INTRODUCTION
If you were to ask me what my dream job is, it definitely wouldn't be taking over the operation of a floundering grocery chain. Yet, that's exactly what former General Electric executive Lawrence R. Johnston did in 2001. Not only did he take over the company, he turned it around. His inventive management style and new ideas have begun to revive the company. Johnston knew that he couldn't compete head to head with the retail giants such as Wal-Mart (Holmes, 2005). He has spearheaded the addition of technology to Albertsons, to improve the speed of checkout and customer service. These changes are evident in that the 18% increase in earnings for the third quarter of 2005 was mostly due to cost saving measures not increased sales as was hoped (Holmes, 2005). He has also had a few issues with the employees. For example, a four-month strike at the Southern California stores cost the company an estimated $1.2 billion in lost sales. That figure doesn't even begin to estimate the cost of the ill will of the employees (Holmes, 2005). Even though the strike was a definite setback it also proved the resolve of the management to have things their way. Johnston believes the strike has helped to speed the signing of new contracts in other areas of the country (Holms, 2005). All in all, he seems to be exceeding expectations. I wonder if I could perform as well as Johnston.
MY TURN
Imagine that I were hired instead of Johnston. What would I do differently? Well, the biggest thing would be to implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Basically, RFID is using radio frequencies to track and inventory shipments. If you've watched television in the last year you've probably seen the IBM commercial where a couple of truck drivers are lost. The point of the commercial is that the boxes "told" the help desk that they were going the wrong way. Now, is RFID going to cause someone to be sitting in the middle of the road to tell the drivers their going the wrong way? No, probably not. However, RFID could possibly generate a phone call from the dispatcher to enquire about the intentions of the driver.
The grocery market is highly competitive. Brookshire’s has found that superior customer service is the key to success. Consumers who are familiar with the Brookshire’s personnel know that they will be greeted with a friendly smile and helpful attitude. Employee meetings and up-beat newsletters from the corporate office are excellent ways of reminding the employees of the significance of making customer satisfaction the most important part of their jobs.
When Jim Kilts showed up at Gillette in 2001, the first outsider to run the Boston-based company in more than 70 years, he found a business with great brands losing market share. Its acquisitions of Duracell and Braun were not delivering. Sales and earnings were flat, the company had missed its earnings estimates for 15 straight quarters, the stock had plummeted, and Wall Street had lost patience. Yet two-thirds of the top managers were getting top ratings. People were being rewarded for effort; performance, under Mr. Kilts regime, became the new measure.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the effectiveness of the Target Stores supply chain. Target was founded in 1902 by George Draper Dayton who after partnering with the owner of Goodfellow Dry Goods Company for a year decided he wanted to have more involvement, so he purchased Goodfellows renaming it Dayton Dry Goods Company. After purchasing the store Mr. Dayton remained in management until the time of his death in 1938. By this time the store had seen many changes including a name change in 1911 changing from Dayton Dry Goods Company to The Dayton Company, as well as an addition of the Dayton Foundation in 1918. After Mr. Dayton’s death the family continued managing the business until 1983 in which the last two managing Dayton’s retired, ending 80 years of the Dayton’s family management (Target Corporation, 2014).
Management is a key to success, and Kmart needs proper management to help create a positive image that attracts more customers. Kmart’s disorderly management and bankruptcy caused many customers to shop with other retailers. According to Carr, Wal-Mart and Kmart were the same size in 1990. Since then, Kmart has grown far slower than its rival or the industry. Once one of the largest discount retailers, Kmart filed for the biggest Chapter 11 bankruptcy for discount retailing in the United States (2002). Struggling to find the right type of management has been one of Kmart’s problems that ultimately helped lead the company to its downfall. Kmart is constantly changing CEO’s, and thus focuses. Kmart has had four different CEO’s since 2000, all with different management objectives.
The new CEO put in place a three-year recovery plan titled 'Making Sainsbury 's Great Again ' which was largely welcomed by staff, investors and customers alike despite short term layoffs of admin/management staff. Bad PR was offset by the hiring of 3,000 shop-floor employees to tackle the key issue of getting stock on shelves in a timely fashion. The sales revenue target was an increase of £2.5 billion by the end of the 2008 reporting period. This target factored in the reduction of the dividend to offset the cost of increased quality and price
2) Information systems plays a very significant role in Albertson's business strategy. From corporate office functions to customer interactions, they are committing to providing leading edge technology. They are taking their core business functions and enhancing them with technology from, not only their own industry, but also others. One example of this is the store sending text messages to customers when their pictures & prescriptions are ready. While IT plays a big role, Johnston's second major area of concern is the "brain power" at the executive level in the company. By hiring some of the smartest, experienced people in the industry, Johnston is also relying on brilliant ideas and smart executive plans/projects to propel his company to the head of the industry.
