Bojangles’ Book And Music Company: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities And Threats Analysis

1) Identify and explain BBMC’s strengths and weaknesses related to this change in mode of operation.

2) Analyze the Opportunities and Threats associated with this change in business strategy.

3) Critically evaluate the HR practice implications for staff of such a change in operations. 

Specifically:

a) What changes, if any, would be needed in how people are hired and what kinds of skills and qualifications they would need to have?
b) How would you appraise the performance of staff in the new e-commerce operations, and how would that differ from staff in the store-front sites?
c) What new training and development programmes would be required?  

The Bojangles’ Book and Music Company (BBMC) is located in Springhill, Louisiana and is a business that is owned by the family from 1925. The company has been successful, as it has been providing the customers with the products according to their tastes and preferences. The success of the company has led to the opening up of thirty stores in different cities as well such as Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama. The company targets the medium cities, as they face stiff competition from the stores that are present in the larger cities. The distribution system of the company is effective, as it helps the customers with the products that they want to purchase.

The employees of the company are hired from the local areas and mainly range from high school students who work on a part-time basis along with the full-time employees. The average age of the employees ranges from mid-twenties to the late thirties, which shows that the employees are mostly young that helps the company in earning profits. The employees who work on a full-time basis are entitled to have a share from the profits that the company makes, which helps them in being motivated within the work place.

It can be seen that the profits of the company like its previous performances have been on the declining side in the recent years. Upon thorough research conducted on the market by a professor of the Western Central Louisiana University, it was seen that the company was losing out on its revenue due to the music and books that were being sold on the internet. This has led to the stiff competition among the retailing companies, as most of the products were available to the customers at a cheaper cost. It can also be seen the turnover of the full-time employees within the company is particularly lower, which can be due to the fallout of the level of motivation among the employees (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley 2016).

The problem within the company is the presence of average employees who seem to be not interested for the good of the company. The inefficiency in their attitude towards the work is also one of the primary reasons that have led to the downfall of the company. The rise in the sale over the medium of internet has also contributed towards the decrease in the profits of the company, which needs to be reversed so that the company can be fully operational. The use of the internet has to be done extensively by the company so that it can maximize its profits and secure its place in the market in a better manner and have a competitive advantage within the market (Beardwell and Thompson 2014).

Problem statement

The main aim and objective of the report will be as follows:

• To identify the best practices so that it can help the company in increasing its profits
• The changes that needs to be made within the company so that sales can increase 

The strengths of the company is the product in which it specializes, which helps them in combining the skills and knowledge of the employees in a better manner so that the objectives of the company can be achieved. This also helps the employees as well, as they become specialists in their respective field of operation. The system of performance management will help the employees in getting promoted within the organizational structure if they can achieve the targets in an easy manner. The specialization skills that the employees possess will also help them in increasing their knowledge along with the development of the skills as well, which will help in aligning it with the goals of the company (Armstrong and Taylor 2014).

Another strength that the company has is the level of productivity, which has helped the company in increasing its level of profit in the past. The hiring of the employees who are highly skilled has helped the company in achieving its productivity in a better manner, which has helped the employees to remain motivated within the company. The increase in the productivity of the employees will help the company in increasing its profits in a better manner, which will also help them in investing within the company so that the service provided to the customers can be done in a better manner. This will also help the company in eliminating the competition that is present in the local market (Grant 2016).

The problem in the communication within the company is one of the major issues within the management, which is causing major problems. The decision that is made within the organization is weak and inflexible, which results in weak decisions being made that hampers the company in the long run. The company lacks the process of innovation, which has given rise to the problems within the company. The level of coordination that is required within the organization is less, which is making it difficult for the sale of the products in an efficient manner (Haji and Ahmed 2017).

Another weakness of the company is that the lack of coordination of the unit within the company is hampering the level of efficiency within the organizational structure. The level of cooperation within the company is weak, which has resulted in the lack of proper communication that has failed to increase the motivation of the employees (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).

Aims and objectives

The company has been seeing a decline in their profits in the recent years due to the increase in the availability of the products in the online medium. The company needs to try the operations through the e-commerce platform so that it can help them in widening its reach in the market. The use of the internet will also be beneficial for the company, as it will help them in acquiring the customers who are outside the physical reach of the company (Armstrong and Taylor 2014).

