AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
“An aim for a business is the overall direction in which the management wish it to develop over a period of time”. An aim is what Scottish and Newcastle plc set out to do, these aims are published in statements for example in a vision statement which is how Scottish and Newcastle sees it’s self or in a mission statement which is longer and in more details.
City Limits aims to exceed the expectations of their customers. This is very important as all customers have expectations when visiting a restaurant, or bar. These may include the quality of the service they are to receive and if you exceed their expectations they will go home happy and you are most likely to receive repeat business which is vital for the success of the business. Also, word of mouth will be spread, as customers tell their friends or colleagues about the quality of service they received. This in turn means people would want to visit City Limits. This will increase sales and profits making it one of the most successful businesses owned by Scottish and Newcastle plc.
City Limit’s main aim is to make a profit, this enables them to pay dividends to shareholders which keeps them happy. Once happy with the performance of City Limits they would want to invest more money into the business. This enables City Limits to grow and expand its operations and also provide a better service or product for their customers. This means that customers are happy and spend more money in City Limits which in turn will contribute to an increase the sales and profits. Making a profit also means that after City Limits has paid dividends to its shareholders, they are still left with enough money to reinvest in the business for further growth.
Another aim is to be a market leader in its sector being a market leader is vital and also there are a number of factors that contribute to being a market leader the main one is your reputation. Your reputation determines whether you will have many people visiting City Limits or not. In order to be a market leader City Limits have set some aims like to improve customer satisfaction. If customers are satisfied with the quality of the services/goods they receive, they will always come back which improves repeat business, which in turn increases sales and profit levels.
Objectives
“An objective is a goal that City Limits wishes to achieve” City Limits will succeed in its aims through achieving a variety of objectives, which include profitability, growth, quality and social responsibility. These objectives some time conflicts with each other.
Improve quality; quality is very important as it determines whether customers will come back or not. Quality determines the reputation of City Limits. If the quality is good the public will rate the products/ services City Limits provides highly and will recommend them to their friends. This means that sales and profits will increase; the reputation will be high and as the numbers of customers increase City Limits will became a market leader. However if the quality is poor this will be the opposite and City Limits will not be able to achieve its aim of being a market leader as sales and profits will drop dramatically as no customers would want to be charged a lot of money for a poor quality service/product.
Increasing sales, profits and market share by 10% compared to last year, and beating the competition are some of the main objectives for City Limits as it competes against many bars, pubs and restaurants, some located in London. Beating competition is vital as the survival of City Limits depends upon it. A business that is not doing very well can be a prime target for other companies to takeover.
Another objective is to improve training for its employees in order to build up a skilled workforce as this has a direct impact on the quality of the service/goods provided. Quality can only be provided by employees with necessary skills. Also well-trained staff will offer good customer service and deal with complaints effectively. If staff are well trained and the service is of a high quality it helps reduce the number of complaints from customers as staff will be providing a quality service because they have the skills needed.
Setting targets for departments and promoting effectiveness all over the business helps to increase output and reduce waste. This means City Limits can still provide a quality service but with fewer raw materials e.g. potatoes and milk used in the kitchen, which helps it cut its cost and make much more profit. If departments achieve their targets on time they will also promote effectiveness.
The other main objective that City Limits has is to vary its products and services from its competitors. This allows customers to see a difference in the services City Limits provides compared to it competitors though they are all the same services. City Limits does this through adding extras to the services or products and they also brand there service/products. For example, if you go to their restaurant you know what to expect; their food always looks and tastes the same. This attracts many customers as they know what kind of product to expect when they visit City Limits and in turn this helps to increase sales and profits.
Scottish and Newcastle also have objectives relating to serving the community and caring for the environment. Serving the community is done at City Limits, for example, they sponsor local events and help with community projects. This helps promote City Limits through the local community and when it comes to expansion the local authority is most likely to give it licensing to expand simply because City Limits is putting some thing back in the local community. Also Scottish and Newcastle recognise that its activities have on the environment and that environmental management is integral to the efficient management of the group’s operations, both manufacturing and commercial. This puts Scottish and Newcastle on the safe side of pressure groups such Greenpeace and the government put pressure on business to carry out a policy of sustainability. For example, City Limits do not use any genetically modified food in the restaurants, therefore, customers think the better of City Limits and therefore spend more money by buying their products. The world today is turning to heath eating the ban of genetically modified foods in the restaurants attracts more people because they believe health eating is the way forward.
