Description of Smith and Nephew and Mint Design Solutions - What is Smith and Nephew?

1. Environmental Management at all their major sites.
2. Performance Measurement of all their consumable products, they also want to measure energy use, water use and waste disposal.
3. Resource Management is split into different sections: Examining the efficient use of key materials used.  A programme seeking to reduce the use of potentially harmful materials.  To partner up with other important suppliers.        
4. New Products through Research and development.
5. To identify key social problems such as training and developing their employees.
6. Health and Safety to increase the high standard of safety demonstrated in the previous year.
7. And finally to improve the Economic System so that there investors will be able to trust Smith and Nephew to perform against other rival companies.

Smith and Nephew have exceeded its aims and objectives planned for the pervious year, the company ensured that it has the momentum to achieve the-mid teens underlying Earnings Per Share growth target (How much is gained on the price of each share),

Information acquired from

What are Mint Designs Aims and Objectives?

A business aim is an organisation’s long-term goal.  A business objective is a targets pursued by a firm to help the business to achieve its goals.  Objectives should be “SMART” if the objectives include “SMART” the company has set measurable goals for the business to aim for the financial year.  It is very important to set Aims and Objectives for a business so that the company can improve on certain areas that need to be improved to also maximise potential of the company.  Mint Designs aim is to become a PLC to secure limited liability for Mr. Hastwell, Mint Designs objectives to help the business meet its aims are:

1. To continue providing a “one stop” service to its customers.
2. To offer a complete package of creative solutions to its customers.
3. To endeavour the competitive pricing structure of all its products at good prices.
4. Endeavour to provide initiative and fresh ideas.
5. To develop a new advanced purposed built studio ready for March 2003.
6. Continue to attract two new accountants per month whilst maintaining the existent client base.
7. Increase profit per annum by 15% on previous year.
8. Look to develop sub or lesser areas of the business of the next two years and to further utilise the web.  

All information acquired from Andy Hastwell directly and also    

 

What is Smith and Nephew being driven by?

The company is being driven by strong market dynamics.  Strong market dynamics is how well the company has advertised and applied itself to other companies to make maximum potential of what is being produced and sold.  It also has had a sales force expansion to 2,500 and new advanced products.

To keep the momentum going the company has to ensure that measurable aims and objectives are set to aid the business to fulfil maximum potential of the company.

The Competitors

Competitors are the rivals to a business within the same strategic market for example: Asda, Tescos and Sainsbury’s are within the same strategic market of retailing-supermarkets and would compete against each other for the most customers.

Smith and Nephew are a major pharmaceutical company that provide products to serviceable companies such as the N.H.S and Private healthcare organisations from around the world and within the United Kingdom, so therefore their rivals compare themselves to how good or bad the company may be doing.  It is more difficult for Smith and Nephew and other major corporations to set their targets against other competition as other company’s standard may be below current expectations for example: Smith and Nephew would find it difficult to improve on aims and objectives set by Glaxco because seen as the company are below Smith and Nephew in the Stock Market by and would be aiming to improve in different areas.  It is also harder for a company at the top of the Market Ladder to improve than a company being 2nd or 3rd.

The company’s main rivals are Glaxco, The American Medical Association and BMJ.

How is Smith and Nephew competitive?

Smith and Nephew is competitive by the three types of competitiveness, they are:

1. Price
2. Quality
3. Product and Availability

The business is competitive if it can retain its existing customers, gain new customers and can consistently achieve its objectives.  Smith and Nephew by these standards are very competitive by that they constantly achieve their objectives to a high level.

Smith and Nephew can make their products competitive by having prices that are lower than those of their competitors.  Charge higher prices for the more advanced and newly designed products.  

How and why might the aims and the objectives change in order to respond to changes in business activity?

