...KEL304 MARK JEFFERY AND JOSEPH F. NORTON Clothes ‘R’ Us Point-of-Sale Initiative: Managing IT Programs Overview Marcus Nord, a program manager for Clothes ‘R’ Us, had an urgent update for the program management team and Nancy Orlin, the company’s chief information officer (CIO). Nord had just learned that four of the six product managers had unexpectedly quit. For Orlin, this was yet another obstacle that was making this program one of the hardest she had managed in her career. In Orlin’s twenty-year tenure at the company, she had managed many technology projects that were vital to the company’s strategy. Despite the extensive use of information technology (IT) at Clothes ‘R’ Us, Orlin could not recall anything that compared to the scope of the enterprise technology initiative currently being put into place. For the past several months, several of her project teams had been working at a breakneck pace to deliver a state-of-the-art point-of-sale (POS) system for the retail stores. The POS system was a key piece in the overall revenue growth strategy for the company, and was intended to combat the Clothes ‘R’ Us declines in both year-to-year same-store sales and sales growth relative to its competitors. Orlin heard the distressing news about the product managers leaving the company just a few days before a review meeting with the executive oversight committee. In preparation for the meeting, Orlin called a meeting of her leadership team for a review of the overall program...
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...deserves to live in paradise. She always cared about everybody equally. It was just this time last year that we were celebrating her 90th birthday, thinking that I will see her every year till eternity. I did not attend the party, but I came home in December for Christmas for the first time in nine years. The happiness and joy of seeing her the same way I last saw her before I left. She was so happy to see us. My most fond memories are how every morning when I wake up I will go sit with her for about an hour and talk. She will askme whether I have eaten , I will not be sure of what to eat and she will just give me Agege bread and tell me to eat it with obe or eyin. We will just talk about random things. I tried to keep up with her in Yoruba for as long as I could till I could not compete anymore. Mama will ask me about school, life and why I have not brought a wife home yet to which I assured her that when I decide to bring a wife home she will be there to see it. The last time I saw her she was crying that we were leaving like she was sensing the end and if she will ever see us again. Unfortunately, she is no longer here today. I know everyone puts their grandmother on a pedastal, but mine was truly special. May be I am biased, may be I am caught up in the grief, but I believe I had the best grandmother in the world. I will miss you...
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...KEL304 MARK JEFFERY AND JOSEPH F. NORTON Clothes ‘R’ Us Point-of-Sale Initiative: Managing IT Programs Overview Marcus Nord, a program manager for Clothes ‘R’ Us, had an urgent update for the program management team and Nancy Orlin, the company’s chief information officer (CIO). Nord had just learned that four of the six product managers had unexpectedly quit. For Orlin, this was yet another obstacle that was making this program one of the hardest she had managed in her career. In Orlin’s twenty-year tenure at the company, she had managed many technology projects that were vital to the company’s strategy. Despite the extensive use of information technology (IT) at Clothes ‘R’ Us, Orlin could not recall anything that compared to the scope of the enterprise technology initiative currently being put into place. For the past several months, several of her project teams had been working at a breakneck pace to deliver a state-of-the-art point-of-sale (POS) system for the retail stores. The POS system was a key piece in the overall revenue growth strategy for the company, and was intended to combat the Clothes ‘R’ Us declines in both year-to-year same-store sales and sales growth relative to its competitors. Orlin heard the distressing news about the product managers leaving the company just a few days before a review meeting with the executive oversight committee. In preparation for the meeting, Orlin called a meeting of her leadership team for a review of the...
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...Many of us have shopped at Toys “R” Us whether we were just kids looking for toys or adults shopping for gifts. Toys “R” Us Inc. is the world’s leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer, offering a differentiated shopping experience through its family of brands. Toys "R" Us has in excess of 1500 superstores in the United States and Worldwide. It also owns the baby brand, Babies R Us that adds another 200 or more stores. Toys “R” Us is actually the second largest retailer in the United States making them a high revenue company touching approximately $13.646 billion dollars. They also help improve the world’s economy by employing 70,000 people across the globe. Toys “R” Us may have many strengths but every company has a few weaknesses so that they can improve and become better. These days, Toys “R” Us has no single and sustainable competitive advantage, other than brand. In the US, its traditional stronghold, the company has lost its number one position, as toy retailer to Wal-Mart. Being large may not be enough for them, when customers can just go to another large retailer and buy the same or similar items, for a better deal. Also with Toys “R” Us, sales depend upon the season and the product range is not that much attractive for the seasons other than Christmas. There are opportunities for joint ventures and strategic alliances. Toys "R" Us works closely with Amazon.com and its baby products category. This not only plays to the strengths of both companies, but also provides...
