Australian Retailing Industry - Essay Example

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RETAIL ORGANIZATIONS of PART 1: Business Retail Systems [Target Country Australia] Management is one of the primary functions of administrative sections especially that of the business organizations. Why is this so Primarily because of the fact that the major function of this particular sector in business establishment is to manage the way by which the business enterprise deal with the employees which it gets its company strength from. Being able to make amends with the way the management deals with the organization's workforce is one way by which the business entity is ensured with the success that it aims to achieve in the future. (Greenwood, 2005, 12) This is the primary reason why management could not passively deal with the issues that concern the employees especially when dealing with the retail practices of business (Leat, 2001, 21). Particularly in Australia, retail businesses are soaring high and are indeed making a great mark in the country's industrial statistical reports. To support the claims mentioned above, a study on the Australian retailing industry shall be studied in this paper. The Australian Retailing Market The system of retailing business is based upon the process of busying and reselling used or new items to final consumers in the market. This procedure is mainly done by major industries that are not able to manufacture their own products. The idea revolves around the possibilities of creating profit from the manufactured products of several manufacturing organizations through adding a certain amount called interest from the principal or original amount that the products were sold to the retailers. As the products passes through from retailers to retailers, it could be observed that the amount or the price of the product continuously rise as the money aims to suffice the capital or investment placed by the retailers themselves. (ARS, 2006, Internet) From this point, it could be observed that the business of retail is primarily based on buy and sell procedures. This has been mostly one of the most appreciated systems of passing products to consumers in Australia. Consumers there find it more practical to receive services from the retailers than getting the products from the manufacturers themselves. Since the retailers are situated in a more convenient location than the manufacturers, consumers tend to choose retailers over these specific producers of goods. Annual reports give certainties that today, the retailing industry remains one of the top grossing industry in Australia. From the year 1993 towards the year 2000, retailing employed at least 920,000 people, which is almost 45% of the total number of workforce employed within the said country. It has been noted through reports that through the years 2005 towards the year 2006, the employing capabilities of the retailing industry in the country would increase up to 22% higher than the present statistical data that it presents in the Australian economic industries. (ARS, 2006, Internet) As of the latest statistical surveys, it has been carried on that there are at least 70,000 individual retailing business organizations in Australia submitting up to $150 Billion of business profits to the national treasury system. As it could be noted from these particular reports, the retail industry is indeed making up a large part of the entire national economy of Australia. Knowing that Australia holds at least 35% of its population devoted to employing the minorities or the Immigrants, it could be expected that the management policing and practices would naturally be directly affected. (ARS, 2006, Internet) Management and the Retail Industry Considering the fact mentioned earlier, the Australian community is made up of a large number of minorities or immigrants who have been entering the boundaries of the country searching for employment. Hence, through this particular truth, it could be observed that the management teams of the business organizations in Australia faces the challenge of dealing with the differences of the people who are employed in the country especially in the retail industry (Leat, 2001, 14). This is particularly the one of the reasons why management and its procedural applications could not simply be passive agent in the foundation of a fine employee relations structure. (Greenwood, 2005, 19) The fact that the internal effects of globalization is focused upon the idea of employing people more than ever, the Australian retailing industry primarily aims to commit its services to the people as much as it could. Along with this, the business organizations are given the high privilege of making a difference in the society, aiming to continuously allowing people see the fact that through employment, they could be able to satisfy their needs and their demands with regards an aimed lifestyle that they have always dreamed of for them and their families as well (Kaufman, 2003, 25). This particular truth on employment satisfaction is the primary reason why the management teams are established. TO be able to motivate the employed personnel for them to work with the goals of the organization along with their personal aims as well, It is necessary to develop the ways by which the management is able to provide them with the satisfaction that they need (Kaufman, 2003, 19). This is the way by which an employee relations procedure is established for the betterment of the entire workforce of business organizations. Retail Organizations are expected to control a large number of employees as they are mainly empowered by the selling abilities of salesclerks and cashiers and other rank and file positions within the organization. Creating a fine working environment for the employees would certainly help in the establishment of a strong business organization. Through policing and employee relations establishment, the said motivational factor that would assist the employees in working their efforts towards the right path of success is indeed needed.