Wesfarmers Pledges To Fix 'crazy' Supermarkets
The Age
Friday March 7, 2008
WESFARMERS chief executive Richard Goyder has used a business breakfast to criticise the previous owners of the Coles supermarkets chain.
A little more than 100 days after Wesfarmers took over the reins at Coles Group, Mr Goyder said he had cleaned out an entire level of Coles management.He blamed Coles' poor performance on the company's bureaucracy and a culture that discouraged staff from taking pride in their work. Mr Goyder said Wesfarmers would dismantle Coles' bureaucracy and replace it with reporting lines used by Wesfarmers. "It's hard to believe that before Christmas, supply chain reported separately to (former Coles chief executive) John Fletcher, so if the people in the business wanted something done . . . they had to go through the boss to get it done - just crazy stuff," he said. "The entire old functional team who reported to John Fletcher is gone." Previously, store managers had not been held accountable for dealing with customer complaints, had left displays of advertised specials empty and had allowed car parks to fill with trolleys instead of making trolleys available at the store entrance, Mr Goyder said. He said he had received letters of up to three pages from frustrated shoppers, essentially saying: "You guys suck.""We've got a culture where there has been little accountability . . . and slow or no decision-making capacity and a frustration that decisions were being made for the short-term, which would adversely affect the business over the long-term," he said. "In Wesfarmers, if you meet standards, you get to run your business with day-to-day independence." Many of Mr Goyder's plans for the company cannot be fully implemented until the new supermarkets managing director, Scottish auto-parts retailer Ian McLeod, arrives in May. "I can't fix Coles but I can put the people in place who can," Mr Goyder said. Wesfarmers plans to increase supermarket profit by improving the quality and appearance of its fresh food, culling the range of products offered in stores and enticing customers back with competitive pricing. Wesfarmers shares yesterday shed 31? to close at $38.66. -- With AGENCIES
© 2008 The Age