Introduction
JB Hi-Fi is a well-known software and computer shop in Australia, as well as a provider of taped video and music entertainment. It is a large corporation that plays an essential part in the Australian retail business, with both physical and online outlets. John Barbuto (JB) founded JB Hi-Fi in 1974 and launched the first store in Melbourne (Grimmer 2019). It was sold to Bouris and Rodd in 1983, who grew the business before selling the bulk of their stock to Next Capital Pty Limited, a private equity firm (Grimmer 2019). JB Hi-Fi has expanded its business beyond selling music CDs to include televisions, audio and visual equipment, photography, mobile audio, in-car television programming, video games, DVD films, electronics, and information systems hardware. This work was written with the aim of a comprehensive study of the JB Hi-Fi company, namely the business structure, HR management, marketing, and development in social media.
Business and Management Structure
As a company, JB Hi-Fi is a line structure organization; it has implemented strategic initiatives aimed at increasing sales of its wide variety of entertainment items. It accomplishes this by offering lower pricing to price-conscious clients and enthusiasts. Low pricing helps the company maintain competitive rates. Its home entertainment goal is to target high-growth areas, build more new shops, and improve the revenues and profits of current ones. The firm’s business model is appropriate because it enhances its competitive edge by focusing on key strengths and growing them. Because it has a clear strategic objective, competencies, and assets that are non-substitutable and distinctive, JB Hi-Fi has a sustained advantage. It achieves considerable gains in the home entertainment industry, which is characterized by intense competition and rising unpredictability. Furthermore, the company’s business strategy may be seen in the way it has combined organizational expertise, automated processes, and cooperative production abilities. It is important to note that the company’s strategic capabilities extend beyond its geographically distributed businesses and conventional roles by investing in enabling infrastructure.
The management style is participative; strategic management is a critical feature with numerous and varied advantages that, when effectively executed, boosts an organization’s output by increasing performance loudness, excellence, efficiency, commitment, and level of motivation. Strategy formulation at JB Hi-Fi is a continuous process of interaction that has been adopted and incorporated into its macro environment as a whole. Several aspects, such as regulatory, cultural, financial, and political considerations, have an influence on the company’s management approach in its micro-environment. Threats to entry, competition rivalry, and negotiating power are among the market issues that public officials and marketers in the JB Hi-Fi confront. Among others are cost constraints, accessibility to distribution networks, price premium, capital needs, product diversification, and economy of scale. These impediments prevent potentially profitable leisure offerings from accessing the market.
Human Resources
JB Hi-Fi values diversity and appreciates all of its employees’ unique abilities and efforts. Its employees have always been and will continue to be the essential aspect of its business. The organization is dedicated to fostering their growth, broadening their professional experience, and advancing their employment at JB. The firm cares about its employees, and it strives to keep everyone educated and motivated to further their careers at JB.
JB’s aim has always been that hiring and promotion choices be made on the basis of merit, credentials, and competency and that employment opportunities are not influenced, harmed, or hindered by illegal discrimination. JB feels that there should be no obstacles in the way of this happening. Sexual identity, age, relationship status, sexual orientation, family status, chosen profession status, pregnancy, physical traits, disability as well as impairment, ethnic background, heavy industry, religious, diplomatic, or other belief systems or actions are all considered in the company’s Recruiting and Human Resources policies, which apply to all employees irrespective of sex, age, relationship status, sexual orientation, personal circumstances, chosen profession status, pregnancy, physical attributes, disability or mental retardation, racial background, rapid industrialization, religious, ideological, or other religious views or actions.
Marketing
Customers are compelled to change or seek items that offer comparable services in a market where there are numerous similar entertainment offerings. JB Hi-Fi faces difficulties and dangers from replacement goods because it is not the only source of entertainment items. Businesses compete in this market by attempting to produce a variety of items that fulfill the wants of consumers at a reasonable cost (Deepak & Jeyakumar 2019). The majority of customers choose lower-cost alternatives. Thus, by providing some services a little cheaper or at a discount, the organization gains new customers and produces massive purchases of goods, which indicates the success of this strategy.
The public’s view of the items being promoted causes issues and disputes, which can lead to boycotts, demonstrations, and other rejecting actions. Even while it may seem ethical and commendable to the marketers wanting to profit from the services or goods, the community, though not all, may consider it immoral, inappropriate, and predatory (Pieket Weeserik, Spruit 2018). On the other hand, if marketers’ freedom to promote is curtailed, they may consider it a violation of their basic protections based on the First Amendment.
Social Media
JB Hi-Fi’s website is a powerful ecommerce system that makes it simple for consumers to browse, purchase products, locate businesses, and register. All of this is quite typical of an internet shop. The site’s chaotic aesthetic design, which is more akin to a newspaper flier than a website, is one of its most appealing features. Perhaps this is to convey the idea that it is making hasty judgments while lowering rates, giving them an excellent offer that they will not find anywhere else. Whatever the reason, the site is visually appealing and well-branded in a way that might easily translate to social media.
JB Hi-Fi gives connections to its social media sites on the first page of Facebook, with the first and plainly most significant being the most prominent. JB Hi-Fi does brand its Facebook page and postings, but the ‘newspaper flyer’ marketing is tough to reproduce in Facebook’s more controlled environment. Product videos, which frequently receive thousands of views and scores of likes, are one of JB Hi-Fi’s popular articles (Grimmer 2019). What is more intriguing is that the posts have received hundreds of shares. This is beneficial to the company because Facebook has said that posts with a high level of interaction will appear in more News Feeds than ones with a low level of engagement.
Conclusion
To summarize, superior management techniques allow for fundamental abilities like client response, influence, and interaction, which are both general and prudent in leading enterprises to success. It may be time-consuming to examine the strategic approach in a concentrated and cohesive manner, but it keeps businesses alive when sustainability is a concern. Most significantly, it has been a massive success for JB Hi-Fi, providing it a comparative benefit. In this industry, lively and dynamic management, as well as well-enhanced core capabilities, are essential drivers for gaining a considerable competitive advantage.
References
Deepak, R. K. A., & Jeyakumar, S. 2019. Marketing management. Education Publishing.
Grimmer, L. 2019. “JB Hi-Fi launches a small-format store in Melbourne CBD: Interview with Dean Blake”.
Pieket Weeserik, B., & Spruit, M. 2018. “Improving operational risk management using business performance management technologies”. Sustainability, 10(3), p. 640.