...Wal-Mart vs Whole Foods: The Battle Over Organic Pricing By Daniel Kline | April 12, 2014 | Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) has announced plans to carry the Wild Oats brand of organic groceries and promises to reduce customer cost by at least 25%. That move directly targets Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM ) and The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM ) , which have built their businesses around selling higher-priced organic groceries. The Wild Oats line, which dates back to 1987, relaunches at Wal-Mart later this month with what a press release describes as "a new, more affordable price point on quality products covering a broad variety of categories – from salsa and pasta sauce to quinoa and chicken broth." The company promised that its prices will be 25% or more lower in comparison to national brand organic products, a claim the company bases on item price comparisons (per ounce) of 26 nationally branded organic products available at Wal-Mart stores that was conducted earlier this month. "We know our customers are interested in purchasing organic products and, traditionally, those customers have had to pay more," said Jack Sinclair, executive vice president of grocery at Wal-Mart U.S. "We are changing that and creating a new price position for organic groceries that increases access. This is part of our ongoing effort to use our scale to deliver quality, affordable groceries to our customers." If Wal-Mart has anything, it's the scale required to force down prices. With over 4,000 stores...
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...DECLARATION I Musubika Narigisi, declare that this Research report is my original work and has never been submitted to any university for examination, where other people’s work has been used, due acknowledgement has been made. Candidate signature............................................. Date................................................. Musubika Narigisi i APPROVAL This Research report complied by Musubika Narigisi has been under my supervision and guidance her work is now ready for submission. Signature................................................ Date.............................................................. MR SSAJJABBI VINCENT ii DEDICATION I dedicate this piece of work to my parents Mr. and Mrs. Kampere Ramadhan and the entire family not forgetting my friends who have helped me during this study I also dedicate it to my dear sister Mrs Lugoloobi Zahirah and her entire family for the great assistance they have given me during my stay at campus and through this study as well. I cannot forget to dedicate it to my sisters, Kampere Fahima, Kampere Madiha, Kampere Afraa and my brothers Kampere Hamuzah and Kampere Adiham. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Mr. SSajjabbi Vincent for his guidance and technical advice during the study without him this study would not be a success. I must acknowledge the contribution of all my brothers and sisters plus my friends throughout my stay at the university...
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...for higher flexibility, higher product quality and higher performance (Lloyd, 2000). On one hand HPWS have been hypothesised as ‘win win’ systems that benefit both the employer and the employee whilst on the other hand their value seems to have been decreased by an increase in work-related health issues caused by work intensification and job insecurity. The aim of this report is to find out if this is factual. The report will be structured as follows, section one will discuss the background and principals of HPWS, section two will identify the outcomes and section three will discuss the conclusions. This report will discuss High Commitment/High Performance (HCHP), both of which theorise high levels of autonomy and discretion but both theorise different mechanisms. HCM is said to be the vehicle to HPM and emphases ’soft’ aspects of HRM such as job security, trust, and a strong psychological contract whereas HPM emphasises ‘hard’ aspects of HRM such as restructuring, performance related pay by linking employee effectiveness towards organisational performance. The premise behind HPWS according to Ramsay et al (2000) entails management ceding a degree of control to the workers, thereby attaining the commitment and motivation of the workers through specific ‘bundles’ or ‘systems’ of HRM practices that are mutually supportive and reinforcing, thereby creating a competitive advantage and enhanced organisational success’ (MacDuffie 1994). Basically, the argument is,...
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...FUNCTION THE KEY QUESTIONS Introduction The HR function and its evolution have been identified as key areas within the CIPD’s research programme. Despite a wealth of information that exists on the HR function, its role and its structure, and a vast amount of literature on the link between people management practices and organisational performance, there is little definitive evidence, either from the CIPD or from academic researchers, which gives a clear indication of the impact of HR structure and staffing on organisational outcome or performance. In particular, as many organisations embrace and implement the so-called Ulrich model, questions on the extent to which it meets their particular needs and what difference it has made to HR performance, stakeholder satisfaction and HR staff aspirations, have not been answered. This Change Agenda is based on the scoping stage of a larger piece of work, and it examines what we know about the impact of new structures and roles on the HR function, on the implications for skills and development of HR staff, and on the relationships with line managers. We will also look at how HR has measured its performance against this background. The result of this exercise will be to throw up a number of unanswered questions that will form the basis for the next phases of research. Phase one For this segment of the project we have undertaken two main pieces of work: we have explored the literature around the shape, structure and activity of the...
