Executive Summary
This current report deals with the business policy of ASDA. It has been received that ASDA has developed a customer service policy for the organization to provide an excellent customer service. However, the main aim of this policy is to make this organization as a trustable retailer in UK. The customer service policy of ASDA is helpful to make an effective communication with the customers. In order to enhance the trust of the customers, any organization needs to gather feedback from the customers. This customer service policy is a short-term policy. In order to improve such customer service policy, long-term result is required from this policy.
1.1 Introduction
Strategic management is a process to achieve the business goal by using the organizational resources. Strategic management involves in generating business objectives and analyzing the competitive environment (Hill et al. 2014). It is important for an organization to enhance their strategic management process by introducing organizational policies and procedures. Strategic management enables an organization to compare itself with the competitors. On the other hand, to improve the customer service strategic management in the business is necessary. This study deals with the strategic management process in the context of ASDA. However, the customer service policy of ASDA needs to relate to its strategic management. Their unique customer service policy leads this organization to gain competitive advantages and customer loyalty in their business. In this study, the effectiveness of the customer service policy will be discussed in the context of ASDA.
2.0 Analysis
2.0.1Company Background
SWOT Analysis of ASDA
|
S-Strength · Strong brand recognition · High quality service |
W-Weakness · Poor operation process in grocery service · Need to improve customer policy |
|
O-Opportunity · Scope for service improvement · Introduction of new policy |
T-Threat · Huge competition from Tesco and Morrison · Changing behavior of the customers |
ASDA is a popular retail organization in UK. This is the major strength of this organization. It is a British supermarket retailer and it was established in 1965. ASDA provides various grocery items to the customers in UK. This is a leading grocery organization in UK. ASDA has a large supermarket chain. The mission of this organization is to be the most trusted retailer in Britain (Asda.com 2018). Their vision is to serve excellent customer service across UK. The grocery section of ASDA tends to improve the customer service level. This highlights the weakness of this organization due to poor operation in grocery section. In order to improve the customer service, such organization aims to adopt customer service policy in their strategic management process. However, improvement of the customer service policy brings new opportunity for this organization to maximize the level of customer satisfaction. Threats include huge completion from the Morrison and Tesco. These two retail organizations are the major competitors of ASDA in UK. They offer almost similar products to the customers. However, the Morrison and Tesco provide a large range of grocery to the customers. Hence, there is a threat of alternative products. On the other hand, Tesco offers similar service at low price. Moreover, both Tesco and Morrison also taken customer service policy through collecting feedbacks from the customers. Thus, it is crucial for the ASDA to provide unique customer service to gain competitive advantages and to minimize the threats of other competitors.
2.0.2 Business Policy
Every retailer gives their concern towards the customer service policy to ensure the high-quality service. Establishment of customer service policy helps an organization to understand the way through which the customers are served (Green et al. 2017). ASDA has taken customer service policy as a business policy to provide high-quality service and satisfy their customers. As argued by Mutalib et al. (2018), often customers leave the organization if they are not being entertained and treated properly. Based on this issue ASDA has introduced their new customer service policy. However, a proper customer service policy allows the business to retain their customers and to gain competitive advantages in the market. Customer service should be the top priority of every business. In the recent years, ASDA has been facing a high level of competition as the competitors give latest customer service. The main aim of their new customer policy is to treat all customers equally and to reduce any type of discrimination in terms of gender, language, social and economic status.
2.0.3 Principles of the policy are as follow:
2.0.4 Implementation of the policy
In the recent years, ASDA has been facing challenges due to the changing behavior of the customers. However, ASDA wants to grab the rapidly changing habit of the customers, which can be done by using effective communication. In order to make an informed decision, ASDA wants to anticipate the demand and queries of the customers regarding their service. For this purpose, their new customer service policy is introduced. For a business, it is important to implement the policy properly besides its introduction (Chen et al. 2015). In order to implement their new business policy, ASDA decided to develop an insight community for the customers. This is due to the enhancement of the customer engagement. Enhancement of the customer engagement is an important part of the strategic management (Mutalib et al. 2018). By developing such insight community ASDA is able to engage their customer to gain their feedback and insight. They have launched Pulse of the Nation, which is a community of customers. 22,000 customers are attached with this community and share their insight. ASDA has a focus to identify the needs of the customers and their changing behaviors. Therefore, they want to be an environmentally shoppers. In order to understand the demand of the customers, ASDA has launched two customer sub-communities that are Everyday Experts and Mumdex.
