management

Change management is a critical process in every business organization. Many companies will lose their aims or goals after implementing change successfully. In some firms, change is viewed as a transformational procedure that might become obsolete after the targeted objective is realized. However, successful companies take the issue of sustainability seriously. This aspect forms the backbone of the discussion presented below.

Importance of Sustainability in Change Management

The concept of sustainability guides organizational leaders to implement change successfully and ensure that the momentum remains even after realizing the targeted objectives. Some managers usually take the back-seat after the change process is complete. This is a common malpractice that eventually results in failure. Competent leaders will focus on sustainability by ensuring that change management remains a continuous process that is informed by the trends experienced in the industry or sector. The benefits associated with sustainability in change management are presented below.

The first one is that a positive culture becomes part of the targeted organization. This means that the employees will always embrace the introduced procedures, behaviors, and ideas, thereby making them meaningful attributes of the company. The outcome is that the followers will continue to work hard and make the organization successful. Such employees will also be ready to introduce new or superior beliefs to deliver positive results.

The idea of sustainability is relevant since it ensures that the implemented initiatives or procedures do not fail. This knowledge is critical since around 70-90 percent of all change efforts tend to fail. When leaders embrace the idea of sustainable change, it becomes possible for them to introduce new norms and beliefs and make them integral attributes of the targeted company. It is evident that the firm will always focus on the targeted business aims.

Leaders who appreciate this attribute will go further to introduce new quality management initiatives. Such professionals will appreciate the fact that change is something continuous and should be guided by emerging concepts, technologies, processes, and notions. This understanding can ensure that more employees and leaders are willing to implement total quality management (TQM). This strategy will also create the best environment for achieving intended goals and pursuing the organization’s vision or mission.

When leaders pursue sustainable change processes, they find it easier to solve emerging problems and meet the needs of all stakeholders. These professionals will consider business practices and cultural approaches that resonate with the demands of the targeted customers. They will also establish meaningful relations with suppliers and other business partners. Their companies will eventually benefit from the concept of sustainability by attracting more customers or clients. Consequently, the levels of profitability and productivity will increase significantly.

In companies where sustainability is treated as a critical aspect of change management, it is usually possible for leaders to identify and implement new attributes, practices, norms, or technologies. The rationale behind this idea is that the level of resistance will reduce. The majority of the employees will remain supportive throughout the process and address every emerging issue.

Conclusion

The above discussion has revealed that sustainability is an idea that all organizational leaders should consider whenever managing change. Such a practice will make it possible for the professionals to improve performance, maximize profits, introduce new practices, and meet diverse needs of different customers or stakeholders. Such achievements will eventually make the targeted firm competitive in its business segment.

In general, the planning function of management can be described as a process for setting future direction; a means to reduce risk, and a vehicle for training managers (Coyle, 2003). It is also a process for making decisions, a way to develop consensus among top managers, and a means to develop a written long-range plan. Strategic situations are complex and involve uncertainty. Because planning is directed toward the future, predictions of changes in the environment are indispensable components of it. In today’s quest for managers who are more leaders than conciliators, any interest in scenarios on the part of the strategist or executive should be welcomed.

The planning process used by senior management differs from front-line management. Senior managers mostly use strategic plans and long-term plans in their activities. The purpose of strategic planning is to provide management with a framework in which decisions can be made which will have an impact on the organization (Coyle, 2003). A conscious effort to systematize the effort and to manage its evolution is preferable to an unmanaged and haphazard evolution. The basic planning problem is how to allocate the organization’s limited resources. The major benefits to be expected from planning include an improved sense of direction for the organization, better performance, increased understanding of the organization and its purpose, earlier awareness of problems, and more effective decisions. The need for organizational development came about as organization leaders came to realize that piecemeal effort to patch up an organization problem here, fix a procedure there, or change a job description elsewhere were inadequate (Eden and Ackermann, 1998). Modern managers saw a need for a long-range, coordinated strategy to develop organizational climates, ways of work, relationships, communication systems, and information systems in order to deal with both predictable and unpredictable occurrences. Organizational development involves a systematic analysis of the organization and recognition of the need to understand and effectively deal with change (Upton, 2004).