The company is facing major challenge from the online channels that help the customers in purchasing the products in an easy manner and at a cheaper cost. Apart from that, the stores and the companies that are present in the large cities offer stiff competition to the company, as it is located in a primary upscale place. Thus, the company cannot gain a competitive advantage in the major locations so the help from the e-commerce platforms will help provide them a chance to increase their profits (Haji and Ahmed 2017).

The e-commerce platform that the company will be using will be based on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that will help them in efficiently handling the services. The employees have to be trained so that they can be focused on handling the customers in a better manner, which will help in increasing the sales of the company. It will help the company in understanding the tastes and preferences of the customers in a better manner regarding the products that will sell easily in the market (Schmoldt et al. 2013).

 The employees need to have a proper training about the importance of better system of delivery. This will help the employees in retaining the customers for the company. The involvement of the third parties within the distribution system will not help in increasing the values of the company, which has to be done by the employees only (Albercht et al. 2015). The use of the reliable services with respect to courier will help the company in monitoring the system in a close manner.  The employees have to constantly place reminders to the customers about the product that is being delivered so that it can help in increasing the trust within them (Renwick, Redman and Maguire 2013).

The packaging of the product that will be delivered to the customers has to be attractive so that it can grab the attention of the customers towards the product. The employees have to be trained so that the packaging can be done efficiently, which will help in increasing the sale of the company. Apart from that, the delivery has to be done at a faster rate so that it can beat the expectations of the customers. This will help in retaining the customers towards the company and increase the sale of the products (Brewster et al. 2016).

Description

 These capabilities of the employees will help in increasing the portfolio of the company, which will result in repeated purchases by them. The policy of repeat purchases has to be done in an easy and simple manner so that it can help the customers to place the orders. The customers have to be provided with regular offers so that it can help in raising their interests in purchasing the products from the same company repeatedly (Aswathappa 2013).  

The staffs that is responsible for the in-house sales for the company needs to be recruited in an efficient manner so that it can help in increasing the sales from the stores. The employees have to be hired based on their attitudes that they carry so that they can influence the customers in purchasing the product and the training that needs to be given to them has to be according to the skills that they possess (Urtasun-Alonso et al. 2014). The training that will be given to the employees by the BBMC needs to be modular in nature that is it will of short sessions so that they can retain the information rather than the long ones. The employees need to learn the methods through the various learning tools so that the diverse methods will help them in attracting the customers within the organization. The employees can be taught in a verbal manner about the policies of the company along with different videos and handouts so that they can learn to effectively manage the customers (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).

The company needs to have a role playing session with the employees on a regular basis so that they can continuously practice the methods that they have learnt in the training. This will help the company to provide them with a practical sense in selling the product so that the queries that may arise with the customers can be solved in a better manner. These role plays does not have to be formal and the company needs to observe the body language of the employees when they are on the floor (Marchington et al. 2016).

The employees need to be given proper time so that their level of creativity can be increased within the work place. Apart from this, they need to be bounded by the rules and guidelines that will be laid by the company so that it can keep a check on their activities. The company will be able to gain more if they allow the employees to be creative within the work place (Albrecht et al. 2015). The training and development of the employees need to be done by the by delegating the task to the experienced people who can handle the activity in a better way. This will help the company in getting the help of the experts so that the staffs can have a proper knowledge about handling the customers. The experts will help the employees by providing them with training materials so that they can learn the concepts and utilize it in the practical field (Sikora and Ferris 2014).

Strengths

Thus, it can be recommended that BBMC needs to introduce selling their products through the e-commerce platform so that it can help them in acquiring new customers through the online media. This will help in attracting new customers who are beyond the physical reach of the store. The company can understand the taste and preferences of the customers in a better manner, which will help them in increasing their sales as well. The increase in the sales of the company will help them in targeting new markets so that the products can be reaching in a wider manner to the customers.

Conclusion

Therefore to conclude, it can be stated that the company needs to hire efficient employees who will be effective in selling the products to the customers. The employees who will be hired for the e-commerce activity by the company needs to be given proper training regarding the packaging of the products so that it can help in retaining the customers. Apart from that, these employees have to see that the customers can be retained within the company by offering them with better rates so that it can help in grabbing their attention. The employees who will be responsible for the in-store sales have to be given training so that it can help in developing their skills. The training that will be given to them will be given by trained experts so that they can master the art of influencing the customers in purchasing the products. The implementation of the modular and role-play training has to be present so that the employees can be given practical training regarding handling the issues of the customers in a confident manner. 

Reference List

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