Kudler's Information Technology Solution

Kudler Information Technology solution is an analysis of low cost solutions for the business challenges faced by Kudler through the effective use of information technology.

Kudler’s Current Issues

Kudler’s fine foods is in the process of developing a system to track customer purchase behavior to meet the goals of customer satisfaction. Kudler is using Quick Books to manage their HR and have no central file area for records of the employees and also time sheets are filled out manually. Kudler’s does not have central purchasing system managers are responsible for procuring the items depending on the need and promotes its business through newspapers. Kudler uses Point-of-sale system to record accounting data and accounting is done manually. Kudler’s major concern is excess amount of inventory that potentially costs money and there is no central inventory system that can be used by managers. Kudler uses historical data to forecast future sales. Finally, Kudler’s Fine Foods has no Legal Department in place. It uses tax Attorney as its legal counsel and most of the slip and fall cases are settled out of court to keep company’s expenses to a minimum (Apollo Group Inc, 2007).

Kudler’s Comprehensive IT Solution

Sales and Marketing: Businesses like Kudler should stop wasting money on marketing and should start getting business building results through the use of a systematic and predictable marketing approach. Sugar CRM software helps in creating marketing foundation and build on it to generate consistent leads to grow business and achieve business objectives. It is possible to develop a customer facing web application efficiently to deliver services to customers and suppiers and Customer self service and Customer satisfaction surveys and Partner Relationship Management also can be implemented through its portal. It discusses tactics for nurture marketing, referral marketing, installed base leverage and how to use the web and social media to amplify you the message. The software pricing is $360 to $600 per user per year (SugarCRM Inc, 2004).

Operations and Logistics: Kudler should integrate RFID into their business model as it an excellent business tool that helps in managing supply chain better by automating what used to be done manually. By adopting RFID, Kudler can replace manual process of tracking supplies in warehouses, gives a clear picture of item availability, updates inventory in hours that usually takes days, and receive purchase orders instead of manually entering the information and reduce labor cost by reducing the workforce needed for tracking and inventory management and reduce human errors. Customer will have the access to many items through their web services and know the availability of the any item as web is connected to real time store. With the reduction of labor costs and error free environment, Kudler can attract more customers by offering better prices for an item. RFID tags can cost as little as 50 cents or as much as $50 depending on the type of the tag, the application, and the volume of the order (AIM Organization, 2010).

Human Resources: EPICOR’s human resources management system is a comprehensive solution to streamline Kudler’s HR process. It’s functions include recruiting and training, payroll, attendance management and has an option of employee self service, which can empower employees and managers by providing information and access to their personal records and their payroll details and to view, update and modify the information anytime and can generate reports with just a click of a mouse and most important fill time sheets online. Payroll handles the process of employee paychecks and provides required reporting. With all the information, tracking applicants information is easy as it reduces manual workload, relieves paperwork headaches, and reduces employee management costs. The software average total cost per user is $9,644 (Epicor Software Corporation).

Legal Departments: To better understand business risks, Kudler should become familiar with compliance database tools such as Lexis Nexis. It is an affordable solution for all the common legal issues as it provides users with tools for electronic discovery, evidence management, case analysis, court docket tracking, e-filing, witness identification and most important legal document preparation that is much less expensive than hiring an attorney. The process is simple and stress free and helps in preventing fraud, to stay in compliance with the law, identify risks, protects assets and finally saves time and money and at the same time keeps the legal expense to a minimum. The price for an article is $4 to $9 or user can subscribe to weekly or monthly access to the database at a price range of $30 to $250 respectively (LexisNexis, 2010).

Conclusion

The IT solutions discussed above will help Kudler’s streamline operations across the entire business from human resources management, financials to purchasing and supply chain, and marketing, and sales. Customized IT network ensures all employees have access to the data they need, build a secure IT environment that will meet Kudler’s specific regulatory requirements, implement the best IT solutions to meet Kudler’s current and future IT needs that result in a high quality system that exceeds customer expectations and works efficiently in the current infrastructure.

