Investigate about the important roles that management plays in achieving my chosen organisation aims and objectives. My chosen business is Tesco's.
INTRODUCTION
In this assignment, I am going to investigate about the important roles that management plays in achieving my chosen organisation aims and objectives. My chosen business is Tescos, which is UKs biggest retailer; it operates in the tertiary sector.
The focus of this report covers an explanation of how the management team of my chosen business uses planning and monitoring to help achieve the organisation's aims and objectives. I am also required to describe the role of management in improving the performance of my chosen business (Tescos) and show how management activities can raise performance.
Secondly I am to describe ways in which manager's role including the management of resources. I will have to demonstrate the role of manager's interpersonal and communication skills and make recommendations.
Finally I will evaluate the role of management in improving performance and the different ways in which management functions may be met more effectively through the use of interpersonal and communication skills.
Task 1
Explain how the aims and objectives of a business may be achieved through Planning and Monitory.
TESCOS
It all started in 1924, when a Sir Jack Cohen started selling groceries in London's East End markets. By the1950's, this had grown and supermarkets were now in development. Tescos opened its first and indeed the UK's first superstore in 1967, and by the 1980's had opened many corner stores.
Tescos quickly overtook Sainsbury to become the largest food retailer in the UK, with 1,982 UK stores, consisting of 62 Extra stores, 442 Superstores, 167 High street stores, 109 Express stores, with many accompanying a Tescos petrol station, and 1,202 newly acquired T&S stores, which was a leading convenience retailer.
Tesco offers a wide variety of food products, in-store bakeries, household goods, clothes and toiletries. Tesco has also adapted to the rapid technological changes, increasing its sales by 26% (£447m) from last year, on the on-line sales site - Tesco.com, alone.
Tesco has achieved this position as Britain's number one food retailer by offering excellent value and service to its customers.
Tesco's reputation as the supermarket choice has grown in the last five years. It now has a 53.93% (as at 21/11/03) Market share of the Food & Drug Retailers sector.
Group sales for the financial year-end 23 February 2003 rose 11.5% to £28.613bn. Tesco's joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland, made a profit of £96m in the year, of which Tesco get £48m.
Activities
Tesco sells all types of grocery's, non-foods, clothes and electrical items and some more kinds of products. It basically has everything that a newsagent has (even more than a newsagent). When Tesco's first started it only had all types of food but now they also sale electrical items and clothes and also toys for the young ones.
Recently Tesco focused on developing the brand into non-food and now stocks electrical items, home entertainment, toys, sports equipment, cookshop and even lighting and furnishing in many of its larger stores. Tesco also has its own brand on non-food, including value and finest ranges
Tesco's competitors are J Sainsbury, ASDA and Somerfield but it mainly competes with J Sainsbury and also tries attracting more of their existing, new and competitor's customers by giving out vouchers to their customers for discount on some of their products and services. Tesco's main Customers are their local residents and mainly middle-class people which weekly purchases are mostly products of Tesco. Tesco says, "For us our main customers are Kids," as they make their parents to go shopping.
Ownership
Tesco is a public limited company (plc), which is all owned by the shareholders so the original owner loses his/her power of the company by how many shares are sold. Tesco is in the tertiary sector and also in the secondary sector cause it also supplies it's own product
The advantages of the Tesco ownership are:
It is a public limited company.
The owners have benefit from limited liability.
The amount of capital for expansion and development is greatly increased because there are thousands of shareholders
The value of share increases cause the company is successful
It can make savings on purchasing products. For instance, they can mass produce goods for sale and buy in bulk
The disadvantages are that:
* Companies have to fulfil a number of legal formalities like publish an annual report that can be read by their competitors.
* Public limited companies have their business affairs discussed in the newspapers that can ruin the reputation of the business.
* More expensive to start off a company
* The profits are divided in the shareholders
Aims and Objectives
Aims - are the long-term goal of a business
Objectives - are the targets that help firms to achieve their aims
Aims
Tesco's aims are to be the best supermarket in the whole world and provide better services than its competitors. Its main aim is to sell most of it frozen foods through the Internet. The diagram below shows all the Tesco's aims. It also has two main aims, which are: Increase its share of the U.K grocery market and the other one is to Develop its non-food business and the other is to increase its bakery foods
Objectives
Tesco's objectives are that sell more than its competitors and to also sell more of its products that the previous year. To fulfil Tesco's aim that to increase its non-food business Tesco made some main objectives like advertise more of its non-foods, publish it on the Internet and also make it cheaper if bought through the Internet and also improve its services. One of its main objectives in the year 2000 was to be the leading grocer in the world by selling more of its products over the Internet and now that objectives are fulfilled. Tesco has main five objectives, which are:
. To understand their customers better than any of their competitors do.
2. To earn the respect of their staff and to appreciate their contribution of achieving them.
3. To be energetic and innovative and to take risks in making life better for their customers.
4. To recognize that the brilliant people working for them and to use this strength to make our customers shopping enjoyable in a way that no competitors can.
5. To use intelligence, scale and technology to deliver unbeatable value to customers in every thing they do.
As required, I have to show how the management in Tesco can use planning and monitoring to achieve their aims and objectives.
Planning: Is the determination of the goals and objectives of an enterprise and the selection, through a systematic consideration of alternatives, of the policies, programs and procedures for achieving them. An activity devoted to clearly identifying, defining, and determining courses of action, before their initiation, necessary to achieve predetermined goals and objectives. Its the analysis of relevant information from the present and the past and the assessment of probable future developments so that a course of action may be determined that enables the organization to meet its stated objectives. Planning effectively must be written and agreed, separately and together by the organisation. Planning is also the process of setting goals, developing strategies, and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish the goals
Planning in Tescos involves setting both long term and short term goals and plan on how to achieve them.
The management of Tescos use planning for the following reasons:
> To offset uncertainty and changes
> To focus attention on the business objectives
> To gain economical operation
> To facilitate control
In Tescos the planning process are set in stages, which are:
Types of Planning used in Tescos
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
Strategic
This are the highest position in the company E .g. board of directors
It helps the senior management of Tesco tackle and address strategic issues and long-term trends both in the firm and external environment. Match changes in external environment with existing organizational capability such as: Where will employment level be in five years? e.t.c
The types of information required in this level are as follows:
* They need both short-term and long-term information to make future decisions.
* They require information from both internal and external sources.
* They do not want non-routine information.
* A highly summarised and fully explained information in both graphical and text is required.
Tactical
This is the middle level of managements and they are higher than other employees e.g. Finance manager
The types of information required in this level are as follows:
* Qualitative information is needed.
* Internal sources of information.
* They require less summarised information.
* They require routine information.
Operational
Support operational managers by keeping track of elementary organizational activities and transactions. Systems answer routine questions and track the flow of transactions through the organization such as: Systems to record bank deposits or track the number of hours worked each day
This is the lowest level in an organisation Supervisors, chief clerk.The types of information required in this level are as follows:
* Daily, frequent and regular information are needed in order to perform any task.
* They require short-term information.
* They mainly use internal sources of information.
* And they only need and use qualitative information
Monitoring: In Tescos is the regular collection and analysis of information to assist timely decision-making, ensure accountability and provide the basis for evaluation and learning. It is a continuing function that uses methodical collection of data to provide management and the main stakeholders of an ongoing project or programme with early indications of progress and achievement of objectives. It's the act of overseeing the progress of business performance or activities to ensure that the right and well being of participant are protected. Monitoring is also an intermittent (regular or irregular) series of observations in time, carried out to show the extent of compliance with a formulated standard or degree of deviation from an expected norm. And also keep a close watch over implementation. Organisations undertake monitoring to assess whether these objectives are being met.
Monitoring is used in Tescos to:
> Monitor the set objectives of the business
> Help in the forecast of their sales
> Control their monetary, capital and production budget
I am now going to show how the management in Tescos plc uses those two activities which are planning and Monitory in the purpose of meeting the company's goals.
To provide shareholders with good dividends - As a profit making company, profit is vital to Tesco plc because to survive and grow as a business and be in the position to produce more good quality products. Planning and monitoring help them to make their customers aware of a new product introduced into their existing range; basically they will be more worried about the form of advertising to use, implementing the marketing mix (place, promotion, price, product). The management of Tesco will decide if offering incentives to consumers, like cheap products but of excellent quality, discounts and vouchers and more important how to come up with new strategies to sell the product in great quantity will profit the business and therefore the shareholders.
