Case Application More Than a Good Story 1. Jake and Rocket a cartoon guy and his cartoon dog, can be found on most of the apparel and other branded products sold by the Life is Good Company. With his perky beret (or other appropriate head gear), Jake has that contended look of being able to enjoy life as it is and finding reasons to be happy right now, and Rocket? Well he is just happy to be along for the ride. And what a ride it’s been for the two! They’ve been part of the company growth to over $100 million in revenues. Company co-founders and brothers, Bert and John Jacobs have a personal and Business philosophy much like Jake; simplicity, humor and humility. However both understand that even this philosophy they need to be good managers throughout the organization in order to stay successful. 2. Bert and John designed their first tee shirts in 1989 and sold them door-to-door in college dorms along the East Coast and in Boston where they’d set up shop using an old card table in locations on one way streets so they could pick up and move quickly if they needed to. They used this simple approach because like many young entrepreneurs, they couldn’t afford required business licenses. Although they met a lot of wonderful people and heard a lot of good stories during those early years, sales weren’t that great. As the company legend goes, the brothers “lived on peanut butter and jelly, slept in their beat-up van, and showered when they could.” During one of their sales trip parties, Bert and John asked some friends for advice on an assortment of images and slogans they had put together. Those friends (some of whom now work for the company) liked the “Life is Good” slogan and drawing of Jake that had been sketched by the John. So Bert and John printed up to 48 Jake shits for a local street fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By noon 48 shirts were gone, something that had never happened! The brothers were smart enough to recognize that they might be on to something. And, as the old saying goes…..the rest is history! Since that momentous day in 1994, they’ve sold nearly 20 million Life is Good shirts featuring Jake and Rocket. Bert attributes their success to his belief that the “ the ‘Life is Good’ message, coupled with the carefree image of Jake, was simple enough to swallow, light enough to be mistaken for preachy, and profound enough to matter.” He goes on to say that, “Note that we don’t say ‘Life is great!’ We say life is good, period. These simple words, People connect with it instantly.” 3. Another important facet of Life is good is their commitment to good causes. And those aren’t just “words” to Bert and John; they act on their words. They are passionately involved with Project Joy, which is a nonprofit organization that fosters the development of at risk children through the art of play. Bert says their partnership with Project Joy aligns with Life is good’s philosophy. The financial

1. Questions and answer of
Case Application 1-More than a good story
Question 1. As the top managers of their company what type of issues might Bert
and John have to deal with? Be as specific as possible, which management
functions might be most important to them? Why?
Answer 1. The number and type of issues may vary from time to time or may arise
as influenced by many factors, however, few of the issues which they might face is as
tabulated under.
1. Issues. As the top managers of their company, Bert and John have to establish
the plans and goals and make some big decisions, such as which market do they want
to develop, how much money they want to earn next year, which partner they want to
cooperate and so on. As the top managers of the company Bert and John might face
following issues:-
a. Leadership
i. Defining Leadership Style. Though leadership may be hard to
define, but as one characteristic remain common i.e. all leaders
must have the ability to make things happen. Thus being the top
mangers they must maintain their will to control events, charting
out of course and implementing with the power to get job done
using the skills and abilities of employees.
ii. Consistency in making Good Decision. Being at the helms of
affairs they are expected to maintain steadiness in achieving
intended goal.
b. Egoistic Approach. At some point they may have experience of being
unavoidably entangled in following egoisticapproach. This has to remain
in control in order to achieve the desired goals. Few of the factors
indicating problems with an out-of-control ego are:
i. Consistently poor morale.
ii. Constant communication breakdowns
iii. Bad hiring decisions

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iv. Acquisitions or mergers that go sour.
v. High employee turnover.
vi. Consistently poor quality
vii. Loss of market share.
viii. Vulnerability to competitors.
ix. Poor sales results.
x. Decreasing profits from year to year.
xi. Consistently poor decisions.
c. Motivational issue. No organization, be it formal or casual, will get far if
its workers are not motivated. Workers who lack focus or are
uninterested in the end goal are not usually very productive, and can
often undermine a leader’s efforts and authority. Sometimes, the fix is as
easy as clearly communicating the mission. Being top managers they
must work with employees to figure out an effective incentive structure.
d. Cultivating Leadership Approach. Being at the top It is a known fact that
the hardest parts of running any sort of organization is ensuring that
those in superior positions are actually capable of leading effectively.
e. Communication. At some point of time they may face communication
gap between them and subordinate management. Effective teamwork
depends on a culture of open communication, where superiors and
subordinates can freely discuss progress and problems. Employees who
feel that their bosses are distant or somehow “off limits” have a tendency
to make mistakes that could have been avoided had parties felt more
comfortable talking to each other.
f. Creating Team Unity. Being Leaders they are often responsible for
helping build unity between staff members. It can take a bit of time for
workers to develop trusting relationships with one another, and the role
of a supervisor or managers is to set the proper framework to encourage
these relationships to grow.
2. Most important management function. There are five basic functions tabulated
as under:

