What are the most important aspects of the controlling function?
Home Depot is a store with a huge amount of potential and this is demonstrated in its phenomenal success especially since Nardelli took it over. Most of all, the control of stock and how it is maximised for sale remains the most important function in this respect. In fact it is very hard for Home Depot to actually keep a complete overview of the whole stock and at the same time motivate its staff who are quite rubbed the wrong way by their top manager’s pay package which allegedly tops USD 28 million a year. However this should not interfere in the actual operation of proceedings which are part and parcel of everything and the whole procedure of control. Keeping a tight rein over everything is something which Nardelli appears to be doing at the end of the day and this is demonstrated accordingly in the phenomenal growth of Hope Depot.
What steps did Nardelli take in renovating Home Depot?
Principally, Nardelli brought about his immense skills which were honed in the military and which could be applied in a big way at Home Depot. He streamlined all operational procedures and ran the store with military like precision increasing sales tenfold and continuing to expand on the entrepreneurial spirit of the company’s founders who eventually took a back seat. He also motivated the staff with several incentives which caused them to increase their workload accordingly and this made them feel quite on the ball with regards to making everything work for the company to expand and grow its business accordingly. His fascination with attention to detail is something of a legend and although he was criticised for being too technical, this does not mean that he was not successful in any way and his thirst for success shaped in a military context brought about the immense changes which made the company such a phenomenal success. Nardelli continued applying military style precision to everything he did at home Depot with the resultant excellent results and a ruthless turn for success at any cost.
What role did the mid-level or department managers have in ensuring the success of the CEO’s plan?
Although Nardelli was a prime mover in the huge and considerable expansion and success of the company, the role of the mid level and departmental managers cannot be underestimated. Nardelli led by example working extremely long hours and this obviously motivated others to do the same. And although Nardelli came up with plans and procedures which required implementation, these could obviously not be implemented without the work of the middle managers who worked assiduously and harder to make Nardelli’s dreams happen. Occasionally there were clashes on certain aspects of operation but all in all, the phenomenal success of Home Depot has to be based on the extensive work carried out by the middle managers. They were the ones who provided the working motivation for the shop floor and had to see to it that everywthing went according to Nardelli’s grand conceptions. Without them it is pretty clear that the whole Home Depot project would have foundered. However the tension between Nardelli’s modus operandi and the view of some departmental managers can also be part of the friction which was created when certain press reports focused extensively on the problems Nardelli had with his staff. Still one definitely cannot underestimate the contribution made by the managers who were constantly on the ball and who implemented Nardelli’s vision with alacrity and intensity on the shop floor.
How can Nardelli's approach be applied in the health care setting?
The health care setting is somewhat more problematic and if the military style precision of Nardelli is applied without much frills, the situation can turn nasty. However there is definitely much to be learnt from Nardelli’s approach when he was faced with the intrinsic problems of making the company more productive. A typical place to start would be the re-organization of a hospital which needs to be run like clockwork if it is to be successful, especially when faced with critical problems such as understaffing in the casualty departments. Nardelli’s no hold barred approach which may also motivate the staff is something which needs to be taken into account and attention to detail is also something else which has to be atken into account. However one must remember that a healthcare setting is not something which can be used for profit and this is the major variance with Nardelli’s approach. Still there is definitely much to be learnt from the major characteristics of Nardelli’s approach which also creates a sense of identity with the institution, something which seems to be lacking in current healthcare settings. The incredible success achieved by Home Depot can certainly be replicated in health centres and this is surely one of the strong points of the Nardelli approach.
References:
Renovating Home Depot: Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_10/b3974001.htm
Henri Fayol (1949). General and Industrial Management. New York: Pitman Publishing. pp. 107–109. OCLC 825227.
Robert J. Mockler (1970). Readings in Management Control. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0390644390 9780390644398. OCLC 115076.
Richard Arvid Johnson (1976). Management, systems, and society : an introduction. Pacific Palisades, Calif.: Goodyear Pub. Co.. pp. 148–142. ISBN 0876205406 9780876205402.
