Business Decision Making - The Garden Centre - Assignment Example

?Advice for the Garden Centre 1 Secondary Data that Can Be Obtained By the Garden Centre Researchers often rely on secondary data to provide background to their studies. Based on a review of different secondary sources including websites, newspaper articles, books, and journals a business can establish several facts about their customers and the market in which it operates. By researching about the different competitors in the market and what they offer, the garden centre can establish the kind of products that customers demand. There are several garden centres in the United Kingdom, most of them privately owned. Some of the most famous garden centres in this respect include the Garden Centre Group, Alleyn Park, Notcutts, Blue Diamond, Wisley Plant Centre RHS, Scats Country Stores, and Garden Centre Plants, just to name a few (Watson-Smyth 2012). While all the garden centres offer natural plants as the main product, there are a wide range of services and products that some garden centres offer customers. Some of the products that the organization’s competitors offer include fertilizers, small pets, outdoor furniture, and landscaping services and products. The Garden Centre Group which owns a total of 139 garden centres, for example, has a restaurant, plant shop, gardening club, and online shop as part of its package (The Garden Centre Group 2013). The group offers among other products, Christmas lights, bulbs, artificial Christmas trees, tree decorations, garlands and wreaths (The Garden Centre Group 2013). Customers seeking garden centre products are keen to find the specific kinds of products they desire. They are particularly keen on finding products that are of high quality which means garden centres must carefully choose what they stock (Watson-Smyth 2012). They are keen on shopping in an environment that is natural, serene, and magnificent. Many customers prefer to buy unique herbaceous plants and certain varieties of clematis (Watson-Smyth 2012). Customers love to shop where they can have refreshments and therefore prefer garden centres that include shops or restaurants. Since many customers visit garden centres without having made a decision on what particular product to buy, garden centres stock a wide variety of products in a bid to ensure that every customer does not leave empty handed. The business can also get a good idea about the size of the market from which it draws its customers. Furthermore, secondary data may give the business a hint about where the customers in the market come from in terms of geographical locations. Yet again, the organization may be able to establish the demographic characteristics of market including the income levels, age range, culture, ethnicity, marital status and education levels of potential customers (acsbdc.org par. 3). Other characteristics that secondary sources may reveal about the customers and potential customers of the business include their lifestyle, behavior, attitudes, product consumption habits, trends, and loyalty to specific brands (acsbdc.org par. 5). Based on these set of information, the garden centre can establish different market segments. 1.2 Survey Methodology and Sampling Frame By conducting a market research, a business can get to establish what its customers feel about its products and services. This being the case, the garden centre needs to conduct a market research to establish what its customers feel about the products and services offered by the business. The customers can also give suggestions on how their experiences with the garden center can be improved. Data for a market research may be drawn from primary or secondary sources, or even both. The garden centre will rely on primary data to make inferences and decisions regarding customer experiences at the facility. While there are several methods of collecting primary data, the organization will conduct a survey featuring a sample of visitors to the garden centre. The population under study in this case will include the customers of the garden centre. The population in this case includes male and female individuals who have visited the garden centre at one time or another. Considering that conducting a census of the population of customers visiting the garden centre may be time consuming, expensive and inconveniencing to the organization, the study will involve a survey of 224 samples randomly drawn from different sections or departments of the garden centre. The sampling frame will include individuals (males and females) of sound mind aged above 16 years found within the premises of the garden centre on a particular day. The individual sample will have to be someone who is visiting the garden centre to shop, window shop, or socialize. In this regard, workers and managers of the business will not feature as samples. A team of researchers will roam through different departments of the garden center at one hour intervals beginning 8 am and ending at 9 pm seeking potential samples to participate in the study. From each of the eight departments of the garden centers, two samples will be drawn at every top of the hour for a total of 224 samples. At the different sections of the garden, the researchers will approach a potential sample and introduce themselves before asking the individual if they could spare a few minutes of their time to participate in the study. If the potential sample agrees to participate in the study, they will be introduced to the study and issued with a questionnaire. If, however, the individual is unwilling to participate in the study, they will be thanked and left alone. Once the participant has filled the questionnaire issued to them, they will be thanked and left to proceed with their activities. Once the primary data has been gathered, it is coded and analysed to obtain descriptive statistics and to make inferences that may be used in decision making. 