Management styles
The management style is the typical pattern of behaviour from the manager, in carrying out management roles over a period of time. There are three main types of management styles. These are autocratic, consultative and democratic.
Autocratic
The autocratic management style is one where the manager is used to give instructions. They tell people what to do instead of asking for their opinion on the matter in hand. The manager is the only person contributing to the decision making process in the business.
Consultative
The consultative management style is where managers consult other people before making a decision. This management style is the opposite to autocratic. This type of management style wants to collect more sources of information and opinions before any final decision is made. To do this successfully the business will have good communication channels so that the employees are able to give their opinions easily. The consultative manager will have to have listening skills and also the ability to create the right sorts of channels to consult other people. Things such as newsletters team briefings or suggestion boxes could be introduced to gather employee's ideas and opinions.
Democratic
The democratic management style involves empowerment. Individual employees and teams are given the responsibility to make their own decisions. The individuals or team is then held responsible for the decisions that it chooses to make. The manager will have to feel comfortable with their employees and have a good understanding of them and decisions that they are making so that he/she doesn't fall behind on what the business is doing. They will need continual feedback to the manager on their results. Also a lot of trust to be had by the managers for this to work effectively.
Sainsburys Management Styles
From our interview with Emma Davis manager at the kingswood branch I found that sainsburys operate in a democratic style as team meetings are arranged so ideas and problems can be put forward and dealt with as a team. These meeting are mostly informal. Although Emma believed that the company operated in a democratic style I talked to employees lower down in the company and asked them what they thought. I got a different reaction from them, they thought that sainsburys operated in more of an autocratic management style, whereby managers tell people what to do instead of asking for their opinions. This is interesting to look at, the managers believe that employees are responsible to make their own decisions and employees believe that mangers order them to do things. I also think that in some situation sainsburys use other styles. For example if an employee is underachieving and not contributing as much s he or she should, it is not other employees who have to make the decision on if the guilty employee is worth keeping in the business or not. That decision will be down to the manager.
There are several managers spreading up the hierarchy. This means that every manager (expect the chairman) has some decisions made for him or her and other decisions they have to make. Also these decisions are made for them so are going to involve them or are going to be straightforward decisions that they have no say in. So this shows that management styles are similar throughout the business, from chairman to managing director and head of the department to employee. Sainsburys mainly use a democratic style but depending on the decisions that has to be made other management styles are also used. I believe that this method works well for sainsburys and it shows in their stores that they are well organised and throughout the business. Having a good management style means they are more organised than other businesses that may not have a good management style.
Structure and culture
There is a relationship between the structure and the culture of sainsburys. Businesses are structured in different ways, according to the way in which they operate and according to their culture. The structure of a business can effect the way it works and performs. The organisation culture is very much concerned with the way people in the organisation interact with each other and typical patterns of interactions that have developed over time. Sainsburys has a tall structure; businesses with a tall structure tend to have a 'them and us' attitude, which depends on where individuals stand in the hierarchy. There is likely to be an authoritarian culture within Sainsburys because an individual position is clearly marked on a chart or diagram, it is easy to see where peoples responsibilities lay. Sometimes fewer layers to the structure tend to improve communication and morale. Although taking out layers sometimes works it could reduce opportunities for promotion and position with high status. This would limit the opportunities for the development of future managers.
Tall structure- tends to have a culture based on a 'them and us' attitude, which depends on where individuals stand in the hierarchy. There is likely to be an authoritarian culture.
Flat organisation- tend to be more democratic, they give more say to individual workers. With multidirectional flows of communication between organisational members, there is more likely to be a team approach.
Culture
The culture was founded and built over the years by groups within Sainsburys. A process of managing change can rapidly transform culture. There are four types of organisation culture:
Power culture- this type of organisation emphasis on individuals rather than the group decision making, enabling to move quickly to make decisions and to react to threat or danger. Usually found in small organisations where control rests with a single individual or a group of individuals. The problems of power culture are that, because it is autocratic, there can be a feeling of suppression and lack of challenge in the workforce. Size could also be a problem as if it gets to big the middle, main source could break down if it tries to support too many different activities.