(Greenwood, 2005, 56) This is where the management procedures practiced by the management teams of different organizations enters the scene. Several retail companies in Australia are paying much to be able to help their workforce have a clear motivation towards their goals as well as with the company's goals (Bruce, 2004, 21). Through this, the success of the retail industry could be a definite expectation for the future of the Australian economy. From the report cited above, it could be observed that the negative notions of the young generation of Australia give a clear definition of how the economy appeals to the society. At some point, the said reactions are derived from the fact that the retail industries are at some point lacking the capability to assist their employees in reaching their goals making it harder for the workforce to perform well, which might result to lesser successful accounts of profitable outcome for the Australian economy. This is where the importance of human resource management should be strongly applied among retail organizations. From this perspective, it could be observed and thus proven that the management sector of any organization is definitely not a passive agent when it comes to empowering the human relations of certain business companies especially in the Australian Retail Industry (George, 2005, 65). Most often than not, it could be noted that the Management team even has the largest responsibility in creating the possibilities for a larger, more successful employee relations within the retail industry systems. Understanding the System through SWOT Analysis Part 2: Case Based Analysis As noted from the above reports about the Australian retail industry, retail systems naturally require an effective management of the product release points. It is then highly important to understand how the system of operations management works so far for the said industry businesses that are operating in the society today. For this particular section, the system of operations of retail stores in the Heathrow terminal shall be understood for clarification in this part of the study. Multinational enterprises or corporations are business entity whose economic cycles and processes extend to the ranges of different nations and have their target market in global perspective. These types of company are set and marked up on the global standards of production thus, their processes are generally classified to be in massive range in both its quantitative and qualitative aspect. Due to which, the structure of their organizational process whether centralized or decentralized is indeed important for their own qualitative management. The concept of centralization is mainly focused on localizing the source of management power and decision-making hierarchy into a single source mainly the main executives or committee of the multinational firm. This approach is known well in its advantage in standardizing the company's production however, small regional matters tend to be overlooked in this approach. On the other hand, decentralizing the management process tend to increase the quality of the product since regional management sectors do address local diversities thus able to incorporate in them innovations and improvements. However, on its negative aspect, this approach posts certain inefficiencies in the management and production process such as duplication of functions and the disintegration of the decision power. Each of the said management concepts for multinational corporations does posts their own advantages and disadvantages however, it is generally perceived in the present society that centralizing the management process is better than the other. This approach is indeed more efficient since it will speed up production and development by eliminating the hassles of production diversity by standardizing a single process. In addition, this approach organizes and maximizes the management aspect by centralizing its system on a single authority and its hierarchy of command. Yes, for those retails stores within the territories of the new Heathrow Terminal in UK, the strategy that they used was to bring in the business that they handle to where the people are. It could be observed that through this, retailing to the said market would become much easier. They have naturally brought in their products directly to the target buyers to ensure their organizations of the right kind of market influence that they need to penetrate for better market effects. References: Retail Australia. (2004). http://invest.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/evsxpj2bl7mpuxxwvcjo5zc5duqr4xn5umxyoagxalzjnjvfznsgfumx66lkfksfejvkqcz5vvrppl/MelbourneFutureRetail5.pdf. (December 13, 2008). Australian Retail Snapshot. (2006). http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/centres/acrs/research/2006austsnapexecsum.pdf. (December 13, 2008) The Sunday Times. Heathrow's Terminal 5 velocity. (June 3, 2007). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/business/article1834039.ece. (December 13, 2008) Greenwood. (2005). The Practice of Workplace Participation: Management-Employee Relations at Three Participatory Firms. IAP - Information Age Publishing Inc.; New Ed edition. Mike Leat. (2001). Exploring Employee Relations. Butterworth-Heinemann. Bruce E. Kaufman. (2003). 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