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...Case study Toys “R” Us JAPAN Case study Toys “R” Us JAPAN TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3. Japan Background and facts: 4. Background: 4 Facts: 5 Toys “R” Us Background 7. The Beginning: 7 Market Expansion 8 More ways to shop Toys “R” Us 8 Evolving business 9 Toys “R” Us in Japan 9 Case analysis: 10 Attractive factors of Japan toy market: 10 Barriers to Entry: 10 Success Factors for Toy's "R" Us-Japan 11 TRU Strategy 13 Our opinion: 14 Recommendations: 15 Conclusion: 16 References:: 16 Introduction: Toys R Us is the large distributor in the US and it is one of the more successful foreign retailers in Japan after overcome hard barriers. This successful is a result of right decision-making and strategy in overseas expansion by global retailer’s and gradual changes after entry into foreign markets. Also the strategy in respect of standardization adaption before and after entry has great effect in this successful. Coming lines, shows some factors that attract TRU to join venture in Japan. Then, we will discuss group of barriers that TRU had overcome, and how it’s overcome these barriers. In the end, we will evaluate Toys “R” Us in Japan market. Japan Background and facts: Background: Government: Parliamentary with constitutional monarchy Prime Minister: Shinzō Abe (elected Dec 2012) Capital: Tokyo Population: 127,368,088 Population Growth Rate: -0.077% (2012 est.), World Rank: 198th Birth Rate: 8.39 births/1,000 population...
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...Water Sports company, I read with interest your posting for a receptionist in the water sports company. I believe I possess the necessary skills and experience you are seeking and would make a valuable addition to your company. In today's economy, there's no time to waste on workers who lack the necessary skills and motivation. I've got what you need. The attached resume details my extensive experience and training. If you choose to interview and hire me, you will not be disappointed. As my resume indicates, I possess more than 2 years of progressive experience in the customer service field. My professional history includes positions such as guest services/cashier at Babies R Us as well as a sales associate at macys. Most recently, my responsibilities as a guest service cashier at babies R us match some of the qualifications you are seeking. As the guest service cashier, my responsibilities included answering phone calls;assisting guest with different concerns and working with computers. I assisted in the successful completion of assisting guest accurately. My supervisor also relied on my ability to maintain front end guest services all by myself. I have attached my resume for your review and I look forward to speaking with you further regarding your available position. I'd be happy to provide greater detail about my skills and experience during an interview. Please call me at your earliest convenience. I am very interested in meeting to review your needs and possible ...
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...Clothes 'R' Us Point-of-Sale Initiative: Managing IT Programs by Mark Jeffery, Joseph F. Norton, Derek Yung, Alex Gershbeyn Source: Kellogg School of Management 22 pages. Publication Date: Jan 01, 2006. Prod. #: KEL304-PDF-ENG The case concerns a real $25 million program consisting of nine concurrent projects to deliver and implement a custom-built in-store customer relationship management (CRM) system and a new point-of-sale system in 400 stores of a national retail chain. The name of the company has been disguised for confidentiality reasons. Once deployed, the new system should give Clothes R' Us a significant strategic advantage over competitors in the marketplace; it will increase in-store manager productivity, cut costs, and ultimately drive increased sales for the retail chain. The program is in crisis, however, because the product managers have just left to join a competitor. The explicit details of the program are given, including examples of best practice program governance and the real activity network diagram for the program. Detailed Excel spreadsheets are also provided with the actual earned value data for the program. Students analyze the spreadsheets and the data given in the case to diagnose the impact of the most recent risk event and past risk events that occurred in the program. Ultimately students must answer the essential executive questions: What is wrong with the program? How should it be fixed, and what is the impact in time and money to the program...
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...about them. Also, uniforms are used in schools and this is an arguable issue by the educaters. School uniforms are a beter option for student compared to casual clothes two main reasons. To begin with, uniforms affect students’ both accomplishment and behavioral skills. School is a creative environment where students can learn impartant things such as accomplisment self control and discipline. Accomplishment is one of the most important goals students want to achieve and they can reach their goal via discipline and concentration. Uniforms send the message that the school is a place to be serious in. For instance, if every student wears different clothes, this will remove the seriousness of school. According to experts, discipline helps students in order to achieve accomplisment. Similarly, lack of concentration is an other issue most students deal with school. In class, if all the students wear one type of clothing then there is no way to distract these students from concentration. For example, if every student wears different clothes, they are bound to look at, or watch each other rather than listen to the...
