Zappos SWOT

Zappos History (Zappos, N.d.)

Zappos Core Values (Zappos, N.d.)

The Secretes to Zappos' Success (Palmer, 2010)

Here's hy Amazon Bought Zappos (Parr, 2009)

The first two sources are from the company's website and talk describe the founding and culture while the second two sources give independent accounts of the culture and why it is effective. Since this paper will focus on the strengths of the culture and why this might be an issue for the Amazon acquisition, the sources are relevant. The sources could also be cross checked by finding more accounts of the culture within Zappos. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act could help by providing public financial records that can attest to the company's success. I am confident that a cultural clash between Zappos and Amazon is entirely possible.

Business Overview

Business Idea

In 1999, Zappos founder Nick Swinmurn was walking around a mall in San Francisco looking for a pair…… [Read More]

Zappos com Teams and Employee Empowerment and Organizational Adaptability and Response to Change Innovation

Zappos.com Teams and Employee Empowerment and Organizational adaptability and response to change, innovation

Zappos: Team Empowerment

The online shoe company Zappos is famous for its low prices -- and also for its commitment to hiring the best employees and creating an atmosphere in which they can thrive. Fast Company's case study of Zappos says that the organization promotes a 'happiness culture.' Zappos is committed to promoting the happiness of customers by promoting the happiness of its employees. It is characterized by a strong ethos of teamwork and a unified corporate culture. "It's about giving employees permission and encouraging them to just be themselves" (osenbaum 2010).

According to CEO and founder Tony Hsieh: "when we hire people we do two sets of interviews. The hiring manager and his or her team will do the standard fit within the team, relevant experience, technical ability and so on. But then our H department…… [Read More]

Zappos Recruitment and Selection

Zappos is maybe not the best fit for me professional, just in terms of what I expect they need in terms of skills (engineering/technological, customer service, warehouse) but the company does have a good culture. It is important that you enjoy your work in life, and Zappos has recognized the value of this in employee retention. For example, they emphasize fun and close social bonds among their workers, and both of these things are correlated with employee satisfaction (Twitchell, 2009). So Zappos has a pretty good cultural fit with what I want in a workspace even if maybe the roles available aren't the best fit. Nevertheless, they seem to have tapped into something that younger workers want to see in a workplace, and that is the idea that a workplace should be fun, not dreary and that this does not have to come at the expense of working hard (Kerr,…… [Read More]

Zappos Manktelow 2014 Defines the Vision Statement

Zappos

Manktelow (2014) defines the vision statement as stating the organization's purpose, from the context of human values, as opposed to things like bottom line measures. The vision statement should include the values that the company holds as integral to its operations. An exception would be if there is a separate values statement, but even with that the company's vision of the world should naturally incorporate its values.

Vision statements combine with mission statements to provide clarity of purpose for organizations. The vision statement in particular should resonate with external stakeholders, who otherwise might not be particularly concerned with the mission statement. If the human values that the organization has are distilled into a singular vision of the company's future or how it will affect the world going forward, then that is something that should be expressed in the vision statement (Mantkelow, 2014).

Zappos is the online shoe and clothing…… [Read More]

Zappo's Case Zappo's Founder and CEO Tony

Zappo's Case

Zappo's founder and CEO Tony Hsieh is a visionary in online retailing and business models, as he sees the creativity, intuitive, intelligence and passion of his employees as being crucial to delivering exceptional customer experiences. While many other online retailers have come and gone out of business. Zappo's has been able to develop one of the most loyal and profitable customer bases online. Even during one of the most severe recessions in decades, Zappos' minimizes layoffs, limiting it to just 124 of the thousands of employees the company has on their payroll.

Creating a Culture of chievement and Excellent Customer Experience

s is evident from the 10 core values of the company, Tony Hsieh has a very clear, definite vision of what kind of company Zappo's needs to be to become the online service leader. In concentrating on the value of "Deliver WOW through service" he is indicating…… [Read More]

Zappos Case Study This Case

However, the company needs to be cautious of putting too much power in the customers' hands.

5. Competitive ivalry between Existing Players

Direct competitors are currently not able to match Zappos capabilities, especially in terms of customer service. But this does not mean they should be dismissed as viable competitors. In fact all direct competitors should be watched very closely.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Outstanding customer service

Free overnight shipping

Wide variety of products

Happy, dedicated employees

Weaknesses

Cannot afford deep discounts

Transportation problems with half-full trucks

Opportunities

Expansion into other markets

Developing niche customer bases

Eventually going overseas

Threats

Changing customer behaviors on the internet

Possibility of new entrants

Over-diversification of product offerings

ecommendations/Conclusions

My recommendation for problem 1 is to exert somewhat more control over what the customer service representatives are permitted and encouraged to do. This does not mean that they have to suddenly start reading scripts or…… [Read More]

Zappos Folly If You're Just Like Me You're Hired

Hiring Decisions at Zappos

With the company's emphasis on the Zappos Insiders group, a recruitment strategy that is likely to be a good fit would emphasize referrals from existing Zappos employees. A good-fit recruitment strategy would be structured to allow candidates for positions to spend time with members of the team that they are interested in joining. Zappos takes pride in being a company that is focused on the company culture and not on customer service, claiming that the customer service just happens when the company is successful at hiring people who are a good fit with the corporate culture. Essentially, what the company may be doing -- without being self-aware -- is creating a corporate culture that enables people who are a good fit to be happy at work and happy with the work they do each day. This is more or less an avowal of the old adage…… [Read More]

