Investigating a business and what business do - London Heathrow Marriott (LHM) and Tescos.

Authors Avatar by maha-humayunelivecom (student)

Maha Humayune

10-B

Investigate: What a business is and what businesses do

The two businesses I have chosen are the London Heathrow Marriott (LHM) and Tesco’s. I chose Tesco’s because Tesco’s is an exceedingly conventional company, so there will be abundant information available for Tesco’s. Tesco is an international company that has stores situated in place like China, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the Unites States of America. Whereas, LHM is also a very well-know business but we will be focusing on Marriott’s local branch in London, London Heathrow Marriott a national business.

I chose Tesco’s as my business as Tesco’s and LHM are two completely different businesses. They both have different fields and it would be a good comparison as you would be comparing the local LHM to the international business Tesco’s. A further statement would be how Tesco’s increases their business worldwide and how LHM functions nationally to compare how the two organisations handle their business further to increase their profit and how they use decision-making. Other reasons can be whether LHM a national business can be more successful than Tesco an international business.

 Furthermore; reasons being both business function in completely diverse sectors having LHM in the tertiary sector because they provide services and Tesco in the secondary and tertiary sector because they have their own products such as Tesco Value or Tesco’s finest which is their own brand which they manufacture themselves and sell as well as other brand products. This would be a good comparison as it would show how two business operating in different sectors work. It can also show whether being in more than one sector is beneficial or if it is better to work in one sector.

Tesco and LHM are public limited companies (PLC’s) where anyone can buy into their business. It would be a good reason for comparison based on how each company works depending on their ownership and because it would show two different systematic ways of how two PLC’s can run differently allowing me to see whether people in the business world have a preference to buy shares of LHM over shares of Tesco and how the companies have expanded their business.

I chose Tesco’s because in comparison both the businesses have different aims and objectives which would illustrate different businesses being based around different products and services can be similar. I can also demonstrate the aims of the business and why those aims are going to be beneficial to their business and whether their aims and objectives are too high or too low for them.

My concluding reason for choosing these business to compare is because Tesco is a highly recognised and conventional company therefore there would be a wide range of sources to accumulate information from which I can justify my reasons with evidence. For example Tesco’s have their very own website where you can ensure that THE Information will be reliable. Whereas I can gather information locally for LHM because of it being a local business for example gathering leaflets, interviewing staff, using newspapers for my bibliography and also other hotel recommendation websites like TripAdvisor and see customer reviews on  what customers have to say about services from LHM comparing it with its competitors.

Definition: Aims are the total goals and purposes that a business was set up to accomplish.

  • “Sales of 20 million pounds”
  • “GSS of 75% of customers satisfied with the overall service”
  • “Labour turnover of 25%”

  • To grow the UK core: Tesco wishes to expand on the number of store in the UK, also the number of services they provide in the UK.

  • To be an outstanding international retailer in store and online: Tesco aims to increase the number of stores in other countries in which they operate, in their stores and also improve their online services.

  • To be as strong in everything we sell as we are in food: The business aims to improve on their services they provide as well as the vast product range other than groceries such as Electrical goods. They aim to be as successful in everything as they are in food retail.

  • To grow retail services in all our markets: Tesco provides many services from mobile networks, to banking to insurance. Tesco wants to grow the service in which it provides in markets they already occupy.

  • To put our responsibilities to the communities serve at the heart of what we do: To try and improve how it effects the environment by trying to reduce its carbon footprint; also it wants to take responsibility for the ethical issues surrounding it to please the customers, such as fair-trade products and free range chickens.

  • To be a creator of highly valued brands: To create brands that customer’s value such as Tesco Value and Tesco’s finest. However there are many Tesco brands, such as their clothes brand F&F.

  • To build our team so that we can create more value: To build the best teams possible to provide the best service they can. The teams are the face of the shop, the people who the customers interact with so by building the best possible team Tesco can improve their services.

Definition: Objectives are precise targets that must be accomplished if the business is to live up to its aims. Objectives have to be S.M.A.R.T., THIS STANDS FOR:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic
  • Time

  • High levels of guest satisfaction.
  • Marriott profitability and owner return on investments.
  • To have association satisfaction.
  • To have low labour turnover.

