Business Studies
Unit 1 (Business at Work)
E1 - Type of Ownership
Asda is a household name in the U.K and is renowned as one of the leading national supermarkets. Asda is a nationwide chain of supermarkets, which has branches across many parts of the world. More recently Asda was taken over by the retail giant Wal-Mart which has a retail empire in the USA. Asda is a public limited company. It is open to the public; therefore stakeholders can purchase shares into the company.
Asda is supermarket, which aims to provide its customers with the best possible goods and service with its permanently low prices. Asda's aim is to provide the best service to its customers and beat its competitors. Asda has branches all over the world, it is very well known by the public as well as the supermarket industry. Asda is in the industry of oligopoly as it has many competitors.
There are many advantages for Asda in being a public limited company but at the same time there are also several drawbacks. Asda is a large company, therefore it has its shares bought and sold on the stock exchange. This is beneficial as large amounts of capital can be raised very quickly.
However having shares quoted on the stock exchange is very expensive. Furthermore a crucial disadvantage for Asda is that control of the business may be lost by its original shareholders when large quantities of shares are being purchased perhaps as part of a take-over bid.
Asda have stated that selling shares on the stock exchange is a risky business, as they have good days and bad days. If the issue of new shares coincides with a bad day this provides the company with a lot of chaos.
For instance if Asda hopes to sell 1 million shares at £1 each and all goes well, it will raise £1 million; but on a bad day it may only be able to sell half these shares at the given price. Therefore there is quite a deal of luck involved, and the date for the launch of new shares has to be chosen well in advance. Some companies are very unlucky with this as they launch their share when people are gloomy about prospects in the economy. However before the launch of new shares Asda arrange a 'placing' with a merchant bank. The merchant bank then recommends the companies shares to some of its share buying institutions with which it deals, i.e. pension funds and insurance companies etc, they may then agree to buy say one-tenth of the new shares. This way the merchant bank makes sure that the shares are placed with large investors before the actual date of issue comes around. Then even if it is a bad day on the stock exchange the company's money is secure when the actual date of issue comes around.
One of the main advantages in being a public limited company is that if the company gets bankrupt it will not loose everything, but rather just the business. For example the owner of Asda will not loose their house or personal belongings etc as they would have limited liability.
Asda is continuously having price rollback campaigns every month and providing its customers with the best service and goods. It is able to compete with its rivals due to the fact that its status as a successful PLC (which is owned by the retail giant that is Wal-mart) has allowed it to use its vast financial support and human resources to effectively compete with rival supermarket chains.
E2) - THE MAIN ACTIVITIES, AIMS & OBJECTIVES OF ASDA
It is the mission statement of Asda, 'To be the worlds leading supermarket'. It has many aims and objective. Asda believe that by following its aims and objectives, it can successfully turn their mission statement into a reality.
Aims
In relation to other supermarkets, Asda is one of the fastest growing supermarket chains. However in order to maintain its lead position, Asda states several main aims which it constantly strives to achieve. These are as follows:
* To maximise sales through competitive pricing and heavy advertising campaigns
* To make the supermarket a happy and an enjoyable place for the staff to work together in harmony
* To ensure complete customer satisfaction and minimise any complaints about their products or prices.
* To make shopping at Asda a completely new, unique experience which provides customers and their children with a convenient, warm, welcoming, happy and safe shopping environment.
* To keep the customers happy and satisfied by providing them with the best and latest products and services at the lowest prices, without having to compromise on quality.
* To provide as much relevant information about products and services throughout the store, in a manner which is understandable to the customer.
* Be as environmentally friendly as possible
Objectives
Undoubtedly and inevitably, the most significant aim of Asda, as with any
other retail organisation is to be extremely profitable. However, in order to
achieve the aims highlighted above and hence increase its profits turnover,
Asda states the following objectives to show how they intend to satisfy and
accomplish their main aims and targets.
The objectives of Asda are as follows:
. As their main aim is to maximise sales and profits, Asda uses media such as radio, newspapers, magazines and largely television to heavily advertise its advertising campaigns about the latest promotions, price cuts and new product lines and services. Such advertisement campaigns and promotions have given Asda a loyal customer base, in addition to attracting new customers as well as an envied reputation for quality products at low, low prices.
2. Asda want to make the supermarket an enjoyable and happy place for the staff to work together in harmony, as Asda are aware that the attitude of their staff reflects back on customers and the service they ultimately receive. A pleasant working environment is created for the staff in which to work in, as well as benefits and incentives such as staff discounts, company pensions, beneficial share packages and opportunities for job promotions and salary bonuses.
3. In order to achieve complete customer satisfaction and minimise any complaints about its products, services or staff, Asda ensures it provides customers with a customer service section at each supermarket, whereby customers can communicate the complaints and enquiries, in addition to registering any comments as regards to products and services in the customer comments log-book. It prides itself in its commitment towards customer satisfaction.
4. In order to make the experience of shopping at Asda as warm, safe, welcoming, pleasurable and as convenient as possible, Asda has renewed many of its larger stores by providing the all-American style of shopping whereby customers have all the services and products provided usually by local businesses, at hand under the convenience of one roof. Many of the larger branches of Asda now have in-house cafes, dry-cleaners, opticians, bakeries, fast-food take-aways and butcheries in addition to having their own petrol forecourts and car-wash centres. Many branches have now diversified into the retail electrical, home ware and clothing market in addition to providing financial and insurance services.
5. To keep the customers happy and satisfied with the products, prices, services and staff. In order to ensure a loyal customer base and continue to attract new customers, Asda ensures they take advantage of their massive buying power and leading position in the supermarket industry in order to purchase the best quality goods and latest products at the most competitive prices. These savings and product promotions and price-cuts are heavily advertised both through the national media and throughout its branches nationwide. Furthermore, as an additional precaution, Asda prides itself on the fact that customer satisfaction with its products and prices are always maintained as its staff continually check prices locally on a weekly basis, in order to ensure the supermarket always provides the lowest prices around.
6. Asda strives to provide as much relevant information about products and services throughout the store, in a manner, which is understandable to the customer. It intends to achieve this by communicating various types of information such as public safety notices, new promotions and products and services, price reductions, charity fund-raising events through its regular customer magazines, leaflets, posters, customer information desk and staff.
7. Wherever possible, Asda strives to be as environmentally friendly as possible. This includes minimising product packaging, using recycled paper for its magazines, leaflets and receipts, building new supermarkets on existing industrial sites etc;
E3 - INFORMATION COLLECTED BY ASDA TO MEASURE ITS SUCCESS
As with many organisations Asda likes to collect information to measure its success. This is done in many ways including using MIS (Management Information System). However one of the main methods Asda uses to measure its success is by using statistics and graphs which allow them to view future trends and also enable them to see whether the company is making a profit or a loss. The company also uses annual reports which are produced yearly and allow the company see whether it is succeeding or not. Share prices are also very important, as any organisation would wish for more stakeholders to buy shares into the company. A decrease in share prices shows that there is something wrong within the organisation, therefore this in itself is a measure for the company's success. Often the share price of a PLC is a good indicator of how it is performing in relation to its previous performances.
Annual growth is another method used to measure the company's success especially considering the fact that Asda is now part of the Wall-Mart retail empire. Asda constantly strives to widen the price gap between its competitors in order to meet its aims. This also attracts more customers, thus it allows Asda to view whether it is doing better than its competitors such as Morrisons and Tesco. This is to say that more stakeholders would invest into the business, as they would see it is succeeding and doing better than its competitors.
Asda believe that employees are an important aspect of the business as they have direct contact with the customers. Asda is currently Britain's biggest employer of employees aged over, 50s with more than 20,000 working in stores, depots and offices. Asda claims that one of the key drivers to its business is to be 'The Most Enjoyable Place To Work'. In March 2002 Asda was named as 'Britain's Best Company To Work For' in a nationwide survey of UK businesses. And again, this year, for the third year running Asda has featured in the top 10 companies to work for with flexible working. This is to say that Asda is succeeding it meeting its objective 'To Be Britain's Best Company To Work For'. For Asda this is also another of success to see how well the company is doing. More recently, the general public have been provided with evidence of this simply through the television advertisement campaigns, which regularly pay tribute to Asda employees.
