Introduction
A face to face interview was conducted with one of the top employees by the name Korey Burns, who works at PetSmart Company as the marketing specialist. He agreed to have an interview at his office in the company where he agreed to share some of the company's information. The primary topic discussed in the interview was about innovation and strategies that the company is applying to remain relevant in the competitive market. First, innovation is known to be a crucial part of every company. Innovation has a significant task of driving customers' engagement with the company. Development, delivery, as well as evaluation and support, are just some of the best practices used in the definition of innovation. The main purpose of this essay is to interview Korey Burns from PetSmart Company in order to understand better how these practices are met and lastly provide a recommendation for the company.
Interview Questions
What efforts is top management putting in place to support innovation?
First of all, PetSmart is a company that is well known all over the country for its innovative ideas as well as how it is structured. One thing that the customers, as well as investors, love about the company is the fact that it operates in a friendly environment where doors are always open for new suggestions and ideas to the way the company is operated. They are all encouraged to speak to all leaders without any hindrance, which leaves customers happy and satisfied. In other words, company leaders are always supportive when it comes to creative thinking.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Does everybody devote part of their daily attention to having a better business model?
To be frank, yes. Every worker in this company does work that is not only fit for them but also for the good and interest of the company and most importantly what is best for the customers as well.
Is it clear to everybody how the company intends to innovate?
Regarding employee awareness, the company has done its level best to make sure that the employees and everybody else in the company are reasonably aware of what to do for the good of the company. PetSmart Company has, in all ways, do its best to ensure that everyone is well informed. However in some cases just like any other company, the workers might not be sure of the end goal of the company.
Does creativity or bureaucracy crowd out innovation?
The answer to that question is both yes and no. The reason as to why I have said so is because the major challenge to the company is how the employees have been given different tasks hence causing confusion at the end. Creativity is needed to promote one thing while forgetting the other in the long run hence requiring collaboration at all levels.
What are the reasons, if any, that explains why innovation is not as effective as you want it to be?
The main reason that I can give out is in regards to the systems used the company which is old and out-dated while the others keep on breaking down and hence the company needs to look into new ones.
How does your company leverage its internal talent and its access to external talent?
Starting with the internal talent of the company, the company has formed a department that is in charge of the skill development tool which is responsible for training the employees and other staffs in the company. This is also a place where the employees are given a place to gain added skills to their careers. On the other hand, the company goes for various career fairs all over the country in order to get access to external talent. These tours allow the company to meet and create a partnership with other workers for other companies to gain their knowledge of business matters.
How do performance measures and rewards affect innovation?
The innovation is affected when the Bi-yearly check-ins which are used to see and explore what kind of improvements are needed are used. This means that the yearly performance is the ones reviewed then used where bonuses are given out its sales goals are met.
What are the constraints or barriers to innovation?
So far the company is doing well and there are no barriers confirmed so far at the moment.
How do you leverage various outside constituencies in innovation?
The leveraging process is done through working with different vendors who will be given the responsibility of going over the marking materials. The company works with them closely to make sure that the products and services are in line with the PetSmart standards and later getting feedback which is used to make the products and collaboration better.
Analysis of the Responses
One of the innovative stages that have been really considered by the company is Define stage which focuses on what the company had hoped for at the end of the initial process. This stage emphasizes on the desired goals as well as the outcomes and relationship the company has with its clients, and this was clear in the interview I had with Korey that customer satisfaction was the main goal of the company (Dembowski, 2013). The process and stage on which the company starts mapping all of the components in regards to the production process and results are known as the development stage of best practice. The stage includes who and where the customers usually take their wants and desires, and the company proved to cover this stage as per Korey. On the other hand, there is what is known as the delivery stage, which includes the implementation of all the data reordered at the development stage (Zaied, Louati, & Affes, 2015). It also covers the internal communication in the company, which according to Korey, the company has an open-door policy which allows the clients to be free. The evaluation and support stage have also been well considered in the company where each of the employees is given various tasks to ensure that the company is running smoothly.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Innovation has proved to be an essential part when it comes to the running process of any company based on the whole interview. Additionally, there are best practices stages that have been set out to help the companies in the implementation of innovation. Through the latest innovation by the PetSmart Company known as Chewy.com, the company has proved to be relevant in the market trend and ready to face any competition (Rey, 2017). The systems the company is using are said to be outdated, and they need to purchase new ones that are fit for the current market.
References
Dembowski, F. L. (2013). The Roles of Benchmarking, Best Practices & Innovation in Organizational Effectiveness. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 5 (3), 6–20. Retrieved from
Zaied, R. M. B., Louati, H. & Affes, H. (2015). The relationship between organizational innovations, internal sources of knowledge and organizational performance. International Journal of Managing Value and Supply Chains (IJMVSC), 6 (1), 53-67.
Rey, J. D. (2017, April 18). PetSmart is acquiring Chewy.com for $3.35 billion in the largest e-commerce acquisition ever. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.recode.net/2017/4/18/15339208/petsmart-chewy-acquisition-price-3-35-billion
