Hot Topic Case Study

Hot Topic Case Study – Question 1

What makes Hot Topic so successful as a retailer? What makes them so popular

with their employees?

Hot Topic has found a niches market that will pretty much never go away. They cater

to and appeal to a certain emotional / maturity level of the pop-culture sect. The perks are

quite nice (compared to other organizations) this is a practice that other employers should

adopt.

How can they keep their success going?

By continuing to do what they have been doing for so long, and in adapt to the

industry and society changes / trends as they come along. Hot Topic has been very

successful by making the workplace appealing for certain portion of society that w ould

otherwise might find the traditional workplace boring. They have excelled at merging

creativity and productivity in the workplace.

Hot Topic Case Study – Question 2

How does the idea of no walls and no doors in the corporate headquarters

encourage the culture Hot Topic is trying to perpetuate?

This works well in a more progressive / non-traditional environment. And a lot of

organizations try to adopt this philosophy nowadays, some are successful at it, some are

not. It really boils down to the type of an organization that it is. For example, clothing vs.

software is quite a different environment. Therefore if an organization is catering to a talent

pool that is rife with class envy, then is the type of an environment that would be the most

productive which helps to make feel people a bit more important and / or more involved in

the process. But the fact still remains, the owner / CEO still makes the most money

regardless of how open the environment is.

Do you think you would like to work in such an atmosphere?

I work in an industry that is more traditional and has mo re traditional work

environment. My industry is where the type of business deals with proprietary information,

thus privacy is an absolute requirement. And a majority of the people...