Planning and monitoring will help them acknowledge whether or not the new strategies put in place are going to help generate more profit to them and their shareholders as well as their stakeholders. Planning and monitoring will help them to know when Tescos plc management will have to increase their sales or decrease on their costs of production in the short run which will therefore end up as profit maximised.
Providing quality goods:
The action of planning and monitoring will help Tescos plc management keep to their aims, which is, to provide consumers with naturally homemade products such as shampoos, toiletries hair and skin products to all its customers. Planning and monitoring will the help the management team to plan in advance when they are ready to order for new raw materials through Community Trade, which a small group of third world countries suppliers exclusive to Tescos and keep an eye on the stock the raw materials will not rot inside and the finished products will be available when the consumers will demand for them. Planning and monitoring will help Tescos plc to be able to get the right raw materials in order to be able to provide quality product.
Survival as a business:
Planning and monitoring will help Tescos to achieve this objective by surviving as a business. Basically with planning, management can plan work according to the main objectives and overall targets of the business and prepare budgets for the different departments so that the money is spent according to each department's needs and overspending will be avoided.
Planning and monitoring will help management of Tescos plc to focus on the well-being of employees and see if they are being taken care of and more crucial to see in which conditions they are conducting their daily activities, if they are happy in order for them to achieve their best for the surviving of the company. This will achieve a great deal for the company and employees would be more concerned in bringing the different departments to work together to achieve goal congruence and this will make them feel more involved in the success of the company.
Make Profit
Profit is very important to Tesco. To survive as a business and be able to produce more quality product then profit will be more important. Planning and monitoring help them if there is a need advertised what they sell into the media, choosing a location, providing quality products with discounts an how to increase their stocks cutting down prices or bring out new strategies to sell their product. Planning and monitoring will help them to know whether or not the new strategy is going to be beneficial to the business and whether it will help generate more profit. In order for Tesco to achieve the objectives of making profit, management will have to make sure they plan and monitor the use of the available resources and make sure they plan staff training under customer care well so as to be able to attract more customers to be able to boost profit. Planning and monitoring will help them to know when Tesco management will have to try and increase their sales or cut down on their cost in the short run because, they know that in the long run this will make more profit for the business. Management of Tesco will use monitoring and planning to achieve this aim of making profit by planning to improve performance in work such as fast customers care. If management prepare budget for each functional area and its being monitored there will be no wastage of company's and work targets will be achieved.
Providing competitive service:
Planning and monitoring will help Tescos plc to provide highly competitive service by undertaking and cutting their competitors. For instance, planning will help them in knowing about their competitors' (Sainsburys, ASDA) prices, products, and how well they respond to their consumers' needs and wants, so that they will make improvements if needed on their services and products. As their main objective is to achieve great sales at affordable prices, they have to make sure that they keep it up as long as possible to retain their existing consumers and maybe attract new or potential ones and make more profit.
Environment friendly:
Tescos plc is a company really concerned about their competitive environmrent and their environment as well. Tesco uses organic ingredients in some product formulations. Examples include the Food-Inspired Body Range and the Lavender and Bergamot fragrance ranges. These products include organically grown ingredients sourced through their Community Trade programmes, and those are achieved through the planning and monitoring activities of management. Protection the environment includes control on vehicle emission, how the business recycles their plastic bags given to customers, and more important Tescos Purchasing Rule stipulates that the Company will not purchase any ingredient that has been tested or retested on animals for cosmetic purposes since at least 31st December 1990. Rejecting animal testing does not reduce Tescos ability to produce safe, effective and innovative products. There are over 8,000 ingredients available to select many of which have a long history of safe use from. Their monitoring systems are certified against the international Humane Cosmetics Standard, which is operated by a leading animal protection group. Planning and monitoring will help Tescos plc to control the management of energy consumption, recycling by providing dump bins in-store and reduce the environmental impact of its own merchandises
Providing Employees with good conditions and fair pay:
Planning and monitoring helps the management in Tescos plc treat their employees with consideration and pay them with the correct rate corresponding to their skills and qualification. Planning will help them design a program of induction, which will play a crucial role in helping new employees understand and engage with the Company's retail vision and values. They will make sure that the working environment is suitable to the employees to achieve their duties without feeling insecure, unsafe and restraining them from enjoying themselves while working. Close circuit cameras are installed and kept on 24-hours/7 day operation in order to keep resources on sight. The cameras are used to track down potential shoplifters and to see what is going on in the stores. Tesco treats its management and employees with respect and pays them what is considered to be the going rate for the job as their aim is to develop opportunities to employees' abilities and well rewarded for their contribution to the success of the business. Through planning and monitoring they can settle their employers without going to other company by organising training so that they can develop their skills and motivating them. Because if employees are happy they will work well by using the skills they have developed to help the business to survive and achieve its aims and objectives.
Clock - in machine system is installed for main purposes such as:
For wages and salaries- it records the time employee clocks in for work, records the time employee clocks out of work, deducts employee's break time and works out the total wage the employee is entitled to get. This is also helps the company as a whole to work more efficiently and to ensure that employees are not being underpaid or overpaid for their services as this may lead to employees leaving or suing the company.
Emergency - let imagine that there a fire or any other catastrophe, sand evacuation is required, this system plays an crucial t because it is connected to a computer system that prints out the list of names of employees who are still at work at the time of fire or catastrophe evacuation.
They will monitor the employees' performance through appraisals, which is a method of reviewing individual performance against the company's objectives.
Increase in Market sharee - This is the proportion or percentage that the company have in the market in terms of customers. This is one of the main aim and objective of Tescos.For instance in 2004 the market share of Tescos increased and customers are still dedicated to Tescos as in the purchase of their products, the management of Tescos have set more standards to continue to increase their market share through the planning and monitory of ...
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They will monitor the employees' performance through appraisals, which is a method of reviewing individual performance against the company's objectives.
Increase in Market sharee - This is the proportion or percentage that the company have in the market in terms of customers. This is one of the main aim and objective of Tescos.For instance in 2004 the market share of Tescos increased and customers are still dedicated to Tescos as in the purchase of their products, the management of Tescos have set more standards to continue to increase their market share through the planning and monitory of their products and manufacturing of their own brand products.
Planning and monitoring will also show how senior managers have to decide to allocate the available resources. Possibly, the Finance department has been taking half of the organisation capital spending budget for operations; now may be the time to time its spending back; allow more investment in product quality. Planning and monitoring will help Tesco aims and objective through a complex project, which can be completed in the shortest possible time. It also identified the activities that must be completed on time to avoided delaying the whole project, and also improves working condition.
Planning and monitoring helps Tescos plc to bring up the decision of all different functional departments within the organisation and achieve goal congruence. Those two activities are needed to bring a consistent and effective approach of the company and ensure that employees will be heading in the same direction and at the end they will achieve the overall objectives of Tescos plc.
Task 2
Describe the role of management in improving the performance of your selected business, Show how management activities can raise performance in your selected business.
A role of management:
Roles of management or managerial functions are the activities crucial for a business to survive and expand. Those different activities help the manager in performing the business activities on a daily basis, such as: employees, sales, safety of the premises and employees, and many more.
The role of management is basically to see how the manager reacts under pressure and his personal ability to make the work done following the different legislations and regulations the business has to abide by and the manager's skills can be obtained training, self-fulfilment and more important the will to go forward in jobs. These activities below are the role of management in my chosen business, Tescos:
* Increase and Maximaze sales: Over sometime now sales and management experiences have improved in Tescos sales department. There are numbers of relatively straightforward ways to increase their sales. For instance, management-taking step which will ensure that, Tesco employees understand the important of sales process and are well-equipped to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the organisation. Increasing sales can be done through special offers to customers, in order for them to buy more and increase the sales of their products.
* Monitor Quality products: As soon as they have a rough idea of what to do to improve their products, they need to develop some strategies to support the costs. The Tesco management make sure that only products coming from Community Trade are used. As they already have a lot of customers, they make sure that their needs and wants are met and the products are sold to a really affordable. By doing this, Tesco meets two of its objectives, which are to provide consumers with good quality products and provide suppliers with a fair amount of money.
