JD Activities Fashion PLC is one of the leading UK specialist multiple retailer of fashionable branded and own brand activities and casual wear, principally through the development of its main shops - JD Sports (JDsports plc, 2009).
They currently operate over 400 stores spanning both Athletics and brand name fashion. Maximum benefits was being taken from the development in sales of international sports activities brands. JD manages in both UK and Republic of Ireland. The Group also offers a significant top quality young fashion offering following a acquisition of Scotts and Loan provider Fashion. These fascias have a mixed portfolio of more than 80 stores over the UK and are well known for their energetic method of the top quality fashion market with a new mix of brands created each season.
Job Description
I work in the capability of Senior Supervisor at the Colliers Timber branch. My predominant responsibilities as follows:
Analysed sales statistics and footfall reviews in order to forecast future sales amounts and arranged sales targets to increase profits on the weekly basis
Maintaining knowing of market styles in the retail industry, understanding forthcoming customer initiatives, and monitoring what local competition are doing
Initiating changes to increase the business, e. g. revising beginning hours to guarantee the store can compete effectively in the neighborhood market
Communicated, executed, and handled marketing and merchandising programs in-store
Managed special campaigns and events with regards to staffing, stock prices and stock churn etc for Christmas sales and summer season sales.
Manage store revenue, including cash handling, first deposit reconciliation, daily cash bank and cash flow
Manage staffing levels for all those departments (shoes, textiles, tills, delivery, stockroom), through recruitment & training, for 100% customer service, security and motivating employee morale
Ensuring successful use of payroll budget to ensure employees and work insert balance and optimize productivity, profitability and margins
Effectively manage worker turnover. Give a positive working environment and deal with employee issues correctly and in a timely manner.
Encourage store employees to adopt ownership for his or her performance and career development plans; follow up on a normal basis
Management of all store operational issues, to add store housekeeping, store administrative tasks, physical inventories, price changes, etc.
Responsible for the store's Health & Safety program and Store Loss Prevention Programs
Skills of a Manager
Kammy Hatnes uses a pyramid structure to be able to showcase the significantly difficult skills that professionals need today to achieve success.
John Reh explains for success for factors: plan, organize, direct, and control these are talked about below.
Plan
This is the most crucial step for any management task, it could vary in depth and detail predicated on different task nonetheless it is important. Many people relate this term with standard business planning, there are also different levels of planning: Strategic Planning, Tactical Planning, and Operational Planning. Also there kind be different varieties of planning: Catastrophe Planning, Succession Planning, Crisis Planning, Compensation Planning
Organize
Another essential aspect is to arrange teams, responsibilities, and tasks to get the task done in the most efficient and effective manner. There is a lot of overlap between planning and managing, while planning targets what you ought to do the organisation is approximately the operational and how effectively to have finished what has been prepared. Most important of all the manager needs to organise himself and his time for you to ensure they can organise and plan effectively. With constantly changing environment its important that organisation is a continuous factor which once done is not done.
Direct
Once a administrator has learned the skill of planning and organising their work it comes to escort the team in order to get the work done. It's important to first make sure they are understand what the final goal any particular one is aiming for is, and if they are clear on their roles and have the necessary resources.
Control
A more diplomatic way of phoning this factor is 'coordinate' which basically means being able to have control on the team's activities. This when as a administrator one needs to monitor the duty that the team is starting to be able to ensure that work is progressing based on the plan decided. In addition, it means arranging for unidentified factors like resources failing, sickness fireplace etc. , the work as a manager requires anyone to step in to reduce the hold off and ensure the plan is back on the right track.
Learning Styles
Different people have different learning styles all of them are based on the individual type and illustrate the simplest way that you can assimilate knowledge. For this report we will look at the Honey and Mumford's learning style questionnaire which helps in determining the preferred learning style for a manager (Swinton, 2009).