MEASURING FINANCIAL SUCCESS
City Limits uses many ways to measure its financial success and establish were it lies in the market. One way is by looking at profit and sales compared to the previous month/year. Sales is money coming into city limits from the sell of its products and services. This information is found in the profit and loss account. If the profit/sales are low than the previous month or year, then performance is poor. If the performance is greater, then they are successful.
There is number of ways City Limits can improve their sales/profit one of them is by improving repute customers. They can improve the value of money coming in the business, this can be done by increasing the price which means more is received from the sale of each product/service, or they can advertise more externally to attract customers which later increases sales and profits. City Limits try to do better each month/year compared to the previous one, this way they can be sure that they are heading the right way. City Limits controls costs and tries to increase sales. This way its’ profits can be higher than ever.
Gross profit margin is also used to measure financial success, gross profit is trading profit found by sales less cost of sales. Gross profit margin is gross profit divided by sales and multiplied by 100. It is expressed as a percentage and is easy to read and see if you are below your target or above it. They can also measure success by looking at the gross and net profit margins. The gross and net profit can be improved by cutting down on costs and waste or by simply increasing profit.
The number of complaints received from customers is also a way in which City Limits measure success. For example, if the restaurant receives lots of complaints about the food it is taken back and wasted which increases costs for City Limits. So quantity of waste is also a way in which success can be measured.
City Limits also measure their success by looking at the numbers of customers and comparing them to the previous week. This allows to decide whether their marketing is effective or not and than enables them to take appropriate action.
DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AT CITY LIMITS
City Limits has different departments that contribute to its successfulness. Its departments include the finance, marketing, human resources, production, and administration department. All the different departments integrate with each other in order to maximise sales. All departments know what each other is doing and how it is going to affect them. Targets are set for each operational department.
The HR department at City Limits is responsible for recruiting new staff, training and it deals with industry matters that may arise at City Limits. It also is responsible for creating a good and safe working environment for its employees. In order to make sure that the staff it employs will work well and contribute to the success of the company, the HR department recruits staff between 18-30 who have special talent, want to learn and like to receive training. This means that these employees can be fully utilised to the benefit of City Limits. Staff will work hard and do challenging work, which in turn motivates them and motivates them to work harder. This also means that twice as much work is done and targets are met and sales increase. Due to of the actions of the HR at City Limits, staff are properly qualified to do the jobs that are allocated to them which means work is done properly and effectively. Because the HR department is very efficient overtime is only paid when vitally necessary - this helps to save money.
The marketing department finds out what customers want at City Limits through carrying out research and tries to find way in which city limits can satisfy the needs of it customers. This department also is responsible for the marketing of the goods and services of City Limits. The marketing department consults with the finance department to set prices for the products. The marketing department then advertises with leaflets and posters in City Limits. The marketing department also works with the ICT departments to advertise on the Internet. Information is passed on from the marketing department to the ICT department in order to update the web site.
The operations/production department, includes the bar, entertainment, fast food, restaurant, the health club centre and the ten pin bowling, which is the most successful department at City Limits because it takes up the most space and its turnover is the highest. The operation department works hand in hand with the marketing and finance department and it is vital to the success of the business that these departments continue to work together. Also this department is responsible for quality production targets. This department efficiency of the kitchen at City Limits and makes sure that quality is maintained, which means customers can get what they expect to get this increases repeat customers which in turn increases sales and profits making the company successful.
Finance department controls all the money in the business and does the book keeping. Without this department, money would be wasted and there would be no one to control it. It is also responsible for producing the management accounts of City Limits. These show how well City Limits is doing and whether targets have been met. However the finance department at City Limits does not do all the finances as the main head office departments at Scottish and Newcastle plc do most work.
City Limits has an research and Development department but head office has main control of this department and City Limits has very little input in it on site. The research and development department revamps existing products as they always lose value after being on market for a long time. If this happened, City Limits would lose customers to its’ competitors who may have developed new products using changing technology. The R and D department therefore always works hard to develop products/services that will attract new customers in order to keep City Limits at the top of the market. This departments’ success depends upon effective communication with all other departments.
