Referencing Styles : Chicago KD Hifi, a large, publicly listed retailer was about to announce a major shift in retail strategy to their three most important constituencies: their staff, shareholders, and customers. With a long history in retailing, KD started out selling and car stereos in the 1980s. As entertainment technology changed, they moved into selling home entertainment systems, then CDs and DVDs. For a while, business was great, and they successfully added TVs, Blu-ray units, gaming consoles, cameras and computers to their product lines. However the rise of internet-provided music and video services meant that half their business had dropped to almost zero, as people turned away from physical media (Blu-ray discs, DVDs and CDs) to content streamed or downloaded from the internet. Worse still for KD, very aggressive online-only retailers were selling TVs, computers, gaming consoles and cameras directly to consumers, and were regularly undercutting KD’s prices by 50%. The board had been working with an international consulting firm who had recommended that instead of “tacking on” an online presence, that KD change their business model to a true “clicks and bricks” model, where consumers can shop online, and have their order fulfilled by pickup from their local store, or have their order delivered within 24 hours, and (if needed) installed with all packaging removed. This required a significant investment in technology for KD – they had to integrate a dynamic, highly fluid website with their inventory computer, and constantly synchronise data across 280 stores and 11 warehouses. Their consultant was working closely with KD’s Chief Human Resources officer to align HR policies and procedures with the new strategy, and identified three mission-critical sets of roles which needed extensive training and development to ensure the success of the new model. 1. Call processing centre. Staff here normally answered simple logistics questions from store staff, but the new business model needed call centre staff who had the ability to convert an incoming query from a customer to a sale. In addition, a totally new skill set was needed; “chat sales” – managing an internet enquiry via an e-mail or chat session to close a sale. This position has been redesigned – these staff were now the critical link between stores, warehouses, customers and the delivery team. 2. Logistics staff now had a much expanded role, rather than the simple one-way movement from the wholesaler to KD’s warehouses and then to stores, inventory models now had to be changed to reflect the need for a much more flexible inventory. More stock had to be held at the warehouse to enable rapid direct deployment to customers, and less stock had to be held in the stores themselves. In addition to the simple distribution skills currently in place, logistics staff now had to learn to forecast trends in demand from direct customers, balance those off with the needs of the stores. Further, they had to execute higher levels of intra-network stock between stores and warehouses. 3. Delivery and Installation. This is perhaps the most mission-critical position in the new model. KD and the consultants identified from their market research that delivery to consumers was the weak link in the pure “internet only” retailers. Most competitors used third party logistics providers, who shipped and delivered other general freight, including live animals, food, parcels and furniture. Deliveries were often squeezed in-between other clients, and attempts to schedule a delivery to certain time so a customer could be home to receive the goods usually ended badly, with freight companies having to make two or three attempts to deliver the goods. KD’s solution was to add smaller vans and trucks to their vehicle fleet, and to equip them with state-of-the-art GPS-controlled delivery technology. The intention is for call centre workers to be in constant contact with delivery staff and customers – timing deliveries to +/- 10 minutes of the scheduled time. In addition, for a set fee KD delivery staff would unpack, install and set up the goods. Included in the fee, KD’s staff will take away the packaging. Your task is to devise a comprehensive training program to prepare for the change in strategy. Your answer should be based on the Instructional Systems Design model of training and development. Job descriptions with performance metrics and rating scales are provided.