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...as they respond to challenges in their environment. These resources can be developed in-house or developed among strategic partners or purchased. Outsourcing entails the delegation of tasks or jobs from internal production to an external entity such as sub-contractor. It is the process of placing the development of system components in another development organization with the aim of achieving cost reduction and a gain in terms of production capacity and development. The main striking features of the Nigerian economy today is that available infrastructures of all types fall far below the quantities and qualities required. This naturally results in overstretching of most facilities. Despite huge potentials in almost every sector, poor overall economic performances have made it inevitable to tap unduly and at high cost and less profit than they should be. According to Alaofin (2003), “operating costs are high in Nigeria inspite of relatively cheap labour hence, running any business according to international standards is therefore costly”. He further stated that facilities management as an area is just evolving in Nigeria through janitorial services which is the best development component, has been around for nearly (5) five decades. Security services are in the stage of development. He stated that there are various merits of outsourcing which include better focus, economics of scale in purchasing and specialization. Dalhat(2009) in analyzing the development of a service industry...
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...PROGRAMME MANAGING ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND INNOVATIVE IMPROVEMENT | Project Name – Acorn Industries | | Compiled by | Submission Date – 17 January 2013 | Declaration of interestI hereby declare that this assignment is entirely my work, and that it has not previously been submitted to any other Higher Education Institution. I also declare that all published and unpublished sources have been fully acknowledged and properly referenced. This includes figures, tables and exhibits. Where modified by me, this has also been indicated.Signed __________________________Name and Surname : Date: 17 January 2013 | TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2. IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS 2.1 Identify the Organisation’s Strength and Weaknesses 4 2.2 Never fully adopted, nor implemented any form of Project Management 5 2.3 Performance Management (KMIP) 5 2.4 Evolved Company Structure - Organisational change 5 2.5 Lack of Project Integration and Communication in organisation 6 2.6 Talent Management 6 2.7 Prioritisation and selection of projects and project teams 6 2.8 Outsourcing of non-core functions 6 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 Identify the Organisation’s Strength and Weaknesses SWOT ANALYSIS 7 3.2 Implementation of Programme and Project Management into the Organisation 7 3.3 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) 9 3.4 Evolved Company Structure - Organisational change ...
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...Every organization is unique in the context that its goals, the environment within it, the size of the organization and the technology it uses to pursue these goals are different from one organization to another. These key variables are the most important factors that map out how an organization is going to be structured. Therefore, there is no one best way to structure an organization. The structure of an organization, particularly ones operating in several countries, i.e. MNC’s is closely related to its strategies, as argued by (Qiu and Donaldson 2010,P 82). Their hypothesis suggests that small changes in the way an organization is structured may play a big role in how successful it is in reaching its goals. They effectively sort out different structural models that the organizations can base their structure on depending on a number of determinants. The key determinants being how responsive the organizations want to be in regards to the local market changes, how diversified they want their products to be between different countries and the degree to which they want a similar global rule, i.e. global integration. (Qiu and Donaldson 2010,P-98 ) An MNC with a more standardized product line globally such as Dell, Asus etc., which will have a more rigid approach with high centralization of authority cannot have the same strategy as another MNC which might be more accepting to selling diversified products and thus may be more willing to allow greater autonomy amongst their subsidiaries...
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...1. Product strategies of private life insurance companies 2. A study on “why companies should go for outsourcing” 3. Effectiveness of advertising on real estate sector 4. Study on consumer expectations and perceptions towards consumer loans 5. Workers attrition rate at hotel industry is increasing. Study regarding this issue 6. Attrition rates at different sectors 7. Effectiveness and scope of employee referrals in the process of talent sourcing 8. Study of training needs across different industries 9. Study on creation of luxury brand 10. Strategies used to build successful Internet based customer services 11. Measuring the effectiveness of retail banking of a nationalised bank compared to a MNC 12. Conspicuous consumption 13. Study of awareness and acceptibility of UPVC windows and door systems 14. Opportunities of Financing the NANO’s in Bangalore 15. Changing trends in FMCG industry in India 16. A study of best HR practices in service industry 17. Fundamental analysis of Indian telecom companies 18. Study of consumer behaviour in automobile industry 19. customer buying behaviour towards insurance products 20. Promotion strategies followed in Insurance sector 21. Study on changing consumer preference towards organised retailing from un-organised retailing 22. study on “impact of advertising in B2B marketing” 23. Distribution network & general insurance industry 24. A study on distribution channels in aluminium industry 25. Study on strategies for...
