The Filene’s case talks about Norma, a loyal customer getting fired in a brutal way. We believe that there should be a series of practices that the managers must consider before making such strong decisions. It should be a two-way street in which the management describes to the customer why they are unhappy with her buying behavior and then give the customer a chance to defend herself. Norma, in this case, was kept in the dark throughout until she got her first clue – which was not being invited to join the Insiders Club for the Newton store. This made her very upset as her strong relationship with the company was not recognized. She was treated with respect by the previous management and additional discounts were given to her because of her loyalty. …show more content…
They centralized decision-making at the corporate headquarters, stripping employees of their decision-making power, leaving them disillusioned and in turn disappointing the customers. When Norma approached a store manager with her merchandising help, he rejected it telling her to go straight to the executives with her ideas. The employees must be given freedom to voice their opinion as they are the ones who interact directly with the customers. Filene’s 4P marketing decisions – promotion strategy, product strategy, pricing strategy and place strategy too were largely to blame for Norma’s behaviour. Its’ disorganized store design, limited time sales and automatic discounted pricing contributed to creating a shopping experience in which customers had to purchase items haphazardly, leading them to regret their purchases and return items later. Looking at such a culture, Norma seems hugely innocent of blame for her unending
Takem’s is an appliance store in the state of Virginia serving the residents of the Appalachian regions of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The business model which is currently being conducted in the appliance store has been called into question by one of the customers who has recently purchased a computer on credit. The owner of the store, Tommy, is now contemplating what should be done to handle this situation and protect his interest in the future. In this discourse, the author attempts to reveal to the reader the alleged infractions that Takem’s may be liable for regarding the situation with his customer, Ms. Sally
Persuasion has always played an intricate role, in many ways, when it comes to promotion of a Fortune 500 companies like C.V.S. corporation. With the largest pharmacy chain of over 7400 stores in United States; no wonder they are at the top five largest pharmacies in the United States based on revenue generated from prescription only. However it's not only prescription is sold in stores; there are assortment of general merchandise including food, sundries, beauty products as well as health products sold there. In one of the stores I visited for this paper, located at 39th and Main street, I noticed that the products were sold in minute quantities so as to reduce the price of the merchandise.
The department store was known for selling goods at fixed prices and even the store workers were given a “percentage on the smallest bit of material, the smallest article they sold: a system which had caused a revolution in the drapery trade by creating among the assistants a struggle for survival from which the employers reaped the benefit” (Zola, and Nelson 35). The managers...
Lichenstein, N. (2007) Why Working at Walmart is Different Connecticut Law Review, Volume 39 Number 4, May 2007
Employees of companies must consider their actions before making decisions and remember they have an ethical responsibility to the organization and use high moral standards to influence their decisions. Ethical responsibility is crucial and goes beyond personal values, it takes into account which actions provide the greatest benefit for the greatest number and produces the least amount of harm. Not all decisions are black and white, many fall into gray areas. When individuals make unethical decisions it can damage the name of the organization. In the business world the reputation of an organization is based on its integrity. A company must acquire and maintain customers to survive and grow in today’s competitive global market. Rational
Sears, Roebuck, and Co. seemed to have the right idea when beginning their business in the late 1800s. Instead of just opening up one type of company, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. expanded from retail to insurance, real estate, securities, and credit cards (Nelson, 2007, p. 207). Until the early 1990s, the company seemed to be doing very well considering the revenue and earnings reported that equaled up to billions of dollars. Then, the company began to experience financial difficulties due to the fact that other discount retailers were coming into business. Therefore, Sears decided to implement an incentive plan to increase their profits within the auto centers nationwide (Nelson, 2007, p. 207). Once the commission based plan was evaluated, many ethical standards seemed to have been overlooked during the development process.
Marks & Spencer is one of the UK's foremost retailers of clothing, foods, homeware and financial services, boasting a weekly customer base of 10 million in over 300 UK stores. Marks & Spencer operate in 30 countries worldwide, and has a group turnover in excess of £8 billion. It has specific values, missions and visions. It’s main vision is ‘to be the standard against which all others are measured’, it’s main mission is ‘to make aspirational quality accessible to all’, and it’s main values are quality, service, innovation and trust. (www.marksandspencer.co.uk).
Wal-Mart maintains aggressively, a distinct and consistent corporate culture through out its operations. The issue is that local managers and supervisors are given unguided discretion on the hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplining of employees (Hart, 2006). These individual managers bring with them their own beliefs, biases, stereotypes, and assumpt...
...o observe several very different types of people shop in the Crest Fresh Market in Norman. They all chose items based on their personalities and possible monetary or health benefits. Their shopping habits varied widely, especially those of groups of people shopping together. The link between all these people is that while they think they chose the food they bought, but this choice is just an illusion. Large invisible commercial agencies control the products that are available to these consumers, and these do not necessarily pick the products the consumer would pick in a completely open market, but the products that allow for the greatest profit margin. The everyday grocery shopper does not consider these huge corporations during their shopping trips, but without knowledge of the true decision makers, the supermarket will continue to be full of false decisions.
In recent news, a Utah court is pondering if the right to self defense superceeds a Walmart “de-escalation” policy, which led to the firing of six Walmart employees. (Kieler, 2014) The former Walmart employees’ behaviors appear to be within human nature to protect oneself and the organization. Why would Walmart view the former employees’ behaviors as damaging to the corporation? What are the impacts of the firings on Walmart’s remaining workforce? How do Walmart’s actions influence employer and employee relationships? The aforementioned questions come to mind when contemplating if Walmart made the right decision(s) following their employees’ actions. Although Walmart views their former employees’ actions as black or white, others within
The polices implemented by the Lincoln Electric Company have been so effective that the rate of turnover is restricted to retirements and new employees leaving the company. Long term employees of the company usually find no reason to leave. The organization doesn’t have a formal organization chart like those of many companies today. This leaves room for flexibility and allows employees to have their problems resolved by the most capable person available. This eliminates the chain of command restrictions that are faced in companies today where you have to report the issue to your direct manager before it can reach someone who can actually fix the problem. This “open door policy is practiced throughout the company”. – Arthur Sharplin, 1989.
"Organize Your Retail Spaces To Encourage Buying." Firmology. N.p., 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Nordstrom department stores are an employee empowerment success story with their no-questions-asked return policy which empowers employees to give a full refund to their customers when returning merchandise. This policy espouses “The Nordstrom Way” which has one rule which states “Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules” (Spector & McCarthy, 2012). In my opinion this one rule sums up the philosophy of employee empowerment.
The retail business is by and large an extremely powerful, quick evolving area. It constitutes one of the fundamental segments in the economy, as far as exchanges and turnover; as an outcome, it is an exceptionally focused and sophisticated industry. Companies must be continually observing the business sector, to recognize any new trends on an auspicious style and, most importantly, they need to stay aware of the client 's expanding desires and evolving tastes. These days, it is turning out to be more troublesome and testing to keep the client fulfilled and steadfast clients ' inclinations change rapidly.
Employee stakeholders have another story. The discrimination lawsuits ranging from female employees not getting equal pay or equal positions, to disabled employees, class-action lawsuits stating that Wal-Mart doctors questionnaires to prevent disabled workers from applying, Wal-Mart does not rank very high with these employees. Lawsuits stemming from Wal-Mart’s failure to monitor labor conditions at oversea factories and hires illegal immigrants add to the rift in relations between the employees and the company. Wal-Mart continues to deny charges...