- They have limited liability.
This means that if the company goes out of business leaving debts. They will only be able to loose the money that they have put into the company (the value of their shares and investment). They don’t have to put all their possessions at risk.
Each share entitles the shareholders to one vote, therefore the more shares a person owns the more influence they have.
When you buy shares, you are buying a share in the ownership of that company. Companies issue shares so that people can invest in that certain company.
The company benefits by raising funds (capital) to operate and expand its business without the need to borrow at expensive rates.
Any profit that the firm makes belongs to the owners of that firm. They are the shareholders. The amount of the profit that each shareholder should receive depends on how many shares they own. The more shares they own, the larger the proportion of the company they own and therefore the more of the profit they should receive. This share of the profit is known as a dividend and to spread out fairly, the dividend is normally expressed as an amount per share.
Location and why they are located there.
- They are located in the midlands around Birmingham in the middle of all the major motorways in the United Kingdom by the M6 and M42. They are located here because it is in the centre of the United Kingdom just about, and they are near major motorways.
- They are also near an international airport so they can ship their goods to other countries, or get suppliers to produce the confectionary and drink.
They are also based in Birmingham due to years ago it was the main source for all major raw materials e.g. coal.
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Birmingham is well known for their coal industry and have many museums showing this, Back in them days when the company was first brought about they would have probably used the coal and other resources to heat their product up what they where producing so then they could make it. E.g. chocolate needs heating up to get it into the right shape, and machinery to gring up the cocoa beans.
Cadbury world are situated and operate all over the world including America Europe and over the pacific. The transport their goods from the different countries, to sell all over the world.
Aims and objectives
What are aims and objectives?
Aims= these are long-term goals of a business. They will try to achieve one or two aims.
Objective’s, these are more specific goals, which a firm sets for the next 3 to 5 years. Objective’s= These are goals to help achieve their aims.
S-Specificclear.
M-Measurable in so many years time, quality.
A-Achievable.
R-Realistic or relevant.
T-Time.
Cadbury Schweppes aims and objectives are
Aims
- Focussing on our core businesses of beverages and confectionery. = Pay more attention to the business they are set around which makes them the main amount of income.
- Developing robust and sustainable positions in regional markets. =A market that is even all year round get the right markets to sell into.
E.g. If you where selling spice girls products when they where out they would be a good product to buy but when they fade out then the brand name goes down and doesn’t get sold.
If you where selling Alco-pops you would not market it in Saudi Arabia because there they are not allowed to drink alcohol so you would not get any business.
- Growing organically and by acquisition = This means two different ways of growing
You will grow organically by launching new markets and acquisition means buy the growth by investing in another company.
Objectives
In 1997, the group introduced Managing for Value (MFV) with the aim of producing top quality services for its shareowners. Since 1997, they have set themselves three targets against which their progress can be measured. Increasing the financial return per share, free cash flow generation and superior growth in total shareowner return ("TSR"). This means that instead of spending all of their money but keeping some in the bank just in case of emergency if the company goes bankrupt. The targets have been set over four year periods, the first from 1997 to 2000 and currently 2001 to 2004.
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Growth. = This means to expand their company more.
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Free cash flow. = Managing your incoming and outgoing expenditures.
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Superior growth in total. = Means to expand the business beyond targets in all aspects which include turnover profit cash flow shear value share dividend reduced manufacturing costs etc
Introduction.
I have chosen to do Marks and Spencer’s as my second business. It is a tertiary company.
Business activities.
Marks and Spencer’s is tertiary business.
- Tertiary business means that they are a shop or a retail place, which sells the goods or services. At marks and Spencer’s they sell things like clothes and in most of the newer stores their own brand food.
- They buy their goods from the secondary businesses most of the time, in bulk so it works out cheaper for them to buy it. They also make some of their own range like their own food.
- The company are situated all over the world in hundreds of different countries, 502 stores to be exact. Some places which have a marks and Spencer’s in their country are Hong Kong, Gran Canaría, Greece and also Qatar.
- The tertiary sector is growing because more people want things like food clothing etc
- Marks and Spencer’s are available on the Internet like clothing and also food so people can get their goods that way, without leaving their house.
- They have an insurance company for people to use. They sell insurance and loans.
- They are now also taking credit cards to get more business so people can pay for their goods easier. They also have in store cash machines.
- They also have Catalogues for al of their furniture goods.
- Who are their main competitors?
Their main competitors are,
(BHS) British home stores, Debenhams, next Wallis and other big retail stores.
Ownership
Marks and Spencer’s is a public limited company the same as Cadbury world
- This means they are a large company and they have a joint stock company whose shares are openly traded on a stock exchange. Limited companies have a separate legal identity from their owners. They are in the eyes of the law. This means in the event of legal dispute the company will be sued rather than its owners.
- They have limited liability.
This means that if the company goes out of business leaving debts. They will only be able to loose the money that they have put into the company (the value of their shares). They don’t have to put all their possessions at risk.
