The organisation I have chosen for my Business Studies project is Argos. Argos is a popular organisation with approximately 60 employees in each branch. The branch I concentrated on is the Edgware Road store.
Business at Work Assessment Portfolio
The organisation I have chosen for my Business Studies project is Argos. Argos is a popular organisation with approximately 60 employees in each branch. The branch I concentrated on is the Edgware Road store.
E1: BUSINESS ACCORDING TO OWNERSHIP
Argos is one the UK's largest non-food retail chains, with sales over £2bn. Argos is a Public Limited Company (PLC). This means its shares are brought and sold on the Stock Exchange. A main advantage of this is that large amounts of capital can be quickly raised. Another popular method by which Argos raises share capital is by offering new shares for sale to the general public. Argos' shares are advertised in leading newspapers and the public are invited to apply. This enables it to have limited liability. This means that if the business goes bankrupt because it is not able to meet its debts, the shareholders will not be responsible by law to lose their possessions to pay money that is owed. Being a PLC also helps Argos expand by selling its shares, this means there will be an increase in market share resulting in more capital. These shareholders receive a share of profit in form of dividends normally twice a year. Being a PLC means it is easier to obtain finance both through issuing new shares and borrowing from banks. PLC find that as they grow larger they lose control over many aspects of the business operation. This could mean Argos can only make capital according to its share price and shareholders. The lower the price of the share, the lower the profit made and the lower the number of shares sold, the lower the number of shareholders which means lower capital made. Therefore, if Argos isn't popular, there will be a fewer amount of shareholders resulting in lower profit.
E2: BUSINESS' OBJECTIVES
The main objective of Argos is to make profit. This can only be done if they have a great market share. It's main objective is to expand the business. Argos is successfully doing so, as its branches have gone up from 500 stores into 800 stores in the past year. Argos aims to offer best service to its costumers. They hope their costumers gain maximum choice in their shopping, and have maximum access to Argos. Offering Internet shopping as an option does this. Another of their objective is to expand enough and become market leader with a good reputation.
E3: BUSINESS' MANAGEMENT STYLE
The management style used in Argos stores is consultative. The manager of the store tends to seek other employees within the company for advice before making decisions. This type of manager tends to aim to draw on more sources of opinion than just him/herself. The consultative manager will have good listening and also the capability to create the right communication channels to allow him/her to consult with other employees easily. However, this might be time consuming.
Staffs are paid through a salary based and fringe benefits. This motivates the employees, but could create rivalry. Employers also emphasis on training as a professional development for the staff. This develops employee's skills, however could be time consuming.
In Argos, as part of the consultative management style, the Edgware Road store uses suggestion boxes, which makes it easier for workers with new ideas to express their ideas without feeling intimidated. Making them feel more comfortable in getting involved in decision making. This is an advantage to the organisation, as new ideas continue to arise. As a main objective, Argos are concerned with costumer satisfactions. The costumer's suggestion box in the Edgware Road Argos' store help Argos make sure that they are pleasing their costumers, as those consumers with concern's can easily express themselves and add any ideas. Having a consultative management style links in with this.
In areas of work place law such as health and safety, an autocratic culture is used. The manager gives out information and instructions. He/she is the only one that makes decisions. This is because the law should be enforced and therefore a different approach should be used to make sure the law is always taken into account.
In Argos an 'invertical triangle' illustrates the management style (See appendix 1).
It shows that the shop front is the most important department in the branch. With out shop front, the whole organisation wouldn't be able to run. ...
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In areas of work place law such as health and safety, an autocratic culture is used. The manager gives out information and instructions. He/she is the only one that makes decisions. This is because the law should be enforced and therefore a different approach should be used to make sure the law is always taken into account.
In Argos an 'invertical triangle' illustrates the management style (See appendix 1).
It shows that the shop front is the most important department in the branch. With out shop front, the whole organisation wouldn't be able to run. Going down the vertical triangle, departments such as administration follow up in authority. Finally, at the bottom of the triangle, the manager is placed, which suggests that he has little authority compared to the rest of the employees. The triangle also shows that the number of people with more authority is greater than those with little authority. This suggests that the greater number of employees, have more power over a smaller number of workers within the organisation.
E4: BUSINESS' CULTURE
Argos follows a Task Culture. The employees work in teams, which share and aspire ideas. This culture encourages the workers to take more responsibility and power. Teams will have input when determining how a job will be done and their views and opinions will be listened to. This type of culture fits in well with the management style of Argos. Task culture focuses on full fulfilling the needs of the organisation and its problems by working in groups. Expertise creativity and flexibility is therefore important.
