February 2014 (Revised April 2014)
Case
HBS Case Collection

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:19

Abstract

Indian cell phone retailer Go Mobile had implemented high-powered incentives to motivate its store employees to behave as owners and provide exceptional service. As the company scaled up, it faced multiple challenges in building a layer of district managers that were willing and were able to support the highly-incentivized store teams. On one hand, the district managers were expected to drive a profitable expansion, supporting complex day-to-day operations at the stores. On the other hand, they were expected to serve as mentors—communicating and teaching the values of the firm to their store managers, sharing best practices, and instilling a long-term perspective of the business. The case presents different mechanisms that the company could implement to motivate the district managers to effectively support the stores and foster growth.