What Strategy is not working right, Identify any issues with regards to corporate Governance Best Practices. Identify the necessary CRM and Information Processing. Issues with Big data and its importance to organizations especially Bazar.

Why is Big Bazar using informal means of communication whiles its competitors used formal means of communication. What is the weakness in this area and what opportunities are likely to be achieved?

Labour turnover at Bazar is high at 70 percent per annum and in some stores 150 percent or more. In stores located in areas of higher unemployment, labour turnover rate tend to be much lower and at two stores that formed the basis for a research conducted, it was 15 percent. The lowest turnover rate tended to be among the middle-aged women part-timers with childcare commitments, whereas higher rate were found for the younger women. These figures are much higher than in manufacturing, but they are not untypical for the retail industry as a whole. These crude figures also mask the fact that some of the turnover is as a result of seasonal and temporary employment, as well as the fact that many of the leavers go within the first month of arriving.

Nevertheless, Bazar has made a number of efforts to reduce this high labour-turnover figure, and so reduce the costs associated with recurrent recruitment exercises. Much greater effort has been put into the whole selection and induction processes, and in some stores where it is difficult to retain staff, special attempts have been made to attract older people (so-called grey workers in their 50s and 60s) to apply for jobs. Getting sufficient applicants has not been a problem in the coastal stores, although ensuring that these people are satisfactory has been more difficult. Store Managers and their deputies complete a short informal interview with potential applicants before the selection process is started in the hope that this will screen out weaker candidates. The selection process still relies heavily on interviews. However, they are considering the use of psychometric test and this attitudinal tests are likely to be introduced for all staff in the near future.

Once recruited, all staff go through a formal induction programme undertaken within the store by a team of trainers. All new recruits receive policy documents on health and safety matters, the company history, rules and regulations and detail of service-related benefits. This is contained in a handbook that outlines all the key points of the employment package, as well as providing answers to the more typical questions asked by the new employees. New starters also receive written information about the customer service campaign, and series of brochures detailing the required standard of dress and hygiene. This is then supplemented by the set of videos presented by the trainers, and new staff are given the opportunity to ask further questions about working in Bazar. All these messages are constantly reinforced throughout the individuals employment with the company.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Mr. Sushil Sheriff, the current Board Chairman and son of the founder Agrawal Sheriff of Indian descent but naturalised in Ghana has little appreciation and/or respect for corporate governance best practice system of organisational management. He, at the age of 77, plays an active role in running of the organisation. He depends heavily on the companies culture and management orientation of the past. Why should Bazar be investing in governance just to increase cost and reduce the bottom line, he reasons. The only non-family Senior Management member, the Director of Finance and Operations, Mrs. Emma Owusu-Kwakye strongly disagrees with this assertion by the Board Chairman. The Board Chairman likes to share the humble beginnings of the business and prefer to use the word grocer rather than supermarket. He explains his philosophy as a no-nonsense approach to retailing, shunning hype and gimmicks in favour of plain selling

Despite Mr. Sushil Sheriff, the Board Chairmans misconception, standards of corporate governance are high thanks to the strong conviction of the Director of Finance and Operations Mrs. Emma Owusu-Kwakye.

Bazar recognises that creating sustainable shareholder value depends on the full understanding of the impact on society and the responsible management of the business in a manner consistent with the organisation values and principles. Bazar understand how the behaviour of the organisation can impact on the wider society hence management is working hard to earn the trust of all stakeholders as a company that tries to live up to its responsibilities.

At the pinnacle of governance in its formal sense is the board of directors with its terms of reference, regular meetings and adherence to the Combined Code. Reporting to the board are several committees with particular responsibilities relating to governance and control, as well as the management of the company operations. A head office business assurance regulates the process of internal controls throughout the company.

Strategies have been developed to motivate Bazar on the way to approach its relationship with customers and shareholders, both existing and potential. Another strategy point is the way Bazar relates to government and public institutions in the jurisdictions in which it operates.

CUSTOMER DIVERSITY

Bazar, operates in an increasingly diverse community, not just in terms of staffing, but of customers and suppliers. Bazar prides itself on the highest standards of customer service across

the difference stores using the location advantage as it competitive advantage. At the heart of Bazars service ethic is a commitment to treat all its customers both fairly and equally, regardless of their race, gender, age, religion, disability, marital status, sexuality background or beliefs.

However, treating people equally isnt about treating people the same. It is about understanding that different people have different needs and responding to these needs. Recognising and valuing customer diversity will help Bazar to deliver truly world class services that are accessible to everyone, which in turn, will ensure that Bazar retain their customers in the future. It is about fairness and equality, but it also makes good business sense, said the Director of Finance and Operations, especially corporate social responsibility and enforced ethical standards.

The Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) as passed by 4^th Parliament of the Republic of Ghana sets out a number of requirements for companies which Bazar support and are working to the spirit of the legislation. Bazar is currently building on its existing strengths in looking to meet the needs of all its customers which include access to stores. Among other things, the Act provides for rights such as unrestricted access to public places and buildings, free health care, employment, education and transportation. Bazar is constantly reviewing the services it delivers and to invite comments and suggestions from customers but these are hardly discussed at senior management meetings with no system in place for analysing the feedback collected. It is a process of satisfying legislation, said the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Culture, Mrs. Raju Asha. This was said during private conversation and recorded by an employee. The employee is currently seeking legal advice.

ORGANISATION COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

In recent years, Bazar has also attempted to increase employee involvement within the company, mostly through improved communication both of a written and verbal nature. Unlike many other large organisations. Bazar has chosen not to introduce a formal communication policy, such as team briefing, preferring to rely on informal channels and face-to-face contact between managers and their staff on an ad hoc basis. This is justified by some senior management because of the nature of the market environment, that is, continuous pressure from customers that require immediate attention, allied to employment policy that maintains strict controls on the total number of hours worked in any one store. Accordingly, Bazar management is unwilling to provide extra payments for the purpose of communicating information to staff in addition to their working hours. At the same time some of their competitors have chosen to implement more formal systems for cascading information to staff, so it could be argued that the environment is not totally deterministic.

Although many of the managers who were interviewed in the research felt the informal system worked well and that staff were adequately informed about company and store developments, a significant proportion of employees felt they were not always kept in the picture. Indeed, at one of the stores where the general manager was more elusive, a majority regarded the grapevine as a more effective source of information. At another store, the open approach adopted by the general manager helped to create a climate in which managers did keep staff better informed.

As with any informal system, however, much depends upon the character of the individual managers as well as the ethos of the department and the store. This potential communication breakdown is now beginning to concern some senior managers at the regional level and within the corporate personnel department.

Although there is no formal machinery for regular face-to-face information passing between managers and staff, Bazar is well renowned for the quality and comprehensiveness of its written communications. At each store, there is a system of information board that assumes a key place within the framework of employees relations. Not only are these placed prominently within the stores, but they are also regularly updated as well as managed unlike most noticeboard. All employees walk past the board several times each day, on their way to and from staff restaurant and new items are highlighted either on the board itself or on the door into the restaurant. A questionnaire survey of staff undertaken in two units indicated that the noticeboard was the most valued sources of information in the store.

Like the rest of its competitors, Bazar has developed a range of mechanisms to encourage staff to maintain high-level customer services, most of which are centered around video campaigns and training sessions. For the most part, the videos are shown by a staff trainer not a line manager and staff are drawn from different parts of the store as appropriate. There is no attempt to use these sessions as a vehicle for team building and it is rare for line managers to attend these meetings. The messages conveyed in these sessions tend to be single and straightforward varying in degree to which they take a prescriptive line about the one best way to serve customers. The image of the customer as all-powerful is central to all the programme and once again the phraseology employed reflects unitarist assumptions. Examples are:

• Customer care is the number one skill all Bazar employees must have, our future success will depend upon how well you apply this skill.
• Remember it is not what you are doing that is the most important thing, it is what the customer perceives you are doing.
• Make sure that you always say good morning etc, please, thank you, use the customers name if known, always apologise if something is wrong or there is a delay to take customers to a display, always show concern.

Some of the more experienced employees in the stores found these customer-care videos extremely simplistic and actually became annoyed by them. They resented the way in which the message was put across as well as the patronising and condescending tone of the whole presentation. As one of the long serving staff commented, we have always practiced customer care, although we didnt call it that, we dont need management to tell us how to do it. In addition, the image conveyed by the stores in which the films were made also caused some ill- feeling not to say incredulity in these, the actors who were playing staff worked at a very leisurely pace and had time to laugh and laugh and joke with the actors who were playing customers. Wouldnt mind a job there! was a common response. Some of the staff interpreted these initiatives as simply new forms of control many look to days when they had a job to do and do it.

INFORMATION PROCESSING

To monitor and track inventory sales activities in the stores which forms on the average 70% of Bazar cost of sales, an integrated advance Point of Sale (POS) inventory and management system is employed. The system automatically polls each store every 24 hours to gather pertinent data regarding the stores inventory levels. Information provided on a daily report include total of sales by household and individuals and further breakdown of sales by category. This allows

management to evaluate performance on daily basis and implement controls and strategies as and when needed but the analysis is not fully being optimized due to the use of big data hence the need for a data mining facility to process it into management information to support decision making.

This system is updated continually to add additional functionality to aid management with stores operations. For example, personnel-scheduling and time-keeping functions have been added to take care of the large number of part-time work in the stores. In addition, a new function is being planned that will better identify and track consumer demographic and store security with hidden cameras