Australian Hardware: Providing Quality Home Improvement Appliances And Hardware

Our Customer Base

Discuss about the Develop Strategic Management and Leadership Skill.

The Australian hardware company is a highly competitive company that has been renowned for its superior quality of good that are sourced from both local and international sources. The whole purpose of the business is to provide consumers in different areas of the country with affordable and good quality home improvement appliances and hardware. Our selection of consumers varies from the do-it-yourself people who make up about 29% of the customer base, home improvisers who make up 43% and medium sized businesses, and individual contractors who make up the remaining 28% (Alam, 2013).

1. Community engagement and human resource management- there is a moderate risk of there being a difficulty in hiring and training new personnel. This would have a disastrous impact on the business as these same employees whose services we would be having a hard time acquiring is in the pool for acquisition by the competition. To counter this issue and ensure that our company always has the best qualifies and innovative employees, better starting salaries that those being offered by the competition can be offered as is allowable within the budgetary constraints(Chen, Yao, & Kotha, 2009). The lure of company funded additional training to help employees improve their skills would also help maintain the current excellent employees as well as inspire applications from brilliant people in future job offers. Staff unaware of the Australian hardware strategic direction with respect to economic and social responsibility will need additional training. This would be the responsibility of human resource managers, store general managers and general operation managers.

A survey of consumer concerns can be carried out on social media platforms like Facebook as a part of market research. Opinions on packaging, environmental impact, pricing and quality and arising can be handled in this way.

Risks to the community due to company operations, which should be minimal as several precautions are taken to prevent this, can be discovered, and handled by community consultation, and discussions for the company to sponsor a social event (Jacobs, Chase & Lummus, 2014).. The cfo, legal team, store general managers, and general operations managers should always be in touch with legislative policies and procedures to avoid not complying with the law.

1. expansion and advertisement- the company’s expansion plan is to expand existing stores and to set up new stores in areas whose population has grown to be large enough to provide a market for the particular products being dealt in. environmental and social impact is important to consider when planning to set up shop at a new location . Active promotion will be done through magazines and social media, and handing out questionnaires to the target market.

As part of advertisement to attract more customers, the company advertises through business magazines, newspapers, television, and radio.

1. Monthly environmental audit and review; there could be an environmental risk arising from the operations of Australian hardware (Sachs & MacArthur, 2005). Frequent employee training should be carried out to champion more environmentally sustainable practices. Environment training should be part of the induction. These would include reducing water consumption by harvesting rainwater in tanks and reducing energy consumption by installing solar arrays on the roof (Strande & Brdjanovic, 2014). Yearly audits at the stores to ensure that goals set as far as the environment is concerned were met. Customer concerns can be analyzed for environmental issues.
2. Maintenance of set quality standards; both suppliers and employees should be made to understand the importance of quality as a principle that this company stands by. The suppliers should be audited at least monthly to ensure that the set standards are being maintained (Wang, yang & Zhang, 2007). The storage facilities must be such that they do not interfere with the quality of the product in them.

Quality is an important aspect that has influenced the success of this company and should be maintained. Daily contact is also kept with the suppliers by the coo, marketing general manager, and general operations managers so that there is no wastage by unsalable stock by poor inventory maintenance (Jung, Lee, Song, Han, Han, & Jang, 2013). Audits should   be carried out at least quarterly to ensure that the high quality standards set by the company are maintained by the suppliers. The company actively seeks Australian and international suppliers who can fulfill a consistency in quality and great innovations. This is also a move that would help in dealing with the competition who mainly deals in tried and true goods and though some customers are willing to compromise on quality where the prices are low, those who value quality and innovativeness recognize the uniqueness of Australian hardware goods (Mossolly, Ghali & Ghaddar, 2009). The risk of new competition interfering with the current market base that the company brags, though low, can be combated by more advertisement and more interaction with customers through means like personal mail. Marketing would be based on highlighting differences between our products and those of the competitors, based on monitoring done on competitors campaigns. Frequent promotional campaign and selective discounting are other effective ways to increase our popularity with the market.

1. Improving the packaging; it is usually difficult to develop good packaging that does not cost too much and this is one issue that the marketers have to focus on, as the packaging is unsustainably hard to make. This would enable the profit forecast in the business plan, where the net profits are approximately half of the gross profits, to be reached. As a company, which does not produce its own products, the packaging is the only way to differentiate us.

