CASE STUDY: CINCINNATI SUPER SUBS Cincinnati Super Subs is one of the larger Super Subs outlets, a chain of 300 take-away restaurants in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. This outlet has a restaurant manager, an a part-time team leaders. The restaurant manager rarely has time to serve customers managers is discouraged by the head office. The assistant manager serves customers for a couple of hours during the busy lunchtime but otherwise assists the restaurant manager with purchasi hiring, and other operations. Most team leaders are college students and serve customers other employees, particularly from late afternoon to night closing. Most employees a are also students who work part-time; a few are in high school. All regular staff earn minimum pay rates Cincinnati Super Subs has experienced below average profitability over the past 18 months, which has reduced the monthly bonus paid to the restaurant manager and assistant manager. Th bonus is calculated by percentage of “wastage (unsold, damaged, or unaccounted for food and drinks) relative to sales; the lower the percentage of wastage, the higher the bonus. Wastage occurs when employees drop or spill food, cut up more toppings than are sold, burn heated subs, prepare an order incorrectly, and eat or give away food without permission. When employees make mistakes, the expense is sup to come out of their paycheck. Unauthorized eating and giving away food are grounds for immediate dismissal. However, team leaders are reluctant to report any accidental or deliberate wastage, even when confronted by the restaurant manager about the store’s high wastage over the previous week and m onth. One team leader who reported several accidental wastage incidents eventually quit after being snubbed by coworkers who attended the same college classes. Cincinnati Super Subs gives employees a food allowance if they work continuously for at least four and one-half hours. Staff complain that the allowance is meager and that they are often ineligible for the food allowance because many shifts are only three or four hours. Employees who work these shorter shifts sometimes help themselves to food and drinks when the managers aren’t around, claiming that their hard work justifies the free meal. Some also claim the food is a low company expense and makes up for their small paycheck, relative to what many of their friends earn elsewhere. Several (but not most) employees e of their friends generous helpings as well as occasional free soft drinks and chips. Employees say handing out free food to friends makes them more popular with their peers Five months ago, the Cincinnati restaurant’s wastage ( mainly deliberate wastage) had risen to here the two managers no longer received a bonus. The restaurant manager reacted by allowance only to those who work for six or more hours in a single shift. This action excluded even more the food allowance, but it did not discourage employees from eating or giving away taff from receiving food. However, almost 20 percent of the experienced college staff left for other jobs over the following two months. Many of those who stayed discouraged friends from considering jobs at Super Subs. Morale declined, which dampened the fun atmosphere that had been experienced to some extent in Relations between employees and managers soured further past times With relatively low unemployment, the restaurant manager found it difficult to particularly people with previous work experience of any kind. Temporary staff shortages managers to spend more time working in food preparation and training the new staff. Their increased presence in the restaurant significantly reduced deliberate wastage, but accidental somewhat as the greater number of inexperienced staff made more mistakes required the two wastage increased confident that the After three months, Cincinnati Super Subs’ manager and assistant manager were situation received a moderate bonus after the third month in the store. However, wastage increased mproved, so they spent less time tr aining staff and servin g customers. Indeed, they again soon