Sainsbury's supermarket.

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INTRODUCTION

John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury established Sainsbury’s Supermarkets in 1869. Sainsbury’s is Britain’s longest-standing major food retailing chain. The Founders principles and values still guide the Sainsbury’s team today – to be the customer’s first choice for food shopping by providing high-quality products, value for money, excellent service and attention to detail.

A typical large Sainsbury’s supermarket offers over 23,000 products – 40% of these are Sainsbury’s own brand. In addition to a wide range of quality food and grocery products, many stores offer freshly baked bread, delicatessens, pharmacies, coffee shops, meat and fish counters, restraints and petrol stations. Sainsbury’s has over 512 stores throughout the UK and they serve over 11 million customers per week. Many of the stores built, have been built on previously derelict sites, bringing much needed regeneration to towns where manufacturing industry had declined. Such sites made it possible for most of Sainsbury's new stores to be located in, or close to, town centres.

Sainsbury’s supermarkets employ over 145,000 people. Of these 60% are part time workers and the other 40% are full time workers and 62% of the employees are women.

Sainsbury's established an early lead in the introduction of in-store technology like scanning, Eftpos, computerised stock control and sales-based ordering: techniques, which brought it huge competitive advantage. It also became a world leader in the use of computerised energy management, which, together with measures such as heat recovery from refrigeration plant and in-store bakeries, brought substantial reductions in the company's energy consumption.

In the areas where Sainsbury’s trades, they take into account and aim to respond to local retailing and employment needs. During construction they also consider the sustainability of the store, potential for regeneration of the area and sympathetic design. Consultation with the local community and consideration towards their neighbours are also priorities for Sainsbury’s both during construction and through to trading and beyond.

Although Sainsbury’s stared off and is best known as a supermarket retailer. They have expanded as it grew larger and larger in size as an organisation and as a company it started to explore a series of other different activities. And now it owns and controls the list of operations as follows:

  • J Sainsbury's Supermarkets
  • Shaw's Supermarkets Inc
  • Sainsbury's Bank
  • J Sainsbury’s Developments Ltd (JSD)
  • Sainsbury's Property Company

One of the main reasons for the success story that Sainsburys is now is because of their power culture approach and the way in which authority is centred at the top. In the beginning, when the organisation first started It was the owners who delegated authority to the chief executive.

At the top levels of the organisations, orders are passed down from above and the manager's role is to pass orders down the 'chain of command'. So at the lower levels, the store managers or team supervisors order and compel the worker to carry out the tasks demanded from the top.

Although to some extent the above is still the case at Sainsburys, but it is only true at high levels of the organisation. Because at the lower level Sainsburys has adopted a more of a “task culture” approach where management is team based. By doing this Sainsburys has:

  • Provided greater worker flexibility and co-operation
  • Achieved cultural shifts within the organisation.
  • Improved problem solving and project management
  • Helped them tap the talents of every one in the organisation

SAINSBURY’S MANAGEMENT STYLE, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE

Sainsbury’s Mission statement is to serve customers with the best quality and choice to meet their everyday shopping needs.  

Sainsbury’s use this diagram to show their priorities.

In order to deliver their mission and restore profitable growth Sainsbury’s are focussing on their three bubbles:

And doing all of this ‘faster, simpler, together’, working as
a team to meet the needs of customers and our
stores who serve the customers

Cultural Change


Recognising the need to change, Sainsbury's Supermarkets announced its new corporate identity in February 1999. 'Making Life Taste Better' recognises that food is at the heart of peoples' lives. 'Making Life Taste Better' is more than just a slogan or campaign; it is about a real cultural change at Sainsbury's.

Atkinson explains organisation culture as reflecting the underlying assumptions about the way work is performed; what is ‘acceptable and not acceptable’ and what behaviour and actions are ‘encouraged and discouraged’.

This is true in the employee’s eyes of Sainsbury’s; they know what is acceptable work and what is unacceptable as managers tell employees of their expected standards. There are also certain things, which are discouraged when working for Sainsbury’s such as no chewing gum, smart appearance, clean uniform these examples may only be small examples but all these things affect the culture of the organisation.

Schein suggests a view of organisational culture based on distinguishing 3 levels of culture:

  • Artefacts – Level 1
  • Values – Level 2
  • Basic underlying assumptions – Level 3

Sainsbury’s use the Level 3 culture of Scheins theory. Level 3 is when a solution to a problem works repeatedly it comes to be taken for granted. Basic assumptions are unconsciously held learned responses. In Sainsbury’s they give training courses to all employees to learn responses given to customers but also to other team members.

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Schein suggests that the basic assumptions are treated as the essence – what culture really is; and values and behaviours are treated as observed manifestations of the culture essence.

Sainsbury’s state that they are a PERSON culture where the individual is the central focus and any structure exists to serve the individuals within it. (According to Charles Handy’s theory) Sainsbury’s state that their employees and customers are in their personal interests and will be looked after.

However, after analysing how Sainsbury’s operates and looking at the Organisational chart and structure of the organisation (see appendix 1 and 2) it ...

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