Case Study

You work under ABC Company Business Operation Managing Director. At the last senior management meeting, there was discussion about changing the structure of the retail operations of ABC Company.

The key factor behind this is the growing number of consumers who prefer to shop online. Although there is no evidence to indicate this is affecting ABC retail sales figures at the moment, it is senior management's view that ABC should better integrate physical retail outlet with online sales.

You have been delegated the responsibility of overseeing this organisational development plan. You will report directly to senior management, as they will be jointly responsible for approving any plans that are developed.

Please refer to the development plan brief below, for more details of what senior management has in mind.

Development plan brief

The ABC Company business plan is targeting an annual growth in sales of 15% over the next 5 years. There are many ways that have been suggested to achieve this growth, but senior management wants to focus on those strategies that will support growth in the long term, and not just over the next 5 years.

Our 150 retail outlets are located strategically to ensure that we can offer a premium retail experience to more than 90% of the population. We currently have an online sales capacity that is managed centrally and serviced through our warehouse facilities and warehouse staff.

The concern that senior management has with this current online and retail sales strategy is that they are not integrated. Here are some examples of the types of poorly integrated customer service scenarios that exist in the current approach:

• customer will research a product online, then go to a retail outlet to make a purchase. The in-store pricing is usually higher than the online price and sales staff cannot match the price. Consequently, our retail sales staff.
• Make negative comments about our online sales to customers
• Develop the belief that our online business is directly competing with retail outlet's business
• Develop low morale because they feel that the future of retail outlet sales is being threatened by online sales and their jobs are at risk
• Customer who purchase a product online will come to the retail outlet for after-sales support. Although there is a support hotline, the customers prefer to have their problems resolved in person. The retail sales staff are highly experienced in product support, but in instances where a product was purchased online, there is a tendency to reduce and minimise the support that is offered. There have been a number of customer complaints where support has been directly refused and customers have been told they need to access this support hotline.
• Retail sales staff have no access to details of sales made through the online system. This leads to a situation where ABC operations are segmented and it is difficult to establish a work culture that supports the whole organisation.
• Warehouse staff have limited product knowledge and sales expertise. The current online approach is putting greater emphasis on them to develop sales and customer service skills. There are many negative comments coming from warehouse staff. They believe their award conditions should change, as they are being asked to perform duties outside of their position description.

The proposed integrated approach that senior management is seeking should contain some of the following features:

• Pricing for online and retail outlets is the same
• Customer sales record systems are integrated between online and retail outlets. Authorised retail sales staff should be able to access records of a customer's purchase details that were made either online or through a retail outlet. Consequently, retail sales staff providing after-sale support can record this information and use it to demonstrate achievement of key performance indicators
• Retail outlet sales staff are integrated into the online sales system by being rostered onto the support hotline
• Online sales are allocated to the sales budget of the nearest retail outlet. Retail outlet performance will therefore have online sales as one of its performance indicators

One overriding factor that senior management would like to achieve is the development of a sales strategy that has a vision for the future and has no distinction between how the sales was made.

They provided an example of this as a major computer corporation that has a physical presence in major retail centres, which purely have an emphasis on product demonstration and support. Sales are made either online or in the store, but the sales vision is that returning customers will have a preference for using the online system. Consequently, the online strategy is to market directly through email and social media and to promote products through a sophisticated website. The online sales experience should exceed the physical retail store sales experience.

Complete the following tasks.

Access the ABC Company business plan and the organisational charts. Using these documents and the development plan brief, proveide a draft development plan for senior management to consider. The plan should include details on the following:

• The development plan's goals and objectives and possible measures of success
• Key personnel and their roles in implementing the proposed development plan
• A list of the stakeholders that need to be consulted, with an outline of what their needs and competing demands may potentially include
• A stakeholder consultation and communication strategy that outlines what needs to be communicated, who will receive the communication and how it will be communicated
• Strategies that will be used to gather stakeholder feedback throughout the implementation phase
• A proposed time line with milestones to achieve full implementation in a 12-month period
• An outline of resources that will be required to implement the proposed development plan over a 12-month period
• An outline of possible risk and an assessment of the effects that may exist with the implementation of the development program
• An evaluation of the proposed development program in terms of the costs, benefits and potential risks

While senior management is considering your draft plan, there are several other documents that can be prepared in expectation that the draft development plan will be approved. Prepare each of the following:

• A process to resolve problems that are raised by key stakeholders - this should also include a recommended process for allowing teams to develop problem-solving skills, so they can actively contribute to the resolution process
• A process to manage possible conflict that may develop
• A plan that outlines appropriate steps, corrective actions and interventions for perceived problems that may be encountered through the implementation of the development program
• A plan to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the development program as it is being implemented

Consult and communicate effective with stakeholders to:

• determine agreed objectives and outcomes
• identify organisation's culture and readiness for the organisational development
• manage conflict (retail sales team makes negative comments about online sales; they believe online business is directly competing with retail outlet's business; they feel that the future of retail outlet sales is being threatened by online sales and their jobs are at risk)
• brainstorm alternative options, negotiate with stakeholders and agree on outcomes
• ask for feedback and identify any loss of support for your plan; monitor and promote participation in and support for the development activities
• Evaluate your plan in terms of costs and benefits, including opportunity costs and make adjustment as appropriate.