Location
- Their location is in London (the head office) because it has good access to roads and transport and airports.
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It in the middle of the M25which goes all around the London area. They are located here because it is the capital city and there is a lot of business around that area. They are also near an international airport so they can ship their goods to other countries.
As you can see this is an example of the location of one of the marks and Spencer’s high street stores. It is located in Cheltenham on the main high street and is easy access of the main car parks and is within walking distances. Cheltenham is easy to get to because it is near lots of major motorways and roads.
The store is also signposted as you get into the main high street.
Aims and objectives
- Marks and Spencer’s aims and objectives are
Aims
Vision
To be the standard against which others are measured
This means to be the market leader the company that everyone wants to be.
Mission
To make quality goods accessible to all. This means that they would make good quality products so everyone can buy them
EG big people and small people what ever suits their needs.
Values
Quality value, service, and trust= you have the quality that they want the get the service that they want and they also trust you.
Objectives
These objectives were made they have named it clear view. This is basically trying to persuade people to shop at M&S. This may involve:
- Introduction of new brand names= bringing other makes into the store like "Adidas” sportswear and they can get more of a profit out of it.
- A marketing strategy for the UK =a marketing strategy for the United Kingdom is a marketing strategy for the region which keeps the company sustainable.
- Accepting credit cards= people like this because its an easy way to pay.
- Sharper price reductions = do more sales
- Targeting new markets=(age, gender etc) go for the younger generation.
There are various alternatives available to M&S these include:
- Merging
- Sell the business
- Concentrate on core business (clothing and food)
- Change their image
- Introduce branding
Advantages and Disadvantages with Merging, it would solve financial problems immediately, but could change important relationships with other companies. They could Loose their ID, Loose control over their business, Could create job losses. Does not solve problems.
On Core Businesses More money is available to spend on the department. Looses sales in other departments though.
Changing Image Encourages new customers Change for modern times Reputation at stake Branding Encourage new customers but it Looses sales in St Michael’s name
A2
The differences between Marks and Spencer’s and Cadbury Schweppes.
Activity.
The two companies are totally different when it comes to the business activities. They are in different business sectors; Cadbury Schweppes is in the secondary sector where they make the products from the raw materials. Marks and Spencer’s is in the tertiary sector which means if marks and Spencer’s where selling Cadbury chocolate goods, they will buy it from the secondary sector (Cadbury world) to sell in their tertiary sector (marks and Spencer’s)
Ownership.
Both of the companies Cadbury Schweppes and marks and Spencer’s have the same ownership they are both Public Limited Companies, So both of the companies can have public shareholders (the public can buy shares.) they also have limited liability.
Location.
The both companies are located in different places (marks and Spencer’s have a head office in London)(Cadbury have their office in their original location of Bourneville, Birmingham).
Marks and Spencer’s head office is located in London to enable them to be close to the financial centre. As a lot of their business is based all over Europe, with retail centres in most major towns and city’s. It makes more sense to have a central office for control and administration within the financial community.
Where as Cadbury have their head office based at the original family owned location of bourneville. This is due to this being the original manufacturing base of the company, plus they do not have as many factories/facilities to administer around the country.
Aims.
Both the companies are on the same lines with their products. They want to spend more time on each of there products to bring the customer all the needs and satisfactions they want.
Marks and Spencer’s both produce clear and SMART objectives. Cadburys more aimed at purely chocolates, marks and Spencer’s
A3
Changes I think the two businesses they should do to all their areas.
Recommended changes for marks and Spencer’s and Cadburys:
Activity
- Introduce clothing ranges to compete with companies such as new look, George (Asda) and Tammy girl. Aimed at younger generations.
- Expand the opportunities of buying products online, perhaps including home delivery service to compete with Sainsbury's and Tesco.
- Expand food range on offer to include “value” range, similar to Safeway and Tesco.
- Extend financial services to compete with high street banks, perhaps offering in store banking facilities (i.e. post office moving into the stores.)
- Introduce product range through their own franchise high street shops to compete with Thornton’s.
- Extend product range to include dairy products e.g. cakes, ice creams and yoghurts.
- Expand ranges to include diabetic and low fat products.
- Expand their drinks range
Ownership
I think that the two companies have good ownership because they do not loose anything if they do not have enough money. They do not loose any of their belongings because they are a big company
Location
The locations are both different marks and Spencer’s head office is in London which is a big city full of different businesses. Cadburys is situated in Bourville in Birmingham, which is another big city. Cadburys get their raw materials from abroad so I think to save travel and a lot of money they should move down to the south coast of the united kingdom. With being in Birmingham it is harder to get their raw material to the base because of it being in the middle of the country. When the company first opened Birmingham was know for its canals but now these days they do not get used as much. But with moving down to the south coast it will save travel ands also they could have docks there for when their raw materials arrived by boat.
Aims
It is good that the two companies are not just thinking about their profits but they are thinking about their customers and the quality of their products. I think the company’s aims should be also to improve and design new products.