Zappos Selling of Goods

Zappos Case Study Questions
1. There are a couple of quality of life changes which Zappo could implement to help it further motivate its employees and improve its organizational structure. For example, it could help to provide the sort of work environment which is found at startups in the technology industry which caters to young employees. Such companies frequently have relaxed dress codes, and have even been known to allow employees to work in their pajamas. They also offer frequent breaks and let employees meander about as they work. Zappos should incorporate some of these ideas.
2. Other means that organizations use to motivate employees besides those used by Zappos include attractive compensation packages. Many of these packages include options for owning company stock. For a company which is as highly regarded as Zappozs, the opportunity to own stock in it would likely help motivate employees to want to work…… [Read More]

Improving Zappos Corporate Culture and Leadership

Zappos 3D IT Leadership Model

It is always necessary to clarify the concept of leadership in order to understand the 3D-IT leadership model. In this case, leadership has been identified as complex as well as a dynamic process. It is due to the changes available in the competitive arena and globalization that the need for different types of leaders has been experienced. It is worth mentioning that most followers take leaders as authoritarian, democratic, participative and direct. However, theorists claim that leaders should recommend to their followers to ignore their personal interests. A leader should maintain appropriate motivational standards and be able to empower his or her followers. The behavior from employees like the need for teamwork and collaboration requires a leader to ensure that there is job satisfaction, personal growth, and maturity.

Zappos Corporate Structure

Evidently, Zappos has never been among the most traditional organization. Its latest idea has…… [Read More]

Structural Frame Analysis of Zappos

Structural Frame of Zappos

Organizational Structure Case Study: Zappos

Structure is "a blueprint for formal expectations and exchanges among internal players," (Bolman & Deal 2003 p 46). An organization's structure can determine how it will succeed and change within an ever-evolving business environment. It is absolutely necessary to understand the complexities of organizational structures and how successful ones, like that of Zappos, is organized and executed within today's business matrix.

Zappos is an incredibly successful online retailer dealing with the sales of consumer goods, most notably shoes and other personal accessories. The company has seen great success within the context of its life span, and has grown to a massive organization. Zappos now boasts over 1,300 employees (Carpenter et al. 2010). It is essentially comprised within a flat organizational structure. Thus, it rests on "Amorphous roles, lateral coordination, and a flat hierarchy encouraged participation, creativity, and productive conflict," (Bolman &…… [Read More]

Information Security at Zappos

Optimal IT Security Solution for Zappos

Established in 1999, Zappos.com, operated and maintained by Zappos IP, Inc. (hereinafter alternatively "Zappos" or "the company"), has emerged in recent years as one of the leading providers of online apparel and footwear sales (Zappos media kit, 2014). The company has achieved its success through a combination of top-notch customer service, innovative marketing and order fulfillment practices as well as providing its customers with an enormous array of selections. In fact, at present, Zappos.com features millions of products from more than one thousand shoe and clothing brands (Zappos media kit, 2014). For 6 years running, Zappos.com has also been designated as one of the Fortune 100's Best Companies to Work For (Zappos media kit, 2014). Moreover, Zappos.com has been rated as "Elite" by STELLA Service and has been designated one of just 40 J.D. Power's Customer Service Champions in the United States in 2011…… [Read More]

Individual and Departmental Security at Zappos

solution to the IT issue selected for this project.

The implication of IT security for online retailers is fundamental to ensuring consumer confidence and trust (Streeter, 2009). Moreover, online consumers are far less forgiving of IT security failures than they were just a few years ago based on their positive online experiences with other secure sites (Streeter, 2009). Lapses in IT security can also cause a loss of business and a diminution of any consumer goodwill that has been accumulated over the years, resulting in a loss of competitive advantage (Mishra, 2009). For companies such as Zappos where the consumers' perception of the "look and feel" of their product line is limited by the online retailing experience, ensuring the security of transactions is a paramount consideration. In this regard, Mishra emphasizes that, "Unfortunately, the Internet in its current technological form is a poor service delivery medium because it lacks the…… [Read More]

Zappos com Assessment & Analysis

CEO of this endeavor will be Tony Hsieh. This project shall focus on the projects and plans that are or should be under way for the company that Tony Hsieh leads, that being Zappos. Zappos is an online shoe retailer that used to operate as its own company. They have since been acquired by Amazon.com and Jeff Bezos but Hsieh is still the man running things.

• Summarize the team charter here to emphasize your:

• The main objectives of this project will be to improve the company culture of Zappos, ensure that there is proper strategic alignment with parent Amazon.com and ensure that the business model in question is proper given the retail and other facets of the American market as well as any markets that Zappos sells and ships to.

• The ground rules for the team shall be fairly simple. There will be a project leader that…… [Read More]

Core Values at Zappos

Zappos & LEAD

When looking at Zappos, their Chief Executive Officer Mr. Hsieh and what the company has done over the recent months and years, it is clear that they have a clear and focused set of guiding principles and guidelines that they follow. Indeed, they only hire people that fit with their distinct company culture and this is wise on a number of levels. The ten core values that they use to fill their positions, the climate that is emphasized at Zappos and how it is enforced and how Hsieh approaches conflict (not to mention the author of this report's view on the same) will all be covered as part of this brief report. While there is more than one way to run a company, the method that Zappos uses is clearly better than the overall repertoire of many other firms.

Analysis

Before getting too deep into the minutia…… [Read More]

Assessment of Corporate Culture at Zappos

Organizational culture is defined as the personality of an organization since it comprises the norms, values, and assumptions that govern work practices in an organization (McNamara (2000). Therefore, organizational structure determines how work is divided, coordinated, and categorized in an organization. Organizational structure is one of the most influential factors on the success and profitability of an organization since it affects members and influences how organizational strategy is executed. This paper examines the organizational culture of Zappos and how it compares to the various types of organizational cultures described by Carter McNamara. The assessment is conducted on the premise that organizational culture is a concept that subjected to several classifications and interpretations. The discussion will in turn enhance understanding of the concept of organizational culture and how organizations develop their culture differently.