The organisational structure:
The organisational structure used by an organisation affects the speed in which decisions are made, the flexibility of the organisation, costs, culture, and overall efficiency. A well-designed structure will make decisions quickly, by the right people with little cost or fuss. Badly structured organisations are often bureaucratic, slow to respond to change and demotivate employees.
Argos has a Matrix structure. People within the organisation mix with employees from other departments which means there is little possibility of departments becoming very defensive about their territories. This type of business structure creates a bonding between employees which results in a cross-fertilisation of ideas. This means the communication channels within Argos are more informal. Internal communication is mostly face-to-face, however in rare occasions there could be notices put up on notice boards. Meetings get held once a month to see how departments are progressing and if there are any new ideas. However meetings can occasionally be cancelled as the check of department's progress can be done without holding out a meeting. Communication in this structure flows both vertical and horizontal.
Communication:
Communication in Argos is a key issue. Good communication is essential as it makes it easier in the organisation to implement changes. It helps all employees to develop their commitment, insuring they are all pursuing the same objectives.
Good communication has a positive impact on employee s it motivates them and develop their performance. Effective communication makes costumers happy. Communication helps employees make the right decisions and allows them to successfully give feed backs. Communications between costumers and Argos tends to be face-to-face, as there is a costumer service in Argos's Edgware Road branch. Another way of communicating to costumers is through advertisement. Argos advertises its products in TV, newspapers, and magazines and on the Internet.
Communication in Argos has improved due to technology. Email and the web have revolutionised internal and external communication within Argos. This technology allows workers to work anytime and anywhere. It also makes it easier for the employees to work as the machinery can easily do most of the job. Costs have lowered as machinery replaced workers.
Management Information Systems provide managers with up to date and accurate information. Technology opens up marketing and selling opportunities through e-commence. Argos uses Just-In-Time systems to ensure that stock ordered goes out to customers immediately and stock is replaced when necessary.
E3: BUSINESS' FUNCTIONAL AREAS
The main functional areas that exists in Argos are the stock room department, Elizabeth Duke's jewellery department, costumer services department, administration department, finance, marketing and human resources department.
The stock room stores the products, and the employees working in it tend to pass on products required by the costumer from the stockroom to the front till. The employees in the stockroom have regular checks on products and the number of products leaving and arriving into the stock room.
Elizabeth Duke's stockroom contains jewellery, and is very small. There are approximate 5 employees in this department. The same job is required from these employees as those who work in the main stockroom.
The Costumer Service's department, is concerned with costumers who are unsatisfied with Argos's products, costumers with ideas or suggestions and costumers with comments. At the Costumer Service's department, the most popular costumers tend to be those who are unsatisfied with their products and are claiming a replacement or a refund. This is an important department in Argos, because:
' We are customer focused'
The administration department is involved with dealing with enquires, communication messages, and producing documents. This department keeps the business organised and without it Argos will struggle with external communication and lose important and unorganised records.
The finance department manages the money coming in and out the organisation. It is made of accountants who keep detailed records of money going in and out. Without this department Argos will have an unorganised record of the financial issues in the organisation. This may lead to disorganisation of data, which means employees might get confused resulting in their lack of motivation. This will result in poor communication with costumers, which lead to costumer dissatisfaction. It will mean Argos will become less popular as there would be fewer costumers, which implies that the objective of being popular and starting to expand is not met.
The Human Resources Department (HR) supervises employees and makes sure laws and health and safety issues are taken into account. They organise training for new staff and manage employee performance by ensuring workers are happy and motivated. If employees are not, then the HR supports them and takes into account their condition. Without HR, employees who are not happy would not have anyone to look into their issue, which makes them unmotivated. If the employees are not motivated, they do not give their costumers a satisfying service, which will lead to fewer costumers meaning that their will be lower profit made. This means the objective of making profit will not be met.
The Marketing Department makes sure costumer needs are met. It is involved with the selling of products and making Argos attractive to costumers. If costumers were not attracted to Argos, then Argos will have fewer costumers.
E3: BUSINESS' FUNCATIONAL AREAS HELP MET ITS OBJECTIVES
These functional areas all work together to make sure the business meets its objectives.
The Finances Department allocates money to Human Resources when needed for recruitment, which is essential to be able to recruit the right person. The finance department also keeps a record if the organisation is loosing out or making profit. Without the finance department Argos wouldn't be able to know if they are loosing shares and how the stock exchange is working. It is essential that Argos is aware as their objective is to expand, and they can't do so if they aren't making profit. To be able to make profit, Argos needs to make sure that their costumers are satisfied with the products they are buying. The Costumer Services makes sure all costumers are happy.
The HR department is also vital in order to allow Argos to expand; as it makes sure employees are happy in their work force. If they weren't, they wouldn't be motivated to work and therefore they won't deal with costumers well, making Argos loose costumers, resulting in profit loss.