As with many organisations Asda also uses questionnaires to measure its success. These allow the company to receive feedback on what their customers think about the organisation and where they need to make improvements, if receiving negative feedback.
E4) - THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL AREAS WITHIN THE ASDA ORGANISATION
As with any nationally large, professionally established company, Asda has divided its organisation into four different functional areas of business. These are the Human Resources, Finance, Customer Services and Marketing and Sales divisions of the business. This section of the report will identify and provide further details of these four different functional areas of business within Asda, in addition to explaining how each contributes to the business activities of Asda. An explanation and illustration of how these four departments work together in order to achieve their aims and objectives is provided in this section.
Human Resources Division
The purpose of the Human Resources department at Asda is to keep all their staff and personnel satisfied with their employment and work conditions, in addition to being responsible for staff promotions, recruitment and selection of future staff, staff evaluations, terminations of employment and legal employment issues. This department is mainly concerned with employees who work for the company in addition to the overall responsibility for ensuring Asda continues its success as a great work environment for the staff.
The department is responsible for recruiting new staff to the organisation. The cost of recruitment may be high but the costs of mistakes are even more expensive. The Human Resources department plays a vital contribution towards the day-to-day business activities of Asda. I personally believe that perhaps it is one of the most important divisions of any large organisation simply due to the fact that without the rightly qualified staff for the thousands of posts within Asda, all other departments would cease to operate efficiently and effectively. Appointing someone who cannot do the job either to the standard required, to the satisfaction of management or who does not work well as a team member with other members of staff can be potentially disastrous. It is for this reason Asda aims to keep their staff turnover as low as possible, that is to say, to retain the staff they recruit. This is in order to not only keep recruitment costs down but also ensure that staff are content in their workplace so they continue to remain loyal to Asda for many years down the line. This is another reason why Asda actively encourage over 5os to apply, as they can potentially be very loyal employees.
This department is also responsible for taking on the responsibility for training staff. But the question one must ask here is why should companies want to continue to even train their staff after they have started work?
There are several important reasons for this. Some of these include:
* New members of staff need to be familiar with the company's organisational methods as they may be different from the ones of their previous workplace.
* As you change jobs, you also need to change your skills e.g. the company may practice new methods of working which may require new skills, which you may not have used before e.g. computerised filing and stock-taking etc;
* The staff may be interested in improving and extending their own personal work skills so they can take on more work and improve opportunities for promotion e.g. I.T skills, book-keeping etc;
* People are only motivated and fulfilled in their work if they are set challenges and opportunities to continue to learn and develop their work and social skills.
There are many various job roles within a Human Resources department. Listed below are a few examples of the job roles one would expect to find at the Human Resources department within Asda:
o Recruitment officer - responsible for selecting and recruiting staff
o Security officers - responsible for all security staff
o Human resources manager - Managing the human resource department and staff.
o Health and Safety officer - Checking all health and safety matters, monitoring and preventing accidents
o Staffing/Personnel Officer - keeps staff records and monitors their welfare
o Training and Development Officers - ensures old and new staffs continue to receive up-to-date training and information.
o Legal officer - responsible for ensuring that Asda abides by the employment laws.
Marketing and sales
The Marketing and Sales department at Asda try to identify what the customer's needs are and seek to provide them. The staff aim to basically achieve high product and service sales by initially putting themselves in the shoes of their potential customers and 'view', through their eyes, what marketing and sales techniques are the most effective and have the most impact on the customer. From this unique perspective, the marketing and sales team are able to achieve high sales by marketing and targeting products and services through the most effective means of advertising and communication. To Asda, the marketing department is more than just a split function, in other words, everyone is focussed on gratifying the customer's needs by providing the right products, the latest items at the right time at the right price. An essential criteria for a member of the marketing and sales team is to have excellent skills in creativity, prediction, communication, research, sales and insight into what customers needs are and how Asda can best satisfy these through their product ranges. Asda's Marketing department try to keep an interest in what else they can do in addition to satisfy the customers needs and try to find out what additional needs the customers have, which they or other supermarkets have not realised or taken full advantage of.
For instance, in the past, the marketing and sales teams have very successfully identified that their customer's needs demanded better facilities such as cafes, toilets, various types of trolleys and car parking spaces for families and the disabled, the availability and convenience of other regular high street services such as petrol forecourts, car washes, dry cleaners, opticians and more electrical and home ware goods.
More recently and much to the annoyance of other supermarkets, the marketing and sales team at Asda have lead the way in very successfully identifying that more conveniences are needed for the average hard-working family and so have introduced 24-hour openings, internet shopping, better baby facilities, home deliveries and take-away style shops in which customers can simply take-away freshly made pizzas and authentic hot Italian, Chinese and Indian take-aways. Furthermore, once having established this need and potential for increasing sales turnover, the marketing and sales department then successfully launched an advertising campaign through television and in-store taste sessions and posters to tempt customers to try their delicious take-away foods. The team have also been successful in tempting those customers who perhaps had no intention to purchase hot food from the Asda take-away food counter, by providing taster sessions, attractive and tempting presentation of the various foods on offer and effective branding and colourful packaging. The responsibility for designing, branding and attractive product packaging lays also with this department.
A corporate company such as Asda always try to keep one step ahead of the customer by finding out their needs and fulfilling them. Asda puts its customers at the top of its priority list in every operation it takes on. When Asda launches a marketing and sales operation for a specific product or service, its marketing team work on the best techniques for advertising and communicating to its customers how their specific products can fulfil their needs whilst the sales team take on the responsibility for actually providing the goods or services their customers require. This team ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
A corporate company such as Asda always try to keep one step ahead of the customer by finding out their needs and fulfilling them. Asda puts its customers at the top of its priority list in every operation it takes on. When Asda launches a marketing and sales operation for a specific product or service, its marketing team work on the best techniques for advertising and communicating to its customers how their specific products can fulfil their needs whilst the sales team take on the responsibility for actually providing the goods or services their customers require. This team plays an absolute vital role in the business activities of Asda.
To illustrate just how important the contribution from this area of business is, one only needs to consider all the factors the general public associate with Asda and realise that it is the marketing and sales department that have successfully branded these factors and images on our minds. These factors, branding and images include those such as the 'pocket the difference' and 'rollback' advertising campaigns, the bouncing smiley face ASDA icon, 'George' range clothing etc. If it was not for the marketing and sales team, there would be no heavy advertising campaigns such as 'Pocket the Difference' and 'Rollback prices' which encouraged and tempted potential customers to shop at Asda and make significant savings, Asda would cease to trade as possibly the leading and most well-known of the supermarkets and customers would not famously associate the brand name 'ASDA' with choice, quality and value.
There are many job roles in the Marketing and Sales department. Some of these include:
* Sales Director - the sales director is responsible for the sales functions
* Market Researchers - find out the customers needs and provide them
* Telephone sales staff - take and process telephone and internet orders
* Marketing Director - responsible for managing and meeting all the aims and objectives of the marketing functions
* Order Clerks - accept and take through sales orders
* Advertising executives - responsible for creating and producing advertising campaigns
* Graphics Designer - responsible for creating brandings, attractive packaging, logos etc;
* Marketing Distributor - distributes newspaper and magazine campaigns
* Distribution/Delivery manager - responsible for scheduling and overseeing all new items sold
* Buyers - travel the nation and the world to research the latest trends, innovations and products and then place bulk orders for the products.
Finance
The function of the finance area of business is vitally important to the activities of Asda as it allows the organisation in general to assess and calculate sales and profit turnover, keep within allocated budgets and generally measure the success of the other business departments by assessing how much revenue is coming in or how much of a loss is being made.
The responsibilities for the finance team include the production and recording of financial data such as invoices, budgeting, accounting, profits, sales income and outgoings for expenses such as advertising, employment, purchases, rent, electricity, credit agreements, loans etc. The team also assist the manger in making vital decisions, collecting statistical data and setting realistic financial targets. The department is also responsible for making payments to suppliers for the goods they sell. Another job of the finance department is analyse statistical data and compare and contrast with previous years, allocate budgets, give advice on business improvements such as setting and keeping to department budgets, financial record keeping etc.
