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The case is set in the Fall of 2008 as Susan Schor, Chief Culture Officer, at EILEEN FISHER Inc. is meeting with the other two members of the Facilitating Leader Team, Jim Gundell, Vice President of Retail and e-Commerce and Jonci Coukier, Vice President of Design and Merchandising Processes, as well as founder, Eileen Fisher. Faced with significant projected financial loss in 2009, Susan reflected on the evolution of the company as influenced by her perspective with her organizational behavior expertise and collaborative leadership that embraced a values-based culture. Stories, voices and structures are examined in this retrospective view as Dr Schor sets the stage for how this example of best practice leadership will tackle the challenge at hand.

The research for this case was conducted over an 18-month period with over 40 interviews, extensive observation of the various teams at EILEEN FISHER Inc., and review of corporate communications, publications and other secondary sources. This case focuses on stories and voices that explain the unique leadership of EILEEN FISHER. The use of extensive quotes allows for an authentic “hearing” of the experiences and values as well as allowing the students to better understand the nature of qualitative data. Some of the discussion questions are posed as experiential exercises as this method allows the students to better relate to understand and apply values concepts.

Graduate and undergraduate organizational behavior, leadership, retail management and ethics.

During the downturn in the economy, EILEEN FISHER Inc., which had been experiencing significant growth in the years leading up to 2008, had to take some widespread organizational strategic action or potentially lose $11 million. Eileen Fisher and the Facilitating Leadership Team (FLT) met to reflect on the actions that were taken in the last 18 months in order to reshape their organization. From the beginning, the FLT had been transparent with the 800 employees in the organization, informing them that they were facing serious losses. They shared not only identified issues, but their deep faith in the EILEEN FISHER collaborative culture a faith that was reflected in their first step to planning. Turning to the employees, they had asked, What should we do? Teams throughout the company figured out new ways of working and recaptured EILEEN FISHER's profit. Reflecting on the reshaping of EILEEN FISHER and the many actions taken, the FLT team wondered if the creation of the new normal was sound and sustainable for the future. Students must evaluate the effectiveness of EILEEN FISHER's leadership system and determine whether the company can survive the economic downturn while remaining true to the company's core values.

The case is a field-research case and was funded as part of a sabbatical to study leadership at EILEEN FISHER Inc. The primary goal of the long-term project was to research and write cases on socially minded women leaders through an inclusive conceptual lens. Extensive planning with the Chief Culture Officer at EILEEN FISHER resulted in an 18-month deep dive with over 40 in-depth interviews, extensive observation of many different teams and meetings particularly the monthly Leadership Forums, thorough review of internal communications as well as review of other secondary research.

This case was written for advanced undergraduate or graduate organizational management, retail management and strategic change students. The case is best taught later in the course where students are asked to connect various leadership or strategic change theories with organizations and outcomes. The theoretical readings are more suited for advanced leadership students and are a springboard for in-depth analysis and further assignments. The case demonstrates the power of a values-based organization and how this values-based leadership style can be used to reshape an organization. This case can also be used for a retail management course to look at a values-based organization in the retailing industry. Most retailers in the industry have traditional hierarchical organizations; this case shows that there are alternative business models and newer leadership frameworks that explain EILEEN FISHER's management. Retailers are also impacted by every downturn in the economy and challenge to consumer confidence. This case shows how a retail organization can reshape itself with a new value proposition as a result of a downturn in the economy. It also demonstrates how employees can take action and redefine an organization.