Role culture- the role culture is typical of bureaucracies- large organisations in which all members have a defined job or role to carry out. Businesses would be divided into various functions e.g. marketing, finance etc. these would then have a hierarchical ordering of office. This culture works by logic and rational approaches.
Task culture- this emphasis on building a team. Team members will need to share values and aspiration. Task cultures have become very important in business. Teams may work together to complete tasks. There is a strong emphasis on building the team. Team members would need to share values and aspirations. They will also need to feel valued by the organisation they work for. Employees are being encouraged to take on more power and responsibility rather than waiting to be told what to do. Teams will often have considerable input in determining how a particular job will be done, their views and opinions would be listened to.
Person culture- individuals are central; organisation exists only to serve the interests of those within it. Personal cultures are more likely to be found in co-operatives and not for profit organisations, such as charity organisations rather than in profit motivated enterprises. Hierarchies are impossible and no one person has the authority to evict another from the group. In this sort of organisation the individual almost has complete freedom to adopt any direction and to do as he or she pleases.
Sainsburys culture
Sainsburys describe their culture as constantly needing to change in order to stay ahead ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Person culture- individuals are central; organisation exists only to serve the interests of those within it. Personal cultures are more likely to be found in co-operatives and not for profit organisations, such as charity organisations rather than in profit motivated enterprises. Hierarchies are impossible and no one person has the authority to evict another from the group. In this sort of organisation the individual almost has complete freedom to adopt any direction and to do as he or she pleases.
Sainsburys culture
Sainsburys describe their culture as constantly needing to change in order to stay ahead of competitors and stay competitive. Recognising the need to change, sainsburys supermarket announced its new corporate identity in February 1999. 'Making life taste better' recognises that food is at the heart of people's lives.
'Making life taste better' is not just a slogan or campaign, it is about a real culture change at sainsburys. Although this is their aim and how they describe themselves as we have seen in recent years that this may not be working as well as they had hoped. This is shown by Asda recently overtaking sainsbury. This doesn't work well with their objectives as it states they want to market leader and have the biggest market share, which means they will have more customers and therefore bigger profits. Maybe they would need to re-think their culture to make this work in their favour.
Sainsburys recognise that activity of the organisation or individuals have an impact on the environment. Because of this they do quantify and monitor all environmental impacts of the business. They also comply with current legislation and seek to meet future legislative requirements ahead of deadlines. They require all employees to address environmental responsibilities within the framework of normal operating procedures.
Conclusion
Sainsburys work in a tall structure within their stores and nationally. They have a manager of each department and then a supervisor of each department, then all the other employees will be under that. When you look at Sainsburys UK then it is also a tall structure because there are more people in the hierarchy, it consists of the head chairman, then a chief executive, and then it branches to directors of each functional area e.g. human resources director and the marketing director. After that it goes down to each department e.g. human resources, marketing. Then there is a regional business manager. Next are the store managers. You can see this in the diagram at the bottom of the page. So you can see the structure of Sainsburys is very tall. There are more levels of authority within a tall structure. The way in which Sainsburys operate would be fairly dictatorial as with so many level to their structure it would be hard for them all to work as a team as so many different ideas would come up and nothing would be achieved. Sainsburys has to work in a dictatorial way for its objectives to be met. This approach seems to work well within Sainsburys, but in a competitive market such as supermarket chains it might be an idea if Sainsburys cut out some of their levels to make its structure more flat. This would cut costs and give them a competitive advantage over other supermarket chains. Sainsburys management has released that the management style, culture and structure of the organisation all work together in order for Sainsburys to meet its objectives. Sainsburys define their culture as a culture of change. They are operating in a more dynamic world in which change is frequent, to achieve objectives and stay ahead of their competitors. In a world of change there is less scope for the role culture and Sainsburys is having to operate with task cultures based on teamwork. This means that the people who work for Sainsburys need to develop team skills, such as interpersonal skills and communication skills. Managers need to learn to listen and to encourage teams, rather than to tell people what to do. This type of management style is helping Sainsburys achieve its objectives by making its employees happy it will show in its performance.