* Take care of staffs such as: Health and safety issues: Abiding by the different rules and regulations of health and safety has proven to be beneficial to Tescos, To retain and attract costumers and workers, all the outlets of Tescos are safe and healthy because the managers comply by the different regulations like Health and Safety at Workplace Act 1974, RIDDOR, etc which stipulate that the management have to provide a safe and healthy working environment to anyone setting foot there. All managers are provided with training on health and safety legislation and internal processes supporting this at least every two years any measure will be taken to avoid unpleasant situation. Workforce are given induction concerning health and safety matters during their first three months in the company and they will tested about that to see if they have retained something and to see if more training is needed. Increased training and awareness around health and safety has been driven in the UK/ROI Region by the new Health and Safety Manager. As a result, during the eight months to October 2002, the number of accidents in the region has halved, compared with the same period a year ago.
* Monitor and control resources: Taking appropriate care of the different resources is very vital to Tesco managers, as it will help them save lots of money. They take care of the equipment by making regular checks on them and replacing them as soon as they are damaged and regularly update their machinery by being technologically advanced and using the latest software. As their workforce is crucial to them, they have to do everything in their power to make them feel happy and at ease in their job. They have a certain number of incentives, which they use to do it: pay rise, performance-led pay, pension schemes and good working conditions. Giving flexible hours to their staff is very important to Tesco As a global retail business that spans many time zones; there is a critical need to service the customers around the clock. They also believe that by offering a more flexible working option to some employees this can improve morale and help retain people within our business and promote diversity and a high number of employees have identified flexible hours as being a key area in improving performance. Professional and Skills Training are provided through programmes covering technical skills development. The Company also promotes professional qualifications by supporting employees financially and with study leave. Tesco has a long-established policy on promoting equal opportunities and diversity across our global business. They review their employment profile against geographical and industry benchmarks and monitor the employees pay and job levels across genders to ensure they are equitable Tesco does not discriminate against people we employ on grounds of disability. It is the responsibility of all employees, supervisors and managers to ensure discrimination does not take place. Their employment policies ensure that people with a disability receive fair and equitable treatment, and we make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, to enable disabled employees to perform their roles.
* Control Budgets: It is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that, the company is run at its highest efficiency, while minimising costs. In order for this to be achieved, the manager must ensure that the Tesco Company's output exceeds the input of resources. Managers will have to make sure not much goods are wasted in order to control cost. Tesco management will have to pay employees only appropriate wages and not try to cheat the organisation by topping up the wages. For management to be able to control cost, they have to organise on-site training as training outside the business premises are more costive and also make sure that employees are give training and are fit to use the resources available effectively.
* Manage change: In order for Tesco to continue to be a leader in the market which it operates, the managers have to ensure that they are aware of the changes happening in the market: for example, changes in consumer tastes and preferences, change in income and likely future trends, legal and ethical constraints. Managers have to also be aware of the actions being implemented by its competitors and try to counter-act. Careful planning and market research will help Tesco to determine what are the current trends and try to meet those needs and wants. Tesco can achieve this by introducing new range of products such as cranberry or cherry based or children fragrance range or expanding into a totally new market such as clothing. Management of Tesco will have to invest in new technologies and train staff to use it in order to be able to catch up with their competitors.
* Manage resources: As a manager the most important role is to look after the organisation resources. Resources cost a lot of money in Tesco and in order to keep them safe and secure; the managers have to plan on how to update them when the new development equipment are brought into their workplace. The managers have to have a trial period with the new equipments to check the possible before giving them to the staff. When there is a problem, he will be able to identify it and find solutions or call the maintenance team to handle it. Planning the maintenance of the equipment to reduce the risk of breakdown may cut down time and costs. One of the big responsibly as a manager is to be able to manage well colleagues, staff and other people working in the organisation and allocate to each of them tasks that they can carry out easily. Managing other involves training and development of staff. In Tesco managers deal with training and development because it is one of their most important objectives. The management offers to the retail employees learning and development programmes for to focus on increasing product knowledge and improving customer service. These programmes are part of an integrated global process that aims to promote job satisfaction and career fulfillment across their retail network.
* Managing others: One of the biggest responsibly as a manager is to be able to manage colleagues, staff and other people working in the organisation. Managing other involves in training and development. In Sainsbury's managers deals with training seriously as a planned activity to improve productivity by introducing better methods and safer ways of working to reduce fatigue and frustration. Planning training includes; induction training schemes, training employees to use new machines as obsolescent models are superseded, training new employees at weak point where hold-up are occurring or likely to occur, and making hazardous operations safer by increasing the sill on the employee. To be able to provide sources of help to employees for instances: caring for their needs and have sympathy with them when they are going into bad times.
Management activities that can raise performance in Tescos plc are as follows
* Planning: This activity in Tecos consists of designing Rotas for each employee and make sure that overtimes and covering for someone who is not available are taken in consideration. Planning is also preparing financial budgets for each department and forecasting which is an important step in deciding the objectives or targets to reach the organisation goals in goal congruence. Planning in Tesco is also concerned with considering the resources needed so that the work will be well achieved and timely. Managers in Tesco plans short term and long term planning such as staff training and induction of new staff, and improvements in the work, like recruiting more employees and need of more training. Managers of Tesco plc's have to plan to be more effective and efficient on how objectives are to be achieved in time. However, Managers then plan on a short-term basis, the actual achievement of broad plans using the resources available.
* Organising: This means arranging for everything to be at the right place, at the right time, subsequently work may continue according to the plan. It also, ensures that all the formal activities of Tescos combine to form a balanced and assign work to staff. Organising shows the way to: planning includes organisation designing the department, staffing completed under the aspect of command and aligning everyone's effort and establishing performance standards for employees. Tesco plc's managers also make sure they organise transports in the course of delivering goods and organising resources and delegating authority over work and co-ordinating Tesco plc's activities.
* Commanding: This is a process in Tescos, which is involved in leading by the manager by giving orders and instructions and expecting them to be carried out. It is an authoritarian approach, which is equal to military orders. Commanding means giving orders, issuing instructions and decide when and how subordinates would carry out the work. Manager's command includes making decisions about the relative priority of the jobs needing to be done and ensuring discipline is kept as a reasonable level, consistent with good working arrangements. Although, in my organisation Tesco co-ordinating are discussed together because, all the principles of Tesco are used to achieve co-ordination, in practice command which must appear where by design and planning stages are completed. The next step is to appoint competent staff to the positions drawn up on the manager's plan. When appointing staff for the right job, the individuals are assigned to their jobs and given appropriate duties, authority and responsibilities they will immediately start to issue instructions.
* Controlling: Involves directing, inspecting and regulating work. It may mean
that having to take remedial action. Departmental bosses, for example need to keep within spending budgets. The activity of control in Tescos manager makes sure that every little detail in the different departments is checked and action will be immediately taken to patch up any faulty steps from the initial plans, which consists of keeping a constant grip on all steps of the daily duties and the costs involved. By controlling, the manager of Tesco makes sure that everything is running as planned and he keeps an eye on the progress made by each employee. He ensures that their working environment is safe and that they are abiding by the rules and regulations concerning the health and safety of the workplace. He makes sure that equipment needed to perform their daily task is working properly and not dangerous to the health of the staff. Basically, this activity of controlling is more concerned about the manager dealing with the different attitude of the workforce and his ability to demonstrate that he can keep up them.
* Motivating: This is the action of getting people to do something because they want to rather than because they are forced to. For this activity, Tesco managers deal with staff problems, make sure that everything is put in place to make employees feel at ease at work and achieve more. In Tesco, they motivates the employees by offering on-site physiotherapist, offering incentives like benefits, pension schemes and nursery for working parents at the Littlehampton site, training and job development, and helping the staff to understand the organisation's goals and targets through induction, etc. All these are put up in place for the employees to be more confident and they will conduct their duties more confidently and that will benefit the company.
* Communicating: Part of instilling a performance-led culture within the business, relies on all employees being aware of the Company's financial performance. In support of this, employees receive daily updates on the sales performance across all the regions. In addition, the managers in Tescos employ a mix of communication vehicles to help employees feel engaged and informed about the business and the opportunities for them to become directly involved in business programmes including volunteering and campaign initiatives. They use electronic, voice messaging and some limited paper-based communications, as well as videoconferencing, face-to-face meetings and action stations. Paper-based communication in the form of newsletters remains the primary means of communicating to employees in our stores Tescos Management of communication at different Levels such as:
Strategic
Vertical flow of
Communication
Tactical
Operational
All these level as mentioned above need specific information and requirement and make different type of decision.
Strategic
* Management need both short-term and long-term information to make future decisions.
* Management require information from both internal and external sources.
* Management do not want non-routine information.
* A highly summarised and fully explained information in both graphical and text is required.
