...Specific Guidelines – regarding the topic “Business Meetings around the globe” After getting familiar with the basics of business communication in general, pairs (groups) should concentrate on the specific country. This in-class activity discusses the topic on business meetings and can include: a) Country’s specific elements of business meeting, b) Resolving conflict among meeting participants; c) Ensuring active participation of all participants at the meeting, d) Presentations (be it within meeting or in general) and e) Written Correspondence. The focus would be on what can be different on business meetings, considering certain cultural background. Pairs (groups) should do the research on characteristics of business meetings in certain country, respecting the following elements of business meetings: a) approach to time; b) hierarchy; c) the purpose of meetings (getting down to business quickly or not, respecting schedule…Are meetings for business or are they seen as the arena for building personal relationships and strengthening bonds); d) meeting etiquette and mannerisms; e) expectations of meetings. Furthermore pairs (groups) should present 'a typical business meeting'« in certain country, respecting the phases – upon which meetings are conducted (there are some additional tips below): 1. How carefully are meetings prepared (checking in advance if any resources or equipment you require are available, are the agenda and names of the attendees circulated in advance...
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...of advantages of stand up meetings. The main advantage of these stand up meetings is the meeting is focused and is on topic. Due to the stand-up meetings the distractions are eliminated. The most important advantage of the stand-up meetings is that the meeting is short and helps to go back to work on time. When the meeting is focused and on topic then sooner you will come to identify the issues so that at the right time you can take the action. In the stand-up meeting, if the team members are able to answer the questions such as what they have done the previous day and what they have set up for this day to complete would help them to move on in a structured manner in order to finish the work faster. As per the stand-up meetings, it involves each and every employees of the organization to take part of the project as they will come to know the flow of the process and also helps them to know the work which is being done by each and every employee in the team. Along with the advantages we also have disadvantages, the disadvantages for stand-up meetings are as follows: some employees in the team would search for reasons for not attending the meeting, for incomplete work which is required...
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...One collaboration that I’ve had is trying to plan the recruitment of an organization that I’m a part of. The executive board consists of 7 people and we frequently face problems, due to being a small, still-growing-in-campus-presence group. These problems occur often as a result of being remote during a lot of the recruitment action items. However, I believe that perhaps the interaction we have isn’t the source of the problems, but rather commitment to the organization (which is a separate issue). As the recruitment chair, I try to divvy out tasks for each member to complete for recruitment that pertains to their position on the board. However, I often find that my requests are untouched. I believe that if I asked my group to do some of these tasks when we were “together” or perhaps during our face-to-face meetings, they would actually get done, and get done quicker. Kiesler and Cummings mentioned that the mere presence of others increases involvement, urgency of proximate task, and contribution to the group. The only way technology could help this is if it could facilitate a same-time meeting, but not necessarily a face-to-face meeting, as I believe that can take too much time and planning. Something that I have in mind is Google docs. Most people use it only to write projects together, but I think something similar could be used to have remote meetings. It’s not always necessary to see someone’s face, but it’s still nice to know they’re there. Perhaps a Google-doc type of...
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...Unit 328:- Understand how to lead effective meetings AC 1.1 Explain the purpose of a meeting Staff meetings The purpose of regular staff meetings helps an organisation become much more organised and efficient and places both employees and managers on the same page, it makes it easier to establish roles and collaborates to finish projects and achieve goals. They make it possible for all members of a company to work together with less confusion and accomplish objectives faster. They cover a range of relevant information, and provide a platform for employees to ask questions and discuss concerns with management enabling staff to offer ideas and solutions directly to managers and team members within the company. Staff meetings inform and educate employees about new rules and regulations that affect them and should be long enough to get the point across. They also help to harmonise the skills and experience of the team members in achieving a common purpose, realise what each other is doing and discuss problems they have, assess the progress of goals and what steps to take to resolve them. Meetings ensure all team members are informed of each member’s progress and encourage them to help each other if problems need resolving. Members realise they are not working alone and by working together team spirit is enhanced. One-on-one meetings One-on-one meetings between a team member and their manager provide an uninterrupted private time to receive and discuss the employee’s...
