Mba

Kudler Fine Foods

Kathy Kudler, the founder of Kudler Fine Foods, was the Vice President of Marketing for a large defense contractor. As a stress reliever, Kathy Kudler took up the hobby of gourmet cooking and on a shopping trip for ingredients for a gourmet repast; she suddenly realized that there was an opportunity for an upscale epicurean food shop in La Jolla. Kathy developed a business plan, obtained financing and six months later, on June 18, 1998, the first Kudler Fine Foods opened. Within nine months the store was at break-even and was profitable for the year.

The company has three locations (La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas). The stores are stocked with the very best domestic and imported foodstuffs and divided into the following departments:

Ð'* Fresh Bakery and Pastries

Ð'* Fresh Produce

Ð'* Fresh Meat and Seafood

Ð'* Condiments and Packaged Foods

Ð'* Cheese's and Specialty Dairy Products

The primary mission statement of Kudler Fine Foods is simple, "to provide our customers the finest in selected foodstuffs, wines and related needs in an unparalleled consumer environment. Our selections coupled with our experience, helpful and knowledgeable staff merges to offer each customer a delightful and pleasing shopping outing. We will provide this service because "We shop the world" for our products; purchase only the finest of products; are highly selective in acquiring our team members; and will go to extensive lengths to assure that Kudler's is the purveyor of choice for customers aspiring to purchase epicurean delights" (Apollo Group, Inc., 2005).

Four primary functions of management exist at Kudler Fine Foods in the management process. Planning and strategizing would involve Kathy Kudler herself, as a Senior Executive of the company. As the top executive, Ms. Kudler is concerned primarily with the interaction between the organization and its external environment. Kathy is responsible to review the objectives of the different management, teams, and individuals are coordinated to reflect the company's mission statement. "The firm's mission needs to be attuned to changes in the environment and competitive landscape. This involves a continuing assessment of the firm's strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (referred to as SWOT), so that appropriate strategies may be taken" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkan, 2002, 5/1).

"Organizing involves specifying how the firm's human, financial, physical, informational, and technical resources are arranged and coordinated to perform tasks to achieve desired goals" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkan, 2002, 6/1). This function would be carried out primarily by Kathy Kudler and her CFO, or Director of Finance and Accounting.

The next step in the primary functions is leading which is the energizing of people to contribute their best individually and in cooperation with other people. This involves clearly communicating organizational goals and their importance, inspiring and motivating employees, providing an example for others to follow, guiding people, and creating conditions that encourage people from diverse backgrounds" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkan, 2002, 6/1). Kathy Kudler would oversee this function along with her tactical management.

Controlling is the last primary function of management. Controlling consists of "measuring performance, comparing it to objectives, implementing necessary changes, and monitoring progress" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkan, 2002, 6/1). This function would be handled by Kathy and her operational managers. All parties have to be involved to reach the desired goal; therefore, all aspects would need to be covered.

Kudler Fine Foods has had the foresight to use technology to their advantage in gaining/maintaining a leading edge in epicurean foods in the fine foods industry. By using technology as the means of transforming inputs into products. (Gomez-Mejia, Balkan, 2002) Kudler expanded their business buy creating an internet website. The website in the simplest form, informs customers about the things that Kudler Fine Foods has to offer and the three locations that renders their services. Not a great deal of information is provided on Kudler Fine Foods, but just enough to give potential consumers insight of what the stores have to offer.

The website itself is holistic its approach to achieve the common goal of getting the consumer interested in finding out more about Kudler Fine Food products. The website provides a forum for consumers to give input and for Kudler Fine Foods to gather the data and develop a finished product of what consumers would like to see. It seems as though the company has decided to take a systems theory approach. Systems theory "views an organization as a system that consists of interrelated parts that function in a holistic way to achieve a common purpose" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkan, 2002, 17/1). A great deal of businesses is conducted using the e-business approach. This allows companies to sell their products via the internet, e-businesses cutback on cost and allows companies to sell to