Journal Reflection for Human Capital Management - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theJournal Reflection for Human Capital Management. Answer: Retailing is defined as a set of business operations that improve the value of goods and services sold to consumers for personal use while the retailer is the name of the business engaged in the above. Retailers have a role in meeting the consumer need through availing products at the right place at the time and in the right quantity and price. Retailers make a huge contribution to the Canadian economy as evidenced by the $ 505 billion sales in 2014, over 50% of Canada economy is in the hands of the retailers. Retailers offer several opportunities for individuals to develop their careers as well as those with entrepreneurial skills to put them in place. Managing of the retail business comes with a lot of hurdles stiff competition being in the forefront. The Intertype, intertype and scrambled merchandise all offer a wide range of competition for the retailer (Hul, 1997). The management of retail shops should make the best decisions regarding the most popular retail mix, variables that influence purchase decisions and the techniques of displaying the merchandise. Ethics are the principles that control how individuals and companies behave in a way that builds an acceptable association. Different retailers have a unique code of ethics that helps the employees do the right things. Retailers come in diverse types the main ones are; Department stores, these are retailers who deal in a wide range of merchandise arranged in the category into varying sections of the physical retail space. Supermarkets, deal with various forms of food and beverages as we as home products, clothing and electronics (Bogardus, 1964). Specialty retailers, they specialise in a unique category of goods. Discount retailer, they sell a wide range of goods which are often private labelled Mobile retailer, do their transactions via a mobile platform but no physical shipment of products to the consumers. Warehouse retailers, stock their facilities in large warehouses. The nature of products sold varies but are packed in enormous quantities which are sold at lower prices than the retail price (Farfan, 2017). A consumers decision on purchase first began by recognising the need, either through utilitarian or hedonic, afterwards, consumers seek information regarding several retailers before settling on the ones that best suit their demand. The purchase decision might be affected by factors like social experience, adventure, power and status as well stimulation (Berliant Raa, 1988). In a bid to attract more consumers to their store retailers make use of music and visual displays. Together with this, some put across demonstrations and scents to create a more entertaining shopping experience. Their flyers and catalogues are also designed with graphics and photographs for consumer stimulation. A market segment is a group of consumers will similar needs. The market segmentation allows the retailers to identify a market niche and offer products which are consumed in the locality. The market segmentation is done based on geographic locations thats is separating the consumers based on their countries or regions, also, demography is a factor in segmentation where the gender of the consumers is used to classify them. The use of geodemographic put together consumers based on their buying habits. The lifestyle buying situation and benefits sought after are all other ways retailers use to group consumers needs. A retail market is a set of customers whose needs converge. For a retailer to develop a competitive advantage which the business can sustain the needs to strengthen his bond with the consumers and suppliers. In addition, the internal operations should as efficient as possible and the brand image made strong. For the business to grow the retailer can pursue market penetration, this will involve putting more effort on the present retailing format to reach a bigger percentage of the existing consumers. This is done by putting up ways to make more consumers attracted to the store (Jones Shaw, 2006). Furthermore, the retailer can turn to the market expansion where he employs the current format towards attracting new market segments. Also, he may consider retail format development where he goes for a different retail format to meet the new needs in the current market. A final option will be diversification where the retailer will employ current sales format to cater for an emerging market segment not currently served. The development of a strategy is a stepwise process which involves the definition of the business mission, auditing the situation, identifying the strategic opportunities, evaluation alternatives, defining the specific objectives and allocating resources, generate proper retail mix and finally evaluating the performance and making necessary adjustments. Human resource management target the alignment of available human man resource to the short and long-term goals of the retail. Effective managers will operate well with the employees hence avoiding frequent departure, when employees are well trained they will possess the skills to prepare the store visually also, business whose employees offer exceptional services will be way ahead of the competitors (Armstrong, 2006). The structure of the organisation considers the level of centralisation of decision-making and approaches applicable in coordinating merchandise and management of the store. Centralization entails delegating tasks to the corporate managers while decentralisation is characterised by a delegation of authority to the lower levels of the retail. Compensation of employees follows a written policy that indicates what tasks the employees are responsible and entitled to, incentives such as commission and bonuses are used as motivating factors. Also, the culture of the organization plays a role in the compensation scheme. Recruitment of employees can be done by use of the current set as a scout as well as targeting the minority, immigrants and the seniors. There are several trends in human resource that the retailers must consider one such issue is diversity management. In addition, legal and regulatory issues such as labour relations. Employees safety and health, as well as compensation, must be considered. Shrinkage is a loss of inventory resulting from employees or consumers shoplifting, misplacement or damage. Its vital to control to improve the retail performance (Wood, 2009). References Armstrong, M., 2006. Human capital management". A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, s.l.: Kogan Page Publishers. Berliant, M. Raa, T. T., 1988. A foundation of location theory: Consumer preferences and demand. Journal of Economic Theory, 44(2), p. 336. Bogardus, E., 1964. Principles of Cooperation., Chicago, Illinois: The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. Farfan, B., 2017. the balance. [Online] Available at: https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-retail-2892238 [Accessed 28 September 2017]. Hul, M. D. L. a. C. J.-C., 1997. the impacts of music on consumers' reactions to waiting for services. Journal of Retailing, 73(1), p. 87104. Jones, B. D. G. Shaw, E. H., 2006. A History of Marketing Thought," Handbook of Marketing. s.l. Weitz, Barton A.; Wensley, Robin. Wood, D. G. C. . G., 2009. Human resource management: A critical approach. In: D. G. . W. G. Collings, ed. Human resource management: A critical approach. London: Routledge, pp. 1-15.