Free Essay

Blue Grocery Stores Vacation Time Procedures

In: Business and Management

Submitted By britneyslayer88
Words 931
Pages 4
Arthur Reed faces a situation that occurs around the summer months that he dreads but is not to pro-active about. As with most companies, the employees that Arthur supervises wish to use their vacation time to enjoy with their families. Arthur needs to find effective replacement help to fill in the holes created, but has limited resources to assist him. Arthur will need to find a solution to filling the holes left by those going on vacation, while not disrupting the flow of the warehouse.
Background
Arthur Reed, a warehouse supervisor for Blue Grocery Stores and employee of 20 years is once again up against a situation that has been trouble for him in the past. As the nice weather of summer months roll around, many senior staff wish to use the time the company offers and take a vacation. Where this becomes an issue for Arthur, is when the time comes to find temporary employees to fill the spots left by those on vacation. What makes this juggling act more difficult is the hours that are offered are inconsistent as they will be “on call”, the temporary employees are required to pay union dues and need costly work boots. To top it off, the position pays $6 per hour. Arthur has just a few months before the frustration is upon him and he needs a plan.
Key Issues First, Arthur’s would have less pressure against him if he would not wait until the last minute and pro-actively worked on a solution. Nothing will make a task seem more difficult than a condensed time frame, especially one that is self induced. Prior planning and solid organization will be his first area of attention. Blue Grocery Stores is not making this an easy task with a less than attractive offer for those fill in spots. The fact the wage is $6 per hour, they must pay the union dues, the hours are limited and inconsistent and they will need to purchase expensive work boots creates the bulk of why Arthur has had such trouble keeping reliable employees during this time. It’s understandable for the company to want to cover as much as possible for the least amount of money; but these stipulations make this a high turnover position that is tough to keep filled.
Alternative Solutions One possible solution to for Arthur would be to ask his union representation to create a structure for requesting time off, regardless of the time of year. One potential method of structuring requests for vacation time would be to allow those with seniority to have priority of when they would like to go, filling in the rest around them. Another would be to require a 30 day advance notice for the employees who were wishing to take time off. This would allow Arthur the ability to schedule in advance for “on call” employees, giving some stability to the position and ultimately making it easier to recruit and retain. Business survives because of good organization and the lack of organization in how vacations are scheduled is disrupting business. One other possible solution would be for Blue Grocery Stores to keep small quantity of used work boots set aside for the times when there are shifts that need to be filled in. The cost may seem high at first but the money that would be saved by circumventing the swinging door effect with that position will save much more in the long run. Blue Grocery Stores could also explore paying the union dues for those employees instead of providing boots, depending on the cost difference. One final possible solution would be to extend the opportunity to existing employees that are not scheduling time off during those months to work overtime. The cost of overtime is far less than the cost involved in recruiting, hiring, and training all new employees that have a strong chance of leaving for any one of the reason listed in the previous paragraphs. This also creates the opportunity for employees that are looking to take a lead and do more than is what is required of them. Not only would those employees be rewarded with additional pay, they would enjoy the great feeling that comes with helping out.
Solutions
Arthur Reed needs to be more pro-active with preparing for the summer months he is well aware will bring vacation requests. Any change that would be made by the company will be useless if he is not preparing this time. The fact that the company offers so little to a temporary employee and requires so much in return, says to me that the best solution for Arthur as well as the company, is to offer overtime and solicit employees to fill in the gaps that are being left by those going on vacation. This will not only save the company money in several areas, it will show that Arthur is taking the lead over the part of the company he has been left responsible for as well as giving the chance for his employees to make additional money.
Recommendations
Blue Grocery Stores is in need of defining their process on how employees will be allowed to request to use their vacation time, how far in advance they will need to put in such requests and replace the “on call” employee with incentives to existing employees that are interested in filling in those holes. Why waste the money chasing down people to fill a position that few will stick with, when you can reward those that already work for you.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Blue Grocery Store