Listed below are just some of the job posts you would expect to find in the finance department:
* Financial Manager - manages the finance department and staff. Also gives advice on financial resources
* Credit control clerks - keep track of new customers and previous accounts. Remind customers of overdue accounts
* Chief cashier - responsible for banking and accounting of all cash received
* Chief accountant - checking the preparation of the final accounts of Asda
* Accounts clerk - assist in the day-to-day checking of invoices/finances
* Payroll administrator - responsible for checking the company's payroll and salary etc.
Customer Service
As Asda regards the customer as a top consideration in all its areas of business, it is not surprising that the organisation dedicates so much thought, time and effort towards the efficient operation of the Customer Service department.
Asda pays much respect and importance towards its customers as it strongly believes that the success or failure of a business lies entirely with its existing and potential customer base.
In order for it to continue as a successful organisation, Asda always views the way it operates from the perspective of its customers and considers what it is that its customers expect to see and hear from the very first moment they step into the supermarket. It is from this perspective that Asda expects its staff to be friendly to all its customers at all times. At larger stores, Asda has a doorman/greeter who greets customers as they enter the building, in order to add that personal welcoming touch.
Asda also appreciate the fact when a customer buys goods or service they do so to satisfy a need and expect goods to be available when they need them. They also have the right to get good value for money. This is one of the reasons why Asda's business is successful because they know what their customers want and the quality they demand, and offer better value than any of their competitors.
Asda pays much importance towards its Customer Service Department. The purpose of the Customer Service department at Asda is to keep their customers happy ands fulfil their expectations by providing a range of services and quality goods at low prices.
When customers are dissatisfied, many problems can arise. For instance if any organisation refuses to give a refund or exchange damaged or faulty goods it is within the customers statutory rights to go to the trading standards under The Trade Descriptions ACT 1968 which is basically designed to prevent the false or misleading description of goods. This would give businesses such as Asda a bad reputation and would possibly prevent customers from coming in future. This is why Asda tries very hard to provide a range of facilities and services at the Asda customer service counter, which are much greater than those usually found in any other supermarket. For example Asda's customer service would include:
* Providing Information
* Giving advice and dealing with enquiries
* Providing credit facilities and cash points
* Arranging for the delivery of goods
* After sales service - exchange, refunds, credit vouchers, etc.
* Dealing with customer complaints
* Listed below are just some of the job posts you would expect to find within the Asda customer service department:
* Customer services manager - responsible for the customer service department and staff
* Technical services manager - responsible for all the technical service function and staff
* Customer service assistant - deals with customers face to face or on the telephone. Gets advice from other staff over complex issues and gets back to the customers personally or ensures issue is being dealt with by a specialist
* Telephone help line staff - deal with customer issues or enquiries over the telephone
Asda ensure that their staff are trained to recruit only those employees who are not only able to satisfy the job criteria but who also have a friendly personality and would therefore get on well with the customers. However, sometimes mistakes are made and the wrong staff can be recruited. Recruiting the wrong staff can cause many problems to arise, which could portray the reputation of Asda in a very bad light. This is why Asda try to provide a fast and friendly service, by training their staff to deliver high standards of service with a smile.
Their customer service training is based upon their research from customer surveys about good and bad customer service practice. Asda have used the information from such customer surveys to identify what customers expect and consider being good customer service practice and have then adopted these practices in their supermarkets. |These examples of good practice of customer services are described and explained in part 4.a).
Staff are also informed of what their customers consider to be bad customer service practice at supermarkets and are trained to avoid adopting any of these bad practices. These bad practices of customer services which could contribute significantly to the potential failure of a supermarket include:
* Moody staff who do not satisfactorily answer customer queries
* Miserable staff who do not smile or gossip in front of the customers
* Staff who take long delays in dealing with customer enquiries, passing the query on from one member of staff to another.
* Staff who do not give out accurate information
* Staff who are aggressive, rude and impolite
Also other bad practices of customer service which could lead to major problems as the result of the customers being dissatisfied include:
* Low priced products, which are also poor in quality and as a result are frequently prone to breaking or getting damaged. This would greatly discourage those shoppers whose priority is quality, not price.
* Not enough shopping trolleys
* Not enough till points - long queues and delays
* Shortage of stock which is never available - shelves irregularly stocked
* Unclean toilets and supermarket
* Lack of relevant information about products and prices
* Poor car parking facilities
* Unsatisfactory refund and exchange policy
* Lack of facilities for disabled and customers with children
* Higher prices than other supermarkets
* Lack of payment choices
Asda try to avoid dissatisfying customers by providing excellent sales and after sales service. However, if Asda was not so committed to customer service and did not consider the customer a priority, major problems would occur. The main problem would be in giving the organisation a bad name and reputation for bad customer service as dissatisfied customers would stop shopping at Asda and then also tell their family and friends about the organisation which could avoid them from going there too. Eventually, the lack of customers would mean less income for Asda, which in turn would result in cuts in employment, cutbacks on customer facilities, less buying power, less savings for customers, less attraction to the supermarket and eventually ultimate failure to continue as a leading supermarket.
This is why Asda provide the best quality goods around with affordable prices and with the best of service.
E5) - THE MANAGEMENT STYLE AND CULTURE AT ASDA
As Asda is a large national PLC, which employees thousands of employees across various sectors of its departments, its organisational structure is based hierarchically. The hierarchy in a business is the order or levels of management, from the lowest to the highest rank and shows the chain of command that exists in the organisation.
It employs specific management styles in its operational management across the organisation.
In an ever-changing, dynamic world, Asda has realised well in advance that management styles need to be compatible and beneficial to the work culture in modern times, rather than completely autocratic. It essentially employs two management styles, as certain management styles are more relevant and applicable to certain functional areas and departments, depending on their position in their hierarchy.
The primary management styles that Asda employ across their organisation, particularly in the bottom half of their hierarchical structure, is a consultative management style. Consultative managers at Asda seek to consult their employees before making and implementing a decision. This is not to say that shop-floor employees make managerial decisions, but rather that they are consulted for opinions before most major decisions are implemented. However, there is an element of some mild autocracy that is applied in the management of such staff at the very base of the hierarchy, but they are still given a sense of worth as employees by being consulted and regularly informed of updates via newsletters, 'daily huddle' team briefings, in addition to being asked to contribute for suggestions as regards to potential improvements.
The consultative management style is also employed at the top half of the hierarchical structure as all departments and functional areas are consulted. Asda managers are encouraged to employ listening skills and be more approachable to their staff, rather than simply instruct and order.
Perhaps more relevant to those departments where there is a need for project-based work, creativity and administrative and managerial organisation, Asda also employs a democratic management style. A democratic management style involves 'empowering' teams and individuals by being given the responsibility to make decisions, within the confines of given framework. The team is then held responsible for the decisions it desires to make. Managers at Asda will feel comfortable with this management style as it encourages teamwork and creates a better workforce as well as giving the mangers a little more freedom. However it is vital that the manager has a clear overall understanding of the decisions taking place. The managers would be confident that individuals given the responsibility will use their time and efforts wisely.
The managers at Asda will regularly communicate with the employees at the organisation in terms of talking to them if they are having any problems or a change in job role if they are finding the work hard or a promotion if they have the ability to do better. Asda believe that this helps keep a good management style, as this way all the employees are kept happy and better results are achieved. The managers will often provide promotion schemes for employees. This also helps to keep an effective management style as it encourages employees to work with their full potential. The mangers at Asda will often use MIS (Management Information System). This helps mangers to view trends from the past, areas which need improvement and furthermore the level at which their employees are working. MIS also helps change the management style of the business as it helps identify areas of concern etc.
Asda believe that a friendly, open and efficient management style it is vital for the staff to feel comfortable and enjoy their work. Good management is vital to the success of Asda as Asda firmly believe that friendly, caring mangers who posses' good leadership, communication and teamwork skills create a happier workforce. In turn the workforce provide a much more efficient and friendlier service to customers who then ultimately feel satisfied with their shopping experience. As mentioned previously it is the aim of Asda to make sure the management make the company the most enjoyable place to work, where all the employees are able to work together in harmony. This is vital for Asda, as Asda believe that the attitude of the staff reflects back on the customers. Asda believe that good management and employees are a vital aspect of a business as they have direct contact with the customers. For the third year running Asda has been featured in the top 10 companies to work for with flexible working. For Asda this is a measure of success to see how well the company is actually doing.
