Strategies To Counter The Shift From Brick And Mortar Retail To Online Essay.

Elevator pitch responses involve critical thinking on the question and appropriate professional communication taking into account the context of the elevator pitch scenario.Post your response to the relevant discussion forum for the elevator pitch that has been set up within the Discussion Board link on the Interact2 site.References are not required and should not be provided.

Each case discussion activity has specific questions for you to address. Your response to the case discussion activity must be more substantial than the elevator pitch, demonstrating that you can apply knowledge from the topic in a critical way. There isn’t usually one correct answer to the case discussion activities; hence, the scope for critical thought. be able to reflect on and develop their own management competencies required for today's complex, diverse and globalised workplace.be able to research and communicate effectively and professionally in a variety of organisational settings.be able to reflect critically on management issues such as ethics, sustainability, innovation & digital disruption and how they are shaping 21st century organisations.

AI-based Kiosks

Question: What is your ‘killer idea’ to counter the drift from bricks-and-mortar retail to online?

My response. Posted on (Date)

The 21^st century has seen the rise of the e-commerce business domain with all the brick and mortar business have been opening a similar counterpart in the online domain. This is a strategy is adopted in order to achieve two objectives. These are to combat against the online competitors who have been stealing the business of these retail stores and secondly it helps in widening the extent of the market and consumer base.

For this reason, it is suggested that the business initiatives the concept of artificial intelligence whereby there are several kiosks in the store, which provide an exceptional service to the consumers and link this with the online stores with a competitive pricing range so as to win over the competition. Firstly, it will help the firm to regain its market share and secondly, it will assist the firm to combat against competitors.

Elevator Pitch for Topic 8 (Shaping Organizational Culture)

Question: What would you say to Sam? You’d also like to recommend a few pieces of reading for Sam to consider

My response. Posted on (Date)

As per the case, Sam is worried about the rigid organizational culture of his organization and is worried about bringing about flexibility in his group. It needs to be conveyed to Sam that although the culture of an organization tends to have huge impact on the performance of the firm however, it is always not responsible for the poor performance of the firm. However, as Sam believes that it has done so,

Sam at present needs to implement the concept of an innovative culture in his team whereby the employee engagement will play a huge role in the team and ensure success in the long run. When each of the employees will be respected and rewarded for their contribution towards the teams planning and implementation, the culture of the organization will blend with the innovative culture of the team led by Sam. The following materials have been suggested for Sam:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2017/02/07/why-culture-is-the-heart-of-organizational-innovation/
• https://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/09/05/innovation-and-organizational-culture/
• https://deloitte.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2016/04/21/developing-a-resilient-innovative-organizational-culture/

Part B: Case discussion Activity

Case discussion activity for Topic 8 (Shaping Organizational Culture)

Case name: Can a strong culture be too strong?

My responses to the question (What management problems do you believe confront the protagonists at Parivar?) Posted on (date)

The case study of Parivar which is a Chennai based IT company is a good example of the scenario these days which are largely based on the manner the different organizations tend to follow a particular culture which is not liked by the different employees and leads to the higher turnover rates of the employees (YouTube. ,2018). After the analysis of the case study, the following problems being faced by the CEO of the organization could be analyzed:

1. The culture of the firm: The culture of Parivar can be rather described to quite Paternalistic in nature and the employees are treated like children. Although this kind of culture is taken to be very supportive but in the modern age the different employees may not like this.
2. Monetary matters: Parivar lacks hygiene factors as it pays it different employees very low as compared to the other firms and this acts as a de-motivator (Alvesson, 2016). 
3. The work environment: The work environment at Parivar is rather claustrophobic in nature.

Innovative Culture for Organizational Flexibility

Case study Activity Questions

 The conflicting values

With the case of Parivar the different conflicting values are given:

• The financial costs: If a new program is executed at Parivar it will generate various costs in order to bring about a better outcome. All the businesses are highly associated with costs and hence, a good return on investments need to be ensured.
• The type of culture: Moreover, The Love culture which is insisted upon by the firm often clashes with the business environment and deters competitive spirit.
• Turnover rate: Another conflicting value is the high turnover rate of the firm. In case the love culture is being followed by the organization, the turnover rate of the firm should have been comparatively lower (Craig, 2017). 

In the form of an advice, it can be stated to Indira and Sudhir that they conduct a thorough research and undertake a deeper understanding of the exit interviews which shall then help them to understand why the high turnover rate exists in a firm or whether the main fault lies with the paternalistic culture. Once a reason is identified, Indira can then ensure that the correct measure is adopted (Garvin, Natarjan & Dowling, 2014). Moreover, it is for Sudhir to realize that the love culture is not an appropriate culture for the IT firm and that if there exists biasness, a love culture cannot prevail.

