Chattanooga Ice Cream
Executive Summary The following case study analysis examines the Chattanooga Ice Cream division’s recent failures in light of Stay & Shop’s recent decision to replace CIC with Sealtest in all of their Southeast Stores. It will shed a light on the dysfunctions and shortcomings of the team and their leader. A comprehensive analysis will follow and break down where CIC has failed both within the company and in the marketplace. After an examination and analysis is complete, I will offer a series of recommendations that must be made in order to bring CIC back to profitability and relevance.
Introduction
Chattanooga Ice Cream is in trouble. They have suffered from a lack of leadership, poor management, lack of marketplace knowledge and a dysfunctional team. Due to these reasons, they have found themselves in a position where their third-largest customer, Stay & Shop, has decided to replace them with the Sealtest line in all of their southeast region supermarkets within the next 90 days. This decision has caused the company, and their leader, Charlie Moore, to go into panic mode in an attempt to keep the business afloat, while also increasing revenue and expanding the product line while facing external stressors that include the competition introducing premium and “mix-in” flavors and the sagging consumption of ice cream.
The Issues and Problems After a lengthy review of the case study, I have come to recognize three distinct problems that CIC faces. They have an unclear and undefined mission statement, lack of voice among their executive leadership team, and a failed leader in Moore. A mission statement “basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business?” (Welch, p. 14) CIC is without a clear mission statement CIC cannot move into the future and be competitive. “At the end of the day, effective mission statements balance the possible and the impossible. They give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to
Introduction
Chattanooga Ice Cream is in trouble. They have suffered from a lack of leadership, poor management, lack of marketplace knowledge and a dysfunctional team. Due to these reasons, they have found themselves in a position where their third-largest customer, Stay & Shop, has decided to replace them with the Sealtest line in all of their southeast region supermarkets within the next 90 days. This decision has caused the company, and their leader, Charlie Moore, to go into panic mode in an attempt to keep the business afloat, while also increasing revenue and expanding the product line while facing external stressors that include the competition introducing premium and “mix-in” flavors and the sagging consumption of ice cream.
The Issues and Problems After a lengthy review of the case study, I have come to recognize three distinct problems that CIC faces. They have an unclear and undefined mission statement, lack of voice among their executive leadership team, and a failed leader in Moore. A mission statement “basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business?” (Welch, p. 14) CIC is without a clear mission statement CIC cannot move into the future and be competitive. “At the end of the day, effective mission statements balance the possible and the impossible. They give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to
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