Inventory Management and Inventory Systems in Small Retail Businesses

This report, a contribution to Desklib, examines the intricacies of inventory management and inventory management systems within the context of a small retail enterprise, specifically focusing on Evergreen Dairy and Spices. The study highlights the crucial role of inventory management in the success of small to medium enterprises (SMEs), which constitute a significant portion of businesses in New Zealand. The research employed qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, to gather primary data from the retail shop, primarily dealing with grocery products. The analysis revealed shortcomings in the organization's inventory management system, including the absence of proven scientific methods for stock control. The findings point to issues with inventory turnover, prompting the formulation of tailored suggestions to enhance inventory management and stock control practices within the business. While the recommendations are specific to the case study, the insights offered are valuable for similar retail settings.

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology i
Proceedings of the Applied Management Conference
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Aims and Scope: Proceedings of the Applied Management Conference presents abstracts of the research papers
presented at the Applied Management Conference at Waikato Institute of Technology.
Topics include:
• Managerial Finance
• Accounting
• Management Communication
• Strategic Management
• Marketing Management
• Retail Management
• Operations Management
• Human Resource Management
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
ISSN 2624-1315

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology ii
Proceedings of the Applied
Management Conference
July 2018  VOLUME 1  NO. 1
Contents
Contents ................................................................................................................................................. ii
The management of inventories and inventory management system in a small retail enterprise. 1
Investigating the training and development of O24U NZ Ltd to improve employees’
performance........................................................................................................................................... 2
Motives and expectations: A study of accounting students at New Zealand polytechnics............. 3
Current challenges that New Zealand small – medium sized enterprises face in retention of
employees: With a focus on the landscape industry .......................................................................... 4
Could social media improve New Save Supermarket’s Asian market segment? ............................ 7
Implementing measures of cost control (food & labour) for small restaurant businesses............. 8
Identifying best practices for customer satisfaction in an Indian restaurant, Mithaiwala,
Hamilton ................................................................................................................................................ 9
How are client expectations changing the way the accounting profession operates in an
increasingly technology-rich environment? ...................................................................................... 11
Effect of cloud accounting on an accounting firm’s costs ............................................................... 12
Identify the HR factors that affect employee turnover in MasterHouse restaurant..................... 14
How to use social media to target Hamilton Chinese females to a Cue store ................................ 15
Chinese tourists in New Zealand ....................................................................................................... 16
How does organisational culture influence employee retention within a landscaping business?17
A business case for work-life balance in retail management. ......................................................... 18
Safety culture at a Local Organisation ............................................................................................. 19
Customer acquisition and engagement in Magic Chinese Health Massage ................................... 20
How social media can be marketed effectively by Sustain Energy Solutions to gain a competitive
advantage ............................................................................................................................................. 21
To identify strategies for differentiating Kebabs Salateen within its market............................... 22
Understanding and listening to customers in order to retain them: An analyses of customer
satisfaction in SMEs in New Zealand ................................................................................................ 23
Sales of frozen yoghurt in winter in KiwiYo .................................................................................... 24
What is the sustained competitive advantage of Desi Indian Kitchen Multi Cuisine Dine-in and
Takeaways ........................................................................................................................................... 25

