Aims and Objectives
Each company has specific aims and objectives in which they all want to succeed in and I have chosen four aims and objectives in which I believe are Boots main aims and objectives.
Aim 1 - Boots have a goal to maximise their sales in every aspect and this can be achieved by decreasing their prices and having special offers to attract customers. This will sure to be a good investment because many customers would think of buying as much of the product that is on a sale because they believe it would save them precious money and the bonus of it being cheap. They could put the items which are not bringing in that much money to the company on a special offer and it could make them valuable money, and once all of the items on special offer are out the company could never bring it back to purchase because of its poor sales before on a special offer.
Aim 2 - Boots have another aim to grow and expand. If Boots open more branches, even branches around the world, Boots will become a well known beauty and toiletry retailer around the world. To finance such a big project like this they could either take a loan from the bank or they could wait till they have enough money before they buy the land for the new stores.
Aim 3 - Boots also have another, to be highly competitive. By becoming competitive they can steal customers from other rival businesses e.g. super drug. They can do this by doing the thing that makes companies so individual and more. They could beat there rivals by offering better prices for items, more variety in stock, and providing more services with better customer care.
Aim 4 - They can also provide range of goods and services. This involves the company expanding upon there idea on what they are going to sell, and what services they are going to provide. By developing upon those ideas they might be able to find an idea that everyone will like. These ideas could involve having an in store health consultant for all health questions that need answering.
With all of these aims they al result in more profit.
1A Level 2
It is very important for business to set aims an objectives, because without them, the business wouldn’t know what they are aiming to do or how to achieve these aims.
Aim 1 – Boots set an aim to maximise there sales. It is important for Boots to set this aim because they need to sell items to make a profit. For a business to be successful they need to make a significant amount of profit, this can be done by maximising there sales which is why this was set as an aim.
Aim 2 – Boots also set an aim to grow and expand, this basically means that they open more Boots stores may it be in a new shopping mall or a entirely different country. By opening new stores the Boots name would become well known world wide meaning that people are buying things from Boots meaning that they again make more money.
Aim 3 – Boots also set aims to become more competitive, this means out selling other businesses like Superdrug. It becomes a success you would need to separate yourselves from the other businesses like yours. By offering something that another business doesn’t offer gives you a competitive edge on the opposition. Meaning you make a bigger profit buy selling something other businesses don’t.
Aim 4 – Boots again set another aim to provide a range of goods and services. This then again talks about the uniqueness of the actual business, providing something other businesses don’t.
By providing something other businesses don’t, you attract the people that want to buy these items, thus resulting in more profit.
In the end that’s what all businesses want to make a large some of money in the end.
Before businesses can set these aims and objectives, they need to think if it is a SMART objective. This basic acronym basically means:
Specific – Objectives should specify what they want to achieve.
Measurable – You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
Achievable - Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
Realistic – Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have?
Time – When do you want to achieve the set objectives?
They need to see if there objective follows these criteria’s, because if it isn’t suitable to be used. Most important out of the five criteria’s is that it is achievable and realistic.
1B Level 1
Functional Areas
Boots has a number of departments which have specific jobs to carry out within the business. These functional areas consist of:
- Human Resources
- Finance
- Administration
- Operations/Production
- Marketing and Sales
- Customers Services
- Research and development
- Human Resources
The reason Boots has a human resource department is because it is there job to recruit the best employees and make sure that they keep and maintain the high standard so they can effectively achieve the aims and objectives that they set. Also it there job to make sure all the work is done in a safe manner. Within the department various jobs or activities need to be carried out for example:
- Recruiting, keeping and dismissing employees
- Providing good working conditions
- Training, developing and promoting employees
- Health and safety
This department has a major task they must choose the right employees for the future success. They can recruit new employees, may it be from a hiring firm or just promoting from inside the business. People like to hire from out side the firm because they may bring fresh ides an enthusiasm. Also businesses would rather keep older more experienced and highly trained employees, then get a new employee and re-train them. But also they are going to need to dismiss employees that can’t carry out there jobs properly. But it is more often that people are made redundant because there services aren’t needed anymore.
All employees are entitled to a fair condition to work in. That is why it is important to provide good working conditions for the workers. The working area effects how well the workers work. The working conditions include the warmth and cleanliness of the area, the provision of rest areas and leisure facilities, and hours of work and holiday entitlement. The working conditions are normally negotiable between the trade unions and human resource departments.
