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MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 1

Midterm

Di Chen

New Jersey City University

School of Business

MGTG 251-2141 Operations & Project Management

Professor Brianna Bilotta

March 21, 2021

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 2

Project Scope Checklist for Folli Follie

The corporate client shall be Folli Follie, a Greek-based luxury jewelry, watch, and

accessory company. Folli Follie has several locations throughout the world. The company has

hired me to improve management practices and increase sales by 25%, starting with the WTC

Oculus store. Folli Follie’s main issue is poor management. The company knows I have

experience as a sales associate and has hired me to fix the problem. Even before the COVID

pandemic, Folli Follie was not hitting its revenue targets. The company wants to introduce a pilot

program at their flagship NYC location in the WTC Oculus. They have commissioned me to

write a new management and sales handbook. The rent at the Oculus is very expensive so sales

have to keep up to justify the expensive location. Since consumers still prefer to try on jewelry,

watches, and accessories before purchasing them, E-commerce sales are lower than in other

product categories. Therefore, Folli Follie’s retail locations are critical to the company’s

financial success. Since consumers still prefer to try on jewelry, watches, and accessories before

purchasing them, E-commerce sales are lower than in other product categories. Therefore, Folli

Follie’s retail locations are critical to the company’s financial success. If successful, the program

will be deployed at all of Folli Follie’s other locations throughout he US and the world.

Folli Follie has experienced poor management at its stores. A decade ago, the consumer

perception of Folli Follie was high. Consumers thought it had decent designs. It was a mid-level

luxury brand for the middle class. Its jewelry, watches and accessories are neither cheap nor too

expensive. Poor management, however, has affected morale in the stores, resulting in poor sales.

The current sales tactics result in below average results. Store managers are pressured to increase

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 3

sales but are not given a clear direction on how to do this. Each store manager improvises. If this

problem of low sales is not solved within the year, Folli Follie will be forced to close many of its

most prominent stores.

At the WTC location, there are currently two part-time sales associate, two full-time

associates, and one full-time store manager. Trust and morale is low among sales associates. I

have witnessed other sales associates stealing each other’s clients. I have also observed that

management does not have true respect for the customer. Their first instinct is to pressure

customers into buying merchandise and “make the sale.” As a former sales associate at Folli

Follie, I knew that shoppers do not want to be harassed when they first enter the store. However,

a corporate manager once came in and told me to be “more aggressive” with my customers. The

corporate manager told me how women like to shop. Of course, his goal was to increase sales,

but his method was incorrect. Management also bases potential sales on appearance. They

encourage sales associates to ignore people who are dressed not as nicely. I have observed,

however, that nicer clothes and appearance does not necessarily correspond to higher purchasing

power. In many cases, people who dress “nicely” liked to try on many things, but ultimately did

not make a purchase. On the other hand, some people who dressed “not nicely” bought things

right away. Everyone one at the store, management and staff included, is unhappy with current

practices.

The typical Folli Follie sales associate has a passion for jewelry. This should be

encouraged and nurtured by management. One thing that Folli Follie does right is that it lends its

sales associates the same watches, jewelry, and accessories that they sell. This means they bring

it home with them and know the pros and cons intimately. The new sales handbook will

encourage this love of Folli Follie’s merchandise. The manual will propose a “Meet the

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 4

Designer” series. The jewelry and watch designers will be able to take questions directly from

the sales associates. The more the sales associates know about the jewelry, they can talk with

customers smoothly.

Managers should educate their sales associates in the “science of shopping.” Sales

associates should support each other. The heart of my new manual will be changing bonus

incentives to encourage teamwork. Currently, Folli Follie uses an individual commission-based

bonus system to encourage sales representatives to generate sales. This system is broken. Instead

of encouraging teamwork and shared goals, it encourages sneaky behavior and stealing clients.

In my new sales manual, the heart will be a team-based bonus system, modeled on the Whole

Foods approach. The CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, writes that, teams are involved with

hiring, selection of products, and even compensation. Teams also have profit responsibilities,

based on team performance (Mackey & Sisodia, 2014). Whole Foods uses “gain-sharing,” where

a team increases productivity, everyone on the team shares in on the bonuses. The bonus is paid

in proportion to the individual’s hours worked. This aligns the individuals together in team effort

(Mackey & Sisodia, 2014). Using the Project Scope Checklist, I will propose to Folli Follie’s

management an alternative way to increase profit with my new sales manual. It will be

collaborative, comprehensive, humane, and respectful – both to the sales associates and to the

customer, our two greatest assets.