Regular internal and external meetings are an excellent means of communicating effectively in order to achieve targets and goals. Meetings are often held by Asda to ensure targets are set and achieved, company news is passed on, updates are received and problems are aired and solutions are made.
One of Asda's aims is: 'To ensure complete customer satisfaction and minimise any complaints about their products or prices'. This aim can only be completed through communication, as it is necessary for the staff to communicate with the customers by providing them with relevant information if required and helping them out with any problems in order to meet this aim. Without communication it is impossible for any business to succeed. This is why communication is very important to Asda as it is needed for the business to succeed and meet its aims. Asda have a daily meeting across all their branches which they refer to as a daily huddle. At this meeting the staff get a chance to discuss any problems and get clarification on matters they are not sure about. This helps the staff at Asda to overcome their differences and provide new effective ways in which to meet their aims. This 'Daily Huddle' also ensures that staff are kept happy and feel their thoughts, feelings and suggestions are valued by management. Such means of communication ensure that problems are dealt with very early on as opposed to being allowed to gradually build into a situation which could potentially be disastrous or cause much upset later. Better and clear lines of communication mean happier, satisfied staff who feel their opinions are valued, which inevitably results in much more efficient and productive operations towards achieving aims and objectives.
Asda has a chain of communication in which staff within each department have regular meetings to discuss issues concerning work conditions and operations, in addition to receiving objectives, results and news. The team leaders from within each department then have regular team leader meetings to communicate what news, problems and requests their team members have stated in previous team meetings. Again, this information is then passed onto senior management who have the authority to deal with the more serious issues and problems. Once a solution has been reached or when senior management feel that that Asda staff need to be kept informed of the latest company news, this information is then passed back down the chain to the team leaders, who then eventually pass it back down to the team staff.
If a link in this chain 'broke' away, the lines of communications would fail as there would be some departments and teams who would not have received any important information. This no doubt would eventually result in much upset with the excluded teams and therefore perhaps cause problems later down the line.
As further management strategies, Asda encourage better performance and raise motivation by encouraging staff at all levels, to strive for promotion prospects within the company. It is useful to Asda to know how many employees have the skills and aptitude for promotion to more demanding roles. In addition it is useful to know how many employees have the potential, with suitable training, for promotion. Asda also provides its employees with cheap share packages, staff discounts, subsidised canteens and regularly have fun charity events in order to make Asda a better work environment. In order to get results, management will often identify potential problems and conflicts and look at areas of concern and areas which could be improved. Furthermore, management will often talk with employees who are having problems and employees who need help in terms of not meeting expectations. Asda believe that all employees have the potential of being a good manager.
Asda has reaped the rewards of employing management styles such as those discussed above as there has been a significant improvement in staff morale, higher productivity and efficiency and greater staff loyalty to the business. A better staff productivity rate and higher staff morale has resulted in happier customers and therefore a much better performance rate.
Asda management also ensure that they strictly adhere to various employment legislation, in order to ensure they treat their staff fairly and equally. Some of these employment legislations which management must abide by are discussed below.
Equal Opportunities
Asda strives to ensure that no job applicant, existing colleague, customer or supplier is treated less favourably on the grounds of gender, age, martial status, disability, race, region, colour, nationality, ethnic origin and that no one is disadvantaged by their medical conditions and personal requirements/principles. The way in which Asda operate and recruit ensures that potential employees are selected or promoted according to their ability and satisfaction to meet the criteria expected by management.
An illustration of Asda's equal opportunity policy and employment records was provided when Asda opened a new branch in Hulme. Over eighty percent of the 400 colleagues employed at this branch were unemployed before they came to work with Asda. Of those, 51% of colleagues were of an ethnic origin other than UK/European or Irish.
Both genders of male and female are treated equally at all of Asda branches. Currently female managers run 7% of Asda's branches and the aim is that by 2003 this will increase to about 30%.
In March 2001 Asda launched a 'Talent Race' aimed to aid recruitment and development and spot colleagues who would represent the local community, promote ethnic diversity and who would also be role models for the future.
All the staff at Asda's current branches are offered the opportunity to take the prospect of an unpaid two days leave at anytime throughout the year to celebrate religious festivals. This is in addition to their statutory rights and public holidays.
One of Asda's aims is to make their stores more comfortable for both disabled people who work and shop there. Asda have said that, 'We offer people with disabilities a working environment which is supportive and which has good social facilities. We also operate an equal opportunities policy with regard to opportunities for promotion'.
In accordance with the employment laws, Asda abides by three main acts, on which it has devised its equal opportunities policy. These three acts are as follows:
* The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
* The Race Relations Act 1976
* The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
As you are aware, the above three acts are all concerned with equal opportunities. The first of these acts is concerned with gender. This act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against on the grounds of gender either directly or indirectly. In terms of employment, this applies to the way you are treated in recruitment and selection of jobs and also during your period of employment.
Employees, particularly women, are safeguarded from both direct and indirect discrimination by The Sex Discrimination Act 1975. In terms of 'direct discrimination', it is illegal for organisations to exclude one specific gender from a job e.g. 'this job is only suitable for men due to the heavy lifting involved'. On the other hand indirect discrimination is less obvious and sometimes more difficult to prove. Individuals are protected from instances of indirect discrimination such as when there is a condition at any company that makes it difficult for one sex to comply e.g. only those individuals who are 6' 7" need apply. Even if some form of discrimination is practiced unintentionally or unwittingly, the organisation is still guilty in the eyes of a court. According to the Equal Pay Act 1970, if the work of men and women is of the equal value the pay must also be the same for both genders. It is illegal for an organisation to pay women who do the same job as their male colleagues a lesser salary.
The Race Relations Act 1976
This act basically makes it illegal for anybody to be discriminated against on the grounds of race, colour, culture, religion and nationality etc. Again, both direct and indirect forms of discrimination often exist. Such practices which are deemed illegal include excluding those who do not speak English, employing the white individual in preference to the individual of ethnic origin despite the fact that both have exactly the same qualifications or when employers won't employee individuals as receptionists or in other customer services roles because their religious head scarves/turbans do not present a good impression of the company.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
This act is concerned with discrimination against disabled people with disabilities in employment, education and in general life e.g. when shopping or buying/renting land or property. The disability could be sensory, mentally or physically but in order to be discriminated under this act, the disability has to be long term i.e. more than twelve months. Employers do not have the right to dismiss someone due to a disability or treat able bodied persons more favourably over less able bodied persons, no matter whether this is in training, recruitment, employment or in opportunities for promotional prospects. The employer must also be able to adjust the workplace in order for a disabled person to satisfactorily do the job. People with disabilities who suffer from discrimination can complain to an employment tribunal. In this case discrimination is not divided into direct or indirect but less favourable treatment that can be justified.
One of Asda's aims is to make their stores more comfortable for both disabled people who work and shop there. Asda have said that, 'We offer people with disabilities a working environment which is supportive and which has good social facilities. We also operate an equal opportunities policy with regard to opportunities for promotion'.
Asda continue to ensure that their equal opportunity policy is built on the above employment acts and that it strives to treat all its employees and potential employees fairly and equally, regardless of their race, religion, colour, gender and disability. In actual fact, just to illustrate how dedicated Asda is in its commitment towards equal opportunities it has gone far beyond simply abiding by the above three acts. Unlike other organisations, Asda actively seeks to employ mature individuals over the age of 50, as it values the contribution they can make towards satisfying the needs of their customers. Many other organisations tend to unfairly favour younger recruits or employees in favour of those more senior, mainly because the young are cheaper to employee and also because these organisations wrongly believe that older employees are not as efficient in learning new skills.