Front-line management uses long-range planning, which most often an extrapolation of the present. It answers the question of how to get the job done. Planning at this level can be described as a decision process that meets the goals and objectives of the organization and identifies the opportunities and constraints which face that organization as it attempts to be successful, and lays out a plan of action for goal attainment. Planning entails operational (tactical) planning, the planning of those actions to be taken to put strategies into effect. This type of planning answers the question of how to get the job done. It often consists of specific objectives accompanied by short narrative action plans (Eden and Ackermann, 1998)

For every organization, it is important to integrate different finds of plans in order to respond to changing environment and foresee possible changes in the structure of business and workforce. Different kinds of plans can help managers view change as an opportunity instead of a threat. In this way, they can realize their full potential, their power to create a firm’s future. These plans involve strategic, operational, and contingency plans for organizational development and transformations. Plans allow the company to create a systematic approach to an increasingly important responsibility of general management: positioning today’s business firm in a rapidly changing and complex global environment. For instance, strategic planning concerns itself with establishing the major directions for the organization, such as its purpose/mission, major clients to serve, major problems to pursue, and major delivery approaches (Coyle, 2003). Operational plans allow the organization to introduce these changes into practice. Various kinds of plans allow decision-makers to view directional alternatives and scenarios. A one-time, all-encompassing plan does not recognize the reality of the political process and that economic sector; for this reason, organizations need to continually reexamine their strategic options. For instance, “The majority of the firms describe their business strategy as a high-quality producer strategy rather than as a low-cost or time-based strategy” (Upton et al. 2004, p. 60). Conventional forecasting techniques provide no cohesive way of understanding the effect of changes that will occur in the future. Scenarios provide corporate intelligence and a link from traditional forecasting methods to modern interactive planning systems (Coyle, 2003). A clearer delineation of planning is needed to make it a potentially rich field of application and research. A piecemeal approach will not be adequate when changes in the environment and in strategy occur together. Dealing with such changes (both internal and external) calls for a radical rethinking of strategy design and methods. Organization development is an effort that is planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top. Its primary purpose is to increase organizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization’s process, using behavioral science knowledge (Coyle, 2003).

For instance, one of the recent examples of pollution is a UK-based company, County Tyrone. It was found that “scum and foam were found escaping from a concrete pipe at the plant into the stream on 5 June 2006” (Food Company Fined for Pollution, 2007). In order to meet social responsibility policy and ethical principles, County Tyrone should base its plans on ethical and legal rules. The principal responsibility of senior management and policymakers is to evaluate the economies and the environment in which the organization operates, noting existing and potential opportunities and threats confronting the organization and the community. At the same time, the community and organization should be examined to ascertain strengths and weaknesses in such areas as organizational structure, finance, productivity, service delivery capability, community involvement and understanding, and overall management capacity (Eden and Ackermann, 1998). The new strategic planning will help this company to reduce the number of unfair and illegal actions of employees and force the staff to follow strict ethical and social responsibility rules.

Through a systematic meshing of external opportunities and perceived threats with institutional strengths and weaknesses, senior management can establish specific directions for the organization and then develop the strategies, policies, and control mechanisms that are most likely to contribute to the achievement of community goals (Eden and Ackermann, 1998). To do so successfully, corporate leaders should install organizational processes that can help them understand how the environment might be changing and what the effect of likely consequences will be. Otherwise, despite their current strengths, business firms are unlikely to be able to meet the challenges of the emerging high-technology and deregulated global economy without strategic plans and decision-making techniques.

References

1. Coyle, G. (2003). Practical Strategy: Structured Tools and Techniques. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.
2. Eden, C., Ackermann, F. (1998). Making Strategy: The Journey of Strategic Management. Sage Publications.
3. Food Company Fined for Pollution (2007). BBC News. Web.
4. Upton, N. et al (2004). Strategic and Business Planning Practices of Fast Growth Family Firms. Journal of Small Business Management 39 (1), 60.

There are varied reasons that can make business people to contact their customers following the completion of the sales process. Such a case is called After Sales, and it entails seeking of information from the customers (Lane 111). For this case, the information sought has the potential of improving customer orientation to the company. One such effect is the existence of a chance that a business may collect information on the levels of satisfaction of the customers with the product or service they obtained from the company (Still, Edward & Norman 45).

This type of data has the effect of enabling the company to adjust the quality of its products proportionately to suit its market. The company may also obtain information from the customers concerning the perceptions of the customers regarding it. It means that the company will learn from such experiences, the best approaches to managing its relationship with the customers.

