Richer Sounds
The second business I have chosen is Richer Sounds. I have chosen this business because I already have some knowledge about the business.
Activity
Richer Sounds sell entertainment systems. They sell their goods in three ways, which are from the stores directly, by mail order and over the internet. They had tried to diversify into selling telephones, musical equipment and videos. However, these were all unsuccessful. Richer Sounds is in the tertiary sector because it gets supplied by products but Richer Sounds don’t make the products themselves. Other businesses in this sector include:
- Franchising
- Restaurants
- News media
- Hotels
- Consulting
- Hospitals
- Waste disposal
- Real estate
- Personal services
- Business services
- richer sounds’ main customers could be anyone as most people buy what richer sounds sell
- richer sounds have lots of competitors. a competitor of richer sounds could be a retailer of anything that richer sounds sells. The main competitors could be the ones that are close to richer sounds. Richer sounds still have to keep in mind about other competitiors as well as lots of businesses sell their stock online.
- Richer sounds have tried to diversify into selling other equipment, but failed, so they stay as a specialist of what they always sell
- Because richer sounds hasn’t changed and stays as a specialist of certain equipment, it means they can provide better, specialist customer service, which is one of their main qualities
Location
Richer Sounds have 44 stores nationwide. Their first store was opened at London bridge walk in 1978 because Julian Richer was working in that area and bought the shop. After that, a store was opened in Stockport because people from Manchester were going to the London store, so if they made a store closer to them, it would mean less hassle for more people and more profit for Richer Sounds. Their main warehouse is in Lancashire. It has more than 74,000 sq ft of storage space. The products get distributed to all the stores or customers who bought something from Richer Sounds from the internet. The distribution director is Solomon Essah Essel. He and the employees that work with him are responsible for the storage and distribution of the goods in the warehouse. The warehouse is in a good location as it is near central England, and because richer sounds is a nationwide company, it means that the shops and customers can be supplied with not much hassle. It also has good travel links to help with delivering.
Ownership
Richer Sounds is an unlisted public limited company (Plc.). They became a public limited company so they could get limited liability benefits, so Julian Richer doesn’t become personally liable for the companies debts. But they do not put their shares on the stock market. This is because they do not need to get additional capital by giving their business away to people outside the business. The advantages and disadvantages of a Plc. are listed below:
By having limited liablility, the owner’s personal possessions (e.g. his/her house, car e.t.c.) can’t be taken to repay for the business’s debts. Many owners prefer choosing this type of liability. There is also unlimited liability. This can apply to sole traders, small businesses e.t.c. their personal posessions can be taken from them if their business gets into debt.
Aims & Objectives
Richer Sounds have aims and objectives to help keep the business moving forward. This is why they have a mission statement, which is shown below:
RICHER SOUNDS MISSION STATEMENT
1. To provide second to none service and value for money for our customers.
2. To provide ourselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment.
3. To be profitable to ensure our long term growth and survival.
Richer Sounds have many aims. The main one is to provide good customer service and provide good value products. Richer Sounds aim to reward employees and to be equal with everyone. Another main aim is to make a profit, which is the same with all profit making organisations. Richer Sounds don’t just pay salaries. They like it, and are generous in giving it. They also have bonus schemes for employees.
Julian Richer, the chairman and David Robinson, the group managing director decide on ten goals for the business for the next 12 months which they want to achieve.
One of Richer Sounds objectives is to keep the business fun. This keeps employees motivated and makes them work to their full potential. They also want to continually improve on customer service and produce new services. They also change the business to help it work more efficiently. Employees also get the chance to submit suggestions to richer sounds and they also get rewarded for it. Richer sounds also provide services for homeless people, by having touch screens available to them to help them find places where they can stay.
Richer sounds need to make sure their objectives are measurable. For example, if richer sounds aim to get a certain amount of profit by the end of the year, then their objectives could be to get a certain amount of profit by the end of the month. This can help them to keep track and to help them see if they need to work harder or if they need to set a higher aim.
