Workplace Management and Ethical Practices at Countdown Supermarket

This report examines the workplace management strategies employed by Countdown Supermarket in New Zealand, focusing on creating a hassle-free environment for both employees and customers. It begins with an overview of the company, highlighting its presence across New Zealand and its competitive landscape. The report identifies key strategies for fostering effective workplace relationships, including trust-building, teamwork, clear communication, and genuine engagement. It suggests improvements to the existing system, emphasizing the importance of customer relationship management and strategic marketing. Furthermore, the report analyzes the impact of these systems on employee motivation and customer satisfaction. Ethical and cultural behaviors are examined, emphasizing the need for strong ethical leadership and compliance programs. The report also explores the application of design thinking methodologies to enhance customer service and critically evaluates continuous improvement processes and performance assessment strategies. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and recommendations for Countdown Supermarket to optimize its workplace management practices.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
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Executive Summary
The report is based on the discussion of the workplace management of Countdown supermarket
in New Zealand. The report starts with a brief introduction and overview of the company where a
description of the company has been provided. It next proceeds with the different kinds of
discussion regarding the strategies to be used by the management of the retail stores to ensure the
presence of a hassle free workplace and has also suggested the present state of the workplace of
the company. The report has also included the design thinking methodology of the organization
and the ethical and cultural behaviors that needs to be followed accordingly. Lastly the report
presents a critical discussion on the continuous improvement process and the assessment of the
changes. Lastly a concluding paragraph that provides a summary of the total report is provided.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Overview of the Company...............................................................................................................4
Identification of four different strategies for effective workplace relationship...............................5
Suggestion for a positive existing system........................................................................................7
Impact of the system on the organization........................................................................................8
Examination of three ethical and cultural behaviors.......................................................................9
Design thinking methodology that helps for building a customer service response system.........11
Critical Evaluation of Continuous Improvement Process.............................................................12
Two Different Strategies to assess performance...........................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
Loyal Customers are the core to the success of each and every business organization.
The business houses generally have more than 60% to 70% chance of selling their products to
the existing customers. Therefore this makes customer relationship one of the most important
components in the success of the business organization. The act of maintain a proper and
effective relationship with the customers of the business is essential for the formulation of the
business plan and also essential for the long term sustainability of the business in the market. The
following report is based on the identification and critical discussion and analysis of the
innovation and the changes in workplace relationship that can help in the success of the business.
The example of Countdown Supermarket of New Zealand has been cited in the following report
to have a clear and transparent idea of such relationships.
Overview of the Company
Countdown is a New Zealand based supermarket chain as well as a subsidiary of
Woolworths Limited based in Australia (countdown.co.nz, 2019). The stores of the company are
normally much larger and spacious than that of the other supermarkets present in the island
country. Headquartered in Auckland city of New Zealand, the company is located at more than
180 different locations in the country and employs more than 18,000 people in the stores. The
management of the company has focused on Grocery and a variety of different products which
has made their stores the most appealing in the country (countdown.co.nz, 2019). The company
stores are segregated into 10 different areas and each of the area has a group manager or the area
manager who is in charge of managing the total stores of the particular area (countdown.co.nz,

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2019). The biggest competitor of Countdown in New Zealand is Foodstuffs Limited that offers
sharp challenge to the company based on a number of different factors.
Identification of four different strategies for effective workplace relationship
According to, Mĺkva et al., (2016) Trust, teamwork, communication and respect are the
major keys to effective workplace relationship. The development of positive relationships with
the individuals the people interact with at work to make the job more productive and enjoyable in
nature. The following connections generally serve as the future references or contacts in one’s
career. The employers can have a strong workplace relationship where they can have a great
relationship with the clients, colleagues, co-workers, supervisors and many more as such.
However, the management of Countdown has to ensure some innovation and changes to
transform the way of establishing a modern and most effective workplace relation. Workplace
relationship involves both the relationship of the management with the employees of the
organization and also the relationship of the management with the customers of the organization.
Some of the major strategies for the internal stakeholders that can be applied by the
management of Countdown to ensure the presence of an effective workplace relationship are as
follows;
1. Development of Trust- The development of trust is done by means of guarding
confidences and not by gossiping. The following task helps to demonstrate that the others
can count on the management (Mitonga-Monga, Flotman & Cilliers, 2016). This helps to
follow on the promises as done by the management. It is important for the management
of the retail store to apologize honestly and then promise to resolve the different kinds of
queries in an appropriate manner. The management must take the responsibility of the