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...Personnel Review HR outsourcing: threat or opportunity? Jeroen Delmotte Luc Sels Article information: To cite this document: Jeroen Delmotte Luc Sels, (2008),"HR outsourcing: threat or opportunity?", Personnel Review, Vol. 37 Iss 5 pp. 543 - 563 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00483480810891673 Downloaded on: 27 September 2014, At: 02:58 (PT) References: this document contains references to 65 other documents. To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 10667 times since 2008* Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: Jean Woodall, William Scott#Jackson, Timothy Newham, Melanie Gurney, (2009),"Making the decision to outsource human resources", Personnel Review, Vol. 38 Iss 3 pp. 236-252 John Hindle, (2005),"HR outsourcing in operation: critical success factors", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 13 Iss 3 pp. 39-42 Peter Brown, (2010),"The power of HR outsourcing", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 9 Iss 6 pp. 27-32 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 131740 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald...
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...OPERATIONS Role of operations management Strategic role of operations Operations management is an essential key business function that overlaps with the other business functions such as marketing, finance and human resources management. Strategic means ‘affecting all key business areas’; that is, the strategic role of operations management involves operations managers contributing to the strategic plan of the business. Some of the different costs in the operations function include; input costs, labour costs, processing costs, inventory costs and quality management costs. Cost leadership involves aiming to have the lowest costs or to be the most price-competitive in the market. A key aspect to cost leadership is that although trading with the lowest cost, the overall business should still be profitable. One aspect of cost leadership arises from a business creating economies of scale. Economies of scale refers to cost advantages that can be created as a result of an increase in scale of business operations. Typically the cost savings come from being able to purchase lower cost per unit and from efficiencies created through improved use of technology and machinery. Goods/services differentiation is a key strategy applied by operations managers. Product differentiation means distinguishing products in some way from its competitors. Ways a product could be differentiated include: varying the actual product features, varying product quality, varying any improved features, varying...
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...MBA PROJECT TITLES Check out this comprehensive collection of MBA project titles at a2zmba.com. Learn how to do your project better and easily...MBA Projects made easy.. Get help for your MBA project from a2zmba users here. Post your project related queries here.. 1. Product strategies of private life insurance companies 2. A study on "why companies should go for outsourcing" 3. Effectiveness of advertising on real estate sector 4. Study on consumer expectations and perceptions towards consumer loans 5. Workers attrition rate at hotel industry is increasing. Study regarding this issue 6. Attrition rates at different sectors 7. Effectiveness and scope of employee referrals in the process of talent sourcing 8. Study of training needs across different industries 9. Study on creation of luxury brand 10. Strategies used to build successful Internet based customer services 11. Measuring the effectiveness of retail banking of a nationalised bank compared to a MNC 12. Conspicuous consumption 13. Study of awareness and acceptibility of UPVC windows and door systems 14. Opportunities of Financing the NANO's in Bangalore 15. Changing trends in FMCG industry in India 16. A study of best HR practices in service industry 17. Fundamental analysis of Indian telecom companies 18. Study of consumer behaviour in automobile industry 19. customer buying behaviour towards insurance products 20. Promotion strategies followed in Insurance sector 21. Study on changing consumer preference...