References

Apollo Group, Inc. (2007). Kudler’s Fine Foods. Retrieved November 18, 2010 from: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler/Internet/KudlerPort.htm

SugarCRM, 2004. Retrieved from: http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/taxonomy/term/743

Epicor Software corporation. Retrieved from: http://www.epicor.com/Company/PressRoom/Documents/Aberdeen%20ERP%20TCO%20Midsize_July%202007.pdf

AIM Organization, 2010, Retrieved November 18, 2010 from: http://www.rfid.org/

LexisNexis (2010). About Us. LexisNexis, a Division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved November 18, 2010 from: http://web.lexis.com/xchange/ccsubs/cc_prods.asp

Kudler Fine Foods’ Legal Focus

Kudler Fine Foods’ Legal Focus

Kudler’s Legal Issues (1 POINT)

Kudler’s Fine Foods uses Anne Shousha as its legal counsel. Anne is Kathy Kudler’s sister-in-law and is a successful tax attorney with a prominent law firm in San Diego. Kathy relies on Anne for legal advice. Kathy asks Anne for legal advice during informal telephone calls or at family gatherings which are free, but formal meetings are 100 dollars per hour. Through this arrangement, Kathy has managed to keep the company’s legal expenses to a minimum. Anne suggest to Kathy that litigation cases such as slip and fall accidents should be settled out of court because court is like "throwing the dice" (Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). In every case reported to Anne by Kathy, she has always suggested settlement over court. Although Kudler is a small business and have no legal issues at this moment, it could happen anytime and also there are always those people looking for an easy dollar and willing to sue anyone to get it. So, to avoid such legal issues Kudler should have a sound legal system in place (Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003).

Kudler and Industry Competitor (3 POINTS)

The Kroger Co. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger (NYSE:KR) is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers, that include grocery and multi-department stores, convenience stores and mall jewelry stores (The Kroger Co). Kroger has a separate Legal Department with a group of Lawyers to handle different Legal issues in the company. Kudler Fine Foods does not have a legal department. Kathy relies on a tax attorney for legal advice. A tax Attorney is not a correct choice to deal with legal issues so, better opportunity for the company’s success is to hire a qualified lawyer who is more educated and experienced in the legal workings of a business.

Kroger has faced a relatively long list of legal issues stemming from its acquisition of Fred Meyer and Ralph’s Grocery. Among them include a settlement in 2006 over illegal hiring practices that occurred during a 141 day labor dispute. Potential legal issues for Kroger have also loomed in connection with Ralph’s alleged improper accounting practices (Marketing Teacher Ltd, 2010). Although Kudler Fine Foods is a small business compared to Kroger, it has no legal issues at this moment, but has to deal with cases such as slip and fall accidents and are settled out of court to save on expense. Kudler follows responsible labor and accounting practices and is in compliance with the law and regulations (Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003).

Resolution of Kudler’s Legal Issues (3 POINTS)

Torts: Any lawsuit filed for a physical, legal, or economic harm is going to fall under tort law. There are three kinds of torts – intentional, negligent and strict liability torts. If Kudler expands, it could expect Tort issues. Kudler could avoid any problem with the law by following legal procedures.

Negligence: “Persons who sell or supply food products for human consumption must exercise due care and diligence regarding the “fitness” of the product” (Food Safety and Technology, 2009). Food suppliers such as Kudler’s must exercise good food safety practices or else may be held liable for any negligence on their part that contaminated the food and caused persons who purchased the food to become ill.

Product liability: Product liability laws helps ”protect consumers from dangerous products, while holding manufacturers, distributors, and retailers responsible for putting into the marketplace products that they knew or should have known were dangerous or defective”(ExpertLaw). Kudler could avoid Product Liability cases by simply following good food safety practices.

Defamation: “Defamation is a legal action sounding in tort based on an intentional or reckless public false statement that injures another person's reputation. Libel and slander are types of defamation”(MegaLaw). To avoid defamation, Kudler should never use low-cost ingredients and it should live up to its claims about the product.