This can be an important facet for any professional as it can help to avoid repetition of mistakes. This is in order it allows an individual to undertake activities that conditioning other styles. For e. g. a cowboy approach to issues within the organization might be overcome by planning and arranging matters well beforehand. As elucidate by Swinton (2009), matching to this questionnaire there are four different types of learning styles determined, the facts of the same receive below:
Activists (Do)
Immerse themselves totally in new experiences
Enjoy here and now
Open minded, enthusiastic, flexible
Act first, consider consequences later
Seek to centre activity around themselves
Reflectors (Review)
Stand again and observe
Cautious, have a back seat
Collect and analyze data about experience and incidents, slow to reach conclusions
Use information from recent, present and immediate observations to keep up a major picture point of view.
Theorists (Conclude)
Think through problems in a rational manner, value rationality and objectivity
Assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories
Disciplined, aiming to fit things into rational order
Keen on basic assumptions, ideas, theories, models and systems thinking
Pragmatists (Plan)
Keen to place ideas, ideas and techniques into practice
Search new ideas and experiment
Act quickly and confidently on ideas, gets right to the point
Are impatient with endless discussion
Depending on these preferences, an individual would need different activities to create different reactions in the average person. To choose which learning method is suitable you should take into account your preference, nonetheless it is important for effective learning a good balance between the four styles.
The question that arises next is what exactly are the actions that will suit an individual with a inclination of a certain type. These activities are reviewed below:
Activist
You can become associated with new experiences
There is enjoyment and drama
You can have high presence, e. g. chairing a meeting, providing a presentation
You are thrown in at the deep end
You are participating with others
You can 'have a go'
You will love business games, role-playing exercises and competitive teamwork jobs (DSID, 2008)
Reflector
You are permitted to watch and think
You can stand back and observe others
You can think before acting
There is research involved
You can review what has occurred
You will enjoy assignments
Theorist
There can be an obvious system, principle or model you can follow through
There is time for you to explore the partnership between ideas and events
You can ask questions
You are extended intellectually
There is a clear purpose and reason to the learning
Pragmatist
There is an obvious hyperlink between what you are learning and the working environment
You are shown sensible techniques for resolving problems
You have a chance to practice techniques to check they work in practice
You are given with an instantaneous opportunity to placed into effect what you have learnt
MY PREFERRED LEARNING STYLES
Taking the aforementioned categories into consideration, I place myself in both 'Activist' and 'Pragmatist' categories. I am a wide open minded person with lot of enthusiasm in participating in new experience. I sometimes have a tendency to work first before actually come to conditions with its repercussions. I would like to get right to the idea and take action quickly and confidently on ideas whilst searching for new ideas and tests all the time. Hence, I really do possess learning tastes of both these organizations.
Personal Development Plan
Personal Development Plan (PDP) is a set up and backed process performed by a person to reflect after their own learning, performance and/or success and to plan for their personal, educational and profession development (London Met, 2009). The principal rationale behind a PDP is to help the individual to learn and develop better in order to set long and short term objectives, to realise what you need to achieve and also to understand your advantages, weaknesses, opportunities and danger. Matching to London Met (2009) pursuing are some of the other key benefits;
Learn in a wider variety of ways and a wider selection of contexts
Recognise and also list evidence on your own learning and then the progress you are making
Draw upon and use your widened personal knowledge to achieve particular goals
Review, plan and take responsibility on your own learning
Recognise and determine your training/learning needs.
Hence, to be able to handle my own PDP, it must execute a SWOT evaluation on myself.
STRENGTHS
Motivational Skills - I have the capability to motivate all level of personnel. I am a confident and full of energy person and I'd always like to cheer up my fellow workers among others around me to be able to get the perfect results from tasks in hand.
Negotiation skills - To be a marketer, this has helped me hugely in the past. I always make an effort to get the perfect bargain out of an deal.
Observational skills - I regard myself as a good observer. I monitor people and situations carefully, which allows me to prepare yourself in tacking certain issues, with a pre-gained knowledge.
Having analyzed at one of the better colleges in uk - My school is one of the renowned educational institutes in uk. Thus, I have a network of friends, who are retaining top positions round the world. They can be influential in my professional and personal endeavors.
Computer literacy - I am highly computer literate and I could use most of the normal applications with an advance knowledge. This might give me an higher submit finding a job.
