Work process standard This appraisal is aimed at assessing the strategic competencies of delivering gifts and other services to customer’s convenient places within recommended time. The main services offered by the business include delivery of gifts to places recommended by our clients at a fee. The gifts include flowers, jewelry among other gifts as the customers may require. Other services offered include shopping on behalf of our clients who may not have the time to do this due to time constraint as a result of their busy schedule. Strategic competencies to be achieved The business seeks to improve response time. Response time is defined by the business as the time between the reception of an order by our marketing department and the time that the business takes to satisfy the order. In other words, the time the supply department takes to deliver the product. It is also defined as the time between the reception of complaints by our complaints desk and the time the issue of concern is addressed. In addition to this, the business also seeks to improve cycle time which is the time between the delivery of the services and the time the payment of those services is made. The business also seeks to improve quality of service delivered through screening of customers’ requirements and provision of services tailored to customer’s needs and requirements. The main output that the business seeks to give priority is the response time. The response time has been identified as the main factor that is shaping the competition in the service industry. With most of the business customers mainly composed of the working class and in the executive class, the improved response time will help reduce delays for this class of people who may not have enough time to shop for the gifts and ultimately deliver to their loved ones. Measures of the Achievements of Competencies Response time will be measured depending on the distance between the business and the delivery point and the time taken per unit of the distance to deliver the service. Other factor that will be used to measure the response time will include the ease at which the required service can be acquired and delivered. Also of interest to achieve is the reduction of the cycle time which will help the business to improve its working capital and consequently help in the improvement of the response time. The reduction of the cycle time will be measured by the availability of more than 50% of the required operating capital at any given time. It will also be measured through analysis of the credit statements which should indicate an improvement of debt settlement by business customers within the set time. Improved service delivery will be measured through increased business creation and reduced customer complains. It will also be measured by the extent at which the business understands the needs and requirements of the customers and the ability to produce tailored services that meet the scale of customer’s satisfaction. Current business position in the industry Currently the performance of the business on the above measures is comparable to those of the other industrial players. However, to differentiate ourselves from others,