DAM779: Functions of Retail Management Report - The Warehouse Group

This report provides a detailed analysis of The Warehouse Group's retail management practices. It begins with an executive summary outlining the key areas of focus, including strategic management, marketing communication, financial management, and organizational structure. The report delves into the company's human resource management, addressing issues such as recruitment, staff training, motivation, and high turnover rates. It examines the company's marketing strategies, financial management, and organizational structure, providing recommendations for improvement in each area. Furthermore, the report evaluates the supply chain management and information management systems. The analysis includes comparisons with industry standards and offers specific recommendations for enhancing the company's performance. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of The Warehouse Group's operations and offers actionable insights for improving its retail management functions.

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Executive Summary
The study is a detailed evaluation of all the strategies related to the human resources
management of the retail industry based on The Warehouse Group Company. It has examined
the problems faced by the company regarding the hiring of employees and excessive turnover
of the employees. The seasonal staff requirement and the ways to fulfill the demand have
been discussed in the report. The evaluation has been made to identify the issues and
recommendations to overcome the issues are provided in this report. It defines the importance
of strategic management, inventory management, information system framework in the
industry. To analyze and derive results, the comparison of the company is made with the
general market standards.
Functions of retail management
August 1
2019

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Strategic management in The Warehouse Group.......................................................................2
Industry marketing communication of The Warehouse Group..................................................2
Financial Management of The Warehouse Group.....................................................................3
The organizational structure of The Warehouse Group.............................................................3
Recommendation for improvement in organizational structure.............................................3
The Warehouse Group: Job application and Recruitment practices..........................................3
Recommendation for improving the existing HR challenge..................................................3
Seasonal staff demand................................................................................................................3
Recommendation for improvement........................................................................................3
Staff training in The Warehouse Group.....................................................................................3
Recommendation for improving the current practices in staff training.................................3
Staff motivation and high staff turnover....................................................................................3
Recommendation for improvement........................................................................................3
Evaluation of supply chain management and functions of the information management
system.........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction
This study is based on the strategic management and human resource management of
the company named; The Warehouse Group (TWG) is one of the largest retail groups which
are operating in New Zealand. The Warehouse Group is engaged in providing non-grocery
and grocery products to the customer with the help of various retail department stores
managed by them. The company has its headquarters located in North Shore, New Zealand.
The report contains details about the strategic management in the company, its marketing
strategy, and financial management. It describes the organizational structure of the company
and provides for the improvement ideas. The demand of the human resource and the method
of organization for recruiting human resources are analyzed and the required changes are
recommended for improving the employee's retention in the company. It discusses the other
reasons which are causing high employee turnover in the company and provides a solution
for the same. Therefore, the report shows the current position and recommendation to the
company regarding its human resource management.
Strategic management in The Warehouse Group
Strategic management and planning is a method used by the organizations to
efficiently allocate their available resources of capital and human resources to derive more
profits from the market industry. In the retail industry, strategic planning plays a vital role
because of the competition in the retail industry (Whittaker, Fath, & Fiedler, 2016). To attract
customers and make profits it is essential to properly design the strategies for marketing of
one’s business. The strategic management in the retail sector helps the companies to grow
their performance in the market and generating higher profits. The strategies of TWG are also
consumer-oriented and the organization aims at providing the consumer their entire essential

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under the single roof of their stores so that the customers incline to the company and thus the
business of the entity increases.
Industry marketing communication of The Warehouse Group
Marketing communication is very essential in the retail industry due to the presence
of a large number of competitors in the market. The Johnathan Waecker is the chief
marketing officer of TWG who works for the strategic planning of industry marketing
communication to increase the sale of the company (Kleinmans, Densley, Hurley, &
Williams, 2016). The industry of retail requires the firm popularity and recognition for the
growth and development of the entity. The employees of the company should be involved in
the process of marketing as they are the individual from the group of consumers also the
mouth marketing is the traditional yet most effective source of increasing the revenue of an
entity (Kelly, Vandevijvere, Freeman, & Jenkin, 2015). For example; the company can
provide hampers to the employees for their good or issue gift cards for their employees which
will result in shopping from their stores and will create a buzz about the company's store in
the market.
Financial Management of The Warehouse Group
The financial management should be effective to maintain the existence of the
company's operation in the entity. Financial management in the retail industry is very
essential to cover the daily requirement of finance in the organization. It includes the whole
process of managing the finances, forecasting the revenues and expenses, forming strategies
for increasing the revenues and reducing the expenses and all the other areas of monetary
requirement in the business (Kotarba, 2016). The cost of employees which includes salaries
and training cost of employees along with their hiring costs also forms a major part of
financial management. These costs should be minimized with the balance of employee’s