In order for City Limits to manage its premises and keep them clean it has a administration department which is responsible for the maintenance of City Limits premises and equipment like the ten pin bowling alleys and the GYM equipment. This department also makes sure that other departments are working to keep the venue clean and the toilets are checked regularly. This department is very important because without it other departments can not operate effectively. For example, if the toilets are dirty City Limits may lose customers.
In conclusion, the successfulness of City Limits depends on good communication between all the departments and the quality of planning and the way the management co-ordinate the way in which the departments work together.
MANAGEMNET STYLE AND CULTURE OF CITY LIMITS
Managers at City Limits have different management styles the company does not have a management style that managers should follow but Scottish and Newcastle plc encourages its employee’s to come up with ideas that will benefit the company and might lead to an increase in sales.
Some of the managers have a laid back style this is mainly the managers in the stores who welcome ideas from employees. These managers use a democratic management style; managers make the decisions but consult with the employees before. This motivates the employees as they feel they are being valued and are part of the decision making that contributes to the success of City Limits. The store manager also use a consultative style of management, this is when the managers at City Limits genuinely consults the staff in decision making process.
However the higher the management level the more the managers’ move to an autocratic style of management, this is where managers make all the decisions. The managers are influenced by a number of factors that lead them to use this style of management; one of these is time as a regional manager can not go to the stores consulting with every employee before making a decision.
Culture is “the attitudes, values and beliefs that are shared by the people in City Limits.” All the employees at City Limits have a common vision. City Limits values its customers, as without them, it would not exist, as they are the main stakeholders. If they feel that they are not getting value for money they will always turn to City Limits competitors, which means there will be a decrease in sales and profits.
The staff at City Limits value its reputation as it is vital to their success. If their reputation is ruined, City Limits will lose customers as no one would want to visit it because of its poor reputation.
Also staff are valued which helps to motivate them as they feel they are being part of the team. Since they are motivated they work harder and retain quality which keeps customers happy.
City limits believes in being the best and being a market leader. At the moment City Limits is a market leader and as a result it accounts for 75% of the market. City Limits also believe in having a good time and making people laugh.
However, City Limits culture is affected by the management style, economic influences, social influences, environmental influences, ethical and technology influences.
COMMUNICATION METHODS AT CITY LIMITS
City Limits uses IT for communication between store managers and head office and suppliers. Using the internet to order goods or to send data between offices is cheap and saves money as it is time efficient, at a click of a button data is sent and received with in second.
City Limits has an EPOS till system that is IT operated this till system works out sales for the whole venue. The till system assists the finance department as it works out the stock used in the business so that stock counts can be made. This till system is linked all round the venue and it enables managers to know which department is turning over the most amount of money.
The regional managers also have a pager and a mobile device that they use to communicate with the other store managers; this saves them time to travel down the departments to deliver information.
The marketing department also uses leaflets and posters to communicate with its customers; this has been very effective, as the sales have been increasing. In City Limits each department has CB radios to communicate with each other. Each department has a different channel they use to communicate and different codes which when passed out action is take. For example, when managers pass out code 32 this means that there is a problem in the restaurant area and security is needed immediately. This enables them to take action when needed and keep the area in control. The area is under 24-hour video watch which enables the security department to view what is going on and take action and stop crime before it turns deadly.
City Limits has special telephone link with the police and fire department, at the touch of a button it activates an alarm at the police and fire department. This link is only used in emergencies only as it costs a lot of money if the fire and police department are called out on a false alarm.
The managers have regular meetings to discuss the performance and progress of City Limits. These meetings can be at different levels of management depending on what needs to be done. City Limits has a staff notice board where information for staff is on display, this is a very effective and cost efficient way of internal communication as all the staff know were the notice board is located and always check to see what is happening.
When customers visit the amusements/ entertainment department and collect tokens they are given of getting a prize or saving the tokens as points on a loyalty card which means that when they reach a certain number of points they can collect a bigger prize. So in order for this to happen they ask for the customers’ address, e-mail and telephone numbers, which enables City Limits to create a database and send advertising material to its customers. This is one of the ways they communicate directly with the customers. However, it’s also a promotion stunt in a way that customers would want to get many points in order to get a bigger prize which means they send more money at City Limits.
QUALITY CONTROL/ASSURANCE SYSTEM AT CITY LIMITS
Where customers have a choice quality is vital as the business will have to meet the quality expected by its customers. If City Limits fails to meet the quality expected by the customers, they can find alternatives to the service and goods it provides. This would lead to City Limits losing its status as a market leader, which leads to a decrease in sales and profits.
