United Colors of Benetton: retail dealers management

The purpose of this study is to analyse retailers management of a multinational company, like United Colors of Benetton, on an international environment, like London, through the analysis of the most critical aspects of this policy.
The aim of the first chapter is to present methods and strategies for an effective analysis of human resources. The inclusion of this chapter in a study on international retail dealers management is very important to understand the strategies that the direct management could adopt in stores and their discretional limits in valuing the employees.
The analysis is focused on evaluation criteria and their objectivity/subjectivity levels and how they are used in the human resource evaluation.
The attempt of the second chapter is to provide interesting points on business culture and its importance in an international environment. Hofstede presents a theory of micro and macro- culture which can be easily used to interpret the context in which the company and its workers are immersed. The relevance of good communication channels is highlighted by the importance of the sales force representatives on the company’s image. They could convey positive or negative messages which could highly influence the business.
The “managerial view” considers the relationships between the company and its employees, representatives and managers. It is recommended in an international context even more competitive. Customer care is the reason for a solid competitive advantage creation in the clothes industry. It can and has to be reached developing and exploiting the strong points of a multiethnic staff in a multiethnic city. The ability to value and integrate cultural differences through shared targets could positively affect the business.
The third chapter is dedicated to retail dealers management proposing a study on abilities and skills that the sales assistants must provide. The accurate analysis by Levitt on the different roles of sales-oriented and market-oriented companies can be useful in order to understand how the sales force can be employed. Sales assistants properly formed can be an important resource for the company, not only dedicated to massive sales of outputs but also collecting information on market segments and their definitions, how to improve services and products and how to rationalise the distribution. The chapter would investigate what the conditions and the tools required to favour this process are. Obviously, the motivation and its factors are of utmost importance when speaking about retail dealers management. For that reason, this study analyses the Management By Objective (MBO) as a motivational tool. It consists in a variable part of the salary which amount depends on the attainment of a specific target.
The subject of the forth chapter is the work-teams and their strong points. The study presents some guidelines which can be followed to reach the maximum level of efficacy from this tool. The last part of the chapter is dedicated to the most common types of diseases which affect groups, with the inclusion of two experiments proving the seriousness of them.
The whole study finally finds its conclusion in the last chapter, where a work-teams strategy for retail dealers management is expound. The aim of the proposal, addressed to shop-floor assistants, is to limit the pressure of an MBO system on them and, consequently stress and conflict during the work.