Reference no: EM132276804
Case Study Read the case below and answer the questions that follow. Nordstrom Departmental Store The key to Nordstrom’s success over the last 100 years has been attributed to the employees and in particular, the salespeople. Nordstrom prides itself on customer service and has a culture in which pleasing the customer is very important. The Nordstrom family, who still runs the business understands this and treats their employees well so that they will treat the customers well. Nordstrom have been consistently selected as one of the 100 best companies to work for in America and more than 3,000 of Nordstrom’s employees have been with the company for more than 10 years. Nordstrom uses an inverted pyramid to illustrate its structure. On this pyramid, the customers are on top, the salespeople are next and the board of directors are at the bottom. Salespeople are encouraged to make their own decisions and do whatever they think is appropriate to best serve their customers. Nordstrom has done an excellent job focusing on programs aimed at retaining employees. At Nordstrom, the focus is on hiring the personality and the attitude and training the skill. They focus on hiring nice people with a positive, motivated and committed attitude. Previous work experience and qualifications are not important for succeeding in Nordstrom. Nordstrom makes a great effort in the hiring process to understand the potential employee’s personality, how that employee feels about themselves and their attitude towards serving customers. Personality and attitude are keys to success at Nordstrom. (Source: adapted from JC Quick and DL Nelson, Principles of Organisational Behaviour (2011), 7th edition, South-Western Cengage Learning,
(a) Explain the Big Five model of personality
(b) Based on the Big Five model of personality, describe the personality traits that Nordstrom would consider as important when hiring salespeople.
(c) Describe the kind of attitude that is expected of the sales staff of Nordstrom and explain why these attitudes are important.
(d) Do you think Nordstrom employees demonstrate organisational commitment? Provide reasons for your answer.