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Introduction
The operational plan is a highly essential element of any business planning. It formulates the main objectives of a company within a defined period of time and describes physical necessities for their achievement. It includes the description of the organizational structure, the employees responsibilities, location, equipment, products or services, and suppliers. This essay presents the operational plan of a toy shop, Baby Kingdom.
The primary purpose of the work is to demonstrate that the definition of business goals and the instruments of their achievement, such as stuff duties, schedule, motivation, the identification of mission and values, equipment, and control, are highly significant for business growth.
General Information
Baby Kingdom will be a registered and licensed toy shop in Chicago, Illinois. It belongs to the merchandising type of business as the shops profit will derive from the purchase of a product at a price for wholesalers and further selling it at a higher retail price. The toy shop will not change the products quality or characteristics. Baby Kingdom is a sole proprietorship; the owner is Jack Smith, a businessman who has a bachelors degree in Business Administration and previous experience in management. In the beginning, Baby Kingdom will be a small organization with a minimum number of employees required for the effective operation of a retail shop. Baby Kingdom will offer a wide range of stuffed toys, dolls, toy cars and weapons, educational toys, board games, puzzles, stationery items, playsets, and childrens fantasy costumes.
The targets of Baby Kingdom are:
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To settle as a respectable toy shop that offers a substantial assortment of toys at a reasonable price and high-quality assistance;
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To increase the total number of customers by 50% from the shops opening by the end of 2020 through the advertising on TV, radio, social networks, and the official website of Baby Kingdom;
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To achieve a monthly profit margin of $17,000 by the end of the year;
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To open another shop in Chicago by the end of 2020 as well.
Daily operations will be conducted in a rented facility that was previously used as a toy and gift shop as well. It is beneficial as the costs of reorganization and reconstruction will be minimal, and the location may be familiar to local citizens with children who will be the main customers of Baby Kingdom. The startup requirements for the toy shop that include total funding, total assets, startup expenses, total liabilities, capital, and planned investments are estimated at $300,000.
Structure of Organization and the Duties of Employees
Initially, the staff of Baby Kingdom will include four sales assistants, two store managers, and two web developers. The defined targets of the organization are closely connected with the work performance of its employees (Bailey, Mankin, Kelliher, & Garavan, 2018). Store managers are responsible for the high-performance work organization of sales assistants who focus on customers satisfaction. High quality of service, in turn, will result in sales growth, the increase of profits, and general business growth that will encourage the achievement of the shops designated targets.
Sale Assistants
Sales assistants in Baby Kingdom will have duties that are typical for shop assistants in other retail shops. They will have the following responsibilities:
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To greet customers when they enter the shop, assist them, offer help, answer the consumers questions, and give advice on product selection;
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To deal with the customers complaints and report to the supervisor in case of any emergency;
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To be responsible for cash or card payment processing and security within the shop to avoid the incidents with fraudulent credit cards and shoplifting;
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To receive the delivery of products, stock shelves, attach price tags, and be aware of all discounts and promotions;
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To have basic knowledge concerning toys and fantasy costumes for professional assistance;
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To keep the facility clean.
Sales assistants are required friendly personality, good articulation, excellent communication skills, the ability to cooperate and work in a team, and confident manners. They should be polite, helpful, fast-learning, and physically fit as the work of shop assistants implicates long working hours on feet and stock lifting.
Store Managers
The store managers of the toy shops are responsible for effective management of the working process that will have an immeasurable impact on the business goals achievement. The duties of Baby Kingdoms store managers will be:
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To complete the operational requirements of the shop by assigning and scheduling employees;
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To provide the continuity of service through the coverage of all shifts;
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To select, recruit, orient, and train shop assistants;
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To maintain the employees job results by planning working process, monitoring activities, and the encouragement of the teams commitment to work;
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To observe the achievement of financial goals through the preparing of monthly and annual budgets, control over expenditures, and the analysis of the current market and potentially correct decisions;
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To monitor the availability of suppliers and approve toy delivery contracts;
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To formulate pricing policies and estimate the necessity of sales promotions;
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To implement a security system and protection measures to guard merchandise;
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To provide a clean and safe shop environment for customers and employees;
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To monitor the complying of all legal requirements in order to create a solid reputation of the shop and provide the stability of its operation.
Store managers should have excellent leadership, decision-making, time management, organizational, and communication skills. The previous experience of work in the position of manager in any retail shop will be highly preferable. Shop assistants and store managers will work in shifts in teams that will include one store manager and two shop assistants.
Web Developers
Unlike shop assistants and store managers who require certain technical equipment within the shop and work in shifts, web developers will perform their activities remotely and have flexible working hours. However, they will play a highly significant role in the effective operation if Baby Kingdom, especially in the first years of its functioning. Web developers will be fully responsible for online advertising that will create the positive image of the organization.
The specialists should be responsible for the creation and technical support of Baby Kingdoms official website. Moreover, web developers will develop the shops advertising campaign and place advertising in local newspapers, TV channels, social networks, and search systems to attract customers. Web developers should have deep knowledge and previous experience in website design and programming.
Baby Kingdoms Values, Vision, and Mission
Baby Kingdom places the highest priority on childrens happiness, welfare, and harmonious development. That is why the company defines its mission in providing every child with a toy he or she is dreaming about. The shop is focused on the customers requests, the delivery of high-quality service, and the fulfillment of organizational commitments. The values of Baby Kingdom are based on the principles of integrity, partnership, driving results, collaboration, and entrepreneurial spirit. The company emphasizes the significance of excellence achievement through consistent and meaningful steps. Baby Shop will operate in accordance with high ethical and business standards, and it will provide working places for people on the basis of merit regardless of their gender, age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
Baby Kingdoms Three Levels of Management
The levels of management have a substantial impact on the process of organizational planning as they provide a reasonable separation of positions, roles, and responsibilities for effective management. Three levels of management are currently defined administrative, executory, and supervisory. Administrative, or the top-level, management defines the targets, policies, and developmental patterns of an organization and controls the achievement of corporate objectives.