The Marketing department ensures costumer wishes are fulfilled. If the marketing department or the Product's department didn't exist costumers wouldn't be satisfied, and so would stop shopping at Argos resulting in lower profit.
The stock departments are the main departments that will affect costumer satisfaction as they deliver the products ordered for by the costumer. If the product wasn't in good conditions e.g. damaged due to storage difficulties, then costumers aren't going to be happy, and so Argos will become less popular with consumers, meaning fewer costumers and lower profit.
C2: ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT STYLE EFFECTING OBJECTIVES
Argos has a Matrix structure. People within the organisation mix with employees from other departments which means there is little possibility of departments becoming very defensive about their territories. This creates a comfortable workforce, which will lead to motivated employees who will achieve their best efforts to produce a satisfying service to costumers. When costumers gain the service they aim to, they will shop more often in Argos, which will result in Argos expanding and becoming more popular. This means an objective has been met.
The management style used in Argos stores is consultative. The manager of the store tends to seek other employees within the company for advice before making decisions. This means the employees get involved more sharing their new ideas and past experiences. This will help Argos make sure that they are pleasing their costumers by using a variety of ideas they share. Costumer satisfaction implies the likeliness of the costumer to shop at Argos. If they are satisfied, which is linked to having a consultative management style, then they would shop more often at Argos. More costumers result in a higher profit.
Argos follows a Task Culture. The employees work in teams, which share and aspire ideas. This culture encourages the workers to take more responsibility and power. Teams will have input when determining how a job will be done and their views and opinions will be listened to. This type of culture fits in well with the management style of Argos. Task culture focuses on full fulfilling the needs of the organisation and its problems by working in groups. Again this encourages employees to participate, which makes them feel more as part of the organisation. They will be motivated to achieve their best potential in their work and in providing a good service to their costumers. If the service satisfies the costumers, more costumers will be shopping at Argos, which results in more profit. This means an objective is met.
A1: BUSINESS' ORGANISATIONALSTRUCTURE, CULTURE, AND MANAGELMENT STYLE INTERRELATE
Argos has a task culture. It is when people work in teams sharing ideas and aspirations. This encourages employees to take on more responsibilities and power, known as empowerment. Employees will feel more connected to the organisation, as they will have an input, and their views and opinions will be listened to. This will make them more motivated.
Task culture links in with the consultative management style that Argos has. This is were the manager consults with staff regularly and allows them to contribute in ideas. The employees work in teams to share any ideas. This also ties in with the organisation's matrix structure.
The matrix structure is when people within the organisation mix with employees from other departments which means there is little possibility of departments becoming very defensive about their territories. This type of business structure creates a bonding between employees which results in a cross-fertilisation of ideas. This is important for Argos as:
'We excel through teamwork, as we respect and support each others'
Argos' structure, culture and management style link together as they mainly concentrate on the working together of employees and the issue of sharing new ideas and aspirations.
A1: BUSINESS' PERFORMANCE & ICT:
Argos uses a network databases instead of the old traditional filling system. The database has made it quicker for staff to look through the data, search or query. Argos stores information such as registering orders, maintaining stock levels, invoices, controlling credit and recording payments. The use of computers has also replaced range-standardised operations such as interfacing with costumers. E.g. costumers of Argos use filling-in forms in order to request for an item.
E6: PRODUCTIONS PROCESS ADDS VALUE TO THE SERVICE (Appendix 2):
The production process uses inputs resources to produce services. Argos' input includes people's effort and energy, material goods, a place of work, equipments, and extra information needed.
The aim of Argos is to add value to the service they provide resulting in a profit being made due to the goods they sell. Argos tries to make the goods it sells attractive to customers by making sure they are delivered at best conditions e.g. no delays in delivery, and making sure no goods are damaged due to storage etc.
Argos tries to improve productivity by using method studies. This is when they critically examine all the tasks done to make sure jobs are performed to the employees best potential. They also measure the time it takes for a member of staff to complete the task they were set, and make sure that all the available resources are used efficiently to met the needs of the customer. This allows business to schedule work, and deicide upon replacing inefficient employees. However the manger of Argos' Edgware Road's branch quoted:
'It is hard to produce a balance between being productivity and customer needs as occasionally they can conflict.'
Types of productions used in Argos:
* Project Production; this evolves planning tasks and making sure it is carried out successfully
* Just-In-Time Productions; this is when good are produced just in time for them to be sold.
E6: QUALITY ASSURANCE & QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM ADDS VALUE TO THE BUSINESS
Costumers are attracted to goods of high quality, which satisfies their expectations. Businesses therefore compete with
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