Zappos' Organizational Culture

Zappos is a company that sells shoes and other retail products and has experienced tremendous…… [Read More]

Strategies of Successful Organizations

Mastering Strategy: Art and Science

Whole Foods has been able to stay afloat in a highly competitive industry based upon its niche positioning as a grocer. Whole Foods' positioning as an organic grocer is an intended strategy: the company was founded upon the principle that food quality was important, not simply price. In terms of its realized strategy, the organization has been able to capitalize upon the new interest in foods which are not laden with chemicals or highly processed. However, Whole Foods has also expanded its vision into an emergent strategy: the rise in specialty diets (paleo, gluten-free, vegan, etcetera) has also been a boon for Whole Foods, which stocks a wide range of specialty items. The popularity of these fad diets was not in vogue when the company first began but has since become an equally important part of its appeal.

Whole Foods has also had to position…… [Read More]

Leadership and High Morale Workforce

subjugated to the topic "The Importance of High Morale at the work place." Scholars and authors indicate in their empirical studies that organizational culture (high and low morale) is critical in making or breaking of the business. This essay includes two successful companies who have virtuoso work culture; Zappos and Google. eing listed in Fortune's"100 best companies to work" these companies have their own unambiguous combination to motivate and retain the employees and also deliver happiness around the office's paradigm.

An elaborative overview and literature is induced by the author to provide depth to the research. This essay also comprehends to the issues faced by the organization in formulating morale. The easy three stage approach by Melcrum to develop positive Morale at the work place is cost effective. The report ends with conclusion and recommendations by the author.

However, there have been many limitations to the study such as word…… [Read More]

Role of CEO in Effecting Positivity among Employees

CEO

Core values

Sociability

It is important for the manager in any organization always to remain social. Sociability is a merit that benefits interaction and integration of what is important within an organization. Organizations have what is presumably the need to make change through the involvement of the different people. Managers and leaders have the sole role of initiating what is paramount to them and to those they interact (Satinder & Joan, 2011). As seen with the behaviors and connotations of the CEO, much of what they do influences the organization positively and negatively. Therefore, it is important to ensure that everything is done through an interactive atmosphere that gives the participants a freedom to express their ideas, put them in practice, and serve the objectives available.

Integrity

Integrity is a value that dictates the nature of the performances and nature of the reception that clients receive from the different…… [Read More]

Business Use of Social Media Social Media

Business Use of Social Media

Social Media Marketing

Social media refers to the countless Internet-based sites and tools that facilitate and promote social interaction and networking through digitized means (Bulik, 2008). Social media marketing includes sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and should always be included in an organization's business plan in some capacity. Each platform leverages the power of the Internet to facilitate social interaction and allow people to keep up-to-date with hundreds of others instantaneously (Fredericks, 2012). Social media as a marketing genre has the power to bridge distances and communication obstacles in a highly personalized and direct way.

It is estimated that 75% of the global consumers who use the web regularly visit social media websites (Libert, 2011). Visitors are reported as spending anywhere from 3 to 6.5 hours a day on sites such as Facebook. Subscriptions for social media sites are growing by leaps and…… [Read More]

Social Media by Business Using the Best

social media by business, using the Best Buy case as an example. The benefits of social media in the business context are explained, as are the downsides. There are also recommendations with respect to the use of social media by a law firm, and in this case it is recommended that the law firm should not engage in social media. Compared with a retailer -- especially one with a connection to technology -- there is less upside for a law firm and more downside risk. Understanding the benefits of social media as well as the business context is essential to developing an effective social media plan.

Best Buy has successfully embraced social media, something that fits with its brand image, but also something that has helped to enhance its business. This report will outline the principles of successful social media usage, the value that social media has to business, and…… [Read More]

Administered a Culture Survey E G the Oci

administered a culture survey (e.g., the OCI) to all store employees (a.k.a. "crew members") and management, do you think espoused culture as described by management would match the culture expressed by the employees? Why or why not?

I think it likely that the espoused culture as described by the management of Trader Joe would match that expressed by the employees as a whole since, as the article indicates, employees receive intensive training during which they are likely imbued with culture expectations on n overt and covert level. More so, Trader Joe has its culture explicitly delineated and customer service is emphasized. The employee of Trade Joe who wishes to retain his or her position - and who does not given the attractive compensation, the difficulty in retain a job today, the opportunities 'at the end of the tunnel' and Trader Joe's fun and positive working environment -- would seek to…… [Read More]

Strategic Plan and a 3D Model Leadership

Leadership-Level Implementation of Strategic Plan

Good leadership is a key aspect of project management. Leading a project requires working with the manager and other staff drawn from the project's functional areas. It is not accurate to say that a leader only influences the subordinates under him. esponsibilities of a leader can go either vertically or horizontally. An effective leader will not only lead the subordinates under him or her, but also all the people involved in the project including those who are his seniors. A leadership model referred to as 3D model has been fronted by various players and promotes team leadership, self-leadership as well as teamwork that is leadership oriented. Effective leadership takes the ability to spot opportunities to improve a project and also execute on the project improvement. Besides the existing good personal traits, the style of leadership can be modeled through experience, training as well as dedication.…… [Read More]

Strategic Action Oracle's Acquisition of

com to keep the Zappos.com culture intact and growing so that it can pervade the Amazon.com culture as well.