There are several tools that a business may use to identify new clients. For instance, the company can use market segmentation, which entails the categorization of the market according to the needs of the various categories within it. The method allows the company to determine what the potential customers require and producing just that. Using such a tool makes the company have the appeal of clients in the market and create an impression that it caters for their needs (Still, Edward & Norman 65).

In this way, the company creates a pull on a new pool of its clients. Segmentation of the market entails the collection of relevant information concerning the demographic characteristics, socio-economic features, the geographic features, and the psychographic features of the population. Such data helps the business to understand the needs of its potential market and incline the production of its products to meet the market gap. In this case, the company will strategize on the methods of addressing the needs identified through support measures such as product promotion. The methods of product promotion chosen by the corporation should be such that they meet the needs of the target market because they are based on the data collected.

A business may utilize the sense of feeling in sales as a way of improving its appeal to customers. There are many ways that the company can employ to give such an outcome. For instance, the business can have in place a customer service policy, which will drive the staff towards giving their best to customer satisfaction. In this case, the customers will develop feelings that the company cares for their needs because they will be a part of the reason why the business exists (Lane 117).

Another way of doing so is through the establishment of support systems, which have the responsibility of giving the customers a point-of-sale satisfaction. The two principles mentioned will ensure that the passion for customer satisfaction is the thematic approach of the company and in the eventual process, result in the love for customers. The company may also conduct regular checks on the customers on how they feel about the mode of services that they receive (Lane 117).

A properly crafted and resolved product design is a fundamental tool for the creation of perception about the products of a business. For instance, on a trade fair, a business may use product design as a critical element of attracting its customers. One such element involves the use of packaging and branding of its products. Such an approach is a way of helping the company to improve its brand in the market, which has the potential of making it popular among the customers. In so doing, the business improves its chances of maximization of sales in the future (Dalrymple, William & Thomas, 95).

There is a difference between sales and marketing though both are essential elements of the success of a business. In this case, there can never be sales without marketing, which means that how much a company will sell depends on the suitability of its marketing strategies. Marketing refers to the preliminary procedures undertaken by a business to ensure that it notifies its clients of the existence of its products or services in the market (Lane 114).

Therefore, the process entails all the steps that the business may use to attract potential customers, for example, such as product promotion. On the other hand, Lane proposes that the sales process entails the final step that results in the completion of a contract between a business and its clients involving the transfer of ownership of a product or the usage of the company’ services (114). The two elements are compliments of each other in ensuring the success of a business. For instance, the marketing process of the business determines the level of sales that the company makes. A business entity that invests critically in its marketing department ends up realizing a lot of success in its sales. In this way, therefore, it means that sales are dependent of the marketing proves.

The distribution mix is a critical stage of the marketing processes because it entails the geographic transfer of products and services to the points that avail them to their customers. For this case, sales entail the provision of the right products and services in their expected places and at the right time. The distribution mix will, therefore, highlight the channels of distribution of the product and the location of the business relative to the location of customers (Lane 100).

The distribution channels are those avenues that the products follow to reach their consumers. The channels may involve the all the middlemen in between the production of the products and their consumption by the customers. A longer chain of distribution has the process of slowing the process of selling because of the transportation and the storage of the products in the middlemen’s warehouses. A shorter distribution chain makes the process of selling faster because of its proximate location to the customers (Lane 100).

Works Cited

Dalrymple, Douglas J., William L. Cron, and Thomas E. DeCarlo. Sales management. Wiley, 2004. Print.

Lane, Nikala. Strategic Sales and Strategic Marketing. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.

Still, Richard Ralph, Edward W. Cundiff, and Norman AP Govoni. Sales management: decisions, strategies, and cases. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1988. Print.

Operations Management and Strategy

Operations management is the activity concerned with controlling the process of production and business operations to ensure that the business operates efficiently and the least amount of resources is used. The main processes of operations management address the choice of raw materials and manufacturing technology, utilization of the workforce, maintenance of quality, and customer-handling policies. In short terms, operations management uses resources to create outputs which fulfill defined market requirement appropriately (Slack, Brandon-Jones & Johnston 2016). Therefore, the successful application of management strategies is the key to achieving a competitive advantage for both manufacturing and service organizations.

Theory of Operations Management

Operations management theory is the study of strategies that are used in structuring and administering business practices for an organization to perform its functions as efficiently as possible. Maximization of profit is usually obtained through the rational and well-designed conversion of materials and labor into services provided for customers. Modern operations management considers four theories, which are business process redesign (BPR), reconfigurable manufacturing systems, six sigma, and lean manufacturing.

