All posts in October 2019

Management Report For Woolworths Uk

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Introduction
Woolworths was a company that was started in the year 1879 in the City of New York. Its founder Frank Woolworth was interested in offering a one stop shop for a wide range of commodities at an affordable price. He transferred this same concept to the United Kingdom thirty years after establishing the same stores in the United States. He was well received in Liverpool with enthusiastic shoppers thronging the premises.

However, the retail chain store industry has undergone numerous dynamics and Woolworths seems to be a victim of these circumstances. The report shall highlight some of the internal and external challenges that have affected the company. Additionally, an analysis of the company will be done with reference to the theme of globalisation and recommendations for improvement given as a result.

Description and analysis of the internal and external factor to which Woolworths UK is subject

1)Internal factors
Woolworths is affected by some human resource based issues plaguing the retail industry. For instance, some clients have asserted that before purchasing items in any retail store, they usually consider behaviours of the stores employees. Woolworths has received numerous reviews about this aspect. Consumer surveys have indicated that a half of retail purchasers are happy with Woolworths consumer service while the other halves have asserted that their employees are rude. Consequently, the company has to work on the latter percentage. (Hammer and Champy, 1993)

Marketing strategies are crucial in running any business. For companies to dwell in the retail sector today, they need to portray a clear theme in their advertisement and marketing strategies. Woolworths marketing manager asserts that the companys marketing strategy is largely centred on three major categories and these are;
Family
Entertainment
Home

These three themes are what make Woolworths stand out. However, other critics assert that Woolworths is severely lacking in this area. They claim that while other retail chain stores are distinct and stand out depending on specific themes; Woolworths has nothing special that makes it unique. Consequently, this is a marketing or branding issue that will affect future decisions made by Woolworths.

Demand determinants are also instrumental in determining how Woolworths performs in the UK market. There are a number of things that UK consumers look for when shopping in retail chain stores and some of them include
Convenience
Quality of items
Price
Brand recognition (Chopra and Meindl, 2000)

When one talks about convenience, they are referring to the ease of reach with which one can find commodities in retail stores. This is usually depicted by the manner of arrangement. When commodities are arranged haphazardly, then customers may not be enticed to come back there. Woolworths seems to have failed in this regard because many consumers complain of its haphazard nature. For instance, when one steps into a Woolworth store, they are likely to find childrens costumes placed together with table mats and the table mats may be placed alongside video games or other kinds of things. Consequently, it can be argued that Woolworths sense of appeal in terms of convenience is quite wanting. However, it can also be argued that this haphazard arrangement is what contributes to Woolworths uniqueness. This is because it is kind of a spur of the moment alternative rather than a distinct kind of arrangement. (Price Waterhouse, 1995)

On the other hand, convenience can also be assessed through a stores location, when stores are located in busy streets or in accessible places, then demand for ones items may increase. Woolworths may receive a plus for this aspect because their stores are conveniently located and one does not have to look for parking to get into their stores.

Brand recognition and quality of items are an important demand determinant. Once a company fails to deliver in terms of these parameters then there is fertile ground for failure. Woolworths have been praised by some consumers for their high quality items. However, there are still other buyers who have not been satisfied with their commodities claiming that they are a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Lastly, demand for commodities in this industry is affected by the price of its commodities. In analysing whether Woolworths is doing well, it is essential to look at what other companies in the industry are doing. Most of the commodities offered by Woolworths are sold by other competitors such as Asda and Tesco at cheaper prices. This means that Woolworths decisions need to be changed to respond to these challenges.

2)External factors
One of the major external factors affecting Woolworths is closely associated to its operating aspect. The retail chain industry is quite a huge industry since the numbers of stores located in the UK are numerous and this means increased competition for Woolworths. Additionally, the industry is not export oriented. Most products are sourced from outside and then bought into the region thus making players here to become susceptible to international forces that may sometimes be difficult to predict.