Smith and Nephew may change their aims and objectives to manage with current affairs around the world for example the issue of germ warfare and terrorism from the Eastern countries have caused a major change within pharmaceutical business sectors as the demand for vaccines and cures have become greater therefore Smith and Nephew would change there aims and objectives to cope with demands for example the business in the case of war would expand the departments of Advanced Wound Management.  In the case of needing to change their aims and objectives the companies ownership would not be affected unless on a major scale.

Mint may have to change aims and objectives on a more regular basis as it is Sole Trader ownership, if the company were to go through a rough patch and a slump in the demand for Creative Solutions the business may have to change its aims and objectives in order to survive or to change business sectors to a more profitable sector.

So far Mint have been successful in achieving its aims and objectives by that the company has survived a financial which is always a businesses goal but Andy Hastwell will have a more difficult task in the next financial year as he will have to at least withhold the companies standards if not raise them.    

The activities of Mint may change in the near future as there are already many Creative Solution companies and the demand is decreasing day by day and it will also become harder for the business to stay profitable and therefore the company would look towards other options in serviceable or producing product businesses or even in other business sectors.  If this were to happen the aims and objectives would also change so that the company could grow within the new business sector and become profitable once more.  The ownership of the business could also change especially as the owner Mr Hastwell is seeking to become a PLC to gain more profit and then its shareholders would own the company.            

Types of communication within a business

There are many uses of communication within Smith and Nephew; the most used way is by Information and Communication Technology.  Communication is vital within any business; if communication is limited it can lead to mishaps and disruption with orders, deliveries, contract deals and staff.  There are two types of communication within a business Internal communication is the exchange of information with other groups of people or groups within the same business.  Techniques that are used are:

• Newsletters to inform employees of matters relating to the business.  This is used in Smith and Nephew by the Human recourse management or HRM to make the most efficient use of the organisations employees.  A good employee can only work to the best of his ability if he understands what is going on around him.
• Notice boards can be used to notify some information to small groups of employees, as long as they take notice to them.
• Team briefings are intended to inform staff of recent happenings, such as receiving a new order.
• Some large companies operate their own business television systems, offering a vast amount of important, detailed information.
• Other methods include meetings and memos.

External communication is the exchange of information with individuals or groups outside the business.  This is vital for bigger companies such as Smith and Nephew, as the competition is greater also to make the employees to their best ability, to work to their best ability they need to be informed on what is happening on a regular basis.  The techniques that are commonly used are by,

• Internet and E-mail- to communicate with order and delivery services.
• Letters- to inform customers of changes within the business
• The company annual report- to inform employees and staff on how the company has done on the previous financial year.
• Advertisements- to inform companies, services and customers what exactly is for sale.
• Faxes- to once again inform people on planned changes within the business, (Just more advanced than a letter and faster.

ICT is the use of electronic equipment for storing and communicating information.  It is used because the majority of the worlds More Economically Developed Countries have at least one use of ICT; there are many different types of ICT:

1. Internet/E-mail: A worldwide communications system of linked computer networks, which also helps many companies to advertise and sell their products.

Internet plays a major part in larger companies as

The Internet is the largest use of advanced communication around the world and is used for almost anything within Smith and Nephew for communicating with overseas and long distance customers, for advertising around the globe and information on the company is planning or changing on the inside and the outside of the business.

In Mint the Internet is a vital key for the business as it designs are made with the help of computers but it is also used for communication with other businesses and customers.  

2. Fax:  Faxes are used in Smith and Nephew for sending and receiving      important signed documents that cannot be forged and can be sent at the last minute if needed.  Faxes are sometimes used for communicating with employees within the business.

Faxes are used in Mint for sending information to other businesses within the technologic sector.

3. Telephone:  This may not be as advanced as the Internet or Faxes but is probably still the largest use of communication within business sectors.

They are used in Smith and Nephew for contacting staff, customers and other business but also seen as Smith and Nephew being a much more advanced business and a PLC, telephones are used for communicating within the business to different wings of the departments.

Telephones are used in Mint for contacting customers and other businesses etc.