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology iii
Measuring Level of Satisfaction......................................................................................................... 26
Emerging role of inventory management at a liquor store in New Zealand ................................. 27
The implications of new financial reporting standards on New Zealand charities ....................... 28
Impact of working capital management on profitability of the food processing and consumer
goods business in New Zealand .......................................................................................................... 30
Importance and impacts of visual merchandising for customers at The Warehouse, Te Rapa,
Hamilton .............................................................................................................................................. 31
Increasing younger customers in restaurants through marketing ................................................. 32
Training methods used at Harvey Norman ...................................................................................... 33
Strategies for the survival of ABC Produce ...................................................................................... 35
How to improve customer service at Muffin Break, Te Awa, The Base ........................................ 36
To investigate Operations Efficiency at ShineOn Car Wash and Grooming Specialist and its
impact on Service Quality .................................................................................................................. 37
High staff turnover at a central city motel........................................................................................ 38
Employee development and its effect on employee performance at KFC Restaurant Brands Ltd,
Matamata ............................................................................................................................................. 39
The impact of new reporting requirements on local charities in the Waikato region.................. 40
Minimise the production and delivery cost of Hell Pizza ................................................................ 41
To find a better way of training and development for a small retail business in the health
product industry.................................................................................................................................. 42
Better sales and marketing methods for Mument ............................................................................ 43
Graduate Diploma of Sales and Marketing ...................................................................................... 44
Motives and expectations for studying accounting: A case study of a polytechnic in New Zealand
.............................................................................................................................................................. 45
Keeping profits in New Zealand ........................................................................................................ 46
Investigate waste management issue in Mexico Restaurant ........................................................... 47
Studying and improving internal controls at HPC .......................................................................... 48
An analysis of the pricing approach of a small importer/distributor enterprise: A case study... 49
The expectations of Chinese tourists from New Zealand motels and their implications: Case
study of A City Motel, Hamilton........................................................................................................ 50
Analyse the wine market at Budget Liquor 2009 Limited to develop customer segmentation
profiles .................................................................................................................................................. 51
The emerging role of inventory management in small restaurants: Developing an effective
inventory management system for a small pizza shop ..................................................................... 53
The impact of a new accounting standard on financial reporting by Waikato Institute of
Technology ........................................................................................................................................... 54
Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the financial performance of industrial
companies in New Zealand ................................................................................................................. 55
Tax avoidance In New Zealand.......................................................................................................... 56

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology iv
Developing a business strategy to increase customer loyalty for Q variety stores........................ 57
An Examination of the Inventory Management System at Dominos, Te Awamutu ..................... 58
Green Human Resource Management .............................................................................................. 59
Prevalence of Bitcoin in New Zealand ............................................................................................... 60
Volunteers: How to recruit and retain them? .................................................................................. 62
Accounting students’ motivations and expectations of their major: A study of Wintec
accounting students ............................................................................................................................. 63
Marketing and branding for non-profit organisations: A case for Mathematics for a Lifetime.64
Marketing strategies for health supplements to China (Case study Health 2000)........................ 65
How to increase the operational efficiency on dry vacuuming service in Spotless cleaning
Hamilton? ............................................................................................................................................ 67
Evaluation of the effectiveness of online video screening process in a regional City Council–
specifically evaluating the fairness of the system ............................................................................. 68
Exploring innovation process in the internet café sector in Hamilton, New Zealand .................. 69
Impact of new reporting requirements on local charities in the Waikato region......................... 70
Optimisation of operations of wet vacuuming the carpets in Spotless services ............................. 71
An analysis of the importance of volunteers during events ............................................................. 72
The drivers of motivation ................................................................................................................... 73
An analysis of delivery services at Hell Pizza, Dinsdale, Hamilton ................................................ 75
“Can I use what I learnt at work?” Accounting education-practice gap ....................................... 76
Health and safety risks: Before, during and after a ‘Local Organisation’ event. ......................... 77
To investigate the inventory management system used by Yogiji’s Food Mart to reduce waste.78
Comparing reporting of MYOB Enterprise Reporter vs Xero HQ Reporter ............................... 79
Strategies to improve the clientele market of A & D Earthworks Limited ................................... 80
Staff Management Training in McDonalds at 5 Cross Roads ........................................................ 81
An analysis of the quality and operational efficiency of the Crest Clean franchise at Centre
Place Food Court, Hamilton .............................................................................................................. 82
Examining the opportunities of importing LED Lighting from China to New Zealand .............. 83
An investigation of the supply chain strategies of Spice Traders, Te Awa at The Base, Hamilton
.............................................................................................................................................................. 84
Location analysis to suggest new warehouse for Best Furniture shop ........................................... 85
Identifying customer satisfaction at New Lives Animal Rescue Opshop ....................................... 86

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 1
The management of inventories and inventory management system in a small retail
enterprise
Akshitkumar Pravinbhai Patel
Graduate Diploma in Operation and Production Management
Academic Supervisor: Denise Harnett
The study deals with inventory management and inventory management systems in small retail
enterprises. The primary aim of this research was to find out issues regarding inventory
management and inventory management systems in the small retail business at Evergreen Dairy
and Spices. In New Zealand, 97 percent of businesses are small to medium enterprises, and SMEs
play an important role in the economy of New Zealand. Inventory management has a tremendous
influence on small retail businesses. Data for this research was collected from small retail shops
which mainly deal with grocery products. All primary data were gathered using qualitative
methods by conducting semi-structured interviews. From analysing the collected data I found
many loopholes in the organisation's inventory management system. The evidence shows that the
organisation did not use a proven scientific method to manage inventory in the store. The data
gathered points to this business facing issues related to turnover of inventory. Based on the
findings, suitable suggestions are made for the organisation to improve inventory management and
stock control in the business. The suggestions may not apply to all small retail enterprises.