Injuries to customers: Employees working in the food industry can suffer from injuries, illnesses and deaths like any other workplace. Therefore food industry employees receive special instructions and training on how to prevent these injuries and follow occupational safety regulations. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration makes random safety inspections to food establishments to ensure the safety needs of the employees, customers and visitors are being met (Occupational Safety).

HR issues: Human resources can be a challenge for a small business. Legal aspects of recruiting and hiring should be a concern for any company. To make sure Kudler stays in compliance, it is advisable for them to regularly check their flow statistic to make sure they are not violating any rules or regulations.

Deployment of Compliance Database Tools (3 POINTS)

Kudler’s Fine Foods should modify its legal department to minimize or eliminate the risks of costly litigation lawsuits. To assist in avoidance strategies, Kudler could use Research compliance database tools such as LexisNexis which provides users with tools for electronic discovery, evidence management, case analysis, court docket tracking, e-filing, witness identification and most importantly legal document preparation which is much less expensive than hiring an attorney. Not every legal situation requires an attorney. Sometimes it can be resolved simply by creating and filing the proper legal forms. Sometimes the facts or details of a case are so "typical" or "common" that handling the matter on your own is simple, timely and cost-effective. In these types of situations, LexisNexis can help and keep the companies legal expense to a minimum (LexisNexis).

References

Virtual Organizations: Apollo Group, Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003, Retrieved from:https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler/Admin/KudlerAdmin002.htm

The Kroger Co, Retrieved from: http://www.thekrogerco.com/

Marketing Teacher Ltd, 2010, Analysis Kroger, Retrieved from: http://marketingteacher.com/swot/kroger-swot.html

Food Safety and Technology, 2009, Retrieved from: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/FST-32.pdf

Megalaw, Retrieved from: http://www.megalaw.com/top/defamation.php

ExpertLaw, Retrieved from: http://www.expertlaw.com/library/product_liability/product_liability.html

Occupational Safety in the Food Industry, Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/about_5608303_occupational-safety-food-industry.html#ixzz15J6HnUhQ

LexisNexis, Retrieved from: http://www.lexisnexis.com/

Kudler’s Operations and Logistics Department

Kudler’s Operations and Logistics Department (1 pt)

Kudler’s does not have central purchasing system and each store manager is responsible for determining requirements for the items their department sells and places purchase orders directly and also responsible to obtain best price, quality and, delivery possible. Kathy prepares the advertisement on her own for the local news paper and these specials are available in all the stores simultaneously. She make sure all the stores have enough inventory and if need merchandise can be moved between the stores based on demand. Each store has to maintain accounting data individually which are collected by the point-of-sale terminals for inventory management and accounting. Kudler’s main concern about the excess amount inventory which potentially costs money and there is no central inventory system that can used by managers. Forecasting is always been a challenge for Kathy and her managers. They use the historical data on which items are sold and what quantities were sold in the past. But this process is not good and always difficult to determine the forecast turning points(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003).

Analysis and Comparison of Kudler’s Operations and Logistics Department (3 pts)

Whole Foods Market's stores are targeted at consumers who are health and/or environmentally conscious and their main competitors are stores like The Fresh Market and Trader Joe's as well as many local natural food supermarkets and farmer's markets(Whole Foods Market, 2010). Kudler Fine Foods has decided to enter into contracts with local organic farmers to provide fresh organic produce to Kudler's stores. Considering the company’s strengths of no direct competition, variety of choices, and business concept, gives Kudler potential growth opportunities(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003).

Whole Foods buying is done on both the regional and national level and the items would be bought by corporate and distributed through the nine distribution centers. The corporate website provides clear instructions for local vendors to submit requests for new items to the regional offices. Whole Foods Market is actually cheaper than most of the other organic stores because of the stores ability to buy in larger amounts(Whole Foods Market, 2010). Although Kudler is small business, it could follow the principles of whole foods for buying and pricing strategy(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003).

