1.Why is it necessary to clearly identify, before designing product and service offerings, customer needs, and what are some of the less obvious service aspects that might inform purchasing decisions? Customers are what keep your company going. You need to know exactly what it is that they want so that you can provide it for them and so profit from them. Every customer is different from another individual, therefore every customer has a different need. Understanding customer needs will help you define new market opportunities and drive innovation and revenue growth in every aspect of your organization.
Even though the prime focus of these systems is not necessarily to cut labor costs, often times they can improve efficiency. Store cashiers do much more than just point of sale transactions. They ensure that the store is stocked, clean, and up to date with all products. (Especially perishables) “Self-checkout can allow more time for convenience store employees to handle these additional transactions and activities” (Murphey, p.
Doing this allowed Home Depot to attract new customers because of the new, innovative products they now stocked. (Constantineau) With the addition of HR managers in each store, proper training and the evaluation process became a focal point. Pre-Nardelli, there were 157 employee performance evaluation forms in use. He cut that down to two, one for management and one for regular employees. Distinguishing itself from competitors is a constant battle, and the macroeconomic environment may shift against the corporation.
HR insures employees are held operationally accountable for keeping a balanced focus on customer service, expense control (theft prevention) and keeping products in stock” (Bergdahl, 2010). Wal-Marts spend a considerable amount of effort trying to make employees feel like they are part the company because they are valuable assets to solicit new ideas. Wal-Mart is continuously expanding that is why they are on the look-out for the best candidates, as a result of their global reach; there are a lot of job openings worldwide. There are two ways in which Wal-Mart recruit, internal and external recruitment. Wal-Mart recruitment uses both of them depending on the situation.
Before eight weeks of instruction in Consumer Behavior, I could go to the supermarket, pick up a few items and never think twice about why I did it and what mental process I went through to get it. Now, I understand that there were critical sets that took place in order for me to buy those things which are all a direct result of Consumer Behavior. It is defined as “a set of value-setting activities that take place as people go about addressing realized needs” (Babin & Harris, 2011). One of the activities in the consumption process involves internal influences. This is, for the most part, what motivates a person to purchase products or services.
I also believe that by following my recommendations, Barilla will succeed in influencing its distributors and Sales personnel to work together and implement the JITD program. This will not only result in better performance in terms of time and money but also promote trust and good relations among all the partners in the supply chain. 2. Identification of the problem Barilla is suffering from what is known as Bull whip problem- high inventory, -magnification of demand variability across the chain-frequent promotion – only one way of flow of information. • Promotions: Barilla’s sales strategy relied heavily on the use of promotions, in the form of price, transportation and volume discounts.
Many elements can be placed to form marketing mix of any organization but most significant elements are given as follows (i) Store location (ii) Merchandise and Category Management (iii) Pricing (iv) Inshore marketing (v) Customer Relationship Management These retail marketing mix strategies at Argos are discussed here in detail (i) Store Location:- The selection of store location is most significant and important decision and success of business heavily relies on this decision. Store location contributes to the success of any organization. Argos initially emphasised high streets locations and shopping malls and continue opening its store near populated areas in order to provide consumer easy access and facility to visits the store. Explains stores can be opened in planned
Would a job order cost system or a process order cost system work for Super Bakery. Why or why not? After much research the company end up changing the system; the one that will identify the cost associated with the activities performed in the business of warehousing, shipping, and manufacturing. Super Bakery is now able to track the profit from each customer's account and the performance of
ERP system improves Inventory control by offering real-time information on finish good inventory allowing manufacturing and planning to evaluate customer demand. Moreover, ERP system provides data which can further be analyzed to gain more grip on high-moving vs. slow-moving products to minimize the stocked inventories. ERP system improves Material control by providing updated prices on materials which can be leveraged to negotiate better pricing from vendor, therefore directly impacting the company’s bottom line. Moreover, ERP provides more visibility on DOH on storage of raw materials, where this information can be utilize to deploy VIM process to reduce DOH for raw materials. Enabling business to reduce cash-to-cash cycle time.
The company has developed a strategic plan which enables the company to relocate the store shelves of Best Buy based on the behavior of the market. Best Buy has created niche segmentation to each store making the profit of the company grow bigger because of diverse target markets in each location. The company has also developed a reward zone program which allows the customers to earn points and receive gift certificate for future purchase (Pride, 2008). Resources and capabilities that allow the firm to complete important tasks are one of the strengths of the company. Best Buy is able to effectively manage the flow of its inventory that helps them complete the important task of having the right merchandise on its shelves for customers to buy.