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 2
Investigating the training and development of O24U NZ Ltd to improve employees’
performance
Zhihua Wu
Bachelor of Applied Management: Human Resource Management
Academic Supervisor: Priscilla Davis-Ngatai
The topic of this research is to investigate the training and development of O24U to improve
employees’ performance. This research aims to: firstly, investigate the process of O24U NZ Ltd
using training and development; secondly, to research the relationship between the training and
development and employees’ performance; and finally, to identify several recommendations on
training and development to improve employees’ performance.
O24U NZ Ltd was founded in 2015. and is located at Hamilton CBD. It mainly provides healthcare
products made in New Zealand and Australia. There are four people currently working for the
store, and there are about 20 competitors of O24U, such as Green, Sunshine and DeKang, in
Hamilton.
Literature for the review was chosen through the scope (training and development, healthcare
product industry in New Zealand and China, strategic human resource management (SHRM) and
benchmarking). The researcher conducted four interviews to gather the necessary data for this
study (3 employees of O24U and one staff member from one of the competitors). The data were
analysed through inductive thematic analysis. Six themes were analysed: the purpose, type and
issues of training and development, on-boarding, SHRM and the benefits of Oceanian healthcare
products. The researcher found that training and development are vital for any organisation, on-
the-job training has become the most popular approach to operating training and development
programmes, and the main function of SHRM is to manage employees’ values creation capacities.
Several recommendations are made which include five aspects (situation of the store, using
systems, stocktaking, packaging and cleaning).

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 3
Motives and expectations: A study of accounting students at New Zealand polytechnics
Briar Johnston
Bachelor of Applied Management: Accounting (NZICA)
Academic Supervisor: Ahmed Saadeh
This report aims to investigate student's choices for studying accounting in New Zealand
polytechnics. It provides information on students’ motives for choosing the institute and their
expectations of the accounting programmes it is offering. The gap between accounting education
and practice is an increasing problem for accounting firms. The skills accounting graduates display
are often not the skills the workplace is interviewing for. This creates problems for accounting
students trying to make a career in the industry. If they are not showing the skills that employers
are looking for, their chances of finding paid employment are much lower. Nine polytechnic
students studying for an accounting degree were interviewed for this report, using convenience
and then snowball methods. The researcher followed a question guide for each interview focused
on gaining the student’s opinions. Tentative results have found that students are satisfied with their
overall level of learning. Study at the polytechnic was chosen over university because of flexible
class times and being able to have a life outside of study. University was considered huge and
scary, but also difficult for international students to pass entry criteria. There were 78 percent of
students studying the CAANZ major, but only 56 percent wanted to study further to gain Chartered
Accountant qualifications. This report will be of benefit to polytechnics as it will assist them in
attracting and retaining more students.

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 4
Current challenges that New Zealand small – medium sized enterprises face in retention of
employees: With a focus on the landscape industry
Devon Williams
Bachelor of Applied Management: Human Resources
Academic Supervisor: Beverly Taylor
Employee retention is a growing concern in Human Resources. Poor employee retention results in
businesses incurring increased expenses. Businesses have to search for, recruit and retain
employees when job vacancies occur. This is a costly process; therefore businesses are taking a
greater interest in human resources and the retention of employees. There is very little literature
focusing on employee retention in the landscape industry, so research collected was broadened to
other industries with similar attributes to create viable results.
The study investigates what factors influence employee retention in small to medium-sized
enterprises with a focus on the landscape industry in New Zealand. Research is done on employee
retention influencers in similar industries due to the limited amount of research on employee
retention in the landscape industry. No research on large businesses was used as the principles of
a large organisation would not be compatible with small – medium-sized enterprises. No primary
research was used as there was only an available candidate pool of four people and it was believed
this would not give viable results or insight into the topic.
It was found that employee retention improved in businesses when the business’ organisational
culture, values and beliefs matched those of the employees. It was found that when there was a
mismatch between culture and employees, employees did not identify with or connect as well with
the business, and this caused conflict and resulted in employees wanting to leave the organisation.
Leadership was another key influencer on employee retention. Poor leadership causes
misunderstanding, miscommunication, and therefore conflict and poor productivity, and has
negative effects on organisational culture, resulting in worsened levels on employee retention.
Career advancement was another significant influence on employee retention. When employees
see a path to both develop and move forward within the business, this is firstly a highly
motivational factor but also a factor that improves employee retention. When employees see that
the business promotes internally, employees will feel there are greater opportunities at that

