Business Operations: Overview, Challenges, and Recommendations

This document provides an overview of basket retail store, including its scope of analysis. It also discusses the critical analysis of operational channel management and the challenges faced in the business operations of basket retail business. Additionally, it evaluates the key processes used in production and delivery of products and services, along with their pros and cons. Finally, it provides recommendations for quality improvements to the service and products delivery by using a continuous improvement framework.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task..................................................................................................................................................1
1. Overview of basket retail store along with scope of analysis..................................................1
2.Gantt Chart................................................................................................................................2
3.Critical analysis of operational channel management and Challenges faced in the business
operation of basket retail business...............................................................................................2
4.Evaluation of key processes used in production and delivery of products and service and
pros and cons of processes...........................................................................................................4
5.Recommendations for quality improvements to the service and products delivery by using
continuous improvement framework...........................................................................................6
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management and operation are the two dependent variable for a successful business.
Management and Operation is the administration of business practice which helps in creating a
high level of effectiveness and efficiency in the highest possible way in organization. In the field
of retail management there are various mechanism to make function of store well. Retail store
business operation includes broad spectrum of activities from managing people to supply chain,
layout of store, cash operation processing and many more. In this report, the overview of basket
retail store will be there along with all the challenges faced by firm in business operation. Basket
is the retail store situated in United Kingdom dealing in variety of retail products. The various
method of quality improvement regarding delivery service of product of basket store in the
market will b discussed.
Task
1. Overview of basket retail store along with scope of analysis.
The basket retail store in the convenience store which have range of stock from everyday
items such as groceries, coffee, snacks foods, soft drinks, over the counter drugs, toiletries and
confectioneries. The store will deal with low pricing strategy among the product there are serving
to customers for 24 hours of availability(Jansson and et.al, 2017). There will be completely
automated services for better experience of consumers along with better chance of capturing
product in everyday low pricing. There will be variety of products which are locally or nationally
branded such as coca cola, jolly, Green giant etc. The store will have computerized payment and
interactive automated customer service rep to answer the query and feedback of customers.
Scope of analysis
It helps in improving the management of operation in Basket retail store.
Developing the effective supply chain management.
It has scope in solving the business problem and contribution in management knowledge.
More efficiency and effectiveness along with customer satisfaction.

2.Gantt Chart

Task Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
Schedule
d
Choosing a legal structure 2 days Tue 8/20/19 Wed 8/21/19
Auto
Schedule
d
Choosing a business name 2 days Thu 8/22/19 Fri 8/23/19 1
Auto
Schedule
d
Filing for an employer identification
number 3 days Mon 8/26/19 Wed 8/28/19 1,2
Auto
Schedule
d
Identifying financial sources 3 days Thu 8/29/19 Mon 9/2/19 3
Auto
Schedule
d
Research about market 5 days Tue 9/3/19 Mon 9/9/19 4
Auto
Schedule
d
Determining distribution channels 2 days Tue 9/10/19 Wed 9/11/19 5
Auto
Schedule
d
Determining products and services 2 days Thu 9/12/19 Fri 9/13/19 5,6
Auto
Schedule
d
Defining customer experience 2 days Mon 9/16/19 Tue 9/17/19 7
Auto
Schedule
d
Setting up target customer 3 days Wed 9/18/19 Fri 9/20/19 7,8
Auto
Schedule
d
Writing a business plan 2 days Mon 9/23/19 Tue 9/24/19 9
Auto
Schedule
d
Finding location 3 days Wed 9/25/19 Fri 9/27/19 10
Auto
Schedule
d
Establish vendor relationship 4 days Mon 9/30/19 Thu 10/3/19 11
Auto
Schedule
d
Defining store policies 2 days Fri 10/4/19 Mon 10/7/19 11,12
Auto
Schedule
d
Crafting marketing strategies 2 days Tue 10/8/19 Wed 10/9/19 12,13
Auto
Schedule
Recruiting skilled workforce 4 days Tue 10/8/19 Fri 10/11/19 13

d
Auto
Schedule
d
Opening 1 day Mon
10/14/19
Mon
10/14/19 15

3.Critical analysis of operational channel management and Challenges faced in the business
operation of basket retail business
Digital retardation- there are more dependability of digital world which means that
customers are more going for online services which is the key source for success(Johansson and
Björklund,2017.). The retail is failing to implement a successive online outlet for the business
products.
Trend responsiveness- the consumers are unrelenting now-days as they are demanding a
great variety of product with less price in less time along with thew availability of multiple
channels of delivery.
Quality and regulatory compliance- there are high expectation of customers regarding
the quality of products whether they are demanding branded or exclusive label. The retailer is
facing the challenges as government and consumer bodies are high regulatory and quality control
measure standards.
Operational inefficiency- there is lack of communication and collaborative teams to
maintain efficient business operation(Park, Jeon and Sullivan, 2015). It has become difficult to
maintain the rapid change's requirement along with management complexity in store.
Work management- retail mangers face the problem in having effective team
collaboration and have effective communication across departments. Having struggle in
performance redundant task effects the productivity of the basket retail store.
Application of model
4 v model
According to the views of Jansson and et.al, (2017) the applicability of 4 V's should be
there to evaluate the performance of an organization. There are 4 parts in this model that are
volume, variety, variation and visibility. In volume, management of store needs to have specific
amount for meeting the demand. However, store will need the large amount of staff for
completion of different level of function in a retail store. It has been argued by the view point of
Swink and et.al, (2017) that it is not possible to have the exact approximation for specific
demand of variety of product in retail store. As per the view of Bromiley and Rau,(2016) in
case of variety it is important to maintain the high variety of products to meet the challenges of
trend responsiveness but the Roth, Himbert and Zielke, S, (2017)that it is impossible to meet