To avoid this from happening, City Limits has put in place a number of ways to check the quality of goods and services it provides and ensure that they meet the quality both expected by the customers and legislation. Firstly, all the departments are responsible for quality; they make quality their main objective as it is directly linked to profits. They try and make sure that the goods and services are provided without faults, as they believe that “if every department is committed to producing quality faults can be eliminated.” Eliminating faults before they happy adds value to the service as customers do face these problems, basically they are always happy and satisfied with the products.
All departments at City Limits set minimum standards that they can expect and make sure that they always perform better than these standards. This enables them to maintain high quality. If one department fails to keep to these standards, action is taken immediately by the managers who identify the problem and solve it. This helps not to affect the reputation of City Limits’ quality products and services. Setting minimum standards means that a stain standard of quality is always met and departments always try and achieve more than this minimum standards this adds value to the service/products customers will always get what they expect.
To ensure that quality is maintained the City Limits provides comments box in the different departments. For example, in the restaurants, where customers can make complaints about the products or service they have received. Also customers can fill in a ‘customer comments card’ which has closed questions asking about the quality of the service received, these are also posted in the comment boxes. Customers do not only give complaints but are asked what suggestion they think will solve the problem. Managers later open these boxes and read the comments and these are plotted on a chart to show which department has the most complaints and what might be causing this to happen. Action is then taken to solve the issues that arise. When customers comments are actioned upon this means that these problems are less likely to happen again so customers will not have the same problems later on. This adds value to the service/products, customer receive a better service all the time.
To ensure that the quality at City Limits is high head office, operations department sends mystery shoppers who come in buy the products and use the services. They also speak to customers and managers to assess their attitudes to the customers. These mystery shoppers then report back to the managers and changes are made to ensure that the highest quality is provided. The operations department also has strict specifications for food and drinks which are followed making sure that the end products are of a high quality.
City Limits has another unique way of making sure that quality standards are kept high, they try and make their own branding. All the goods and services they provide are branded. This works mostly in the restaurant were for example the chef always puts the stake on the left hand side of the plate, potatoes on the right, greens on the side etc. All the ingredients are measured before cooking to make sure that the food always tastes the same and is the same size. Customers know what to expect when they come in.
The finance department makes sure that there is a budget for each department to carry out its operations, this budget is planned and controlled effectively. This meaning that money is available when need for example the sales and marketing department has a specific budget for promotions, promotion informs the customers of which products are on offer at City Limits.
The facilities and administration department makes sure that the facilities are always maintained and creates a safe working environment for all the other departments. Managers from the operations department spot check the receptionists, technicians and cleaning to make sure that everything is done properly according to the specification. They also make sure that a technological support team is always on site to fix any equipment failures; this adds value and keeps customers happy as they feel they are being looked after.
The HR department makes sure the quality is maintained by recruiting well-qualified and experienced staff that have good knowledge and understanding in how things are run. This department also works with others department to identify training needs for the employees and increases training opportunities for the employees thus training means that employees can do the job better and it also motivates them therefore ensuring quality is maintained. Well-motivated staff look after the customers, do what needs to be done according to the specification and make them laugh by doing this they add value to the service and customers are kept happy which increases sales and the reputation of city limits is maintained
The operations department checks the products before they go to the customers for example, as a process of quality control at City Limits the head chef is required to check all food before it goes out of the kitchen to be served to the customers, by checking the food this guarantees a good brand and adds value to the product which keeps customers happy, this attracts customers to spend more money.
The security department makes sure that the premises are safe; by making sure that security is good customers feel safe at all the time on site this also adds value.
The operations department offers special deals to customers and the marketing departments advertises, special deals give customers variations, which enable them to spend more time out erg a day at City Limits blowing and them have lunch. This adds value to the products/ services.
It costs a lot of money and time for City Limits to maintain the quality of the goods and services. However, it is worth it in the long term as the benefits outweigh the costs and the results are high levels of motivation and involvement in employees as they are all responsible for quality, leading to better quality standards, low levels of waste and generally higher productivity. Good quality leads to a good reputation, which attracts customers, this increases sales and profits. The marketing department does branding, develops products and make sure that promotion is up to date and effective.