Summary

Amazon.com sees the future of e-commerce retailing as needing to be more focused on the experience of shopping, purchasing, and recommending products online over and above the basic transaction. The acquisition of Zappos is an investment in creating a customer-centric culture, an area the founders of Amazon.com have continually attempted to create in their own company.

Strategic Action: Wal-Mart Choosing to Enter China

Wal-Mart's history of growth within the U.S. And nations which have comparable cultures is exceptional in its speed and success. Yet the expansion into other regions of the world, notably Germany (Christopherson, 2007) has failed as they do not capitalize on the core strengths of the company. The decision to enter the Chinese mass merchandiser market was a difficult one, as the company has a history of…… [Read More]

HR Effective Hiring Practices

Hiring Processes for Employment

One of the most critical determining factors of whether an employee will succeed in a position or not takes place before the employee even becomes part of the organization in the form of the hiring process. Employers may use a wide variety of potential methods to notify candidates about potential jobs. The most straightforward method is that of advertisements on websites, both general and trade-based.[footnoteRef:1] While this has the advantage of casting a wide net for potential applicants, it also is relatively diffuse and relatively random in terms of the candidates it solicits. Internal postings ensure that candidates have a good idea of the job and the company but this technique obviously limits the scope of the job search and can shut the organization off from developing potentially valuable new talent. Still, internally-based approaches are preferred by many organizations. "It makes sense: it takes a certain…… [Read More]

Technology and Innovation -- Market

It takes insightful analysis of the key success factors from the customers' perspective while a strong commitment to re-orient internal, back-office systems to support customer-driven criterion. The examples of the e-commerce industry, which is known for increasing returns and being highly differentiated on knowledge, show how quickly the network effect can serve as an accelerator for second movers to gain customer base in a relatively short period of time.

eferences

Jeffrey H. Dyer, & Kentaro Nobeoka. (2000). Creating and managing a high-performance knowledge-sharing network: The Toyota case. Strategic Management Journal: Special Issue: Strategic Networks, 21(3), 345-367.

Hsieh, T.. (2010, June). Why I Sold Zappos. Inc., 32(5), 100-104.

Isckia, T.. (2009). Amazon's Evolving Ecosystem: A Cyber-bookstore and Application Service Provider. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 26(4), 332-343.

Lieberman, M.B. & Montgomery D.B. 1998, 'First-Mover (Dis)Advantages: etrospective and Link with the esource-Based View, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 19, pp. 1111-1125.

Maida Napolitano.…… [Read More]

Creation of a 'Learning Organization' for Businesses

Learning Organization

Employee Training and Development

Peter Senge and learning organizations:

How feasible is the creation of a 'learning organization' for businesses?

First published in 1990, Peter Senge's concept of a 'learning organization' has become increasingly important in the modern business world, although achieving this ideal can be challenging. Senge defines such organizations as entities in which "people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together" (Senge 1990: 3, cited by Smith 2001). The whole is greater than the sum of its parts and 'learns' to be adaptive to market forces, even while all individuals strive to achieve their potential. Although this sounds quite idealistic, a number of organizations are putting such ideals into practice.

A good example of a learning…… [Read More]

Human Resource Management HRM Is

Frank and Taylor (2004) warn that motivating employees is highly dependent on their specific wants and needs. An accounting firm that mostly hires conservative, serious-minded employees who value efficiency above all else are not likely to be motivated by the offer of a life coach or a concierge. They would probably be much more motivated by a good 401k plan. However, that does not mean that all types of organizations cannot get creative with their benefits.

The key is to creating an effective and creative employee benefit strategy is talk to the employees and find out what they really want. According to Gajewski (2005) it is critically important to modify "the corporate culture to balance employee needs and desires with organizational objectives" (p. 4). Therefore, if companies can change the corporate culture in such as way that satisfies both management and employees, then they would be remiss not to do…… [Read More]

Cultural Differences in Management Styles

In a large measure, these concepts reflect the problems that have accompanied increased diversity as both a consequence and a cause of a great many social problems" (1999, p. 1). In this regard, Naylor defines culture as being "the learned way (or ways) of belief, behavior, and the products of these (both physically and socially) that is shared (at least to some degree) within human groups and serves to distinguish that culture group from another learning different beliefs and behaviors" (1999, p. 2). It is important to note as well that "cultural diversity is not restricted to particular nationalities; it includes issues of gender and individuals with disabilities" (Russell & McLean, 1999). Because there are some fundamental differences between cultural beliefs and behaviors, it is not surprising that cross-cultural differences can have a profound effect on organizational performance, and these issues are discussed further below.

Effect of Cultural Diversity on…… [Read More]

Interviewing Successfully Is Your Ability to Respond

interviewing successfully is your ability to respond appropriately and well to the questions asked during the interview.

Why should I hire you?

I firmly believe in the saying: "love what you do and you will never work a day in your life." In my case, what I love is feeling as if I have made a contribution with my efforts to the workplace. I set high standards of excellence for myself and I am always trying to satisfy these standards or exceed them. I like feeling that I am making a contribution to an organization that is meaningful and lasting.

Why are you applying for this position?

I am applying for this position because I believe I can be an asset to your firm and my personality and work style are uniquely compatible with the challenges demanded of a program manager. I wish to be part of a workplace which…… [Read More]

Best Practices in HR

Healthcare management (Discussion questions)

What are the top three elements in developing your practice as a human resource manager that will ensure your competitive advantage?