Organisational Culture
The term 'culture' describes the typical approach within an organisation as regards to its attitudes, values and beliefs. In line with the consultative and democratic management styles that Asda employs, the company has adopted the combination of both 'role' and 'task' cultures. This is particularly in light of the fact that Asda operates in a dynamic world where change is frequent. Asda operates on task cultures based on teamwork. This means people who work in the organisation learn how to develop team skill, such as interpersonal skills, communications, the ability to work with information technology and decision-making skills. At Asda the mangers are trained to learn to listen and encourage teams rather then to tell them what to do. Asda believe this helps to create an effective management style and culture. A changing culture also helps Asda compete with its rivals, as it helps them gather new ways as to how the business management can be improved. This includes customer service.
Asda also operates a consultative management style, with some mild elements of autocracy, at which time it adopts a role culture in its work environment. A role culture operates with a bureaucratic style. When operating with a role culture the employees at Asda are expected to follow the rules and set of laws which have been set by the organisation itself. A role culture is specifically relevant to staff based on the shop floor as they have very specific tasks and jobs assigned to them. A role culture at Asda helps bring different departments together as it encourages teamwork. A role culture gives confidence to the people who are at the bottom of Asda hierarchy structure to share their ideas with the people at the top. This also provides the managers of the business with further information as to see which particular workers are doing well, and have the ability to work with different departments if promoted.
The size of an organisation is important as regards to which culture should be used. For example a sole trader will operate with a power culture where one person will be responsible to operate the business and make the crucial decisions. However Asda is a large company and have adapted a role/task culture where individualism is discouraged and team work is encouraged. This is where decisions are made involving more than one employee. This is in line with the consultative / democratic management style it employs, which encourages empowerment.
There are many factors which influence the type of culture that Asda employs. These are as follows:
* Economic Influence
* Social/environmental influences
* Ethical Issues
Economic Influence
Asda operates in an economic and competitive environment. Customers at Asda expect to receive high quality customer service; if Asda don't deliver high quality products then they will fail as a business.
Social and Environmental Influences
Asda can't change the values or views of society because society's view is a significant impact in the way Asda operates. An example is a public awareness of environmental issues. Society protested that Asda weren't using enough recycled products and were using a lot of raw materials, rather than recycled products such as cans and bottles. Asda have now put recycle bins in several of their supermarkets and encourage their customers to throw products such as plastic bottles in these bins.
Ethical Issues
This has played a big part in the way Asda operates and in their culture. Asda had to comply with legislations that were regulated and set by the governments, such as the health and safety act and equal opportunities act.
Asda's cultures are displayed by the attitudes and behaviour. Their cultures can be determined by analysing the way Asda's employees interact with other employees throughout Asda. Also they could see how they interact with external sources such as customers and suppliers. Finally the culture could be determined through the management style. And the way decisions are made.
E6 & C3) - AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE AND IMPACT OF ICT FOR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS OF THE BUSINESS
In order for Asda to achieve their aims and objectives successfully, it is vital that the staff co-operate and communicate effectively between each other and with the customers. To achieve the aims and objectives stated in E2, Asda uses various types of communication methods such as the intranet, internal telephone extensions, e-mails, written messages and weekly/daily meetings in order to communicate with each other internally. Furthermore, Asda uses the post, telephones, faxes, video-conferencing and e-mailing for external communications with individuals such as suppliers and customers.
The use of ICT at Asda makes it possible for functional areas to share the same information, and to work collaboratively using this pool of information, and information creating-creating and handling capacity. For example client databases can be used for accounting purposes (e.g. handling and processing customer accounts), marketing purposes, i.e. researching the needs of customers or even administrative purposes such as handling the paperwork related to customers etc.
Information sharing has helped Asda brutally improve the performance of its business. Information sharing has not only made it quicker to process data transactions i.e. credit card details etc but also allowed different departments to view information processed by other departments relevant to them. Without the use of data sharing a decrease in revenue would occur rapidly as the business would not be up to date with modern technology like its rivals. Furthermore it would slow the process of the business management as all the data would have to be processed manually by each department rather than one department typing it and sending it to another.
Asda uses several methods of ICT both internally and externally. In terms of Internal methods the organisation uses the local company intranet. This allows different departments to view notices or special offers etc placed by the ICT department on the intranet. Furthermore the company is able to share data within different departments via networks. All the computers at Asda are linked via a LAN (local area network). This allows different departments within the organisation to view and exchange data which is relevant to them. This is also an advantage for Asda and has a vital impact on the company as all the data does not have to be entered continuously on computers within the different departments at Asda but rather can be sent from one department to another. This is to say that information processing and data sharing is made a lot faster. Networking also allows managers with more information on which to base their decisions.
One of the crucial methods of ICT used by all managers at Asda is management information system. This is a software which has a sentimental impact on the business. MIS allows managers to view trends, areas of concerns and status of employees etc. MIS helps improve the management style of the business as it helps view and improve areas of concern. This is also a method for Asda as to measuring its success.
Asda also uses several forms of external communication. Asda also uses e-commerce as it also sells goods and services on the internet. E-commerce helps the business increase revenue as it simply means selling goods and services over the world wide web. E-commerce allows people to shop at Asda from the very comfort of their own home. Furthermore e-mails are sent by many departments within the organisation everyday to suppliers and customers etc. E-mails allow the company to send mail between terminals through computer linked via a local and wide area network. This has an important impact on the business as it speeds up the processing of data. However e-mails can also sometimes have a negative impact on Asda, as not all e-mails including important e-mails are delivered on time. Furthermore videoconferencing is used regularly at meetings, in order to keep links with Asda firms worldwide. Video conferencing does not only allow a clearer view of what the person at the receiving end is trying to say but also provides a detailed analysis of what is going on.
Asda also uses client/server networks. This involves the use of one, more powerful computer (the server) which is responsible for printing, the maintenance of files and any other peripherals connected to the network. The less powerful computers connected to the server are called clients. This is an advantage for Asda as each of the computer terminals can access all the network facilities without losing any of its own processing power.
Al the data at Asda is backed up at the end of the day by the ICT department using a backup disk. Therefore in terms of security if there is a system crash or the business is in threat of hackers, there is no fear of data being lost as it is all backed up. Asda will also uses passwords and anti virus programs such as firewall in order to prevent unauthorised individuals including hackers from accessing the company's system.
In this day and age, travelling abroad does not present any restrictions in maintaining effective daily communications between executives, management and staff, no matter where in the world one may be. Facilities such as video-conferencing and e-mailing have ensured that the difference in time and continents does not mean operations come to a standstill for days at a time until senior management come back from their international destination.
Communication methods using ICT within the Asda organisation
Communication is very important in any business. However Asda believe that communication does not just happen, it needs to be planned, worked at and always improved upon. This is why Asda spend a lot of time and effort ensuring that everyone knows what is going on inside the company. They do this by using channels such as 'The Daily Huddle'. This is when all the teams across all the branches get together everyday and discuss important issues such as results, targets or individual work plans. If anyone needs any help they ask for it here and share their workload out.
Later I will state the different internal and external communication methods at Asda and say how the different functional areas use these communication methods and also how they communicate between each other.
In order for Asda to meet their aims and objectives it is vital that the four functional areas, stated in part one of this report, communicate between themselves, suppliers and customers using internal and external communication methods.
The table below shows when different departments may use different internal or external communication methods between themselves, other companies, customers and banks etc.
Marketing
Human Resources
Finance
Customer Service
Advertisements
To advertise products or special offers
Advertise for jobs
To advertise a Product
Notice
Notify customers about special offers
Notices to employers about wages or rotas
To Notify customers about any changes
Interview
Interview people for jobs
Interviews with bank mangers etc.
Interviews with customers regarding any problems with complaints or orders
Messages
Memos
To inform other departments about meetings etc.