Head Office Functions
Communication Channels
Any business needs to communicate. Without communication between clients, employees, suppliers and organisations within a business is not possible. Good communication within a business is essential if the business is going to be successful. It is needed so:
* Everyone is clear about objectives
* There is a smooth and accurate communication both within the organisation (internal communication) and between the organisation and other individuals bodies and groups (external communications)
* Involve everyone and listen to ideas to motivate people
* For a quick response to new development
* Everyone can keep well informed
Communication can come in many forms, and these are all grouped in three areas. These are:
Verbal
* One to one talks
* Meetings
* Interviews
Written
* Memos
* Notices
* Reports
* Letters
* Agendas
Electronic
* Computer networks
* Phone
* Fax
* E-mails
* Video conferencing
* Web site
Internal and external
Internal communication is communication that takes place within an organisation, while external communication takes place between the organisation and the outside world e.g. suppliers, customers, community, government, shareholders. Networking is a popular method; it is the linking of to or more computers to allow facilities and information to be shared. Organisational databases are useful; it is a store of facts that can be called upon to provide information.
Formal and informal
Formal communications takes place through the recognised channels for examples letters. Informal communication takes place in a part of the officially recognised networks of the organisation.
Upwards and downwards
Much of the communication in old fashioned, traditional industries was carried out in downward direction. Managers created the system the rules and the work programs and communicated these down the lines to junior employees. However, in recent years there has been more of an emphasis on upward communication.
Open or restricted
Open communication would involve putting a memo on a notice board, no confidential information. Restricted communication takes places behind closed doors where only certain people are allowed.
Communication Channels within Sainsburys
Every business will use these forms of communication everyday. But a company as large as sainsburys will use all of these types of communication 100's of times a week. With so many colleges it would be impossible to speak one to one with everyone so sainsbury use other forms of communicating. One of Sainsburys forms of communication is a newsletter. I have included a sample newsletter from sainsburys on the next page. It is from May 2002, it is from the checkout manager. This letter would have been put in everyone who works on checkout pay-slips. It is simply informing colleges of any changes that has occurred and reminders of thing checkout operators have to look out for. Sainsburys also have staff councils; these provide a good method of two-way communication. They offer colleges an opportunity of contributing more to the success of the business as well as allowing management to consult on business related issues. Along with newsletters and staff councils sainsburys use daily team talks, buddy groups where new colleges are budded with someone who has worked there longer. Also notice boards, letters notes on walls, e-mails, and phone calls. All these forms of communication help the business to run smoothly. They involve every employee within the business and increases motivation to its employees as well.
Sainsburys use ICT a lot to communicate with suppliers. Sainsburys use a system called EPOS, whereby they electronically order things from their suppliers when it is running low. This saves time and money.
Advertising is a method of communicating with customers in order to achieve certain objectives. Advertisements are messages sent through the media that are intended to inform or persuade the people who receive them. Advertising can be defined as a paid for type of marketing communication that is non-personal but aimed at a specific target audience through a mass media channel. Sainsburys use a number of ways to communicate with its customers. These include television, radio, newspapers, leaflets, posters, and billboards. Sainsburys use television adverts that have Jamie Oliver- a famous T.V chief. This is a technique used by many large companies is done to try to influence the audience.
Analysis on Communication Channels
Sainsburys communication channels are ok, but could be improved especially with the employees lower down the hierarchy. Part time employees do not work many hours a week so often don't hear about important issues that or going on within the business or if they do hear it is too late. Many of the time they have to rely on notes pinned on walls, or wait for the newsletter to come out before they can hear about any issues that have been going on in the business. A way that this could be prevented is by having team talks every morning before the store opens, these could be about how much the store is taking and how much they need to take that day to achieve targets. Also what to look out for, for example gypsies have pitched up near sainsburys so look out for shop lifters especially. Also any special offers that are going on so people no if a customer asks. This would be wrote on a piece of paper and discussed with those employees that started first thing in the morning. But for those who didn't start first thing they would be expected to read and sign it before starting work. Because sainsburys is so big one team talk would not be specific enough so one presented by each manager of each department would be good.