It is also that department that is in control of the training, developing and promoting of employees. They can use different techniques to provide the workers with the necessary skills. They train employees at the workplace or through courses at local colleges or training centres. They may just plan jobs for the employees so it’s more of a practical way of them gaining skills needed.
It is also the job of this department to make sure that they bide by the health and safety acts requirements. This means that it is there job to look after the area in which the people work in and this means giving the workers a sense of security and comfort.
- Finance department
Boots has a finance department, there job is basically to manage all the businesses money. There is constantly money being exchanged to and from businesses like Boots. This is why it is essential that they had a finance department to keep track of the money they have. The things that this type of department has to do include:
- Recording all the financial matters of a business
- Preparing accounts
- Paying wages and salaries
- Obtaining capital and other resources
It is very important for businesses to record all the financial matters because with out that information hey would be able to find out if the business is making a profit or find out how much tax you’re going to pay.
It is also important they prepare accounts because Boots is a public limited company they are legally obliged to publish accounts of the business like there balance sheets which states how much the owns and owes, and also the profit and loss account which states exactly how much money they have made in the period of one year. The records aren’t just needed for legal reason but for different people for different reasons for example the suppliers, they would need to know if Boots can pay them back.
It is also up to the finance department to give the employees there wages. It isn’t that easy because they need to work the wages and they need to deduct income tax and national insurance from there pay. They may need to operate a pension scheme for there employees. Buy they need to keep an accurate record of wages and salaries because they would need that for the profit and loss account.
It is also there job to make sure that they have ways of obtaining capital so they can spend it on developing the business or starting it. They can get capital from borrowing off other businesses or banks or they could retain profit, which is keeping money on the side from profit you have got from previous years.
The finance department has a crucial role in the business. The finance department is the people who place orders and pays bills on behalf of the other departments. They advise other areas of the business as to the amount of money available to them. Also because of all this knowledge they have on the business in terms of finance, they help senior managers to make major decisions.
- Administration
The administration department within Boots’s purpose is to provide support to other departments within the business. But all administration departments are the same; in small businesses the department may only be responsible for individual departments like human resources and finance. The administration departments may be different but they all rely heavily on computers or IT. The activities of this department are:
- Clerical services
- Cleaning and maintenance
- Health and safety
- Security
The clerical services is a little bit like a secretary what they do is help out the other departments. They are providing a service. But in Boots’s case they help the customers as well. By greeting them and answering any enquires they may have. But for the other departments there services include:
- Word processing letters
- Making phone calls
- Sorting and delivering incoming mail and posting outgoing mail.
- Organising meetings and keeping records of what is said and agreed at these meetings for example, annual general meeting for a company’s shareholders.
- Taking responsibility for the company’s reception area, dealing with general inquiries and welcoming visitors.
- Creating and keeping records about the company.
The cleaning and maintaining part of the department is the people who organise the cleaning and maintaining of the business. This would be vital for businesses were hygiene is important like a restaurant. But also there job is to organise the maintaining of the building, may it be decorating or maintaining a piece of machinery. Because they are in control of the environment: in which the workers work in its there responsibility to make sure that the workers are working to the best of there abilities within there area.
The administrations department in Boots is all so the people who over look everything making sure everything is safe. It’s the job of the human resource department to set the policies but it’s the job of the administration to make sure that they are implemented. The safety issues include:
- Providing, safety clothing for workers for example on building sites.
- Ensure there are no dangers in the workplace, for instance by providing toughened glass in doors.
- Providing regular medical checks for those working in risky environments, such as in a chemical firm.
Security is an increasingly important issue for businesses, like Boots. Security duties include:
- Signing visitors in and out of the premises, and issuing them with identification badges.
- Ensuring that unauthorised people are kept out, perhaps by use of patrols or guard dogs.
But for Boots the ID cards would do fine.
Information technology is used in businesses to provide lots of things like:
- Spreadsheets to record financial data, such as sales figures.
- Databases for customers, employee and supplier records.
- Payroll systems to calculate employees’ wages and salaries and to produce pay slips.
- Emails for communicating with groups such as suppliers.
- Web based systems for selling goods and services on the internet and taking payment from credit cards securely.
It is part of the administrations job description to help train new employees to new software being used in the department.
It is also part of there job description to consult with department managers to help them find the best software they should use for what they are doing.
