Introduction
Kookai company sale a wide range of funky, fashionable high street clothes for women, and these clothes are said to have been imported from France. It is a feminine store whereby you can find all types of female clothes hence you can be in a position to shop in a single store. It is also used as a label for young women and this label was first introduced in France in the year 1983. It is a label used to symbolize young women, stylish, fresh, and also unique women in most societies and hence the name kookai in this case has been widely used to attract so many women to purchase such products. The French labels have now spread into many countries say countries like Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and Adelaide among other leading countries. The company’s products include a range of stylish women clothing’s, complementary accessories flowers, purses, hair clips, handbags, and jewelers. You can find all sorts of women’s attires at the Kookai Company hence meaning that it is one of the biggest stores whereby the majority of women who would wish to purchase women attires can access them at cheap prices. (Fleetwood, 2008).
Kookai is one of the leading women’s clothing companies in France and recently it has developed it is merchandising plus its multi-channel retail infrastructure and it has done this by the use of the Mercatus software product from NSB supplier of stores. The company has also a multichannel and a supplier chain retailing system hence it means that the company has been in a position to supply its products effectively since it has a well supply chain system hence leading to huge profits which can be accrued by the company. Due to the introduction of the new technology, the company has been in a position to use the Mercatus software in all its activities say the software can be used in the application of various orders in the company, in the management of the companies warehouse, replenishment, store sales and also the software can be used in reporting data. It also uses the new technology in advertising its products like it uses the internet in advertising its new fashions hence leading to the realization of the company’s competitive advantage. This is because the internet advertisings have tried to increase the customer’s knowledge on the new fashions hence increasing the growing number of the company’s online orders. So through the paper, am going to try and analyze how the company has applied human resource management which has led to its massive growth. (Brewster, 2003).
Problems at Kookai
In today’s competitive and also global marketplace, maintaining a competitive advantage by tending to become a low-cost producer is very much important. HR can now be viewed as the key source of competitive advantage. It’s through this that distinctive competencies shave to be developed by HR to ensure that the workers have been in a position to work effectively. Out of research which was done at Kookai Company, it was found that it is one of the leading companies but has a deficiency of HR management. We all know that the role of a human resource is to ensure that the workers working conditions are so much conducive which will lead to the growth of the company. This is because if the working environment is not conducive the employees, in this case, will not work effectively. The HR also ensures that workers are given the relevant training so that there can be increased output. So the biggest problem at Kookai is that HR does not train its employees. Due to the invention of the new technology, you find that workers need to be more trained on how to work effectively in the organization. This is because if HR ensures that workers are trained, it will mean that the employees can work more effectively with little resources which will later lead to the growth of the company. If the workers are not trained on how to control stock, then the opening and closing of inventories will become a problem to these workers since the majority of them do not know how to handle stock. So it is the role of HR to ensure that workers have been given the relevant training. (Hosie, 2006).
Another problem at Kookai is that the company’s staff does not know how to deal with customers in the correct manner. So it is the role of HR to ensure that there is customer service to ensure that the customer’s many problems can be handled and not neglecting them. Customers would wish to have good services when they try to purchase at Kookai since it’s through the good services that the customers will be encouraged to buy more. (Hesketh, 2008).
Company analysis
Kookai has focused so much on the lady’s designs and fashions only. It is one of the competitive companies in Australia and it has been in a position to achieve this through the differentiation of its many products. It does this through selling a variety of ladies’ attire hence meaning that ladies can be in a position to purchase all their products in one store i.e. it sells ladies’ clothing, handbags, shoes among others. This is one of the key competencies which many companies have applied so that they can achieve their competitive advantage. So at kookai, it applies various competencies hence can try and compete well with the rest of the competitors in Australia and also globally since there are also other retail stores in other countries. The company HR also tries to motivate its employees and this is another key competence which HR does apply. (Hesketh, 2008).
HR should ensure that there is proper recruitment of staff which is based on the worker’s experiences and qualification but not centrally on the ethnic groups or even gender issues. This can be properly seen at kookai whereby the HR recruitment of its staff is very much poor. This is because HR does not select the right person from the beginning and this is why most of the employees at kookai have left the company. They do leave the company simply because of the push and pull factors. It is very much important for HR to ensure that when recruiting new employees to work at the company, they should be well scrutinized and the necessary security should be given. This is because most of the workers have left the company simply because there is no job security. The majority prefer working at the company as casual workers since there is no job security. Workers can be fired at any time hence leading to so many problems by them. So HR should ensure that they have provided job security. (Hoag, 2005).
Impact at Kookai
Kookai is facing so many problems as far as HR management is concerned hence leading to huge impacts on the company. You see that most of the HR management practices are usually concerned with the companies profits, quality products, business goals hence it’s the role of HR to ensure that it has reduced the many costs and errors which might affect the growth of the company. Problems like the issue of shortage of staff will have an impact on the overall performance of the company since it will mean there will be inefficiencies in trying to handle the business daily operations since there are no workers to offer the services and this is one of the problems at Kookai. (Hoag, 2005).
At Kookai, there is a high turnover which is a result of proper management of the activities of the company. This can be seen in the frequent advertisements which are done by the company. The HR also ensures that it has recruited more employees to work in the company hence meaning that there is work efficiency and workers don’t have to be overworked. They do work in shifts since the company runs 24/7 hence meaning that it can have more profits which leads to the growth of the company. The company is one of the leading contributors to the revenue of the Australian economy as a result of HR management. (Hoag, 2005).