Televisions:  Televisions are used in Smith and Nephew for training videos to help improve employee’s knowledge.

Televisions are not used within the Mint Design Company.

What are Functional areas?

Functional areas are areas of work that include Customer service, Research and Development or R&D, Marketing and sales, Human resources, Operations and Production, Finance department, Administration Department that are situated within the business the bigger the company the larger the functional areas, in Smith and Nephews case each functional area is prospectively seen as an individual business.

Functional Areas of Smith and Nephew

• Customer service includes offering fair prices, providing customers with detailed information and dealing with complaints: This is very important for businesses, as the customers are the most important things to the company as they provide the money to purchase the products that a company provides.  This area helps Smith and Nephew meet its aims and objectives by attracting new and old customers key for major business to keep on attracting new customers as they need to stay one step ahead of the competition, also if the company does not attract and impress new and old customers it could lead to the potential customers looking elsewhere for business.  
• Research and Development or R&D: This plays a major part in Smith and Nephew as last year £2,238 million was spent in 1998 on researching and developing new drugs within the pharmaceutical business sector however many businesses run a risk of loosing money by the R&D department, there is no question that it can prove immensely for the business but there is no guarantee that the invention will result in a successful marketable product.  A lot of money goes wasted in this department as between 1986 when the boom of pharmaceutical businesses was really starting to develop and 2001 when the sector was mainly dominated by Smith and Nephew, millions of pounds went towards research for 1,900 new drugs but only 137 of these led to new products being available.  As any major pharmaceutical company, Smith and Nephew have to research greatly into their products as the demand for faster cures and better living is becoming greater, so therefore their products have to be a step ahead of the next pharmaceutical company.  This plays a very important role in helping Smith and Nephew achieve its aims and objectives as customers want the very best of what they purchase it needs to be the best quality and R&D makes sure that they can find the best quality goods that they can afford.  

• Marketing and sales: this involves businesses in many activities.  Marketing is the sales process that helps businesses discover and meet the needs of consumers.  It is the identification or anticipation of customer demand, distribution and exchange of goods and services.  Marketing is now seen as the central core function of Smith and nephew by that it has developed a market-orientated (Sophisticated approach towards the demand of the market sector) approach to decision-making, as a core function it imposes a wide range of minor activities, including Research and Product development.  This area is important for achieving Smith and Nephews aims and Objectives as the goods that the company offer are no good unless they are marketed in the right environments, there is no point having the best quality goods unless the business knows how to advertise and sell them.
• Operations and Production: The operations Departments Function within Smith and Nephew is to collect together all the necessary resources that are available to produce the many products that Smith and Nephew produce for consumption.  As Smith and Nephew are a pharmaceutical company that uses chemicals and drugs, it is vital that they can find a source of materials and recourses that do not run out, if this does happen it could be devastating to the business as it will have no resources to produce and market, for example the Oil business is a very good investment as it is very profitable and produces billions and billions of pounds of profit each year but in the future research shows that the oil recourses that the companies use will run out as they are using the resources to fast before they can regenerate and therefore the Oil business will have to look in other new technologies or even other business sectors.          
• Human resources: This department exists to recruit the best employees available and to make sure that they work efficiently and safely so that they can help the business run smoothly in helping the business complete its aims and objectives.  It is necessary for Smith and Nephew to uphold the standards of the Human resources department as apart from the customers the employees are very important as if the employees were to strike due to bad pay and working conditions the production would come to a standstill and therefore the company would not be making profit.  The department is also divided into key sections they are,

1. Recruiting, keeping and dismissing employees.
2. Providing good working conditions.
3. Training, developing and promoting employees.
4. Negotiating with trade unions (A body representing a group of employees joined together as a single unit in order to represent their views and claims in negotiation with their employers).
5. Health and safety.