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satisfaction to achieve the targets of the association. For example, the salaries of the
employees should be designed such that it motivates the individual to work for the operations
but at the same time is in the budgeted costs of the company.
The organizational structure of The Warehouse Group
The organizational structure of an entity describes the flow of any operation in an
organization. The organizational structure of TWG can be understood in this way. The
company has various businesses which are categories by the entity to form different groups
which are the designed structure of the company (Hingley, Lindgreen, & Grant, 2015). And,
the internal hierarchy chain or the structure of the company consists of the same business
structure as in the other companies of New Zealand. It begins with the CEO (Chief Executive
Officer) of the company Nick Grayston and CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Johnathan Oram
and further includes the chairman and vice-chairman of the board with the other directors of
the board. This is the topmost management of the company. The company is further
structured in the various departments the middle management which is headed by the COO
(Chief Operational Officer). The various departments in which operations are executed for
the associations are; Digital, Sourcing Support, Noel Leeming and Torpedo7, Warehouse
Stationery, Experience, Logistics and fulfillment, Marketing, HR, Transformation, Secretary
& Legal.

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Source: The Warehouse, 2016
Recommendation for improvement in organizational structure
 The organizational structure of the company should decentralize its responsibilities so
that the large business of the company can be managed more effectively and
efficiently. With the division of responsibilities, individuals have limited work to
manage which could be performed with the specialization and expertise.
 There should be one department of integration which analyses the different
performances of each business along with the performance of the company in the
market as a whole. It will bring a sense of responsibility and accountability in the
organization which is helpful for the company in the long-term.
The Warehouse Group: Job application and Recruitment practices
The warehouse group has a separate HR department which generally selects their
candidates from the online applications received from the candidates interested to work and

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gain experience in the large organization business (Warden, Han, & Nzawou, 2018). The
candidates apply online and the regular updates for the various requirements are made by the
company if the candidate is shortlisted from the HR of the organization. An interview is
conducted where the job role and things are discussed after which the candidate is eligible for
the background check and psychometric testing. After clearing these checks a second
interview is conducted where the process is discussed in details on the acceptance of which
the selection is made in TWG. In the retail industry, a large number of employees are
required and that is why in the industry hiring of employees is generally done in the large
amounts with the initial description of the job for quick and easy selections. TWG is currently
facing high dissatisfaction of employees resulting in the high employee turnover.
Recommendation for improving the existing HR challenge
 The company should opt for easy selection and chained hiring system where the
existing employee recommendation for new employees is given the priority in hiring.
 TWG should clearly state the job description in the very initial stage to avoid the
further cost and efforts on the non-competent candidates.
Seasonal staff demand
The seasonal staff demand is the demand for the employees by the organizations
during a particular season of the year in which the workload is comparatively higher and the
business needs to fulfill the staff required to drive the revenues from the market. This creates
the demand of human resources in the industry who also are dissatisfied with the policies of
the companies as there is very low or no job security of hiring in a seasonal demand (Ryu,
Noh, & Kim, 2016). The company like TWG also requires the high number of employees in
their peak seasons to extract the actual revenue for the company. To satisfy this demand, the
company recruit more employees by offering them higher perks and attractive offers.

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Generally, there are seasonal employees available in the industry who works for lesser hours
than normal working hours to compensate for the operations of the association for the lack of
employees.
Recommendation for improvement
 To improve this situation the company should appropriately forecast its demand and
identify the time for the demand.
 The company should keep a record of the seasonal employees available in the market
to access them as and when required.
 The company should maintain good relationships with their past employees so that
they can serve the company in the future demand for their seasonal job.
Staff training in The Warehouse Group
The staff training is the important part of HR management in the retail industry as it is
a very operational specific industry where the working requires the correct learning of their
job work to serve the association in a better way (Luzi, 2018). The people are hired for their
attitude of dedication and stability and work is trained to them. There are trainers for the
purpose that uses different tools of learning and practical methods to explain the job
effectively. In the current scenario of the company where employees are leaving the training
is very important for the association to guide the need for hiring the work process and thus
accessing the opportunities in the industry.
Recommendation for improving the current practices in staff training
 Proper and systemic method of training should be adopted.
 The training should be such that it touches all the general issues encounter by the
individuals in their job work.

