The case of Abercrombie and Fitch Co Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The of Abercrombie and Fitch Co - Case Study Example The only negative result being a minimal decrease in the profits per square foot at the end of that fiscal period (Berman & Evans, 2011). The company should increase its effort on increasing retail space. Though the number of Hollister stores is one-third more than A & F, it is believed that the larger profits realized by the latter is due to a greater average size. The uncontrollable factors within any business environment are known as external factors or macro environmental factors. Such factors are usually beyond the control of any company or organization but rather they have to adjust for them to cope. For A & F, the Economic turmoil of 2007-2009 affected their operations (Berman & Evans, 2011).The turmoil was caused by the significant decrease in demand for the company’s products as a result of the prevailing economic conditions. As a consequence, the company realized a dip in its revenue. The second factor has been the entry of new competitors in the apparel industry. A & F experienced a decline in sales in 2009, and this was brought about by increased competition from companies like American Eagle and Aeropostale (Berman & Evans, 2011). It therefore, has to develop mechanisms to cope with such competitors in order to maintain or improve its profit margins the market share. A retail strategy involved developing a plan that is to be followed by a retailer in relation to the actions. They usually span a period of one year and include the following; missions, goals, consumer market, overall and specific activities and control mechanisms (Berman & Evans, 2011).

Financial service management, please see below for further instruction Essay

Financial service management, please see below for further instruction - Essay Example As a bank customer service advisor, I will be better positioned to promote financial literacy among individuals to enhance their financial management and investment through quality and informed financial advisory. Normally, banking customer service advisors perform various duties including; one, handling customer complaints by responding to them on a timely basis and to the delight of customers. Two, involves advising customers on the suitability of various financial products that suits their conditions. For example, those leaving college will be best suited for a private pension plan as opposed to proposing the same to retirees. Three, a bank customer service advisor provides feedback to the management to help them in improving their services for customer satisfaction. The job also involves providing desk service roles as front-line service providers to enhance customer satisfaction (Knapp 2009). To adequately perform this function, one needs to have certain skills like good people skills, critical thinking and good problem solving skills. Personal confidence, self management and interpersonal communication skills to present ideas, a good listener and ability to deal with difficult clients also come in handy. Unfortunately for me I have not been a good listener and often jumped into conclusions before getting to the core of the matter. At times I can be temperamental a situation that makes it hard for me to deal with difficult people. However, I must admit that going through this course and attending several public speaking lectures I have improved on my people skills. The positions for this career are available in commercial banks, micro finance institutions, financial advisory firms, investment banks, pension and mutual funds among others. A career as a banking customer service advisor requires somebody who is flexible, articulate and one who can handle complex and diverse range of customer issues. As a result, one should be knowledgeable enough about the fi nance field and therefore one has to read widely and remain afloat the current information. Good understanding of individuals’ temperament and risk profiles also helps in providing the necessary financial advisory. Time management is essential as some customer requests, enquiries and complaints require quick response. Having noted the requirement for this job and realized my weaknesses I have embarked on a number of activities and action plans that have yielded good results in that direction. I must admit that using the skills set and behavior toolkit developed by Chapman (2006) was a major turning point as I was able to objectively evaluate my strengths and weaknesses in line with required skills for a career as a customer advisor. From this assessment, I developed a work plan to address my weaknesses. Generally, my weaknesses included; limited financial knowledge, a poor listener and negotiator, non-team player and difficulties in managing stress and conflicts. For example, I noted earlier in college that I was never interested in group assignments preferring to work alone. I only came to realize the benefits of teamwork when I started seriously engaging in group assignment especially for this course. I also had the know-it all attitude which prevented me from listening to others properly and often jumping into conclusions without understanding what the real problem was. I remember during the financial