        

• Finance department: This department use is to manage money for the company and they also work on how and where to locate the areas of profit i.e. sponsorship or government loans etc to fund Smith and Nephews more expensive operations.  The department will also direct the use of finances to further gain an advantage on the stock exchange against their rival companies.
• Administration Department: The role of this department is to provide important support services to the other department within Smith and Nephew.  The Admin Dept. at Smith and Nephew is very specific and responsible as it looks over a range of other areas such as Clerical services and Security of the business, the Department also depends very much on the usage of ICT as it supports the use of software, payrolls, E-mail and electronic transactions.  This is more important for the larger companies as it is a manager of lesser areas within the business to see if they are up to the board’s current expectations.  

Functional areas of Mint Design

As only Andy Hastwell runs Mint design, he runs all the functional areas too, but he has the advantage of not needing certain areas that bigger companies would spend millions of pounds on.

• Human resources: Recruiting, keeping and dismissing employees, providing good working conditions, training and developing working conditions, negotiating with Trade unions and health and safety.  Andy Hastwell may be a sole trader but as one of his aims is to further develop his business to a Public Limited Company by 2005 he will have to look further into the area of Human Resources.
• Finance: This area of business is more important than Human resources to Andy Hastwell as any company will need at least an adequate Finance Dept. as money is important to any business as it can make or break even the biggest companies.
• Operation and Production: Once again seen as Mint design is only run by Andy Hastwell, this department is smaller than the Smith and Nephew one as Andy Hastwell has to collect his own recourses and material for himself to work on.
• Admin: In Mint Design there is no Administration area as it is not that necessary until the company can grow to a certain size.
• Marketing and Sales: This is very important to any size of business, if any businesses M&S area is not up to standard the company will struggle to sell or market its goods and therefore the company will not produce any profit.
• Research and Development: Like M&S this area of business is vital for growth within any business sectors.  It is very important for Mint design or any business to stay ahead of competition and Andy Hastwell would have to research into new technologies so that the business has something new and different to offer customers that no other company will.  It is very important that Andy Hastwell researches not just new products and technologies and products but also the market that Mint Design are in to utilise competition.
• Customer Service: This area is probably the most important area of business as the customers are the most important things to a business, without customers the company would become bankrupt, it is necessary that any businesses customers feel important to the business as it will attract new customers and current customers happy so that they will offer the business work or contracts.  If the customers are unhappy they will not purchase products and therefore the companies aims and objectives will not be able to be completed.

Improvements that the two businesses can consider using ICT

Smith and Nephew

In Smith and Nephew each department of Advanced Wound Management, Orthopaedics and Edoscopy are prospectively seen as individual work areas this is because Smith and Nephew is a very large profitable business so the company is divided to maximise the work progress, if the business was not divided it would be very hard for the board of directors to set aims and objectives for the whole company and therefore the business would not make any financial gain on the Stock Market.  Seen as the company is individually separated it can deal with problems and improvements.  Smith and Nephew have once again shown total domination in the pharmaceutical sector that the company prides themselves on.  The business has also shown a consistent rate to improve the companies position as a Global Business Network.  As you know that Smith and Nephew is prospectively divided into three business areas, the company was once again able to produce high figures and results, this also may be due to advanced progression and developments in ICT devices.  If Smith and Nephew are to uphold their high standards the company will have to further their technologies in ICT to ensure that they will stay one step ahead of the competition.

The areas of ICT that Smith and Nephew will have to improve on in the near future are:

• Internet and Intranet: The need for improving this technology is vital as the Internet connects the worlds businesses together, the company needs fast connections i.e. Broadband.  Time is the essence for businesses as time is money.  There are however disadvantages of Broadband as it is expensive but the cost should not affect such a big business but there have also been problems with viruses which can be implanted into any business that is connected to the internet and therefore would set back the companies schedule.
• Communication links to other employees (mobile phones, handheld PC’s and long distance radios) may need to be improved so that each member of staff may have a communication device on them at all times this will be good for the business as it will benefit the health and safety areas of the company and to deal with any problems, deadlines and deliveries quick and effectively.  There is an issue with the price of such technologies as Smith and Nephew employ over 7,000 people in 34 different countries it would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund the employees with the advanced technologies and this could affect the companies financial structure.

