Coles/Wesfarmers For many years the Australian grocery sector has been dominated
ID: 383109 • Letter: C
Question
Coles/Wesfarmers For many years the Australian grocery sector has been dominated by two major players Coles and Woolworths (Safeway). Over the last decade or so both companies have been subject to scrutiny with regard to supplier management and there have been many negative claims made. There are a large number of newspaper and journal articles related to the way the company engages and works with its suppliers. In 2011, the ACCC brought charges against Coles for unconscionable conduct in dealing with suppliers and was found negligent. In response, the company appointed the former Victorian Premier Mr. Jeff Kennett as an independent arbiter to engage with suppliers and oversee disputes. Currently Wesfarmers (Coles) has 15,000 suppliers. For this research project, you will need to conduct an extensive search online. There are many newspaper and journal articles freely available online and you can also access the company website as well as many of their supplier websites.
1. Obtain a copy of the Coles ‘Dispute Resolution Manager, Written Complaints Handling Procedure’ and ‘Internal Review Protocol’: a. What is positive about the Coles complaints and dispute resolution process? b. What is missing from the process and how could it be improved? c. What is the role of the Coles Dispute Resolution Manager? d. In your opinion, do you think this process will be accessed by suppliers? Why, or why not?
Explanation / Answer
a. What is positive about the Coles complaints and dispute resolution process?
Coles's ‘Dispute Resolution Manager, Written Complaints Handling Procedure’ and ‘Internal Review Protocol’ clearly explains the process of filing a dispute along with other important details such as timeframe, arbitrators, dispute resolution management. This document gives their suppliers a clear understanding of how Coles processes disputes. This is extremely important since most suppliers either run on credit or block their own working capital to fulfil a purchase order. Having a clear outline of the procedures and time frame will enable supplier to budget for those miscellaneous factors while filing a dispute.
b. What is missing from the process and how could it be improved?
What is missing are the list which outlines the types of disputes that the disputes department at Coles processes. Having a list like valid and invalid disputes would save a lot of time for both suppliers as well as Coles .This also helps suppliers and vendors understand the limitations or extent of the dispute resolution process at Coles and plan accordingly. This would not only help resolve existing disputes faster but it would also help Coles prevent a large number of disputes from arising in the first place. The other thing that's missing from the process in a feedback form that's specifically meant for the dispute's department that allows Coles to understand why there are a disproportionately large number of disputes being filed.
c. What is the role of the Coles Dispute Resolution Manager?
The role of Coles Dispute Resolution Manager is to effectively resolve disputes, issue refunds or fulfil claims when they fall under valid reasons, escalating or de escalating a dispute, managing the dispute investigation.
d. In your opinion, do you think this process will be accessed by suppliers? Why, or why not?
Yes i do think that this process will be accessed by suppliers, not because the process of perfect but simply because its a step further than the disputes process that Coles had prior to this incident. The second reason being that Coles in on of the largest players in the grocery business and suppliers will need to continue doing business with them.