Management competencies

The management competencies are as follows:

• Awareness of the self: In the VUCA world, the individuals need to be aware of their shortcomings as well as their strengths so that it can be directed in the right direction.
• Cognitive ability: The cognitive ability of the manager needs to be very strong and they are required to be full of intellectual curiosity so that they are able to develop the right strategies.
• Cross generational awareness: Moreover, the leader must have the knowledge to be cross culturally aware so that the organization can be managed well.

Case discussion activity for Topic 11 (Organizational Change)

Case name: Welcome aboard (But don’t change a thing)

My responses to the question. Posted on (date)

As per the analysis of the case study it can be stated that there are quite some problems being faced by Cheryl and the most critical one of them is that she lacks the support of the board. Cheryl wants to take her organization to new heights and for this reason, she is being deemed as quite advanced in nature (Youtube.com, 2018). Along with this, she has been facing some other problems as well which is related to the lack of employee engagement. Although, Cheryl wants to ensure that everyone agrees with her plans, she does not want to take into consideration their views and hence, there exists a clash between her and the board.

Answer to Question 1: The conflicting values

The conflicting values can be described as those factors in an organization which tend to bring about clashes. The different values which are conflicting in the case study are as follows:

1. Advanced growth drive: Cheryl has certain plans which can be termed as quiet advanced in nature and should actually be achieved in the long run instead of in such a short time frame. Trying out these different strategies will bring about poor consequences for the organization at large (McNult et al., 2018).
2. Thinking of the board: The thinking of the board cannot be described as quite advanced in nature and hence due to this, there have been certain clashes between Cheryl and the board.

Answer to Question 2: Advice

Any business case needs to be resolved considerably and hence, the following advice is being provided to solve the case of Cheryl:

• Employee engagement: Cheryl needs to ensure that she engages in adequate employee engagement which will then ensure that all the employees agree with her views which will help her to grow the organization in a positive manner (Samson & Daft, 2015). 
• Board consent: Secondly, she is required to ensure, that she takes board consent seriously so that the aggressive growth plan she aims to intake can be successful in the long run.
• Sustaining creativity and innovation: Moreover, Cheryl needs to ensure that creativity and innovation is sustained in the long run so that the members of the organization move in unity.

Answer to Question 3: Management competencies

The different leadership competencies which are required by a leader can be highlighted as follows:

• Conflict Resolution skills: The leaders like Cheryl in the VUCA domain are required to ensure that they can handle the different conflicts well so that they will be successful in managing their organization.
• Team building skills: The managers need to have adequate team building skills to bring about amalgamation of operations and sufficient team building skills (Waddell et al., 2016).
• Change leader: The leader needs to essentially possess a set of skills which will then assist him to bring about the change in an organization successfully.
• Problem solving: The leader is required to be a problem solver so that the organization continues well without any crisis.

References

Alvesson, M. (Ed.). (2016). Organizational culture. Sage.

Craig, C. (2017). Uber ugliness unmasks silicon valley's bro culture. InfoWorld.Com. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1871789499?accountid=10344

Garvin, D.A., Natarjan, G. & Dowling, D (2014). Can a Strong Culture Be Too Strong? Harvard Business Review. Jan/Feb2014, Vol. 92 Issue 1/2, p113-117. 5p. Available at : https://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=54de4b7b-4a92-4e2b-b6af-09e877638494%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=93302856&db=bth

McNulty, E., Calcidise, K., Benton, D., Cohen, D &
Aversano, N. (2002). Welcome Aboard (But Don't Change a Thing). Harvard Business Review. Oct2002, Vol. 80 Issue 10, p32-40 Available at:  https://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=864a96d9-1489-40f5-92ce- 21af0ba27fe4%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=7433807&db=heh

Samson, D., & Daft, R. (2015). The internal environment: Corporate culture. Management (5th Asia Pacific Ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-om.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/CSUAU/detail.action?docID=1991004.

Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, C., & Worley, C. (2016). Managing resistance and organisational culture. Organisational change: Development and transformation (pp. 98-116).  Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au

YouTube. (2018). 'Topic 8 Shaping organizational culture & Topic 10 Designing organizations’ (YouTube) | Available at:  https://youtu.be/TcrwII6gbTU (Accessed on: 26 Sept. 2018).

Youtube.com. (2018). `Topic 11 Organizational Change' (YouTube) | Available at: https://youtu.be/GyZhGtLXu78 (Accessed on 26 Sept.201