First student

One of the most notable features of successful companies such as Google is the degree to which these companies realize that people are some of their greatest assets. Google offers such perks as allowing engineers to pursue their own projects on company time as a way to attract the most creative people within the IT industry as well as to develop new ideas that might not come from the upper levels of management. Google offers 'perks' that make creative people flock to the company and which ensures once hired, the employees remain focused on their work. One of the reasons Google offers free food, dry-cleaning, and fitness classes is not simply to be nice but also because it increases worker loyalty and keeps…… [Read More]

The Importance of Culture at Work

Building a culture-based company is important for success because culture is a factor in what drives workers to be committed to a goal and to strive to meet objectives. A positive workplace culture will serve to motivate and guide employees, while a negative workplace culture will distract and deter them from advancing. Building a culture-based company thus entails identifying positive attributes and values to promote within the workplace so as to provide workers with the core motivators they need to stay ahead and progressive.

It is also about filling an organization with the "cream-of-the-crop" as Bill Taylor at GameChanger Blog notes is the case with Zappos, which actually pays employees to quit (Harvard Business eview, 2008). The idea is that after hiring new workers and initiating them into the workplace culture that the organization wishes to develop, new hires have an idea of what is expected of them and what…… [Read More]

Pepsi Refresh Project Viral Marketing

Pepsi efresh Project-Viral Marketing

Pepsi efresh Project

Evaluate the reasons Social Media Marketing has become exceedingly popular among businesses of all sizes.

Social media marketing has gained exceptional popularity among businesses of all size. The major reason behind this strategic shift in marketing management is related to an ability to gain access to large customer communities through internet. Since the users that companies target spend lot of time on the internet, the companies engage these users by employing different tactics. Secondly, the cost vs. benefits analysis of social media marketing indicates that by spending a few thousand dollars online to market the company, the returns are high. Television and print media advertisements are highly expensive as compared to social media. Specifically, if the large companies target their ads to be placed in prime time, it even costs them more. Most of the target population of consumer goods products, specifically those…… [Read More]

Personal Leadership Approach

Leadership and You

Leaders play a crucial role in the society and organizations, especially with regards to helping the organization achieve its objectives and purposes. These individuals use varying approaches to leadership that inform their practices in motivating organizational members towards the accomplishment of common objectives. Through their practices, leaders not only influence the behaviors of their followers or subordinates but also help in shaping organizational culture. The use of different leadership styles and philosophies is also attributed to the difference in concept and practices of the leader. Moreover, leaders can improve their effectiveness through adopting strategies that address the weaknesses of their leadership approaches since every leadership style or approach has certain weaknesses.

Definition of Leadership

Leadership is a term or concept that means different things to different people depending on the context of where the leadership practice takes place. As a result, different people have different definitions of…… [Read More]

Persona One of the Problems

Think of it like the difference between two different malls. We all have our favorites, maybe because of the parking or the overall layout.

Another thing I like about luxurioussimplicity.com is that it has no unnecessary clutter like menswear. If I wanted to shop for a man friend, I might visit Gilt or another website. I prefer using luxurioussimplicity.com just for me. Besides women's clothes and accessories, there is not much else to distract me. If I want cosmetics, I'll most likely head to the Sephora website. However, I do appreciate that luxurioussimplicity shows me jewelry designs that pair well with the fashions I like.

Finally, the best thing about luxurioussimplicity is that it works a little like Pandora does for music. I can rate fashions on a star system, on a scale of 1-5. I can do this for individual items or whole "looks" that the models are wearing.…… [Read More]

Multicultural Teams in the Work Environment

Cultures in the Workplace

Kouzes and Posner (2012) state that leaders ensure individuals know they are taken into consideration and not being ignored (p.318). There are several different means of enhancing this kind of celebratory culture given the varying best practices regarding how leaders need to demonstrate awareness of the needs of followers. One of the major ways of paying attention to follower needs and showing that followers are not taken for granted is through creating community. With regards to creation of community, the leader should demonstrate awareness of how celebrations are carried out based on cultural beliefs. Celebrations that are conducted based on cultural beliefs are particularly significant when the working environment is made of various cultures as they are in the modern world. This process would require the identification and establishment of best practices on the issue in order to promote inclusion and diversity in the workplace as…… [Read More]

Employee Orientation and Management

Orientation and Career Management

Employee Orientation and Management

Employee Orientation: Q1. Orienting new employees serves several critical functions for an organization. First and foremost, it ensures that employees have the practical skills to function at their new jobs. Even if employees have previous experience, education, and training in the workplace, there are specific skills particular to the organization for every new job that must be learned. Orientation kick-starts the learning process. Even more importantly, orientation grounds employees in the culture of the organization. Being a good fit for the organization's culture is often equally as important as possessing specific skills. While most organizations take this into consideration when hiring new employees, it will always take a period of time for employees to acclimate and become part of the 'team.' For some organizations, such as Zappos.com, the importance of an organizational fit is so great that employees are offered a 'bonus'…… [Read More]

Google's Project Oxygen

Google's Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter?

Today Google is irrefutably one of the most buoyant, stimulating and hence possibly most sought-after corporations in the world. The organization is rated as one of the best on account of its performance as an enormously coveted employer and all of this emanates from the carefully developed and assiduously followed 'Google culture'. In addition, the corporate culture is linked to elevating and inspiring the thinking as well as the creativity of its employees with the programs set for the avant-gardists in the company. For quite some time since its inception, Google as a company, together with its founders questioned whether managers matter and whether they had any significance on the performance and productivity of the company. The company's organizational culture is a flat organization where it does not focus or concentrate on hierarchy and it encourages a philosophy of cooperation and joint effort. However,…… [Read More]

Getting Worth From Work

Job Satisfaction and equirements

If I were responsible for formulating a team charter, there are several points of pertinent information I would make sure are included in it. One of the most important of these is the form of communication to be used by the team members, as well as the regularity of that communication. The team should meet comprehensively a minimum of two to three times a week. These meetings are to monitor progress and deal with any issues as they arise. The frequency of these meetings and the various points of checking for progress and any problems would help to prevent social loafing. In fact, preventing that phenomenon is one of the chief goals of this part of the charter. Most teams do not meet frequently enough; the aforementioned charter can change that.