The company’s goal as given by the employer, were;

1. To be the first choice for buyers looking to buy hardware, timber, tools, paint, house ware, outdoors and garden equipment.
2. To expand its operations in existing locations and spread tentacles into new markets by 2-3 shops per year.
3. To have highly trained employees, with this training reflecting in day to day work.
4. To introduce new products into the product range by doing excellent market research and learning market preferences.
5. Establish a reputation as a socially and environmentally responsible organization.

The company offers new employment opportunities each time an employee resigns or retires or when expansion creates a need for more employees (Shi, Deng & Huo, 2007). Limited paid internship chances are offered each year with the best performing interns being offered employment chances.

Social Media for Market Research

Advertisement for jobs is made in trade magazines and employment seeking sites. This includes complete job description and pay being offered. Positions are advertised two weeks before an interview is scheduled. Group interviews are done to better do comparisons and eliminations. People with no criminal record are preferred. Candidate feedback is given by email and newspaper.

Australian hardware focuses on training and growth opportunities for its staff. We attempt to create an environment where creativity and innovation is encouraged.

Intellectual property created or originated by an employee to benefit the company is to be bought by the company so that the company has exclusive rights to it unless the innovator intends to transfer it to a third part.

Task 1, Resource policy attached

– We investigate salaries offered by the competition and attempt to match or exceed them as is allowable by the budget.

– Maximum number of work hours in a day are eight with an annual holiday of three weeks.

-Employees are allowed to leave employ at will.

-There will be awards for employee of the year as well as an end of year package.

-A dress code is the face of professionalism in a company. A strict dress code of shirts with the company’s logo and flat shoes to be followed by salespeople. Sports footwear is allowed.

-No type of non-medicinal drugs are allowed within the premises of the company.

-A detailed asset register for plant and equipment owned and maintained by each warehouse is maintained by the general operations manager and the store general manager.

1. Which are the most preferred regions to effect expansion?
2. How much would it cost to establish a new shop and market it? What time would it take for the investment to be gained back and for a profit to be made?
3. How significant is the environmental impact of our operation that we need to take all these measures?
4. How many employees on estimate would need to be acquired for the expansion process?
5. What would be the cost of training all the employees as is suggested in the operation plan?

Handouts and copies of documentation provided to employees.

• To position Australian Hardware as a provider of top quality, brand name

hardware and expert service at attractive price points

• Increase foot traffic to 1,000 people per day per store (from 800)

• Increase brand recognition and awareness of value proposition

• Establish good will within our target market so that seven out of ten people rate Australian Hardware as socially and environmentally responsible.

The future

Vision statement

Within five years, Australian hardware will lead the hardware and home improvement market in Australia.

Australian hardware provides the best quality hardware, home wares, garden supplies, and building materials from Australia and the world. Australian Hardware is committed to providing customers and tradespeople with value through everyday low prices, product quality, expert service, community engagement, and environmental responsibility.

• Increase sales revenue and gross profit

• Maintain or increase market share

• Control direct and indirect operational costs

• Maintain superior product and service quality standards

• Establish reputation of Australian hardware as socially and environmentally responsible company

Activity	Timeline	Person responsible
Increase sales revenue and gross profit
Determination of staffing requirements and sales skills assessment for stores	Quarterly or as needed	Store general manager
Employee product and sales training	Quarterly or as needed	Store general manger, HR general manager
Recruitment of skilled staff	Quarterly or as needed	Store general managers, HR general manager
Research innovative, exciting products and suppliers to drive costume	weekly	Marketing general manager
Control direct and indirect operational costs
Review of store budgets and quarterly financial management reports	quarterly	Store general managers, FARM team
Review of national budgetary performance and quarterly financial management reports	quarterly	CEO,CFO, board of directors
Review of preferred suppliers to negotiate price reductions	quarterly	COO
Review of local suppliers to negotiate price reductions	Quarterly or as needed	General store managers
Maintain superior product and service quality standards
Audit of preferred supplier product quality	quarterly	COO
Audit of local supplier product quality	quarterly	Store general managers
Performance management of staff	Twice per year	Store general managers

The meeting will involve the coo and the marketing general manager. since the fastest changing aspects of this business have something to do with marketing and market preferences, quality standards and a quickly changing competitive spectrum (Sachs & McArthur, 2005). There is a need to have a strong market base that will not change tastes or preferences even when the competition offers cheaper alternatives. It is important that not just the product but also the packaging it comes in is sustainable both financially and environmentally (Jung et al., 2013). It is also important that the company find other suppliers who can provide the same quality of products so that any customer with specific preferences will find their preferred pick at our outlets, this being due to a larger variety.

