values that guide member behavior, and is expressed in member self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. Culture is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid. Culture also includes the organization’s vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits.

While the above definitions of culture express how the construct plays out in the workplace, other definitions stress employee behavioral components, and how organizational culture directly influences the behaviors of employees within an organization. Under this set of definitions, organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions that guide what happens in organizations by defining appropriate behaviour for various situations. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders. Also, organizational culture may influence how much employees identify with their organization. In business terms, other phrases are often used interchangeably, including “corporate culture,” “workplace culture,” and “business culture.”

The bold management method, such as Bloom's CEO, can immediately shorten the company's department and focus on five specific departments, which not only saves unnecessary expenses but also improves efficiency and ensures the goal is achieved. Multinational corporations: The global business philosophy makes the products not only sold in the production areas but also promoted to the whole world, making the Hush Puppies brand more popular. Then the product features will be diverse. Hush Puppies' shoes are suitable for all ages, and they are sold to all ages because they are not only for adults but also for children. There are also watches, clothes, backpacks, and other products. In addition, it will be based on "comfort and leisure" and with professional skills, such as elastic, breathable system. The director who values talents will motivate employees. Bloom has also said: "The team with the best players win." Hush Puppies products that value marketing strategies, in addition to appearing in movies, are also available to the Golden Awards, not only to add products. The exposure can also increase brand awareness. The last good LOGO: The cute LOGO background is not only eye-catching but also a hobby, easy to attract the attention of the public.

Work culture plays an important role in extracting the best out of employees and making them stick to the organization for a longer duration. The organization must offer a positive ambiance to the employees for them to concentrate on their work rather than interfering in each other’s work. The legality of Hush puppies is to verify the legality and security of the company by checking the company's business license, tax registration certificate, fire escape map, and other documents. Then for child labor and underage workers, Hush Puppies is absolutely forbidden to hire child workers under the age of 16. It can accept the employment of underage workers aged 16 and over and under 18 years of age but must have government approval and practical actions to ensure underage workers. Physical and mental health. Hush Puppies will not despise or allow contempt for gender, race, age, and belief in the recruitment and promotion of employees. The inspection personnel will generally check all the personnel files of the incumbent personnel and the personnel files and labor contracts that have been designed for the last 6 months. During the working hours of Hush Puppies, the company must ensure the best time of workers according to local laws and regulations, rest at least one day a week, and work no more than 60 hours per week. Labor remuneration is usually overtime and statutory holidays. Overtime pays employees' salaries according to the rates stipulated by local laws, and the monthly salary cannot be lower than the local minimum wage. Guests will generally check the employee's attendance and payroll records for the last 3 months or 12 months. Finally, health and safety issues. Hush puppies will provide a healthy and safe workplace and the necessary environmental protection measures and related permits. For special occupations, employees must have corresponding operating documents.

While there is widespread agreement that organizational cultures do exist and that they are a key driver in shaping organizational behaviors, pinpointing an exact definition of the concept is a difficult undertaking. An absolute definition would allow not only for a more rigorous study of organizational culture, but also increase our understanding of how it influences other organizational outcomes such as productivity, employee engagement, and commitment. One thing is undoubtedly known about culture: It is constantly being created, changed, and splintered to ensure the success of company Hush Puppies.

Whenever you work with different personalities under the same roof, friction will inevitably occur from time to time. Teams working under deadlines and pressures may be more prone to temper and other problems. Although in theory, everyone is likely to get along, it rarely happens. Hush Puppies introduces training to help employees learn how to manage work stress and get along with others can be very helpful in meeting this challenge. Workers may find that discussing their workplace stress or challenges with a trained mental health professional is helpful to them both professionally and personally.