Whole Foods uses a central financial management and accounting system from Peoplesoft. The system consolidates the company’s financial reporting, and makes all vendor payments. It also uses effective inventory management to achieve improved sales and profit(Whole Foods Market, 2010). Kudler uses outdated (point-of-sale) system to record accounting data. The fact that the store’s main operations are under the owner’s control is a major concern. The inventory process is one of the things that she needs to delegate with the implementation of new inventory system that facilitates the sales track according with the demand and season of the year(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003).

Kudler’s Operations and Logistics Issues (3 pts)

· Purchasing: Although there is no purchasing department in any of the Kudler Fine Foods' stores, standard purchasing procedures are in place. The store managers from each Kudler Fine Food location determines what to buy and places a purchase order “directly with suppliers using a purchase order form that is standard between the three stores. The purchase order form is always filled out initially and becomes the key tracking and financial document for an order” (Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). Kudler could use Internet to track purchases, manage stock levels, and streamline ordering and payment processes, and build better relations with suppliers. It allows negotiating better prices for the products eliminates errors due to rewriting or re-keying data, and speeding up the payment process by processing invoices electronically and also incorporate a purchase order facility—reduces costs involved in order processing and invoice processing. (International trade centre,1991)

· Advertising: Kudler Fine Foods promotes it’s business through Newspapers. It is impossible to get a good idea of how many people see advertising through newspapers and more over it is expensive(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). Kudler could use internet as it is much cheaper than traditional method and also can be a great way to get the word out there about it’s service or product in a cost-effective, efficient way.

· Accounting: Kudler uses Point-of-sale system to record accounting data and accounting is done manually. Manual records are very difficult to be maintained safe and are subject to greater human error(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). Kudler could use user friendly Accounting software package for Automatic generation of accounting documents like invoices, cheques, statement of account and useful reports which are safe for management to make decisions.

· Inventory Management: Kudler carrys higher levels of inventory for maintaining high customer service levels for the items they sell. A customer service level of 95% has been a general goal for a number of items carried. 95% means that 95% of the time a customer will find merchandise available in a store. 5% of the time there will be no merchandise due to a previous stock-out. Excess inventory is always a concern since it represents company monies being tied up in merchandise that is not moving or generating further income(Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). Successful inventory management involves balancing the costs with the benefits of inventory. keeping too much inventory and not enough is not the manager's only concern. Others include: Keeping stock low, Having an adequate inventory on hand (Inventory Management).

· Forecasting: Kudler utilizes historical data to forecast future sales. The accuracy of this forecasting method has not been as good as desired and has resulted in the obsolete of some merchandise and in offering others at drastic discounts (Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). Kudler could use business forecasting tools to anticipate economic trends and prepare themselves either to benefit from or to counteract them.

· Merchandise Selection and Pricing: Kathy selects new gourmet food items by monitoring other gourmet foods stores, advertisement in gourmet magazines, gourmet conventions, and gourmet Web sites. Kathy and her staff decides on the price of the new merchandise after sampling the items at the meeting (Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003). The company like Kudler which offers a wide variety of items should consider internet for it’s merchandise as it is convenient and offer a wider selection at better prices.

Recommendations (3pts)

Kudler fine foods are growing out of its current operation and logistic systems. Methods that worked for a one store operation have become cumbersome and time consuming. Kudler fine foods should streamline its information technology. This would improve Kudler’s logistics and operations by eliminating reducing tasks, redundant tasks, and becoming an industry pioneer. The single most important step Kudler Fine Foods should take to improve operations and logistics is to update information technology system. The fact that the store’s main operations are under the Kathy’s control is a major concern. The inventory process is one of the things that she needs to delegate with the implementation of new inventory system that facilitates the sales track according with the demand and season of the year. This could be accomplished with the combination of a new management and a modern automated system. Having more control and an accurate inventory can help to reduce the costs and lost of perishable goods, and therefore increase profits. Additionally, there is the possibility of sales increase by implementing a marketing strategy using the business website as a sales tool.

