Case Study Analysis: Contemporary Issues in Management, Semester 1

This assignment presents a comprehensive case study analysis focusing on contemporary issues in management. It examines two key scenarios: the challenges faced by an electronics and appliance retail store experiencing declining sales and the cultural dilemmas within an IT service company. The analysis delves into the causes of these problems, such as consumer behavior, lack of innovation, and cultural stagnation. The author provides opinions and recommendations, including the importance of market research, innovative product development, cost minimization, psychological pricing, and effective planning for the retail store. For the IT company, the analysis emphasizes fostering an innovative culture, promoting employee competitiveness, and encouraging open communication and diverse perspectives to address cultural issues and boost employee morale and productivity. The assignment concludes with references to support the analysis.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES FOR MANAGEMENT
Contemporary Issues for Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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CONTEMPORARY ISSUES FOR MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Topic 7: Case Study of Walking Both Sides of the Street...............................................................2
Case Description..........................................................................................................................2
Opinion........................................................................................................................................2
Topic 8: Sam’s Dilemma.................................................................................................................3
Case Description..........................................................................................................................3
Opinion........................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................6

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Topic 7: Case Study of Walking Both Sides of the Street
Case Description
The case of an electronics and appliance retail store explained that the company has its
branches all through Australia, Asia as well as in Europe. Being the senior manager of the
company it has been observed that the company is dealing with falling sales for almost over a
year. After attending the board meeting certain problems are identified to be present in the
current strategy that is followed in the company those are discussed. The issues those have been
observed to be faced by the electronic appliance and retail store is that the consumers are not
responding to the price matching and they are not observed to care about the excellent services
offered by the company. Considering such issue, the major recommendation for the business is to
respond to the issue observed within the area. From analysing the case study, the manager is also
focussed on developing a highly effective idea in countering the drift from the bricks-and-motor
retail to online. The issues those have been observed to be faced by the electronic appliance and
retail store is that the consumers are not responding to the price matching and they are not
observed to care about the excellent services offered by the company. It is also observed that
declining sales in the store took place for the reason that there was lack of additional value and
the competitors of the company are offering more incentives that facilitate in making sure that
the opportunity of increasing retail sales is not missed. Moreover, price is also observed to have
an increase influence on the sale of the store and an increased price has increased short term
profit but it has affected the company’s market share in the long run.

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Opinion
In my opinion, when the customers are not looking for quality services and prices, the
best option is to come up with innovative products at cheaper costs that would attract the
attention of the customers. For this, a special market research agency could be appointed that
would aid in analysing the current trends in the market (Kubacki & Rundle-Thiele, 2014). Based
on the tastes and preferences of the customers, the organisation needs to design its selling
strategies for maximising the overall revenue. Moreover, I think that the cost of production and
other operating expenses have to be minimised in order to retain maximum portion of profit. This
is possible by a decline in product quality, as the customers are not seeking for premium
products (McDonagh & Prothero, 2014). As per my viewpoint, psychological pricing is an
option that the organisation could utilise for drawing the attention of the customers. Finally, I
would like to say proper planning is the key to ensure business success (Rosenbach, 2018). This
is because effective planning would help in proper utilisation of resources for the organisation. It
would assist the staffs in coming forward with the issues encountered by them for accomplishing
the set targets (Weiss, 2014).
Topic 8: Sam’s Dilemma
Case Description
From analysing the Sam’s dilemma within the case study it has been observed that the
biggest issue faced by the company is that the culture of the unit is stuffed big time. For this
reason, the company requires developing an increased innovation mind-set and it is highly
important within this industry. In the case study it has been gathered that there has been several
issues and conflicts that is faced by Sam after he was appointed as manager within an IT service

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company in Sydney within Australia. Sam’s issue faced is concerning the ways in which
company culture can turn performance to pulp. Being familiar to Sam for about 5 years after
meeting in school contact is maintained with him through Facebook and LinkedIn, occasionally
meeting also takes place in coffee or lunch within the city. Through observing the issues faced
by Sam, high interest has been there in getting hired as a part-time basis and helping Sam out in
dealing with such issue related with the cultural diversity within the organization. In analysing
the case study, it has also been gathered that certain consulting is necessary to be provided to
Sam in diagnosing the culture of the unit.
Opinion
From analysing the cases study, I consider offering opinion to Sam regarding developing
more innovation culture among employees. It has also been recommended to the company to
inbuilt the culture of increased competitiveness through training employees to come up with
innovative ideas. This can facilitate in improving efficiency with lower costs that can facilitate in
developing higher quality products (Goworek, McGoldrick & McGoldrick, 2015). In addition, in
improving the innovation culture among the employees it has been gathered that there must be an
increased recognition within the workplace must be encouraged in being highly open and honest,
sharing ideas along with exploring initiatives devoid of any fear of retribution. In addition, for
communicating the innovative culture within the company, I can also offer an opinion regarding
hiring people with different perspectives such as looking for employees those understanding the
company’s vision, align with the company’s culture and are derived from diverse backgrounds,
developing passions mong them to enhance their creativity in dealing with cultural diversity
issues faced by the company (Khan, 2014). It has also been recommended to the company to
inbuilt the culture of increased competitiveness through training employees to come up with

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innovative ideas. Through implementing such recommendations, I perceive that having
employees with alternative ideas along with problem-solving approaches is deemed to easily
generate in innovative culture (Daft & Marcic, 2016).
According to my opinion, innovation helps in boosting productivity and the overall
morale of the employees. Thus, one of the most feasible ways to boost employee involvement is
to develop a business culture, in which innovation is encouraged. For example, we can consider
the example of Toyota, which accumulates a number of ideas from its staffs and when all these
ideas are merged together, there has been dramatic increase in overall productivity of the
organisation (Becerra-Fernandez & Sabherwal, 2014).

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References
Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Sabherwal, R. (2014). Knowledge management: Systems and
processes. Routledge.
Daft, R. L., & Marcic, D. (2016). Understanding management. Nelson Education.
Goworek, H., McGoldrick, P. J., & McGoldrick, P. J. (2015). Retail marketing management:
Principles and practice. Harlow, UK: Pearson.
Khan, M. A. (Ed.). (2014). Diverse contemporary issues facing business management education.
IGI Global.
Kubacki, K., & Rundle-Thiele, S. (Eds.). (2014). Contemporary issues in social marketing.
Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
McDonagh, P., & Prothero, A. (2014). Sustainability marketing research: Past, present and
future. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(11-12), 1186-1219.
Rosenbach, W. E. (2018). Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-
Koehler Publishers.