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 The training should clearly define the job responsibility and accountability of the
employees and also the reporting framework to wipe out any confusion.
Staff motivation and high staff turnover
The retail sector has generally the high rate of employee turnover which is because of
the dissatisfaction level in the employees and the lack of motivation to work for the
organization (Al Mamun, & Hasan, 2017). It is because the retail industry is a highly
competitive sector which increases the demand of the employees and the employees switch
their jobs with a minimum of the additional benefits with the competitors. The wages in this
industry is very low compared to the other industries of the market and which fails to
motivate the employees for their willingness to work. The profile of the job creates different
expectations in the minds of the individual and further the mismatch has been experienced in
this industry.
TWG is also experiencing a high employee turnover rate which is approximately 40%
(assumed as per the problem) which is very near to the half of the range (Alam, 2015). It
shows that there is a large dissatisfaction in the employees which is creating a high rate of
employee turnover. The employees are leaving the organization which is troublesome for the
company as it requires whole new costs for hiring, training, and maintenance of the
workforce. The low morale of the employees is experienced because of the low pay in the
industry and dissatisfaction with the job.
Recommendation for the improvement
 The payment of the employees should be linked with the period of working in the
company it will retain the employees for long-term benefits.
 The cost should be cut-off from the recruiting and training and more pay should be
provided to the employees.

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 The job should be explained in detail to the selected candidates including the work
process to avoid the mismatch of thoughts in the future.
Evaluation of supply chain management and functions of the information management
system
The information system should be used by the companies to maintain the
accountability and record of all the important elements in their businesses such as inventory
management in the retail industry. TWG should also be using a well-organized system for
extracting all the information regarding the amount of stock ordered, receiver, and issued to
the consumers to derive the correct profits of the company and also reduce the misplacements
of the important inventory (Fountas, Sorensen, Tsiropoulos, Cavalaris, Liakos, & Gemtos,
2015). For example, if the ordered quantity of the inventory for a particular month is 10000
pieces of that item and the received quantity is lesser than the ordered quantity with the same
billing amount. Then with the help of information system framework, the supplier can be
shown the actual documents of order and the company can be saved from paying the extra
amount which could have been paid in case of negligence of the quantity in the system.
Conclusion
The study has explained the working of The Warehouse Group of New Zealand by
deriving an analysis of the strategies used by the association for maintaining the existence of
the company in the industry. It has explained the importance of marketing communication in
the retail industry and the high demand for employees in the industry. This report also
defined the reason for the high turnover of employees in this sector and provided a
recommendation to reduce the same. It defined the reasons for the seasonal demand of staff
and the way to meet this demand in the corporation. The need for an information system for

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the inventory management of the company has been discussed in the report. Thus, the report
is a study of operations in the retail industry concerning The Warehouse Group Company.

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References
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retention strategies in business organization: A conceptual view. Problems and
Perspectives in Management, 15(1), 63-71.
Alam, S. M. T. (2015). Factors affecting job satisfaction, motivation and turnover rate of
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Khulna city. Asian Business Review, 1(2), 126-131.
Fountas, S., Sorensen, C. G., Tsiropoulos, Z., Cavalaris, C., Liakos, V., & Gemtos, T. (2015).
Farm machinery management information system. Computers and Electronics in
Agriculture, 110, 131-138.
Hingley, M., Lindgreen, A., & Grant, D. B. (2015). Intermediaries in power-laden retail
supply chains: An opportunity to improve buyer–supplier relationships and
collaboration. Industrial Marketing Management, 50, 78-84.
Kelly, B., Vandevijvere, S., Freeman, B., & Jenkin, G. (2015). New media but same old
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Kleinmans, J. J., Densley, R. J., Hurley, T., & Williams, I. D. (2016). BRIEF
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management, 8(1), 69-78.
Luzi, S. (2018). Development of Loyalty Programs through the Retail Industry in Albania.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 9(5), 195.
Ryu, S., Noh, J., & Kim, H. (2016). Deep neural network based demand side short term load
forecasting. Energies, 10(1), 3.
The Warehouse (2016). blog.thewarehousecareers.co. Retrieved from
https://blog.thewarehousecareers.co.nz/retail/aut-co-op-internships/attachment/org-
chart/
Warden, S., Han, X., & Nzawou, A. (2018). Causes and prevention of staff turnover within
micro retail businesses in South Africa: Lessons for the Tourism industry. African
Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 7(2), 1-15.

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Whittaker, D. H., Fath, B. P., & Fiedler, A. (2016). Assembling capabilities for innovation:
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