References

Virtual Organizations: Apollo Group, Kudler’s Fine Foods, 2003, Retrieved from:

https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler/Operations/KudlerOps001.htm

International trade centre,1999, Retrieved from: http://www.tradeforum.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/108/Manage_Purchasing_with_the_Internet.html

Inventory Management, Floyd D. Hedrick, Frank C. Barnes, Edward W. Davis, D. Clay Whybark, and Murray Krieger, Retrieved from:

http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/pub_mp22.pdf

Whole Foods Market, 2010, Retrieved from: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Kudler Fine Foods’ Human Resource Focus

Kudler Fine Foods’ Human Resource Focus (10 points)

Benchmark Kudler Against Competitor (2 pts)

Sunflower Farmers Markets is a rapidly growing chain of full-service grocery stores offering consumers the highest quality natural and organic products at the lowest possible price. The company, founded in 2002, is a pioneer in developing the emerging value segment of the natural and organic foods retailing industry. They have remained true to their motto “Serious Food Silly Prices” since the market’s inception. The company has over 30 retail stores located throughout Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Texas. Sunflower markets format and retail operation is similar to Kudler Fine Foods and both focuses on customer loyalty and profitability of consumers.

Current HR System and Issues (2 pts)

Kudler Fine Foods Current HR system uses Quick books for tracking applicants, timesheets, and payroll system. Kudler face the challenges of payroll system, timesheets and performance assessments of its current and potential employees. Time sheets are filled out manually by the employees and approved by manager and faxed to accounting which doesn’t seem to be reliable. Individual store managers are responsible of tracking time off and vacation time of the employees. The store manager has all of the employee files for the employees in the store, there is no central file area and procedures for records that need to be handled by many people.

Employee Self-service (2 pts)

Kudler can utilize Employee Self Service Web based application to better manage Human resource and benefits. It can improve information accuracy and decrease administrative hassles. At the same time, it can empower employees by providing information and access to their personal records and their payroll details to them on a 24 x 7basis. It allows employees and managers to view, update and modify the information anytime and managers can generate reports with just a click of a mouse.

Internet Technology and E-learning (2 pts)

Discuss ways an e-learning program could improve the training culture within Kudler by making training programs more accessible to their employees.

E-Learning is one of the best training methods for employee development and training programs and it seems to be the suitable training method for Kudler as e-learning allows organizations to train a large amount of employees in a time-flexible manner and independent of location. E-learning allows to educate the employees about products in order to help them to help customers on the shop floor, and are then able to advise the customers accordingly.

Recommendation (2 pts)

Kudler Fine Foods can utilize technology to expand and improve their business because IT plays an important role in profitability by improving productivity and competition. Kudler uses old outdated administrative system of tracking applications, timesheets and payroll system that is not reliable and at the same time lacks backup. So my recommendation is to use centralized filing system where all the related data is kept together without duplication and improves security.

References

Apollo Group, Inc. Virtual Organizations: Kudler Fine Food’s, 2008.

https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler/KudlerHome002.htm

Sun Flower Market, 2010.

http://www.sfmarkets.com
http://www.lead411.com/company_SunflowerFarmersMarkets_Gilliland_573279.html

Kudler Fine Foods' Overview and Marketing Focus

Kudler Fine Foods' Overview and Marketing Focus

Kudler Fine Foods (.5 pts)

Kudler Fine Foods is a gourmet food store that carries domestic and imported foods like fresh bakery and pastries, fresh produce, fresh meat, and Seafood, Condiments and Packaged Foods, Cheese’s and Specialty Dairy Products. Kudler Fine Foods was established by Kathy Kudler the owner and founder in 1998. The company has three locations (La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas). Kathy Kudler Gourmet food store was born out of frustration of not being able to find a suitable gourmet store in the neighborhood. So she went on to establish her very own gourmet food store called Kudler Fine Foods, located in La Jolla, California (Kudler Fine Food’s 2008).

