Skip to main content

Comparison between two retail companies picked are Walmart and Costco

The two retail companies picked are Walmart and Costco whose 2017 Financial statement links are provided below: WALMART https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ wmt/financials?query=income- statement COSTCO https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ cost/financials?query=income- statement Both organizations are well known brands and position themselves well with their customer base. Walmart’s value proposition is “We save people money so they can live better”. On the other hand, Costco’s value proposition is “All-in-one convenience and everyday affordability”. Both retailers focus on cost saving for their customers. Looking at their financial statements and by analyzing them a few key areas are evident when comparing the two organization. Looking at the current ratio and quick ratio we can determine the short-term solvency of each organization. The current ratio can be determined by dividing the assets by the liabilities. Walmart’s current ratio sits at 0.86 while Costco’s sits at 0.99. The quick ratio is c...
1 comment

Importance of Flexibility at work

One of the trends that definitely stand out is flexibility. Flexibly within working hours, working areas (virtual offices) and also flexibility within the leadership styles. I think it is important to understand that people evolve, and this means that leadership should evolve along with them. With the growth in technology people are also becoming a lot more independent within their work environment and find new ways in doing certain tasks. Leadership should be able to understand how these new innovations emerged and should not try to micro-manage where it really isn’t needed.
Within leadership a great amount of effort should be placed on building people. What I mean with this statement is that skills can be taught and developed but people need to be understood. A good leader would be able to help employees develop more skills and have them invest within the business. I found that the better employees actually understand themselves as well as the others around them they become more well-rounded and would work more efficiently.
Another major aspect that came to light in my recent studies is the fact that people are busy, in general. Looking at the average household both partners needs a job to live a relatively comfortable life, this means that most employees have a very unbalanced work to family life ratio and this could be a problem. People become unmotivated, overworked and overwhelmed if their “relax” time is not taken care of. I think that a good leader would ensure that this does not happen. I know employers want employees who does not want to take leave but sometimes forcing them to take a bit of time off would be good for you and for them. I think it is critical for the new generation of leaders to ensure the well-being of the employee to ultimately ensure the well-being of the company. Employees are the heart and soul of any business and when they are happy then business will be “happy”.
My current CEO takes none of these trends or aspects into account and this demotivates the employees and can be seen in the effectiveness of work being done as well as the quality of work becoming poor. When I was appointed as programme coordinator it was very difficult to please the CEO as my leadership clashes with hers. I managed my teams as the professionals they are and tried to build them into the best version of what they can be. I wanted them to be self-sufficient instead of having to rely on me or anyone else to tell them what to do and how, so that they can continue with their work on their own. They flourished with this method, however the CEO did not like it and I got a lot of heat from her, she made me redo a lot of the work the team already did and when I didn’t ask them to redo it as nothing was wrong to start with she asked them directly instead of asking through me. This confused the team as to who to listen to but obviously they tend to listen to the CEO as she pays their salaries. At the end of the day the things the CEO wanted redone was done wrong and had to be changed again, she gave wrong orders and incorrect directions to my team making more of a mess in my programme than anything else that I, along with my team, are struggling to rectify now. The consensus is that we basically ignore her and continue with the strategy we started a few months ago but this is not easy with her micromanaging us all. I learned a lot from what not to be from her.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A trip to TAKI, West Bengal , India

                                   As Bangldesh looks on the bank of Ichamoti, from TAKI, West Bengal. Take a closed look, a cattle corpse i s floating on the river bed, near the Bangladeshi bank. Victim of transborder cattle smuggling. I am not sure how young generation would react to the name of yester year’s one of the most popular writer portraying the essence of rural Bengal, its pains and joys, prosperity and poverty and off course the thread of society; Bibhuti Bhusan Bandopadhyay. His simplicity was eminent in is writing; that was best projected by famous film director Satyojit Roy in his internationally acclaimed films like ‘Pother Panchali’, ‘Aparajito’ et el.  At the age of 9, I read ‘Pother Panchali’. Though I was not matured, enough to comprehend its intrinsic message of the content but the very story left a pugmark in my mind. I became more interested about the author later. ...
29 comments
Read more

If you were assigned to sell a product called “Sweet Treats” with the slogan, “so sweet, it will make you tweet,” but you thought the product tasted sour, and not at all sweet, what would you do?

Often, celebrities contract to endorse a product, but should they use the product regularly, or even like the product before they are allowed to claim that they “endorse” the product? If celebrity is lying, that is endorsing a product he/she does not use/consume then the ad should be pulled.  The Federal Trade Commission requirement that ads or sponsored social media posts indicate so - is not enough to inform consumers. (Robert, 2017) So, yes, a celebrity who endorses a product should at least appear in public using the product. Examples go in the opposite direction, instead of claiming to use a product but not doing so, which would be lying, the Kardashians post product endorsements across several social media platforms either without disclosing it is an ad or waiting until hours or days after the initial post to do so. According to the the organization Truth in Advertising (TINA.org) The delay allows avid followers to see the initial post as a testimonial instead of as an ad. (K...
Post a Comment
Read more

TATA SKY OR TATA SQUEEZE!!

This is my debut article in the interest of Indian consumers. Just my humble contribution; to enlighten them about the product or service of famous TATA SKY. Amir Khan, the brand ambassador or Mr. Ratan Tata, the person at the helm of all TATA affairs, would be ashamed of TATA SKY, once they know instead of making the life “JINA LALA”; it is turning the life “JINA HARAM” with TATA SKY at times. With much expectation I switch over to TATA SKY from local cable operator in the month of May this year. Within six months twice I they have replaced their set top box. They went out of order and it is under warranty for one year. Every time I called their customer care, they receive they call as if your are naïve. They take no less than half an hour, to guide you to switch off and on , take out their digi-card and put it back, whether you are young or old caring a fig for that! Surprisingly their call centre’s number is not toll free! You are put on hold for ten minutes and another twenty m...
23 comments
Read more