Total Quality Plan Implementation
...has been witness to the rise and fall of many great empires. Most businesses go bankrupt on the way up, not on the way down. Sears failed to remain the top retailer for two reasons (1) a lack of focus on operating strategies and, (2) a lack of long-term vision from top management. The retail industry is very competitive and requires a flexible management team able to adapt and adjust to changes in competition and changes in consumer tastes.
Sears has no inventory controls and electronic data interchange with manufacturers therefore the logistic and inventory management are fared worse. Employees not only perform the inventory count, but also the order taking, and the restocking. Furthermore, Sears' work force has been unsatisfied for many years. Half time employees do not have any benefits and employee satisfaction was low. Employees do not have broad training nor are they involved in decision-making.
In order for Sears to successfully implement a turnaround strategy, it should use Benchmarking. Sears can use Benchmarking to take a look at what the competition has done to excel. Walmart, for example, has built a huge data warehouse capable of storing information on point-of-sale, products-in-transit, market statistics, customer demographics, finance, product returns, and supplier performance (Foley 1996). It uses the Internet to identify any trends, seasonal changes or potential problems as they occur. The web-based system has allowed Walmart to focus on gathering "real time" information.
Sears has outlined a marketing strategy similar to Walmart. Therefore, relying solely on the online ordering service would not be the most beneficial option. The Internet alone will not create more market share, especially in big-ticket items that people want to "test" before they buy. The small-store format would probably not be a feasible option if Sears continues a...
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