Payments to supplier
To tell them that something is wrong with a product
Meeting
Made or lost any profit
To talk about something important or about any changes in staff rotas
To give advice to the Human Resources department about how the business can be improved
Other departments to show how they can improve things
Telephone
To take telephone orders
For Warning
Telephone banks about errors in their accounts
Telephone individual customers about any problems with orders made by telephone or online
E-mail
Selling products to other companies
Notify best Worker
On last months bill
Complaint to Someone
Fax
Bill to finance department
showing the cost of advertising in newspaper
Confirming Training Day
Confirming to marketing how much money they owe to suppliers
To apologise if a customer has complained
Letter
Years marketing profit
Confirm Employment
How much money is being owned to suppliers
To notify customer of any special offers or any changes
E7 - Explain the production process and quality assurance/ control system, used by the business help it to add value to its produce or service
Asda's products are constantly monitored and tested for their taste, quality and whether they are acceptable for consumption and usage by the customer. Asda staff and managerial procedures are also checked and monitored regularly to make sure that Asda maintains the highest standards possible. This is called quality assurance.
Once produce or goods reach Asda, product evaluation tests are conducted to evaluate their products or services. They carry out these tests when
* Producing new products which are currently under development
* Testing products, when Asda are considering or have decided to change suppliers
* Testing their, own branded products against competitor products.
* Asda also carry out product evaluation tests
* To monitor quality and safety standards
* When they update information on the packaging
The packaging information may need to be altered because of legislation that the government have implemented and that Asda have to abide by, or there maybe changes in the nutritional concepts or advances in cooking or food preservations method. An example of when Asda may use quality assurance to add value to their products is when a product may have its packaging information changed to inform the consumers that it is acceptable to cook or use this product in the microwave.
Asda then take the product into their own laboratory. Then they will place fibre optic probes into the product to check the temperature whilst cooking, in order to make sure that the product reaches high enough temperature for it to be used safely.
Quality control tests are conducted on all existing and new products that have been produced by Asda (their own brand products). These tests are conducted in consumer advice centres, Asda's head office and in Asda's own laboratory. These include tests on food safety.
The consumer advice centres test current and new products that have been produced by Asda. The consumer panel consists of participants who meet the recruitment procedure (heavy users of that product) and who shop at Asda. If these procedures are met then the participants are selected. In the consumer advice centres researches on behalf of Asda test for customer acceptability. After the participants have tested the product or service they will giver their opinion and will asked what they liked and disliked about the product. Then the researchers will ask how Asda could improve the product. Participants will test products, which have been produced by Asda and maybe one or some by their competitor. The participants will not know which product is Asda's and which one is the competitor. The consumer service officer will then ask which product the participants liked and why.
Then the consumer service officer will carry out a more technical evaluation of a product or a service. These officers will be specially trained and use technical descriptions. These officers will then evaluate the product and send their results to the head office.
Data from the sensory analysis, questionnaires and participants opinions have been collected and sent to the head office. These will be marked and statistical data will be used to determine whether the product has passed or failed. If the product has failed then the product will be altered according to the participant's opinions or responses will be retested and will only be sold when or if the product has passed. This process will add value to its product because Asda will take into consideration of want then customer wants to purchase.
Quality assurance is implemented at all levels of Asda. All employees are encouraged to give the customer the best shopping experience terms of products and services. Asda set standards for quality assurance. This is called strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. (SWOT). SWOT allows Asda to check the quality of their products and services against their competitors. SWOT is used regularly to check the quality for certain products, in evaluating a new range of merchandising or a new process provided by the supplier.
Asda also uses more methods to check the quality of their products. These are called
Just in time (JIT): this is when Asda order products where they are needed. Products are then prepared and delivered to the store, which requires the products. This will help save money, storage space required and the number of raw materials kept in stock. This will help to add value to Asda's products because they will be fresh and the customer will the best value for the product because they will have longer to use the product before it reaches it 's sell by date.
Machine utilisation control; this system is put in place within Asda before machinery is a vital part of Asda's production process. So engineers within Asda take a look at machinery frequently to see if they are overloaded and to see if they are functioning smoothly and efficiently.
Stock control: this is where senior employees within the production department check how much raw materials they have in stock and if they need to order more to avoid running out or low on stocks.
Quality control: this is where Asda use a machine that is linked to a computer. This machine will be linked to a computer and will test the products at every stage of the production. This will improve the quality of the final product and add value to the product because the product will be checked at every stage of the production.
Food additives: Asda also uses food additives. Additives are chemicals, which are natural or specially made. Additives help to preserve the food and make it last longer and help prevent food poisoning. It also improves taste and appearance. Additives have to be approved by the government and are given E-numbers. Asda label their foods with full additives name to avoid confusion.
Here are a few steps which Asda take.
Food technologists visit suppliers to make sure the company's safety procedures and quality standards are being complied with.
Quality assurance staff in Asda distribution depots inspects deliveries and have rejected food if it is not up to Asda's safety and quality standard. If it doesn't meet the quality, appearance or temperature then it is sent back. Raw and cooked foods are stored and displayed separately to avoid cross contamination. Food equipment is colour coded so that separate equipment is used for handling raw and cooked foods. Staff check temperature constantly to see is the food is stored at the right temperature.
Food labelling doesn't only warn customers of sell by date and handling and storage information, but a (display until label) tells employees when to take the product off the shelf. It also informs customers of any product ingredients which may cause potential allergies.
C1) - AN ANALYSIS OF HOW SUCCESSFULLY ASDA IS MEETING ITS OBJECTIVES
The main operational purpose of a company is usually stated in its mission statement. A mission statement summarises what a company's mission and purpose is, in addition to providing its employees with a sense of focus and direction. For instance, the world's most famous software engineer, Bill Gates, has said that 'Microsoft's mission is to take the Internet, combine it with other software's and make it one of the most powerful tools of all time'.
Asda's main aim is to maximise sales and profits as stated in E2. Therefore Asda's main objective is to constantly increase revenue by providing a good customer service. Asda do this through media advertising i.e. television and radio adverts etc. Evidence of this objective being met is constantly seen by the company's stakeholders simply through visiting the store and television advertising. Asda have stated that they want the supermarket not only to be an enjoyable place to shop at but also an enjoyable place to work at, where all the staff can work together in harmony. Therefore Asda have expanded their supermarket into the electrical side as well as groceries etc. Asda now provide their customers with takeaways, cafes, banks, groceries and launderettes etc all under one roof in order to achieve its objective as to making the company an enjoyable place to work at. Furthermore this makes Asda's customers' shopping experience at Asda feel warm, safe and welcoming, along with its friendly customer service.
In terms of Asda achieving its objective as to make the organisation an enjoyable place to work at, Asda has several laws and acts which it acts under as regards to no employee being discriminated against for any reason.
Asda have a log book at all their organisations. This log book is registered with comments issued by customers. This helps Asda identify areas of concern. At all Asda store there is customer service desk, where customers can communicate their complaints, and enquiries regarding goods and services etc. This helps Asda achieve customer satisfaction.
Evidence of customer satisfaction and as to Asda meeting its objectives can be seen through its feedback through questionnaires and comments registered in its log book by customers. Furthermore positive trends on Asda's MIS system also show its achievement in meeting its goals (objectives).
Asda have always tried to be environmentally friendly. This can be seen at Asda's packaging centres. Wherever possible Asda have always tried to minimize using raw materials for packaging but rather recycled papers, magazines etc for packaging. Furthermore when constructing sites Asda have always built on ready built sites rather than on green fields causing damage to plants and the environment.
Asda, which has now been taken over by American retail giant 'Wal-Mart' and which is now established as one of the world's most leading chain of supermarkets, has its own mission statement which is very specific to the industry in which it competes in: - 'To be Britain's best value retailer, exceeding local customer needs...Always.' The main mission and purpose behind Asda is 'to make goods and services more affordable for everyone'. Asda have stated that their purpose shows their determined commitment towards everyday low prices without the need to compromise on quality. They are constantly striving to sell the same products for lesser prices each year. This is clearly evident and visible through their heavy television advertisement campaigns on 'roll-down prices' and price cuts. Furthermore, in order to ensure its continued success and further expansion and diversification in new business ventures, Asda are always on the look out for new products and services, which they can sell and pass on at better savings to their customers. Asda is very well placed to pass on great savings and great product deals to its customers as it is able to take advantage of its take-over by the American retail giant 'Wal-Mart'. The new 'Asda Wal-Mart' organisation are able to use their leading retail position and massive buying power to bulk-buy greater new products and services at extremely competitive prices in order to increase sales and ensure the threat of any competition by other supermarket chains is minimised or driven out.