BPR is a complete reorganization of a company’s main business processes to achieve a significant increase in key performance indicators, such as investment potential and quality of services. This theory is concentrated on analyzing and designing workflow and processes within an organization. BPR is often used by companies that need to restructure organization radically by reconsidering its business processes.

Reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a manufacturing system paradigm that emphasizes the need to evolve and change rapidly to adjust productivity and functionality cost-effectively. Incorporation of RMS allows organizations to respond to sudden changes in the market or intrinsic system changes quickly (How can your business thrive by using operations management theory? 2016).

Six sigma is a project-driven approach for improving the quality of operations management, in particular, the organization’s outputs by identifying and removing errors, saving time, and reducing costs. According to lean theory, all the resources which do not add value to an organization should be reduced. Elimination of waste within the manufacturing process is preceded by the identification of customer values and all the processes for which the customer will pay. Apart from waste minimization, other goals of lean include quality improvement and total costs and time reduction.

IKEA’s Operations Management

Operations management is an important part of IKEA’s success as it allows the organization to manage the network of its operations to effectively design, create, and deliver the products to consumers. If IKEA had not had effective operations management, it would not have survived in the long term. Important responsibilities of operations managers of IKEA include:

• Deciding how to use the least amount of resources to meet the requirements of customers to the highest standards economically viable.
• Managing the processes to transform input resources, such as materials, information, and customers into output products and services.
• Designing stylish products.
• Deciding on where to locate stores and their appropriate size.
• Inventory management.
• Determining the physical form, composition, and dimensions of the operation’s services, products, and processes.
• Planning and controlling the delivery process.
• Permanent improvement of operations.
• Utilization of the latest technological advances into operations.
• Enhancing the quality of customer service.

IKEA’s Operations Strategy

IKEA’s mission is to offer high-quality home furnishing items that are practical and functional at an affordable price. The operation of IKEA has to deal with high volumes of products as they are repeatable, the variety of products is medium, as they are standardized. Since the business is not seasonal and sales volumes are rather steady, the variation with which the operation has to deal with is low. Therefore, the operation strategy of IKEA is limited to low cost.

This is what distinguishes IKEA from other furnishing retailers which are focused on high prices and low variation of products. There are two target groups of the organization, one of which is young adults with no children and the other one is business customers with medium offices. It should be noted that the operation strategies of IKEA are oriented towards its objectives, which are quality, speed, low cost, and flexibility. IKEA is unique in terms of the value of its outputs, a variety of its outputs, and variation in demand for its output.

Importance of Operations Management to Globally Competitive Firms

Operations management is crucial for all types of organizations to obtain outputs which will correspond to the defined requirements of the market. It should be mentioned that the importance of operations management has significantly increased in recent years (Slack, Brandon-Jones & Johnston 2016). This is especially the case for global companies which due to a great foreign competition, shorter product and service life cycles are put under increasing pressure to improve productivity by managing their operations function. With the globalization of markets, it is obvious that organizations need to use their operations function to improve the competitive advantage of their position in the market place.

Supply Chain Management, Capacity, and Quality

IKEA is considered to be the most successful furniture retailer ever with 422 stores in more than 50 markets (IKEA 2017). In IKEA’s stores, customers spend much more time than in other furnishing stores, which may be explained by the unique space organization (Slack, Brandon-Jones & Johnston 2016). The company impresses not only its customers with affordable products of high quality but also its competitors with unique supply chain and management techniques. IKEA is a complex global network, and a key part of its success is credited to its communications and relationship management with suppliers and manufacturers.

The supply chain significantly improves the process of product and service from production until its delivery to the final consumer. The organization has “1,300 direct suppliers, about 10,000 sub-suppliers, and 26 distribution centers” (Slack, Brandon-Jones & Johnston 2016, p. 5). IKEA relies on its suppliers to achieve both raw materials of high quality, supply efficiency, and new product development.

To ensure that the organization attains the best prices and materials, it fosters competition among suppliers and makes long-standing commitments to them to buy materials at lower prices. Even though IKEA has a “lower prices” vision, it does not mean “at any price”, as the company has a code of conduct called the IKEA Way of Purchasing Home Furnishing Products (IWAY). In compliance with this code, suppliers of IKEA should follow specific guidelines to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment. Before doing business with its suppliers, IKEA ensures that they fulfill IWAY requirements. Apart from suppliers, IKEA buys products from Swedwood, which is the company producing wood-based furniture.

