someTitle
Part 5
CASE STUDIES
Chapte
s Case applies to
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Case stUDY 1
The Princess Polly story
Case stUDY 2
Management style and employee–
management relations
Case stUDY 3
Manukau Water: it’s not only about pipes
Case stUDY 4
Woolworths: what it does take
Wood, Jack, et al. Organisational Behaviour Core Concepts and Applications, 4th Edition Australasian, Wiley, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
une/detail.action?docID=4742144.
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562 Part 5 • Case studies
THE PRINCESS POLLY STORY
innovation and culture — the formula
for success
Princess Polly captures the hip, fresh, colourful vi
ancy
of life under the Australian sun. Founded in the summer
of 2005, Princess Polly kicked off as a cute and quirky bou
tique in Surfers Paradise. A combination of good quality
fa
ics and unique femme styles soon created a cult‐like
following among local fashionistas.
Until Princess Polly a
ived, these customers only had
access to the bulk ‘cookie cutter’ fashion offered by larger,
long‐established retailers (i.e. those found in every mall
across Australia). Princess Polly offered something new,
exciting and distinctively different. The Princess Polly
founders adopted the mantra ‘Money doesn’t buy style.
What counts is that it’s gorgeous and customers see value in
it’. In essence, they found a formula to build a solid and
loyal customer base.
Since their humble beginnings, Princess Polly has experi
enced an almost exponential growth in their sales. Whilst
they initially concentrated on a
icks‐and‐mortar strategy,
they soon extended the business to incorporate an online
platform, which has proven to be very popular. Within just
three years online sales have grown from zero to a
$10 million turnover.
Their move to an online presence was driven primarily
y the customers themselves. In early 2010, before Face
ook gained mass‐market popularity, customers were
screaming out to shop online. Many girls from interstate
had visited the Queensland store and the word was starting
to spread virally across Australia.
staying lean and flexible in times of
apid growth
Princess Polly’s management decided to self‐fund the
online store, which immediately took off. However,
during the initial rapid growth phase, management
strived to remain lean and agile. The Australian fashion
e‐commerce market was only getting started and everything
was changing quickly. According to co‐founder Wez Bryett,
Princess Polly remained flexible in the face of social media
and mobile technology changes by focusing on keeping
systems as manual as possible and avoiding investing in
cumbersome IT systems. This allowed Princess Polly to
test different systems, to adjust as necessary and then to
develop the successful system.
Princess Polly’s management are passionate about new
possibilities for retail. Fast fashion and e‐commerce have
evolutionised the industry. They see the opportunity for
Princess Polly to operate, not only as an online store, but
as a ‘new model’ retailer. The aim is to achieve vertical
etailing across online and in‐store, with a strong in‐house
and, digital presence, and a global outlook. Princess
Polly cu
ently has its sights set on borderless trade oppor
tunities. Wez describes, ‘We are developing a US and
Asian marketing immersion strategy to expand beyond the
shores of Australia, and leveraging social media will be an
integral part of this strategy’.
innovative social media
engagement strategies
To be successful with a techsavvy Gen Y customer base,
companies must keep pace with the latest and greatest in
social media. Companies that move fast and are constantly
on the lookout for ways to differentiate their
ands will
succeed; those that neglect such innovation will be left
ehind.
In response to this market reality, Princess Polly has
ecently joined forces with Pirus Group, an innovative
marketing consultancy, to implement a new social media
platform called ‘Stylechat’. This tool allows users to shop
Case stUDY 1
Wood, Jack, et al. Organisational Behaviour Core Concepts and Applications, 4th Edition Australasian, Wiley, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
une/detail.action?docID=4742144.
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563CASE 1 • The Princess Polly story
online with their Facebook friends and instantaneously
share and chat about clothes right on the Polly site. The
tool allows online users to participate in the social element
of shopping that has predominantly been associated with
in‐store shopping, such as being able to get a second
opinion and to avoid a fashion faux pas.
This is what the owners of Princess Polly are good at:
identifying deficiencies in the online shopping experience
and connecting with experts in the field to make the cus
tomer experience even more satisfying. Wez explains:
Testing of Stylechat has shown that it substantially increases
the customers’ level of satisfaction, deepens our followers’
sense of community and loyalty to the
and, increases
time on site, boosts sales, and of course reduces returns.
