Answer To: Assessment 3a – Assignment - Marking Rubric Rubrics Marking Criteria HD D C P F ULO1: Explain how...
Dr. Vidhya answered on Feb 19 2022
OPERATIONS’ PERFORMANCE AND SUPPLY NETWORK DESIGN: WOOLWORTHS CASE STUDY
Table of Contents
Introduction: Overview 3
Objective 3
Specific Domain 1: Operation’s Performance 3
Specific Domain 2: Supply Network Design 4
Best Practices: Operations Performance 5
Best Practices: Supply Network Design 7
Suggestions and Recommendations 8
Conclusion 9
References 11
Introduction: Overview
It is important for any organization to work on enhancing the relevant critical factors, which are marked as the symbols of success. Operation’s performance and supply network design are two of such distinctive measures. In fact, with the rise of globalization, expansion of business has remained in the centre of attraction. Considering the significance of the two concepts mentioned above, Australian companies have shown immense improvement in terms of aligning their business values with core business objectives and with factors of success. Woolworths is one of the retailing brands, which have justified the level of growth over the course of past few decades. A steady evolution of combining growth with market trends is due to the best operation’s management as well as developing new supply network designs.
Objective
The objective of this report is to analyse the current trends in Woolworths’ operations performance as well as reviewing the existing supply chain design of the company. The recommendations are made at the end of the report, perceiving the gaps in the existing trends and how the company can meet them with the evolution of practices at strategic level (Parkinson, 2018). These practices are directives emerging from the core component of operations performance, linked with the internal factors resulting in the form of working of the organisation as one unit. These are cost, dependability, management of internal work practices, and quality of products as well as delivery of the business objectives over the given business cycle. The objectives of operations performance as well as of supply network design are interlinked here because Woolworths has worked on excelling the existing performance objectives of the market. The company has displayed improvement in the chosen two business practices; however, the need of the present trends is related to the acceptance of the global business norms (Van Kampen & Kirkham, 2020).
Specific Domain 1: Operation’s Performance
Since its establishment in 1924, there are basic perceptions over which, the operations’ performance of Woolworths are measured. The development of service process design is one of them. The company offers a wide range of products and services across Australia and New Zealand. There are more than forty thousand professionals deployed into various departments. However, there are a few factors, which are associated with the operation’s performance of the company. In this context, it is noteworthy that products are tangible while the services are intangible factors. Thus, without active participation of the customers in services, the intangible domain would serve no positive purpose towards the enhanced performance at operations. Woolworths has millions of customers across Australia and New Zealand. There is more like mounting levels of trust between the company and the products reaching to the customers. It helps in developing the service process design of the company in a healthy way. This implies that building trust and loyalty with the customers has remained a part of the strategic business values for Woolworths (Murray & Caraher, 2019).
However, dealing with a variety of customers is challenging and it is because of the diversification of the social as well as cultural contexts. It is evident that Australia and New Zealand both have emerged as the hub of employment and quality of education delivered to aspirants. A great number of migrant populations has become the part of mainstream Australian society (Murray & Caraher, 2019). This means there Woolworth’s retail stores have to meet the challenges of satisfying the needs and expectations of these new customers. The demands for goods and services would vary from customer to customer and it simply means that there is a great need to make extra efforts with regard to maintain the quality of services.
Additionally, forecasting is linked issue to widely existing diversified population especially in Australian context; Woolworths mainly operates through its self-checked out stores, which are more than 750 at present (Murray & Caraher, 2019). The customers can opt out for self-checks and they can receive guidance to locate particular products with the help of the customer support available at all retail stores. Forecasting plays major role here because store managers should be ready with their visions, pertaining to understand and supplicate the needs of all types of customers approaching the retail stores. Technically, it becomes slightly over pressurizing to the business operations because not always, the retail stores are ready with products needed for a particular range of customers. The concept of ‘mass marketing’ here appears to be obsolete because average pricing and availability of a line of products at all stores is impractical to achieve. In the same way, maintaining cost of the products is challenging here as well because for same product, there can be more than two to three companies who can offer competent pricing range.
Specific Domain 2: Supply Network Design
In order to have effective business operations, the structure of supply chain network for any company becomes important to analyse. The concept stems from the components of how any organisation builds effective procurement norms of the supply and demand management through allocation of perfect resources (Van Kampen & Kirkham, 2020). Woolworths has shown operational ability and excellence in meeting the ideal business norms, as per the conceptual frameworks of supply chain design applied. However, retailing industry is subjected to be one of the fragile markets; the demand of a particular product, for example, may go high and subside within a short span of time. This implies that the company has to remain dependent over its suppliers who hold authority due to the variance of the market of goods and services. The suppliers can take hold of the products offered to the store by piling up the stocks and thus, keeping the pricing fluctuation in their hands.
Moreover, the suppliers of various products ranges do not limit their possibilities in business; they alliances can be with more than one organisation and it...