AS Applied Business

Unit 1

Investigating Business

 

                                INVESTIGATING BUSINESS

          PROJECT:  SAINSBURY PLC

                                            PRESENTED BY:

                                 JENNIFER TAKYE

                                              INTRODUCTION

This project is designed to provide an investigative approach to uncover the entire business activities of SAINSBURY PLC.

This is to aim at providing first century approach to business by exploring particular skills and relevant knowledge in Business.

This project will seek to evaluate the aims and objective of Sainsbury.

This will also cover how external factors influence like inflation, unemployment, per capital income influence Business outcomes.

To demonstrate knowledge, and understanding of the specified context, my research will examine marketing activities and strategies; evaluate key factors that will contribute to the success of the business; communicate with potential customers to ascertain facts.

Again I will give a critical assessment of the objectives and aims set by Sainsbury and ascertain whether in practical terms its have been achieved.

                   

                   

                                               

                                   

   

                                BACKGROUND LITERATURE

J Sainsbury plc was found in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury.

It was opened in a small dairy shop at 173 Drury Lane, London which was the poorest area in London. Sainsbury’s shop quickly became popular for offering high-quality products at low prices.

A study on this case revealed Sainsbury to be very successful and this lead to the opening of branches in other market streets in Stanley, Islington and Kentish town.

 

In the late Victorian period competition from large national multiple retailers such as Lipton's posed a serious challenge to small regional chains like Sainsbury's. John James found it necessary to step up his rate of expansion

So that he could buy goods as competitively as these companies. Between 1890 and 1900 the number of Sainsbury's branches trebled from 16 to 48.

Currently J Sainsbury plc is one of the leading UK food retailers with interests in financial services. It consists of Sainsbury's Supermarkets, Sainsbury's Local, Bells Stores, Jackson’s Stores and JB Beaumont, Sainsbury's Online and Sainsbury's Bank. It employs 148,000 people.

John James also opened a new depot at Black friars, south-east London, which was close to the wholesale markets and the London docks.

One aspect of Sainsbury's activities is its focus on customer market segmentation. Sainsbury has divided their customer base into 10 separate segments. This information is used to tailor what Sainsbury offers in terms of goods and services to an appropriate market segment. They try to do this by having stores that are differentiated, reflecting the variety of market places that they occupy.

In the light of information Technology and competitiveness, J Sainsbury Plc is amongst the first UK chain of grocery to introduce modern technology in the shape of bar codes on any item sold. This has reduced labor cost and customer waiting time.

A second round of IT innovation found J Sainsbury amongst the early adopters of electronic swipe loyalty cards to allow the accumulation of discounts towards money off vouchers.

MISSION STATEMENTS AND AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Every organisation has a mission, a purpose, a reason for being. Often the mission is why the organisation was first created. Sometimes, the problems that the organisation tries to address continue to resurface from generation to generation but this does not change the purpose of the organisation.

A mission statement can then be described as a summary of an entity’s purpose of existence condensed into one statement. Every mission statement should answer three key questions:

  • The opportunities or needs that the organisation is addressing. (the purpose of the organisation)
  • What are we doing to address these needs? (the business of the organisation. i.e. primary stakeholders)
  •  What principles or beliefs guide our work? (The values of the organisation).

A mission statement depicts clearly the businesses core aims, phased in a way to motivate employees and to stimulate interest by outside groups.

J Sainsbury’s mission Statement; aims and objectives

 J Sainsbury’s mission statement is simple:

  • To provide high quality service to customers and also maximize or provide good Financial return to stakeholders.
  • Their aim is to exceed customer’s expectations for healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food to make their lives easier everyday.

It is Sainsbury’s key objective to fulfil their responsibilities to the communities and environments in which they operate by providing high quality products at fair prices; and tailoring their products to suit the needs of individuals. For example most of its products meet variety customers like kids. Vegetarians, Physically impaired, pregnant women and nursing mothers

Though J Sainsbury’s mission, aims and objectives have not changed, they hope to get better everyday like having great service drives sales, individual responsibility team delivery and keeping they vision simple.

They have begun this by listening to their customers and colleagues. Furthermore they are looking into their stores to understand what the best way in their delivery to customers is. They have started this with fixing the basics and will accelerate through getting better everyday as they strive to achieve their goal.                                        

And also Sainsbury’s aims is to Increased accuracy in stock reporting and added efficiency in moving store product from stock to shelf for Increased availability were considered by Sainsbury’s senior management to be paramount to the success of Sainsbury’s stores.

 

Aims and objectives

 

These are set targets (standards) and achievable goals (end results) by businesses to help in the effective running of the organisation.

Aims and objectives helps an organisation know where they are, where they should be, the differences and how to measure the short fall and keep positive results going. It puts the mission of the company in motion.