This level performs control over the whole company structure and the coordination of its functioning. Middle-level, or executory, management are subordinate to the administrative level. It focuses on the organization of the employees activities for the targets realization. Finally, low-level, or supervisory, managers work directly with operative employees; they are responsible for the training, orientation, encouragement, and discipline of a team.
The targets of the toy shop are clearly defined, and they are measurable and realistic. Objectives focus on a one-year period and are highly influenced by the quality of all employees work activities. Concerning the levels of management, store managers are partially responsible for the performance of all managerial duties as the toy shop will initially be a small organization without branch division and various departments. The owner of the shop searches for suppliers defines business goals for the next year and endues store managers with necessary operation authority for their realization. Store managers, in turn, exercise control over shop assistants and web developers. They are responsible for recruitment and the assistants training, discipline, and schedule.
Quality, Productivity, and Profitability
In the planning process of any organization, quality, productivity, and profitability play an immeasurably essential role and are considered to be the most significant parts of this process. Quality refers to the excellence of the company operation and services or products it offers to customers to achieve defined objectives. In general, it may be defined as the degree of conformance to meet the contractual requirements. (Mahmood & Kureshi, 2015, p. 8).
Quality is a dynamic state, and it is closely connected with customers, employees, management, working processes, services, products, environment, and the standards or requirements of a contract. However, the necessity of high quality is determined by the interdependence between the customers satisfaction and profit. Productivity relates to the connection between expenditures and the financial return of the organization as well. In the case of Baby Kingdom, the planning process of the shop should consider its profitability as well to provide income that will be higher in comparison with running costs.
Organizational Strategy and Human Resource Planning
It goes without saying that human resource planning is highly substantial for the effective operation of any organization and its business growth. Appropriate recruitment and further training of employees positively influence organizational strategy and target achievement (Bratton & Gold, 2017). The human resource planning relates to the labor force, and the most essential objective of this activity is to place employees in their places according to their previous experience and fields of expertise (Ansoff, Kipley, Lewis, Helm-Stevens, & Ansoff, 2019). This planning focuses on the connection between human resources and the development of an organization. It considers an appropriate number of employees, their qualifications, and the level of their satisfaction with working conditions.
The organizational strategy of Baby Kingdom is a long-term, though dynamic, plan with well-defined targets that should be achieved in a stated period of time and the separation of all employees duties. That is why the human resource planning of the toy shop should initially consider the suitability of staff for working positions to provide excellent quality of service. Affordable prices, advertising, and high-quality service, in turn, will attract customers, increase the level of their satisfaction, and have a highly positive influence on the organizations profit.
Philosophy of Baby Kingdoms Management
Traditionally, the philosophy of management has a direct influence on the overall organizational strategy. The philosophy of management refers to various concepts and techniques that may be applied to the management of an organization in order to organize people in the most effective manner for the companys success (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, & Jackson, 2015). Management philosophy implies the opportunity for personal growth for employees as well. The principal goal of the philosophy is the motivation, orientation, and support of employees to achieve the highest results.
In Baby Kingdom, store managers work directly with shop assistants and execute their control over all staff activities. Shop assistants are required the performing of their main duties, discipline, and cooperation with colleagues. Although their creativity may be appreciated by store managers or the owner of Baby Kingdom, It is not essential for identified objectives. However, small staff encourages a close connection between all team members that will inevitably influence the work environment in a positive way. Moreover, the organizational structure of Baby Kingdom supports the quick implementation of all guidelines and instructions.
Organizational Control
For effective operation of the organization, various types of management control should be implemented. First of all, the owner and store managers should execute future-directed control that attempts to identify problems in advance and implicates corrective actions to prevent them. Another type of supervision is concurrent control that emphasizes establishing conditions. The organization will execute post-action to evaluate the results of the working process as well. This type of control provides the owner of Baby Kingdom and store managers with information that may be essential in the future to prevent the inappropriate results of operation.
Conclusion
Baby Kingdom will be a toy shop that belongs to the merchandising type of business as its profit will derive from the purchase of a product at a price for wholesalers and further selling it at a higher retail price. The organization is a sole proprietorship with a minimum number of employees required for the effective operation of a retail shop. Its targets are identified as further development, the creation of a solid reputation, and the increase of the total number of customers and profit by the end of the year.
These objectives will be achieved through the organizations staff that will include eight persons who will be responsible for advertising, management, and high-quality service. The defined targets of the organization are closely connected with the work performance of its employees as well. Store managers are responsible for the high-performance work organization of sales assistants who focus on customers satisfaction. High quality of service, in turn, will result in sales growth, the increase of profits, and general business growth that will encourage the achievement of the shops designated targets.
References
Ansoff, H. I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A. O., Helm-Stevens, R., & Ansoff, R. (2019). Implanting strategic management (3rd ed.). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic human resource management (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: Theory and practice (6th ed.). London, England: Palgrave.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., & Jackson, P. R. (2015). Management and business research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Mahmood, S., & Kureshi, N. I. (2015). Enhancing productivity and profitability by determination of poor quality cost, using dashboard management information system. Journal of Quality and Technology Management, 11(2), 1-29.
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