Cincinnati Super Subs is one of the larger Super Subs outlets, a chain of 300 take-away restaurants in Indiana, Ohio, an

[answerhappygod]

Cincinnati Super Subs is one of the larger Super Subs outlets, a
chain of 300 take-away restaurants in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
This outlet has a restaurant manager, an assistant manager, and
several part-time team leaders. The restaurant manager rarely has
time to serve customers, and frontline work by managers is
discouraged by the head office. The assistant manager serves
customers for a couple of hours during the busy lunchtime but
otherwise assists the restaurant manager with purchasing, accounts,
hiring, and other operations. Most team leaders are college
students and serve customers alongside other employees,
particularly from late afternoon to night closing. Most employees
are also students who work part-time; a few are in high school. All
regular staff earn minimum pay rates.
Cincinnati Super Subs has experienced below-average
profitability over the past 18 months, which has reduced the
monthly bonus paid to the restaurant manager and assistant manager.
This bonus is calculated by percentage of “wastage” (unsold,
damaged, or unaccounted for food and drinks) relative to sales; the
lower the percentage of wastage, the higher the bonus. Wastage
occurs when employees drop or spill food, cut up more toppings than
are sold, burn heated subs, prepare an order incorrectly, and eat
or give away food without permission. When employees make mistakes,
the expense is supposed to come out of their paycheck. Unauthorized
eating and giving away food are grounds for immediate dismissal.
However, team leaders are reluctant to report any accidental or
deliberate wastage, even when confronted by the restaurant manager
about the store’s high wastage over the previous week and month.
One team leader who reported several accidental wastage incidents
eventually quit after being snubbed by coworkers who attended the
same college classes.
Cincinnati Super Subs gives employees a food allowance if they
work continuously for at least four and one-half hours. Staff
complain that the allowance is meager and that they are often
ineligible for the food allowance because many shifts are only
three or four hours. Employees who work these shorter shifts
sometimes help themselves to food and drinks when the managers
aren’t around, claiming that their hard work justifies the free
meal. Some also claim the food is a low company expense and makes
up for their small paycheck, relative to what many of their friends
earn elsewhere. Several (but not most) employees give some of their
friends generous helpings as well as occasional free soft drinks
and chips. Employees say handing out free food to friends makes
them more popular with their peers.
Five months ago, the Cincinnati restaurant’s wastage (mainly
deliberate wastage) had risen to the point where the two managers
no longer received a bonus. The restaurant manager reacted by
giving the food allowance only to those who work for six or more
hours in a single shift. This action excluded even more staff from
receiving the food allowance, but it did not discourage employees
from eating or giving away food. However, almost 20 percent of the
experienced college staff left for other jobs over the following
two months. Many of those who stayed discouraged friends from
considering jobs at Super Subs. Morale declined, which dampened the
fun atmosphere that had been experienced to some extent in past
times. Relations between employees and managers soured further.
With relatively low unemployment, the restaurant manager found
it difficult to hire replacements, particularly people with
previous work experience of any kind. Temporary staff shortages
required the two managers to spend more time working in food
preparation and training the new staff. Their increased presence in
the restaurant significantly reduced deliberate wastage, but
accidental wastage increased somewhat as the greater number of
inexperienced staff made more mistakes.
After three months, Cincinnati Super Subs’ manager and assistant
manager were confident that the situation had improved, so they
spent less time training staff and serving customers. Indeed, they
received a moderate bonus after the third month in the store.
However, wastage increased again soon after the managers withdrew
from daily operations. The experienced employees started eating
more food, and the new staff soon joined this practice.
Exasperated, the restaurant manager took bolder steps. He
completely removed the food allowance and threatened to fire any
employee caught consuming or giving away food.
Wastage dropped somewhat over the next month but is now creeping
upward again.
Questions
A. Apply relevant motivation theories (any 2 which are relevant)
to explain the main causes of the symptoms in the case which
suggest that something went wrong.
B. What actions should Cincinnati Super Subs’ managers take to
correct these problems?