There is also another problem which has an impact on the performance of the company and this is the poor staff relationships which are affecting the growth of the company. HR should ensure that there is a proper relationship and communication between the members of the staff and the employees. This is one of the key competencies which are required by the organization so that it can excel. So HR management has had the impact of ensuring that the worker’s relationship with the top management is so good and there is a proper channel of communication whereby the employees can present their many grievances so that they can be solved. There was a problem of come and go employees at Kookai Company. Working as a team is quite essential in a company since it is through this that the company can get more decisions from its employees hence leading to increased productivity. (Dickmann, 2006).
There are also negative impacts at Kookai. You find that at kookai most of the workers work as casuals hence meaning that the level of their commitment is quite low. This is one of the areas where HR should look at to ensure that most of the workers are not casuals. This is because if they recruit casual workers, they will not work as effectively as the permanent workers since they can quit the job at any time. Also, you find that most of the employees at kookai would not wish to be sales representatives permanently since this is one of the tedious jobs for anyone to work. So in order to try and solve this problem, it’s quite important that HR should recruit more employees with desirable career paths. It’s through implementing this change that the company will be in a position to grow so fast hence solve the many problems which are associated with workers at Kookai company. This change will also ensure that it has encouraged them in order to stay in the company as Kookai staff knows that there is hope and future in the company.
Training of the workers is also needed by the company. So what is required here is that, HR should ensure that he has trained the workers on how to handle designs and materials. This will be much important since you will find that when a customer asks about the current fashion, the workers can be in a position to answer the customer effectively. (Dickmann, 2006).
Recommendations to try and resolve Kookais employee’s problem
Due to the increasing rate of employees quitting and ineffectiveness in working in the company, there is the need to try and improve on the employee’s working conditions so that they can be in a position to work so well. the company fails in the area of HR management. This is because the company does not have a proper plan for its activities as far as the worker’s grievances are concerned. First Kookai has limited training on its employees hence HR should centrally focus on training its employees. It’s through training that the employees will eventually work effectively. This is because the customer’s services are one of the major keys to organizational success. So when the customer’s needs are not fully satisfied, then the company will not be productive. (Sparrow, 2007).
The employees should also try and understand the mission plus the vision statement of the company. It’s through this understanding that they will work towards achieving the set goals of the company. But these employees can only learn best when they try to understand the objective of the training programs. Improving the workers working conditions is also another thing which HR should put in mind. This is because most of the workers do quit the company when they find that the working conditions are not at all conducive. For example, ethical considerations should be put in place by HR. Some of the ethical considerations may include set rules pertaining to the worker’s relationships. (Sparrow, 2007).
Implementation of HR information systems (HRIS)
If Kookai HR implements the HRIS into the company, it will lead to the growth of the company. This is because HRIS is one of the systems which are used to acquire, store, analyze, manipulate, and retrieve and also trying to manipulate related information in a company’s human resources. So you will find that if Kookai applies the HRIS, it will report the following changes in the company. (Hesketh, 2006).
- Increased efficiency in the company.
- Timely, relevant plus accurate information to the company.
- Increased production and also the performance of the companies operations.
- Transformation of the companies operations and lastly is
- Try to monitor the employee’s development in the company.
These are some of the objectives which HRIS will have on the company hence leading to the economic growth of the country through the revenue got from the company. The HRIS will also help in analyzing the training program outcome of its employees. It’s through HRIS that the organizational performance can then be estimated. The employees and the managers, in this case, should also try to weigh their strengths and weaknesses since it’s through this that they can be in a position to adopt the best strategy to use for the company to grow say the Porters generic strategy which is one of the management strategies which is used by so manby6 companies so that they can be in a position to grow. (Hesketh, 2006).
Implementing of electronic support systems (EPSS)
Electronic performance support systems (EPSS) can be explained as a computer application that can provide a request, skill training, information access, and also expert advice. It may also be used in trying to enhance the transfer of training by providing trainees with an electronic information source that they can refer to as a needed basis as they attempt to apply learned capabilities on the job. (Sparrow, 2007).
Implementing total quality management (TQM)
Total Quality Management (TQM) can be defined as one of the various cooperative forms of doing business that tends to rely on talents and capabilities of both labor and management to continually improve quality and productivity using a work team. The primary goal of TQM is employee empowerment through alignment, authority, capability, and commitment. So you will find that if the company uses the TQM, it will be in a position to empower the employees hence leading to the expansion of the company. The employees will have the power to make various decisions and other contributions that might have an impact on the company. So you will find that if the company applies this strategy, you will find that most of the employees would contribute effectively to the goals of the company. (Sparrow, 2007).
Conclusion
To conclude, it is very much important for Kookai HR to provide training to its employees. This is because it’s through proper training programs that the company can be in a position to have increased production and performance. The company HR should also apply the following strategies. EPSS, TQM, and HRIS so that it can record huge profits.
Reference
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Hoag, B 2005, managing value based organizations. London, Routledge.
Dickmann, M 2006, International human resource management. London, Routledge.
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Sparrow, P 2007, Globalization of HR at function level. Four case studies of the international recruitment, assessments and selection process, International journal of human resource management, Vol. 15(5).
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