It is also interesting to note the fact that the retail chain industry is slowly being outcompeted by supermarkets. Times have changed over the past few years and the sale of non household items within the retail industry is no longer a reserve for companies such as Woolworths alone. Supermarkets which were once associated with the sale of food alone now offer almost all household items under one room. This increased competition from other categories of business has affected the overall productivity and performance of the company. (Porter, 1985)

Market size is an important factor that affects the any kind of business. This is largely because the rate of growth of the market largely reflects the amount of consumers available to purchase ones time. Statistics indicate that the UK retail chain sector is slowly reaching saturated levels. There are stores for almost every type of product under the sun. For instance, when one is looking for old suits then they may choose the option of going for Argos, when they require music CDs, then they have the option of going to Zavvi. Consequently, Woolworths is placed at a position where they are competing for a stagnating market i.e. one that is growing at very low rates yet the number of industry players is on the rise.

Other external factors affecting Woolworths decision making processes are also linked to the way they go about making their personal decisions. For instance, the issue of taxation is quite important in determining whether Woolworths succeeds or not. Since it depends on exports for most of their commodities, then the company is affected adversely by international tariffs in trade. However, it should be noted that the retail chain store sector is not highly regulated by the UK government and this is a plus on the part of Woolworths.

Globalisation
1)How globalisation influences policies and decision making at Woolworths UK
Enterprises and corporations alike are highly influenced by the concept of globalisation and Woolworths is not an exception. Before critically analysing this issue, it is essential to clarify its meaning; globalisation is defined as the increased level of contact between a certain entity and the rest of the world, through globalisation, mutual understandings, personal friendships and world citizenry is created. However, in terms of business entities, globalisation may not be a positive. This is largely because it causes increased competition which may be difficult to out manoeuvre especially when one lacks the capacity for change.

Woolworths UK was a brainchild of the US based subsidiary. Consequently, it had transferred knowledge and business structures from that part of the world to the United Kingdom. This meant that the company ought to have created a local solution to the local UK environment. Local marketing appeal for international companies such as Woolworths is crucial in succeeding in their market. This can only be done by incorporating all the external and internal factors. The United Kingdom was not the original company base for Woolworths; consequently, they needed to look for ways in which they could adopt to the local culture in the UK.

The UK consumer culture has changed dramatically over the past few years. This is as a result of increased levels of exposure brought on by information technology. Consequently, consumers are well aware of their rights and they also know where to find cheap bargains. This is actually the reason why Woolworths has not been performing very well; most consumers want a retail store with preset themes or one with cheap products.

Since so many other retail stores are available, then Woolworths has been pushed to the periphery in light of this competition. It should be noted that globalisation has played a large role in promoting this information driven consumer culture. Through interaction with other parts of the world, the UKs technological status has dramatically improved. People can get important retail information at the touch of a button and this makes them very choosy. In other words, globalisation has boosted information technology which has heightened consumer awareness and thus diminished demand for Woolworths products which do not represent the best value for money.

Globalisation has highly affected shopping behaviour among a series of consumers owing to the fact that it has promoted more job opportunities. Many UK consumers are constantly moving form country to country while conducting business, getting educated or working for a certain multinational. This therefore means that globalisation has created situations in which the UK consumer has very little time in his or her hands. People are now working for more hours and most of them have very little spare time for themselves. What this means for Woolworths is consumers also have little time to spend in their retail outlets. When going for shopping, buyers may be interested in spending as little time as possible in such outlets so that thy can get back to their busy schedules. Decision making in Woolworths must be such that it centres on meeting this need to save time when purchasing. (Kubeck, 1995)

Globalisation highly affects the productivity levels at Woolworths through its supply section. This is because now Woolworths and other retail chain stores have a wider supply base to choose from. They can source their commodities at a cheaper price from other countries of the world or they can locate high quality goods from suppliers in continents. Depending on how Woolworths reacts to this, global supply sourcing can either be a positive or a negative. It can be positive when good suppliers are chosen. However, it can be negative when Woolworths has been outcompeted by other retails who manage to get cheaper goods at lower prices.