Tactical
* Qualitative information is needed.
* Internal sources of information.
* Require less summarised information.
* They require routine information.
Operational
* Daily, frequent and regular information are needed in order to perform any task.
* They require short-term information.
* They mainly use internal sources of information.
* And they only need and use qualitative information
For the management in Tescos to be able to increase the business performance listed above they have to consider both the Internal and external factors of the business environment.
The External factors to be considered within Tescos are as follows:
P - Political
E - Economic
S - Social
T - Technological
L - Legal
E - Environmental
> Political - This factors consist of the government and parliaments in the Uk as well as the European Commission, Council and European Parliament passing of laws and regulations which might affect the business and the way the business operates and functions. The network of the laws, regulations, directives and court decision presents a complex environment for business. Tescos usually respond to this political factor by studying the prospective legislation in order for them to develop a business strategy, which deals with new legal framework within the necessary time span.
> Economic: This has effect on Tescos based most particularly for two reasons namely:
* As it relates to price level changes on the company
* The level of economic activity which indicates the general likelihood of consumers spending either rising of falling, which affects the company's sales, wage rates, cost and profit.
The economic environment is mostly determined in Tescos by the following due to the effect they have on the business based on the fact that they are stakeholders in Tescos and they are:
* The Supplier: They provide the organisation with raw material s and components for its needs. Tesco has to purchase these at a Price and quality which they can afford and still make profit from it
* Customers: They influence the growth of Tesco because their demand determines the business produce and din which way the goods and services are going to be rendered, at what price for the goods to be sold.
* Government: With fiscal policies and monetary policies this influences Tesco as in relation to cost and availability of credit, the level of taxation, interest rates and exchange rates. Especially if the company import their goods
* Investor (Existing and Potential): The confidence and willingness of investors to lend or give money are linked with the expectations of the future level of the economic activity. The state of the general economic determines the ability of Tesco to borrow money for investment purposes or for stake and share holders to continue to invest
* Competitors: They are simply the threat to the Tesco in the economic
> Social: This makes up the major part of element in the Tescos business environment. This is most important because it determines the class of the environment of the business such as Age, Sex, Political beliefs e.t.c.This has a significant influence the business an the way the business is being managed as the organisation is made up of people.
> Technological: This has a great influence on the ways in which a Tescos operates. Revolutionalised computers have helped in the new product development, Packaging and manufacturing. This also changes work patterns as most jobs are been done through computers, which has eased the workload of business staffs.
> Legal: This factor is a constraint on Tesco. The law sets out the operating conditions for most business which ranges from certain conditions such as bans of specific items, behaviour. Tescos has to comply with laws on employment, practices such laws include:
The Race Relations Act 1976
This act came into effect in 1976; its legal requirement states that people should not be discriminated on the grounds of colour, race or ethnic origin.
Trade description Act 1968
This statute prohibits any person, in the course of a trade or business such as Tescos, from applying a false description to goods, or from supplying or offering any goods with a false trade description.
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
Similar to the race discrimination act, it was implemented a year before and it was designed to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex and marital status.
Data protection Act 1984 & 1998
This act was the first piece of legislation to come into force that addressed growing popular fear that information about individuals, which was stored on computer files and processed by computer, could be misused. In particular, it was felt that an individual could easily be harmed by the existence of computerised data, which was inaccurate or misleading.
Obscene Publications Act 1959 & 1964
State that it is an offence to publish an obscene article, "whether to gain or not". An article is defined as obscene if the effect is likely to deprave or corrupt persons who are likely to read, see or hear the matter embodied in it. Basically, promotions should not contain anything likely to cause widespread offence or distress.
I have linked all the acts above to the functional departments at Tescos because they are by law required to operate under the legal standards.
Example:
The Human Resources would have to be careful how they interview applicants. Turning down an application for a job simply because the applicant is disabled would be an offence under the Disability Discrimination Act 1975.
> Environment: This comprises of the various goods and bad of the business environment. If employment falls then my business could face problems, because as a result people would not have enough money to spend on takeaways, however, the opposite may occur if employment goes up. If more jobs and wages were promising then there will be more disposable income and then more people would purchase. They also need to obey the laws set out for the environment such as the:
Environmental protection Act 1990
Has applicant for the way in which we produce good and services. It seems to prevent pollution of air, water and land from emissions resulting from the product process. It controls waste disposal methods, litter, odours, vibration, noise and other side effects of business that may damage the environment, create a public nuisance.
Other factors that needs to be considered by the manager of Tescos to improve the business performance are its:
Strengths
Weakness
Opportunity
Threats
STRENGTHS: Tescos is big; Tesco offers a wide variety of food products, in-store bakeries, household goods, clothes and toiletries. Tesco understand their customers needs and has also adapted to the rapid technological changes, increasing its sales by 26% (£447m) from last year, on the on-line sales site - Tesco.com, alone. Tesco has achieved this position as Britain's number one food retailer by offering excellent value for money and service to its customers to retain their position.
Tesco's reputation as the supermarket choice has grown in the last five years. It now has a 53.93% (as at 21/11/03) Market share of the Food & Drug Retailers sector.
WEAKNESSES: Due to lots of competitors Tescos has had to diversify into different market, which is costing them lots of money and as competitors stick only to consumer's goods and services. With too many branches they get short of staffs sometimes.
OPPORTUNITIES: Tescos quickly overtook Sainsbury to become the largest food retailer in the UK, with 1,982 UK stores, consisting of 62 Extra stores, 442 Superstores, 167 High street stores, 109 Express stores, with many accompanying a Tescos petrol station, and 1,202 newly acquired T&S stores, which was a leading convenience retailer.
THREATS: Tescos competitors are a major threat because they have the capabilities and the know how of getting customers because they have been around as long as Tesco some have even been Longer before Tescos so there is no doubt that they'll have a few tricks up their sleeves to maintain their share of the market.
TASK 3
Describe ways in which a manager's role includes the management of resources.
Managers are responsible for the administration processes of Tescos plc as I have said earlier on in this assignment, but managers roles is quite vast because they act or work on behalf of stakeholders and other part-owners of the business.
These managers can be departmental managers such as Finance manager, Human Resource manager, Production manager or even Line managers like Floor manager, Supervisors manager, Health & Beauty manager etc. Regardless of which section the manager is being placed in charge of, he/she is accountable to the shareholders or part owners of the business in terms of resources availability, sufficiency, and maintenance.
As I have explained earlier in this assignment that there are several resources that are being managed by Tescos managers, they are:
* Human Resources.
* Finance Resources.
* Physical Resources
* Technological Resources.
HUMAN RESOURCES
This department is concerned with dealing every issue related to staff recruitment, development and training. The HR manager ensures that employees has signed a contract stating what is expected from him/her and showing the incentives he can get like maternity pay, sick pay, etc and the number of hours he has to work. They also have Effective recruitment and selection policy which includes advertise, short listing, interviewing to select right staff, promoting equal opportunities in relation to paying people the right amount; in recruitment and targeting the right people for the right job at the right time with the right qualifications. As part of Tescos plc's policies, The HR management has the duty to keeps employees bout key issues within the company as soon as they are aware of about the equipment, health and safety procedures, working conditions, anti-theft policies, any sales promotion and so on.
Demand of labour Supply of labour
Number of workers needed Existing workforce
Skills required Skills shown through skills audit
Location of employees
Human Resources Plan
Recruitment
Training
Redundancy and Deployment
Here are other aspects of the Human Resources work:
> Providing fair wages and good working environment to employees: The manager of Tescos ensures that the new staffs are given induction to settle in quickly, work effectively, and most important their skills match their job description. As being a company behaving ethically, they promote equal opportunities, good interracial relations, and do not discriminate on sexual orientation, marital status or disability basis.
> Providing Promotion Prospects: their management team has developed a programme called Project Quest, which is designed, to offer appropriate learning to all levels of management: The management development programmes is:
Be Curious - for employees in junior management roles
Be Inspired - for employees in middle management roles
> Professional and Skills training: The Company provides programmes covering as management as well as technical skills development. The company also promotes professional qualifications by supporting employees financially and with study leave
> Motivating the workforce: offer to employees something like bonuses, paid holidays, company cars, promotion, higher responsibilities, etc. But pay rise can have a negative impact because employers can lose money if they spend more than they have.
> Discipline and Dismissal: sadly, the HR manager is also responsible for taking disciplinary procedures when an employee acts against the company aims and objectives and sometimes this resolves in the employee's dismissal. They recognize external collective representation where the majority of employees in a workplace request it. All employees are free to join a union of their choice.