This demonstrates how one innovation can have a simul
taneous and positive impact on several aspects of the busi
ness at once.
the importance of company culture
During a growth phase, staff may struggle to handle con
stant change. To reduce this risk, the Princess Polly founders
focused on creating a strong company culture. Co‐founder
Paul Lavender sees this strong culture as what gives staff the
confidence to be able to stand strong in the face of change.
Ensuring staff intensely share the Princess Polly core
values of ‘authenticity, passion, sell what you love, and
don’t be afraid to be different’ is of paramount importance.
Encouraging such beliefs creates both high levels of cohe
siveness and trust amongst employees as well as efficient
norms. That is, employees naturally moderate their own
ehaviour themselves to fit in with the culture, reducing
the need for managers to monitor their staff continually.
Creating a strong culture also begins with recruitment.
In the hiring process, Princess Polly seeks out individuals
who not only want to work in a fun and fast‐moving fashion
company, but also want to become part of the Polly family.
Paul explains, ‘We have mostly hired new staff with great
attitudes and a willingness to learn and grow into pos
itions’. Not only does the prospective employee have to be
good for the position, but the position has to be good for
the person. According to Paul:
We look for individuals that are
and aware, live and
eathe fashion, and are personable and quirky. You can
train skills, but you can’t train character, so finding those
with characteristics that encapsulate the Princess Polly
identity is very important to us.
Princess Polly is passionate about positively influencing
young women’s lives. They accomplish this by empowering
employees and assisting them to road map their future
involvement in the business, either with Princess Polly or
on their own journeys. Management have strived to create
an environment where the employees feel empowered and
appreciated (as both individuals and as employees). They
hold skills workshops to enhance abilities in sales, organise
for life coach consultants to visit and offer yoga sessions to
employees. This caring focus on the employees has led to
the development of a loyal and dedicated workforce.
Princess Polly has also implemented a mentor system,
where business or design students come on board as
interns to gain valuable firsthand industry experience.
Wez highlights:
We have found this to be a very positive experience where
value is created from both sides. Not only do the interns
get real fashion experience, but they inject a youthful
perspective that helps inform us about the direction of
the industry, and what customers in that demographic
eally want.
The Princess Polly owners believe there is a formula
for success; however, this formula must be flexible. ‘You
need to change the direction of your focus depending on
the environment, but as long as the main constituents of
the formula are maintained, you will do well’ says Paul.
These foundation elements are good quality products that
are individual and distinctive; a strong culture; loyal and
engaged employees; keeping in touch with the customers;
and keeping pace with innovation. Oh, and of course,
‘Spreading love, peace and happiness’.1
Questions
1. What innovative technique is Princess Polly
implementing? What aspects of the business will it
improve, and why?
2. Determine two important factors in the creation of a
strong culture and discuss what makes these factors so
important.
3. What method does Princess Polly use to boost morale?
What effect does boosting morale have for the
company?
4. What does Princess Polly do to reduce the need for
managers to engage in behaviour modification of their
employees?
end note
1. S Amundsen and ØL Martinsen, ‘Self–other agreement
in empowering leadership: Relationships with leader
effectiveness and subordinates’ job satisfaction and turnover
intention’, The Leadership Quarterly (2014); GR Bushe,
‘Advances in appreciative inquiry as an organization
development intervention’, Organization Development Journal,
vol XXXXXXXXXX), pp. 14–22; CA O’Reilly, J Chatman and
DF Caldwell, ‘People and organizational culture: A profile
comparison approach to assessing person–organization
fit’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 34, no XXXXXXXXXX),
pp. 487–516.
Wood, Jack, et al. Organisational Behaviour Core Concepts and Applications, 4th Edition Australasian, Wiley, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
une/detail.action?docID=4742144.
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564 Part 5 • Case studies
MANAGEMENT STYLE AND EMPLOYEE–
MANAGEMENT RELATIONS1
Background
Fiji Ships and Heavy Industries Limited (FSHIL), once
known as Government Shipyard and Public Slipways
(GSPS), was initially a wholly Fijian government–owned
entity. Fiji, one of the most developed of the Pacific Island
economies, is an island nation located in the heart of
the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Honolulu, midway to the
equator and New Zealand. GSPS was later corporatised as
Shipbuilding (Fiji) Limited (SFL) to pave the