Globalisation has also raised the level of competition among various industry players in the retail chain store sector. This is because globalisation favours growth of multinationals. The UK is plagued with a series of multinationals such as Tesco, Wal-Mart, Asda and many more. These multinationals create greater competition because of their diffused processes and also because of greater network structures, greater flows of information and hence greater productivity.

Lastly, globalisation has created fertile ground for outsourcing of jobs. The new buzz word was largely associated with the manufacturing sector where most businesses chose to outsource their manufacturing function to Asian based countries such as China and Taiwan. The retail sector is also involved in this buzz word because a number of their suppliers come from the Asian continent. They have chosen to outsource this aspect to other parts of the world so as to promote their level of competitiveness.

2)Critical evaluation of the effectiveness of the organisations response
Globalisation has promoted greater adoption of information technology and thus a more informed consumer. This kind of consumer is less loyal to particular brand unless that brand offers good quality or value for money. Woolworths has also been slow in responding to this aspect of globalisation. Since the consumer is more informed, the company should have worked on their prices and it should also have taken the time to check the quality of their commodities so that they can increase their client base. Woolworths still has a long way to go in handling these challenges.

It can be argued that Woolworths has not responded as strongly as it should to forces of globalisation. As it has been asserted earlier, many consumers are now engaging in more work and have less time to shop. Consequently, Woolworths store formats should have been changed to meet this need. Compared to other retail outlets in the United Kingdom, Woolworth is yet to catch up with the rest in terms of in-store organisation. More often than not, consumers may not be able to find what they are looking for in a Woolworths store unless assisted by one of the employees. Consequently, this takes a lot of time and may prompt some of them to choose other stores. (Scheer, 1999)

In terms of sourcing for suppliers from other parts of the world, it is imperative for Woolworths to awaken to the possibility that other retail chain stores in the UK are doing much better than they are. This is largely as a result of the lower prices that some of their commodities are grouping for and also because of a result of greater investment in dependant supplier who offer high quality.

Woolworths may have been overwhelmed by the increased competition facing the retail chain industry from multinationals. Globalisation has created sound operating structures for facilitating better productivity and this has given greater precedence to these large multinationals. Woolworths is supposed to be competing with the multinationals by offering products or services that whether they meet or exceed the offerings in these multinationals. However, Woolworths has not responded as quickly and assertively as it should. The company therefore needs to look for other ways in which they can promote this development through sound service delivery. (Sterman, 2000)

Woolworths has responded to the need to outsource by getting some of their goods from the Asian continent. However, compared to their competitors, this company still has along way to go in terms of being at per with its competitors. Most of the time, the company relies on European based manufacturers for their commodities or their in store brands.

Conclusion – Areas for improvement in the response of the organisation
Globalisation is eminent in almost all spheres of the UK economy. Consequently, companies that fail to react swiftly to this phenomenon are bound to be left behind. Woolworths has debts of three hundred and eighty five million pounds as of mid 2008. This poor performance is further illustrated by the figure below depicts its performance over the past few months. Its shares have been on the decline.

Source; (Eriksson and Penker, 2000)

In order to boost its performance in the global arena, then Woolworths needs to change a number of things. First of all, the company needs to respond to the need to save time this can be done by more orderly arrangements of their commodities in their stores. Secondly, the company needs to take greater care in terms of sourcing better quality items. Consequently, the company will do much better in the retail industry by placing greater precedence on this matter. (Eriksson and Penker, 2000)

On top of the latter, there should be greater emphasis on the adoption of information technology especially with regard to the use online sales. Also, they need to embrace the fact that their brand is barely recognised among future market segments. The company has to work on adding value to their name and making their services easily recognised.