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a. Planning. This function involves mapping out exactly how to achieve
a particular goal.
b. Organizing. After a plan is in place, a manager needs to organize her
team and materials according to her plan. Assigning work and granting
authority are two important elements of organizing.
c. Staffing. After a manager discerns his area's needs, he may decide
to beef up his staffing by recruiting, selecting, training, and developing
employees.
d. Leading. A manager needs to do more than just plan, organize, and
staff his team to achieve a goal. He must also lead. Leading involves
motivating, communicating, guiding, and encouraging. It requires the
manager to coach, assist, and problem solve with employees.
e. Controlling. After the other elements are in place. He needs to
continuously check results against goals and take any corrective actions
necessary to make sure that his area's plans remain on track.
3. All managers at all levels of every organization perform these functions, but in
this particular case Controlling would be the most important function, which gives the
basic drive to run the business. Because Life is good company is a mature company,
which has mature rules, middle managers and first line managers. It also has mature
markets. As the top managers, the most important function is controlling now.
Question 2. Using descriptions from the case, describe Bert and Jhon’s managerial
style. Would this approach work for other organizations? Why or why not?
Answer 2. Bert and John’s managerial style is managing people who take action. It
can work for other organizations as well. For Bert and John, they set up the motto and
enhance the company’s culture to let employees feel themselves to be constructive
parts of the company.
Question 3. How do you think the company’s motto “Do what you like, Like what
you do” might affect how mangers manage? Be specific.

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Answer 3. The motto “Do what you like. Like what you do.” might affect that which
kind of employees the managers want to hire and how they encourage their employees
to work hard. The motto is a kind of company’s culture. And it can help employees to
identify the company. It can be claimed that the motto Do what you like. Like what you
do works as a catalyst in the positive growth of the company.
Question 4. What managerial challenges might there be in having friends work for
your business? How could these challenges be kept inconsequential?
Answer 4. The challenges in having friends work for your business might be hard to
manage. Sometimes they don’t think you are the boss, they think you are just their
friend. But it is easy to deal with talk to your friends and make sure they know their
roles. Let them know here is the business, and there are rules in the company.
Everybody should follow the rules, nobody except.
Question 5. Would you want to work for a company like this? Why or why not?
Answer 5. To answer that would I work for a company like Life is Good? yes would
be my reply. Foremost of the reason would be that the company promotes and
maintain a stress free environment for all employees. This good management style
encourages the employees to learn new things and improve their performance and
thus leading to a positive productivity note.
Question 6. In what ways would the Life is Good managers (corporate and retail
stores) have to deal with the challenges of customer services, innovation and
sustainability? Be specific in your description.
Answer 6. Managers at Life is Good are requires to utilize their skills and bring on the
right amount of motivation to run the company.
1. Challenges. Mangers might have to deal with following challenges:
a. Achieving Goal. There are goals associated with objectives, and if
organization is aggressive then those goals require more than the typical
amount of effort. It’s going to take some careful planning to figure
out how to apply organization’s people and resources to achieve an
aggressive goal. Managers have to have to motivate people, remove
hurdles, and focus on the things that are most important.

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b. Getting the best out of employee. To take on this challenge the
manager may have to adopt following steps:-
i. Treating every employee with respect.
ii. Help employees align their personal goals with their work goals.
iii. Provide a work environment that is appropriate for the work and
conducive to employee well-being.
iv. Encourage employee communication and cooperation
c. Dealing with Underperforming Employees. Right and periodic
provision of motivation and counseling by the managers will help the
employees to improve upon their performance.
d. Hiring the Right People. To have the right person for a specific job
is one one of the major contributor to company’s performance. It
must be noted that an interviews may not predict a good work and work
habits of interviewee, however its going beyond the interview which is
crucial.
e. Crises Management. Planning is a part of managing, but when a crisis
hits, manager have to be able to deal with it calmly, quietly and without
being overwhelmed by stress.
f. Continuous Improvement. There’s always a room for improvement or
a change in a process, a better working environment, better employee
motivation, more focus on the essentials. A manager must seek out
these improvement through research or periodical overviews of
workplace and respond correctly.
2. Importance of innovation. Innovation is a critical factor in a growth of a
company, and it means doing things differently, exploring new territory and taking
risks. Innovation can be the application of new ideas to the products, processes, or
other aspects of the activities of a company that lead to increased “value.” For a
company like Life is Good managers must be abreast with the latest ideas and global
trends.
3. Importance of sustainability. Sustainability is the ability to maintain a certain
status or process in existing systems or company’s ability to achieve its business goals
and increase long term shareholder value by integrating economic, environmental, and

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social opportunities into business strategy. For a company like Life is Good it becomes
important because all the goals they pursue, and all the actions taken today will affect
it in the future. Before sustainability can be fully integrated into a company’s core
business, though, top managers have to take following important actions:
 Shaping consumer tastes to build a stronger market for sustainable products.
 Training management, employees and the next generation of leaders to deal with
sustainability issues.
 Communicating with investors to create a better understanding of the impact of
sustainability.
 Measuring performance on sustainability — and explaining the value of business
in society.
 Working with governments to shape clearer regulation and create a level playing
field.