A Socio-Technical Plan for Toys "R" Us

 

A Toys "R" Us Sociotechnical Plan for Moving into Online Marketing

Introduction

Our Store, Toys "R" Us, is arguably the world's foremost toy store (Utulo, 2017). However, as parents get busy and we have of two-parent working families increases, this plan is designed to maintain our dominance in the toy market. Our strength is our ability to get parents and children in our stores playing with the toys.

Scope

This plan intends to use warehouse shipping, video instructions, hands-on experiences, and selective recordings added to our web page as the foundation implemented as a sociotechnical plan.

Purpose

Toy suppliers are seeking increased sales volumes, and other companies are stealing our customers with lower prices. The children come to our stores to touch the toys, and the parents find the same toy for a lower price on another retailer's website.

Supporting Forces

The toy manufacturers value us and do not want us to go out of business. By shifting to warehouse shipping, we can increase our volume commitments and compete with resellers that do not have physical locations.

Challenging Forces

The United States Postal Service is not as reliable as other commercial shippers. The challenge is to find a shipper that fits our new pricing model. We will investigate a drive-up warehouse model similar to drive-up pharmacies where you pick up your prescription in minutes. Innovations in packaging and delivery are critical to implementing this innovation successfully. To avoid a merger, our investors will need to back this plan, or we will need to obtain short-term construction financing to shorten this plan's implementation timeline (Oberoi, 2020).

Methods

Our choice for plan implementation is a structured design process based on backward planning. We can use a structured design to achieve our goals by identifying the result (Joseph & Davies, 1990). Understanding the end allows us to remove the complexity of these overlapping innovations. We will trace each step and identify the integrations with our current model as the starting point.

Models

Figure 1 is a top-down planning model for automated process improvements (Joseph & Davies, 1990). We will work from the bottom up with our end goals end mind during our planning process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2 depicts the backward planning techniques we will use along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analytical Plan

The plan is based on simplicity as we will only develop one module simultaneously. As the project progresses, we will update any previous module or feature to ensure accuracy and efficiency in the final system. Rules and standards shall be developed and taught to employees at each phase of the process, eliminating confusion and gaining widespread adoption.

In our playrooms, videos show the children how to play with a toy, reducing toy breakage and creating a place where parents see how to supervise their children. We will record each play session and use the best ones as advertising on our website to draw more children to our stores.

Anticipated results

We anticipated increased efficiency as the stores no longer have to replace toys across numerous isles. When we close for the day, we replace broken toys and repair toys to give to local charities, thus improving our social acceptance throughout our community. We can provide support for last-minute shoppers by shifting delivery to external contractors with guaranteed delivery. The change to warehouse shipping and specific playroom stores provides an immediate operational expense reduction of fifteen to twenty percent (15% to 20%).

Conclusion

Implementing this sociotechnical plan provides implementable actions as the company moves toward online shopping. This plan includes several disruptive ideas to keep Toys "R" Us at the forefront of the place where children have fun.

Areas of Future Research

We can explore the option of selling videos of the children learning how to use a toy to parents. For groups, we can provide videos for their later enjoyment and memories. Selling videos requires legal analysis before implementation. As technology improves, we can explore virtual learning videos for our most popular toys.

A toy-use hotline with recorded messages and scheduled appointments for our customers will increase customer stickiness and differentiate us from pure drop-ship resellers.

References

 

Joseph, A., & Davies, B. (1990). Implementation of a “Backwards Planning” Technique in the Automation of Process Planning. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 5(4), 321-344.

 

Oberoi, S. (2020). 6 Examples of Merger Failures Owing to Cultural Incompatability.  https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/hr-strategy/articles/examples-merger-failure-cultural-incompatibility/

 

Utulo, S. M. (2017). Case Study Toys "R" Us [College Paper]. https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/jose-rizal-memorial-state-university/fundamentals-of-accountancy-business-and-management-2/a-case-study-about-toy-r-us/23045377

 

 

Impact on a Socio-Technical PLan

 

Impacts on Sociotechnical Plans

 Sociotechnical plans involve interactions between social systems and technical systems. Many factors could affect these plans with supporting or disastrous effects. The rise and fall of  Toys "R" Us is an excellent topic for understanding possible forces that have differing results (Utulo, 2017).

Toys "R" Us

Toys "R" Us, once known as the world's most fabulous toy store, started as a family store intent on putting smiles on children's faces. Although not titled a sociotechnical plan, the scenario planning included a blend of social systems and technical systems. The growth of online shopping, a technological innovation, caused leadership to focus on a plan to establish a digital presence. Rather than building its own, the decision was to leverage Amazon's technology while the company concentrated on socially drawing children into physical stores. The idea is that by allowing the children to come in and play with the toys, the parents would go home and make purchases to be delivered or picked up from the store-loading docks.  