the demand of variety of product with less price in less time along with the availability of
multiple channels of delivery. The next V is variation in which store has analysis the demand
due to effect of external factors along with visibility which will help in coping up challenge of
Quality and regulatory compliance. But for a retail store is very difficult to cope with
government and consumer bodies high regulatory and quality control measure standards such as
the Food Standard Agency
According to views of Roth, Himbert and Zielke, S, (2017)the applicability of Operation
performance objective is for the evaluation of performance of retail store Basket thorough
which store wants to meet the corporate strategy. The five major points through which
performance can be evaluated as speed should be their in delivering service to customer through
which challenge of work management can be resolved. As it was stated by Jansson and et.al,
(2017) that there should be quality in products and service of customer along with variation in
cost which includes other two factors of volume and variety. However, the author argued that it
is not possible to understand the different perception of customer. There should be flexibility in
work operation as productivity of store can be increased with dependability planning and actual
outcome. There should be proper evaluation on daily basis.
The Jansson and et.al, (2017) stated that Waste lean management is for the analysis of
impact of business on environment. The first is element is overproduction which means having
more volume than it is required which turn out to be risky for retailer. However, the author
argued that it is difficult for retailer to have accurate approximation of demand in different
products. The other is over processing as customer don't have value if the process step is more.
The customer doesn't care about excessive level of processing of materiel. As it was stated by
Paul, Sankaranarayanan and Mekoth, (2016) that due to over processing there is the impact on
waiting lines of customer in delivery of service which leads to frustration of customer in longer
run. The management should pay emphasis in IT system do that the challenges of digital
retardation can be resolved. According to Roth, Himbert and Zielke, S, (2017) it was stated that
due to regular transportation of products in the store from place to place increase the risk f
damages. This leads to delay in effective working in reorganizing and relaying of stock in
warehouse and store. There should be proper management in storing of the products in safe,
secure, irrespective to there type. The Bromiley and Rau,(2016)stated that proper management of

goods according to category will reduce confusion among customer regarding discount and fresh
arrivals. The motion of goods should be properly categorized according to their characteristic
and easy adaptions of consumers. The store should clearly look out for defect in store whether
related to pricing of product defect as to increase the customer satisfactions.
4.Evaluation of key processes used in production and delivery of products and service and pros
and cons of processes
Production and delivery are called an important part for retail stores. Production process
involves converting raw materials or inputs into final goods or outputs for selling it to customers.
Basket retailer store uses different modes of delivery of products and services to customers.
There are mainly 4 types of delivery retail channels through different retailer stores sales and
deliver their products and services to customers (Friege, 2017).
Direct selling: Direct selling is the main and cost effective delivery process for retail
stores. In this type of process, Basket retailer store sells or delivers their products directly to
customers from their retail store. There are several types of direct selling methods like direct
mail, internet selling, face to face selling, kiosk selling etc. This retail store prefer offline or face
to face selling in this type of selling.
Pros: There are several benefits of direct selling and delivering of products and services directly
to customers.
 The main benefit of direct or face to face selling is that the company can build strong
relationship with customers and can gain personal attention.
 It is a cost effective delivery process because in this type, there is no requirement to share
the revenues with intermediaries, so the company can have full control of the sales
process.
Cons:
 Direct sellers have to face some challenges while entering in new market. Face to face
selling can decrease sales and profitability because people prefer home delivery services.
This company focuses on offline store selling but now a days people wants online
services and home delivery, so it can decrease their sales and profitability.
 It becomes harder to reach potential customers (Lu and et.al., 2017).

