The business strategy of Nordstrom tends to focus on the superior customer’s loyalty and experience while emphasizing the availability of the best services to generate the company’s revenue and enhance the overall performance (Lutz, 2014). The company pays vehement attention to the ability of the workforce to meet the organizational goals and objectives (Weston, 1999). Meanwhile, the compliance of the critical performance variables and diagnostic control system with the initial strategy are the primary contributors to the company’s success.
One of the crucial components of the firm’s success is the customer-centred approach, as it implies prioritizing the relationships with the clients as the primary drivers of success. In this case, the company discovers the importance of HRM and ER strategies while motivating the employees by a financial reward system and store commission-selling program (Weston, 1999). It could be said that the actions are driven by the potential remuneration for the performed sales (Weston, 1999; Salaman, Storey, & Billsberry, 2005).
In this case, the reward system and payment for the completed work and performance are the core elements of the company’s HR strategy, and as a consequence, this tactic complies with Nordstrom’s cost-optimization initiatives.
It could be stated that the indicators and managerial systems set within the organization increase the rivalry among the employees and lead to the upsurge in sales and development of the strong customer’s base. Meanwhile, the utilization of these approaches helps minimize the costs related to the additional duties performed by the employees. The compliance of these strategic initiatives with the company’s tactics increases its recognition while makes it one of the brightest examples of best customer’s service in the retail segment (Solomon, 2016).
Nonetheless, despite the initial positive intentions and desire to enhance the growth of the revenues, the company experienced the court suit due to the violation of the working conditions and labour law (Weston, 1999). This incidence reflects the ineffectiveness of harsh management tactics determines that the best practices approach has to be prioritized due to its possibility to build the social capital, increase employees’ competences, and cultivate a friendly atmosphere in the organization (Salaman et al., 2005).
In turn, this problem portrays the fact that the ethical concepts and morale cannot be underestimated, as they affect the attitudes among the employees (Wiley, 2000). Based on the factors provided above, it could be summarized that an increase in the financial capital could not be prioritized over the employees, as the commitment and attitudes of the workforce define the overall performance and quality of the services.
The failure required the company to rediscover its monitoring and control systems and make working conditions and corporate culture critical to the company’s success. This innovation helped the company rehabilitate and expand its market shares by using e-commerce and superior service quality (Loeb, 2014; Loeb, 2015). Meanwhile, the compensation system could still be employed, but its principles have to be modified to ensure the availability of the favourable conditions for the continuous learning and development of the workforce (Stewart & Brown, 2009). In the end, the role of the employees cannot be underestimated while the disrespect might be the primary cause of the inability to reach the business strategy.
Money occupies a substantial part in the modern world while enabling the exchange of goods and products to satisfy the endless needs of the consumers. I can claim that money is one of the key motivators for working and completing additional tasks. The case of Nordstrom helps see that money was the primary definer of the managerial decision-making. The leaders of the company were prepared to sacrifice the favourable conditions of the workforce to reach higher revenues.
Despite its paramount importance, I can state that the money is the only driver for actions when working in the organization and performing particular duties. Nonetheless, the respect and friendly atmosphere at the workplace will be critically vital since they define the commitment, contribution, and desire to participate in the working processes. The situation at Nordstrom supports this idea, as the employees’ were seeking for learning and development. Alas, their leaders were focused on profits and did not consider the employees as the significant assets of the company. This misconception was a driver for the development of the adverse attitudes among the workforce and led to the court suit.
This incidence damaged company’s image and reputation. Consequently, this situation should become a lesson for other firms, and the example of Nordstrom clearly supports my viewpoint of money as a motivating factor.
As for the employee’s opinion, the opportunities for growth, continuous learning, and development could be discovered as equal priorities, as the absence of learning leads to stagnation and degradation of a person. I tend to believe that money is not as important as the aspects mentioned above. Nonetheless, the absence of a stable income will affect the living conditions and learning possibilities adversely. A combination of these features highlights the fact that an employee has to be able to ensure the presence of both components (money and desire to learn) to improve well-being at his/her workplace.
References
Loeb, W. (2014). Want to see the future of retailing? Check Nordstrom. Forbes. Web.
Loeb, W. (2015). Nordstrom’s results say its strategy is spot on. Forbes. Web.
Lutz, A. (2014). Nordstrom’s simple strategy for beating everyone else in retail. Business Insider. Web.
Salaman, G., Storey, J., & Billsberry, J. (2005). Strategic human resource management: Theory and practice. London, UK: The Open University and SAGE Publications.
Solomon, (2016). What any business can learn from Nordstrom customer service. Forbes. Web.
Stewart, G., & Brown, K. (2009). Motivating employees through compensation. In G. Stewart & K. Brown (Eds.), Human resource management: Linking strategy to practice (pp. 401-441). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Weston, H. (1999). Nordstrom: Dissension in the ranks? Web.
Wiley, C. (2000). Ethical standards for human resource management professionals: A comparative analysis of five major codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 25, 93-114.