To bring innovation in the strategic management process the business organization needs to gather feedback from the customers (So et al. 2016). By taking help from Pulse of Nation ASDA is able to use customer intelligence. The insight community of customers enables ASDA to make a plan for the campaign, seasonal promotion and refine the product line. This community helps ASDA to understand the feeling, lifestyle, and concern of the customers. The principle of customer service policy includes effective communication to understand the problem of the customers.
ASDA has given training to the staffs to adopt this customer service policy properly. However, in order to implement a customer service policy, it is crucial for every organization to provide training to the staffs to understand the principles of the business policy (Ramayah and Yeap 2017). However, improvement of the customer experience is another major principle of ASDA’s customer service policy. In order to maximize the customer experience, ASDA focuses on providing value-added retail service to their customers. In order to deal with the evolving behavior of the customers, ASDA started to redefine value retailing and empower the customers. This is done by allowing the customers to collect and return the products that are purchased from third-party retailers at ASDA store. On the other hand, ASDA provides a convenient way for their customers to track their parcel via online and to visit the retail store also. This approach improves the strategic management decision by maximizing the customer experience in the context of ASDA.
In order to implement a policy in an organization it is crucial to follow the theoretical framework. One of vital management theory is the Mintzberg theory. According to this theory skills are achieved through experience (Mantere 2017). This theory highlights that braking down of the management roles and responsibilities help an organization to bring changes in an organization. Segmentation of the management role enables the individuals to simplify the management concept. This allows the organization to establish a good culture in an organization and to develop the skill of the employees. Based on this theory it has been received that the managers need to play different roles at every day. However, ASDA wants to establish a customer relationship policy to improve the customer experience. In order to implement this policy the managers need to define their exact role and to improve the skill of the employees to give shape this policy. By following Mintzberg theory the managers of ASDA will be able to categorize their different functions to implement the policy successfully. To implement this policy the managers need to carry out decisional role and informational role. Decisional role will help the manager to take decision to introduce this policy and informational role will lead the managers to share information regarding the policy among the employees. As result, such customer service policy will be implemented successfully in ASDA.
2.0.5 Significance of the customer service policy in ASDA
For the small organization, it is easy to hold and retain the customers as they have a small base of customers. However, for the large and growing organization, it is often difficult to retain and satisfy their customers (Ivanauskiene and Volungenaite 2014). From the above discussion, it has been covered that ASDA has been facing the changing behavior of the customers. In order to deal with the process, they have introduced a new customer service policy, which improves the customer experience. ASDA uses various channels to communicate with their customers as a result, an error occurs. Moreover, staffs negligence is a big drawback of this organization, which hampers the customer retention in this organization. The customer service policy of ASDA allows this organization to keep consistency in their customer management process. Managing the customers is an effective aspect of strategic management process (So et al. 2016). One of the major aspects of customer service policy is to manage the customer relationship. However, customer service enables the organization to provide high customer service, which also builds a good relationship with the customers. Customers are the lifeblood of an organization. Hence, ASDA needs to define its customer service policy properly to make their customer happy and to loyal to this organization.
Customer service policy has a great impact on the bottom line of a business (Kaura et al. 2015). This highlights the way through which public see an organization. In the context of ASDA, the customer service policy enables this organization to remain at the top of the retail industry. However, their customer service policy includes effective communication, which empowers the customers to increase their experience in this organization. On the other hand, polite interaction with the customer is another principle of this policy. This satisfies the customers as a result, they are influenced to purchase a product from ASDA. One of the major positive outcomes of the customer service policy is to retain the customers once they come to the organization. Therefore, the customers are able to share their feedback with the staffs through an effective communication process. Customer service policy enables the organization to respond to the customers directly. This improves the service of an organization. However, the customer service policy includes quick service delivery to the customers. This is effective to retain the old customers and to cover the new customers. Customer service policy is directly associated with the customer satisfaction. This policy allows the customers to share their concern regarding the service of an organization. This maximizes the customer loyalty and the customer experience.
2.0.6 Role of customer service policy in strategic customer relationship management
Strategic customer relationship management or CRM is a vital aspect of the strategic management of an organization. The main purpose of strategic CRM is to increase the knowledge about the perspective of the customers (Khodakarami and Chan 2014). Strategic CRM will help ASDA to improve the relationship with the customers by enhancing the interaction with them. Customer service policy helps an organization to manage strategic customer relationship in their workplace. This policy allows ASDA to amplify the commitment of the customers, which is an important part of customer relationship management. It is important for an organization to get feedback from the customers while developing any business strategy for them. Customer collaboration is a major part of strategic customer relationship management (Soltani and Navimipour 2016). ASDA’s customer service policy includes two different communities that engage a large number of customers. Hence, the customer collaboration can be done through this process. Therefore, development of a single real-time view for each customer is another part of the strategic customer management. Hence, the customer service policy of ASDA includes an online approach for the customers, which helps such organization to get the real-time view of the customers.
