Alternative approaches that might enable WHSmith to better meet its objectives.

Alternative approaches that might enable WHSmith to better meet its objectives

When examining how WHSmith can make alternative approaches to help them meet their objectives better, I must look back over whether the new approaches will help them meet their objectives, the communication channels used, the various functions, culture, management styles and the organisational structure of the business.

When looking at alternative approaches I feel that one way they could help meet their objectives better would be to have Internet access in the Milton Keynes branch. The reasons why having computers with the Internet on would be that firstly it will bring the store into the 21st Century, and will make them one of the most hi-tech shops in Milton Keynes city centre. This should, and would, help to bring more customers into the store, which will inevitably increase profits. The reasons why customers would like this is because if they were going shopping to WHSmith to purchase some goods they would be able to go, say, upstairs to the internet computers and relax on nice comfy chairs and go on the Internet, or have a bite to eat. This would help to benefit those who do not have access to the Internet at home due to either no computers or no Internet. This could also be turned into an Internet café to make it feel like a more homely environment, and to enable customers, who may be of an elderly age, to feel more comfortable. This would please customers, as shown by the objectives being met in A2.

New machinery will also be needed to be bought, which will contribute to an outgoing of the company, as customers will expect their to be food and drink to buy in this “Internet café” – which will need to be consumed away from the computers. This could consist of vending machines in which customers would need to be served or a service counter could be formed – which would require catering staff, again adding to the outgoings of the business. However, money should outweigh these outgoings, as people will be charged to use the Internet and will have to pay for the food, meaning quite a substantial sum of money should be flowing in. These computers will need to be fast and reliable to enable everyone to be kept happy and money to keep flowing in.

The management style that WHSmith has in place (consultative) will affect the success of the Internet café. This is because the staff who are working in the cafe will be able to see how successful the layout and what customers like and do not like about the café. They will be able to relate this information, whether it is positive or negative, back to the manager so that if improvements are needed to be made to enable the café to either be more successful, then they can be made. Also if things need to be moved in the café allow better access be made then this can also be done due to consultation between the managers and employees – as they are the ones who will be able to see what customers want, so they can relay this back to the manager. This can then mean that a consultation can be made and relevant improvements made. This could not happen if an autocratic type of management was in place because the manager would tell employees what to do for the café to operate and if this wasn’t the correct way he would not find out as he doesn’t work in there – which may then mean the business will suffer as customers will not be happy, but employees wouldn’t be able to tell the manager this as they are continually being told what to do and cannot give feedback. So the management style is ideally suited for WHSmith to allow the Internet café to operate smoothly and effectively.

This is a preview of the whole essay

The “customer driven culture” that WHSmith has will also enable the Internet café be run – and in turn enable the business to meet their objectives better. This is because when the café is built after planning it will be designed with customers in mind so that they will enjoy the new area with computers and snacks. If WHSmith had any other type of culture in place it would mean that the Internet café would not be able to be run to the highest standards as they wouldn’t be trying to please customers, like they are now, instead they would be trying to achieve something different which would probably not affect customers in any way. This would mean their needs would not be aimed to be met, meaning they may not be pleased with some area of the business but WHSmith wouldn’t try to change anything as it is not within their culture – which would mean customers will not be happy, which may make sales fall over time or just simply that the Internet café will not be successful – wasting money keeping computers and staff on if they are not needed.

This is continued on A2 where a detailed analysis of the effects it will have on WHSmith, Milton Keynes is examined.

Another approach, which may help WHSmith to meet their objectives, is to introduce a clocking-in system in store. The idea behind having this clocking in system is because at the moment there is no system in place to ensure that staff turn up for work on time, the only thing that shows whether staff are late is by other human beings – as fellow employees will notice when someone is late and may inform the manager about this if it is serious enough. This new clocking-in system would be of great advantage to WHSmith because it would enable the Milton Keynes store to keep a check on staff, and possibly reward those who are continually early for work or take action against those that are late for work over a certain period of time. The way the system would help the store to run smoothly is because when members of staff have a break they expect to go at the time specified on the rota that the store draws up for each day. If, for example, someone starts at 10am and they are 5 minutes late it will mean that the person who they are going to work for (which may be on a till) will either be 5 minutes late for their break, change of job or finishing time. This will mean they will be 5 minutes late coming back from their break (if that’s where they want), which will then mean the next person will be 5 minutes late. This will continue throughout the day so that in the end it will mean someone will either lose 5 minutes of a break or work 5 minutes more, and the offender (who was late in the first place) will work 5 minutes less. This is not very fair and proves why a clocking-in system is needed so that everyone works the correct amount of time they should and get paid for, and to stop people coming in late and working less time than everyone else.

The management style that the store has in place (consultative) will enable the clocking in system to work effectively. This is because at the moment, there is no clocking-in system in place. This has meant that when members of staff have been late, employees have had to consult the manager about these members of staff who are late or continue to be late. This meant that it would waste time as both the employee and the manager would have to discuss this either formally or informally. However, due to this clocking-in system it will mean the consultation between the manager and employee will not need to take place as it did before. This will help to save the managers time – so that he can use time more constructively towards helping them meet their objectives. Also with the consultative management style in place, and the clocking in system, it means that the manager will be able to see who has turned up late and then talk to them about why they are late and whether the employee will continue to be late. This consultative style will work very well so that problems with punctuality can be resolved. It would be different if there was an autocratic management style in place because if employees were late repeatedly they wouldn’t be able to try and explain their lateness, instead they would be sacked. This is why WHSmith will need a clocking-in system so that they will be able to sack employees via consultation, as they will have evidence that employees are not arriving on time. The manager at WHSmith may not want to sack his employees – but if the store is to expand and diversify it will need to take the appropriate action to help them achieve their aims and objectives.