Mint Design

Mint design is a sole trader and therefore there are many areas of improvement.  The only problem is that the financial status of the business there is only so much the business can do, the business may be doing very well but if the company was just to spend a little of the companies savings into any area of the business without making profit the company could windfall and even become bankrupt in some cases.  So with the constant state of this happening the business owner has to be very careful in what they buy or invest in.  

To improve the communication in Mint Design Andy Hastwell will have to invest in a type of communication that will be cheap to purchase and maintain, yet there is no big demand in Mint for communication unless with mobile phone and Internet Andy Hastwell should look towards advances in Mobile internet and ISDN or Broadband to connect to other businesses and his financial adviser or accountant.  Broadband and WAP may be slightly expensive but the business would benefit form these technologies min the long-term run.

The business could also develop its web site this should be mandatory to the business anyway as its speciality is partly to design web sites and the consumers and customers will need to see a quality web site to help persuade them to offer contacts to business also advertising areas this would attract more customers towards the business and would create more local or nation wide profit for the company to expand its functional areas and to develop into a Private Limited Company.

Economic Conditions

The Economy is made up of millions of individuals, thousands of business and government who take decisions on spending and producing.  The conditions revolving around the economy within England are at an all time low, the Interest Rate in fact dropped from 4% that stood for 14 months which in fact is a new record to 3.75 on Wednesday in the previous week.  The Exchange rate is the price of one currency, started in terms of another.  The pound at the moment is weak against the Euro therefore it is cheaper to import to Europe and many other currencies for example £1 may be $1.50.  Inflation is a continued rise in the general level of prices and fall in the value of money.  Inflation is currently very low which helps give the business confidence.

How do these factors affect the Businesses?

All these factors affect the Businesses on a major scale they are known as External influences that affect the business outside the control of the business, which stop the business completing and achieving its aims and objectives, both businesses depend on customers; if the Inflation rate is high people cannot afford to buy, consumers and businesses tend to hoard, if the exchange rate is high the price of exports goes up therefore foreigners are not likely able to afford the products, the companies at the moment are doing very well regarding the current Economy, customers can afford to buy products, people are richer.

Environmental Constraints on Smith and Nephew and Mint Design

There are many types of pollution that can affect any businesses structure or way of work.  As you know there is currently a worldwide debate concerning Global Warming due to the recent flooding in the UK and awful weather conditions around the globe.  Businesses are affected by the environmental issues due to that if there were no laws sanctioned businesses would be able to do as they see fit with the disposal of their waste and save million on recycling schemes by dumping waste product rather than recycling.

The different types of pollution are:

1. Air pollution, many industrial businesses including Smith and Nephew release acid substances and hydrocarbons while manufacturing and producing products into the atmosphere.  They contaminate the air and later cause acid rain.  Lorries, trucks, vans, cars and most uses of transport also cause damage to the Ozone layer by creating carbon monoxide.  However, Mint Design does not emit as much air pollution as Smith and Nephew due to the sheer size and the different sector of the business.  Mint only emits air pollution through Andy Hastwell and customers travelling by means of current transport.
2. Noise pollution, Smith and Nephew pollute the environment with noise pollution mostly by transporting goods directly and indirectly.
3. Water pollution is a key environmental concern as millions of creatures are being damaged and even killed every day by its affects, Smith and Nephew do not produce as much water pollution as businesses within the chemical and agriculture industry.
4. The wasting of the limited resources are a even bigger environmental issue as the UK‘s businesses are criticised for being wasteful in the way they use the non-renewable resources such as coal, oil and gas.  The UK businesses create over an estimated 500 million tonnes of waste each year.  Smith and Nephew pride themselves as being very environmentally friendly, recycling all the products they can.  Mint do use many resources of paper due to there business sector Andy Hastwell should set up a recycling scheme to benefit the environment.  