• Harnessing resources, however limited, so that whatever they produce is of higher volumes than before.
• Developing the firm’s strategy and passing it on to the junior employees. They also plan rewards.
• Planning by prioritizing the organization’s, employees, and customer needs.
• Maintains staff levels, expectations, and motivation to fulfill the firm’s goals.
• Drives performance strategies including deciding between efficiency and effectiveness.

With these roles, the coo is expected to take up the part of the operation plan involving suppliers and employees. This includes working with the human resource department to enforce training for the employees.

Community Consultation for Handling Risks

The roles of the marketing manager are;

• Identify the market’s trends and report to the marketing analysis.
• Conduct market research.
• Marketing the company’s products and all activities within the department.
• Coordinate advertisements and market campaign and oversees the budget for the aforementioned activities.
• Develop marketing strategies that is suited to the customer’s needs.

The marketing manager is expected to work with junior employees on packaging design, creating vibrant social media accounts and a website through which to interact with customers. He or she is also the one to ensure the company is in an amicable coexistence with the surrounding community.

These coo as expected should question economic viability of the strategies such as training programs, which, as beneficial as they would be, are an expense to the company (Kaplan, 2008). The major questions should be how to make each positive step taken economical and how reliably better would new methods be as compared to old ones.

The following conclusions were arrived at after a meeting with the employer to discuss financial impact, pros and cons. the first strategy, though well meaning, is more beneficial to employees than to the company because employment contracts are not eternally binding (Umble, Haft & Umbel, 2003).. A better proposal has been given that the seminars and training will be for senior employees whose knowledge can be implemented on junior employees. The financial impact of an environmentally friendly operation such as the solar is evidently positive. A company whose main business is sales does not need much energy, and installation of solar panels has the potentially eliminating the need for purchasing electricity (Kaplan & Norton, 2008)..

Quality is the company’s trademark. Loyal customers are willing to pay the higher prices we charge because there is a confidence in our quality and efficiency with deliveries. The audits to ensure maintenance of quality standards are therefore deemed necessary. Packaging has been noted a recurring unnecessarily high expense which should be reduced. It is recommended that focus should be more on utility and environmental friendliness than quality.

 Expansion is the goal of every business and for a new outlet to succeed; employees with a good record of accomplishment are sent out to them (Stevenson & Hojati, 2007). Plans therefore have to be made to acquire new employees and train some existing ones to take up higher managerial positions at the new outlet. Human resource and store managers should write down expectations for each employee by turnover so that the company can get maximum utility from all its resources.

An operation plan was agreed on based on the strategies set out and the handout of the action plan taken from the business plan. Because of the plan to expand, the expenditure will be comparatively larger but this step is expected to be fruitful with time. With 138 outlets already countrywide and a plan to expand, Australian hardware is well on its way to become a household name, which is one of its visions. This is also reinforced by the fact that a study has shown that Australians are doing more home renovations than ever.

References

Alam, j. (2013). Developing strategic management and leadership skills

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Shi, f., Deng, l., & Huo, l. (2007). Bi-level programming model and algorithm of passenger train operation plan. china railway science, 28(3), 110-116.

Jung, s., lee, h., song, c. s., Han, j. h., Han, w. k., & jang, g. (2013). Optimal operation plan of the online electric vehicle system through establishment of a dc distribution system. IEEE transactions on power electronics, 28(12), 5878-5889.

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Umble, e. j., Haft, r. r., & Umbel, m. m. (2003). Enterprise resource planning: implementation procedures and critical success factors. European journal of operational research, 146(2), 241-257.

Strande, l., & Brdjanovic, d. (Eds.). (2014). faecal sludge management: systems approach for implementation and operation. iwa publishing.