Most of all, human resource managers are responsible for co-ordinating all departments e.g. marketing, finance, personnel, research & development to work together by delegating tasks which would contribute towards meeting the goals and objectives of the company.
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
Tescos needs to manage their financial resources because it needs to have and constantly handle money flowing both within and outside the business. But the finance department in Tescos also carries out a number of activities such as :
* Records all the financial activities of the business, listing revenue earned by the business and the expenditure necessary for production.
* Employees in the finance department monitor the expenditure of all departments and advise if expenditure appears too high.
* The Finance manager in the finance department overseas customers accounts to ensure that Tescos receives the money to which it is entitled.
* Employees in the finance department also interprets financial data for senior or middle management to ensure that decision-making is based on the most up to date information possible.
* The finance manager also provides financial information about Tescos tax liability to external bodies
Corporation Tax Inland Revenue
Income Tax
VAT HM Customs & Excise
Tescos is now implementing policies to involve more people in the management of finance. This will involve de-layering, which involves reducing the number of levels of hierarchy in the structure. This means that employees lower down the hierarchy have greater authority and greater control over their working lives. This will have a significant change and mean that the finance department will have greater responsibility for:
. Training non-specialist employees in managing finances
2. Supporting colleagues on an on-going basis
3. Monitoring financial decisions on a large number of colleague
The system is constantly being monitored by the Accounts/Finance manager so as to ensure that their total expenses does not exceed the total revenue that is being generated into the business as this may result in bankruptcy. Advances in technology have advanced de-layering and the way that functions are carried out, such as the use of spreadsheets. This enables Tescos to provide much more detailed information quickly and cheaply.
Accurate financial information is essential in allowing Tescos to maximise profits, achieve sustained growth, maximise revenue from sales and meet set objectives
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
Tescos has various kinds of physical resources that are being managed by its managers e.g. the management ensures that the building/premises and facilities are in good working condition by doing a review on the building and making notes of any faults in order for improvements or repairs to be made. Building and premises facilities in which they operate are secured with CCTV system to keep an eye on the premises and to ensure the safety of the employees.
Management have to make sure that equipment and machinery are checked on a regular basis and those are safe to be used. Equipment must be labelled according the way they must be used and if they have any damages or faults, the employees must be aware of any risks involved and training should be given to employees to show tem how to use the materials.
Tescos plc has a waste disposal system in place to ensure that the working environment is clean and germs free. As being environmentally concerned, most of the wastage is disposed of using a compacter to compress all cardboards and plastic wastes and a skip is used to keep all other wastes such as glasses, food and so on but managers are responsible for making sure that the system is being emptied on a regular basis by the Council Team of the area where they are operating.
Tescos also make sure all bills are paid and services rendered to clients are to their satisfaction.
Tescos managers physical resources that they need to manage includes such as:
Building and facilities: management will have to secure the building of which they operate in and make sure they organise a security in place to prevent robbery. Management will maintain the building and if there is a chance to do renovation they do, to prevent and future accident. And management will have to register all their fixed assets and update it regularly.
Plant and Machinery and equipment: management will have to make sure regular checks are done on all the machinery that they use and make sure they are safe. Equipment must be labelled according to how a machine works. In order to safe the company money, management will have to secure all equipment so that if there is a fault or if anything happen to the equipment, they won't have to pay money for repairs. Training must be given to all employees as to how to use the equipments.
Stock: management will have to make sure they control the stock coming in, in order no to waste stock which will lead to Tescos losing money. In purchasing stock management will have to make sure they obtain the best quality stock so that the company don't lose money. Management will have to do regular check on the stock and put security so it will be safe and no one could steal it
The manager's roles in the management of the physical resources of Tescos are very vital and they are:
> Provide service level sufficient to meet the operational needs of the departments thereby providing and giving instructions services to the employees
> Maximize and make useful use of the business physical plants and machinery
> Provide good working environments to work in and conducive for the customers as well
> Make amendments and renovations for facilities and the introduction of new facilities
> Provide protection for the staffs in the case or injury
The managers usually implement techniques to help manage their resources through the introduction of Insurance, providing for emergencies and securing the companies asserts.
TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES
Technological resources are things like software applications, Internet, and video and so on. The fact that technology is always improving and Tescos plc has to update its system e.g. fast internet access via broadband connection is a very good example of technological resource and the way manager's role fit in here is they have to be aware of changes in technological environment and they have to adapt the company to those changes.
Technological resources within the company are classified as equipment that helps facilitate their business activities or reduce workload e.g. computers, fax machine, photocopier machine, franking machine and many more. These equipment are being managed effectively by supervisors simply by carrying out basic checks like seeing if the photocopier has sufficient toner in it or the cartridge has enough ink, enough papers and ordering/providing more if not sufficient so as to reduce the risk of a breakdown.
Tescos plc also has a maintenance review plan in place to ensure that its technological resources are in good working conditions, and technicians are consulted every six months or as soon as something breaks down to observe the performance of equipment and to make notes of any faults or malfunctions that they consider to be potentially disruptive to business activities of the company i.e Tescos plc and then, these technicians report to the managers about their observation findings.
Most of all, it is obvious that all technological resource rely on the supply of electricity in order to function. Managers ensure that there is a supply of electricity through out the company in order for those technological resources to function properly and also to provide good and improved working conditions for their staffs as well as their customers such as the provision of:
Trolleys to their customers, which are time saving and less work of lifting of heavy loads by customers.
Provision of access for their disabled customers for easier and more comfortable shopping
In conclusion, managers at Tescos plc stores are doing their best to manage the different resources required to run the company successfully. Those resources are very important for the business to succeed in achieving their aims and objectives. Managers have to secure and protect these resources and make sure that they are well taken care of.
If not well managed, those resources might become a problem to Tescos plc to function well, which might result in low profits and therefore less return on dividends for the shareholders and loss of market share. Well manage resources will help improve performance.
TASK 4
Demonstration the role of a manager's interpersonal and communication skills and make recommendations for the improvement of his own interpersonal and communication skill.
There are a vast list of skills that can be shown or used by managers in a business in order to set good examples for its employees or to improve working relationships within the workplace. These skills are classified as:
* Communication skills
This skill involves the ability to transmit messages, thoughts, and information and so on by talking, writing etc. Good communication is required within the workplace so that employer and its employees can maintain good working relationship. Good communication simply refers to the ability to communicate effectively i.e. being able to interact with or understand people from various backgrounds, level of education, ethnicity, race etc. It is also a good way of informing employees of what is happening in the company through advertising, meetings and e-mail. For example, when there are internal vacancies available, you have to communicate through advertising, mouth-to-mouth information and meeting. Businesses need to communicate effectively - both internally and with outsiders such as customers and suppliers. Effective communication is essential if the business is to be successful.
There are a number of different channels of communication, which operate within a business and other organisations.
* Internal or external - with people inside or outside
* Up and down and across the hierarchy
* Formal and informal - an official method of communication or a message just heard from someone else.
* Open and restricted - everyone receiving the information or just a selected few.
Different types of communication exist in Tescos, which are:
Oral communication
This is the type of communication that involves talking face to face with someone and each person respond directly to whatever the other is saying. It can be done by telephone, two-way radio, talkie-walkies, and private radio and mobile phone, which are more used nowadays.
Written Communication
This is a form of communication that has referrals and records, which allows easier retrieval of stored. This form of communication can also be referred to as the action of constructing phrases, graphs and sentences to form a meaningful document or sentence so it will be understood by anyone who reads it. It can be done by mail or transmitted electronically, and examples are letters, banners, newsletters, notice boards, etc.
Purpose of communication
> To stimulate an action
> To give out data and information about what is happening both internally and externally
> To measure their impact in the market and financial industry
> To make notification of results of achievement and suggestions in change of work method used in the business or change in product service
> Itemising of problems encountered such as equipment breakdown for consultation on partner business problems.
The causes of ineffective communication
Tescos plc managers sometimes experience difficulties in communicating with the employees and these can include:
Communication and size: As Tescos is constantly growing; it tends to have more layers of hierarchy. This makes communication more difficult as message from the Main Board to let say the employees will take longer as it has to pass through too many people. This will slow-down decision making strength of the company because by the time the message gets to the intended audience, it might distorted or lost.