1.3 Questionnaire Garden Center Survey Kindly help us improve our services by participating in our short survey. Tick the appropriate answer to each question. Part A (About You) 1. What is your gender? a) Male b) Female 2. What is your age? a) Less than 20 years b) 20-24 c) 25-29 d) 30-34 e) 35-39 f) 40+ 3. What is your economic status? a) High b) Above average c) Average d) Below average e) Poor Part B (About our Services) 4. How often do you visit the garden centre a) Over once a month b) Once a month c) Once in two months d) Once in three months e) Occasionally f) I am visiting for the first time 5. Which department of the garden centre do you like to visit most? a) Floral and plant nursery b) Outdoor furniture c) Pet and pet supplies d) Tools and equipment e) Home decor f) Landscaping services g) Hobby merchandise h) Cafe 6. In your last visit to the garden, to what level were you satisfied with the experience you got? a) Very satisfied b) Satisfied c) Barely satisfied d) Dissatisfied e) Very dissatisfied 7. What do you feel about the quality of our products? a) Very good b) Good c) OK d) Poor e) Very poor f) I have no comment 8. How can we improve our services? ……………………………….. ………………………………... ………………………………… Task Three – Advice for a Shoe Retailer The consumer price index (CPI) of a product can be established by applying the formula: Current item price = (base year price) * (Current CPI) / (Base year CPI) (Boskin 54) Given that for the base year, the index is usually 100, the consumer price index of a product can be established by applying the following formula: CPI =updated cost x 100/base period cost. In order to be able to predict the price index for the coming years, time series analysis may be applied. This involves the establishment of the autocorrelation coefficient and applying a model that will be used to determine future values for the price indices. The time series sample data provided for the situation under consideration is as follows: 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 100 105 112 122 133 After coding the data on SPSS software, the series chart that was produced is as shown in figure Fig. 1: A line graph for the time series for the given years Based on time series analysis, the autocorrelations and partial autocorrelations are as presented in the tables below: Autocorrelations Series:CPI Lag Autocorrelation Std. Errora Box-Ljung Statistic Value df Sig.b 1 .399 .338 1.390 1 .238 2 -.116 .293 1.546 2 .462 3 -.403 .239 4.389 3 .222 a. The underlying process assumed is independence (white noise). b. Based on the asymptotic chi-square approximation. Partial Autocorrelations Series:CPI Lag Partial Autocorrelation Std. Error 1 .399 .447 2 -.326 .447 3 -.282 .447 The chart that follows shows the autocorrelation chart for the time series. Since the graph in figure 1 tends to have a straight line, a linear regression model can be used to forecast future price indices with little error. For the data set, the regression model is as follows, based on SPSS output: Sample size: 5 Mean x (x?): 2010 Mean y (y?): 114.4 Intercept (a): -16568.6 Slope (b): 8.3 Regression line equation: y=8.3x-16568.6 Therefore, to predict the price index for 2013, We apply the formula PI2013= 8.3x-16568.6 CPI2013= 8.3(2012)-16568.6 CPI2013= =139.3 Similarly, to forcast the the price index for 2014, We apply the formula PI2014= 8.3x-16568.6 CPI2014= 8.3(2012)-16568.6 CPI2014= =147.6 By applying the formula: Current item price = (base year price) * (Current CPI) / (Base year CPI), the purchasing price of shoes can be established. It is important to establish the base year price of the product first. To establish the base year (2008) price, Base year price = current item price x base year cpi/ (Current CPI) Base year price = 8 x 100/112 Price of shoes in 2008 =?7.14 To establish the prices of shoes for 2013 and 2014, CPI2013 =139.3 CPI2014 =147.6 Updated Cost = CPI x base period cost/ 100 Cost 2013 =139.3 x 7.14/100 = ?9.95 Cost 2014 =147.6 x 714.29/100 = ?10.54 What this basically means is that the cost of shoes is bound to increase in the next couple of years. Project Management When implementing a project, it is vital to take into consideration that no time should be wasted. In this respect, project managers should apply critical path analysis to establish the minimum amount of time that the project may take to implement. Critical path analysis may also be used to schedule and plan other resources such as manpower and materials so that they are used maximally (Plymouth par. 2). Furthermore, by conducting a critical path analysis, the project manager can establish the steps that should be accelerated to complete the project within the time that they have (Mindtools par 2). In order to come up with a Gantt chart and to establish the critical path of a project, the first step is to list all the activities or processes that are involved in the implementation of the project (Plymouth par. 3). The processes should best be listed sequentially beginning with the first activity that will be done. The activities should then be assigned time durations that they normally take to be completed. By drawing a network diagram and performing iterations on it, the critical path of the project can be identified. In many cases, the critical path is the longest path in the network diagram. For the computer installation project, the following task list, network diagram and Gantt chart apply. Task Path Task Length (Days) Dependent on AK A Explain plans to the staff (1 day per dept.) Assuming 4 departments BC B Provide details to purchasing dept. at group HQ 2 CD C HQ approval and order placement 3 B DF D Delivery of computer system 28 B CE E Fitting of electrical sockets and network access point 6 C FG F Installation of the system 3 D, E, F GH G Feeding stock items into the system 21 F HI H Installation of encryption software 1 FG IK I Final checking of the system 2 F, G,H IJ J Training of department managers 4 I KL K Preparation of staff training rota 1 I, A L-Finish L Staff Training 5 K Network Diagram The total duration for different network paths are as follows: BCDFGHIKL-Finish = 2+3+28+3+21+1+2+1+5 = 66 Days BCDFGHIJ = 2+3+28+3+21+1+4= 62 days Gantt Chart Process Time (Days) 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66-70 A Explain plans to the staff (1 day per dept.) B Provide details to purchasing dept. at group HQ C HQ approval and order placement D Delivery of computer system E Fitting of electrical sockets and network access point F Installation of the system G Feeding stock items into the system H Installation of encryption software I Final checking of the system J Training of department managers K Preparation of staff training rota L Staff Training Based on the network diagram, it is worth noting that the critical path is BCDFGHIKL-Finish. The critical path of a project is basically the path that when taken, will result in the project being completed in the shortest possible time. At the critical path, the earliest start times and the latest finish times for processed are the same. In this case, the minimum time that the project can take is 66 days. Works Cited Mindtools. Critical Path Analysis and PERT Charts. 2013. Web. November 3, 2013 http://www.mindtools.com/critpath.html Boskin, Michael "Consumer Price Indexes". In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty.2008.Print. Acsbdc.org. Customer Analysis for Marketing. 2013. Web. November 3, 2013 http://acsbdc.org/business-topics/customer-analysis The Garden Centre Group. Gardening Club. 2013. Web. http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/ Watson-Smyth Kate., The 50 Best garden centres. March 09, 2012. Web. http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/house-garden/the-50-best-garden-centres-7544530.html Plymouth. Critical Path Analysis. N.d. Web. November 3, 2013 http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/alevel/discrete_ch12.pdf Read More