Sheas One of a Kind Boutique - Term Paper Example

? Shea’s One of a Kind Boutique Contents Section Executive Summary (Business 3 Section 2: of Conduct 4 Section 3: Marketing Plan (Strategy and SWOT) 4 Section 4: Operations 5 Section 5: Finance 5 Section 6: Cash Flow Analysis 6 Section 7: Information Management 6 Section 8: Management Summary 6 References 8 Appendix 9 Shea’s One of a Kind Boutique Section 1: Executive Summary (Business Description) The type of business operated by the organization is retail. The organization operates a boutique. The vision of the business is to be the leading boutique in the region due to the quality and affordability offered by the business. The boutique is located at a commercial area which is easily accessible to the customers and it also gets noticed by the passing customers due to its location. The boutique offers a wide variety of clothing items for women. The clothing items retailed at the business are designed by a team of experts associated with the organization and they are manufactured by a contracted manufacturing organization. The boutique also features clothing items by other designers as well who work in collaboration with the boutique. The competitive advantage of the business is the innovation in the production of the clothing items. The expert designers hired by the organization are encouraged to produce innovative designs and such designs are critically assessed. Only after the appropriate approvals, such designs are moved to the next level that is manufacturing. The main reason behind the established position of the business in the market is its competitive advantage. The competitors of the organization are unable to move the organization from its market share due to competitive advantage of the organization. Another factor that may be the reason behind the smooth operations of the organization is the efficient use of technology. The business makes extensive use of technology throughout its operations. The information related to the business is centralized on a cloud computing system and the authorized personnel have access to the information. The marketing strategy of the organization includes; offering discounts to the customers, offering value cards and other promotional activities. In order to ensure that the organization retains its market share amidst the competition projected by other organizations operating in the market, the organizations implements upon its marketing strategy at a regular basis. The organization offers value cards to its customers which can be used by the customers to avail discounts. The more a customer shops, the more value points are added to the account of the customer and when a customer reaches a certain level, the customer becomes eligible to avail discounts. Promotional activities include distribution of flyers at shopping places and placement of banners. Initial financing of the organization was done partially through the investment done by the owners of the organization and partially through the debt acquired by the bank through a long term loan. The funds were utilized to acquire office and store space, to acquire the necessary computer and other office equipment, and to carry out initial advertisement of the business. The start-up personnel of the organization were; core management for each department and subordinate staff. The organization hired limited staff in order to start the business and once the business started to grow, more staff was hired on the basis of the requisitions filed by the core management. The hiring is done through an extensive process and it is ensured that only the eligible personnel are hired by the organization. Section 2: Code of Conduct The organization gives significant importance to the compliance with market standards. It is believed by the core management that compliance with standards is more than the responsibility of the organization but it is the way the business should be conducted. The organization also promotes ethical conduct of the staff and core management in order to develop an organizational culture of accountability and honesty. The ‘Code of Conduct’ of the organization defines the business practices and procedures comprehensively. Every issue is not addressed in the document but generic guidelines are provided that help the core management and other staff members of the organization. All the personnel of the organization, irrespective of the position in the hierarchy, are required to comply with the Code and any act that is against the essence of the Code leads towards a disciplinary procedure (Griffin, 2011). The most significant policies and procedures documented in the Code are; honest conduct of the business, compliance with relevant laws and regulations, resolution of a conflict of interest, honest response to the competition, firm commitment to discouragement of discrimination and harassment, proper record keeping, confidentiality of sensitive information, and reporting of any unethical or illegal activity or whistle blowing policy. All these policies and procedures are comprehensively explained in the Code of Conduct of the organization. The Code emphasizes over the honest operations by the organization and most of the policies and procedures defined in the Code are regarding performing the tasks fairly and honestly. The Code also requires the personnel of the organization to report any unethical or illegal act that takes place by any other staff member. The whistle blowing policy is given special importance as it helps the core management to ensure that all the staff members are performing their tasks honestly. Section 3: Marketing Plan (Strategy and SWOT) The organization combines a number of promotional activities in an effective marketing mix. While implementing the marketing strategy, maximum focus is driven towards the innovativeness of the products offered by the store. The marketing plan of the organization includes; offering discounts to the customers, offering customer value/loyalty cards, and outdoor promotional activities (Daft & Lane, 2009). The strengths of the organization that help in the effectiveness of the marketing plan are; the innovativeness of the products of the organization, the efficient use of technology and the well trained staff of the organization. The weaknesses of the organization include; the extent of resources held by the organization, and narrow product line. The competitor organizations have sufficient resources to carry out extensive marketing but the Boutique does not hold enough funds to divert them towards the marketing plan. The opportunities held by the organization include; expansion of the product range, expansion of the customer base and favorable cultural shift. The Boutique can introduce new clothing lines in accordance with age groups. Men’s apparel can also be started as a separate clothing line with a specific brand name by the Boutique. The innovation of the organization can lead the organization to respond favorably to the cultural shift as well. The threats faced by the organization include; presence of substitute products in the market, changing fashion trends, and the rising costs. Due to the high