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...I HARVARD I I IBUSINES s I lscHooL 9-512-085 REV: MAY 25,2012 ANAT KEINAN JILL AVERY FIONA WILSON N,IICHAEI- NORToN EILEEN FISHER: Repositioning the Brand Hilary Old, vice president for communications, was one part excited and one part nervous, so she took a moment to adjust her scarf before she entered the meeting. It was ]anuary of 201,0 and she and her colleagues were about to review the first retail sales results following a major strategic initiative to reposition and evolve the EILEEN FISHER brand. 2009 marked the 25tri anniversary of EILEEN FISHER and the occasion gave the company the impetus to pause and assess its history. The company had enjoyed phenomenal success in its first quarter century: its growth in revenues and profits had been driven by both the skong brand loyalty of its core customers, and the opening of fifty retail stores dedicated to the brand. The company was consistently recognized as oue of the best companies to work for and had an impressive environmental sustainability and social responsibility- record. However, a startling discovery had emerged. The median customer age was currently at 59 and increasing each year, keeping pace with the age of the company's visionary founder, Eileen Fisher. Despite the company's best efforts to design age-less clothing to appeal to multiple generations, as Fisher herself aged, so too had the customer base. The company found itself stereotyped as a brand for older, and, to some extent...
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...Americans like to imagine themselves as unique individuals unlike anyone else and that we all possess specific characteristics that distinguish us from the pack. However, despite our illusions, the majority of human beings conform to some set of societal rules most of the time. We drive on the right side of the road; children attend school and adults work; these are examples of conformity for obvious reasons; society is based on rules that keep our society functioning, if there were no rules then our entire structure would break down. The question of this thesis is to investigate why individuals give in to less important reasons to conform. Why do a group of teenagers prefer to wear one brand of clothing over another, why do teenagers judge others for their choice of clothes, electronics, and hairstyles? Why do adults feel the need to live in certain areas over others, why do they find fulfillment in the type of car they drive? For decades, advertisers have portrayed a happy and successful lifestyle by using images of consumption. We are told that to measure our success in life we must use status symbols of designer clothes, cars, jewelry and our choice of neighborhoods and homes. Americans have been seduced into the belief that without designer labels and expensive electronics, our lives are not complete and that we are not truly fulfilled. Through advertising, consumers are persuaded to base purchases not on need or want but as a way to show others that they are happy, healthy...
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...Peer Pressure 1 Peer Pressure Kristen McGill SOCU 391 Peer Pressure 2 Peer pressure or peer influence in today’s youth is prevalent and powerful. Youth in this day and age are struggling to find a place where they belong, or fit in with society. Teens especially and weakened by peer pressure as they strive to maintain a relationship with their friends. “In groupthink, the members sense pressure to maintain unanimity, which discourages critical and independent thinking.” (Lotz, 230) “The types of peer pressure range from direct, confrontational pressure, to more subtle pressures to look, dress and act like everyone else.” (Life123.com) Negative peer pressure can persuade a teenager or child to do things they normally wouldn’t do such as, shoplift, drink alcohol, drugs, smoke cigarettes, cheat at school, vandalize property, bully other students, skip school and participate in racist and discriminatory behavior. When it seems like everyone else is doing something-dressing a certain way or acting a certain way-teens feel a tremendous pressure to go along with the crowd and be like everyone else. Most teenagers don't want to stand out as being different. Everyone wants to fit in. Peers can be a positive influence, too. Positive peer pressure can make a teen feel like he should join a sport or a youth organization because a group he admires is doing it. Fifteen years ago when I was a teen peer pressure was an issue, as it continues to be today. But, today’s youth face...
