The interview I conducted was with a sales manager at D.H. Horton; a national home builder with operations in 26 states and employs thousands of employees around the country. Additionally, Horton was ranked the number one home builder for the last 10 years as reported by Builder (2012).  I interviewed one of the top sales associates at the company to gain perspective on the organizational structure and seek information on whether employees are encouraged to be innovative and creative or if they have to follow standardized work procedures as described by Adler (2012). Additionally, I wanted to understand the hierarchy processes in place and determine if Horton was structured like the star system or similar to a lattice structure.
The employee I spoke with was Gabrielle Pucci. She is a sales manager working in a development in Illinois. She has been employed by the company just over one year.

Jacqueline: “Do you know the organizational structure of Horton?”

Gabrielle:  “Horton is a publically traded company having been in business since 1978. The company was founded by D.R. Horton who is the Chairman of the organization. There is a board of directors and several upper management personnel working at top executive levels for the organization”. 

Jacqueline: “Who do you report to?”

Gabrielle: “I have a direct manager who is responsible for overseeing my job responsibilities. Her title is divisional manager. She reports to our regional manager. Our regional manager reports to the vice president of sales. There are 40 employees within our regional structure, covering the tri-states of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.”

Jacqueline: “Does your regional manager report to anyone in the organization?”

Gabrielle: “Yes. Our regional manager reports to the vice-president of sales.”

Jacqueline: “Is your boss second in command of the region?”

Gabrielle: “There are two divisional managers who report to the divisional manager.”

Jacqueline: “Are there rules to follow for your job responsibilities?”

Gabrielle: “Yes we have rules we have to follow. But, the sales manager position is designed to give us authority to make some decisions without having to seek approval from upper management.”

Jacqueline: “As a sales associate, do you have the option to be creative or innovative?”

Gabrielle: “When I was first assigned to my community, I did not have a sales office or home model to work out of. That would pose a problem for most people, but I found a way to make it work to my benefit. I would spend my day dropping in on different real estate offices to introduce myself, give my contact information, and explain where I could be located if a buyer was interested in one the homes in my community. Additionally, since there was no model at my community, my company did not advertise the location on local billboards or signs. I decided to make my own signs up directing people to my location with dates and times when I would be on site to meet with perspective clients.”

Jacqueline: “Why were you assigned to a community that was not being advertised?”

Gabrielle: “The community was hit very hard when the housing crisis hit resulting in no home sales for several years. At the time of the economic downturn, my company was selling homes so fast they could not keep up with demand. Little things like signage fell by the wayside. Then, the housing crisis brought sales to a standstill. Just over a year ago, the housing market started to look up [make a positive turn]. My company decided to bring in a sales associate to sell the remaining 100 home sites left in the development. I was hired and placed in this community. Since I was the newest hire, I was placed in a community that struggled during the housing crisis.”

Jacqueline: “Why did your organization place you in a community with no advertising? Why hire someone and not give them all the tools to succeed?”

Gabrielle: “I did not have local signs directing traffic to my community, but I had the ability to create the traffic myself. Additionally, since I did not have a model to work out of, I was given access to an off-site office to write any contracts that came through.”

Jacqueline: “Wasn’t working off-site difficult? Didn’t you loose potential sales because you were working off of the property?”

Gabrielle: “I only went to the office if I was meeting clients to write a contract. I spent my days with realtors and working in a trailer set up for the construction supervisor. Typically, sales people and construction employees work together on a small scale, but I made sure to befriend the supervisor and form a partnership to create a strong working relationship. Working together allowed me a place to park my car on the property and meet with potential home buyers.”

Jacqueline: “Beside realtors, what else did you do to drive potential buyers to the property?”

Gabrielle: “I decided to make my own signs up and posted them around the entrances to my community and throughout the local area.”

Jacqueline: “Was your manager supportive of this idea?”

Gabrielle: “At first I was worried because no one had ever done anything outside of company guidelines before. But I knew if I did not do something creative to drive the business to my location I would not succeed in selling the remaining 100 homes. After some time, the regional manager called my manager and told her I was wanted in a meeting (after the signs were placed in the community).”

Jacqueline: “Were you reprimanded for being creative with marketing?”

Gabrielle: “I was asked to the regional office and told to clear my calendar for the day. I thought I was going to be fired. Instead, I was introduced to the founder the company, D.R. Horton. Mr. Horton had heard about my signs and wanted to meet with me. We drive out to my community and I showed him around the available lots. He asked me to stop the car when he spotted one of my homemade signs and he got out to see the sign up close. He came back to the car smiling because he was impressed with my creativity. He told me that his company was built on creative thinking and he was happy to see new employees thinking outside the box. He took me out to lunch, which was to McDonalds. He said he admired McDonalds as an organization and was striving to model his company after their organizational structure. At lunch, he told me his story and how he founded the company. I was impressed with his lack of desire to impress me. Instead, Mr. Horton was very down-to-earth and easy to be around. What I did not know then, was just how wealthy he had become. Mr. Horton is on the Forbes Billionaires’ list, but never forgot his humble beginnings.”