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...the emphasis laid on businesses regarding environmental, social and ethical issues. The level of CSR activities of the firms is made known to public only through the disclosures. This paper reviews the literature on CSR disclosures and the effect of these disclosures. There are various factors which determine the extent of disclosures like the size of the firm, industry, high visibility, etc. Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now prominent and evident more than ever due to the emphasis laid on businesses regarding environmental, social and ethical issues. This is because over the recent years, there have been social, political and economic pressures on corporate management to pay attention on social and environmental consequences of corporate activities. These pressures motivated the corporate management to actively participate in a wide range of social welfare activities. CSR now-a-days covers almost all issues like the use of child labor; inequality of employment; environmental impact; involvement in local community; products’ safety; company cultures; brand image and reputation. Apart from this, companies are now disclosing these activities in their annual reports, and one of the parameters to judge the performance of a company is CSR reporting. Corporate Social Responsibility CSR is defined by Naylor (1999) and mentioned in the work of Douglas et al. (2004) as “the obligation of managers to choose and act in ways that benefit both the interests of...
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...Journal of Production Research Vol. 48, No. 17, 1 September 2010, 5137–5155 Supply chain performance measurement: a literature review Goknur Arzu Akyuz* and Turan Erman Erkan Department of Industrial Engineering, Atilim University, Kizilcasar Mahallesi, 06836 Incek Go¨lbasi, Ankara, Turkey (Received 19 February 2009; final version received 2 June 2009) This paper is intended to provide a critical literature review on supply chain performance measurement. The study aims at revealing the basic research methodologies/approaches followed, problem areas and requirements for the performance management of the new supply chain era. The review study covers articles coming from major journals related with the topic, including a taxonomy study and detailed investigation as to the methodologies, approaches and findings of these works. The methodology followed during the conduct of this research includes starting with a broad base of articles lying at the intersection of supply chain, information technology (IT), performance measurement and business process management topics and then screening the list to have a focus on supply chain performance measurement. Findings reveal that performance measurement in the new supply era is still an open area of research. Further need of research is identified regarding framework development, empirical cross-industry research and adoption of performance measurement systems for the requirements of the new era, to include the development...
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...have highlighted that commitment has a great impact on the successful performance of an organisation. This is because a highly committed employee will identify with the goals and values of the organization, has a stronger desire to belong to the organization and is willing to display greater organizational citizenship behaviour i.e., a willingness to go over and beyond their required job duties. And if human resources are said to be an organization‘s greatest assets, then committed human resources should be regarded as an organisation‘s competitive advantage. This paper will analyze the concept of organizational commitment, what it means and why it is so relevant to organizations. In fact, vast numbers of studies have found positive relationships between organizational commitment and employee behaviours such as a greater effort exerted by the employee in performing tasks, higher employee retention, better work attendance, increased willingness to engage in citizenship behaviour and higher delivery of service quality. In essence, this shows an all-round higher employee performance effectiveness. Moreover, in today’s fast paced and dynamic business environment, organizations can no longer guarantee "a job for life" which has made the notion of organizational commitment even more pertinent. It is therefore in the organization's best interest to elicit this kind of behaviour. Various means of securing organisational commitment, in a cost effective way, are also highlighted in this paper...
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...document.] | Contents 1. Definition of outsourcing 3 2. Functions outsourced by HR 3 3. Advantages of outsourcing HR Functions 4 3.1 Managing and minimising risk 5 3.2 Cost Savings 5 3.3 Efficiency and economies of scale 5 3.4 Professional Expertise 5 3.5 Improved Employee Morale 6 4. Disadvantage 6 4.1 Poor Performance and decline in quality 6 4.2 Distance and lowering moral 6 4.3 Recruitment Problems 6 4.4 Leak of important internal information 6 4.5 Perceived loss of power and control 7 4.6 Increased Direct Costs 7 5. e-HRM 7 5.1 Objective of e-HRM 7 5.2 Advantages of e-HRM 8 5.3 Disadvantages of e-HRM 8 6. Conclusion and Advice to the Client 8 1. Definition of outsourcing The Human Resource department is considered to be one of the highly accredited departments of the organization; these are the people who provide the working resource to the company and keeping the company afloat even in the worst economic downtime. The best way in which the HR can be managed is decided by the HRD. The ways in which the human resource management is done has changed considerably in the recent years. The HR activities and functions can now be delivered, not only by the specialised Human Resource professionals, but also through outsourcing (Ulrich 1996; Tremblay, Party and Lanoi 2008). The HR outsourcing can be defined as the purchasing of the HR functions and services from a third party supplier. HR outsourcing can also be defined as the process of...
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