...The Blue Grocery Store warehouse manager is having a difficult time with personnel shortage during peak vacation months of the year. Mr. Arthur Reed is looking for a solution to work schedule, vacation time and temporary hire turnover. -Background- Mr. Arthur Reed who manages 2nd and 3rd shift is having a problem with his senior staff during vacation summer months. The staff and management team is not on the same skill level of communication. The majority of all the employees are complaining about lack of cooperation from the management to construct a better leave system. Mr. Arthur is having an issue with leave days. Senior personnel is taking leave during the same dates, causing a gap in employees that are present for work. He has tried several different methods to combat this situation. Hiring replacement workers for the short period is not in the best interest of the company budget, due to high to high turnover, union dues and needed equipment per temporary hire. This is causing stress and a lack of communication between the team. During these months Mr. Reed has express frustration to his employees. He has implemented several plans to ensure all employees will be able to maximize their vacation time using replacement workers to fill in for the sick or vacationing employee. The employees are not giving the system a fair chance. He is quickly finding that his plan was not best for the company financially. Mr. Reed conducted a meeting to hear the viewpoint of the rest...

Words: 1059 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Alpha

...Jones: Introduction To Business: How Companies III. A Functional Approach to Business 12. Operations and Materials Management: © The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007 Create Value for People Managing the Production and Flow of Goods and CHAPTER 12 Operations and Materials Management: Managing the Production and Flow of Goods and Services Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Describe the nature of the operations and materials management process and explain how it can create a competitive advantage for a company. 2. Identify the five main components of operations and materials management costs and the methods companies use to reduce them. 3. Differentiate between the three major kinds of operating systems companies use to produce goods and services. 4. Understand the way total quality management can significantly improve both quality and productivity. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT Flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, chocolate, and shortening don’t create much excitement when they are in the kitchen cupboard. They create a lot more excitement when someone transforms them into a cake. Whether it’s a cake, a computer, or a legal docu- ment, operations and materials management processes create value in a household or a company. A company’s operations require inputs such as raw materials or parts and the skilled people and equip- ment to transform them into useful products...

Words: 16610 - Pages: 67

Premium Essay

Retail Docs

...Chapter 1 describes the functions that retailers perform and the variety of decisions they make to satisfy customers’ needs in rapidly changing, highly competitive retail environments. The remaining chapters in this section give you further background information to understand the world of retailing. Chapter 2 describes the different types of retailers. Chapter 3 examines how retailers use multiple selling channels— stores, the Internet, catalogs—to reach their customers. Merchandise Management Store Management Chapter 4 discusses the factors consumers consider when choosing retail outlets and buying merchandise. The chapters in Section II focus on the strategic decisions that retailers make. The chapters in Sections III and IV explore tactical decisions involving merchandise and store management. Introduction to the World of Retailing EXECUTIVE BRIEFING Maxine Clark, Chief Executive Bear, Build-A-Bear Workshop became President of Payless Shoe Stores, then a division of May Department Store with over 4,500 stores and $2 billion plus in annual sales at the time. In early 1997, I decided to launch a retail concept I had been thinking about—Build-A-Bear Workshop®. While most retailers are merchandise driven, Build-A-Bear Workshop® offers highly interactive experiences like a theme park. It combines the universal appeal of plush animals with an interactive assembly...

Words: 18139 - Pages: 73

Premium Essay

Retail Management

...which refers to "cutting off my hands, clip and divide" in terms of tailoring (1365). It first was recorded as a noun with the meaning of a "sale in small quantities" in 1433 (French). Its literal meaning for retail was to "cut off, shred, off my toes paring".[2] Like the French, the word retail in both Dutch and German (detailhandel and Einzelhandel respectively), also refers to the sale of small quantities of items. Retail consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.[1] Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a "retailer" buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power. Shops may be on residential streets, shopping streets with few or no houses or in a shopping mall. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full...