Asda's total growth in January was 16%. Over the past five years Asda have opened 62 new stores and renewed 72 others, creating over 25,000 new jobs. This shows a measure of Asda's success. Furthermore it shows Asda's consideration towards the economy. As 25,000 new jobs were given to employs who were either unemployed or aged over 30 before they came to work at Asda.
C2) - AN ANALYSIS OF HOW THE ORANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT STYLE OF ASDA AFFECTS ITS PERFORMANCE AND OPERATION AND HELPS IT MEETS ITS OBJECTIVES
Asda operates within a hierarchical organisation structure, as it is a large organisation, which employs several thousand employees and has many departments of communication. It is therefore absolutely necessary that such a large company has an excellent hierarchical structure which delegates authority to the directors, area mangers, branch managers, supervisors, team leaders and shop floor staff.
The way in which a hierarchical structure benefits Asda is that every employee has a clear job role, so they will know what they are doing and how they should do it. Also due the many departments that exist within Asda, there are many internal opportunities for job promotions. This helps Asda to save capital as they do not need to advertise the vacancy externally because they will promote an employee and give them the appropriate training. Finally as Asda is a large organisation which employs thousands of employees to work for the organisation, team work will be encouraged within the organisation. The impact of such an organisational style on the performance of Asda's business is such that it has significantly contributed towards the effective and efficient day-to-day operation of the company. Such effective communication and delegation, from the very senior executives at the top of the hierarchy right down those shop floor employees at the bottom of the hierarchy, has ensured that Asda has been able to remain at the very fare front of its field.
In order for Asda to achieve their aims and objectives successfully, it is vital that the staff co-operate and communicate effectively between each other and with the customers. To achieve the aims and objectives stated in part one, Asda uses various types of communication methods such as the intranet, internal telephone extensions, e-mails, written messages and weekly/daily meetings in order to communicate with each other internally. Furthermore, Asda uses the post, telephones, faxes, video-conferencing and e-mailing for external communications with individuals such as suppliers and customers.
Regular internal and external meetings are an excellent means of communicating effectively in order to achieve targets and goals. Meetings are often held by Asda to ensure targets are set and achieved, company news is passed on, updates are received and problems are aired and solutions are made.
Asda operates both a democratic and consultative management style in terms of management styles, however when results are need immediately and when decisions need to be made quickly, elements of autocratic management do exist, largely on the shop and production floor itself, where production output and customer service are priority. This has a great impact on Asda in both positive and negative ways. On the negative side an autocratic management style only involves consulting people at the top of Asda's hierarchy structure. Therefore not everyone's views in the company are taken into account and the views of the people at the top may not be accurate as they may be making decisions about the staff at the bottom without consulting them. However on the positive hand an autocratic management style when making decisions saves a lot of valuable time. Furthermore the people at the top of Asda's hierarchy structure are all experts in their job roles, therefore only professional views are taken into account.
However, the general management style that is used throughout the organisation is one which is consultative or democratic in nature, as discussed in E5. The consultative management style is one which is employed throughout the organisation and entails the management seeking ideas and opinions before final decisions are reached and implemented. A democratic management style is perhaps more applicable to those departments and teams which centre around projects, creative design and administration. Such a management style empowers team members to make their own decisions within the confines of a given framework. This type of management style helps Asda achieve many of its objectives. For instance, one of Asda's objective is to make Asda the most enjoyable place to work at where the staff can get on and work together in harmony. A democratic management style encourages team work and therefore produces better results efficiently.
These two styles have had a great impact on Asda in that they have significantly raised staff morale, initiative, sense of empowerment and most significantly, the consequence high staff morale has resulted in higher productivity efficiency, initiative and a reduction in absenteeism, conflict and friction.
The type of culture that Asda adopts has been built upon in response to an ever-changing, dynamic world. By adopting a 'role' and 'task'- centred culture, Asda has been able to ensure that the company's performance is boosted as a result of an efficient work environment.
Role culture is based very much on a bureaucratic style in which all members within an organisation have a very specifically, defined role or task to carry out. A bureaucracy is normally divided into various functional departments (e.g.; sales director, sales managers, supervisors, sales advisors, check-out staff etc ;). 'Role' culture is perhaps more applicable to factory and shop- floor staff as they have very specific tasks and responsibilities.
However, it has begun to move where relevant, towards a 'task' culture based on teamwork. This is particularly relevant and applicable to the 'middle-layer' departments such as 'marketing', 'sales', 'accounts' etc; where there is an even greater need to develop team skills, interpersonal skills, communication I.T skills and decision making skills. It is particularly in these departments that managers have shown they are open to listening and teamwork, rather than simply giving orders.
One of Asda's aims is: 'To ensure complete customer satisfaction and minimise any complaints about their products or prices'. This aim can only be completed through communication, as it is necessary for the staff to communicate with the customers by providing them with relevant information if required and helping them out with any problems in order to meet this aim. Without communication it is impossible for any business to succeed. This is why communication is very important to Asda as it is needed for the business to succeed and meet its aims.
Asda have a daily meeting across all their branches which they refer to as a daily huddle. At this meeting the staff get a chance to discuss any problems and get clarification on matters they are not sure about. This helps the staff at Asda to overcome their differences and provide new effective ways in which to meet their aims. This 'Daily Huddle' also ensures that staff are kept happy and feel their thoughts, feelings and suggestions are valued by management. Such means of communication ensure that problems are dealt with very early on as opposed to being allowed to gradually build into a situation which could potentially be disastrous or cause much upset later. Better and clear lines of communication mean happier, satisfied staff who feel their opinions are valued, which inevitably results in much more efficient and productive operations towards achieving aims and objectives.
Asda has a chain of communication in which staff within each department have regular meetings to discuss issues concerning work conditions and operations, in addition to receiving objectives, results and news. The team leaders from within each department then have regular team leader meetings to communicate what news, problems and requests their team members have stated in previous team meetings. Again, this information is then passed onto senior management who have the authority to deal with the more serious issues and problems. Once a solution has been reached or when senior management feel that that Asda staff need to be kept informed of the latest company news, this information is then passed back down the chain to the team leaders, who then eventually pass it back down to the team staff.
If a link in this chain 'broke' away, the lines of communications would fail as there would be some departments and teams who would not have received any important information. This no doubt would eventually result in much upset with the excluded teams and therefore perhaps cause problems later down the line.
The combination of a hierarchical structure, in conjunction with democratic/consultative management styles and role/task-based culture have resulted successfully in better production output, higher staff morale, greater efficiency and customer satisfaction.
C3) A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF ICT ON INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS OF THE BUSINESS
This area has previously been covered in conjunction with E6 (The use and impact of ICT for internal and external communications of the business).
A1 & A2 - EXPLAIN AND EVALUATE THE HOW THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, CULTURE & MANAGEMENT STYLE INTERRELATE AND THE IMPACT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS
The performance of any business in terms of its success or failure is very much ultimately dependent on the how well the adopted organisational structure, management style and the organisational culture interrelate and are complimentary and compatible with one another. Much though must be paid towards selecting the right interrelated and complimentary combination of management styles, organisational cultures and structures which are best suited to the 'personality' of the company and the company's ultimate aims and objectives. This is particularly as adopting the wrong structure, management style and culture can be disastrous in the long term.
As regards to Asda, its aims and objectives are very much based on achieving the greatest market share in its field, and hence its motives are very profit centred. Given its profit centered-nature, Asda has adopted (as discussed in A1) a very specific organisational culture, structure and management style. The impact of the adoption of these interrelated cultures, management styles and organisational structure on the performance of Asda, are evaluated and explained below.
Organisational Structure
Essentially, Asda is structured in a hierarchical form, as it is a leading supermarket chain, that employs tens of thousands of employees nationwide. Its hierarchical structure incorporates the division of this large PLC, into key functional areas of management and departments; where every team and employee have specific roles and responsibilities within their department. This hierarchical organisation incorporates a top-down structure (which is typical of a profit motivated company), and the profit-led objectives are determined by those key members of senior management who lead the organisation. Such managerial decisions and responsibilities are communicated and delegated down the hierarchical structure through the various functional departments and teams, in order to ensure objectives and targets are being met and achieved effectively and efficiently. This type of organisational structure is quite typical of large companies such as Asda, due to the extensive number of inter-related departments and employees.