ICT
Nowadays this is being used throughout every business in the world. The use of Internet is growing literally exponentially. As the Internet expands so will the knowledge, having a knock on effect that has the potential to transform businesses in new and unforeseen ways. It is used in things such as databases where businesses keep information on clients, employees and finances. ICT has had a big impact on the way in which sainsburys runs, when communicating both internally and externally.
The use of e-mail within sainsburys means that their systems are efficient and quick. E-mail means that they are able to communicate better with the rest of the business and are able to pass on jobs and ideas to each other with ease. E-mail is vitally important for the productivity of the business and making sure jobs are done quickly and that everyone involves knows what's going on. They can be used to send important job briefs or small notes. The main advantage is that they are instant. This means that the person who they are sending the mail is going to receive it instantly and without any worries that it is going to get lost. Without this sainsburys would be far less efficient and decisions and jobs would be done much slower. Due to most mail sent by letter it would take days for it to reach its destination.
Computers have changed the way in which sainsburys operate. When looking at how sainsburys order in stock that to is done electronically. They have a system called EPOS whereby when stock gets below a certain level (determined by how many times the item is scanned through the checkouts) computers automatically order more. This has huge advantages like it saves time and money. Problems could arise if items are not scanned through the checkouts properly.
ICT is also used when advertising, recipes and current promotions are put on the sainsburys web site. This is cheaper than advertising on the television, although sainsbury could not rely on this alone. They also send e-mails to customers telling them about various special offers, they would get customers e-mail addresses from those who have nectar packs. On sainsburys computers they have databases on everything that each individual customer purchases so they send them offers on things that interests them. The disadvantage of this is that customers just see it as junk mail and delete it with out reading it.
In recent years sainsburys have introduced home shopping whereby customers can order their shopping from the comfort of their own home. By logging into sainsburys web site customers can order their shopping and have it delivered to their home. The site greets customers by name and has the facility for customers to create and save shopping lists. While on this site customers can also check how many nectar point they have and look to see what they can be spent on. With a more powerful hardware package the service has cut the time spent ordering in half. The rebanding also included the introduction of new look delivery vans and staff uniforms.
ICT has made it a lot of jobs easier and quicker for sainsburys. Groceries are all scanned electronically, weekly rotas are constructed by computers, holidays are allocated by computer, profits for each day are kept on file and employees clock in and out electronically. As you can see sainsbury rely on ICT hugely to operate.
Quality assurance/control systems
This is based on guaranteeing quality throughout the business. Quality control is concerned with detecting and cutting out components or products that fall below standards. It takes place after the products have been produced, and involves considerable wastes as defective products are scrapped. It is the responsibility of the work force, working in teams rather than an inspection taking place. Total quality management is something sainsburys might use. It goes beyond quality assurance and is concerned with creating a quality culture so that every employee will seek to delight customers. The customers are at the centre of the production process. It involves sainsburys providing customers with what they want and when they want it. Also involves moving with changing customer's requirements. Sainsburys need to constantly be thinking about this.
Although sainsburys see quality assurance as a 'must' as all their products have to be at the highest standard. A lot of the time if products are not of this high standards they often sell them at a reduced price to save on wastage. They also make sure that all foods are in date, they reduce foods just before they go off so they can try and sell as much as possible. The rotate the foods so they put the freshest foods at the back of the shelf and the ones closes to the sell by date at the front so customers will pick these up first.
Quality assurance occurs during and after the event, and is concerned with trying to stop faults from happening in the first place. Quality assurance is concerned to make sure products are produced to predetermined standards. The aim is to produce with 'zero defects'. It would involve workers at sainsburys working together and in teams rather than an inspector checking the work at the end of the production.
Although sainsburys do this, they also employee mystery shoppers- inspectors that pose as normal customers to make sure everything is to its highest standard within the store. This happens about once a month, the results are sent back to sainsburys to review. The shopper would go to each department and assess them, names of employees would be recorded if for example they were not very helpful, and the managers would find out and have word to the individual. The shopper also looks at the quality of the food and they make sure it is all in the sell by date. This is one way in which Sainsbury's try to keep their standards high so they can meet their objectives.