Reference List

How can your business thrive by using operations management theory? 2016.Web.

IKEA 2017, This is IKEA. Web.

Slack, N, Brandon-Jones, A & Johnston, R 2016, Operations management, 8th edn, Pearson, Upper Saddle River.

Strategy to Ensure fair and Even Contribution and Collaboration by team members

In order to ensure fair and even contribution and collaboration by team member, the team leader has to develop guiding principles for the team that will enable better coordination within the team. These principles will include:

Communication

Communication is one of the biggest problems experienced by teams. Communication barriers and non defined communication channels are the greatest challenge that hinders flow of ideas within the team. To solve this problem, proper channels of communication should be clearly established i.e. face to face communication or written communication to enable the team share ideas effectively. The group should meet in a venue that is free from external noise or disturbances that will affect group members. The language used during the team meeting should be well understood by the group members to encourage understanding of the issues being addressed and to contribute effectively. Finally, each team member should be encouraged to feel free in expressing his or her ideas within the team.

Team charter

A team charter is a manuscript that stipulates a group scope or scale of function, goals and purpose or rationale. It is normally developed by top management and presented to various teams in an organization set up.

A team charter document has generally eight sections

Purpose statement

The purpose statement gives the reason for the team’s existence. It generally highlights how the team will utilize the team charter to meet its objective.

Background

This section introduces the team activities and functions. This section summarizes functions of the team with a brief description of the products or services that team deals in and how these products support the team.

Team mission and objectives

The team’s mission gives the actual reasons for the team’s existence. A mission statement highlights the team believe and aspiration. Mission statement is long-term in scope. Goals are developed from the general mission of the team. From the goals, short term objectives that are achievable within a short span of time are developed.

Team composition

This section lists the members who form the group. There are core members i.e. those members who are responsible for conducting the main business of the team on routine basis and extended team members who are involved in team activities on part time basis.

Team/group membership responsibilities

This part categorizes the responsibilities and requirement of key members of the group and other subordinate members founded on personal ability and know-how.

Team empowerment

Spells out the existing authority the team posses and also establishes the empowerment the team has to have in order to meet its objective.

Team operations

This section describes the process the team utilizes in its operational plans. It includes conflict resolution procedures that clearly spell out how to define and resolve conflict within the tem. It also includes decision making process and procedures for improvement of process in the team.

Team Performance Assessment

This section defines critical areas of performance that require further improvement by the team. Here the team records key areas that need improvements in order to effectively achieve the team’s goals

Conflict resolution

What do you include in the conflict resolution section to provide stronger strategies?

Definition of the conflict: This will enable the team to clearly establish the problem that is causing the conflict. To achieve this tem member need to confront the real cause of conflict by being objective and not personal. The aim of defining the problem should be to find a definite solution to the conflict (Augsburger, 1992).

Tactic to employ if a group member cooperating efficiently: How will the group deal with disagreements between group members?

Each and every group member should be encouraged air their views freely. The member may also explain in writing his reasons for not contributing to the team. Other sources of communication such as electronic mode should be used to ensure that everyone in the team contributes.

To manage a conflict among members, the team should

• Confront the conflict. Members should openly express their views on the conflict and be listened to
• The team should jointly find the root cause of the conflict by discussing within themselves and share their feelings on the subject.
• The team should then reach an agreement and all participants in the conflict feel that the conflict has been resolved to satisfaction.

Reference

Augsburger, D. (1992). Conflict mediation across cultures.Kentucky, KY: Westminster / John Knox Press.

Zara was founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega Gaona in Spain. It started off as a small outlet for clothes from Ortega’s factory. It grew rapidly to become a brand shop from major companies like Industria de Deseno Textil and others. Through Zara, Ortega is credited with having democratized fashion in Spain by making them be more accessible to the mass. By 1984, Zara was established in all major towns of Spain, and in 1988, it opened its first store in Portugal which was outside Spain. In 1989, it went to New York and Paris in 1990.

Up to date, Zara is credited as being the most efficient fashion shop in the world. It has an integrated retail system that enables it to place garments in any store in the world within two to three weeks. It has a vertically integrated structure where design, production, distribution, and retailing are integrated making its service more efficient. The design shop has about 3,000 retail shops all over the world which are all well-coordinated and performs to the required standards. The chain is able to establish about 400 new stores every year. According to Avanzo and Lewinski (2003), this is a good example of an integrated management style that has propelled Zara above its competitors.

