Biglots

Big Lots A company needs to look outside the box and find the niche it can grow and exceed in. Gene One has a lot of internal strife. Even though they have made attempts to function as a productive team, some member’s doubts are casting shadows by making comments on if other team members are able to adapt to the changes that are occurring. Perhaps the non-realization of negative thinking upon other’s abilities is slowing the forward motion of the IPO. “Team building is a catch-all term for a whole host of techniques aimed at improving the internal functioning of work groups” (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2004). By performing generic benchmarking with Big Lots, Gene One can adapt some philosophy that will assist in their team building. In order to maintain good team building within the organization and outside of it, Big Lots realizes how important it is to function as a team to get the job completed. They are committed to building strong vendor relationships to assist in keeping new and fresh items in the store. “By providing an important and growing market for our suppliers, we’re also delivering real value for our investors. And we’re strengthening our vendor relationships like never before — by attending trade shows, meeting face to face, and making it easier for manufacturers to do business with us on every front.” (Retrieved from http://www.biglotscorporate.com/vendor/index.asp April 3, 2010). This is a concept that Gene One can learn from. By strengthening relationships throughout the organization and the team, it will assist in making them grow stronger. Big Lots has adapted to the changing needs of their consumers by purchasing and selling items they feel the consumer will want. They have had to carve their niche out in the retail market with having closeout merchandise in their stores versus a current stock of merchandise like a Wal-Mart would have. “It's a combination strong enough to break old shopping habits - turning more and more consumers into Big Lots closeout shoppers.” (Retrieved from http://www.biglotscorporate.com/about/index.asp, April 3, 2010). Without being able to change the customer’s perception of buying, Big Lots would not have survived. They attempt to make it a fun shopping experience for the customer and consider them as part of the team. This would be a good lesson learned from Gene One to incorporate. There are many different folks that make up a team not only the corporate group but also stakeholders and the last being the consumer.