Developing Good Business Sense

While visiting the electronics store that paid their employees a commission salary based on their sales, I noticed that the employees were extremely polite and helpful. I was greeted by a lady as soon as I walked in the building. She welcomed me by informing me that they were happy to have me in and they were readily available to assist me with any questions I had. I also noticed that the employees in this company were very knowledgeable and took pride in their appearance as well as the appearance of their store.

They were also very aggressive in their efforts to convince me to buy something. The second establishment I observed was a clothing store that paid their employees an hourly salary. While in this store I noticed that the staff was not as strong with the level of their customer service. They had a greeter at the door that was responsible for greeting customers as they entered the building. The store had a more laid back atmosphere to it and the employees were more focused on folding clothes and packing the shelves instead of assisting the customers and providing customer service.

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The third business that I established was a shipping company that pays its employees an hourly salary. The employees in this business were focused on providing excellent customer service while processing transactions in a speedy manner. The employee that greeted me was very polite but she was also trying to service me in a speedy manner so she could move on to the customer waiting in line. I was pleased with her service because she remained polite and she was very knowledgeable which made it easy for her to answer all my questions.

Think about the differences in the operations involved in the input, operations, and output stages of these companies. Try to identify the nature of their operating systems. Are employees organized in different ways? If so, why? If possible, talk to the managers and employees in these operations to further your analysis. Based on my observations of the three businesses I used for this research paper I was able to generate three different theories about their operations and how their employees are organized.

The electronics store that pays their employees a commission salary has a specific culture that is determined by their pay structure. After speaking to the store manager I discovered that the company strives to create an incentive based culture where employees are rewarded based on their sales. The company uses these sales incentives to motivate their staff in every manner for example. After an employee is hired they are taught that their sales and commission are directly affected by their knowledge level, their level of customer service and the look and appearance of their store among other things.

The company informs the employees that they can make more money by being knowledgeable and focusing on customer service because knowledge and customer service builds credibility and trust with customers which leads to customer loyalty and repeat business. They are also taught that the appearance of their store directly impacts the customer and their commission because if the store looks good, the customers will be comfortable and more likely to buy (Smith, 2010).

After observing the employees and speaking to supervisors in the clothing store with the hourly employees I found out that the company focuses on motivating the staff through consistent recognition and high accountable. When an employee is hired, the managers discuss the company policies and standards while setting expectations with the employee. The manager then spends a majority of their time teaching the employees how to work effectively. After training the employees, the managers put themselves in positions to observe the staff members so they are able to provide feedback.

They make every effort to catch the good behaviors so they can provide recognition and boost the employee’s morale but they are also willing to provide developmental feedback when necessary. The manager informed me that this approach works for their company because it creates a fun and positive environment and the employees know they will always be treated fairly (Thomas, 2010). The shipping company had a completely different manner of operation because of the business they were in. The manager informed me that their company is more focused on working fast and efficient.

The company’s goal is to deliver packages before deadlines and they train their employees to execute all their operations in the same manner. The company gives the employees goals and deadlines for every aspect of their job. For example, they have a specific time that they have to report to work, stock the delivery truck, inspect the truck and deliver packages. The company makes everything time bound and the employees are expected to do as much as they can with as little as possible (Holmes, 2010).