The customer driven culture will help the clocking-in system to work and for WHSmith and will have a positive effect on the store. The reasons why the culture they have in place will be affected by the clocking in system is because the culture they have in place means that they want customers to be happy with all aspects of the store. They will not want to be served by a rude employee, who may not be in a very good mood because a member of staff has turned up late to take over their job and this may make the employee in a bad mood – which may then rub off whilst serving the customers. This will make the employees have a negative attitude towards the company, as one bad experience in store may make them dissatisfied, which may make them change to rival stores. This will mean the store will be losing out on money due to an employee being late, which is quite an expensive price due to one member of staff being late. This is why the clocking-in system will be good for the culture, as it will ensure that daily rota’s are kept to and that staff turn up for work when they are supposed to. This will mean working staff will finish at the correct time and will be kept happy, which will in turn enable customers to be served by friendly, helpful staff – showing that the customer driven culture will be met.

This again is continued in A2 where the effects of the clocking-in system on various aspects of the business are analysed.

Another approach, which will help WHSmith meet their objectives, is to have more tills in store. The way this could be done is either by creating areas of space within the store so that more tills can be put in here, or by extending the store so that the new (extra tills) can be put in here, as well as extra products. This will mean that queuing times of customers can be kept to a minimum – which will be especially good during hours, which are very busy (Saturdays). The tills will only need to be opened when it is busy – as having them open when there are no customers would be pointless, and would waste company time. These new tills would mean that customers will be kept happier and may make them want to shop in their store when queuing times in rival stores are longer. No customer wants to queue for long periods of time unless there is a very good offer on. As WHSmith has very competitive prices customers will be drawn to the store to buy their goods due to reasonable prices and short queuing times. These tills that could be put in the store could be done after the upgrade of the tills – as bringing them in now would be pointless, as they would have to update them in a matter of months. These “extra” tills that could be introduced would mean that extra carrier bags would need to be bought, which is not too expensive, also new chairs, work units and change would need to be supplied in these tills to allow them to operate effectively. This would not prove too expensive to do, as the profits coming in from the tills would outweigh these costs due to the masses of customers that visit the store. However, the main costs of having these tills open would result from having the staff to operate these tills.

The management style that is in place will help to affect the way that the new tills are successful in store. This is because with the consultative style in place will mean that because the manager is not always working on the shop floor he cannot see how busy the store is. This is because he is sometimes away on meetings in different places, and usually works in his office when he is in store. This will mean that it is up to employees to decide when to open the tills. This shows that there is a consultative management style because employees have been told that extra tills should be opened when there is at least 5 or 6 customers in the queue – which usually happens on days that are not very busy (weekdays). However, at the weekend extra tills cannot be opened because all 11 of them in store are opened. This means that when there is customers buying goods and a problem occurs, e.g. phone referrals, Playstation 2 games needed from upstairs the till will be come inactive for a period of time. This has lead to customers becoming frustrated because they think that staff are just sitting at their tills not working, when in fact they are waiting on a game or authorisation code to allow the transaction to be completed. This problem can be solved by having extra tills in store so that it will help to keep queues down to a minimum and so that customers can be kept happy. The decision to open tills or not is due to the consultation which takes place between the manager and employees – meaning employees have the choice whether to open the tills or not, which is usually common sense. If an autocratic management style were in place it would mean that the manager would have to come out of his office to tell employees to open extra tills to keep queues down. This would be a waste of time and would mean that he would also have to tell staff when to come off the tills, as there are few customers. This again would waste the manager’s time – meaning the consultative management style is a good style to have in place.

The customer driven culture will mean the extra tills installed in store will be successful. This is because the aim of the store and the business as a whole is to please customers in every way possible. This will be achieved as best as possible with the introduction of the new tills as it will help to keep the queues in store to a minimum, which will effectively help to keep customers pleased. With customers being kept happy it will mean that they will want to shop in WHSmith, and because they will not have to wait long to buy products it will mean “customer satisfaction” will be achieved. The importance of this is massive to the store (and the company) because they do not want to be losing valuable custom to rival stores simply because queuing times are longer. Customers may not mind paying say 50p or a £1 more for a product if they have to queue 10 minutes longer. Especially at this time of year (Christmas) customers want to pay for goods quickly as they have a lot of hopping to do. The way Smith’s will want to keep their customers happy (customer satisfaction) is by doing everything they can that an everyday customer would want – cheap prices and short queuing times. WHSmith’s do have very reasonable prices on their goods, usually better than rivals, but have recently been let down by long queues. The opening of more tills in store will help to bring in more income and help keep customers happy. This means that the type of culture they have in place is correct for the store and will help the new approach to meeting their objectives be achieved.

This again is continued in A2 where the effects of the installation of more tills on various aspects of the business are analysed.