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mistakes and must not blame any particular employee or employees rather than casting
blame on someone or something else. On the other hand the managers of countdown in
charge of the sales and operations department of the different stores have to ensure that
they develop a sound and healthy relationship with the customers to gain their trust.
2. Working with the Team- Mitonga-Monga & Cilliers, (2015) says that Countdown has
faced major problems in the past as the different teams created for different kinds of
purposes in the company have failed to ensure a bond which has led to the failure of the
project. It is important for the organization to collaborate with the co-workers in a
particular group project and exchange ideas to change the way of managing the task. The
incorporation of fun filled activities during carrying out different kinds of jobs can help
the organization to make a strong and closely bonded team that will be helpful for the
organization to develop workplace relationship.
Some of the major strategies for the external stakeholders that can be applied by the
management of Countdown to ensure the presence of an effective workplace relationship
are as follows;
1. Proper Communication- The establishment of proper and effective communication is
one of the most important strategies that will be needed for the purpose of
development of a healthy workplace relationship. The communication skills of the
workers can be changed by speaking clearly. It is important for the employees to
understand each other clearly that will help to make internal communication attain
new heights. The presence of an excellent internal communication will help to create
a better external communication with the customers of the business. It is also

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important for the employees of the business to listen carefully to the customers and
communicate with them accordingly.
2. Listening and being genuine- Listening skills is another most important component
of the business. The management must listen to what each and every employee in the
organization has to say (Maier et al., 2015). Recently there have been problems with
the introduction of special chip based cards for easy financial transactions that can
help the customers to make transactions. Therefore it is the duty of the management
to listen to the employees as well as the customers facing the problems and take steps
accordingly to ensure the success of the organization accordingly. The management
must ensure that the customers of the organization are listened properly and each of
their problems are addressed in the correct manner.
3. Creation and engagement with the brand ambassadors- The creation and
engagement of the management of the organization with the brand ambassadors is
important for the business organization as because it helps the organization to spent
the different kinds of marketing efforts to increase the growth of the community in
the growth of the community as a whole (LaReau et al., 2017). The management of
Countdown must concentrate more on engaging with the stakeholders and appoint
famous celebrities as the brand ambassador of their store to attract more and more
customers to their store.
Suggestion for a positive existing system
The management of Countdown has been looking forward to the creative firepower of
and the strategic input of the Y&R New Zealand team to help the company turn its brand into
one of the strongest globally. The marketing team of the company must concentrate on actively

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owning the customer relationship for the brand and the way it is communicated accordingly
(countdown.co.nz, 2019). The customers have changed their preferences and way of interaction
which has forced the company to change its approaches towards effective management
(countdown.co.nz, 2019). Over the last few years the management of the business enterprise has
changed the way Countdown has focused on the employees of the organization and also the
customers of the organization (Kathol et al., 2018). The new Model of Countdown completely
focuses on creation and generation of idea that is generally separated from the style of the other
company. The Company has partnered with Wellcom group which is a globally experienced,
dedicated creative production company to make it more demanding and attractive to the
customers of the business.
Impact of the system on the organization
The change in the workplace system will have an impact on the employees as well as the
customers. The employees will be motivated and will gain appositive attitude which will help
them to build a self esteem and will help them to create a power to lead a change in the
workplace. The change in the workplace will have to be dealt in a proper and effective manner in
order to ensure success in the business. On the other hand the customers will be rewarded with
positive performance from the employees and will thus receive a great service along with great
products.
The presence of effective management of relationships with the stakeholders is crucial in
resolving the issues that are faced by the organization. Use of the influence of the stakeholders is
important to hold the key to the workplace environment and the financial and operational
performance of the Company. Countdown can wisely use the influence of the internal and