Jacqueline: “Besides McDonalds, what did you talk about at lunch?”

Gabrielle: “He just told me the reason why he was interested in home building. He had spent his childhood in a home with no running water or plumbing of any kind. His family used an outhouse for most of his childhood. He said he reminds himself everyday not to let money influence his thinking. That was the reason why we ate at McDonalds. Also, he dressed in jeans and tennis shoes and was wearing a sweatshirt. You would never know he was one of the wealthiest men in the world.”

Jacqueline: “Why do you think he wanted to meet you?”

Gabrielle: “He said he liked the fact that I did not let anything stand in my way and was creative in my marketing strategy.”
Jacqueline: “How have the community home sales been over the last year?”

Gabrielle: “My community had 100 homes site available when I took over. I was told it would take two to three years to sell all of the homes. I have 15 homes left. The vice president of sales called me last week to tell me the company has purchased another property in close proximity to my current community. They purchased the land with me in mind to head up the sales team for the new location. Additionally, I was told that I would work with a partner who has struggled in her current community."

Jacqueline: “Do you think your creativity paid off?”

Gabrielle: “I think my company has rewarded me for being creative and for closing the sales. Being creative alone would not have been enough. I had a responsibility to sell the remaining homes. I focused on that task and found a way to make it work.”

Jacqueline: “Does your company have other rewards in place for achieving your goals?”

Gabrielle: “We have the freedom to make decisions when working with contracted clients. What I mean to say is I can negotiate process with my clients without having to go to upper management for permission or answers.”

Jacqueline: “Can other employees be creative without having to seek permission?”

Gabrielle: “We have a corporate image used throughout the country for our marketing and advertising efforts. However, we can decide where to spend our advertising budget.

Jacqueline: “Can other sales managers make signs to use in the local area?”

Gabrielle: “Yes.”

Jacqueline: “This past week I read an article about an organization that has no hierarchical structure. All employees are called associates. No one associate’s position is considered to be higher than other associates. The structure is called the Lattice Structure. Have you heard of it or had any experience working under this type of structure?”

Gabrielle: “I have not heard of the Lattice Structure. I have only worked for large organizations that have a set structure in place starting with the CEO down to the lowest level of employees.”

Jacqueline: “Other structures are so defined associates are made to conform to the structure. Do you think your position will evolve into a structure where all sales managers had to make the same decisions when negotiating contracts in their communities?”

Gabrielle: “That would not work as we all have different communities with different housing process. The negotiations are based on various elements like price and lot size. It would not be in my company’s best interest to formulize this process because we would loose business.”

Jacqueline: “What do you do all day if you do not have any customers come into your development?”

Gabrielle: “We always have paperwork we can work on.”

Jacqueline: “Do you have to report this free time to your divisional manager?”

Gabrielle: “No. We are encouraged to use the time to plan open house events, send and answer e-mails, and work on existing paperwork."

Jacqueline: “What if you had to report your spare time and were assigned extra work as a result? How do you think you would feel working under these circumstances?”

Gabrielle: “If the assignments were under a commission structure, I think it would pose a problem. Associates would skimp on their regular job responsibilities to have the opportunity to work for more commission.”

The interview ended shortly after the last question and answer. D.R. Horton’s organization is mostly based on the star model of organizational design. Gore’s Lattice Structure is completely different from D.R. Horton’s structure based on the hierarchical structure at Horton. Moreover, the structure, strategy, processes, and people are influential and important factors of Horton’s structure. Gabrielle also shared incentives in place for top achievers based from the rewards portion of the star model. Furthermore, Gabrielle’s job description is similar to mine except I work in the beauty industry and she works in home building. Another similarity is we both work for Fortune 500 organizations, which was why I sought to interview another associate from a Fortune 500 organization. Also noted, Mr. Horton was like Gore in his determination to get to know his employees and reward them for their creativity.

References
Adler , P. S. (n.d.). Perspective: The sociological ambivalence of   bureaucracy:from weber via gouldner to marx . Organization science, 23(1), 244-266. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0615

(2012). D.r. horton: America's home builder. (2012). [Web Photo]. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&authuser=0&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=643&q=d.r.

horton homes&oq=D.R. Ho&gs_l=img.1.1.0i33j0i24l9.1397.6263.0.8940.7.7.0.0.0.0.163.1084.0j7.7.0..0.0..1ac.1.wnrzSUcmt1Y

PRW (2012). Builder unveils its annual builder 100 rankings for 2011 . (2012, May 14). Retrieved from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/5/prweb9487414.htm