Instructions: Please respond to peer discussion board and include sources. You do not have to do the discussion board you just respond

Peers Discussion Board Post:

For this week's discussion, review the Critical Thinking Case,How Do Amazon, UPS, and FedEx Manage Peak Seasons?At the end of the chapter, address the four questions provided at the end of the case. They are listed below for your convenience.

• What do you think are some of the difficulties of adding 25 percent more employees for the holiday season? What kind of planning do you think would be needed?
• • The first difficulty is trying to get the personnel to make up that desired 25 percent because many retailers are scaling back in hiring. A survey reported that "only 40% are planning to hire seasonal workers, 35% recruited fewer seasonal workers than last year, and some are scaling back all hiring for the remainder of 2022" (Ryan, 2022). Another difficulty may be controlling the organization by adding new employees. The organization must control its employees and operations, and new employees introduce new and sometimes conflicting cultures (UMGC). Though a company plans year-round, I believe that for the holiday season, they would use a Time frame plan which focuses on a specific time frame. They would have to think of promotion, hiring, and all the preparation needed for the holiday season.
• China effectively shuts down for two weeks each year and celebrates the lunar new year. How does that resemble (or not) peak season in Western countries?
• • I could not find any western countries that shut down for two weeks, but the holiday season is still very much celebrated. The entire county may not be shut down, but many employees go on vacation during that time frame to spend time with family.
• The case focuses on U.S. markets. How are European markets affected by holiday shopping?
• • Though Thanksgiving is not a public holiday in Europe, and black Friday is a U.S celebrated event, they have gained much traction in the European market, with a vast amount of their consumers venturing to brick on motor stores to shop during that period. E-commerce is fast growing and is only expected to rise in the coming years (Enberg, 2018).
• Have your shopping habits changed with the ease of online shopping? If so, how? Do you expect them to change when you graduate and have more disposable income?
• • My occupation relied extensively on online shopping, so it was almost inevitable that this practice would somehow affect my shopping habits. I have been an Amazon junky for years, but COVID-19 intensified my online shopping. Having groceries from my local store delivered to my doorstep with services like Instacart has been my new guilty pleasure. We live in a society of convenience, which is also my number one reason for shopping online. I do not expect my habits to change drastically with more disposable income.

References:

UMGC. (n.d) Chapter 17 Reading - Organizational Planning and Controlling. https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/713560/viewContent/28778596/View

UMGC. (n.d). Week 5 Lecture. https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/713560/viewContent/28778590/View

Ryan, T. (2022). Retailers have scaled way back on seasonal help for Christmas. Retailers have scaled way back on seasonal help for Christmas - RetailWire

Enberg, J. (2018). Holiday shopping in Europe. Black Friday and beyond. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/holiday-shopping-in-europe