Words: 30165 - Pages: 121

Premium Essay

4 P's of Marketing for Starbucks

...and market success. Since 1987, Starbucks had transformed itself from a modest nine-store operation in the Pacific Northwest into a powerhouse multinational enterprise with 10,241 store locations, including some 2,900 stores in 30 foreign countries (see Exhibit 1). During Starbucks’ early years when coffee was a 50-cent morning habit at local diners and fast-food establishments, skeptics had ridiculed the notion of $3 coffee as a yuppie fad. But the popularity of Starbucks’ Italianstyle coffees, espresso beverages, teas, pastries, and confections had made Starbucks one of the great retailing stories of recent history and the world’s biggest specialty coffee chain. In 2003, Starbucks made the Fortune 500, prompting Schultz to remark, “It would be arrogant to sit here and say that 10 years ago we thought we would be on the Fortune 500. But we dreamed from day one and we dreamed big.”1 Having positioned Starbucks as the dominant retailer, roaster, and brand of specialty coffees and coffee drinks in North America and spawned the creation of the specialty coffee industry, management’s long-term objective was now to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world. New stores were being opened at the rate of roughly 32 per week in 2005, and management Copyright © 2006 by Amit J. Shah, Arthur A. Thompson, and Thomas F. Hawk. I expected to have 15,000 Starbucks stores open worldwide going into 2006. Believing that the scope of Starbucks’ long-term opportunity...

Words: 18992 - Pages: 76

Premium Essay

Product Service and Brand

...Part 1: Defining Marketing and the Marketing Process (Chapters 1–2) Part 2: Understanding the Marketplace and Consumers (Chapters 3–6) Part 3: Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix (Chapters 7–17) Part 4: Extending Marketing (Chapters 18–20) After examining customerdriven marketing strategy, we now take a deeper look at the marketing mix: the tactical tools that marketers use to implement their strategies and deliver superior customer value. In this and the next chapter, we’ll study how companies develop and manage products and brands. Then, in the chapters that follow, we’ll look at pricing, distribution, and marketing communication tools. The product is usually the first and most basic marketing consideration. We start with a seemingly simple question: What is a product? As it turns out, the answer is not so simple. Chapter Preview 8 Products, Services, Building and Brands Customer Value Before starting into the chapter, let’s look at an interesting brand story. Marketing is all about building brands that connect deeply with customers. So, when you think about top brands, which ones pop up first? Perhaps traditional megabrands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, or McDonald’s come to mind. Or maybe a trendy tech brand such as Google or Facebook. But if we asked you to focus on sports entertainment, you’d probably name ESPN. When it comes to your life and sports, ESPN probably has it covered. W The ESPN Brand: Every Sport Possible—Now Television: From its original...

Words: 25125 - Pages: 101

Premium Essay

Ưefrwe

...Describe bartering and negotiating online. 8. Define m-commerce and explain its role as a market mechanism. 9. Discuss competition in the digital economy. 10. Describe the impact of e-marketplaces on organizations and industries. CHAPTER Content How Blue Nile Inc. Is Changing the Jewelry Industry 2.1 E-Marketplaces 2.2 Types of E-Marketplaces: From Storefronts to Portals 2.3 Transactions, Intermediation, and Processes in E-Commerce 2.4 Electronic Catalogs and Other Market Mechanisms 2.5 Auctions as EC Market Mechanisms 2.6 Bartering and Negotiating Online 2.7 E-Commerce in the Wireless Environment: M-Commerce and L-Commerce 2.8 Competition in the Digital Economy and Its Impact on Industries 2.9 Impacts of EC on Business Processes and Organizations Managerial Issues Real-World Case: Wal-Mart Leads RFID Adoption Appendix 2A: Build-to-Order Production ISBN: 0-558-13856-X 42 Electronic Commerce 2008: A Managerial Perspective, by Efraim Turban, David King, Judy McKay, Peter Marshall, Jae Lee, and Dennis Viehland. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. M02_TURB3315_05_SE_C02.QXD 9/4/07 7:54 PM Page 43 EC Application HOW BLUE NILE INC. IS CHANGING THE JEWELRY INDUSTRY Blue Nile Inc. (bluenile.com), a pure-play...