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...19-3 Apply strategies for good meeting decisions. LO 19-4 Apply strategies for business networking 19-2 Learning Objectives LO 19-5 Explain techniques for effective meeting participation. LO 19-6 Select items for inclusion in meeting minutes. LO 19-7 Compose scripts for informal meetings with bosses. LO 19-8 Compare and contrast techniques for virtual meetings versus face-to-face ones. 19-3 Types of Meetings Parliamentary Run under strict rules Use Robert’s Rules of Order. Staff Typically are held to announce new policies and products, answer questions, share ideas, and motivate employees. 19-4 Types of Meetings Team Bring team members together to brainstorm, solve problems, and create. One-on-One Are perhaps the most common kind of meeting Highly informal 19-5 What planning should precede a meeting? Meetings can have at least six purposes: To share information. To brainstorm ideas. To evaluate ideas. To make decisions. To create a document. To motivate members. 19-6 What planning should precede a meeting? A good agenda indicates The time and place of the meeting. Whether each item is presented for information, for discussion, or for a decision. Who is sponsoring or introducing each item. How much time is allotted for each item. 19-7 Sample Meeting Agenda 19-8 When I’m in charge, how do I keep the meeting on track? Help participants deal with issues in a timely and thorough manner. Make ground rules explicit. Pay attention...
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...Organizing a Cost- Reduction program The Bottom Line * You need a multidisciplinary team to attain significant cost- reduction. Support from the top helps greatly. * Encounter resistance to the cost reduction effort * There are risks associated with cost – reduction opportunities * Meet at least once a week * Maintain an action plan to create and sustain reduction momentum. * Someone who writes well and is good in capturing details should take notes and publish meeting minutes no later than one day after each meeting. The meeting minutes should be sent to the chief executive, the team members, and the head of each department. Doing this keep others in the loop, and it keeps the effort alive. * The meeting minutes should include “living” task list. Team members should provide input regarding the status of each task in the meeting, and the person preparing the meeting minutes should update the task list to show current status. * The team members should discuss cost- reduction ideas in a free- flowing manner. The ideas may come from the team members or from others in the company. All of the ideas should be captured on a paper. After discussing all of the ideas, the team should decide if each idea should be pursued. If the team thinks an idea has a merit, in most cases it will go to the affected department manager. Key Questions: 1.) Do we have a cost – reduction effort in place? 2.) Do we have cost – reduction targets? 3.) How do we identify and eliminate...
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...strategies for Aldi Introduction of Aldi Aldi is a leading retailer with over 8,000 stores worldwide. Since opening its first store in Germany in 1913, Aldi has effectively established itself as one of the highly regarded retailers in the international business market. Aldi’s main marketing objective is to grow its market share around the world. Its emphasis is on providing high quality products and excellent value for customers. Aldi offer customers a smarter way to shop. Aldi.com states that they promise to “provide our customers with the products they buy regularly and ensure that those products are of the highest possible quality at guaranteed low prices.” Aldi is a strong supporter for the environment, health and nutrition. Aldi always sources fresh fruit and vegetable produce from local growers. Aldi is expanding as many new stores have been established in suburbs where the cheaper groceries are of great value to the community such as the Introduction of Aldi in Toukley where a good quantity of the population includes the elderly people where they can have access to groceries that suit their budget. Below is from https://corporate.aldi.com.au Aldi brief Company Portfolio In the US alone approximately 1220 stores in over 30 states and the estimated sales revenue generated from all the stores in 2013 was US $7.9 billion. In Germany 3000 Aldi stores are located as Germany and over 70% of German households shop at Aldi and Germany was the origin of Aldi but Aldi has continued...
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...maintains its success with a limited amount of support from a Human Resources Department. Aldi, the discount grocery store, is one such example. What remains to be seen is whether or not this is in the company’s best interest. Aldi, short for Albrecht-Diskount, is a grocery food chain that was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 when they took over their mothers business. After inheriting the family business, they quickly opened another outlet. By 1950, after only four years of ownership, they owned thirteen stores in the Ruhr Valley in Germany. By 1960, however, there was a dispute between the brothers in debating whether or not they should sell cigarettes in the store. Unable to compromise, the brothers decided to split the three hundred stores they owned between them, which also changed the name of the stores from Albrecht-Diskount to Aldi-South, owned and operated by Karl Albrecht, and Aldi-North, owned by his brother, Theo Albrecht. The two entities have been officially separated legally and financially since 1966, but both divisions still use the same contractors to supply their goods for sale. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, both Aldi divisions expanded rapidly thanks to the unification of Germany and the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Aldi-North expanded to Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and started a new store in the United States, Trader Joe’s. Aldi-South branched out to Austria, the United Kingdom, and also the United States....