According to Bovet and Martha (2005), Zara has been able to propel to a great height in the fashion industry due to its supply chain strategy which emphasizes that the chain dictates industry standards from time to market, cost, order fulfillment, and customer satisfaction. Its operation is guided by these principles which lead to better-managed inventories, tight links between the forces of supply and demand, and reduced costs of operation.

Design

Zara has a communication system that helps keep the managers abreast of all that is happening in the fashion industry. According to Andrew, Sjoman, and Dessain (2004), managers communicated with their in-house designers of the customer’s preferences through handheld devices due to improved IT services in the chain. This ensures that in-house designers know what is happening and what the customers want. It keeps the designers aware of the changes and new technology in the market. It also keeps designers informed of the response of the customers to their designs and appropriately reacts to the changes required in the design.

This shows that Zara values the design part as the most important step in the whole process of taking their product to the consumer. The ability of the chain to enhance communication between the consumers and the designers helps them to manufacture a new fashion in two to three weeks. This is enabled by the fact that preliminary designs can be delivered to consumers and the customer’s reaction noted quickly and communicated to the designers for required changes.

Zara has established a dedicated team in Arteixo which keeps the chain on top with new designs in the market. It is able to spot emerging fashion trends in the industry and quickly react to the customer’s demand and introduce them to the market in the shortest time possible. Communication between the store’s manager and the designers helps in implementing the modification of any design before a sales batch is released. This makes sure that the chain releases only what is preferred by the customers.

Zara pegs its success in the retail chain in the way it organizes the production and selling of its merchandise. It has a strongly controlled demand-led strategy in that it attunes to design and production to the consumer demand. It has a consumer-led production style. The vertically integrated supply chain is vital in ensuring that its product hits the market immediately after it is produced and the comments of the consumers are immediately given back to the designers who make the necessary changes. Zara has kept to the policy of design to the shelf which makes sure it designs what is seen and bought on the shelf.

Production

The production process is a key step in the chain’s supply process. The production process is important in inventory control. The chain controls the production process to ensure that what is released in the market is what the customers want. They require their fabrics to be delivered in four colors only. The process of dying and printing is done at the end of the manufacturing process. This ensures that they are printed and dyed according to customers’ demands. It helps in reducing waste and also minimizes the stocking up of unsold inventories.

The chain has automated its production plants which make sure that its shelves do not run out of products. Automation of the production plants was is perhaps one of the factors that led to the rapid success of the chain. It has an efficient production system that links the design and supply chains.

Distribution Process

Zara has banked on one of the cornerstones of an efficient supply model in order to feed its retail outlets. It has shortened the supply chain in order to reduce cost and in the process enhance more profit. This enables the chain to introduce more than 11,000 new designs in the market every year far beyond the capacity of its competitors.

According to Capacino and Anderson (2005), Zara has a distribution model built on the demand chain. Its distribution process is guided by the customer’s demand due to the strong links it creates with the consumers on the ground and the designers. The fame of the store comes from its efficient distribution model which shortens the lead-time between the designing of the clothes and the placement of the clothes in the stores.

With a lead time of less than 3 to 4 weeks, the chain becomes the most efficient in the world in terms of distribution of its products to the consumers. Although it has many outlets in the world, Zara has kept its production stores in Europe from where it distributes are products to the rest of the world. It has amazed many how the chain is able to sell 85 percent of all its products at full price.

The supply process is enabled by airlifting of the finished clothes to the retail centers. This helps to shorten the time between production and availability of clothes in the stores. It is good to understand that due to limited stockpile over in the production plants, the outlet chains can easily run out of clothes supply with an inefficient supply mechanism. This is why the chain prefers to airlift the finished product to make sure that its shelves are always stocked.

Zara ensures that it has twice delivery per week from the factories. This limits the need for warehouse space and inventory. It also ensures that new styles hit the rack which reduces the risks of markdown sales and stock-outs.

The supply chain is such that Zara minimizes the number of products it outsources less and less of its clothes from other manufacturers. Many other fashion shops outsource for more than 90% of their stock in a bid to reduce production costs. On the other hand, Zara ensures that it covers about 40 percent of its stock from its own factories and outsources for the rest 60 percent of the stock from other manufacturers to have varieties in the stores.

References

Avanzo, R. & Lewinski, H. (2003): The link between supply chain and financial performance. Supply Chain Management Review. Stanford University.