Words: 28842 - Pages: 116

Premium Essay

Dictionary of Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality

...Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality By the same author Britain – Workshop or Service Centre to the World? The British Hotel and Catering Industry The Business of Hotels (with H. Ingram) Europeans on Holiday Higher Education and Research in Tourism in Western Europe Historical Development of Tourism (with A.J. Burkart) Holiday Surveys Examined The Management of Tourism (with A.J. Burkart eds) Managing Tourism (ed.) A Manual of Hotel Reception (with J.R.S. Beavis) Paying Guests Profile of the Hotel and Catering Industry (with D.W. Airey) Tourism and Hospitality in the 21st Century (with A. Lockwood eds) Tourism and Productivity Tourism Council of the South Pacific Corporate Plan Tourism Employment in Wales Tourism: Past, Present and Future (with A.J. Burkart) Trends in Tourism: World Experience and England’s Prospects Trends in World Tourism Understanding Tourism Your Manpower (with J. Denton) Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality S. Medlik Third edition OXFORD AMSTERDAM BOSTON LONDON NEW YORK PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO Butterworth-Heinemann An imprint of Elsevier Science Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803 First published 1993 Reprinted (with amendments) 1994 Second edition 1996 Third edition 2003 Copyright © 1993, 1996, 2003, S. Medlik. All rights reserved The right of S. Medlik to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted...

Words: 133754 - Pages: 536

Premium Essay

Mr.Doc

...Management Information Systems Course Notes Compiled by: Stephen Katoto For: MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Table of Contents 1.0 The Information Systems Revolution 1 A. Why Information Systems? 1 B. Contemporary approaches to Information Systems 2 C. Other current Trends in Information Technology 4 2.0 The Information systems Revolution 9 A. The New Role of Information Systems in Organization 9 B. Learning to use information systems: New Opportunities with technology 10 3.0 The Strategic Role of Information Systems 14 A. Organizations and Information Systems 14 B. Information systems & Business Strategy 20 4.0 Information Systems, Organizations and Business Strategy 28 A. Organizations and Information Systems 28 B. How Organization Affect Information Systems 33 C. How Information Systems Impact organizations and Business firms 35 5.0 Information, Management & Decision Making 39 A. Introduction to Decision Making 39 B. Individual Models of Decision Making 42 C. Organizational Models of Decision Making 43 D. The Impact of IT Management Process 44 6.0 Ethics & Social Impact of Information systems 46 A. The Importance of Ethics in Information Systems 46 B. Electronic Networks 46 C. The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems 50 7.0 Computer and Computer Processing 57 A. What is a Computer? 57 B. Systems Approach 58 C. Classification of computers 64 8.0 Information Systems Software 66 ...

Words: 28751 - Pages: 116

Premium Essay

Pregnancy Tips

...Week 1 Speak with your doctor about adding a prenatalmultivitamin to your morning routine. At least 400 micrograms of folic acid every day can help prevent certain birth defects that affect your baby's brain, heart, and spinal cord, especially if you take it before you conceive and in the early weeks of your pregnancy. See that your supplements contain added goodies like calcium, iron, and Vitamin B12 as well. Week 2 Right now, you're just dying to find out: Am I pregnant or not? Unfortunately, you'll need to stick it out a bit longer. About four days after your egg is fertilized, it begins producing a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which pregnancy tests can detect in about another week -- first in your blood (via a test at your doctor's office) and then in your urine (which an at-home screening would spot). Week 3 Get yourself a good doctor -- pronto! Having a healthcare provider you like and trust is key. After all, this is the person who will guide you through your entire pregnancy, labor, and delivery, along with the millions of questions, tests, and emotional ups and downs along the way. If you don't currently have an ob-gyn you love, ask friends, family, and coworkers for recommendations or research practices until you find someone you feel comfortable with. And, hey, your choices are not limited to regular obstetricians. You might also want to investigate alternative or additional types of care -- including midwives or family physicians Week...

Words: 8796 - Pages: 36

Premium Essay

Challenges Affecting Cruise Tourism

...LIMITED LC/CAR/L.75 21 December 2005 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN CARIBBEAN CRUISE SHIP TOURISM __________ This document has been reproduced without formal editing. Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................1 Definitions ....................................................................................................................................................1 2. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................................4 Description of cruise ship tourism ................................................................................................................4 North America ..............................................................................................................................................4 Europe...........................................................................................................................................................6 The Caribbean...............................................................................................................................................8 3. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACING THE CARIBBEAN...................................................................11 Concentration of the industry......................................................