The aims and objectives of businesses vary from one another. Whilst others strive to increase the welfare of the people it serve without making profit, others besides consumer satisfaction aims at making profits.

J Sainsbury has taken some steps in their daily activities to improve services this includes recreating universal customer appeal through giving their customers an ever improving shopping experience.

This means they will look for ways to do things better everyday.

This is what J Sainsbury has to say:

“They will become part of our customers’ everyday lives”.

Example: By providing for their daily weekly food and grocery, hoping needs, as well as providing the ability for them to buy clothing and other product depending upon the size of a store and its location. They will tailor offer to meet all the needs of their customers”.

Our key brand attributes are great quality, value, service and choice.”

EXPLAIN HOW BUSINESSES MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF ITS AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.

Businesses measure the success of its aims and objective by communicating its vision, purpose and benefits of event to others. It also enables you to focus on the event’s potential to develop and grow. It helps you to know how much money is needed and what it is needed for. Furthermore it helps you to plan the resources, delivery and operating structure.

This can be done effectively by the help of a business plan.

A business plan organized, directs, coordinates, control and facilitates the development of a project from its inception to its completion.  No matter how the process of the plan is described, basic business planning is a systematic methodology for reducing risk and enhancing success of any type of business operation.

 

One way that Sainsbury measures its success is by assessing is they have managed to meet and increase the stakeholder’s financial returns. In addition they also look at the mount of profit the business has made in comparison to its predicted profits. If obviously the profits are higher or are just as expected then it is an indication that the business has succeeded.

Sainsbury measuring their objectives target and success

Sainsbury Plc’s plan is oriented to creating a business, which will satisfy the wants and needs of their customers, rather than producing a product or providing a service. The Sainsbury market orientation helps avoid the pitfalls of opening a business to satisfy the desire of owning a business. The best possible situation is where skills and abilities mesh with the wants and needs of the customer to form an efficient high demand business.

At Sainsbury They have several ways of measuring its success. Firstly, customer feedback is a useful indication of service quality collected through customer surveys, online surveys, usability studies and a mystery shopper programme. Success is also be measured by analysts’ opinions of the business, and other relevant factors as follows, just to mention a few. Sainsbury’s providing the point-of-sale function. The bank has 750 stores, 900 cash machines, a website and 21 call centers. Sainsbury’s customers expect a higher level of service compared to those of HBOS, but, because of brand loyalty, are more forgiving when things go wrong. Although the brand needs to be managed across both the supermarket and the bank, the aim is not to provide a bank, in a supermarket but to extend the Sainsbury brand into financial services.

This is especially pertinent when considering the impact of promoting banking services within the supermarket. With every extra second at the checkout costing £1 million, interruptions must provide significant returns. That said, one loan is worth more than an entire aisle of baked beans, something store managers are often unaware of when promoting banking services in-store.

Sainsbury’s Bank possesses certain advantages when selling financial products:

  • Additional in-store resources In-store ATMs are used twice as much as those outside.
  • Increased average spend with multi-product customers Sainsbury’s customers who also use the banking services spend an extra £500 in-store p.a.
  • Strong, established relationship with the brand through staff contact Sainsbury’s aims to provide service at the point of need/sale. A customer once deposited a £19,000 cheque at the checkout because she trusted Doreen, the checkout assistant, to sort it out.

Its website is critical to Sainsbury’s strategy. In-store advertising pushes customers to the web, not the call centre. The plan is to encourage greater online customer interaction in the future. However, because of the way the bank is structured, there are some channel issues:

  • Shoppers call the bank for nectar points – but can’t have any
  • Customer care calls relating to financial services go to a separate unit
  • HBOS carries out direct marketing and keeps call centre data, but customer interactions are handled by Sainsbury’s supermarket
  • Call centers are compartmentalized – e-sure does motor insurance for the bank, but cannot see what other bank products customers have
  • There are 25 strategic banking hubs manned by 75 people in total, but they are remote sales people and have no access to management data

Corporate responsibility

Performance against their 2006/07 pledges

Introduction

In their 2007/08 report they set them selves some challenging targets. The table below shows how well they have progressed against these. More information is included within the report itself, along with detailed targets for how they aim to perform in 2007/08 and beyond.

Key

The best for food and health

Sourcing with integrity

Join now!

Respect for our environment

Making a positive difference to our community

A great place to work

 

I think these chart has contributed to Sainsbury’s aims and objectives, because

Their aims and objectives are to help an organisation know where they are, where they should be the differences and how to measure the short fall and keep positive results going.

Secondly to also

  •  Provide high quality service to customers and also maximize or provide good financial return to stakeholders.
  • Their aim is to ...

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