Operations Management assignment : CountDown

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Operations Management
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Part A...............................................................................................................................................2
Summary of type of industry and level of competition...............................................................2
Identification of the sources of competitive advantage and business value it is offering............3
Part B...............................................................................................................................................4
Identification of the critical success factors in CountDown........................................................4
Part C...............................................................................................................................................5
C (I)..............................................................................................................................................5
C (II).............................................................................................................................................6
C (III)...........................................................................................................................................6
Part D...............................................................................................................................................7
Evaluation of Creation of metrics................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The study is based on the leading supermarket brand of New Zealand named
CountDown. It should be highlighting the summary of the type of industry it is in and the
analysis of the level of completion it has within the retail industry of New Zealand. It should be
highlighting the sources o competitive advantages the brand have it and the business value it
should be offering it to the shareholders and the stakeholders involved in the retail business of
CountDown. The study is describing the critical success factors of CountDown which needs to
be analyzed and evaluated in a proper way. The study is based on the analysis of an area of
functionality in this organization. It should be identifying the information needs for the
organization to prosper within the retail market. It develops the metrics in accordance with the
CSFs anticipated for the study.
Part A
Summary of type of industry and level of competition
The retail industry of New Zealand is moving very fast and at a brisk rate as well. The
retailers need to keep up with the latest changes in the technology and the market opportunities
created in the previous year 2017 (Brown and Bessant, 2013). The future of retail is basically
going digital which introduces the pay now buy later system to be developed. This is done in
keeping the customers al time engaged and fro developing a strong and healthy network with the
customers. There is always a challenge for the retailers in meeting the needs and demands of the
customers and the customer expectations are quite dynamic in the retail industry
(countdown.co.nz, 2018). In the previous year there is positive sales performance to be seen for

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the different retail organizations or the brands operating in the retail market of New Zealand
(countdown.co.nz, 2018). It is also seen that with the advancement of technology consumers are
expecting to get their products online rather than offline. The physical stores will also be starting
to offer more diverse systems of payment options for them in order to enhance convenience and
attracting the customers properly (Brown and Bessant, 2013). The other retail brands like
Glassons, Warehouse, Onceit etc. are focusing on fast delivery of the products and provide the
promise of delivering the products on the single day when it has been ordered by the (consumers
countdown.co.nz, 2018). It is also seen that the retail organizations in New Zealand are trying to
provide excellent shopping experience for the customers in store.
The level of competition within the retail market of New Zealand is huge. They are trying
to develop the online presence in order to compete against each other and the shopping
experience given to the customers at their physical stores they operate in the different parts of
New Zealand.
Identification of the sources of competitive advantage and business value it is offering
The source of competitive advantage for CountDown would be the commitment of
providing high quality products and services delivered to the customers. They provide high value
of the products they deliver with low pricing attracts them. They provide the best shopping
experience for the customers with varied customer choices and convenience in the online
shopping experience they also provide it to them (countdown.co.nz, 2018). They are highly
capable and talented in store teams present inside the physical stores of Count Down who can
provide high quality delivery of products and services. They have the four large dry grocery
distribution centers which help in moving the products on time and in huge volumes for meeting
the needs of the customers. They also have a central office from where the whole operations are

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done in this organization. They also refund the money of the customers if the food they offer
does not meet the quality standards and replace them adds competitive advantage. The business
value the brand will be offering should be the increase in the sales of the company over the next
five years or so. The meeting of the customer expectations provides high value for the customers
which enhances brand image and sustainability of the business for the long term objectives are to
be fulfilled (countdown.co.nz, 2018).
Part B
Identification of the critical success factors in CountDown
The critical success factors are defined as the limited areas or aspects where the god
outcomes should be ensuring that how the successful competitive performance for an individual
department could be made (Howley and Malamis, 2014). CSF is also a tool which is useful in
determining the informational needs of the brand specified in any study.
Online Delivery of products- With the changes in the technology the retail organizations
operating in the retail market of New Zealand including Count Down should be encouraging hat
customers should get the easy access of the products the company deliver it to the customers.
Convenience- With the online shopping to be encouraged and implemented by Count
Down, they will provide high convenience and access of the products for the customers.
Shopping experience- CountDown for making the customers t o get attracted towards
their stores, have developed the operations. They have redesigned their stores by enhancing the
spaces inside it and this will attract the customers. The development of the different payment

