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HR Analytics
Submission

Certified HR Analytics
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Instructions
Using the case study of Toy Galaxy described below, identify the right questions across 3 different
areas of the HR value chain that will impact business outcomes.

Note: There is an example mentioned for clarity below the case study.

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Case Study Reference

Case Study A - Toy Galaxy
Introduction
Andy was a contented man. He just completed his final review of Toy Galaxy’s annual report. The
board would be satisfied with the performance of the firm in the last financial year. In fact, the past 5
years had been an exciting journey when the company had seen more ups than downs. Today, Toy
Galaxy (Headquartered in Dreamland) is the largest toy store in the world – a one stop shop for toys
and a dream come true for kids. At the end of the year, Toy Galaxy owned and operated more than
2,000 stores worldwide – most of them in the western hemisphere.

Challenges Facing Toy Galaxy

Growth brought about its own complexities and managing these new challenges was the secret of
success for Toy Galaxy. Although revenue had more or less stagnated of late at around USD 11
billion (an industry wide phenomenon that was attributed to the PC and cable TV), net earnings
continued to rise. In the previous year, Toy Galaxy successfully reduced its operating expenses by
10% - which resulted in savings of more than 320 million dollars.

Although Toy Galaxy was the first toy supermarket in the world, competition had almost caught up
with it. The toy retail industry was very fragmented. Toy Galaxy, in spite of being the market leader,
had a market share of only 20%. The nearest competitor Wal-Mart has a share of 15%. Further Wal-
Mart has access to greater financial resources.

Toy Galaxy Business Strategy

Toy Galaxy differentiates itself in terms of variety (in fact, in their marketing campaigns, they pride
themselves on having every toy that exists on earth). The logistics that have to be maintained to keep
this claim true across approximately 2,000 stores can only be imagined. In addition to this variety,
Toy Galaxy also maintains the lowest cost across all competitors for all products. This means that
they have to strike a hard bargain with their suppliers – the toy manufacturer which is easier said than
done. Manufacturers themselves are facing margin squeeze due to the competitive landscape.

Yet another challenge facing the toy retail industry is the ‘time to market’ of toys. One has to
remember that the end consumers of the products are children who would like to have the latest toys.
Toys have a very limited shelf life. Moreover, sales see a spike during the holiday season.

From the point of view of the customer who visits any Toy Galaxy outlet – be it in Mumbai or
Melbourne, the experience provided by Toy Galaxy must be the same. To fulfill this customer
expectation, uniformity has to be maintained from the look and feel of the store to the greeting of any
customer.

To maintain a strong bottom line, Toy Galaxy has had to continuously launch new initiatives that
impact day–to–day activities aimed at cutting cost. For example, recently Toy Galaxy implemented
software to track point of sale purchases and itemize them by category and time of purchase. This
helps store managers to staff the right people at the right department /product counter.

Supply Chain at Toy Galaxy

Toy Galaxy maintains an extremely efficient supply chain. The goal is to turnover inventory as quickly
as possible, while negotiating the best deals with suppliers. All this must be accomplished while
ensuring that a wide variety of toys are always available in each toy store.

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Information technology plays a significant role here. Be it product visibility, better warehouse
management systems or new logarithms for forecasting, everything is related and this is maintained
by the IT infrastructure. Everybody therefore has to use the same accounting and software systems.

Transition from physical to online stores

This IT backbone enabled Toy Galaxy to launch its online store 10 years back. This fulfilled the
buying, selling and shipping of toys in the cyber world. Yet, to their dismay, Toy Galaxy realized that
the expertise required to successfully run an online business was quite different from that of an in-
store business. Hence, Toy Galaxy is looking to align people strategies that will help them succeed in
their next foray in to online stores.

As HR professionals, identify at least 3 questions (across the Value Chain) you will seek answers for
when preparing for this new business strategy. Also, mention the level of analytics required for each
question.

Example:
Attract and Acquire
Questions Level of Analytics
What are the new skills and competencies required in Predictive
the process of selection?
Where can we find relevant talent based on the new Descriptive
business strategy?
What are some differentiating factors that can be Prescriptive
inculcated in our employer branding strategy?

Align and Focus

Questions Level of Analytics
How do we create customer centric culture and foster Prescriptive
innovation in each outlet inorder to reduce shell life of
toys ?
What is the increase % of employees alignment towards Descriptive
companies and how can we increase it further ? what
type of training initiative do we need to increase
employee connect/engagement
What is the competency based training plan designed to Predictive
develop better negotiation skills inorder to reduce and
have cost effective logistics, to build a strong and
effective IT infrastructure?

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Develop and Equip

Questions Level of Analytics
Descriptive
Will robust training on AI help in understanding
customer needs in better way and help increase online
sales
Prescriptive
What are some key metrics to include in developing
manager/leadership role ?
Who are the hi potential employee who have undergone Predictive
training for increase in online sales and reduced logistic
cost ?

Reward and Retain

Questions Level of Analytics
If we enhance or introduce new reward and recognition Predictive
scheme will it help in retention of Hi potential employee?

What are reward and retention scheme that has helped Descriptive
in retaining key talent?

Prescriptive
How can we introduce effective reward scheme for high
performer in each division like logistics, IT,sales etc .

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Contact Us
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About AHLC
We are on a mission to provide real learning to help HR impact business outcomes. By bringing
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learning journeys for HR professionals.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global provider of risk management, insurance brokerage and 
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than 69,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via 
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