Historically, the advent of innovative, influential technology has reformed our lives in post-industrial America, creating new amenities on hand, along with altering conventional laws governing this facet of modern living. The revolutionary and global capability of telecommunications has shaped new means for dealing with information, and changed the role of a private citizen among this new technology. Traditionally in America, private citizens have been separate from government or public involvement in personal matters such as identity, and unique characteristics defining that identity. Lately, radio frequency identification (RFIDs) is an upcoming method for tracking objects or even people, representing a very useful yet personally invasive technology. Considering this recent invention, RFIDs have the potential to be a major progression in information processing, and benefit life in public as a citizen. Conversely, RFIDs confront the basic American right to privacy, and ones personal uniqueness. Regardless of RFID benefits, legislation and citizen awareness will need to advance along with this technology in turn to protect themselves from invasion of their personal right to privacy.
Publix Super Markets have a fast developing and quickly motivated group of competitors. This allows for the market to have interesting trends and advances rapidly. According to the Food Marketing Institute’s website, in the year 2012 there were thirty-seven thousand and fifty-three companies in this trade which puts Publix very high on shopper’s lists. Being employee owned is one of the characteristics current workers contribute to the firm’s success. Focusing on the well-being and progress of their team members has given them a sought after job pool.
Jim Collins and his research team have done a wonderful job identifying what it takes for a company to go from good to great. I found this book to be extremely interesting and would like to share several of my thoughts.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a computerized ID innovation that uses radio recurrence waves to exchange information between an onlooker and things that have RFID gadgets, or tags, joined. The tags hold a microchip and receiving wire, and work at universally distinguished standard frequencies. Barcodes are much smaller, lighter and easier than RFID but RFID offers significant advantages. One major advantage of RFID is that the innovation doesn't oblige any observable pathway the tags could be perused as long as they are inside the range of the spectator, whereas in barcodes in order to read the barcode the barcode scanner should close around 10-15 fts. In RFID data, for example, part and serial numbers, assembling dates and support history is put away on the tags and catches which help in maintenance of equipments. RFID technology as high value for asset management and inventory systems
... firm can attract qualified management without causing an influx in operational costs (wages), if portions of employee compensation were to be replaced with stock options; adjusting options with company performance. If accomplished in this manner, every employee would be concerned with how well the company was doing financially. I also recommend that Chuck Lacy find non-financial arguments and data which justify the recruitment of top managers in the marketing and production departments. In addition, Ben & Jerry's could counter employee turnover by establishing new techniques in the recruitment and interview processes to detect candidates who do not share values consistent with those of Ben & Jerry's.
The human resource services at Albertsons appears to be much better than their chief competitor Wal-Mart’s .It is mentioned that the average Albertsons employee earns more than a Wal-Mart ‘s employee. Also employees at Albertsons enjoy benefits like health insurance and retirement packages
The Strategic Analysis will show some of the steps that have been taken to overcome some of the difficulties that Sears has had. The newest CEO, Arthur C. Martinez, has been a motivating leader for the company. He has implemented many changes that have increased sales and moved Sears back up to the top of the retail chain. These changes would include store remodeling, Internet strategies, differentiation, and human resource management.
Using RFID chips in school is a bad idea because parents and students are against this plan. Kim Setter writer of the article School RFID plan gets and F , "This is not right for our kids, said Michelo Tatro, whose daughter received a badge. I'm not willing for anybody to track me and I don’t think my children should be tracked, either." According to Kim's Article. In other words, the parents are afraid that their kids are going to be tracked down the whole time. Even when they're using the restroom and or having lunch. I personally think this is a privacy invasion and that it shouldn’t be allowed at schools unless it becomes a national requirement. After all the teachers are still going to have to look for the students faces to make sure the
As you are well aware by now the world has become increasingly technology oriented. Every day we use technology in one way or another. Whether it be simply checking email or being able to turn our entire house on from the simple push of a button on our smart phone. Whether we like it or not, technology is there. One piece of technology that seems to be gaining attention and garnering more research is Radio Frequency Identification or RFID. Radio Frequency Identification is a form of wireless media where messaging and data are broadcast through the air. It is radio transmission that uses an RFID tag, RFID reader, and back-end system in order to communicate back and forth and requires no line of sight. As simple as it may sound, this technology has its fair share of complications and the security issues that have presented themselves are at the forefront of this expanding technology.