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...Effect of Brand Image on Consumer Purchasing Behaviour on Clothing: Comparison between China and the UK’s Consumers By Kwok Keung Tam 2007 A Dissertation presented in part consideration for the degree of “MSc International Business” Table of Content Page numbers Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 The importance of brand image on fashion clothing 1.2 Background information of China and the UK clothing markets 1.2.1 China clothing market 1.2.1.1 Chinese spending habits 1.2.1.2 Impediments to China’s clothing brand development 1.2.2 UK clothing market 1.2.2.1 British spending habits 1.2.2.2 Characteristics of the UK clothing market 1.3 Theoretical framework 1.4 Objectives of the dissertation 1.5 Outline of the dissertation 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 Chapter 2: Literature review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The important roles of brand 2.2.1 The characteristics of successful brands 2.3 Brand equity 2.3.1 Brand awareness 2.3.2 Perceived quality 2.3.3 Brand loyalty 2.3.4 Brand association 2.4 Consumer buying behaviour 10 10 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 19 2.4.1 Models of consumer behaviour 2.5 Summary 20 23 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Theoretical backgrounds 3.2.1 Review of different research traditions 3.2.2 Quantitative versus qualitative analysis 3.2.3 Reliability and validity of data 3.3 Justification of research method 3.4 Sampling 3.5 Interview schedule 3.5.1 Stage one 3.5.2 Stage two 3.5.3 Stage three 3.6 Administration...
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...I %te"x *$'*t r€s&u rc€ffi €xpeniencing Management Explore the four levels of learning by doing the simulation module on Ethics & Social Responsibility. Pod Nod Mini lecture reviews all the learning points in the chapter. Author lnsights Chuck talks about why it's hard to do the right thing Self Test 10 quiz questions, 6 exhibit worksheets, and Power- Points for quick review. 56 I What Would You DoP Gap, lnc. Headquarters, San Francisco, California.r When you a decent standard of living and allow workers to organize unions to improve decided to join Gap as its new CEO (Gap, lnc. runs Gap, Banana Republic, their conditions in factories." ls Gap the only company that relies and Old Navy clothing stores), your teenage daughter immediately asked, on such suppliers? No, it isn't. According to Kirk Douglass of pivot lnterna- "Doesn't Gap use sweatshops?"you stockholders, suppliers, overseas weren't surprised by her question, as the company has received intense negative news coverage regarding the tional, a manufacturing company that owns factories in the Philippines and workers, or protesters-take precedence? Furthermore, is Gap really does work with Chinese companies,,,lf you go into almost any plant in the treatment of workers in the overseas factories from which it buys its clothes. responsible for the terrible treatment of overseas workers? ln other words, nondeveloped countries of the...
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...The greatest environmental threats for A&F Abercrombie & Fitch has been known for not being very diverse. They were striving for a certain look and style. There clothes mainly consisted of young white male and females with nice bodies, beautiful hair and shapes that fit their tiny clothes. Entering in A&F store, as you look on the walls, you would notice that the models all have the same look. A&F was known for hiring associates that also fit that look. A&F was also known for not hiring minorities and if they were hired it would be for stocking or closing up store. A&F was known for this practice and really didn’t mind the lost of not having the minority business, which prompt lawsuits to the company and drew attention to them, but this did not stop A&F. A&F also prevented to the sales of potential clients by racial profiling with the expensive of clothing. The greatest opportunities available in the marketplace for A&F to pursue A&F specializes in casual wear in marketing the younger generation in buying their products. They should pursue the older generation in finding out exactly what they are looking for and try to meet that need. The company could be more tolerant to the older generation. A&F will understand the need of the younger generation but to get an handle on the need of the older generation from the ages of 35-50 are not old but to maintain the in style look for that generation. Hitt,Ireland, Hoskisson states: Demographics...
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...INDIAN DETERGENT INDUSTRY: NEED FOR NEW VARIANT TO TAP POTENTIAL GAPS DR. RITESH K. PATEL Assistant Professor, PG Research Center for Governance Systems, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, Email: visit_ritesh@yahoo.com, Mo.: +91-9687100199. ABSTRACT The market of synthetic detergents was valued at about Rs 112 billion as of 2012-13 with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3%. Out of this, the machine wash or automatic sales has been dominated by powder detergents, with a 98% share in the market, which has a size of Rs. 18700 Million. However, a much bigger segment of the market is the non-automatic or the hand-wash category, which has a size of Rs. 85466.8 Million and is also dominated by the powder detergents but by a smaller percentage compared to the machine-wash category, about 68%. The remaining contribution comes from the bar detergents. Within the machine-wash category, the highest growth has been contributed by the powder detergents, a CAGR of 9.5% since 2005, with the other sub-category within the machine-wash category being liquid detergents. Also, the hand-wash detergents have shown an impressive growth rate of 8.8% CAGR since 2005, which has contributed to the growth in the overall detergent market. Based on the literature review and scope of the research problem, two decision problems and four research problems were identified. The former pertained to factors affecting consumers’ preference for detergents, while the latter focused...
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