Unit 7 Discussion

What I would tell this recent college graduate is that the $35,000…… [Read More]

North Face Apparel Company Promotional

As the former approaches have proven to be ineffective in the recession, the reliance on social networking needs to be pervasively focused on. Second, there is also the need to create more excitement over the brand, and this needs to include the sponsoring of extreme sports events and the support of independent (indie) artists that typify they high energy and risk taking the brand wants to associate with itself. These events must focus women artists who are breaking stereotypes of women athletes by being strong and self-sufficient. As the women's sporting goods market is the high growth segment today, that is a critical focus for the North Face to concentrate on.

The need to embrace social networking and make it a core part of the P, direct marketing and sales promotion strategies of the North Face is evident by the rapid growth of Facebook, Friendfeed, Twitter and many other sites…… [Read More]

Business Analysis on Foot Locker

Foot Locker

Company Evaluation

Foot Locker is one of the global leaders in the athletic footwear, apparel and multichannel retailing market., with 3,500 stores globally operating in 21 countries. The company operates retail outlets across a variety of brands including Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Footaction and CCS. As of this writing the company employs just over 38,007 employees with the majority being part-time (approximately 25,000) (Foot Locker Investor elations, 2012). Top-line revenue growth continues to be strong with Foot Locker recording $5.049B in their latest full fiscal year ended in January, 2011 (FY2011). This represented a 4% increase over the previous year. As of the latest financial reporting Foot Locker has provided, their revenue is $5.6B and operating profit is $443M. This compares to previous fiscal periods where the company earned an operating profit of $262M in FY2011 and $80M in FY 2010 (Foot…… [Read More]

Career Path of Communication Major

The salary ranges from $80,000 to $110,000 (Kalbach 45).

Advancement

Rank advancement relates to the level of experience of the employee and the amount of years of services within the context of the business entity. For individuals or experts to command rank advancement within this field, they must develop large pool of experience and qualification to be able to serve in the higher ranks. The employee must also serve within the company for certain duration in order to merit promotion. This type of rank advancement or promotion depends on the performance and personal or character traits (honesty, loyalty, and obedience) of the employee. The company must be convinced on the performance levels of the user experience designer to guarantee or facilitate promotion to higher ranks with better remuneration or wages.

Companies that hire User Experience Designers

Some of companies hiring user experience designers include San Diego, Asana, Red Giant, Nerdery,…… [Read More]

Lu Lemon the Contemporaneous Society

We have put our recent efforts into creating a estricted Substance program, and have begun mapping our Water & Carbon Footprint" (Website of LuLuLemon Athletica, 2012).

6. Brand personality

The personality of the LuLuLemon brand is more so linked to yoga and the emotional perceptions related to yoga, rather than the actual apparel produced and sold by the company. And this brand is becoming more and more popular at both domestic level, as well the international scale.

And what is remarkable about the LuLuLemon brand is that the company has not invested tremendous sums of money into the development and implementation of a branding strategy. Given its reduced size and resources, the Canadian-based firm has focused more resources on products, with the brand being managed in a less strict manner. This makes the company's brand even more so interesting and powerful among consumers.

"The LuLuLemon logo and very distinctive (designed…… [Read More]

An Evaluation of Amazon com

Amazon.com

Identification/Description -- Amazon.com, as of 2009, was the world's largest book retailer in the world. However, the company is far more than a bookstore in 2012 -- it is a retail giant, handling almost $50 billion in multinational electronic commerce, making it the world's largest online retailer. The company was created in 1994 as a bookstore, but soon diversified so that today it sells music, books, software, apparel, furniture, food, toys, electronics, and its own proprietary reading and tablet device, the Amazon Kindle (Investor Information, 2012). Amazon transformed itself from a specialty retailer into an online shopping portal, taking a cue from auctioneer eBay, which set itself up as a mediator between buyer and seller. Amazon's marketing strategy has been to provide a sophisticated website that cross-promotes products; materials at a significantly lower price, and an ability for the consumer to personalize their "store," receive updates about products they…… [Read More]

Commerce Bank by Frances X Frei Commerce

Commerce Bank" by Frances X. Frei.

Commerce Bank was a successful bank in New York that determined to be different by focusing on its WOW factor, in other words, on its customer service and on accentuating that. Commerce Bank actually achieved much of its success and distinction due to its incredible customer service. Part of its service was its line of WOW shops and Wow program generator as well as staff being rigorously trained in the WOW manner.

Its most recent offering was the Retailtainment program where customers were offered entertainment whilst they banked and queued in line. ome of the branches had problems with this idea and some bank personnel actually wondered whether Commerce Bank had not gone too far in its efforts to WOW its customizers.

Analysis

Customer service is an extremely important part of business success. The business always has to orbit around the client and focus…… [Read More]

Trainee Manager With the Jones-Atherton Partnership Ltd

trainee manager with the Jones-Atherton Partnership Ltd. (JA). JA began life as a small building firm started by two partners on a small industrial estate in the north-east of England. It has grown and now employs 20 people full-time. It has moved to a once derelict lot on the outskirts of a university town. It is now one of the largest independent building companies in the area.

The last five years have not been good for construction companies in the UK; however, JA has been more successful than most as it has concentrated on high-quality, sustainable construction, relying on skilled craftspeople. As a consequence, it has a full order book and is looking to grow further.