WEAKNESSES
Poor time management skills - Sometimes I have a tendency to procrastinate considerations until they become immediate. Doing it last minute often put me under severe pressure, sometime jeopardizing the quality of the results.
Big spending - My bills are usually high. I have a tendency to spend quite a lot on clothes, nights outs etc. This impacts my savings that I should keep away for emergencies.
OPPORTUNITIES
MBA leads - Conclusion of the MBA will start a whole lot of avenues and will help me to go up in the corporate ladder in quick time.
Self-employment - I've a family run business back home in my own country. Therefore, I will be in a position to apply my knowledge that I gain from my MBA into its development.
Promotions within my current career - As I've excelled well in my supervisory role at JD, once I have completed my MBA I can apply for store supervisor vacancies across London.
THREATS
Increased graduate unemployment round the world - Recent and prevailing tough economy has kept many graduates finding difficult to obtain a job. Hence, must i be to improve my career, it'll be a real concern for me to contend with them.
Many people doing MBAs - In recent years demand for MBA has truly gone up. Hence, there a wide range of MBA trained graduates out there, fighting for the same job.
Based on the above mentioned self-awareness SWOT research, I have list down my immediate Personal Development Plan that i intend to go after after conclusion of my MBA.
OBJECTIVE
To become the store supervisor and then the area supervisor within next 4 years.
STRUCTURE
Acquiring the MBA. I further need to participate in Supervisor Training Programmes conducted by JD Sports activities, Onsite training at different stores, Managers training programme at head office to be able gain the required technical and managerial skills.
TIME LIMIT
To end up being the store administrator within 10 months of completion of my studies and then to be an area supervisor within next three years.
RESOURCES NEEDED
Support required by current store administrator and the region administrator to ensure training time. Gain experience through request of different operations. Working in several stores with differing formats to understand the necessity of every format type and its own nuances.
KOLB & LEWIN MODEL
I would like to introduce this method to measure personal performance. Learning styles specially business deal with characteristic varieties of learning Kolb (1984) implies a theory of experiential learning that involves four major levels: tangle experience, reflective observation, theoretical conceptualization, and strenuous experimentation.
The CE/AC and AE/RO proportions are glacial opposites so far as learning methods are concerned and Kolb postulates four types of beginners (divergers, assimilators, convergers and accommodators) depending upon their location on these two dimensions. For example, an accommodator prefers tangible encounters and strenuous experimentation (AE/CE)
An ordinary approach to browsing learning styles is linked to a learning series of experience, monitoring and reflection image, construction and then screening of ideas. Although commonly referred to as the Kolb learning circuit this round was proposed by Kurt Lewin who got the theory from manage anatomist. Kolb (1984) popularized Lewins proposal (hence the common title)
The four steps of the experiential learning routine are:
1. Cement experience
2. Observation and reflection
3. Abstract conceptualization
4. Testing concepts in new situations
The pattern is a continuing course with the the present "concrete experience "being the basis for observations and reflections, which permit the expansion of your 'theory 'the 'theory' is then examined in new situations to direct to more concrete experience.
Kolb developed from the Lewin sculpt the theory that students have a overriding period of the routine where they would prefer to learn and therefore will contain preferred settings of learning. In order to identify the most well-liked learn and learning styles, Kolb developed a learning style record that determined student's inclination for the four modes corresponding to the periods in the learning series.
Conclusion
To understand the business requirements of the stores working from a alternative approach, including all process engaged. To understand the several merchandising options for different store formats and gain good experience in the same. Understanding of the financial areas of the firm in order to best manage them in order to be financially effective. Learning how to best manage available resources to ensure the stores have the ability to provide excellent customer support at all times. JD way of behaving is very competitive.
It is of vital importance that JD recognizes its internal environment and the the areas those factors could be increased respect to the current monetary situation in the country and the globe.
It would be interesting to allow them to keep intensifying and diversification to capture a higher amount of customers developing athletics clothes launching choices for folks not in the JD lines and to make sizes from the 34 to 44
Internally the company achieved to from an organizational culture and framework, specifically made to maximize results in conditions of productivity and groth. more over evidence facilitates that the group supports an considerable training programme because of its employees revolving around control and education.