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...will be provided, along with the ways the elements are performed. The organization will be identified along with the industry the company is in. The organization selected is a store called ALDI. This store is in the Food and Beverage industry in the retail and distribution category. ALDI is a discount chain grocery store that started in 1976 with 1,000 stores in 31 states. The stores are in 17 countries. According to "ALDI" (2012), " These stores carry about 1,400 regularly stocked items” (Corporate Information: Corporate Policy). The uses the company’s purchasing power to fill the stores the most redundant purchased household and grocery items. The merchandise sold in ALDI stores must be similar or exceed the national brands by appearance, performance, or taste. Most the product throughout the stores are ALDI selected brands. The store presents a different approach to grocery shopping by storing the shopping carts in one location and using a quarter for a deposit to access the cart. ALDI accepts payments in the form of cash, debit cards, and Electronic Benefits Transfer cards. Customers purchase bags if needed and bag his or her grocery to his or her specifications. ALDI’s additional services are recipes, Smartphone App, partnership with USDA, and weekly e-mails with store offers. ALDI stands behind the merchandise sold in the organization’s stores by offering customers a double guarantee. ADLI approach to saving the customer money and time on grocery shopping is a concept...
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...customers' wants and needs. Customers and business managers alike like to talk about what good customer service as it is the key factor of an organisation’s success. An excellent customer service can be described as the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer's expectations. "Accepting this definition means expanding our thinking about customer service; if we're going to consistently exceed customers' expectations, we have to recognize that every aspect of our business has an impact on customer service, not just those aspects of our business that involve face-to-face customer contact. Improving customer service involves making a commitment to learning what our customers' needs and wants are, and developing action plans that implement customer friendly processes. A customer's expectation of a particular service is determined by factors such as recommendations, personal needs and past experiences. The expected service and the perceived service sometimes may not be equal, thus leaving a gap. Competence is the possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the service. For example, there may be competence in the knowledge and skill of contact personnel, knowledge and skill of operational support personnel and research capabilities of the organization The following are taken into consideration while delivering an excellent customer service: Courtesy is the consideration for the customer's property and a clean and neat appearance of contact...
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...ALDI IN AUSTRALIA: WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT? May 2000 Aldi in Australia Aldi will become a small but significant player in the Australian market OVERVIEW I. Aldi is the world’s lowest cost grocery retailer II. The United Kingdom provides an excellent model for the development of Aldi in Australia III. The arrival of Aldi in Australia will have a focused impact, felt mostly on key line pricing and by Franklins Aldi 2 Aldi in Australia I. Aldi is the world’s lowest cost grocery retailer – Ia. Aldi acts as a category killer in core grocery lines – Ib. Aldi has a low-cost logistics and operational system that works on a 12% gross margin – Ic. Privately owned Aldi has a long investment horizon and plenty of patient capital – Id. There are few threats to Aldi or the limited assortment store. Aldi is immune to competition, even from WalMart Aldi 3 Aldi in Australia Ia. Aldi acts as a category killer in core grocery lines – Aldi is a limited assortment discount grocery store, a format characterized by a high turnover on a narrow range of grocery items in a small space – The main appeal of limited assortment stores is low prices – Packaged grocery accounts for almost 50% of a German Aldi store’s turnover and 50% of an American store’s SKU mix – In Germany, over 70% of German households shop at Aldi, mostly for basic staples Aldi 4 Aldi in Australia Aldi is a limited assortment discount grocery store… TYPES OF DISCOUNT...
