Mrs. Fields Case Study

Mrs.Fields Case Study

Would you describe Mrs. Fields’ Cookies as more of a functional hierarchy structured along traditional functional lines or more of an IT-enabled network consisting of tailored business processes?

Mrs. Fields’ started as a functional hierarchy. Later with the help of her Stanford educated economist husband the company grew into an IT-enabled network. Debi Fields started Mrs. Fields’ Cookies with a single store in Palo Alto, CA. Eventually the company grew to over 416 cookie stores and over 200 other snack based stores. They employed over 8,000 worldwide employees within a decade.

Initially it was easy for Debbi to be hands on and available for all customer service and managerial decisions. As a second store opened she realized she couldn’t be in two places at one time and resisted delegating authority. With no formal business school training, encouragement from Randy helped her realize delegating authority was the only way to expand and grow the business. Thus a more tailored business process began.

What role does IT play in the Mrs. Fields’ organizational structure?

IT was a driving force in Mrs. Fields’ growth and organizational structure. Their objective of running each store similar to how Debi ran the original Palo Alto location geared them towards the implementation of IT. The goal of MIS was “to put as much decision making and intelligence in the store level PC as is necessary to free the manager to do those things that uniquely people do.” Ultimately by using computers for logistical and statistical work, managers were more available to interact with customers and sell cookies.

With 140 people in the Park City corporate office there was constant communication from DSM reporting to 17 RDO who reported to 4 senior regional directors. Debi was kept in the loop by controllers who managed between 35-75 stores and given daily computer reports of sales, problems, and trends. IS allowed the company to accommodate growth without expanding