2.0.7 Impact of customer service policy in ASDA’s strategic management
Strategic management refers to the fulfillment of the vision and mission of an organization through some specific business strategies. ASDA’s vision is to provide excellent customer service and its mission is to be the most trusted retailer in UK. To meet these objectives they have proposed customer service policy. However, the major principle of this policy is to improve the customer experience by using effective communication process. In order to be a trusted business, it is important for an organization to retain their customers and enhance the number of repeat customers (Wong et al. 2015). Customers always think while they are spending money in an organization in order to purchase a product. Hence, for every business, it is important to keep their customer coming back. This can be done by using the customer service policy as it allows ASDA to understand the customer concern and to provide them value by resolving their problems. It is important for ASDA to link their customer service policy with the strategic management to improve the experience of customers.
Apart from this, the customer service policy allows an organization to gain competitive advantages, which is another aspect of strategic management (Rahimi and Kozak 2017). ASDA has taken value retailing service approach to improve the customer experience level. Despite this effectiveness, such customer service policy has some drawbacks. It is a short-term policy and it is no longer effective.
3.0 Porter Five Force Model analysis
3.1 Threat of new entrants
Porter five forces analysis is an important theory to understand the current business environment of an organization (Mathooko and Ogutu 2015). In the context of ASDA such five force model is helpful to understand the effectiveness of their customer service policy in gaining competitive advantage in the market. Threat of the new entrants is a major element of Porter Five Forces model. The force of new entrants can affect the power of an organization (Greenspan 2015). However, if a new competitor provides excellent customer service then they can easily enter into a market. However, by using the customer service policy ASDA is able to reduce the threat of new entrants as they are able to meet the changing behavior of the customers.
3.2 Power Of supplier
Power of supplier is another element of this model. This highlights the how easily the suppliers drive up the price of service and goods. If the number of suppliers is less then the company depends more on the suppliers. This increases the power of the suppliers. However, the customer service policy has no impact on the supplier power in ASDA.
3.3 Power of Customers
Power of customer is a vital element of Porter Five Forces model. Power of the customers refers the ability of the customers to drive the price down (Dobbs 2014). This depends on the number of customers in an organization. However, ASDA has a large number of customers thus, the bargaining power of the customer is high. Hence, by using customer service policy this organization is able to gain feedback from the customers and to reduce the bargaining power of the customers.
3.4 Competitive Rivalry
High competition is an important element of this model. This highlights the number of competitors and their capacity to generate threat for the other organizations. In order to deal with the competitors, the organization needs to increase their customers by providing excellent service. By providing excellent customer service ASDA will be able to gain competitive advantages in the global market.
3.5 Threat of Substitute product
Customer service builds customer trust for an organization. Hence, if an organization is able to serve excellent level of customer service then they will be able to achieve competitive advantages. The most important element of Porter Five Forces Model is to the threat of product substitute. Often the competitors offer a similar product in the same market segment (Yunna and Yisheng 2014). This creates a threat to the existing business. In the context of ASDA, they have taken a unique approach to implement their customer service. By providing an excellent customer service an organization is able to reduce the threat of an alternative product. ASDA provides value retailing customer service to their customers. This enables the customers to keep an online track of their parcel and to visit in the retail stores of ASDA to improve their experience. This unique customer service is not provided by the competitors of ASDA. Hence, it is beneficial for this organization to reduce the challenges regarding the threat of substitute.
Figure 1: Porter Five Forces Model
(Source: Yunna and Yisheng 2014)
4.0 Recommendations
5.0 Conclusion
The entire piece of work highlights the business policy of ASDA to improve the customer service. However, customer service is an important part of the strategic management. By providing excellent customer service ASDA is able to compete in the global market. ASDA has introduced a customer service policy to enhance the customer loyalty. Providing excellent customer service is the main motto of this policy. They have taken several approaches to implement this policy. Development of sub community is an effective approach, which is taken to implement such policy. On the other hand, providing value retail service is another approach that is taken by ASDA to give shape their customer service policy. Hence, it can be concluded that development of the customer service policy is a good decision for any business to improve their strategic management. Moreover, customer service policy is helpful to establish the strategic customer relationship management.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download