Month: November 2011

As all the business retailers look towards black Friday, they will be hoping all the goods that are being shipped into stores will make it on time, yet the more significant issue is that will it make it at all? Well, based on the Penske blog on “Risk of Cargo Theft Rising”, there has been a increasing number of cargo thefts in the United States indicating that retailers should not assume that theft is unlikely to occur.

The companies in most part outsource the transportation of goods from warehouses to retailers, so in reality there is a huge amount of trust being placed on the shoulders of the truck drivers of these cargo’s. This is a significant issue in the supply chain, since the company has little control over whether the goods arrive at the intended location. In a period such as this week, the likelihood of this happening “increases an average 28 percent” as indicated in the blog. So its only necessary that these companies ensure that they are placing its goods with the right choice of transportation company so that the customers waiting in the long lines on a friday afternoon get their goods.

While reading Douglas  Mackellar’s blog post on the upcoming Black Friday, it reminded me of the class on performance evaluations. Black Friday is a big day for a lot of retail businesses as it’s the day people go on a shopping spree due to the discounts offered in most stores. As pointed out in his post, Douglas identifies one potential gain of Black Friday as “create[ing] a relationship with consumers prior to the Christmas season”, however, the retail store managers also benefit from this as well.

While all store managers dread the prospect of Black Friday due to the long hours and the constant flow of customers into the stores, this is the best opportunity to increase their performance appraisals. Companies usually recognize the turn in products sold with the number of customers entering the store, so Black Friday would be the best time for managers to motivate their employees and focus on building those relationships with customers because it will lead to more customers at their retail stores in the future. More customers willing to buy products in the future would mean a better performance evaluation and increase pay.

After reading several blogs, I came across Jerrod shin’s post on Organizational Behavior. Jerrod compared the culture of his workplace, Bank of Montreal, with that of Zappos. Of course it’s easy to say that a person would prefer to work in Zappos because of it’s easy going approach and family like culture that surrounds the employees day to day, however, not every company can enforce a culture of the sorts that Zappos creates. In the case of Bank of Montreal (BMO), Jerrod points out how the goals of the business, the beliefs and the professional culture all contribute to his motivation to work for BMO.

The difference between BMO and Zappos shows that not every organization has a similar culture. Each organization has to provide a different image for its customers. BMO as a financial institution needs employees that are professional but are also intrinsically motivated to carry the goals of the company forward. Also, BMO provides its employees with the responsibility of dealing with clients that are placing their trust on the bank. Even though BMO is a large company, it needs to ensure there is a set of beliefs and values instilled upon its employees and that’s the importance of corporate culture.

The Australian company, Boost Juice, founded by Janine Allis represents what one person can do with an idea and investment from friends. After travelling to US, Janine identified the need for healthier alternatives in the Australian food market. She was able to get a investment of $250,000 from her friends that led her to begin the Boost Juice brand. In 2000, Janine opened her first store in the Australian city of Adelaide.

Opening the business at that time represented a high risk, mainly because the Australian market was not use to the concept of a juice bar. The risk obviously paid off but it shows that at certain times high risk can contribute to success. In the case with Boost, the business went beyond by making franchising a boost juice bar an option and by opening up in areas such as Asia and Europe (specifically the UK) and .

Nevertheless, there needs to be a flow of innovation into the company. Janine ensured there was a menu that offered healthy juices and smoothies  made of natural and fresh ingredients. Since Janine places a high value on offering healthy products to consumers,  she continues to research methods on improving on her products.

As an entrepreneur, Janine has gone a long way to developing the brand of Boost Juice but this concept could have easily been just a small business. However, Janine took the risk and used innovation to her advantage as a means of gaining in the long-term. Her success is highlighted by the 189 stores located in Australia, and other countries around the world.

Sources:

1) http://www.boostjuice.com.au/#/about-boost/about-history

2)http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/