 

All companies have to sign an agreement of the Clean Air, Environmental Protection and Pollution Prevention and Control Acts second to the countries and industries agreement, not all countries have agreed to these acts but all the countries where Smith and Nephew are based the agreement has been has been passed.  Most economically developed countries except the United States due to that they see it has to restricting to the thousands of businesses that provide money towards the government have also passed a KYOTO agreement to aid the acts in the above paragraph.

 

     

   

The Location of the Smith and Nephew

Smith and Nephew is located in York and Hull in the UK, the location of the Smith and Nephew sites is not so vital as long as the area is resourceful and travel links between the rest of the UK and the world are adequate i.e. rail link, roads and motorways, sea transport and by air.

As you can see on the map Hull and York are very close to these sources of transport there are airports located at Leeds and Hull which could transport heavier or larger goods at faster speeds for urgent deliveries to London and the rest of Europe via Channel tunnel.

 

The UK’s motorways are very safe and usually un-congested, the rail links are also very good for transporting supplies throughout the UK and even through the channel tunnel through the rest of the Europe.  Smith and Nephews largest based area of sites in the world is in America, so for transporting goods the company would usually send the goods by sea, however if a small amount of products i.e. medicines or high value products are needed to be sent as soon as possible they would be sent by air but it is very expensive and would only be done in the most important circumstances.

York may not be highly populated but the ratio of people that graduate from the college and University is very good also many people move to York as a nice place to live and to work there are loads of new and renowned businesses starting up in the local York area which will benefit Smith and Nephew resourcefully and for competition.

 

Smith and Nephew also employ a vast majority local people from around the areas of Hull and York as many of people are very qualified within scientific and pharmaceutical studies, the University of York specialises in science orientated areas and is only 100 yards away form the nearest building.  The Leeds University specialises in ICT, Communication and medicine and is a great asset to the Smith and Nephew Company as many people graduate with honours form both universities.

Map taken from  

Above: The exact location of the Smith and Nephew site in York you can also see parts of the University and the newly built roads connecting the main roads to the motorways.

Mint Design

Mint design as you know is a Sole Trader and does not gain as much capital on the same scale of Smith and Nephew, Mint Design may want a quality area to set up business but the company can only afford so much and therefore the company would usually have so make do with the area that they can afford to buy also Mint Designs location is in a building that is on a mortgage.  

Has Smith and Nephew dealt with the environmental constraints revolving around competition?

Smith and Nephew have dealt very well with their competition as they have once again surpassed themselves they dominate so much of the pharmaceutical industry and other businesses compare their results against them they have set a high standard which is very hard to compete against, they are prospectively environmentally friendly, they have always done well on the stock market partially due to that the industry has always had a high demand from business to business and from the public but nevertheless the business still works hard in perfecting every area of work.

The area where Smith and Nephew is based in York has had some part in the success of the branch as it always helps neighbouring schools and the University with their highly able students.  Smith and Nephew do not have any major competition in the local York area therefore they compare themselves to national, multi-national or worldwide businesses, which can depend on the economic structure of the environment, workforce and governing parties.  However regarding the environmental problem with the Foot and Mouth disease that the United Kingdom has suffered in the last two years has affected all businesses whatever the industry or size therefore there was a small period where Smith and Nephew’s stock share price lowered due to the crises but overall the company was able to deal with the minor setback to be even better off than it was previously, Mint Design were also affected by that some of Andy Haswell’s customers are in fact framers and therefore due to the crisis were not able to afford the products on offer.  The greater challenge that lies ahead is the issue with war; if we do go to war especially with Iraq the demand of biological vaccines and cures etc will be great but the disadvantage to the company is that in World War Two inflation was a big problem, luckily to the company though it shouldn’t effect the company to much as they are based in more economic developed countries.  The problem affecting Smith and Nephew that if and when war comes that people don’t buy shares and stop investing, if this does happen will Smith and Nephew be able to cope?