The Project Objective will be to increase retail sales in Folli Follie’s WTC Oculus

location. Sales will need to increase by 25% within a year’s time. In order to increase sales,

several approaches need to be taken, including a new incentive structure for sales associates.

Morale is low among staff and turnover is high, so we need to move quickly. Sales associates are

Folli Follie’s greatest asset and public face. Management has to understand the “science of

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 5

shopping,” as advocated by Paco Underhill. In his book, “Why We Buy,” Underhill writes that

customers should be given breathing room when they first enter a store. A sales associate should

acknowledge them, give a friendly smile and hello, but allow the customer to wander through the

store (Underhill, 2008). Sales associates should be ready to assist in case the customer has any

questions, but not be too aggressive.

The project deliverables will consist of four items, including a new sales manual, a new

team-based compensation structure, a loyal customer and referral program, and a new hiring

process. First, the new sales manual for local store managers and sales associates will be a

guidebook and training manual. Second, the individual commission-based model of

compensation will be replaced with a new team-based compensation structure. This will promote

teamwork and shared goals. Third, a loyal customer and referral program will be rolled out.

Fourth, a new hiring process will be implemented. It will involve the existing sales associates as

part of the hiring process. The store manager and the sales associates will have to vote on new

employee candidates. The sales associates’ skillset will need to be balanced. For instance, one

sales associate may speak Spanish, while another speaks Mandarin.

There will be several milestones to track progress. The first major milestone is that the

new sales manual will need to be researched and written in a month. The WTC Oculus store

location needs to significantly increase sales, so there is not too much time. The second

milestone is that it will need to be approved by management. This process might take between

two weeks and a month. The second and third milestones are weekly team-based sales targets

and quarterly team-based sales targets. We need to measure and track our progress to know if the

team-based approach is working. The last milestone will be Christmas and New Year’s sales.

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 6

This will be the official end of the project. By the holidays, we will know if the project is

successful or a failure.

To achieve the project objective, there are several technical requirements. A better

customer service tracking system software will need to be implemented. The tracking system

will be maintained by the sales associates under the supervision of the store manager. For

instance, sales managers will log in how long an interaction took place and what language was

used. The WTC Oculus is a major tourist destination, so people from around the world speak

many languages. Another technical requirement will be a streamlined point-of-sales. Instead of

ringing someone up at the cash register, the sales associates will be equipped with iPad and

mobile card systems. This will streamline the sales process. Third, during their down time, sales

associates will be uploading and post to the Folli Follie’s NYC social media accounts. While the

sales associates have down-time between customers, part of their responsibilities will be to post

social media about the store. New sales associate hires need to be comfortable with social media.

Through Folli Follie’s social media accounts, employees will unveil new jewelry as soon as they

come in. The goal is to show that Folli Follie is not just a big corporation, but it is local and part

of the community.

The limits and exclusions will include a deadline for the new sales manual. The scope is

clearly defined as increasing sales by 25%. The sales manual will have to be researched, written,

and distributed within a month. The reason for this urgency is because Folli Follie in-store sales

are falling. After putting together a fast-tracked schedule (Figure 1), I know that the critical parts

will be getting approval from management. Therefore, I am proposing that management gives

me complete authority once they have approved the sales manual. I need to be able to implement

the customer loyalty program, new hiring process, and new team-based bonus within nine weeks.

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 7

My argument is that the new bonus structure and new hiring process will not require new money,

just new organization. If I need to go back for approval for every deliverable, the project will

take more than one year, and the store will close due to low sales. This is urgent.

It is important to develop a long-lasting relationship with the clients. At the point of

purchase, we will give them the option to submit their email address to be eligible for in-store

credit and other promotional events. Also, we want to hear feedback from customers. We will

develop short but informative questionnaires, asking about how their shopping experience was

and how it can be improved. Most importantly, the sales manual will emphasize that the

associates are the public face of the company. By implementing these new measures, I am

confident we can increase employee happiness and profit at the same time.

Figure 1:

MGTG 251-2141: Midterm 8

References

Underhill, Paco. Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping--Updated and Revised for the Internet,

the Global Consumer, and Beyond. Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Mackey, J., & Sisodia, R. (2014). Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of

Business. N.p.: Harvard Business Review Press.