Leadership Washington and the Fall of Kmart

Representative Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) was obviously posture during a talk show interview. His Republican counterpart had pontificated that his party had a plan to solve the problems with the US health system. The ever eloquent Rangel replied: "The senator is right, he has a plan, but only a few Republicans have signed onto his plan .." Then the representative continued with some plain, simple words, understandable that illustrate many the Congress delegation said 535 implicitly, action or less articulated words.

Kmart Case Study


Kmart was a retailer instead of the most successful in the country. In 1962, the company has become a variety store operation in a discounter. Informed by their trusted advisors, key executives sitting together and determine the solutions that work best in the corporate culture.

In 1992, times began to change. CEO Joseph Antonini decided to involve more employees in the process of decision making. A new approach to the team "Cross-functional" has been featured in major publications and Antonini liked the concept. The teams were composed of middle management "experts" who were closer to senior management day the day. The teams were able to discuss issues and recommend solutions to the sponsor, senior management of the multidisciplinary team.

The results were solid. The problems and barriers to potential solutions were identified by reducing the initial costs of implementation. These cross-functional teams were able to move a set of New Jersey data center in Michigan in a single weekend without any disturbance at the store level. Another team implemented a new refueling system sales and radically different process of communication and computing. The new system provided no interruption of supplies stores and minimal impact on the level of the distribution center. Other major projects success stories and small cross-functional teams have left the company.

Reduction trend increases

Cross-functional teams have played a role in the first major successes following Kmart discount in 1992. In fact, the teams were so successful that the team will be added later in the 1990s, specifically to work on these teams. Unfortunately, staff members were transferred to a separate building across the street from the office. In addition to distance, the teams has become an identifiable expense line. As senior management has started looking at the teams as an expense, other top management level manager and vice president, he began to feel threatened by the teams. They were worried that the staff were junior and lacked training and development to make quality decisions.

The senior managers decided to increase their power through pillars or silos as added or over-rated employees. Now, executives saw the cross-functional teams as enemies - since taking uninformed decisions that their departments would have to try to do better later. Congress looks at four silos, House Democrats, Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans. When the silos provide a solution to the table to solve the problem, they also bring the passion of your solution. Objectivity and transparency is reduced because the silos will all challenges to the solution proposed as a threat to their ideas.

The most productive way to achieve solutions would be the reverse. Make each commission, which is similar to a cross-functional team to develop a solution. Committees were formed in silos Congress Bridge. In the business world of this type of problem the solution is well documented solutions.