There were many forces with the potential to impact this sociotechnical plan.

·         What if Amazon signed with multiple toy companies? A legal agreement only works if a company has the means to win in court (Axson, 2011).

·         Economically the plan makes lots of sense. Leveraging Amazon's capital investment and customer base had the potential to reach more customers.

·         The plan is also ethically and societally sound.

·         Amazon's plans are global, and the company did not have the financial capability to put physical stores globally or in all states within the US.

·         The company raised capital but could not meet the investor's return on investment, which resulted in a loss of control of the company (Oberoi, 2020).

The sociotechnical plan had two major flaws. Simply showing toy availability on an Internet storefront did not approach the social impact when the children were in the store and could touch the toys. Choosing Amazon, a much larger company focused on sales volume, had unintended consequences. The company created a draw to the Amazon website where other stores with the same toys at lower prices resulted in Amazon opening its platform to competitors.

A more innovative idea with two parts would have been to invest in simulations controlled by the company as an added value in digitalization transformation. The second part is to split up its store with the toys from its playgrounds for children's toy tryouts. Adding a direct ship warehouse would keep overhead low and allow parents to buy more without worrying about how to pack their vehicles. The added Toyland would enhance the social appeal of directing children to toys with more significant profit margins.

References

 

Axson, D. A. (2011). Scenario Planning: Navigating Through Today's Uncertain World. Journal of Accountancy, 211(3), 22.

 

Oberoi, S. (2020). 6 Examples of Merger Failures Owing to Cultural Incompatability.  https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/hr-strategy/articles/examples-merger-failure-cultural-incompatibility/

 

Utulo, S. M. (2017). Case Study Toys "R" Us [College Paper]. https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/jose-rizal-memorial-state-university/fundamentals-of-accountancy-business-and-management-2/a-case-study-about-toy-r-us/23045377

 

A socio-technical Education Project Evaluation

 

Evaluating a Socio-Technical Published Paper

 

Introducing new technology into a structured educational environment is not a trivial undertaking. However, digital artifacts or technology items are potential augmenters to the quality and interest in student learning (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013). Within this research paper, Hayashi & Baranauskas studied a group of students and teachers introduced to technology over a very long period. The detailed inclusion of studies and conclusions from the various referenced author’s works is of particular interest. As I read through the research, it became clear that the supporting concepts and ideas shaped many observation methods and data collection methods.

The students were young, and I can only imagine the care taken to protect them from an unpleasant experience while capturing the research data. The non-study-related findings, such as the fear of criminal theft while transporting the laptop back and forth to the school was, clearly unexpected. The study findings of the Student Technology Consultants (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013) were an ingenious way to increase the esteem of those students chosen for this vital role and to gather peer experiences.  From as far back as 1997, many governments and business leaders believed that integrating technology into the curriculum provides students with the skills necessary to compete in life (Fabry & Higgs, 1997). This research is a tangible and well-executed study of documentation of the formal and informal learning challenges and successes of integrating technology artifacts through a socio-technical research approach (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013).

Previous attempts often resulted in the underutilization of technology artifacts and often resistance from teachers and students to change their habits. This study indicates that the socio-technical approach reduced the opposition to only a few teachers and almost no students (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013). An essential part of the gathered research findings is the participant’s emotional feelings throughout the research activities. Many research projects collect data too far from actual emotional feeling time. The closer to the actual occurrence, the more accurate the data captured. The study did not include any statistical analysis, which I attribute to a possible agreement with the participants before they agreed to the research project. I don’t think I would want any publication that could reflect poorly on our school. The research was thorough and innovative and increased the body of knowledge (B0K) for integrating technology into structured learning institutions.

In conclusion, I am not sure my evaluation is very technically sound. However, the innovation included provides new knowledge for me as I may work with other schools desiring to integrate a technology artifact into their environment.

 

References

 

Fabry, D. L., & Higgs, J. R. (1997). Barriers to the Effective Use of Technology in Education: Current Status. Journal of educational computing research, 17(4), 385-395.

 

Hayashi, E. C. S., & Baranauskas, M. C. C. (2013). Affectibility in Educational Technologies: A Socio-Technical Perspective for Design. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 57-58. https://coloradotech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/affectibility-educational-technologies-socio/docview/1287029534/se-2