Tanglewoood Case 1

Tanglewood Case Study

Organizational background

Tanglewood is a chain of retail stores that provide items such as clothing, appliances, home décor, and electronics. It has created a niche in the retail market by offering outdoor clothing and equipment to middle and upper-income class clients. Tanner Emmerson and Thurston Wood established Tanglewood in 1975. At present, the chain store owns 243 stores across the western part of the United States, makes annual sales of about $3 trillion and employs approximately 23 million people. The major competitors are Kohls’ and Target department stores.

According to it financials, Tanglewood is a moderately sized firm that has a huge potential for growth. Its mission is to remain focused on its vision of providing customers with a small, personable shopping experience while observing their core values and commitment to their customers, employees, and shareholders. Tanglewood's organizational structure has evolved over time to adopt a hierarchical organizational structure. Tanner Emerson is the CEO while Thurston Wood is the President of the company. Additionally, the organization has 12 managers in various regions that supervise 20 store managers. The individual structure of a store entails a store manager, three assistant managers, and 12 departmental managers. On average, a store averages 215 associates.

The firm beliefs in the essentiality of core workforce to its values and corporate culture that they seek to establish and maintain. Tanglewood's regional managers encourage and support Human Resource practices that differ from the company's philosophy. For this reason, the organization is considering a Human Resource management plan that centralizes Human Resources in the company. The ethics and corporate strategy of the company differ from those of its major competitors. Since its formation, Tanglewood has been emphasizing on employee participation and teamwork. Their vision concerning employee-relations is to...