Adjusting Operational Strategies of a Company - Assignment Example

Determine what are the benefits of the proposed strategy for each of the stakeholder groups Mention how the move will affect the employees Inform theaudience about the cost savings associated with the strategy Establish within the message the current status of the economy and how it is affecting all businesses Competitive advantage In the e-mail message be sure to include the changes in store schedule In the memo emphasize the commuting savings associated with the move In the letter to the managers talk about the operational impact Use language that is easy to understand in the email to the customers Process improvements, lower expenses Lowering the costs will allow the store to offer better prices Include phrases or examples that captivate the attention of the readers Provide the managers with the hour metrics that show that the store is going to open as many hours per week as before Tell the employees that the new work schedules are effective immediately Utilize the argument that the bad economy is one of the reason for the change Tell the employees that the company will support them during the transitional period Our company just like many other enterprises has to adjust its operational strategies in order to find ways to become more efficient. The retail industry is going through some tough times due to the global economic recession. During the past Christmas season the sales total were 98% lower than the previous year (DeAndre, 2009). Overhead costs increase when a business operates seven days a week. The best and easiest way to achieve immediate savings at our store is to reduce the business hours of the company. The company will no longer open the store on Sundays. Since the week is going to be shorter the schedule of the workers is going to have to be compressed. The full time employees of the company are going to be working four ten hour shifts, while the part time workers must complete their weekly schedule in a maximum of three work days. As managers it is imperative that we keep the spirits of the employees high. Change sometimes is hard to accept. It is important for the managerial staff to talk to the employees about the benefits of the new work schedule. The managerial staff also has to pay close attention to the performance level of the employees in the 9th and 10th hours of work. We should consider adding additional break periods to ease the workload. Even though the company is going to lose the revenue that it generated on Sundays, the firm will make up the loss sales by generating more revenue the other six days. This will occur because the stores are now going to be open an additional two hours per day. Effective immediately there going to be changes in the weekly work schedules of all employees. The traditional 40 hour work week is no longer going to follow a five day schedule. Full time workers now have to complete their hours in a four day work week. The part time workers of the company are going to complete their weekly labor in one to three days. The store is no longer going open on Sundays. Also from Monday to Saturday the store is going to open one hour earlier and close one hour later. The new work schedules are not going to affect the employees pay in any way. There are a lot of enterprises cutting the total hours of the employees. Our store decided to go a different route. The employees will work the same hours in fewer days. This new compressed work week provides the employees with added benefits. By reducing the amount of days people have to travel to work the employees will save money on gasoline and car maintenance expenses. In the past full time employees looked forward to their two days off, now they will enjoy three days off. The extra day off will improve the quality of life of the entire staff. The most effective employees are those with a good work-life balance (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003). We understand that this new work week is going to take some time to get use too. The company is going to support all our employees during the transitional period. This new strategy was created to lower the costs of doing business, while at the same time ensuring that no employees lose their jobs or the amount of hours they work. The customers of our company are our top priority. The tough economic times have forced our company to make changes in order to be able to continue to offer our customers low prices and great customer service. Our store will no longer open its doors on Sundays. In order to satisfy your shopping needs we are now going to be open one hour earlier and one hour later from Monday through Saturday. The customers are going to enjoy better service from our employees. There are going to be more employees on the floor available six days a week to serve your needs. One of the main reasons for the changes is to lower the store’s business costs. The company will not forget about its customer. We are going to pass on those savings to the customer by offering better prices than before. The company also plans to invest money to increase the amount of products offered to the customers. Greater product selection improves the customer’s buying experience (Kotler, 2002). The decision to offer extended store hours took into consideration the needs of the general public. Americans work long hours and sometimes they do not have enough time to go shopping. By opening earlier we are giving our customer a chance to shop before going to work. This assignment allowed me to use my writing skills in different ways. I had to keep in mind at all times the audience I was sending a message too. In my message to the managers my writing utilized technical language since this audience has good business understanding. There was one scenario for which I had to write three messages. When I started the assignment I thought the three messages would look the same since they were speaking about the same thing. I was amazed that all three messages are completely different. I had to pick and choose the specific details to be included in each of the three messages. In the memo to the employees I utilized straight forward language. Memos are an internal communication mechanism. In the email to the customer I included the key information that needed to be transmitted, while at the same time doing a little marketing. At no point in time did I mention the negative aspects of the move because doing so would be counterproductive. In the past I have done assignments utilizing each of the three formats used in this paper. Memos are used a lot in the business world. When I have written memos in the past I utilized the writing approach of sending messages that are precise and direct. When I’m writing emails I utilized informal language more often than in other formats. Letters are the most formal of the three formats. The good thing about writing letters is that is allows the writer to express themselves. In the letters that I have written in the past I have paid close attention to the development of the message from one paragraph to the next. References DeAndre (2009). Struggling Retail Industry Causing Major Slips on Wall St. Retrieved September 10, 2009 from http://www.nextwave.org/economy/struggling-retail-industry-causing-major-slips-on-wall-Nest/ Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing Management (11th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., Osborn, R. (2003). Organizational Behavior (8th). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More