Business company analysis - Essay Example

Business Company Analysis: Walgreens Co. Brief Company Profile Walgreens is one of the famous established organizations in the United States where its roots was traced from as early as 1901 with its founder, Charles R. Walgreen, Sr. (Walgreens). Known for its pharmaceutical products and services for health care solutions, it currently operates a total of five stores in Tucson, Arizona and carries more than 18,000 different items. Interview with a Pharmacy Manager One had the opportunity of interviewing the Pharmacy Manager, Mr.

Chris Valdiviez, at Walgreens in 2411 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, Arizona. According to Valdiviez, the time and efforts are all spent undertaking responsibilities as a Pharmacy Manager at Walgreens, which are both challenging; yet rewarding. As a manager, the basic functions of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling activities of various stakeholders within the scope of one’s specialization are undertaken. As such, as a Pharmacy Manager, Valdiviez emphasized that aside from performing administrative and operational functions among the subordinates; he likewise addresses relevant concerns forwarded by customers or patients who seek their professional advice.

There is also the need to apprise oneself on current technological applications, medical breakthroughs, and future trends that influence and impact on the policies and procedures at Walgreens. He is thereby expected to report to higher management areas for potential improvement, as recommended by regulatory agencies to comply and adhere to the highest standards required the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, among others. Top 3 Problems and Proposed Solutions The top three (3) problems at Walgreens are (1) maintenance of exemplary customer service; (2) lack of oversight for managers; and (3) medication errors.

Since the organization has a separate department in charge of hiring through the Human Resources and Legal departments, the problems ensue when newly hired graduates and even students decide to immediate leave after a short period of time and therefore would require immediate replacements. There have been some reports of customers complaining for the inability of Walgreens personnel and even managers to address their complaints. Likewise, there has been a reported incident of a lawsuit against Walgreens for having given the wrong medication to a customer.

Rubric for proposed solutions for these problems are shown below: PROBLEMS/ SOLUTIONS Good – 50 points Fair – 30 points Poor – 10 points Not Done - 0 Customer Service Training & development effectively undertaken Training & development partially applied Insufficient training & development noted No training and development has been undertaken Personnel’s performance regularly monitored Performance monitored intermittently Insufficient performance monitoring No performance evaluations were undertaken System of rewards & sanctions fully implemented System of rewards & sanctions partially undertaken Insufficient system of rewards & sanctions No policies and systems on rewards and sanctions Oversight for Managers Management development programs duly undertaken Management development programs partially enforced Insufficient management training and development No management training & development programs were enforced Performance evaluation for managers conducted Performance evaluation limitedly conducted Insufficient performance evaluations for managers No performance evaluations for managers Systems of rewards and sanctions for managers are enforced System of rewards & sanctions partially undertaken Insufficient system of rewards & sanctions No policies and systems on rewards and sanctions Medication Errors Training, orientation and performance evaluation on medication errors regularly given Training, orientation and performance evaluation on medication errors sometimes given Insufficient training, orientation and evaluation on medication errors No training, orientation and performance evaluation on medication errors given Code of discipline on sanctions and rewards clear on medication errors Code of discipline on sanctions and rewards are partially clear Code of discipline on sanctions and rewards insufficient No code of discipline designed for medication errors Public awareness advisory given on double checking medicines given Public awareness advisory to double check medicines sometimes given Insufficient public advisories given to double check medicines given No public advisories given Works Cited Walgreens.

"Our Past." 2012. walgreens.com. 28 July 2012 .