References
Hammer, M. and Champy, P. (1993): Reengineering the Corporation – A Manifesto for Business Revolution; Harper Business Book
Porter, M. (1985): Competitive Advantage – Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance; Free Press
Price Waterhouse (1995): Change Integration Team – Best Practices for Transforming Your Organization; Irwin
Scheer, A. (1999): ARIS – Business Process Frameworks; Springer
Sterman, J. (2000): Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modelling for a Complex World; McGraw-Hill
Kubeck, L. (1995): Techniques for Business Process Redesign – Tying It All Together; Wiley-QED Publication
Chopra, S. and Meindl, P. (2000): Supply Chain Management – Strategy, Planning and Operations; Prentice Hall College Division
Eriksson, H. and Penker. H. (2000): Business Modelling with UML – Business Patterns that Work; Wiley

Itsm – Identifying Core Business Processes Is The First Step Toward Customer Satisfaction

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In todays business environment, organisations know that to be competitive, they need to respond to change, especially as customer expectations increase. Customers are more demanding, mobile and informed than ever. Global and distributed organisations need consistency in the quality and levels of service regardless of where and how they conduct business.

It is extremely difficult to meet these challenges in a timely manner if business IT processes are widely dispersed, silo-based and inconsistent. Consistent core IT business processes, language and data representation is essential to allow decision makers to respond quickly to the changing market.

Defining and maintaining consistent IT business processes is a lot easier said than done but critical if an organisation is to survive in todays market. This article will define core business processes and explain how to differentiate these processes from their implementation. It will also review how to prioritise which processes to investigate first.

Defining the core business processes
A “core” business process is defined as the minimum individual tasks to be accomplished to provide a certain level of consistency in output, without any consideration to hardware, software, people resource or performance.

When a core process is implemented, anything can be added to make the process more efficient, but nothing should be eliminated. When the core business process states that certain tasks must be performed in sequence, then it must be reflected in the implementation. In the same manner, any specified steps associated with a task must also be reflected within the implementation.

When asked, most organisations will claim that their core business processes are documented. Yet, typically, it is not the core business process that has been documented but the implementation of that process within a particular system or function. In this scenario, the documentation contains system or application process models reflecting implementation details such as “enter username.” Most times, documentation of a core business process doesnt reflect whether a user is identified by a username, badge number, ID-card, or some other method of authentication, as long as the organisation is satisfied with the accuracy of the documentation. Identifying and authenticating a user is an implementation issue, not a business process.

Its not easy to separate implementation from the core business process. Just take one business process and see how readily you can identify the major tasks involved without letting implementation issues creep into the mix.
And it only gets more difficult when core business processes become more intricate and critical within the enterprise.

Using the right process methodology
The methodology and approach used to identify, derive, or create core business processes will vary with an enterprises size, industry and culture.

There are several proven methodologies and supporting tools for deriving and improving business IT processes (e.g. ITIL and ISO/IEC20000).

Your first steps
1. Investigate and remove hurdles relating to organisational cultural issues, governance processes, and supporting infrastructure up front.
2. Educate participants on what a core business process is, how it will benefit their respective business area, and the chosen methodology that will be used to derive these processes.
3. Dont try and do all of the critical business processes at once. Suggest a phased approach with a sound transition strategy.

Once youve identified core business processes, its important to prioritise which ones to tackle first. A new
business channel or service is a good place to start, as business analysis and requirements gathering have likely already been done, which should provide a good jumping-off point for identifying core processes.
Next, tackle any business process areas featuring disparate results between business units. Then, look at processes for which new enabling technology is being considered. Rounding out the list are those processes supported by different implementation and those supported by more than one location or business.

Process empowerment
It is import that all parties involved in executing the process clearly understand that it is the process that should be empowered, and should not be confused with the organisational function and position performing it. For example the Service Desk working on a major payroll incident, which requires immediate response and resource from the development team.

Process review
Your core processes should be a living entity, it is therefore essential to regularly review the performance of your process and adjust as business demands change. (Refer to the Quality management process review flowchart).

Its never too late to start
If enterprises are to remain competitive; they need to reduce the complexities resulting from widely dispersed and often disparate business processes. Establishing consistent empowered core business processes is just one step toward meeting increasing customer expectations in today’s market.