Andrew, M., Sjoman, A. & Dessain, V. (2004): Zara: IT for Fast Fashion. A field case study, LACC Case.

Bovet, D. & Martha, J. (2005): Value Nets: Breaking the supply chain to unlock hidden profits. Harvard University Press.

Capacino, W. C. & Anderson, L. D. (2005): A Global study of supply chain leadership and its impact on business performance. Stanford University.

Zara SM. (2008): Directory Articles. Web.

Business processes are divided into two primary categories: value creation processes and support processes. Value-creation processes are also referred to as core processes. They are necessary for running the business and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Core processes relate to the organization’s key competencies and strategic objectives. Value-creation processes play a key role in achieving the strategic goals of an organization by enforcing the development of products and services and ensuring quality for customer satisfaction. Examples of core processes are product design and delivery processes. Product design entails the tasks carried out to integrate customer demands, new technologies and organizational knowhow into the functional requirement of a product. Delivery processes are involved in the development and delivery of the product through activities such as manufacturing, assembly and distribution.

Support services, on the other hand, provide the infrastructure required for an organization’s value-creation process, personnel, and daily operations. Support processes do not add value directly to the product. They include processes of facilities management, human resource services, finance and accounting, public relations, and other administrative duties. Whereas core processes are governed by external consumer requirements, support processes are governed by internal consumer needs. Support services also require less attention than value-creation processes since they have a direct impact on the product.

National and regional quality award

The role of national and regional quality awards is to recognize various organizations that achieve exceptional standards in business performance. Business performance is assessed on various scales including organizational leadership, planning and strategy deployment, customer satisfaction, process management and innovation, and employee performance and satisfaction, among others. Regional quality awards like the UK regional quality awards are targeted at small and medium enterprises in order to make excellence accessible to regional organizations and companies. Regional awards are prestigious in the various regions, though they are seen as stepping stones to national quality awards. Examples of national quality awards are the Canada Awards for Excellence, the Australian Business Excellence Awards and the Singapore Quality Award.

The Canada Awards for Excellence are administered by the National Quality Institute (NQI). These awards are aimed at inspiring organizational excellence by applying quality principles, practices and certification through the NQI. The awards also include Certificates of Merit that motivate promising, upcoming companies to continue on that path. The Australian Business Excellence Awards are administered by Business Excellence Australia, which is a division of Standards Australia international Limited. Organizations are encouraged to show outstanding performance in terms of philanthropic ideals, environmental sustainability, ethical behavior, commitment to patrons and superiority of service. The Singapore Quality Award enforces visionary leadership, customer-driven quality, innovation focus, organizational performance improvement through learning, agility, knowledge-driven systems, and societal responsibility, among others.

How Internet technology supports communication and e-business

The Internet works by providing millions of users across the globe with access to a system of interconnected computer networks. The internet comprises various networks including public, private, government, business and library networks that use a standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). The Internet provides users with information resources and services through the World Wide Web (WWW). This makes it possible for software and web developers to design applications and hypertext documents that assist in business operations. The internet also permits various forms of human interaction such as internet forums and social networking that have been beneficial in promoting e-business. Both large and small stores and traders provide their clients with online shopping platforms. Online stores also use the internet to conduct business-to-business and financial services. In addition, the internet provides the infrastructure necessary for communication through email and instant messaging.

Reducing variation in a business process

Manufacturing industries have used statistical thinking for decades to improve business performance. Statistical thinking and statistical process monitoring can also be used to enhance business performance for other sectors such as finance and health care. The automobile and electronic industries in Japan were the first to use statistical thinking to penetrate the market. The process involves the implementation of a management system that focuses on progressive enhancement of quality. Statistical control is administered to common cause variation, which is present in all processes after special (assignable) cause variation has been eliminated. While special cause variation can be managed by employees and midlevel managers, common cause variation can only be addressed by top management.

The process of statistical thinking starts with recognition and understanding of the processes and systems causing the variability. For instance, business process improvement in a bank can be achieved by monitoring for unusual variation in the inputs and outputs of the process using statistical process control. In the case of applying for a credit card, the inputs comprise features of the consumer such as credit score and consumer history, which the lender needs to identify. Outputs involve performance of the loan, which depend on changes in legislation, economy and industry rates. Another method that is used to enhance process improvement is the Six Sigma approach; however, it tends to inhibit innovation and productivity.