Sender's difficulties: Sometimes, the sender doesn't pay enough attention to the content of the message and the message can difficult to be read by the receiver. Often, the sender does not know how to properly use the means of communication he want to ends up sending it to the wrong audience or messing up the whole thing.
Choice of channel: As there too many ways to communicate in Tescos, sometimes managers are confronted to which one is the most effective? The correct choice of channel should be the one which is time saving, most effective and easy for everyone to use and the one want who can reduce the risk of failure or misinterpretation.
Information overload, which might lead to, lost in transmission and poor retention of information
Biased interpretation of given information and data such as natural barriers and status barriers, which results in reluctance in the passage of information due to fear of incurring criticism
STRENGHT OF COMMUNIOCATION
> Communication helps get information passed across easily in different method and efficiently such as the use of telephone, memos and faxes.
> The use of more advanced technology helps in the fast passage of information e.g. computer and E-mails.
> Provision of quality services compared to other leading banks in the market
> Complaints been handled properly for efficiency and effectiveness of business through the use of information.
> Organisation, which makes the retrieval of data quicker, safer and perfect for the organisation with use of advanced technology in the storage of information.
Advantages of good communication
> Good communication is also a form of motivating workforce
> It also important because it helps to know how people are getting on with their respective jobs, if they are doing the right thing and it also helps them to know their strength and how to improve themselves.
> Good information provides managers with information needed, in a clear and understandable form and at the appropriate time.
> By having a good communication channel, managers are more likely to have a much-focused staff, more manageable and committed staff.
> Good communication help the managers to recognise staff achievements meets their ego whilst simply showing an interest helps in meeting their social needs.
How to improve Communication Skills
Communication can also be improved by taking certain precautions to ensure that the listener or others who are engaged in the conversation can comprehend what has been said. This can be achieved by:
o Using gestures i.e. facial signals such as moving the eyebrow, body signals to support what you are trying to get across.
o Speaking clearly i.e. avoid mumbling when making conversation or passing information because vital the audience may not hear information you are interacting with.
o Keeping eye contact with the people you are engaged in a conversation with as this builds reassurance and it can also improve their understanding of you have said e.g. blinking the eyes when making conversation may result in the audience/workers or customers to think that you are lying.
o Managers have to set up seminars where employees should be asked about their views. He can ask simple questions like; when he is giving them instruction do they understand it? Or asking them, some of the ways they can communicate well within the organisation.
o To encourage everyone to participate and contribute towards organisation goals. For example, team discussion where everyone should contribute which will help the manager to know his or her strength and weaknesses and any need of training.
* Interpersonal skills
Good interpersonal skills are essential as part of a managers role is the way he manages, the ways in which he is handling difficult situations within the workplace e.g. problem solving skills which is very useful in dealing with conflicts in interpersonal relationships, conflicts in meetings, conflicts in negotiations and most of all showing professional standards in situations where disagreement towards an idea, suggestion etc is required.
The interpersonal skills cover the following areas:
Ability to negotiate:
The Tescos plc's managers should be able to negotiate with their colleagues and employers in order for them to know that the managers can use their own ability and initiative to negotiate effectively without misunderstanding or confusions. Tescos plc managers should be able to appreciate these aspects when discussing a situation with employees and superiors. Managers should be able to try to find or to obtain agreements with their employees and outsiders when there is something going on between them. Managers should be able to negotiate credit terms with banks, suppliers about the amount of money they have to pay for the raw materials ordered.
Agreeing target and budget:
Tescos plc's have agreed to set targets and budgets for cost or revenues that their departments must aim to reach over a given period of time. As a manager, interpersonal skills will help him/her to estimate budgets by planning all the activities within the organisation and their costs. Good Interpersonal skills will help managers to negotiate with other companies and business or government councils and trade unions or in terms of new products or consumers' ever-changing trends, and creditors to increase or give them credit facilities.
Co-operating with others:
Tescos plc managers have to co-operate effectively with employees, line managers or colleagues in order to achieve goal congruence, which is one of the most important aims and objectives of the company. This enable the managers and other employees to work together, act together for effective work to be done successfully.
Resolving conflicts
As a manager at Tescos plc, you will have to be able to resolve conflicts and this is crucial within the organisation but it can be difficult to choose the right one. Tescos plc managers have to encourage the employees to make a list of their opinions or ideas. When this is done with, the manager has to show impartiality in examining evidence or justification by avoiding showing any emotions, criticisms of other views. The company's managers ought to ask each staff his version of the facts and try to contribute positively about each idea to resolve the conflicts
Interview skills:
As a manager, one should be able to use interview skills to exchange information, ideas and opinions between people to emphasise a dynamic link between people throughout the Tescos.The manager should be clear and precise and sufficient time should be allowed to complete the interview. A short and friendly topic can be discussed to put the interviewee at ease and feel more relaxed.
The manager's interpersonal skills will help him initiate the discussions genuinely where he can generates new ideas and perceive if the interviewee is selling his/her true self. The manager have to be sure that the person being interviewed understand the job descriptions perfectly and what should be expected from him/her if she/he got in. The manager should be indulgent and allow a little to the interviewee to think and ask any questions he/ she is not sure about or any further point which are sometimes forgotten because the interviewee or the manager are under a lot of stress. This will enable Tescos plc to get qualified and skilled workers for the company to improve the business performance.
Persuasions skills:
The manager of Tesco has to use his interpersonal skills to make sure that employees follow his orders to meet deadlines on a daily basis. He has to be able to know the needs and wants of his staff and help them achieve their best. Good persuasion skills can help the manager to obtain credit and loans terms for the company and it will be easy for him to attract and retain potential customers and existing ones.
The interpersonal skills can be improved by:
Conflicts in interpersonal relationships:
Often, interpersonal relationships, which include those between managers and staff, there might a conflict that managers are not aware of mangers can have sense of this conflict when sometimes someone is always upbeat and friendly, out of nowhere start avoiding you and being rude to you but remains outgoing and cheerful with others. In such situation, you have to proceed through those steps to try to sort out everything.
Managers have to try to find out any existing problem between him and the other person.
If there is any problem, arrange a private meeting for both of you to have a discussion.
Calmly introduce the subject of the discussion by asking the other person the cause of his/her behaviour towards you. If he /she says no, tell me that you think there is a problem and as grown-ups, you should sort out.
Ask for feedback as you progress in the discussion. Avoid accusing him/her.
Listen attentively to the other's statements and vice versa and respect each other opinions
Finally, try to have a compromise, which can suit both of you
Conflicts in meetings:
When having a meeting, things can become disruptive fast because some people are disrespectful and their opinions hurt and shock. But this can be very useful because having arguments reflects the fact that there are disagreements between the workforces and listening to them might give one an insight of what is wrong within the organisation. However if the arguments are taken to another level, and people start to feel insulted, certain steps should be taken. Those steps are the following:
In spite of the disrespectful arguments, try to see if the person isn't saying a bit of truth and set it aside for later to be handled in the meeting.
Allow you to have some time with each individual and identify areas of agreement.
Agree that the person has a valid point and there may be some way to make the situation work for both parties.
Ask anyone else for recommendation or response and have a compromise that works for both parties
Conflicts in negotiations:
When negotiating with stakeholders (competitors, colleagues, suppliers, etc), it is crucial to bear in mind that both parties are defending their positions and are after a Win/Win situation. Conflicts are most of the time generated because each party feels that they taken advantage of and feels that they are giving away something important for nothing.
In this situation, here are certain rules one can apply to raise the chances of having a successful negotiation:
By taking your time to understand everything everyone is saying
Ask a lot of questions and make sure that they are answered.
As communication is more listening, try to understand the other parties opinions and for more effect try to see it their way.
Rules for disagreeing diplomatically:
As a manager in Tescos, there are certain rules, which must be followed whenever you are trying to resolve a conflict or trying to bring harmony within the company. Which are as followed:
As a manager, state your opinion and show the other person that his feelings and opinions are taken into consideration by saying phrases like "I am listening to your statement and your opinion is taken into account and I will go after you".
Saying words like "I hear you and respect you" shows that as a manager, you value and respect the person in front of you despite the difference of your opinions.