Selling through intermediaries: Intermediaries means selling through wholesalers and
retailers rather than direct selling. To make a product available to the customers with the help of
third party or whole sellers, retailers are called indirect selling. This basket retailer store does not
focus on indirect selling. This type of delivery process is effective and useful when there are
many small manufacturer and retailers are being used to coordinate and sell larger amopunt of
products. This Basket retailer store operates in small level so there is no requirement of selling
products through intermediaries.
Pros:
 By making an effective use of intermediaries, the company can reach easily to their
potential customers that can increase sales of the company.
 It is time and burden sharing delivery process because of the experience and expertise of
intermediaries of selling products and influencing customers.
Cons:
 The main disadvantage of selling through intermediaries is that there is less control over
the sales process because partners and intermediaries take some opportunities related to
sales.
 This type of delivery process can increase overall cost of the company because there is a
requirement for retail store to pay commission or discount to intermediaries.
Dual distributions: In this type, manufacturer and retail stores uses more than 1 channel
simultaneously to reach the end users. This retail store.... is now focusing and making an
effective use of this type of delivery process due to increasing competition. They sell directly and
at the same time they sell their products to other companies with the main aim of increasing sales
and profitability (Saha, Sarmah and Modak, 2018.). By selling products through both medium
online or selling through different social media platforms and offline store selling, it can expand
its business and increase profitability.
Pros:
 By using 2 or more than 2 channels at the same time, the company can increase their
sales and can increase brand image.
 With the help of dual distribution, ….this retailer store can take competitive advantages
by attracting wider range of customers towards buying their products and services.
Cons:

 It can increase working burden on the company and also require taking extra care of
managing quality while selling products in the larger amount.
5.Recommendations for quality improvements to the service and products delivery by using
continuous improvement framework
It is analysed that Basket retailer store faces several operational management challenges
like sustainability, products quality, trend responsiveness, operational inefficiency and work
management which need to be solved for increasing sales and customers experience. The main
problem which is being faced by this retail store is relayed to manage quality of products and
sustainability. So it can be suggested to this company that it should make an effective use of
continuous improvement frameworks, total quality management approach, six sigma approach
(Forsgren and Humble, 2016). By using these approaches and framework it should reduce and
remove quality and sustainability related issues.
Continuous improvement framework: Continuous improvement framework in an
ongoing process that can be used by the company to improve their products, services and
processes. This framework is all related to quality control and improvement. This framework is
divided into 4 quadrants in which each quadrant represent different action such as:
Plan: In this step the company requires to make an effective plan about improvement that
it wants to make. For example, Basket retailer is facing the problem related sustainability and
products quality, so this company should make plan of developing strategy. By overseeing
requirements of skilled workforce and quality measurement tools it can make plan for improving
quality.
Do: After making a plan, it is important for retailer store to perform and do actions for
making changes and improvement. By making modification in processes, products and services
it can make changes and improves the quality of products. It should provide training to their
employees about managing and improving quality of products by telling them the importance of
improved quality (McLean and Antony, 2017).
Check: After performing and doing all actions, the company requires to check results and
implication of improvement. By using measurements and statistics it can check the quality of
products and changes.
Act: After making plan, doing actions and checking changes, the final step which
requires for the company to follow is to act on their observations and make further necessary

improvements. After checking the quality of products, Basket retailer store should oversee all
processes which are being used in production process.
So it can be said that for continuous improvement it is essential for the company to
control quality with observing and overseeing all processes of the company.
Total quality management: Total quality management refers customer oriented process
which main focuses on continuous improvement of business operations. It is stated that happy
and satisfied customers bring 10 new customers. On the other hand disappointed and dissatisfied
customers spread bad words of mouth which can decrease brand image of the company. For
increasing sales and reputation of the company, it is essential for Basket retailer store to provide
qualitative products and services to customers. There are some principles of total quality
management which should be considered by the company like quality should be measurable, it
should be continuous and it must be managed (Bereskie and et.al., 2017)
Six sigma approach: It can also be recommended to the Basket retailer store is it should
make an effective use of six sigma approach as a continuous improvement and quality
management. It is an statistical and effective tool that can be used for eliminating and reducing
defects from manufacturing process and from products. It is the implementation of a
measurement based strategy by which the company can focus on process improvement and
variation reduction through the application of this project (Jiménez-Jiménez and et.al., 2015).
It is an important and improvement system that can be used to develop new processes and
products at six sigma quality levels. This approach consists of 2 main methodology such as
DMAIC and DMADV. DMADIC methodology stands and represents define, measure, analyse,
improve and control. DMADV methodology represents define, measure, analyse, design and
verify. By following both methodologies Basket retailer store should decrease all operational
management challenges. All these approaches are parts of continuous improvement frameworks
whose main purpose is to make changes and improvement in processes, products and services of
the company.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarized that selection of type of delivery of
products to customers played a vital role. Delivery and production of products and services are
vital for retail stores. Retail sector stores have to face several operational management challenges

and with an effective use of Lean management tool they solved problems and got effective
outcomes. It has also shown processes used in delivery of products and services like direct
selling, indirect selling, dual distribution etc. All processes have some advantages and
disadvantages which needed to be evaluated for meeting performance objective. Further this
report discussed shown the importance of managing quality and quality improvements. For
managing quality and solving operational management challenges it has shown effective use of
continuous improvement framework and total quality management framework.

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McLean, R.S. and Antony, J., 2017. A conceptual continuous improvement implementation
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Park, H.H., Jeon, J.O. and Sullivan, P., 2015. How does visual merchandising in fashion retail
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