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external stakeholders to increase their sales by shaping up different projects at an early stage and
gaining support from powerful stakeholders can help gain the support of the higher level
management to allocate different kind of resources for the company. The communication with
the stakeholders is important in the long run as the stakeholders can analyze and manipulate the
internal and external environment and lead the company in a positive manner to ensure a large
scale engagement with the customers of the organization.
Examination of three ethical and cultural behaviors
Ethics forms an important part in the culture of the business organization. The presence
of an ethical culture can help the organization to ensure a tension free environment in the
workplace and also it will help the organization to meet all the legal and technical guidelines.
Different kinds of reports formulated by the researchers on ethics shows that organizations
following effective, value based ethics and compliance programs clearly highlights the
wrongdoings of the employees and the management and decreases the retaliation by a large
percentage. According to, Kathol et al., (2018) the code of ethics are believed to be spineless
without a strong ethical tone at the top which is again backed by a culture that supports different
kinds of ethical behavior and leadership by the top management ion ethics and a number of
compliance programs that generally supports the effort of the management. The management of
Countdown has to impose a number of important managing ethics that can help them to manage
the behaviors of the large number of employees in a proper and effective manner. Some of the
main managing ethics in the workplace includes the likes of;
1. Recognition of the managing ethics in the process- Ethics is a matter of value and
associated behaviors. Therefore, ethics programs seem to be more process oriented than

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most of the other management practices. Most of the managers in Countdown has the
tendency to be skeptical of the different kinds of process oriented activities and instead
they concentrate on different kinds of processes that are focused on the deliverables that
can be measured easily. However the management must realize that the deliverables of
the standard management practices which includes planning, organizing, motivating and
controlling has to be made sure about the tangible representations of very process
oriented activities of the organization.
2. Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical acts- The management of the
organization needs to ensure the success of the organization by ensuring that they reward
ethical acts while also ensuring that they punish any kind of unethical acts that may have
a negative impact upon the other employees of the retail market (Kathol et al., 2018). The
performance appraisal of the managers in Countdown must include a point to point
evaluation of how the decisions of the particular managers have been measured against
the code of ethics of the organization. The appraisals must include the different means
taken to achieve the goals of the organization as well as to end them. Therefore it is
important to reward the employees or the managers who act ethically and on the other
hand come down strictly on the persons who are involved in conducting unethical
behaviors.
3. Integration of the ethics management with other management practices- The
development of the values statement during the time of the strategic planning includes the
ethical values that must be preferred in Countdown (Jurburg et al., 2017). The time of the
development of the personal policies it will be important for the organization to specially
reflect on the different kinds of ethical values that will be the best fit for being too

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prominent in the retail culture of Countdown. The management of Countdown has to
design the policies accordingly to ensure the production of such kind of behaviors from
the employees and the managers of the business organization.
Design thinking methodology that helps for building a customer service response system
Design Thinking can be said to be the idea that determines the principles of design to
strategy and innovation will lead to higher rates of success. The application of design thinking is
worth reviewing as because it helps the organization to ensure the details of the strategies that are
maintained by the organization. Design Thinking Methodology helps the organization to ensure
success and develop and deliver different kinds of business strategies. The collaborative thinking
process of the organization helps design thinking to arrive at a particular process. The design
thinking framework can help the firm to cover five levels of journey including empathize, define,
ideate, prototype and test.
a. In the very first stage the Countdown Supermarket will be listening to the requirements of
the customers regarding different issues faced by them. According to, (Jurburg et al.,
2017) Listening to each and every such issues will be helping the organization to learn
about the learning and discoveries of the process in an effective manner
b. In the stage of defining the company will be supposed to combine all the collected
insights and opinions after carefully listening to the customers and then observing the
issues and the actual requirements of them. This will help Countdown to answer the
needs of the customers

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c. In the third stage of ideation, the management of the company will be researching on the
different kinds of problems based on customer service and implement the best possible
steps to resolve the total matter
d. Prototyping stage will involve bringing the solutions of the different problems to the
vision of the organization
e. The last stage is the testing stage which is one of the most important for Countdown to
establish a customer response system. The process of feedback can be used by the
company to ascertain the success of the change process
Critical Evaluation of Continuous Improvement Process
A continuous improvement strategy is needed for the change within the business
workplace. The large scale retail operations of the business and maintaining it accordingly helps
the business organization to ensure a continuous improvement strategy that can help to focus on
the improvement of the way the things are done on a normal basis (Jurburg et al., 2017). The
changes in the way the company takes care of the management helps to improve their
performance, commitment, strategy and process of building the bottom line of the company. The
most crucial step in the continuous improvement of the workplace is to change the mindset of the
team to make it compatible with the current updates and easily challenge the organization
accordingly. Different kinds of researchers have provided different steps that can be followed to
continuously change the process of improvement. According to, John & Roberts (2017)
continuous improvement does not mean to set a high pace but rather it refers to the change in the
mindset of the workers and finding better ways to do things. On the other hand Hanley & Brake,
(2016) tells that embracing a transparent attitude of work can encourage the workers to make
their voice heard in the organization.