Managers should state their position or opinion show the other person that they can discuss comfortably and he doesn't have to display his superiority
To conclude this, Tescos managers will have to look at Tescos organisation structure. As Tescos organisation structure is the formal and systematic way the management of Tescos is organised. Managers have to look at the impacts of the structure on Tescos. The title of the directors is to sit at the top of Tescos organisation structure to ensure that, all those functions are coordinated. For instance, when the entire department plays its part properly, the whole Tescos will succeed. Also, the managers have to look at the chain of command. For instance, in the hierarchy structure like Tescos where by the number of lawyers in the structure reflect the number of supervisory and managerial level, ranks or grade. The more the level the greater the opportunity for miscommunication so managers in Tescos should fine and effective way to be able to communicate to employees effectively. Manager must use clear and understanding language to talk to employees and try as much as they can to listen to employees' view of point and also avoid using abusive language to speak to employees. If managers at Tescos are able to do this it will help raise the performance of the company because everyone will try and do their possible best as they as happy in their working environment.
Being an effective communicator means people feel comfortable sharing ideas and feelings with you. Leading and directing others means winning the hearts and minds of people to commit to goals, action and frank feedback in an open and trusting climate. Persuasive communication provides skills, methods and techniques to achieve a positive outcome from one-to-one and group communications
TASK 5
Evaluate the role of management in improving business performance.
Performance management is the activity of monitoring employees' performance in Tescos or their investment over a certain period of time against company's specific targets, finding out weaknesses and jumping at any opportunity for improvement. The purpose of performance management is to improve performance in weak areas by measuring them against the company's goals and objectives. Managers in Tescos have a certain way of improving their role in the way they operate. As said before, Tescos is a well-known company and they must improve themselves in order to continue to be the leaders in the market in which they operate and to be able keep ahead of their competitors.
Management's duties are to look after Tescos interests by ensuring that all the departments work together towards meeting the company's aims and objectives. This will benefit Tescos in the long run as it will guarantee the survival of the company.
In order for the company to survive in the long run, Tescos managers must build a reputation for the company for providing goods and products at fair prices for and to their customers in order to retain them. Furthermore, profitability in this condition means manager's role in improving performance involves the increase of productivity to a high standard.
The management of Tescos plc have to respect, protect and preserve the external environment. As they have a well-deserved reputation concerning the environment, Tescos management make sure internal campaigns are run to focus employees on improving environmental performance in the workplace. These may be in the form of energy reduction through switching off monitors, computers and lighting when not in use, and reductions in stationery usage through re-use of envelopes and economic use of paper for printing and photocopying.
The role of the manager in improving on human resources issues contributes to other departments of the company. The Human Resources Managers as giving advice on suitable opportunity for staff; will as well organise social events for them to enjoy themselves. With the Health and Safety manager, will organise intensive training and awareness around health and safety issues. He will also have to work jointly with the other department managers to increase their chances of achieving goal congruence and help the business meet its objectives.
Managers' role in improving business performance includes working together with all the other managers as well as the staff to carry out the daily activities of the business. As the Finance department is the department giving the money to deal with the day-to-day activities, the other managers have to make sure that the amount given is enough to carry on the day smoothly and check that their budgets forecasts are met. The Finance manager of Tescos is concerned with paying, the employees' wages and salaries, dealing with suppliers, etc.
Likewise, the managers carry out an internal investigation to find out their areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. By doing this, the managers are able to consider key actions to improve the weaknesses and give intensive training where needed the most. Tescos plc management have to decide on these important strategies, which involve considering current performance and the external environment and find out whether they are abiding the government's rules and regulations.
Improving Tescos plc weaknesses can be done via opportunities whereby they can open outlets in some parts of Africa where they are not yet, to be able to expand on current premises, as well as developing a clothing range like its competitor Sainsburys or invest in a jewellery department. Management can also use their ability to negotiate for more investment, which will benefit the company.
Moreover, the management carry out the SWOT analysis to improve their business performances. The management find the analysis useful at departmental, sectional level and at individual level. The initial stand for analysing strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. The management should examine and consider the key action to achieve overall objectives through adopting these policies. Tescos management have to decide on these important strategies, which involve considering current performance and the external environment.
Tescos management strength and weaknesses cover topic such as output and productivity, market share, investment programmes and human resources. These would be divided into strength and weaknesses. For example, the need to automate is recognised and a continuing programme is operating but financial costs are escaping and causing problems as delays are caused through lack of funds.
Challenges or problems faced by managers in improving business performance
As every big business, Tescos managers face difficulties in meeting the company's objectives and as well as improving performance. Here are some of the challenges they are facing in the completion of their work:
> Technological changes
New introduction of technology will mean Tescos will have to be able to also introduce it and this affect both employees and Tescos because, employees will not know how to use the new technology and they will either have to be trained in order to able to use the new technology or they will want to leave. And if an employees leaves, they might be going with all their skills, which will lead Tescos to recruit another person who may not have the same skills and the person who left has. So this can bring the improvement of performance down.
> Poor motivation practice
Motivational practices can have a negative effect on people if the wrong one is used. Motivation theory such Douglas Mc Gregor's Theory X stipulates that most people are naturally lazy and preferred to be directed and supervised. It also states that people are not interested in responsibilities. As being a traditional way to motivate people, managers using this are more autocratic and run their business with an iron fist. These managers are constantly supervising the staff and telling them to conduct the daily tasks as they say and want. If applied intensively, this type of motivational practice can cause a great level of absenteeism from the workers because the manager would be too harsh and self-achievement in the company will be impossible. More important, the employees will have to work in hard situations and the environment in which they are working will be unfriendly as they will be too afraid to do something the manager didn't approve of.
> Competition threat
As being a big company and always in the limelight, Tescos managers have to do everything in their powers to keep ahead of their competitors and keep their position of market leaders. They have to make sure that their consumers' needs and wants are satisfied. As price war can cause Tescos to lose all or most of its consumers, they have to make sure that they keep on with and don't lose to their competitors. They also need to keep up with innovating the business to remain competitive.
> Lack of resources
The managers have to be sure that all the resources needed to carry out their daily tasks are always available and ready to be used. If not, work won't be done on tome or not at all and this can result in the slowing down of the company performance.
> Poor communication between management and employees
The managers in Tescos have to know how to communicate effectively with the employees or their fellow colleagues. Poor or lack of communication will lead to misinterpretation of something or will also lead to a really bad atmosphere within the company as people will be afraid to say their thoughts or might think that they will get punished for what they have said. This might also result in employees leaving the company or cause absenteeism. It will affect the performance of the business because employees won't what is expected from them and the tasks won't be carried on time.
> Training cost
In order for Tescos managers to improve performance, they have to introduce new products or apply the new technology concept. This also means that they have to train the staff in the purpose to be able to use the new equipment and complete their tasks effectively and efficiently. The training will cost more money to the company if done off the premises. However they can manage to save some money by having a training team specialised in the new technology and does the training within the company's premises.
> Bad Reputation or poor image
Tescos managers have to maintain its good image and reputation by treating all its stakeholders well. But sometimes things can go wrong when for example If Tescos get bad a reputation, it will be difficult for management to improve performance, customers will not want to buy items from a company that has bad image and bank and creditors or suppliers will not want to lend them any goods since they know they are not reliable or have got bad image and this can damage the improving of performance down
When an employee isn't satisfied or had a fight with a manager, he can say bad things about the organisation as a whole. This might result in the boycotting of the company and bring down the company performance
Effective Management to Tescos:
Effective management is making the best use of resources to attain high level of performance thereby successfully achieving its business aims and objectives while still meeting its responsibilities to its Stakeholders, customers and potential and existing investors. Effective management means a lot to Tescos as good and continually running of the business and meeting its aims and objectives are very vital for this reasons the effective and well function management has help Tescos in a lot of ways thereby increasing Tescos effectiveness in the following areas:
> Been Market leaders running for almost four year beating their competitor to prices, product range and diversification into other leading market product
> The biggest retail business with their own brand names and product, thereby making them another manufacturer of own products and good range
> Continual increase in Shares prices thereby provide them with more investors nation and world wide
> Ability to respond to fast opportunities and sudden threats
> Strong visionary leadership from the top management to the lowest with powerful management team has helped in the effective management of tescos as they achieved most of their goals and accomplish their short and long term strategies.
Consequences of effective management to Tescos as seen are:
* Continuous Market growth
* Survival
* Increase in market share
* Diversification into other leading markets
* Excellent reputation
Ineffective management in Tescos might lead to the following:
Influence in their share prices of the business, market share or their business reputation
Hostile take over by competitors, which puts the business at the risk of other organisation buying or controlling them
Poor management of resources, which might lead to pressure groups suing the business
Tecos also to lose their investors, which might lead to the business going bankrupt. They face the consequences of declining market share under performance of delivery of services e.t.c
However if managers at Tescos do not do their activities well to help improve performance the following are what will happen:
Employees will unwilling perform well in their capacity; this will drag the up going of the company into the pits of deserter. I said this because scheduled project would not be finished in time talking about finishing ahead of the time.