  • Offering customers the best value for money and the most competitive prices.
  • Meeting the needs of customers by constantly seeking, and acting on, their opinions regarding innovation, product quality, choice, store facilities and service
  • Providing shareholders with progressive returns on their investment improving profitability through investment in efficient stores and distribution depots, in productivity improvements and in latest technology
  • Developing the talents of its people through sound management and training practices, while rewarding them fairly with equal opportunities for all
  • Working closely with suppliers to build long term business relationships based on strict quality and price criteria
  • Participating in the formulation of national food industry policies on key issues such as; health, nutrition, hygiene, safety and animal welfare
  • Supporting the well being of the community and the protection of the environment

LHM and Tesco are different businesses but they do have a few similarities. Such as; LHM and Tesco both businesses aim to make a profit. On the other hand, LHM is an organisation that is completely focused on making a profit. They will do everything in their power to maximise sales, if they want to reach this goal their going to have to keep their customers and staff happy. So the customers will make recommendations to the public and for them to keep coming back to their hotel. This is why they have set the aim of providing “high levels of guest satisfaction.” By calling Maggie Tang (7) who is the sales manager of LHM, they also need to make a good profit as they want their shareholders to gain profit .as well as this because “shareholders will only invest in the business if they get a high return in their investment.”

Tesco needs to provide their customers with fresh and reliable products with low prices and good quality whereas LHM needs to provide their customers with a comfortable service at a reasonable and market compatible price. If both business don’t make a profit then that would put their businesses in serious danger of bankruptcy. For example, Tesco won’t be able to deliver their ideas of being a better business than its competitors, whereas LHM won’t obtain any more money to buy resources to give a satisfactory service. Meaning the amount of customers will reduce. When talking to Mark Hobbs, he explained that LHM would not be able to achieve their other aims such as “labour turnover of 25%,” if they don’t achieve their aim of making a profit as “the employees unsatisfied due to the low amount of customers.”

Both businesses also want their staff to be satisfied. This is because they are the ones who help the business to survive. Without their employees Tesco won’t be able to provide their customers with quality products that are used to generate sales. Hen interviewing Tesco’s Head of Business Development, City & Guild; Edwina Mc Queen (8), she said “We demand high standards from our accredited organisations, and have been impressed by the Tesco approach to training and development. The retailer has real energy and desire to give its people every opportunity to get on, and we look forward to working closely with them to help achieve this.”

Although there are many similarities, there are also many differences. Firstly, LHM is more profit driven s their aims are mostly focused on their profit income. Whereas, Tesco is more focused on increasing the business by capturing the grocery market internationally as they want to “grow the UK core,” “to be an outstanding international retailer; in store and online,” “to build their team to create more value” and “to be the creator of high value brands” Tesco believes to rule the customer’s heart by its policy of fair trade and a maximum satisfaction to their spending of money so it can also appear to be ethical whereas its recyclable products make the company seem environmentally friendly. Even though LHM provides some information about them being ethical, such as that they have “raised £15,500 and committed 112 hours of their own time to community work,” Tesco shows that they are more active in giving awareness of serious issues.

Furthermore, Tesco provides a charitable service to its own charity called The Tesco Charity Trust (9). Even in this time of the recession to help boost heir publicity. Moreover, Tesco’s Community Award donations to local community charities totalling almost £700,000; donations to other charities totalling almost £600,000; over £700,000 in 20% top up on staff fundraising our Tesco Charity Partnership with Diabetes UK and other charities. The Tesco Charity Trust aims to help Tesco support the local communities in which they operate. On a local level, to support the needs of employees, customers and communities around our stores; on a national level , to support initiatives that address identified need through existing charities’ activities; and on an international level,  to help their business supply chain to make a difference in their locations (10). However, LHM offers a limited amount of information about them being environmentally friendly as they are profit driven, this means that they could be attracting more customers into their business if they showed that they are being more ethical.

Even though both businesses aim to make their staff happy, it is for different reasons. For instance, Tesco is ethical so they think it is morally wrong for their workers around the world to be suffering and earning a lower wage than staff in the UK. But LHM only want to make their staff happy as they don’t want them to leave, because if they leave they will have less staff which mean that the hotel’s satisfaction will reduce, which means they won’t meet any of their aims. This is because the quality

Of their service will dramatically decrease which means they won’t be able to return their investment to their shareholders. Overall, LHM may have to close down if they do not making any profit, due to massive increase on labour turnover. Furthermore, Tesco shows that they are being more caring as they have even offered their workers a higher salary of £6.98 per hour (11), which is way over the minimum wage. Tesco’s founder Jack Cohen said that “pile it high and sell it cheap,” to which he added an internal motto of “YCDBSOYA” (You Can’t Do Business Sitting On Your Arse) (12), which he used to motivate his sales, force. This will help the staff in term of motivation and give the business more publicity, which will make customers want to buy their products.  This means that Tesco will be meeting their aims much quicker than LHM. However, LHM do award their employees for their hard work as Mark Hobbs mentioned that to keep their staff happy they may give them a “higher salary or bonus” so they won’t go to rival companies.

Both businesses have objectives, which are SMART, and they have an objective that enables them to meet their aims. For instance, “to have low labour turnover” enables LHM to meet their aim of “Labour turnover of 25%.”“Developing the talents of its people through the sound management and training practises, while rewarding them fairly with equal opportunities for all” and “working closely with suppliers to build long term business relationships based on strict quality and price criteria” also allows Tesco to meet their aim of being able to “build their team so that they can create more value.”

