VENUS BOUTIQUES (CASE ANALYSIS)

I.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

Carla Santos is the manager of Venus Boutiques, a string of
specialty shops selling a selected line of ladies bags, beauty
products and ladies wear. She went on a three week business
trip outside the country and when she returned, a problem was
presented to her in one of her three stores.
One of Santos store managers is Ms. Glo Martines who didnt
get to graduate in college but she was very hard working and
responsible. She had just been a manager for ten months and
previously worked as a clerk in the shops for over two years.
Martines diligence was what prompted Santos to promote her
to manager when Santos wanted to have managers for each of
the stores.
When Santos went back from the business trip, there were
complaints about Ms. Martines attitude towards the sales clerks
of her store. Three of the four clerks complained that Martines
favored the other clerk, as she is one of her distant relations.
Irma, the errant sales clerk would be late for work but Martines
would sign her time record on time and her performance ratings
were always excellent even though her performance was not
exceptional. The other employees also complained that there
were times that Irma was allowed to leave early and Martines
would vouch for her.
Santos decided to visit the store and talk to Martines. She
laid out the complaints about her and Martines bowed down in

shame. The store manager neither concurred nor denied the

accusations, choosing not to look into her boss eyes.
II.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

How can Ms. Carla Santos address the attitude of Ms. Glo
Martines

and

the

sales

clerks

without

jeopardizing

the

employees integrity and moral?

III.

STATEMENT OF THE OBJECTIVES

1. To deal with the misdemeanor of Martines and Irma.
2. To ensure the continued quality service and performance of
the other employees and also from the other stores.
3. To prevent future biased evaluations like that of Ms. Martines.

IV.

ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTION

The first solution to this problem is to investigate the matter
further. If it is proven that Irma was coercing Martines, then
Irma would be the one terminated. If Martines was not forced
and actually favored Irma, then both could be fired. One
advantage is that the other employees would see that Irma
was punished and that they would appreciate that the
management sees to it that the irresponsible workers are
reprimanded. The downside is that you lose a hardworking
manager and the employees might also feel that they have no
job security. Also, the shop would incur additional expenses for
termination costs and also for hiring and training costs of the
replacements.
Another solution is to issue a written warning to both the
manager and sales clerk. State in the warning that another
misdemeanor could cost them their jobs. Also, an employee
handbook could be made to include rules that could prevent
favoritism in the future. The performance evaluation should be

amended so as to include the actual accomplishments of the

employees in each period. This could appease the other
employees and further events like this could be avoided. But,
there might still be some bad blood between them as this is
not a punishment in of itself.
Another possibility is to shuffle the sales clerks and to put
under probation the delinquent sales clerk and manager. This
way the other sales clerks wont be under the same manger
and wont be working with the errant sales clerk. The upside is
you give chance to Martines and Irma to do well and not
repeat their mistakes. Also, the employees wont feel much
threatened as they wont be terminated after one offense. But,
again this is not a heavy punishment and might be seen as
tolerance of the management.
Martines can also be demoted and Irmas pay grade be
lowered. By doing this, you get to keep the hard working
employee and you give chance to the delinquent. The good
this might is that those two would be able to prove
themselves worthy of their jobs and the other employees
would appreciate the penalty as fit for the offense. The
disadvantage

is

that

Martines

might

take

offense

and

demoralized.
V.

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

There is no one optimum solution for this problem. A
combination of each solutions is the best possible way to
address the entirety of the dilemma. The management may
start an investigation on the complaint whether its done out of
malice or out of sense of duty of the employees. Depending on

the outcome, the administration could issue a warning; reshuffle

or transfer the employees; and, demote or terminate the
miscreants. But, most of all, the management must restructure
the performance evaluation of the employees and also of the
store managers. Employee handbooks must be made and issued
to the employees upon hiring and training for them to know the
different rules of the company. There must also be a fixed
penalty in the handbook for the transgressors. The guidelines
within the handbook must be strictly implemented and the
stores

owner

can

enforce

this

better

by

spontaneous

inspections in each of the stores. Carla Santos, the manager,

must be proactive in handling the business. This way she could
easily perceive when there are problems and tackle them
accordingly. A more sophisticated hiring system could also be
applied to avoid having employees in one store who are related
to each other.
By applying the recommended courses of action, Santos will
be able to uphold the companys integrity and improve its
employment and evaluation systems. Also, further incidents
such as the one stated will be avoided.