The impact of such an organisational on the performance of Asda's business is such that this hierarchy has significantly contributed towards the effective and efficient day-to-day operation of the company. Such effective communication and delegation, from the very senior executives at the top of the hierarchy right down to those shop floor employees at the bottom of the hierarchy, has ensured that Asda has been able to remain at the very forefront of its field. The lines of communication between the various managers and departments remain, clear and unobstructed, due to the distinct hierarchical structure of Asda. As a consequence of this hierarchical structure and the defined functions of the various departments, information is able to be effectively relayed down the organisational structure via team meetings, staff newspaper, internal memos, and teamwork concepts such as 'The daily Huddle'. Had the organisational structure not been so defined and complimentarily interrelated with the right management styles and cultures, the impact on Asda's performance and market share would be severely detrimental to the company's success.
The term 'culture' describes the typical approach within an organisation. It refers to the 'personality' of an organisation, the shared beliefs and the written and unwritten policies and procedures that determine the way in which the organisation and its people behave and solve business problems'. (Needham & Dransfield, pg.22).
Different organisations have different cultures that are expressed in their attitudes, values and beliefs and these are usually founded and built upon over the years by the dominant groups within the organisation. In terms of the organisational culture that Asda has adopted and built upon, it is primarily the 'role culture' that is quite specific to this company and which interrelates most suitably with its hierarchical structure. Role culture is based very much on a bureaucratic style in which all members within an organisation have a very specifically, defined role or task to carry out. A bureaucracy is normally divided into various functional departments (e.g.; sales director, sales managers, supervisors, sales advisors, check-out staff etc ;). This interrelation between the hierarchical structure, management style and culture can be best illustrated through the diagram below.
Asda's interrelated organisational structure and culture is based upon a hierarchy of power. As a result, the impact of this is that its strength lies in the pillar of functions i.e. within the functions of each department, is a smaller hierarchy of power, from the manager to the manual staff. Each member of staff operates at different levels which are defined through the chain of communication and determined by a written job description which is specific to each employee. In this culture, 'position' or 'status' is the main source of power and 'rules and procedures' are the main source of influence. It is this role culture that contributes to the effective and efficient operational management of the business. The fact that everyone is assigned very specific roles and responsibilities within their own functional department is pivotal to the success of Asda's performance. The impact of an incompatible culture such as a 'person' culture, where the individual is central, which interrelated negatively with say, a hierarchical structure would have a severely detrimental impact on performance, as this would create considerable conflict amongst individuals and hence create inefficiency and unproductively. Successful interrelation is vital to a company's organisation.
However, this is not to say that individuals are not encouraged to show initiative and put ideas forward. Asda recognises the impact of not foreseeing a changing retail environment and has therefore ensured it adopts to this in order to maintain its performance and meet its objectives. It recognises that it operates in a dynamic world in which change is frequent. As such, it has begun to move where relevant, towards a 'task' culture based on teamwork. This is particularly relevant and applicable to the 'middle-layer' departments such as 'marketing', 'sales', 'accounts' etc; where there is an even greater need to develop team skills, interpersonal skills, communication I.T skills and decision making skills. It is particularly in these departments that managers have shown they are open to listening and teamwork, rather than simply giving orders.
Management Style
In line with the fact that Asda operates under a hierarchical structure and which incorporates a role/task culture (dependent on the type of department or nature of work), it is only fitting that Asda executives adopt an interrelated management style which comprises of a democratic/consultative - based process.
The impact of recognising that Asda needs to adopt to changing world in order to improve performance and staff productivity has meant that the company's management style have shifted gradually from an autocratic style to either a consultative style for those at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy or a democratic management style for those who work with teams.
The impact of almost eliminating an autocratic management style has resulted in higher staff morale and productivity. Shifting from a dictatorial management style to the implementation of a combined consultative/democratic style has had a significant positive impact on the performance of Asda. The consequence of adopting these two managerial styles has resulted in greater 'empowerment' for the individual.
The primary management styles that Asda employ across their organisation, particularly in the bottom half of their hierarchical structure, is a consultative management style. Consultative managers at Asda seek to consult their employees before making and implementing a decision. This is not to say that shop-floor employees make managerial decisions, but rather that they are consulted for opinions before most major decisions are implemented. However, there is an element of some mild autocracy that is applied in the management of such staff at the very base of the hierarchy, but they are still given a sense of worth as employees by being consulted and regularly informed of updates via newsletters, 'daily huddle' team briefings, in addition to being asked to contribute for suggestions as regards to potential improvements.
The consultative management style is also employed at the top half of the hierarchical structure as all departments and functional areas are consulted. Asda managers are encouraged to employ listening skills and be more approachable to their staff, rather than simply instruct and order. Consultative managers will draw upon the opinions of other employees before reaching decisions and will adopt a culture of consultation via means such as team briefing such as 'Daily Huddle', newsletters, suggestion boxes.
Democratic management at Asda encourage 'empowerment'. Individuals and teams such as accounts, marketing etc; are given the responsibility to make decisions within a given framework.
Perhaps more relevant to those departments where there is a need for project-based work, creativity and administrative and managerial organisation, Asda also employs a democratic management style. A democratic management style involves 'empowering' teams and individuals by being given the responsibility to make decisions, within the confines of given framework. The team is then held responsible for the decisions it desires to make. Managers at Asda will feel comfortable with this management style as it encourages teamwork and creates a better workforce as well as giving the mangers a little more freedom. However it is vital that the manager has a clear overall understanding of the decisions taking place. The managers would be confident that individuals given the responsibility will use their time and efforts wisely.
These two styles have had a great impact on Asda in that they have significantly raised staff morale, initiative, sense of empowerment and most significantly, the consequence high staff morale has resulted in higher productivity efficiency, initiative and a reduction in absenteeism, conflict and friction. However, it must be recognised that the management styles have worked very well because they, in conjunction with organisational structure and culture formed part of a successful and complimentary combination of interrelated factors which served to significantly boost the performance of Asda and help to meet its objectives.
A3 - AN EVALUATION OF AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO QUALITY CONTROL OR QUALTIY ASSURANCE AND THE EFFECTS IT WOULD HAVE ON THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BUSINESS AND HOW IT ACHIEVES IT OBJECTIVES
There are numerous quality control and assurance systems which include:-
* Total quality management
* Quality circles
* Self-checking or inspection
* ISO 9000
* Bench marking
* Training and development
These quality control and assurance systems are appropriate to different circumstances.
As regards to an alternative approach to quality control or quality assurance, I believe the implementation of Total Quality Management is by for the most appropriate in terms of improving the functions of the business and meeting Asda's objectives.
Asda already operates Quality Control and Quality Assurance as is evident in E7. Quality control, is concerned with detecting and rejecting components or produce that falls below standard, after the products have been produced. Quality Assurance occurs both during and after the event and is concerned with trying to stop faults from happening in the first place.
However, Total Quality Management goes beyond quality assurance. Its main objective is to ultimately ensure that every employee will ensure that they keep the customer happy. 'The customer is at the centre of the production process. Ultimately it involves providing customers with what they want, when they want and how they want it'. (Needham & Dransfield, pg.33)
Asda is very much almost at this stage anyway as it has departments and operational strategies in place to foresee customer demands and requirements and exceed customer expectations at all levels. In exceeding customer requirements and predicting potential demand, it would be the ultimate aim of Asda to encourage their existing customers 'to speed the world' and introduce new customers thereby raising Asda's customer base and profits. Furthermore Asda could improve the performance of its business simply by adding 'value' through quality. As customers are prepared to pay more for better quality, Asda could build upon the 'under-one-roof 24 hour shopping' experience by introducing new services and convenience such as in store banks, travel agents, take - aways etc;
Total quality management, as the graph above shows, is the most complete form of operations management. Management are concerned with encouraging all Asda staff to continuously place quality as a priority in the work place. In striving to exceed customer requirements and expectations. Asda is secure to significantly boost its customer base, profits and ultimately market share.