MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores

What incentive scheme will ensure branches of a London-based multinational will enjoy continued success?
Ann Bartel, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely, Rachel Griffith  | Spring 2009
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MacAfee Building Supply, a distributor of building supplies and heating and plumbing products, had grown to become the largest company of its kind in the world by incentivizing profit-maximizing behavior at the local level. John Smith, a senior manager at the company's Build subdivision, had nevertheless grown concerned that MacAfee's incentive scheme, which incentivized profits at the branch level, was actually hindering long-term global profitability by creating a lack of cooperation among branches and discouraging branch manager's investment in long-term endeavors. In this three-part case students first recommend strategies for better aligning employees to a long-term focus, and then evaluate the results of the program the company selected.

Case ID: 090301
Supplemental Materials: Teaching Note, Teaching Slides

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