Sainsburys also make sure their products are of the best standards by having meetings whereby employees from different departments get together and try foods straight from the shelves. They talk about the quality of the foods, and how each department could help to make the business run more efficiently and how to get the best quality to their customers.
Sainsburys have a comment box at customer's service deck, so any complaints or suggestions by customers on how to improve the quality can be put in the box for Sainsbury's to act on. Sainsburys restaurant operate under a line production process, as the meal orders are taken, the chef receives this and then cooks the meals in the correct process, and then taken to the customers. There are processes the kitchen staff have to undertake the ensure that all food is fresh, for example day dotting products when they have been defrosted they have a certain amount of time to be cooked/sold before they go off.
To improve Sainsbury's quality even more, they could look at how much they are selling from their bakery. I have noticed that they bake cakes and bread freshly every day. As it goes off quickly they reduce it down to make customers more likely to purchase it. Even though they do this they still throw a huge amount of freshly baked products out each day. I think that maybe Sainsbury's should monitor how much they are selling and bake accordingly to save on wastage.
Conclusion and recommendations
Overall, Sainsbury's is well-run, well-organised business that at the moments is on the right tracks to successfully reaching its goals and objectives. This may take a while to achieves, but some changes in a few areas might help them to reach these objectives a bit quicker.
Firstly for Sainsburys it would be hugely beneficial for them to develop some new technology. Most supermarkets are trying to develop a system that scans a whole shopping basket/trolley at a time. Having a system that scans a whole shopping basket at a time would be an advantage because it would save the customers a lot of time and hassle. Taking all the shopping out of the trolley and loading it onto the conveyer-belt for the checkout operator to scan and then load it all into bags, and back into their trolley again is considered a great hassle to customers. It also takes up a lot of time; people only go shopping when they have a few hours to spare. This would greatly cut the time spent giving sainsburys a huge advantage over other supermarkets. It would also make queues shorter. At the moment Tesco is in front of Sainsburys in their market share, Tesco have 27% while sainsburys have only 16.3%, being the first supermarket the develop this would give them the extra advantage and would help them overtake Tesco. This idea would also reduce costs, as fewer people would need to be employed. Although this would be seen a good thing from sainsburys point of view as they would see more of their profits it may cause upset because jobs maybe lost. This could give sainsburys a bit of bad publicity. This would be one negative effect, but also the system would be expensive to set up, and they may even have to replace barcodes, which would be a hugely expensive job.
Supermarkets have generally reached saturation, whereby everywhere that would be a good place to build a supermarket, one has already been built. So Sainsbury's need to look into how to maximise their profits with out opening new stores. One way in which Sainsbury's could do this is to expand their smaller stores, preferably ones that are in a key location and are doing well. They could then sell a wider range of goods. An example of this is Sainsbury's Emerson's Green; they have recently been expanded and now sell clothes, CDs, electric items, banking and have a lot more departments. If Sainsbury's were to do this to more of their stores they might be able to sell more, because customers would visit it for more reasons than just food shopping and therefore purchase more. This would hopefully increase their market share and put them ahead of Tesco. It would also help to meet their objectives. Although this is a good idea there would be a worry that all these new products would push out mainline products that sainsburys specialise in if there wasn't enough space.
Asda have found that their George clothing range has proven successful at luring shoppers away from the tradition high street stores and into Asda to purchase their clothing. Hopefully sainsburys would be successful at this too. But it doesn't look as if it going to be as good as Asda's George clothing at the moment because I've noticed that customers will go to Asda to bye clothes but I don't think customers will go to sainsburys to. The main reason for this is the size and the range. Asda range is a lot bigger than sainsburys and it takes up more space in their stores. George advertise their clothes which would help sell them too, so maybe sainsburys should start advertising their clothing range to make customers more aware of their products.
