Business Management Units 3 and 4 at Woolies
Our excursion to Woolworths Heidelberg, just across the road, was aimed at gaining a practical understanding of the grocery retail industry and how it connects with the concepts we’ve been exploring in our Business Management Units 3 and 4 course.
During our visit, we had the opportunity to speak with Ange, the Assistant Store Manager, who shared great insights into Woolworths' inner workings. She shared her experiences and highlighted several key areas that aligned with our coursework.
Woolworths uses key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the number of products sold per week and having a $1000 budget level for waste, something we were not aware of. Using these KPIs, Woolworths can make more informed decisions, develop strategic initiatives, and ultimately improve its performance across multiple sectors of the organisation.
We were also impressed with Woolworths' commitment to sustainability, which includes attempts to decrease waste, use renewable energy, and support local suppliers. We were informed about Woolworths' community involvement, such as giving grocery items to organisations like FareShare and farmers rather than allowing them to go to waste in landfill. The Assistant Store Manager discussed how these initiatives resonate with socially conscious customers, referring back to our corporate social responsibility unit.
Overall, the tour gave an excellent opportunity to put theory into practice, improving our understanding of the grocery retail sector and enriching our learning experience. The Assistant Store Manager's views proved particularly useful in bridging classroom principles to real-world applications.