Hamad O'eilly

Communications Manager

James-Atherton Partnership

Mob: 07910 241703

Office: 01267 551134

ISSUE: Social Networking

BACKGOUND

Social networking is a relatively new business tool, but it is simply a more sophisticated means of communication…… [Read More]

Learn About the Shopping Strategies

When searching for an item, the website will be designed in such a way that it will suggest some similar items for customer with different color, size, prints and designs. Similarly, the website will be designed to create a unique user profile, and the more customers log in, the more accurate the website will create their profiles. In their profile, customers will provide information on the items they like and the items they do not like. Thus, the user profile will be a system that would know each customer's sizes, and in different brands and this strategy will create a brand advantages for luxuriousimplicity.com.

Typically, luxurioussimplicity.com has some unique features generally different from websites such as Gilt.com or Zappos.com. The features of luxurioussimplicity.com will assist customers to locate what they are searching without problem. More importantly, luxurioussimplicity.com will differentiate itself by offering unique shopping experience for customer due to its…… [Read More]

Customized Footwear Additional Focus Group

Uniformly, those in the former category indicated that they would be willing to pay something in the range of 10 to 20% more on customized orders. Customers willing to spend $100 on a pair of shoes indicates that $110-$120 would be an acceptable range for a customized pair.

Respondents who demonstrated a less proclivity both for online shopping and for shoe-shopping in general indicates that whereas they might spend something in the range of $40 to $60 for a pair of shoes, that $60 to $80 might be a suitable price point for customized footwear. The findings in this section would demonstrate that focus group respondents in all categories indicated a willingness to pay a statistically significant percentage more for the service of customization.

4. Through what distribution channels are potential customers likely to buy mass customized footwear?

The best distribution channels are those which have already established a relationship…… [Read More]

Compare and Contrast Online With Traditional Shopping

Shopping

Online shopping is starting to replace traditional in-person shopping in many situations. Few stores can get away without an online presence of some sort, because consumers have come to expect the ability to shop from their own homes. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Thursday, is known in the retail sector as the biggest shopping day of the year But Black Friday has a competitor, thanks to the online shopping revolution. That competitor is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the online shopping version of Black Friday, with big bargains that drive consumer spending practices. Cyber Monday is now as important as Black Friday, primarily because online shopping has become more common. However, there are many differences between online and traditional shopping that are important to keep in mind, from the retailer's and the consumer's standpoints. For one, online shopping is a completely different user experience than shopping in a…… [Read More]

Human Resources Management

fashionable to talk about, money is an obvious consideration when choosing a particular job: a job must cover one's basic living expenses and for many people, some jobs simply do not pay enough, based upon the employee's estimation of his or her own personal sense of worth (i.e. credentials and education). However, some people may take a job because it promises to give them good experience in a particular field, thus giving them a foothold into a company or profession they would like to enter. A job's potential interest value and creative opportunities offered by an occupation may outweigh pay considerations for a prospective job-seeker, at least in the short run.

One reason that people may leave a job is a failure to advance. If someone thinks he or she is in a 'dead end' job with poor career and salary prospects, it might make sense to switch, given that…… [Read More]

Staffing and Financing New Enterprises

Staffing process of which I was a part focused on two primary considerations: first, the functionality of the employees within the organization and the need to ensure the new workers had the necessary qualifications to excel and secondly the extent to which the employees' personalities suited the organizational culture. In retrospect, I think there should have been a greater focus upon employees having the necessary interpersonal vs. technical skills. In fact, many organizations such as Southwest Airlines and Zappos primarily put an emphasis on hiring individuals with personalities well-suited to the organizational ethos vs. specific qualifications.

I also believe that during the hiring process there was too much focus on hiring people from within the industry rather than looking outside the box for more diverse experiences. Too much insularity can produce a cookie-cutter mentality within the organization that is not conducive to creativity. Even if people do not have industry-specific…… [Read More]

Behavioral Styles and These Can Have an

behavioral styles, and these can have an impact on a workplace. They have been outlined on a grid of responsiveness vs. assertiveness. A low assertiveness/high responsiveness person is "analytical"; a high assertive/high responsive person is a "driver"; a high assertive/low responsive is euphemistically known as "expressive" while low assertive/low responsive dubbed "amiable" (Levit, 2013).

As a manager, these different styles are going to be seen in the workplace. They explain how people will behave in the workplace, so it is important to be aware of these behavioral differences, and what they mean for the individual in question. They provide a framework for understanding individual behavior, and allow the manager to have a sense of what to expect from someone. These behavioral styles are also important in that the manager can have a better sense of how to motivate people, if they understand their basic behavioral styles, and the manager might…… [Read More]

Using data to increase'sales

customer shopping, assertions and otherwise is nothing new. However, the manifestations and degree to which this data is used in the modern marketing sphere is much more substantial and significant than it used to be. Just one example of a firm that does this is Amazon. This report shall explain what data that company uses, the additional data that they might attain from other vendors, the specific insights or information that is extracted from the raw data, how the analysis of the data translates into decisions and so forth. While Amazon has to be careful when it comes to the depth and breadth of how they use the data they get a hold of, there is no question that the use of that data is the core of their creation and sustaining of their business.

Analysis

In the grand scheme of things, Amazon has not been around all that long.…… [Read More]

online consumer reviews from the consumer perspective

online consumer reviews from the consumer's perspective.

