This is a detailed business report on Sainbsurys.

Authors Avatar

Anthony Georgiou                Page

Introduction

This is a detailed business report on Sainbsurys. The report will cover and consider the following aspects at Sainsburys:

  • Objectives
  • Functional areas
  • Organisational structure
  • Management styles
  • Culture
  • Communication channels
  • Production and quality

The key features of an organisation are its:

  • unique name – (e.g. J Sainsburys plc)
  • objectives – (mission statement, gives any business direction)
  • legislation’s- (rules and laws)
  • patterns and structures- (culture, tradition, values)
  • chain of command- (orders pass down while information passes up hierarchy)
  • power
  • reward

I have chosen to use Sainsburys for my report as they are a very large company and cover all areas of the report. Let us find out a bit more information on Sainsburys.

Sainsbury's Supermarkets was established in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann and is Britain's longest-standing major food retailing chain. Sainsbury's Supermarkets was established in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury and is Britain's longest-standing major food retailing chain. The founders' principles and values guide us as strongly today as they did at the outset - to be the customer's first choice for food shopping by providing high-quality products, value for money, excellent service and attention to detail. It now operates over 500 stores and recruits 145,000 people a year.

Sainsburys is now one of the UK’s leading supermarkets alongside its competitors Tesco. The typical Sainsburys store has around 50 – 100 people working for them. In most stores then can be up to 25 – 50 full time workers and around 50 part time workers.

Sainsburys operates a very centralised policy in which top management at Head office sets all major decisions with locally based managers carrying them out. Sainsburys’ head office can be found in Holborn and it is there where most decisions are made and are passed on via area messages, with locally based Sainsburys stores receiving them either through weekly newsletters, telephone calls or e-mail.

Over the last few years Sainburys has been merging into different areas of business. An example can be shown in the wide range of new products that they have brought in and the wide variety of foreign foods. Just as technology has advanced and improved so to the service provided by Sainsburys. They now use e-commerce online to help customers with difficulties to do their shopping and help make their life easier. They also now hope to start Sainsburys banking. One of their future goals according to a store manager is to start motor vehicle insurance just like its competitors Tesco. Sainsburys has also merged with other known companies such as BP, Debenhams, and Barclaycard to produce a Nectar card whereby customers can get points for every purchase they make at those stores and then get something in conjunction with how many points they have.

We can see that as times are changing Sainsburys need to keep up to date with the latest technology in all areas. We will now see the vital role of setting objectives plays in Sainsburys and how each department assists in reaching them. We will also be able to see well overall, Sainsburys is doing in all areas.

Ownership

Before someone can start up a business they need to clarify the kind of ownership they plan to be under. In this case the only way someone can be sure of what sort of ownership they are panning to use, they need to analyse and evaluate different ownership’s to decide which is best suited for them. However before jumping for a certain ownership they must also look at finances and see how much money they have to start a business.

For this assignment I have chosen to study J Sainsburys. Originally Sainsburys started out as a sole trader selling fruit and vegetables. However in time business was running well and they were able to reach one of their future targets to expand. Sainsburys has been around for many years now and is one of the UK’s leading supermarkets. It is now a Public limited company selling its shares on the stock market. From the time Sainsburys started it changed its type of ownership. We will now look at different types of ownership to discern which one is best suited to Sainsburys.

Businesses today can be classified according to sectors. We will look at the two types of sectors to see which one Sainsburys is operating under.

Sainsburys is a public limited company so we can clearly see form the chart above that they fall under the private sector. The benefit if this is quite obviously that they are taking the profits in directly.

Sainsburys initially started out as a sole trader and then moved on to become a plc. We will now look at different types of ownership and why being a public limited company is best suited for Sainsburys and how they benefit from the type of ownership they are under. There is a distinctive difference between the following types of ownership:

  • Sole Traders
  • Partnerships
  • Franchise
  • Co-operatives
  • Private limited companies
  • Public limited companies

Sole Trader(1 owner):

A Sole Trader is where a single person owns a business. Most sole trader's work on their own, many of which are shopkeepers and market traders, or maybe self-employed as the following: plumbers, hairdressers, consultants and electricians. In which they normally trade locally or regionally.

Someone who starts up a business as a sole trader is responsible for his/her financial control of the business, running costs, liabilities of any outstanding debts, and meeting capital requirements.

 It is very easy and simple to set up as a sole trader. You need to follow the following steps:

  • Responsibility for providing capital either from savings or a loan.
  • Direct personal involvement
  • Unlimited liability (this is where you are liable to pay back money borrowed in any way possible.
  • Independence
  • Entitlement to all of the profits but responsible for all debts.

Sainsburys originally started out as a sole trader with two owners who started the business selling fruit and vegetables. It may be argued that this is a partnership however a deed of partnership was not drawn and both owners contributed to raising finance. The decisions were made between them.

Partnerships (2-20 owners):

In partnerships the owners are liable for their actions, so one partner's action tends to affect the others. Every partner tends to be entitled to contribute in management of the business. However, some managers may not wish to contribute and they are therefore known as Sleeping Partners.

In the business it is helpful and vital that partners draw up a Deed of Partnership. This makes provision for death, resignation or bankruptcy of a partner. A deed identifies the way in which the partnership will be operated. It covers the following: 

  • Arrangements for sharing of profits
  • Liabilities in case of debt
  • Continuation after death
  • Resignation of a member and etc.

In a partnership there must be at least one general partner who is fully liable for all debts and obligations of the practice.

Many partnerships are in professions of doctors, lawyers, and accountants. These professions rarely require large sums of capital to establish their practices therefore meaning they do not need a company to raise finance from investors. Partnerships tend to operate in local or regional markets.

Co-operative (owned by 2 or more co-operators):

 

Contains a diversity of businesses, such as covering agriculture, engineering, retail, wholesales distribution, travel, funeral services, property, and banking

Essential features of a cooperative society are:

· It is registered under the industrial and provident societies acts. 1965 - 78 and the company's acts.

· It has limited liability

· Shares are not transferable, they can only be bought from or not transferable, they can only be bought from or sold to the society.

· Membership is available on the purchase of one share with a nominal value of £1.

· Membership is voluntary and open

· There is equitable use of any surplus or profit

· A limited rate of interest is paid on capital

Franchise 

Is not a form of business organisation as such, but it is a way of managing and growing a business. Franchising covers a variety of arrangements under which the owner of a business idea grants other individuals or groups to trade using that name or idea. Although we must consider the fact that a franchise can trade as a sole trader, a partnership or a private limited company.

The person or organisation selling the idea gains a number of advantages from the process of franchising. The franchiser gains initial capital payments.

Join now!

The franchisor, 'sells' the right to sell its branded goods to someone wishing to set up a franchise. The licence agreement allows the franchisor to insist on manufacturing or operating methods and the quality of the product. A franchise buys or leases a site and a building. The franchisee buys the fittings, the equipment and the right to operate the franchise for 20 years. To ensure uniformity throughout the world, all franchisees have to use standardised  branding, menus, design layouts and administration systems.

The benefits of franchising is that it provides a service to the public they can enjoy in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay