Put your Music to Work

Businessman with headphones on

For a long time, music was thought to have been a hindrance to effective time utilization and completion of tasks. Listening to tunes at work was considered something no one did for fear of either getting fired or simply being unfocused.

However, the tables have turned. Music has been shown to increase focus, awareness, and even boost productivity in typical workplaces such as the office. Granted, tuning out to your favorite Taylor Swift song is not recommended for high customer interaction jobs such as McDonalds or Chipotle, but in the more traditional office settings, with often endless rows of busy-bees confined to cubicles, music can become a lifesaver and a productivity-booster.

According to FastCompany.com, a blog geared around operational management strategies, studies have shown that employees engaging in repetitive tasks can benefit greatly from listening to even the simplest songs at work. “The effects music can have in relation to repetitive tasks were further explored in this study, which showcased how assembly line workers displayed signs of increased happiness and efficiency while listening to music” (FastCompany).

Additionally, even articles by the New York Times vouch for music’s effectiveness in the workplace, “In one study involving information technology specialists, she found that those who listened to music completed their tasks more quickly and came up with better ideas than those who didn’t, because the music improved their mood.” (NYTimes)

In an article by Time Magazine, music is cited as being a real help in recalling facts and boosting memory recognition: “Adults aged 18 to 30 were asked to recall a series of sounds presented in a particular order. Participants’ performance suffered when music was played while they carried out the task as compared to when they completed the task in a quiet environment. Nick Perham, the British researcher who conducted the study, notes that playing music you like can lift your mood and increase your arousal” (Time)

Although there have been many studies showing that music does help with employee satisfaction, happiness, and productivity in certain workplaces, how do you feel about allowing/using music in the workplace? Do you believe that there are instances where it should not be allowed? In what setting would you feel most comfortable allowing employees to listen to music? If not allowing employees the option to listen to their individual headphones, how else would you attempt to increase productivity at a workplace, if not by music?

Works Cited:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3032868/work-smart/how-music-affects-your-productivity
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/jobs/how-music-can-improve-worker-productivity-workstation.html

http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/12/does-listening-to-music-while-working-make-you-less-productive/

Brick and Mortar Can’t Float in the Amazon

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http://www.insidemobileapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/amazon-logo-250-250.jpeg

With the recent advancements in technology, electronics, and the internet, consumers have begun to take completely different approaches to browsing, shopping, and acting as consumers. What was once the largest, and considered most financially sound, consumer retail store of the 90’s and 2000’s, has now turned into a thing of the past.

Best Buy, a store where consumers go to purchase electronics (i.e computers, cell phones, tablets, CD’s, DVD’s) has recently become the subject of many discussions regarding whether the consumer giant can stay afloat. Amazon Inc, an online e-commerce retail website, where items can be found in minutes, purchases made in seconds, and products delivered in hours/days, has rapidly taken over the electronic/technology retail space that Best Buy had once almost monopolized.

Best Buy started as the only game in town, where people could visit, shop, receive helpful advice, and bring home their devices with protective warranties. However, internet retailers such as Amazon.com and Ebay have entered the same market as Best Buy, with lower overhead costs, more convenience, quicker purchases, and better warranties, and it has seriously put a dent in Best Buy’s future outlook.

Each of the Best Buy stores possess large overhead costs which include the likes of labor, utilities, product inventory, management, and building tax/mortgage. Not to mention, Best Buy has to deal with in-store and corporate operational management, budgeting, inventory forecasting across all of their brick and mortar stores, and labor hour allocation issues in each establishment. Amazon, which does not have any stores and ships only from warehouses, also possesses some operational management difficulties but certainly not on the scale that Best Buy does.

It might be the overhead that is making Best Buy have a hard time staying above water, or it might be the dwindling brick and mortar retail industry, but one thing is for sure, consumers are preferring online shopping over getting in their cars and driving to the store. In fact, Best Buy has recently reported that consumers now only use their store as a showroom, or in other words, a place to test the devices before they decide to purchase them on Amazon (Consumerist.com).

In their article “Amazon is Eating Best Buy’s Lunch”, CNN states, “The electronics retailer reported quarterly sales Tuesday morning that were lower than a year ago and below Wall Street’s expectations. The main culprit? Tough competition from online retailers”.

Perhaps there are some ways that Best Buy could improve their sales while still competing with the titans of the internet retail industry.

What are some ways you believe that Best Buy could bounce back from their poor 2014 performance and stay afloat?

Describe your experiences with Best Buy and explain why it may/may not be completely out of business?

What ways could Best Buy improve their operational management structure?

Why do you think that Best Buy remains in business despite the heavy consumer preference for online retail websites?

List some examples of operational management strategies that Best Buy could take advantage of but you believe are not being used properly.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/26/investing/best-buy-earnings/

http://consumerist.com/2013/11/04/best-buy-is-just-daring-you-to-use-stores-as-an-amazon-showroom/