competition in the market, the consumers have an option to buy substitute products which are available from the competitors of the Boutique. This may affect the overall revenue of the Boutique. The sudden changes in fashion trends may also slow down the sales of the present inventory of the Boutique and it may become obsolete or slow-moving. The rising costs due to inflation may also make it difficult for the organization to keep a high profit margin. Section 4: Operations The operations of the Boutique include; creating and maintaining internal controls, managing inventory, maintenance of financial records and other day to day operations. The internal controls include a comprehensive system maintained to ensure that all the procedures are carried out honestly and efficiently. Inventory management is an important part of the operations of the organization. For a Boutique business, acquiring and maintaining inventory is the largest part of the operations of the business. Without proper maintenance of inventory, the organization may not be able to acquire profitability. The inventory management includes proper assembly of the items on the floor and the assessment of the floor space in this regard. Another function of the inventory management operation is to ensure that obsolete or damaged inventory is separated on a timely basis. Another operation of the organization is to maintain proper financial records of the overall financial transactions of the Boutique. In order to ensure that this operation is carried out properly, the financial records are updated on a timely basis and the entry of any transaction is not deferred. Section 5: Finance The finance function of the organization is managed by a team of accountants. This is a very important function of the organization as all the records of the transactions are prepared and maintained by this function. As mentioned earlier, the initial financing of the organization was done partially by the owners of the organization and through a long term loan acquired by the bank for the purpose of the business. The finance function of the organization has kept records of all the transactions since the initial investment in the business. The revenue of the Boutique is generated from the sales of the items retailed on the floor. The main expenses of the Boutique are the rent of the space, staff pays, payments to the manufacturer and the depreciation of the equipment. The preparation of the financial statements is also done by the finance function. The financial statements provide a comprehensive view of the operations of the Boutique. Section 6: Cash Flow Analysis The cash flow statement (Appendix) suggests that the organization has had a cash inflow in the Financial Year 2011. The cash inflow of the Boutique depends solely upon the sale of the clothing items retailed on the floor. The customers make payments either by cash or credit cards. The sales are recorded in real time and the cash inflow is updated. The cash outflows of the Boutique include; payments of rent for the store space, payments to the manufacturer, payments to the staff members, payments to suppliers, debt repayments and other expenses. It can be observed in the cash flow statements that due to the high revenue of the Boutique, the cash inflow is higher than the cumulative cash outflow of the organization. Section 7: Information Management Effective information management is highly important for the success of a business. The strategic decisions are made by the management on the basis of the information available to the management. The completeness, accuracy and relevance of the information held by the organization are highly important for effective decision making (Greasley et al., 2006). For the Boutique, the information is managed on an information cloud which is accessible by all the authorized personnel of the organization. A central information system has been set up and all the computer terminals in the store have been linked to each other. Any entry of data in one terminal would automatically update the data in all the terminals, thus the information would be centralized. The entry of the data would not be done manually but it will be automated through the use of barcode readers and this information will be updated in the central servers. In case of a sale, the invoice will be generated once the barcode is entered in the system. Thus, the item will be moved from the inventory records and it will be recorded as sold. Therefore, the information available to the management would be complete, accurate and up to date at all the times. For the boutique business, cloud computing plays a very important role. The management is able to keep track of all the records in real time without even being required to be available in the premises of the boutique all the time. Another positive aspect of the cloud computing services is that they can be accessed from mobile devices too. Through virtual access, the core management can keep track of all the transactions and financial data of the business even when they are on the move. Thus, decision making by the management has broken free of the confines of the office space and the accessibility of the information from a virtual location enables the core management to make decisions even when they are traveling (Miller, 2008). Section 8: Management Summary The organization runs a Boutique business which is located at a commercial area. The Boutique retails clothing items designed by a team of experts and branded under the name of the organization. The store also retails other brands that are operating in collaboration with the Boutique. The initial financing of the business was done partially by the owners of the business and partially through a long term loan by the bank. The organization has a comprehensively documented Code of Conduct which is mandatory to be followed by all the staff members regardless of their position in the organization. The organization uses an effective marketing mix as its marketing plan that keeps it stable in the highly competitive environment. The organization has different operations that include; establishment and maintenance of internal controls, inventory management, retailing and finance function. The finance function is responsible for proper recording of all the transactions and the preparation of the financial statements. The cash flow analysis of the organization suggests that the sole revenue of the business is generated from the sale of items retailed on the floor. The information management is done centrally and it is updated on a timely basis. References Daft, R. L.; Lane, P. (2009). Management. 9th Edition. Cengage Learning. Greasley, A.; Hickie, S.; Chaffey, D.; Bocji, P. (2006). Business Information Systems: Technology, Development and Management for the e-business. 3rd Edition. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall. Griffin, R. W. (2011). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. 10th Edition. Cengage Learning. Miller, M. (2008). Cloud Computing: Web Based Applications that Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online. Que Publishing Appendix Cash Flow Statement: Read More