Project Overview: The project was Black Friday at Kohl’s a retail store in Phoenix, Arizona

Risk Management Elements:

Scope and Requirements Management: It was very important to ensure that the area
supervisors, team leaders, and all associates knew their roles and responsibilities. The store is
expected to do 5 times its normal sales in one day. This means there is lots of traffic and
shoppers need to find their items, check out, and move on to the next store on their list in a
timely fashion.
Technical Risks: Since business is typically slow the rest of the year the store has been
operating with just three cash registers open. In the spring the second bank of registers was
taken out completely and two new registers were added to the existing bank, making a total of
eight registers available. Eight registers with no second bank means that if one register goes
down there is no way to effectively check out a customer and keep the line moving. This can
become an issue as holiday shoppers are usually wanting to check out to get on to their next store
to get the next deal. There is also the risk of not having enough two-way radios for staff to
communicate. Another risk was an inadequate number of mobile devices ‘zebras’ available for
everyone to have one available to assist customers. Usually, the store has 15-20 associates
working, this day we plan to have 60 associates.
Resource Allocation: With 60 associates in the store, it would seem as though the store would
function on its own. Each department should be assigned a team leader and a team of associates
to maintain the department as much as possible. Recovery will be an all-day project in every
area. There is no back-stock, everything is on the floor which will save associates time from
running to the back to acquire items for shoppers. However, putting so much product on the
floor has its challenges as space is tight in some areas and every fixture is overly full – meaning
when customers are looking for items, they will likely cause messes and it’s unlikely they will
clean up after themselves. The registers must be fully staffed with associates who are good at
customer service and selling credit cards. As an incentive to the associates for every credit card
application they get they will get an extra $3 added to their paychecks. The average store credit
card holder spends 6x more in our stores than a non-cardholder. B&M stores are a dying breed
and to maintain our business, it is important to build loyalty with our customers and keep them
coming back. Every shopping cart we have will be out on the floor. The front of the store will
be full and then there will be a row of carts near kids/toys, one near Sephora (in the center of the
store), and one near the shoe department so that customers have easy access to obtain a basket
and fill it up. We will also pull out the mesh bags that we keep in storage and place them on a 6-
way in the center of the store for shoppers who can’t get a basket but want to keep their hands
free to pick up other merchandise.

Quality Assurance: To maintain the store, we have scheduled every associate to work that day
and assigned each associate to departments under the supervision of team leads. All items are
sized and colorized to make the customers’ shopping experience easy. We have been working
diligently to maintain accurate inventory counts so that if a customer wants an item in a specific
size and they can’t find it an associate should be able to scan the item with their zebra device and
know exactly how many on-hand we have.
Vendor Risks: The store is issuing Kohl’s Cash $15 for every $50 spent in the store. The
original plan was that was only going to be for Black Friday but late on Wednesday corporate
decided to change the plan and said we will be issuing it all weekend. They were sending
emergency Kohl’s Cash through Fedex to ensure we have enough to last through the
weekend. If there are delays that could cause issues at the registers (POC) and cause unhappy
customers. Beginning in September we were able to order 10 new earpieces and 3 new two-way
radios a month to ensure we have enough on hand, corporate wouldn’t let us order more than
that. When the radios came in they needed to be programmed.
Market Risks: The retail market is very competitive during the holiday season especially. We
are vying for customers to spend their money with us and not another retailer. We need to
ensure that they have a good shopping experience and find value in what they are getting for
their money. The store should look clean and inviting throughout the day.
Security and Shrink Reduction: The store is in a high theft area; we have a lot of theft on a
regular basis – but with five times the normal traffic it’s easier for thieves to conceal their
actions. Every associate will have a two-way radio with an earpiece, and we have a loss
prevention supervisor on the premises. The policy is that ‘if you see something, say something’
the more eyes we can get on a potential suspect the better we can attempt to reduce the risk of
shoplifting.
Conclusion: Effective risk management is a critical component of retail management –
especially on a day as busy as Black Friday.