How To Start A Day Trading Business-seven Steps To Day Trading Profit

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Before everything else, what exactly is day trading? As per Wikipedias definition, Daytrading represents the practice of selling and buying financial instruments (such as stocks, futures, options, etc.) as a way to generate a return within the same trading day. Traders that practice day trading are called active traders or day traders.

Day trading, like any other business professions, needs serious education, quality planning, and plenty of practice. Numerous beginners enter the daytrading business each day in hope of making quick cash. But just a few of those who get properly educated, possess a good trading plan and self-control can survive and thrive in the business. Many of them make lots of money every day trading only for a couple of hours, and spend the remainder of their days freely with their family and friends, doing whatever they love to do.

But how to become a good day trader and make real money in the market? Lets take a look at the idea:

Step 1. We need to give ourselves a thorough education on the financial market. We should find out what financial instruments can be found in the market, and what instruments go well with our day traders best. Next we need to familiarize ourselves with the various day trading strategies and try to find one that fits us the best. Search engines including Google and Yahoo are great places to find day trading courses and strategies. We’ll need to carry out our in depth analysis and utilize our own judgment to find the right one that fits us most. We should also equip ourselves with the trading tools such as market research tools, realtime trading software, and find and sign-up with a trustful discount broker.

Step 2. Once we have determined our trading strategy, the next task is to write up a trading plan. Yes, we should put our trading plan in paper. Within this trading plan, we will outline our mission statement-what we wish to achieve in day trading? What are our short term and long-term objectives? Do we want to get a little extra income aside from our regular job, or will we wish to turn into financially independent by doing day trading? We will also want to prepare an in depth plan on our daily trading activities that include pre-market research, our entry and exit strategy, and our after-market groundwork.

Step 3. Set up an account for paper trading. Once we have written up our trading plan, we are set out to test the water by paper trading or carrying out trading simulation. This is very essential as we do not wish to risk our real money before we’re comfortable with the game. There are lots of trading simulation software readily available for free on the market and we may also check out with our broker to see if they provide a real-time trading simulation platform. When doing simulation, attempt to consider ourselves as trading with our real money and act according to our trading plans.

Step 4. Set a daily limit, both for profit and for loss. After we have built up self-confidence in day trading, we try to trade once or twice a week with real money. It is very important set a daily limit for both profit and loss. For example, we can set a daily profit target at $200, and a loss limit of $100. Once we have reached either limit, we should stop trading. Turn off your computer, go out and take a walk or have a cup of tea. Never over-trade.

Step 5. Have a good money management system in place. Before we enter each trade, we ought to evaluate our worst case scenario. How much money we can afford to lose in each trade we enter if we happen to lose in every single trade we made for the day? Knowing our maximum affordable loss for each trade is important as we will deliberately limit our size of entry and set up our stop loss even before our trade. This can prevent us from losing big and keep us in the game.

Step 6. Fix our emotion issues through writing trade logs. For day traders, keeping our emotions in check is a big challenge and need much disciple and exercise. Every day, we may be distracted by numerous emotions such as fear, pride, ego, etc. These emotions may prevent us from following our trading plans and eventually deteriorate our confidence. An effective way to fix this issue is to write trade logs regularly on a daily basis. When writing logs, we will analyze each trading action and record the actual logic or emotion behind trade. When we see ourselves fall in the trap of emotions, we will remind ourselves not to make the same mistake the next time. By practicing this plenty of time, we will train our mind to follow the logic and keep our emotions in check.

Step 7. Reward ourselves when we abide by our rules. Whenever we follow our strategy or trading plan to the letter, regardless of a winning or a losing trade, we need to give ourselves a big pat on the back, because we have conquered our emotions and made a big leap toward day trading success and financial freedom. When we have achieved our short term target, we should not forget to reward ourselves for the hard work and achievement. Be it a trip to Las Vegas or a cool iPad, put this in our trading plan as it will motivate us to achieve our goal. In the end, we deserve it anyway.

