Tanglewood Case Study

Tanglewood Case 1

Tanya Irizarry

Keller Graduate School of Management

Case Description/Introduction

Tanglewood was founded in 1975 by best friends Tanner Emerson and Thurston Wood, the store was originally named Tannerwood and its initial concept was a single store that sold a combination of outdoor clothing and equipment that was designed by them. The store offered unique merchandise and good customer that made the shopping experience personable it was due to this type of service that allowed for the expansion and renaming of the store to Tanglewood in 1984. By the 1990's the company had grown to a total of 243 stores in various parts of the US Emerson and Wood would take on the positions of CEO and President respectively and their team of regional managers ran the day to day operations.

Mr. Penchiala for a company to be successful and remain competitive in today's economy it is imperative to develop and maintain a strong staffing strategy. I have examined the report you provided and analyzed the staffing strategy with the following recommendations:

Acquire or Develop Talent:

After reviewing Exhibit 1.7 in the text and the Tanglewood case I find that Tanglewood's workforce is its best asset and will play a key role in their staffing strategy. Tanglewood is set apart from its competition due to its organizational values and culture. When looking at a successful organization you will note their internal culture is a key factor in its ability to meet organizational goals. It is evident that Tanglewood has a team/family oriented environment, an example of this is , employees from the same area as the store will have better working knowledge of the type of clientele the store will attract and would be a better fit because they know the environment and live in the area. Taking that into consideration is essential to developing the talent that you have within your organization.

Hire Yourself or Outsource:

The decision to outsource is a difficult decision to be made by any organization due to the fact that it offers both advantages and disadvantages to the company. Outsourcing a consultant for Tanglewood would mean providing the consultant with the intimate knowledge of the company's current goals and objectives of its HR functions. Tanglewood would have to provide documentation in order for the consultant to come up with the appropriate staffing strategy for the company. Also, an outside source would not be fully aware of the strengths or weaknesses of the internal regions nor would they have the experience and knowledge of the interworking of that region. On the other hand, there are advantages to outsource hiring such as fresh ideas, different opinions and techniques; that will help to improve the status of current circumstances.

In my opinion it is imperative that this organization conduct its own hiring process, because no one knows your business better than you. Your level of expertise and understanding of the organizational mission and culture make you the ideal candidate for recruitment of new talent.

External or Internal Hiring:

Tanglewood prides itself on its values and teamwork. I feel that hiring from within offers the highest benefit to the company and will promote a strong, stable and reliable workforce. Your employees will find it rewarding and develop a since of loyalty in staying with the organization because they know there is greater opportunity of them being promoted from within the organization. However, you should keep in mind that it may be necessary sometimes to secure external talent for a rapidly growing organization; these positions can be filled at entry level.

Core or Flexible Workforce:

You want to create an environment that makes your employees feel like they are a part of the organizations regular workforce. When employees feel like they are a part of something normal they tend to take greater ownership in their productivity and align themselves with the organization's goals. Peak seasons (i.e. holiday) are normally when retail companies require a flexible workforce, ensure to define employees hired during this time as seasonal. These employees