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...Executive Summary: Aldi is the consumers dream grocery store. Compared to the larger grocery stores Adli has the most affordable products. Aldi carries the most frequently purchased and most necessary products all under our own private brand names. Because we get our products from our own private suppliers we are able to give consumers the lowest possible price on all products. Even though we have lower prices our products meet and or exceed all the necessities of the big brand name products, including taste, quality, and the look of each and every product. Our goal is to make shopping more convenient and affordable for the consumers. We guarantee lower prices on a day to day basis, even lower then the sales prices at the bigger grocery stores. Customers’ saving is our biggest concern. Current Market Situation: With a slow economy not looking to speed up any time soon Aldi is in a very stable position in a market that is not very stable. Aldi has lower prices then all big name grocery stores. Since we sell quality products at a cheaper price, we will and can beat the competition. SWOT Analysis: Strengths- Aldi has good quality products from dry goods to produce at an affordable price. The stores are smaller and just have the most frequently purchased products that people buy, instead of overloading people with too many choices. Our stores are smaller which make it convenient for customers to find items much easier instead of having to run through a big store and finding...
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...plan is a guide or a road map for the buying department that outlines goals and details of how the department will achieve those goals (BusinessDictionary.com). Following the immediate challenge for the ‘Like Brands’ by Aldi to increase its market share for the from 2.3% to 2.5% and encouraging customer loyalty, the department has come up with a well detailed buying plan that will help Aldi to achieve its goals. The plan constitutes the following: * Situational analysis * Objectives of the plan * Need recognition * Information search * Purchase specifications * Supplier sourcing * Tendering * Supplier selection * Cost minimisation strategies * Awarding of contracts * Contract close out 2.0 Situational analysis It is the process of identifying and evaluating existing internal and external elements that may impact an organization's ability to achieve its objectives. A situational analysis also includes a SWOT analysis which is an assessment of the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (http://www.investorwords.com). A situational analysis is a critical review of Aldi’s current business situation. It serves as a starting point for our buying plan. Aldi’s current situation is as follows: Aldi is a retailer it is in the business of selling retail products and it has been in the retail business since 1913. Aldi’s products are sourced from hand-picked suppliers whose products are sold...
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...Reed Supermarkets Growth Action Plan Prepared By: Vishal This document explores the Industry of Supermarkets, Industry players and Competition and outlines the Growth Action Plan for 2011 to be driven by Meredith Collins, VP of Marketing, Reed. Reed Supermarkets Growth Action Plan 2011 Action Plan for Reed’s Growth 2011 Background: Meredith Collins, VP of Marketing, Reed, needs a plan for 2011 to execute to grow its current market share from 14% to 16%. Margins for error are negligible as competition has intensified in every segment and current economic conditions aren’t looking good. Recommendations for Growth: Stop the dollar special for each week: 1st step is to stop the dollar special promotion immediately. This is not consistent with the brand equity and positioning built over the years. It’s resulting in net operating loss of 76% on each discounted item and overall decreased the net operating profit for 2010 to 0.4% only (details in justification). Moreover, this promotional activity is polluting the message for regular consumers, considering that some of the dollar stores are located nearby. Increase Sales Target: To increase the current market share to 16%, sales target is set to 775Mn for 2011. It’s an increase of 95Mn. from 2010, on the assumption that total market size (4.74Bn) remains same. Focus and Maintain current Target Segment and Increase the Wallet Share: Continue focusing on the current target segment of affluent and older customers with smaller...
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...The earliest roots of ALDI trace back to 1913, when the mother of Karl and Theo Albrecht opened a small store in a suburb of Essen, Germany. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Karl Albrecht was born in 1920, Theo Albrecht in 1922. Theo Albrecht completed an apprenticeship in his mother’s store, while Karl Albrecht worked in a delicatessen. Karl Albrecht served in the German Army during World War II. In 1946, the brothers took over their mother’s business and soon opened another retail outlet nearby. By 1950, the Albrecht brothers owned 13 stores in Germany. Today ALDI operates over 8000 stores worldwide and over 1400 in the United States alone (Amann, 2010). In 2010 more than 200 ALDI store managers in 32 states filed a lawsuit against the U.S. division of the German discount grocer, saying they were wrongly classified as exempt from overtime and should have been paid for working more than 40 hours a week. The basis of the complaint made by Howard McNelley, a former ALDI Manager, concerns his classification as a Salaried Manager even though his duties were simply stocking shelves, cleaning, running a register, and many times he was the only employee in the store (Martin, 2010). Aldi stores will many times operate an entire work day with less than 3 employees in a store. During slow periods the employee designated as the manager will sometimes be the only employee present and will simply run a register. The hiring, firing, and promoting of all...
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