Lululemon Athletica

Founded in 1998, Lululemon Athletica is a brick-and-mortar and online retailer of athletic apparel for both men and women. In 2020, the retailer acquired Mirror, an interactive home fitness package using cameras and interactive mirrors to expand its offerings and provide an array of fitness products. Today, firms, including Lululemon Athletica, strive to maintain their competitiveness and position in the global marketplace due to challenges like intense competition, globalization, and technological innovations and advancements. This essay explores how training and development could help Lululemon Athletica meet the challenges of stiff competition in the retail and online market space. It also discusses the level of employee engagement at the company and three core values in its Impact Agenda that could be most and least influenced by training and development.

How Training and Development Could Help Lululemon Athletica Sustain Competitiveness

Training and development could help Lululemon Athletica meet the challenges of retail competition in the retail and online marketplace in several ways. First, training and development would help the company equip its employees with the right skills to gain a sustainable competitive advantage and increase employee performance. According to Aina (2020), training and development produce talented employees capable of accomplishing organizational goals effectively and efficiently. Second, training and development increase employee commitment to an organization and motivation to perform tasks, eventually increasing productivity, employee performance, and profitability (Rop, 2015). Thus, Lululemon Athletica could meet the challenge of retail competition in the retail and online space by using training and development to increase employees’ commitment and motivation.

Moreover, training and development could provide the company with a sustainable competitive advantage against its rivals by enhancing its ability to adapt to changes in the business environment. Rabbi et al. (2015) posit that training and development are essential in equipping employees with up-to-date knowledge and skills to adapt to a changing climate, including changes in technology and procedures, which eventually provides a sustainable competitive advantage to compete with rivals successfully. Last, training and development could help the company attract and retain talented and high-performing employees, which would eventually provide a competitive advantage to meet the challenge of stiff competition in both the retail and online marketplace (Mohammad, 2015).

Level of Employment Engagement at Lululemon Athletica

In my opinion, employees at Lululemon Athletica have high levels of engagement based on several factors. First, the training and development practices implemented at the company equip employees with up-to-date skills and knowledge to accomplish organizational goals effectively and efficiently, eventually boosting their motivation and engagement. Second, training and development opportunities at Lululemon Athletica result in the development of a highly engaged workforce that broadly understands the organization’s primary objectives. Finally, employees at Lululemon Athletica are more likely to be highly engaged, considering that over 70% of the retailer’s managers are internally recruited. Thus, employees at the company are likely to be highly involved in accomplishing not only organizational goals but also personal career growth and development goals through promotions.

Core Values in Lululemon Athletica’s Impact Agenda Likely to be Influenced by Training and Development

Training and development are likely to influence the core values guiding Lululemon Athletica’s Impact Agenda. The three core values that could be most affected by training and development include entrepreneurship, connection, and inclusion (Lululemon Athletica, 2022). The core value of entrepreneurship is likely to be most affected by training and development programs at Lululemon Athletica, considering that employees could be equipped with new skills and knowledge to develop innovative products and services. Additionally, the core values of connection and inclusion are likely to be most influenced by training and development because employees would be trained on how to develop lasting and trustworthy relationships and embrace diversity in the workplace. However, the core values of honesty, personal responsibility, and fun are more likely to be least influenced by training and development, considering that they are based on individual choices and commitment.

References

Aina, R. A. (2020). The Impact of Implementing Talent Management Practices on Sustainable Organizational Performance. Sustainability, 1-21.

lululemon athletica. (2022, January 12). Live into Your Full Potential. Retrieved from Lululemon Athletica: https://careers.lululemon.com/en_US/careers/WhoWeAre

Mohammad, A. (2015). The Impact of Talent Management on Employee Engagement, Retention and Value Addition in Achieving Organizational Performance. International Journal of Core Engineering and Management, 142-152.

Rabbi, F., Ahad, N., Kousar, T., & Ali, T. (2015). Talent Management as a Source of Competitive Advantage. Journal of Asian Business Strategy, 208–214.

Rop, L. (2015). Influence of Talent Attraction on Organizational Performance in Public University Campuses in County Government of Nakuru, Kenya. International Journal of Management and Information Technology, 2453–2460.

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Question

For this assignment, you will review the case of Lululemon Athletica and explain how training and development can help this company maintain a “best retailer” status.

Lululemon Athletica

Background:

Lululemon Athletica is an online and brick-and-mortar retailer of athletic apparel. It was founded in 1998, went public in 2007, and in 2020, purchased the rights to Mirror, an interactive home fitness workout package that uses an interactive mirror and camera.

The company has a strong commitment to staff and personal development. From its founding through 2019, lululemon incorporated elements of training provided by Landmark Forum, a provider of private development training programs, into its leadership and development training.

According to a company source, seventy percent of managers are hired internally. Store managers are responsible for their store’s layout, color coordination, and community involvement.

The company has expanded its offerings, moving from a market focus on women’s yoga apparel to now encompass athletic clothing for both men and women, as well as an array of fitness products. The company has been stated to use “holistic guerrilla marketing,” aiming to make customers feel that by wearing Lululemon clothing, they are part of a larger community.

Further information about Lululemon Athletica is found on their website: https://info.lululemon.com/about.

Here, you will find information about the company, its marketing strategy, and its community.

Specific information about the company’s values and purpose can be found on the following link: https://careers.lululemon.com/en_US/careers/WhoWeAre

Instructions:

After reviewing the background of the company and this week’s readings, discuss the following questions:

How can training and development help lLululemon Athletic meet the challenges of retail competition in an online and retail space?
Do you think that employees at Lululemon Athletic have high levels of engagement? Explain why or why
Which of Lululemon Athletica’s three core values in their Impact Agenda do you believe training and development can influence the most? The least? Why?

Requirements:

Include an Introduction to the case study
All works should be written in proper APA
Your paper should be 2-3 pages with additional cover and reference pages. On your cover page, include the name of the assignment, your name, the date, and the course.
Use at least two (2) references to support your work. You may use your textbook as a resource.