Makey’s benefits program.
Today’s HR professionals are expected to measure the success or failure of HR practices based on the achievement of organizational outcomes. Brand identity, bottom-line profitability, employee job satisfaction, and increased management focus are all outcomes that can be achieved in part through an organization’s total rewards program. This case examines a fictitious M. K. Makey organization and how it aligns its total rewards programs with its organizational goals and values. Background: M. K. Makey is a privately held outdoor apparel specialty catalog and retail store founded in 1910 by Michael Kenneth Makey, an outdoor enthusiast and entrepreneur. Makey sold his first 100 pairs of flannel-lined work pants by mail order with a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. When 90 pairs were returned defective, he kept his promise and made the refunds. Makey borrowed $300 from his sister to perfect the design and went on to become a clothing consultant for the military during World War II, and the president and founder of a retail giant. Makey, Inc.’s library includes about 10 specialty catalogs offering products in categories such as children’s clothing, fly-fishing, outerwear, sportswear, housewares, footwear, camping and hiking gear, and the lined work pants upon which the company was built. Makey also operates about a dozen retail stores and some 15 factory outlets throughout the United States. In addition, it sells online through English- and Japanese-language websites. Makey’s annual sales grew from $620 million in 1990 to $2.9 billion in 2014. In 2015, Makey paid a 10 percent company-wide bonus. More than 17,000 people worked for the company during the 2014 holiday season, and in 2014 the company reported 80 percent of sales coming from Internet and catalog sales. The company continues to evolve into a multi-channel sales giant through mail order, telephone, Internet, and in-store sales. The Brand K. Makey, Inc. has always been a marketing professionals’ dream of turning a brand into an institution. Strategists, marketing specialists, and other business professionals (including the competition) have tried to duplicate the company’s achievements with varying degrees of success. A brand is built on perceptions about quality, service, and status created by using a particular product or working with a specific company. A brand can be built using marketing techniques such as visual imagery, wording that identifies what the organization does, and advertising campaigns targeted to a desired demographic. Strong brand identity can build a relationship with the consumer. In M. K. Makey’s case, this is a relationship with the great outdoors. The company operates on the belief that the brand should reflect Makey’s values, not just the products it sells. This case examines how Makey built the brand by using employees as the critical channel through which to accomplish strategic directives. When Samuel Wright, grandson of Michael Makey, assumed the presidency of the company in 1964, he sent a message to employees defining their stakeholders—those to whom M. K. Makey was ultimately accountable in a values-driven business. M. K. Makey stakeholders were its customers, employees, vendors, communities, and the natural environment. In addition to a strong customer focus, the company sought to solidify the brand through social responsibility. Social responsibility is a business concept driven by the principles of ethically sound practices, awareness of the business imprint on the environment, and improvement of the quality of life of the company’s employees and the communities in which it operates. Social responsibility at M. K. Makey is divided into four categories: The Environment With company products geared for outdoor use, Makey focuses its philanthropic efforts on preserving the environment. Examples include green building, charitable giving, and employee participation in preservation activities. Paper Procurement Makey is committed to sustainable, responsible paper procurement, an important consideration because the company mails more than 200 million catalogs each year. It uses recycled fiber, and suppliers are required to have programs in place to support sustainable management of natural resources.