Another way in which Sainsburys could make more profits is by opening tiny stores in village centres, a lot like Tesco metros. They could sell basic items at the same prices as their larger stores. This would be of an advantage because other village stores like spar charge at a higher price than supermarkets. If supermarkets like Sainsbury's could charge the same price as their big stores in village's franchises like spar would lose out; customers would rather purchase their essential items in Sainsbury's for a cheaper price. Although this would mean sainsburys make more profits they might struggle to beat Tesco because they have already thought of this and over taken one-stop. This is expensive for sainsburys to achieve and would be risky to do as the competition commission might stop them.
Another idea I came up with is if sainsburys expanded abroad. This would be quite difficult for sainsburys to achieve as other countries have never heard of sainsburys before and this might make them wary of shopping there to start of with. They already have strong brand supermarkets in many of the countries in Europe. Tesco have already tried to expand in France, but it was a failure because the French preferred shopping in the well-known French supermarkets. It would be best for sainsburys to concentrate on countries like Poland, Hungry or richer third world countries. Again Tesco have beaten them to it! On the positive side this would benefit sainsburys greatly as there is potential in other counties, as supermarkets have reached saturation here in Britain. Also it is a way of continual growth and increasing profits, as there is huge markets around the world.
One of sainsburys objectives is to provide quality service to consumers. To achieve this they could open more tills at busy times to avoid queues. It would therefore make shopping less of a hassle for customers, and hopefully make it more enjoyable.
Another one of there objectives is to keep a happy work force. To help their employees enjoy their job more I would think to improve the communication would help. By improving the communication within stores would make the employees feel more part of a team. If sainsburys were to relay less on post-it notes stuck on walls and actually speak to individuals about issues in the store I think employees would feel happier. As I discussed before, daily team talks with employees who started first thing. These would only last five minutes and be about issues that employees would need to know for example how much the store is taking, how much it needs to take to reach its target, things to look out for e.g. doggie cheques. Each department would do this. Employees who didn't start first thing would have to read this team talk and sign it before starting work. If employees found working more enjoyable and it had more of a team atmosphere within sainsburys it would hopefully lead to a lower staff turnover.
My last suggestion is that sainsburys should send more money developing their Internet site. They need to compete with Tesco, as they are the best supermarket at this. The Internet is a rapidly expanding market and with more and more people using it then sainsburys doesn't want to fall behind in this area. One reason for that is their objectives state that they need to remain competitive. The negatives of this are that it is expensive to set up, and in the first few year could suffer a loss. Plus although the Internet is rapidly expanding now it is difficult what is going to happen with it in the future.
Evaluation of alternative approaches
Firstly, if Sainsburys were to invent a scanner that could scan shopping trolleys at a time then the structure of each store would change. Less employees would need to be employed at the checkouts because it would be so, so much quicker to serve a single customer. Therefore less supervisors would be need. The whole store structure would change. At the moment Sainsburys structure is fairly tall, with less supervisors and managers the structure would become flater. The type of structure a company has depends on their objectives. One of Sainsburys objectives is to remain competitive. Having fewer levels in its structure would cut costs and therefore give Sainsburys a competitive advantage over rivals. Also creating a shopping trolley scanner would give it an advantage. Having a flat structure would change Sainsburys as flat structures tend to be run in a more democratic style. They give more say to individuals and with a multidirectional flow of communication between organisational members, there is more likely to be a team approach. This would totally change Sainsburys as they work in a dictatorial way now. Teamwork and dictatorial commands down the hierarchy are a totally different way of managing a business.
On a national level the research and development department, marketing department and the finance department would have to work together so that a shopping trolley scanner would work in their favour and so they would keep meeting their objectives. Because Sainsburys have set out clear objectives for its company I don't think that the different departments pulling in different directions would be too much of a problem. As they all have the knowledge of what the overall company wants to achieve.
Secondary, if Sainsburys was to expand abroad there would be a much more complicated structure as there would have to be each department in each country, these would also have to work with the directors of each department from the UK. There would be huge problems with communication because of the different languages. ICT would help as this breaks down international barriers between countries and makes it a lot easier to communicate with different countries. The structure of Sainsburys would have to be broken up into smaller chunks for it to work. The levels within the hierarchy would become more but it would also become wider. The top person would be giving orders to a greater number and then they would be also giving orders to a larger number and so on.