Kudler’s Current Sales and Marketing Issues (.5 pts)

Kudler’s Marketing Strategy is to increase loyalty and profitability of consumer by expanding services, increased efficiency, and frequent shopper program. Kudler is continuing to expand the business and at the same time expanding its services to meet the goals of customer satisfaction. However, the company is in process of developing a system to track the customer purchase behavior because the surveys conducted in 2007 show the customer dissatisfaction and working toward improving the customer satisfaction (Kudler Fine Food’s 2008).

Kudler’s Marketing Strategies Using the Four P's of Marketing (2 pts)

The Marketing Mix used by Kudler Fine Foods to sell goods and services to target customers are as follows: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

1. Product (existing products and new offerings):

The store started frequent purchase program that will give them valuable data on customer purchase patterns. Sales will work with purchasing to adjust the product offerings on shelf and it is a bundle of benefits that is being delivered to meet the needs of the customers. This analysis will evaluate frequently purchased items with their corresponding profit margin and fit within the product mix.

2. Pricing (pricing, promotions, and discounts):

The store is using a cost-plus minimum pricing strategy to hit minimum 5% margin threshold, combined with a market-based strategy to build in additional margin around what the market is willing to bear. The promotions such as the frequent purchaser and the cooking classes are designed to be self-funding. The store offers value addedservices rather than discounts to its customers (Kudler Fine Foods, Sales and Marketing: Sales Plan, p. 1).

3. Promotions (customer and sales):

With the successful implementation of the customer promotion programs such as cooking class and frequent purchaser program the store has the potential to earn a bonus of up to 7% of their base salary.

4. Place (expansion, emphasis on locations or customer regions):

At this time, The store is focusing on improving the existing locations. However, its considering new ways to expand the business geographically in the future.

Consumer Behavior (.5 pts)

The customer purchase behavior patters will help Kudler refine its processes and offerings to best satisfy their valued customers. Price is not the primary differentiating factor for Kudler consumers; these consumers are focused on quality and finding specialized items. Therefore, rather than providing discounts to the customers for their purchase frequency like lower end markets, Kudler has partnered with a loyalty points program to provide customers with points that can be redeemed for high end gift items, airline first-class upgrades, or other specialty foods (Kudler Fine Foods, Sales and Marketing: Sales Plan, p. 1).

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) (.5 pts)

Kudler emphasis is delighting new and existing customers. As a sales organization, this means it must actively analyze the customer data to provide products and services that exceed customer needs. Every person influencing the sales organization will be expected to complete the course “Using Customer Data to Create Happy, Profitable Customers” within the first quarter of 2007 (Kudler Fine Foods, Sales and Marketing: Sales Plan, p. 1).

Recommendation(s) (1 pt)

Kudler’s sales goals are

· New Customer Focused Programs

· Better Information Management

· Targeted Awareness Building

· Increased Behind the Scenes Efficiency (Kudler Fine Foods, Sales and Marketing: Sales Plan, p. 1)

Kudler recognizes the importance of word of mouth and social media marketing to acquire new customers. “The firms that gain loyal customers by providing unique value is the essence of successful marketing” (Kerin, Chapter 1, p. 14). Kudler should develop new strategies like have a customer referral program and Affiliate Marketing because such programs encourage customer loyalty and at the same time helps in achieving goals.

With the referral marketing strategy, Kudler can create opportunities for people to refer business. Customers can provide testimonials to convince others how good the products are thus increasing the customer base. Affiliate marketing is alliance partnership method of marketing that can provide passive income for the business. “Simply stated it’s a pay for performance marketing” (Denise, O’Berry, 2006, p. 122).

References

Virtual Organizations: Kudler Fine Food’s, 2008.

https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler/KudlerHome002.htm

Kerin, Roger A. Hartley, Steven W. Berkowitz, Eric N. Rudelius, William (2006) Marketing, 8e. New York. The McGraw-Hill companies

Denise, O’Berry, 2006, p. 122

http://books.google.com/books?id=hRR96wOTAGIC&pg=PA122&dq=business+strategies+catering&hl=en&ei=KMbETLHxHYH6swPV2M2cDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=business%20strategies%20catering&f=false