Using Teamwork to Drive Sales - Case Study Example

Proposal for Drugstore Retail Management Introduction: Over the past years, the US concept of retail has experienced some new changes that have had a great impact on the consumers. Many drug stores are affected by ethical issues, social issues, and health issues among others. The drugstores are defined as retailer’s shops where medicinal products (drugs and other healthcare products) are sold and prescriptions made or it’s simply as a pharmacy. The success an organization relies wholly on the character of the management. This is the reason why drug stores need a tactful management that will see increase in sales increase very fast and reach higher limits in shortest time possible. Rational for Investigating: As the drugstores increase in numbers across the country, its important to ensure that even those that are yet to come will have a scheme for success that will have been established earlier on. Teamwork in any organization is very important and it can see the company improve drastically as in the case of Walgreens, CVs and Albertsons. The increased number of drug stores is very much intriguing, which from previous research imply that the use of teamwork is very efficient in achieving greater sales. The Procedure: The research will be conducted via the library sources from which the mushrooming of drug stores and there strategic management will be explored by getting the answers to the following questions; - what determines the growth of drugstores; is teamwork a critical factor in growth of drugstores; how is the drugstore handling ethical issues. Some of the managers from successful drugstores will also be interviewed. Reference Burned M.D (2008). Drug Store and Business Management. Pragati books Drugstore Retail Management Introduction In An interview, the then manager and founder of Walgreen, Charles R Walgreen Himself in 1925 claimed that then success of any organization was wholly dependent on the manager’s character. The same sentiments are again echoed almost 100 years down the line. Daniel L Jorndt 75 years after later reiterates that the success of the company was due to a very long history of work, positive interaction among workers, and work ethics. The success of any organization depends entirely on the management. From such words, it becomes clear that the success of this company is due to basically the efforts of the management and the workers combined. Working as a team towards common goal is very critical. The drugstore business in the US is lead by big stores that use teamwork as a stepping stone to success; Walgreen, Albertsons and CVS. Elemental Values Some people oppose that management is not fundamental claiming that Its very difficult to attribute the success of an organization to a single aspect since the things threat affect company growth are very many and their interactions is very dynamic as well. They purport that the aspects that enable firms to be on top of the business enduringly are the ones that are even more difficult to capture in the long run. Obsessed and dedicated to consumer service, unfailing and flawless performance, culture that promotes teamwork, intelligent capital utilization and the ability to change with the changing times without loss of focus and identity include the factors that are fundamental for success (Liz 2009). They claim retailing depends on secrets. Nonetheless, Charles R Walgreen sees these are just mere writings or statements if they are not executed by the people i.e. employees. This is when the workers become the pillars of success to every business; he believes that workers are lead by management into achievement. The worker must be willing to work extra hard in order to be able to achieve such dreams. Walgreen for instance is able to lead in sales, revenue and other things because of the concepts that are integrated in its management since its establishment (Liz 2009). They include a culture of teamwork and cooperation that allows employees to function as a team and yet still individual ambitions are put into consideration hence working becomes inspiring. Developing a team to work together requires effective management and that the people become honest towards one another and that they also respects each so that they can be able to work together despite their differences in terms of religion, ethnicity, gender and age. Successful firs in drug retailing have reported to be upholding a reputation of honesty, modest, respect, and competency. The workers through such qualities learn to be tough negotiators and tough competitors and still in the end they maintain their earned respect. Advancement strategy that keeps a team together is by identifying where the firm was, where it is currently, where it is going or wants to go and the machinery that would lead it there (Berman & Telen 2004). A team working together is able to sense change in their dealings and respond to this more appropriately, and more importantly deliver their promises. Integrity is also integral in team work, this is a very critical that that will attract lots of firms which would like to doe business together. Teamwork- in every area of development currently, people are always addressing the need of having a team that works together but it is also evident that very few manage to achieve this or very few people at least understand what its is to create, and maintain a very efficient team. The ones who are opposed to management as being the key to success put into consideration other feature like monetary situations (inflation, demand and money supply). However with strong management the mission and the objective of the firm are given first priority and the workers should be well conversant with the mission and how to achieve the mission intentions (Marie 2009). Drugstore industry is very critical, delivery of health products; manufacturing or prescription can be hazardous. In any case blaming somebody after the damage is already done cannot help. It’s for these reasons that teamwork is very imperative (Levy & Weitz 2004). Everyone takes care of his or her task but still keeps an eye on other to check if the have done the same. There are several factors that determine creation of a successful team in the drugstores; Clear Prospects- the executive leaders should develop and communicate clear and concise expected outcome from the team. The team members should appreciate why the team was created in the first place. The organization itself must demonstrate constancy of reason in the support of the team with resources of the people, time and money. Opponents of strong management as the key to success claim that Participation of the workers is considered independent from the management and that The work and performance of the team should receive adequate emphasis as a main concern in setting priorities in terms, time discussion, interest, attention and to discussions and that The managers are just observers (Berman & Telen 2004). The Context: the management is responsible for organizing the members of the team that are taking part in the team. The strategy is explained to the members and how the organizations goals are to be met. Corporate goals are very important and that is why describing to the team how they will be accomplished is very critical at this point. Walgreen for instance, it has grown into a successful corporation, operating over 5,000 stores, this is a very big company with a very clear corporate mission and hence the driving force to its success. Opponents however claim that this cannot be achieved without the proper resource in place. Money supply as the ability of the firm to borrow and this allows more investments and re-investments. (Levy & Weitz 2004). Commitment is very critical factor and as described earlier, this does not regard the management or the junior staff. Everyone should show obsessive dedication to the success of the business so as to be able to inspire progress as well. The members should not be compelled or coerced into the team but should do so willingly or be talked into it nicely. Working in a team is very critical