Reference no: EM133051579

CONTEXT: Boost Juice in a Global, Digital Marketplace

After identifying a trend for juice in the United States and studying the local retail sector to find there was a lack of healthy fast food choices Janine Allis decided to open a juice in Adelaide in 2000. This flagship store was so popular that Australians demanded Boost Juice stores in their own towns and news stores opened rapidly all over Australia. The chain soon expanded globally resulting in a group turnover of $158 million in 2015 from over 350 stores established across Australia and the United Kingdom, Ireland, Thailand, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, the Baltics, South Africa and other countries. Boost Juice's international strategy aims to respect the different values, tastes, customs, purchasing power and media habits of their customers. To that end, Boost Juice works with their franchising partners, who are experts in their own regions, to adapt, localise and customise their drinks for each local market. In an example of just how flexible and adaptive to local markets they can be, their juice are known as 'Boost Juice Bars' in India.

Boost Juice just has adapted well to a changing digital landscape both for their marketing and media strategy and in-store. The brand can boast well over 700,000 likes on Facebook, over 90,000 Instagram followers and over 10,000 Twitter followers.  In-store, Boost Juice has electronic tills, pay wave capability, digital posters and a Boost app that enables customers to order a juice in advance. The Boost app was downloaded over 250,000 times in its first three months and was the first Australian retail application to be integrated with the in-store point of sale system. The Boost Juice website hints that further app development is yet to come.

In 2016, a Boost Juice staff member leaked the recipes of several top selling smoothies on Facebook. Responding to the leak in a statement on her website, Janine wrote that rather than melting down and worrying that competitors would replicate their product she was instead questioning whether product secrets really mattered in business.

"Businesses are more than one element. Think of your favourite brand and ask yourself why you like them, of course the product is something you love but it is also the service, the experience, how you feel when you interact with them and what they do when things go wrong."

Embedded in the same statement were five videos featuring Janine talking the audience through the recipes of five of her most popular juices, even discussing the various health benefits and reasoning behind the pairing of flavours. Both Janine Allis and her husband Jeff Allis remain in corporate roles at Boost Juice. Their presence is clearly positive given the reputation that Janine has earned for her business skills and leadership style. Janine's leadership style is natural, warm, giving and inspiring. People are extremely motivated by her to achieve amazing results. She describes herself as having a very 'hands on' approach towards the running of Boost Juice, which has enabled her to fully understand and develop the growing business. She now recognises that her role currently is less of a manager and more of a leader.

Janine's business acumen has been recognised time and again - she has been awarded Telstra businesswoman of the year,  Amex Retailer of the year, Exporter of the year and has been named by BRW as one of 15 people in the last 35 years who have changed the way Australia does business. In addition, Janine is a star on channel 10's reality competition television series Shark Tank, where she is part of a panel of investors that judges aspiring entrepreneur contestants on the viability and ingenuity of their pitches.

QUESTION: Briefly explain what management is, as discussed in this unit and how managers can create competitive advantage through people. (200-250 Words).