Ebriks Infotech- Effective Mobile Local Search Marketing Strategy To Make Local Business Success

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EBriks Infotech SEO Company India Share With You About Local Search Marketing Strategy to make local business success .The number of people using mobile searches on Google with local intent is regularly increasing. Today, myriad of consumers depend upon these mobile devices to search for products and services in vicinity, thus, presenting a major opportunity for local businesses. These businesses, if follow effective mobile search strategy can take advantage of this growth in mobile arena. The mobile website should be optimized accordingly so that target customers can search you easily.
Lets throw light on the major areas that could help you in effective local searches.
A mobile-optimized website is first crucial step in the direction of effective mobile search strategy, as it makes it easier for users to find you easily, thus, increasing chances of converting users to customers. A user-friendly site, no doubt, is more preferred by users. It is because the positive experience people face helps them search the needed information without any inconvenience. To some extent, it also affects the brand reputation. It is frustrating on part of customers to surf desktop-friendly site on mobile device. Thus, it comes clear that a mobile-optimized website has positive effect on the growth of local businesses.
Another important area that matters a lot is implementation of a local search strategy. Local SEO and local PPC are two of the growing techniques that help business to target local customers. SEO campaign targeting specific location is the effective way to reach to the potential customers. It helps you make your website searched easily on mobile searches. Here, the local strategy takes into account optimized website both for location specific keyword as well as for local business listings. An effective SEO campaign ensures good ranking of the website with regard to local searches. Google + and Bing local helps in local listing for searched with local intent. The PPC advertising should also be done, targeting specific location. The contact details in PPC campaigns helps mobile users to easily get direction to your location. Make sure that your ad ranking is at the top of search engine result pages.
Both these areas, if pondered over smartly can help in improving upon the website ranking as well as improve upon the user to customer conversion ratio. A local mobile strategy includes local business listing and paid campaigns. Thus, the most effective strategy takes into account both SEO and PPC.
It can be concluded that local search strategy should enable users to search your website easily while performing mobile search and a mobile-optimized site would be helpful to people in getting the needed information.

Nightclub Business Plans For Entrepreneurs

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Having the very best nightclub business plan is an important aspect of guaranteeing that your new nightclub is a success. It is in fact one of the first duties you have to do before you begin planning anything else. Nightclubs may be very profitable. Even so, like restaurants, heaps of them go under each day due to whether incomplete nightclub business plans or no strategy whatsoever. The greatest mistake you can make is considering that you do not need a strategy to start a new nightclub. People will not just come pouring in when the doorways open up. Even if they do, that is no guarantee that your nightclub would be a success.
The first factor you have to look at when compiling the correct nightclub business plans is to keep in mind that it is possible to be a part of everything. You can plan the way the bar should be run, you can plan how the dance floor should be laid out, and you can even plan where the lights should go and how they should shine. Not just that, but it is easy to integrate the DJs you recruit and their equipment into your nightclub business plans as well. If you intend to serve meals, your plans can incorporate provisions for the kitchen as well. After that, also, your plans can additionally consist of employing somebody else to do all of these things. Delegating responsibilities is totally up to you.
Naturally, there are additionally a number of other things to look at when writing up your nightclub business plans. For example, you will have to consider how you intend to run your nightclub. Even so, you do not need to concentrate solely on general operations. Quite the contrary, you need to look at how your nightclub should run on daily basis. Your plans additionally have to incorporate what sort of equipment you will need for every aspect of your club. Bar equipment, lights, the audio system, and so on: all of this must be thought of before you ever open up your doorways. On top of that, your plans have to incorporate the kind of music you intend to play as well. Are you going to have a rock club, a techno club, an emo club, a trance club? Do you intend to do a mix of genres or do you wish to concentrate on one specific genre?
In brief, your nightclub business plans have to incorporate everything. You even have to determine whether you wish people to get their drinks solely from the bar or whether you intend to have waiters and waitresses. In other words, planning a nightclub involves intense detail. If you keep in mind that, then you are one step nearer to success.