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 5
particular business. Remuneration/ Rewards are the reason employees work in the first place. In
industries such as the landscape industry where the hours are long and tiresome, improved
remuneration package/rewards improve employee retention, as employees’ most desired need is
being better satisfied. The final factor influencing employee retention is employee engagement,
which can be improved to better retain employees. This can be done by giving employees more
opportunities to take on responsibility and more challenging tasks. This will improve employee
engagement as the work employees do gains more variety, and employees are actively challenged
and pushed to work at their best.

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 6
Local market development for Shan Yuan Chinese Restaurant
Student name: Chuan Jiang Yue
Bachelor of Applied Management: Sales and Marketing
Academic Supervisor: Jannat Maqbool
Shan Yuan Chinese Restaurant (SYCR) is a Chinese restaurant located at 228 Victoria Street,
Hamilton. As the most sinological Chinese restaurants in Hamilton, SYCR has always tried to
provide customers with the best service and food. Despite this, SYCR restaurant is now facing a
crisis in the market because of the turbulent New Zealand food industry. The purpose of this report
is to enable the investigator to gain experience in finding and solving problems through individual
research. The investigator accomplished data collection through observation, interviews and
questionnaire. The researcher found that the problems that SYCR was facing were mainly reflected
in four aspects: cultural differences, market competition, online marketing strategic, political
factors. The researcher provided four different suggestions in each of these aspects, which can be
summarised as website operation, university cooperation, social media strategic, and political
study.

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 7
Could social media improve New Save Supermarket’s Asian market segment?
Siting Deng (Winnie)
Graduate Diploma Applied Management: Sales and Marketing
Academic Supervisor: Deniss Yeung
Social media has become a part of people’s daily life. It is a multi-functional tool for people, who
use social media to communicate with others, share content, and consume information in real time.
Social media can be used not only by ordinary people but is also a useful marketing tool for
businesses, according to previous research. New Save Supermarket is in the city centre, Hamilton.
It is the oldest of Hamilton’s large-scale Asian grocery shops. The Asian community is New Save’s
target market. This research is to investigate the possibility of using social media to attract more
Asian consumers to shop at New Save. In this research, online questionnaires are used to collect
data and the thoughts of the customers. The findings of this study indicate that WeChat and
Facebook are the primary social media platforms that most customers use. Currently, there are few
customers who know of and follow New Save’s WeChat account and Facebook page. Respondents
think New Save’s social media do not convey enough information or update regularly enough.
They agree that social media advertisements will attract regular shopping. This research suggests
that New Save should create a strong social media presence, posting more and useful information
for customers, updating regularly, and interacting with customers via social media.

© 2018 Waikato Institute of Technology 8
Implementing measures of cost control (food & labour) for small restaurant businesses
Tong Shu
Bachelor of Applied Management (CAANZ Accounting)
Academic Supervisor: Rudi Bosman
In 2012, Auckland Region Restaurant Record estimated that there were 2000 restaurants in the
Auckland area. Therefore, with fierce competition in the market, it is important for small
restaurants to think how they can save costs and be more competitive.
This research aims to identify feasible measurements for small restaurant businesses to control
food and labour costs in order to possess advantages in the competitive environment. This research
contains both quantitative and qualitative research by convenience-based sampling methods. The
researched restaurants are located in Hamilton. To analyse the answers from the participants, the
responses will be compared with results shown in the literature review and displayed as graphs.
Due to limited time and resources, the sample selecting, size and location will be limited.
The tentative results from the research illustrate that few of the researched restaurants take
measures to deal with food waste and leftovers. They usually dispose of waste into the rubbish bin.
Apart from participants who are unaware of inventory storage systems, they adopt FIFO as their
storage inventory method. Moreover, employees are not happy if their wages/working hours are
cut down, and some of them will decrease their working quality or efficiency. Consequently,
restaurants need to balance between employee wages and work efficiency.