Simply Steam Case Study

Founded and owned by Doug and Phil, simply steam was engaged in carpet steam cleaning service and selling small amount of carpet spot removers and carpet fresheners. Serving in populated area, business has rising to a new level and simply steam co. business has grown rapidly from one car-pooled trailer to twelve fully equipped vans in less than six years.

The company growth was largely through World to mouth advertisement and providing quality service to its customers. Simply steam owners (Phil and Doug) are extremely involved and committed in operating the business day-to-day operation. However, Simply steam co. has high employee turnover that can affect the company image and resource.in addition, sales agents have the ability to negotiate price with customers and can lead to fraudulent pricing. This shows simply steam co. lacks strong control environment to prevent fraudulent activates and detect when it happened.

The accounting department of Simply Steam contains seven part-time clerks; none of them has an accounting degree and previous work experience. Not only that, employees has no formal job responsibilities, which causes overlap between one person’s job and another’s.

Simply steam does not have audit committee, which is typical of organization to this size. But the company does not have formal board of directors either. In fact, the company has active board of directors consisted of Phil, Doug and their wives. The members of the board of directors had a regular once a year meeting; however, the members can meet when needed. The big problem with simply steam co. board of directors is that, the members have once per year scheduling meeting and the board members are the managers, so there is no independence in decision making.

The management philosophy and operating style of simply steam co. Was “open door,” aiming to encourage employees to express their concerns to the management. However, Phil and Doug have little