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options and diverse payments systems inside the stores and One Card introduced by Count Down
ensure high competency as well (Smith, Maull and CL Ng, 2014).
Part C
C (I)
Identification of the information needs for CountDown
The functional area for which the research is to be done is in the operations department of
CountDown. The issue in the operations is that the packaging of the products for CountDown is
made from the non biodegradable materials which could not be recycled further (Kerry, 2014).
This is having a negative impact on the environmental sustainability to be taken place. It is seen
that the wrappers which are used for packaging the product are made up of plastic. The plastic
are not recycled and it has been wasted in order to produce high emissions and toxic gases which
could harm the environment leading to disruption in the operations department (Pereira de
Abreu, Cruz and Paseiro Losada, 2012). The packaged products are again sent to the distribution
centers where they are packed and needed to have repackaging in order to reduce the operational
cost.
Analysis of how information is used and essential data required
The information on the type of materials to be used for packaging of the products, the
employee details of who are packaging the products are the essential data required for . The
overall cost required for the packaging of the products, the inventory cost. The information
which is gathered from the research study is used in the improvement of the operations strategies

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to be developed by the logistics and the operations manager of CountDown (Guerra‐López,
2013). The sales reports published by the company, the logistics operations, the manufacturing
data and the materials to be used for development of products. These types of data and
information will be used for improving the operations of Count Down. The essential data is also
useful in identifying and assessing the customer perception and their preferences towards the
buying of the type of products they would like to deliver it to the customers (Kerry, 2014).
C (II)
Suggestions for improvement of the usage of information
The information which is collected is all the secondary information. The information
which is there in the past should be used. So for obtaining and effectively using the secondary
information, there is the need of proper validation and authentication of the sources to be made.
This is useful in the improvement of the information to be used for the operational department to
become effectively and useful for CountDown (Smith, Maull and CL Ng, 2014).
C (III)
Recommendation of information requirements
It is seen that based on the CSFs and the business value the company offers, the
information help in improving the data driven technology and the improvement of the decision
making capability for the logistics and the operations manager of Count Down (Heizer, 2016). It
is recommended that there is the need of document analysis to be done. There is the requirement
of the customer feedbacks to be taken for the validation of the information needed.

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Part D
Evaluation of Creation of metrics
A business metric is defined as the quantifiable measure which is useful in tracking and
assessing the specified business process (Brown and Bessant, 2013). In this study there is the
need of tracking of the operations in CountDown. So the operations manager should be tracking
the operational metrics like the products sold, products purchased, products in stock,
determination of packaging materials and its usage, daily sales statistics and the packaging and
transportation cost.
Conclusion
From the study it is evident that the operations department needs to be improved so that
the products which should be delivered to the customers suits the environment and sustainability
of the business could be achieved for the long term. It concludes that the operational data are
essential in understanding how the operations to be developed for CountDown. It also depicts
how the operational decision making could be done by the operational and the logistics manager
of the company. It is evident that the company provides highly effective and efficient online
services to the customers which add value to them.

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References
Alias, Z., Zawawi, E. M. A., Yusof, K., & Aris, N. M. (2014). Determining critical success
factors of project management practice: A conceptual framework. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 153, 61-69.
Brown, S., & Bessant, J. (2013). Strategic operations management. Routledge.
countdown.co.nz (2018). Retrieved from https://www.countdown.co.nz/
Guerra‐López, I. (2013). Performance indicator maps: A visual tool for understanding,
managing, and continuously improving your business metrics. Performance
Improvement, 52(6), 11-17.
Heizer, J. (2016). Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
Howley, M. J., & Malamis, P. (2014). The Metrics Behind High Performing Study Startups.
Applied Clinical Trials, 23(6/7), 20.
Kerry, J. P. (2014). New packaging technologies, materials and formats for fast-moving
consumer products. In Innovations in Food Packaging (Second Edition) (pp. 549-584).
Nicoletti, B. (2017). Critical Success Factors. In The Future of FinTech (pp. 161-175). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Pereira de Abreu, D. A., Cruz, J. M., & Paseiro Losada, P. (2012). Active and intelligent
packaging for the food industry. Food Reviews International, 28(2), 146-187.

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Realini, C. E., & Marcos, B. (2014). Active and intelligent packaging systems for a modern
society. Meat science, 98(3), 404-419.
Slack, N. (2015). Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Smith, L., Maull, R., & CL Ng, I. (2014). Servitization and operations management: a service
dominant-logic approach. International Journal of Operations & Production
Management, 34(2), 242-269.
Vanderroost, M., Ragaert, P., Devlieghere, F., & De Meulenaer, B. (2014). Intelligent food
packaging: The next generation. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 39(1), 47-62.