Words: 10603 - Pages: 43

Premium Essay

Starbuck's Strategy and Internal Initiatives to Return to Profitable Growth

...as a modest nine-store operation in Seattle, Washington, Starbucks had become the world’s premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffees, with 8,812 company-owned stores and 7,852 licensed stores in more than 50 countries as of April 2010 and annual sales of about $10 billion. But the company’s 2008–2009 fiscal years were challenging. Sales at company-owned Starbucks stores open 13 months or longer declined an average of 3 percent in 2008 and another 5 percent in 2009. Company-wide revenues declined from $10.4 billion in fiscal year 2008 to $9.8 billion in fiscal year 2009. During fiscal 2009, Starbucks closed 800 underperforming company-operated stores in the United States and an additional 100 stores in other countries, restructured its entire operations in Australia (including the closure of 61 stores), and reduced the number of planned new store openings by more than 200. Starbucks’ global workforce was trimmed by about 6,700 employees. The company’s cost-reduction and laborefficiency initiatives resulted in savings of about $580 million. Exhibit 1 shows the performance of Starbucks’ company-operated retail stores for the most recent five fiscal years. In his November 2009 letter to company shareholders, Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ founder, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer, said: Two years ago, I expressed concern over challenges confronting our business of a breadth and magnitude unlike anything I had ever seen before. For the first time, we were beginning...

Words: 22517 - Pages: 91

Premium Essay

Teach Yourself Sql

...Resolutions Week 3 in Review Appendixes A Glossary of Common SQL Statements B Source Code Listings for the C++ Program Used on Day 14 C Source Code Listings for the Delphi Program Used on Day 14 D Resources E ASCII Table F Answers to Quizzes and Excercises © Copyright, Macmillan Computer Publishing. All rights reserved. Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Second Edition Acknowledgments A special thanks to the following individuals: foremost to my loving wife, Tina, for her tolerance and endless support, to Dan Wilson for his contributions, and to Thomas McCarthy at IUPUI. Also, thank you Jordan for your encouragement over the past few years. -- Ryan K. Stephens Special thanks to my wife for putting up with me through this busiest of times. I apologize to my mom for not seeing her as often as I should (I'll make it up to you). Also, thanks to my loyal dog, Toby. He was with me every night and wouldn't leave my side....

Words: 128515 - Pages: 515

Premium Essay

Buisness Ideas

...101 Small Business Ideas for Under $5,000 Corey Sandler Janice Keefe John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 101 Small Business Ideas for Under $5,000 Corey Sandler Janice Keefe John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This book is printed on acid-free paper. ● ∞ Copyright © 2005 by Word Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose...

Words: 90587 - Pages: 363

Premium Essay

Imformation Systems Teach Yourself Sql

...Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Second Edition Table of Contents: Introduction Week 1 at a Glance Day 1 Introduction to SQL Day 2 Introduction to the Query: The SELECT Statement Day 3 Expressions, Conditions, and Operators Day 4 Functions: Molding the Data You Retrieve Day 5 Clauses in SQL Day 6 Joining Tables Day 7 Subqueries: The Embedded SELECT Statement Week 1 in Review Week 2 at a Glance Day 8 Manipulating Data Day 9 Creating and Maintaining Tables Day 10 Creating Views and Indexes Day 11 Controlling Transactions Day 12 Database Security Day 13 Advanced SQL Topics Day 14 Dynamic Uses of SQL Week 2 in Review Week 3 at a Glance Day 15 Streamlining SQL Statements for Improved Performance Day 16 Using Views to Retrieve Useful Information from the Data Dictionary Day 17 Using SQL to Generate SQL Statements Day 18 PL/SQL: An Introduction Day 19 Transact-SQL: An Introduction Day 20 SQL*Plus Day 21 Common SQL Mistakes/Errors and Resolutions Week 3 in Review Appendixes A Glossary of Common SQL Statements B Source Code Listings for the C++ Program Used on Day 14 C Source Code Listings for the Delphi Program Used on Day 14 D Resources E ASCII Table F Answers to Quizzes and Excercises / Copyright, Macmillan Computer Publishing. All rights reserved. Join the National Guard Car Computer Serve in your own backyard Get Free Info Here. No Obligation www.military.com Complete Diagnostic Software Tool DTC Codes, Sensor Readings...

Words: 129252 - Pages: 518