Online consumer reviews are often the first way that a consumer will learn about a new product or service. The pros of online consumer reviews include receiving potentially unbiased information about a product or service. The cons of online consumer reviews include their increasing lack of credibility as more companies are resorting to tactics like paying bloggers for positive product reviews, paying writers to write positive Amazon reviews, and the inability to genuinely decipher the difference between a trustworthy and untrustworthy review. Paid or compensated reviewers are becoming increasingly savvy in their presentation of material. By inserting a few objective or even critical comments amid a sea of positive information about the brand or specific product, the paid reviewer engenders trust and therefore creates an illusion of credibility. The ill informed consumer might be prone to trusting the paid reviewer because of the…… [Read More]

Leadership Style What Do People Do When

Leadership Style: What Do People Do When they are Leading?

Hewlett Packard (HP) remains one of the most successful computer and related services company in the Diversified Computer Systems industry. In this text, I concern myself with the leadership style of Meg Whitman -- the CEO of HP. In so doing, I will amongst other things analyze how her leadership style aligns with the company's culture. I will also examine Whitman's strengths, weaknesses as well as personal and organizational values.

Born in 1956, Whitman has over the years earned herself an enviable reputation as an efficient and brilliant corporate executive keen on making a mark in a corporate environment dominated by men. Having cut her teeth at Hasbro, Stride ite, Disney, and most notably eBay where served as CEO for a decade, Whitman rose to become the head of HP. She has also in the past tried her hand in…… [Read More]

Psychographic Segmentation of Starbucks

Starbucks, a Market Analysis

Starbucks is a major, world wide coffee retailer specializing in a variety of brands of blend coffee and iced beverages, among other related products. Within the market sector Starbucks exists stands several competing companies such as The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Caribou Coffee. Each company shares similar strategies, appealing to a similar demographic, and hails themselves as the high-end of coffee-based shops/cafes. They also share a similar promise of quality ingredients and service. The difference is, while a company like Starbucks focuses on the behavior of consumers to market their product, a company like Caribou coffee relies on the taste and quality of their product, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf rely on location and ease of access.

Starbucks was selected as the primary company to analyze due to its immense popularity and success over the last decade. It has become one of…… [Read More]

Establishing a Strong Application to Fashion School

The capacity of good design is evident in its use to solve substantive socio-economic poblems thoughout the wold. My expeience and taining at Pason's was ich and compehensive, and left me with a lasting fascination fo design -- and with many skills needed fo a poductive, meaningful caee in fashion management.

4) Study Poposal Summay

Fashion in Tukey is a fast moving secto that has been hampeed by only summe and winte seasonal lines. Tends once launched twice each yea but with the addition of sping and autumn, the secto is expeiencing fou launches pe yea. These fast changes ae a wateshed of the etail migation to online and mobile channels.

As a case in point, conside that the Japanese clothing stoe Uniglo has established a vitual dessing oom -- a Magic Mio, as it is known; the Magic Mio uses a 60-inch colo-changing monito that lets shoppes ty diffeent…… [Read More]

Overstock com and Ecommerce Options

Overstock.com

Understanding e-commerce is very important, especially for companies that are focused on providing online shopping and ordering to their customers. One of those companies is Overstock.com, which also goes by its shortened name of "O.co." Companies like Overstock do a great deal of business on the internet, and in order to be successful they have to understand the value of what they are doing and how to relate to the customers and potential customers they want to attract. It is not just about having good prices or good products, because customers need to enjoy their shopping experience, feel safe providing their personal information to the site, and be able to easily and conveniently shop for their items and pay for what they decide to buy (Chaudhury & Kuilboer, 2002). With that in mind, Overstock will be examined here in terms of those specific issues, in order to determine how…… [Read More]

Wl Gore

Wl Gore

The organization that I have chosen to study is WL Gore. The company specializes in one technology -- a fluropolymer -- and finding adaptations for that technology to create consumer products, which it then either produces or licenses. The company's best-known product is Gore-Tex fabric, which is used in winter clothing and ski apparel, but there are many other products as well including guitar strings, Glide dental floss and synthetic vascular grafts (Hamel, 2012).

Unique Culture

WL Gore has a unique corporate culture, based on innovation. Using what they call a "lattice structure," the company has a non-hierarchical system based on interconnection between associates. There is a high level of individual accountability within the company. Innovation and creativity are two of the most important elements of the organization's strategy and therefore they are two of the most important elements in the organizational culture as well (WL Gore, 2014).…… [Read More]

Gore Culture

Culture & Diversity

The organization profiled here will be W.L. Gore. The company basically has one product, and it creates its business by applying this product to a number of different consumer items, everything from guitar strings to outerwear to medical equipment and more.

The company is able to generate revenue by leveraging its core technology in a lot of different applications by emphasizing the important of innovation in the company culture -- it is critical that all employees are able to contribute to the innovation process at Gore.

The company's culture was defined by the founder Bill Gore, and is based on fostering personal initiative. There are no organizational charts, no chains of command and no predetermined channels of communication (WL Gore, 2014). This creates a unique culture where there is emphasis on the creation of personal networks, collaboration and on personal accountability for creating and maintaining one's role…… [Read More]

Breaking the Glass Ceiling Xerox's Ursula Burns

Ursula Burns, Chief Executive Officer at Xerox

Although many authorities agree that the glass ceiling is still in place, it is clear that it has at least been shattered somewhat with many women leading Fortune 500 companies today. Leading the charge has been Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive officer at Xerox Corporation since July 2009, making her the first African-American woman to lead an S&P 100 corporation. This paper reviews the relevant literature to provide Burns' background, an analysis of her leadership style and philosophy and how they align with the corporate culture at Xerox, an examination of Burns' personal and organizational values and an evaluation concerning how Burns' values most likely influence ethical behavior at this company. Finally, an analysis of Burns' three greatest strengths and weaknesses is followed by a discussion concerning the quality that most contributes to this leader's success and an assessment concerning how communication…… [Read More]