Firstly, both businesses have objectives that are specific. For example, LHM’s objective of generating “to have low labour turnover,” this objective is not being specific, as LHM do not mention how much they want to focus on their labour turnover. It is also measurable, as LHM have measures if they can actually reach this objective which is because it is realistic. Objectives are needed to keep their staff motivated so if LHM make labourturnover of 25% it will increase their profit with guest satisfaction because the profit only depended on the staff to guest relationship. Tesco are also being specific as they have the objective of “supporting the well-being of the community and the protection of the environment.” Tesco’s objective is not measurable and none of the businesses have shown when they want to achieve this by showing that they are managing time but they have said how much they want precisely.

LHM and Tesco’s have set some set objectives that are achievable, for example, Tesco has said that they really want to encourage customers to bring their own bags. As Tesco is really motivated, the staff will be dedicated to do this and give customers reasons why they need to do this, which will persuade consumers. LHM also does this by seeking to have “labour turnover of 25%,” as LHM is a successful business, employees wouldn’t want to quit, as it is hard to find a job in the recession.

Both businesses also have objectives that are realistic, as LHM wants to have associate satisfaction, which can be easily done, as LHM service is quite high already. Tesco wants to offer customers the best value for money and the most competitive prices, which will be easily done, as Tesco is motivated to be environmentally friendly. I watched an interview off Kevin Grace who is the marketing director of Tesco; he said that “when setting our objectives we need to make sure that they are realistic so our employees will believe that they can achieve it…this is because if they don’t believe in our objectives then they won’t be as dedicated to achieving that objective”. He also revealed that they have to “make sure that our objectives are timely so our shareholders will know when something is supposed to be achieved…if both of these aspects are done correctly then our shareholders will be happy and they are more likely to carry on investing money into the business if they are achieved efficiently.”When I watched an interview of Anna Foley of LHM she mentioned that “our objectives are really important as it helps us strive to reach our full potential...by choosing realistic targets, we feel confident that we can achieve them with our dedicated staff” (13).

As both of these businesses have diverse aims, they will have various objectives as objectives are made to meet overall aims. Marriott objectives focus towards the economic views of a business (Marriot profitability and owner return on investments) this shows their willpower in becoming a profit driven business.  However Tesco’s objectives highlights the ethical issues to a business; “Participating in the formulation of national food industry policies on key issues such as health, nutrition, hygiene, safety and animal welfare” and “Supporting the well-being of the community and the protection of the environment” (14) emphasizing the importance on being helpful to society. Being more environmentally supportive and looking after well fare of those in need gives Tesco more enthusiasm to reach their objective. LHM doesn’t give a time span on any of their objectives, like Tesco so people will assume that that these objectives are meant to be per year this gives the businesses less time to act on its objectives.

I think these aims and objectives are suited for each business due to their diverse situations. Tesco aims are easy to understand and it follows the idea of being ethical, better international business and delivering satisfaction to its customers by providing them with lower costs and good quality as most of what the aims are about the environment, workers and expanding in the world. It also states that it wants to make a profit, which gives a business perspective to Tesco. I think their objectives are good, as they have shown that they are SMART. This makes it easier for shareholders to understand what the business aims to do and how they are going to do it.

On the other hand, LHM could improve their objectives as they have shown that they are not really SMART. For instance they could show that they are timely, as this shows future shareholders when they would like to achieve something by. This will also allow the employees to become motivated, as they will know when something has to be done by. I believe that the more detailed the objectives are, there is a better chance of the business becoming a bigger success. Moreover, LHM could improve their aims by mentioning more about their morals. For instance they could add an aim of being more environmentally friendly and adding an achievable targets such as recycling 15% of our waste every year. I believe that LHM will see a massive improvement is figures as they are appealing to a wider market, due to the heavy issue of being ethical.

The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists but in business terms it means a business trying to accomplish their mission statement.

The products or services a business delivers to produce its sales in order to achieve an aim.

LHM mission statement mentioned by Anna Foley is, “Marriott’s vision is to be a successful leader in hospitality services and it achieves that through its spirit to serve culture and for every customer to leave satisfied.” (15)

A mission statement sets out the general purpose of a business. It helps employees work towards a common goal and is a service of motivation for staff. This implies that LHM’s purpose is to be the greatest in providing great hospitality and facilities to their consumers and by providing a service to the wider community. This also indicates that they want to be the best in the business when compared to other competitors. They are in existence, as they want to provide their consumers with ‘great hospitality,’ assist the community and fulfill their requirements, which is seen when they mention ‘spirit to serve culture.’

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