yes but the goals of the team are determined by both the management and junior staff. Good decision should not only entail mangers but also opinion from the subordinated staff as well. The members should also learn to appreciate the mission of the organization and view it s very important (Liz 2009). Commitment is paramount and each member should be encouraged to find some commitment in him or herself to work towards achieving the company goals. Walgreen support Management as key to success and claim that it’s the Basic the reason why it has been able to beat Rite Aid and CVS, and also due to the fact that it has been very much committed to customer’s service and convenience and in this way; Walgreen has been able to offer products (both services and goods) that are perceived to be superior than the typical store commodities. This in deed puts the company on a competitive edge over the other firms. Some of these services include one-hour photo services, drive through pharmacies and the 24 hour service in many of the stores across the country. These services are very attractive to the customers who are seeking quality serves and to save time as well (Berman & Telen 2004). Communication is very important in any organization. The opponents to the management success affirm that other smaller aspect of the business like communication are critical since it’s the flow of information that is necessary for execution of duties. There need to be a way of passing information especially the giving of feedback ad receiving information. The team members need to be very honest and clear in their communication. Suggesting of opinions should be encouraged especially during brain storming and I times of crisis. Innovation is very important for the team work and every person in the team should show interest in change because change is paramount regardless whether the company wants to change or not, the change will still take place in the whole industry and this means a company could lag behind in terms of competency, technology and efficiency (Levy & Weitz 2004). Coordination ensures the flow of information reaches the correct person and accomplishes the correct task it was intended for. A team that is not coordinated is likely to get confused and spoil the results of otherwise very good plan. The relationships between departments and up the hierarchy should follow a defined process where every stage of flow of information or carrying out a task is identified (Northouse 2006). The Culture of Team Work Executives should be able to model a team and maintain it together even if there is conflict. The value of working together as a team should be addressed and noted down. Failure to do so will lead to underperformance while the management is accountable The drugstores all aim at being the best, they however realize that individual effort cannot match group work and as a consequence they all have resulted to teambuilding (Marie 2009). Creating a teamwork that performs is very difficult. However when people get to work together, they learn to appreciate that their ideas may not be the best and at the same time, thinking, planning, decision making and activity that are done cooperatively are enhanced as a result of this teamwork. In every aspect of economy nowadays, teamwork has become the order of the day. The top management should make it clears to the team that the expectations are from everyone and no individual owns a workstation all to him or herself. They should receive advice, suggestions and assistance from other team members (Northouse 2006). Following some great achievement, the team should be appreciated by recognition and rewarding them for the job well done. Lone rangers are not values as much as those who achieve in the team work. Rewards come as compensations, bonuses and so on. Teamwork should finally be enhanced by use of previous success stories from other areas as long as they emphasize the importance of teamwork (Marie 2009) Individual Career Developing individual career is very difficult in the current world as most of the work is done by a team. However every person has a different ambition even those working under the same field with the same qualifications. The drug stores usually employ pharmacists who may wish to go and further their education and to practice in a more rigorous pharmaceutical company. On the other hand there are those who may wish to go up the ladder into the management and hence corporate world. The leadership has to be efficient if it should be relied on for success, basically good leadership should not be oppressive. Supporters of multiple factors of success consider management a success only if it’s done appropriately and when respects the junior staff as well without treating them as commodities. Transformational leadership has been identified as the best way to achieve this. These are usually long term projects and would also require that new and young people be recruited for that tasks, As a result, the survival of the company future is enhanced since transformational passage of leadership will be ensured. Human resource development on the other hand is very critical for any organizational survival. This is one of the means through which future leaders can be shaped. Human resource provides chances or opportunities for learning, offer training and recruits new employees who are qualified from the job or have unique skills that they would contribute to the organization. Many organizations have adapted the transformational leadership strategy; this is where young individuals are involved in management at certain levels up to the top management by forming management team. Through this means, the junior staff can participate in the process of decision making in their teams. This process shapes the young people into leadership ands survival of the firm is sustained. Drugstores management should take care of this because the future of youthful workers can be very critical to the survival of the company (Northouse 2006). Most of the firms currently use the transformational leadership style to integrate young and junior employees into management roles so that the culture is passed on from one generation to the next without leaving leadership gaps. Those individuals who want to pursue other courses are still critical to the firm since if they learn that the firm does not appreciate their prospects, they may develop a bad attitude towards the job and from research 90% of poor performance is attributed to poor attitude. Individual careers can be nurtured by training employees, calling for seminars, dividing the firm into specialized departments where people can choose according to their interest (Northouse 2006). A firm that takes good care of its employees usually keeps them motivated and motivation definitely drives innovation and productivity hence all these translate into profits. Conclusion Teamwork concept has been developed over the past two decades. Nonetheless, the success of teamwork is not automatic. The team has to be set up for the correct purpose ands for proper reasons. The selection of team members is also very essential since it ensures that the team objective is clear and agreed upon by everyone. Many organizations fail to achieve the perceived benefits of teamwork because of poor management. The composition of the team is fundamental for its success hence its management References Berman B. & Telen S. (2004). A Guide to Developing and Managing a Well- -m Integrated. MultiChannel Retail Strategy. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 32 (3), 148 – 158 Levy M. & Weitz B.A. (2004). Retailing Management (5th Ed): McGraw-Hill/Irwin Boston Liz P. (2009). Using Teamwork to Drive Sales. Drug Store News. Findarticles.Com. retrieved on 24th July 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_4_23/ai_72987304/ Marie G. (2009). Hard Work and Teamwork. Define Success. The Walgreen Way. Drug Store News. Retrieved on 24th July 2009 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_15_22/ai_67551035/ Northouse. P. G (2006). Leadership- - Theory and Practice. SAGE publishers Read More