2. Have a time limit by when they need to have been achieved
3. Need to state the required resources that they need in order to meet them.
Setting clear and realistic objectives will allow many employees to understand exactly what their job entails and achieving clearly stated objectives may be linked to bonus payments - this can act as an incentive for employees.
I got into contact with Scott Bader Company Ltd and they told me that their main strategic objective is "To be a successful and sustainably profitable international enterprise, with its unique ownership structure providing an example to others".
Scott Bader has principles by which they abide by, most of these principles and objectives were set because Ernest Bader the founder of Scott Bader wanted to ensure that whenever staff benefited from advantages such as, profit and bonus’s they would share with those less fortunate. These principles state how Scott Bader works as a company across the world. Wherever their location, they all work to a common set of principles these are: -
- Care
- Equality [of opportunity]
- Ethics
- Involvement
- No discrimination
- Respect [Human Dignity]
- Service
The intentions of the founders of Scott Bader, was to create a far-reaching company, its well being entrusted to those who work in it. It must be to encourage a will to cooperate and to help to get rid of discrimination and waste – making the world a better place to live.
For Scott Bader to be sustainable they must maintain a reputation for honesty, integrity, service and quality in all their dealings. Each Scott Bader Company must work in a spirit of cooperation with colleagues, their local communities and with all the people that they do business with. They must ensure that they provide equality of opportunity by informing and training each other to help people meet their full potential and so to drive Scott Bader forward.
Taking responsibility; as individuals they are supposed to accept their personal responsibility for their actions, recognising that all staff must be trusted so to avoid conflicts and to constantly seek to improve knowledge and their skills. As an organisation as a whole each company must behave in a caring and moral way and to try and work together to grow mutual long-term relationships based on honesty. The managers have a special responsibility to make the individuals cooperate and also ensure open discussion and reporting at all times.
Working for a better society. They must care about those who rely on them and the dignity of all people. Any sort of discrimination, of race, age or religion is not at all tolerated. They proportion their profit so to benefit those less fortunate than them. As a sustainable and caring company they try to set an example to others and support staff in community activities.
Self-Governance. Scott Bader encourages personal responsibility and to keep all staff informed and consulted on matters affecting their day-to-day working issues, and to commit to working in the best interests of the company.
These principles are a important issue for Scott Bader they are obviously used and abided by at every working day the problems with them are that yes, you can set an example to be less discriminative but you can’t change people views and cultures. These principles I think give a huge incentive to their employees to work hard, which is why the company is probably so sustainable, it makes them feel worthy and that their input does matter on all issues and affairs. Therefore I think these principles are a good set of principles to have if followed properly. People will think before acting and therefore the company and the people working for it produce a good yet honest image, to the outside world making it an influencing company.
The objective of every company is to profit maximise. Scott Bader need to profit maximise so that money can come back into the business for research and development so to improve products and production with new innovation etc. Scott Bader uses its profits in a very different way to other companies; this is because of their objectives and principles to help those lees fortunate than them.
- Only a maximum of 60% of all the profit made can be kept for the business used for research and development and innovation.
- Of the 40% left of the profit, a maximum 20% is allowed to be paid into the employees wags as bonuses, but an equal 20% or a greater amount is given to charity.
Using their profits in this way has meant that Scott Bader has given a huge amount of money over the years to charities and projects such as, the provision of water to rural villages in Africa and India, health care clinics in South America and many projects for the homeless in the UK.
There are some benefits and some constraints to this proportional profit idea. The advantages are; they gain profit, it’s a morally respected company meaning people will recognise its name and reputation and it will get more consumers, because of the image, it is like a brand even if price is competitive from other companies people will still buy from Scott Bader because of moral and quality reasons. The disadvantages are; that if they do not produce enough profit that year to cover their costs with the 60% allowed, then they may not have enough money to keep their company in survival at hard times. Another disadvantage is that if they need to downsize and get rid of workers it would be against their principles of help the well being of their employees and make a good example to others, to do so, therefore they could be in a bit of a muddle.
Another of Scott Bader’s objectives is that, “Scott Bader has been founded on the belief that a socially responsible undertaking cannot exist merely with its own interests. It is part of the whole national and international community and, as such, it has responsibilities, which extend far beyond the factory walls.” Scott Bader also states that, it is for each generation to understand these responsibilities in it’s own way, according to existing situations and changing needs.
On Scott Bader’s website they talk about the community activity that they get involved in (as before in the principles); they work within a mutually supporting community they believe that as individuals they have a responsibility to participate in their local communities to serve those who most need. Some examples of these involvements are below:
Scott Bader collates information to see if their business is doing well and to see if they are meeting its objectives. They collate information by financials, customer surveys, employee surveys and other key performance indicators on profitability, Health & Safety, environment, and quality.
Scott Bader could use profitability ratios to assess how well they are doing. The Gross Profit ratio shows how much gross profit the business has made in relation to its sales figures. This would be very useful for Scott Bader as they could see their profit margin and they would be able to see how much would go into charities and how much will go back into the company.
Return on capital employed ratio, is one of the best measurements of profitability. It compares the profits to the amounts invested in the business by the owners. It is useful because it can be compared to the rate that would be obtained from other investments. Scott Bader could invest into something else or put their money in a savings account. Scott Bader of course has to take into account the amount given to staff and to charities.
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Scott Bader’s ownership is called common ownership. It has no external shareholders, which makes business relationships more sustainable because Scott Bader cannot be taken over – it is totally independent, partnerships can be made long term with customers and suppliers. Its shares are held in a charitable trust and so consequently employees are trustees-in-common of the company’s assets. This unusual structure provides significant further size to the business and employment relationships and our interaction with the wider community. Employees have a greater role to play in the company than just performing their day-to-day role this provides incentives to work harder and good give them a sense of well doing as they are helping others less fortunate than them world, while they are working. The charitable status brings responsibility to the wider community particularly to those less fortunate.