Tescos market shares will go down due to poor performance of Management and there will be fall in share price as well. There will also be inadequate quality control, which may lead to the image of Tescos down.
To conclude, Performance management shows that staff of Tescos Plc can be motivated and improve performance. Performance management can also set out goals for improvement, identifies opportunities of development of skills or for promotion. It may make the employee feel valued and therefore committed in achievement of the organisation business objectives. The application of motivational practices such as the Theory X of Douglas Mc Gregor in Tescos has to be done very carefully because sometimes, an autocratic leader can cause absenteeism from the workers under him. By his harshness, he can also conduct to the employees leaving the company for another place less rigid. I think that the best to work is somewhere where you can achieve your goals, with a friendly atmosphere and where the employees can use their intuition. Tescos management's performances will help to know their threats for example, possibility of new agents opening, new legislation restriction operations, high interest rates and risk of recession. This analysis should indicate various strategies of the market, pricing, training and loans. Tescos management should be able to relate this analysis to production or customer service problems by adopting a way to solve it. Management, knowing their organisation strength and weakness reduces the risk of errors and decision-making can improve performance. Management should monitor the out going expenses and the incoming money in order not to over spend above the budget. Tescos management should also plan and organise all their activities in order to meet deadline and maintain their good image. Management must ensure quality at all stage in the product they sell as to be able to keep their customers and to help them have high market share.
Task 6
Evaluate the different ways in which key management functions may be met more effectively through the use of key interpersonal and communication skills
Good communication and interpersonal skills help the managers of Tescos to responsibly and effectively carry out their key functions.
As they may have been working together for a long time, managers and employees of Tescos will start to develop a certain relationship despite the fact they might be from different departments of the organisation. For instance, an employee of the production department can regularly go the stores and affiliate with the other staff. This kind of relations will benefit the company in the way they are run and will profit the mangers because that will display and speed up their interpersonal skills.
Furthermore, the flow of communication between the different departments of the company will depend on the managers' ability to come up together and work jointly towards meeting the company's targets.
It is the responsibility of the manager to use his communication and interpersonal skills in order to plan, organise, lead, control and motivate the staff to achieve their to the benefit of the company.
Tescos managers have to use their interpersonal and communication skills to motivate employees so that they will be able to enjoy themselves whilst working at the same time. Good appraisal system should be implemented and during the sessions, using those two skills stated above, managers should be able to point out any strength and weakness in a certain way so that employees should feel relaxed and be able to have a normal conversation. Managers must bear in mind that for every weakness found out, an appropriate training should be given.
If Tescos is Planning to expand or invest in a new range of products such as tecso own Trainers, mangers will have to utilise their interpersonal and communication skills to discuss the new projects and try to convince the other mangers to go along with them and make them see how it is going to benefit the company as a whole. If Tescos management are also planning to expand or open another branch, management will have to be able to use their communication skills to discuss about the new project and how it will have and manager will have to use their interpersonal skills to convince the other managers about the new project they are suggesting and how it will help Tescos as a whole. After these new project have been excepted mangers will have to communicate to employees who may be affected by this decision and try to arrange either training and be able to convince them in also coming to terms with the new project.
Tescos plc managers have to show their ability to use their interpersonal and communication skills to Organise training for their employees in need or those who are going to work in the new projects and organise their daily tasks in such a way that they are not going to cause any difficulty to the company. Tescos managers will have to be able to use their interpersonal skills to organise training for those employees that will be affected by the new project. Let just say the new project is Tescos wants to go into the music industry, so they will have to organise some training for employees to be able to use the new equipment and work more efficiently
Controlling is another key management's function in Tescos that can be done successfully through the use of communication and interpersonal skills. Some employees are very conscious and maybe sensitive about the way their managers communicate with them when it comes to controlling. As a company that has adapted an autocratic structure, Tescos has also implemented system whereby employees can fill out a grievance form against their managers if they feel unsatisfied with the way the managers control their activities within the store. Management is aware of this issue because it has occurred on a number of occasions so they try as much as possible to establish a good working relationship with employees who work under them by utilising their interpersonal skills i.e. applying a persuasive and reasonable tone when asking employees to carry out activities. So therefore, to achieve a good level of control management needs to be able to communicate effectively without any bias with their employees so as to avoid any misunderstanding, disputes or conflicts.
Leading is just as important to Tescos as other functions of the management because it is the way in which the company is being represented, in other words leading can be directly linked to corporate image in the sense that whatever employees or their managers do is perceived by customers and the local community as their organisational culture. Therefore, if employees are very helpful towards customers this would be perceived by such customer not only a good business attitude by that employee but a helpful company as a whole and the customer would not hesitate to shop with them in future. For the company to create a positive and promising image, its management needs to set good examples through communication and interpersonal skills. For example, a manager must learn to lead employees by displaying positive attitude towards his/her job role even when store appears to be extremely busy and deadlines prove difficult to meet. If a manager allows himself to get wind up by heavy workload he/she may end up getting stressed out unnecessarily and employees do pick up on those sort of things by saying things like "well, if a manager can be stressed as a result of high workload, why should I overwork myself for the company because at the end of the day I am not getting paid for causing myself to be stressed". The way management can avoid such circumstance is by showing that even when pressure mounts they can still maintain their job role as managers; these are positive interpersonal skills that does not require too much to display.
Often, Tescos managers seem to have limited power because of the way the structure of the organisation is built, which is quite autocratic and dictatorial to employees because all instructions come from the Main Board and employees have to do whatever is expected from them without arguing or questioning someone. I think that given those reasons, employees are entitled to less/or no privileges in terms of freedom and the managers have to use their interpersonal and communication skills to give employees the chance to state their opinions, use their own initiative and make them feel valued.
Tescos managers could use their communication skills and interpersonal skills to Monitor activities of employees, by communicating their employees and making sure they don't over spend beyond their budget.
Lastly, the effective Tescos communication requires a climate or culture that supports effective communication. Culture can be defined as improvement by mental and physical training or the way things are done within the organisation. Therefore, managing culture is important because, it help management to develop and reinforce a proposed culture within the organisation which will assumes the change will improve productivity. To achieve this change often involves extensive study and alteration to management style, management behaviour and attempts to alter attitudes, beliefs and values. Managers, have to analyse the prevailing culture by assessing features such as values and climate. They have to take various forms of action to demonstrate sincerity, to explain the changes, to indicate the objectives and advantages to the workforce.
After the completion of this coursework, I have noticed that the role of a manager is very complex and broad. The manager has to try to bring harmony and peace while at the same working towards meeting the organisation. His key functions which include motivating, planning, leading, organising, etc will help him to ensure the company survival and the well-being of the staff. The ability to use his skills (communication and interpersonal) effectively and efficiently will allow him to negotiate with third parties and represent his company brilliantly and win the respect of his superiors and colleagues within the company.
Tescos management team are doing their best to make their company successful. Through the writing of this report, I have found out how management are using their activities, which are planning, organising, leading, Communication or co-ordinating and Motivating to achieve Tescos Aims and objectives. I have also got to know the role of Tescos management and how they are helping Tescos Plc improve their performance.
Tescos Plc uses different resources in managing their company and if management take good care of these recourses, it will help the company attain their position in the market as the will want. And if these resources are not well taking care off, it can bring the performance of the company down since there will be no good resources to use to help build the company.
Management in Tescos have to have good communication skills and interpersonal skills to help them communicate better to their employees, customers, creditors, and suppliers. Management will have to have the ability to negotiate good credit facilities for Tescos so as not to put Tescos in much debt. Management will have to have good interpersonal skills to resolve conflict and be able to have good and friendly working environment where employees will feel free and happy to work to raise the performance of Tescos.
Lastly I found out how management interpersonal skills and communication skill to help them with the key functional areas
Bibliography
Aldine house Publisher Jed Cope, HNC HND BTEC Business
Dian Moyniha and Brian, Advance Business Second Edition
Lecturers handouts and in Class jottings
Website
www.Tescos.com
www.google.com
www.Businessmanagement.com
www.courseworks.com
www.bezid.ac.uk
www.bbc.co.uk
Hajaratu Abosede Karmashe
Business and Management
BTEC BusinessYr1 Grp 3