A2
Activity
One of the main differences between Cameron Balloons and Richer Sounds is that Cameron Balloons is a manufacturing company and Richer Sounds is a retailing company. Cameron Balloons also managed to successfully diversify into manufacturing medical products. Richer Sounds, however, tried to diversify into making telephones, musical equipment and videos, but failed.
Location
Cameron Balloons is situated in Bristol. It is good for this type of business because it has good transport links and it exports products as well, so it has a good location for doing business internationally. However, it isn’t a that much of a good position for doing business nationally, although it does have good road links. So overall, it does have a good location.
The warehouse for Richer Sounds is located in Lancashire, which is a good position as it is near the midlands. It doesn’t do business internationally so they have chosen a very good position for the warehouse. It is also good to have the warehouse to be situated there because they deliver to stores all over England so it would be best to have the warehouse near the midlands.
Ownership
Cameron Balloons is a private limited company. The advantages and disadvantages for a Ltd. company are:
Richer Sounds is an unlisted Public limited company. The advantages and disadvantages for a Plc. are:
The boxes in underlined italics do not apply to Richer Sounds as Richer Sounds is an unlisted public limited company
Aims & Objectives
Cameron Balloons’ main three aims are:
- To survive or make a profit
- To expand
- To be the biggest balloon manufacturers
Richer Sounds’ main three aims are:
- To provide second to none service and value for money for their customers
- To provide themselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment
- To be profitable to ensure their long term growth and survival
Richer Sounds make it easy for people to understand their aims and objectives because they have a mission statement. Cameron Balloons do not have a mission statement.
A3
Activity
Cameron Balloons have expanded by diversification into making medical products. They could also diversify again using their materials to make something else.
Richer Sounds could keep trying to diversify until they manage to successfully diversify into doing something. It could benefit them just like it benefits Cameron Balloons. I think the main reason why it is easier for Cameron Balloons to diversify is that Cameron Balloons is a manufacturer, and Richer Sounds is a retailer.
Location
Cameron Balloons have expanded their business by diversification into medical products. They could also expand by opening a new site. This will double the amount of products they sell. They could also open it in the north since their current site is in the south. This will make it easier for national deliveries.
Just like what Cameron Balloons can do, Richer Sounds could make another warehouse as it could be hard and complicated for them to distribute goods to 45 stores. As their warehouse is situated in the midlands, they could have their next warehouse in the north or south, the busiest area would be a suitable location.
Ownership
Cameron Balloons could become a plc as there are less major disadvantages. I think Richer Sounds shouldn’t change their type of ownership but keep it as it is because they don’t want anyone to buy their shares and because of this, they have less disadvantages as a plc., and would be better off as a plc
Aims & Objectives
The only similarity between Cameron Balloons’ main three aims and Richer Sounds’ main three aims is to make a profit, as they are both profit making organisations. From the other two aims, Cameron Balloons only focuses on the success of the business. However, Richer Sounds focuses on the wellbeing of the employees and the satisfaction of their customers. Both of the businesses need to have a mix of the aims. Cameron Balloons need to think more about the employees and their customers and Richer Sounds need to think about how the business could improve in the long term.
B1
I will be describing three functional areas at Richer Sounds. The three functional areas I will be describing are:
- Store Operations
- Marketing
- Customer Service
Store Operations
The head of the store operations is John Clayton, the operation and training director. He gets help from employees working in operations, distribution, the store service and repairs, stock control and Hi-Fi Direct.
Some of the responsibilities of store operations are:
- Setting each store’s budget
- Checking that all the stores achieve their targets and taking action if targets aren’t being met
- Communicating with stores
- Deciding the minimum staffing level
- Sorting out any problems with employees
- Sorting out any other problems
- Checking orders of stock
- Organising store visits
- Checking that store managers undertake health and safety risk assessments
- Helping store managers and employees
- Making stores suitable for the area that they are in.
Marketing
The marketing director is Claudia Vernon. The things that she does with the employees under her control do can be split into 4 main categories. These are:
- Marketing
- Design
- Point of sale
- Their website
Customer Service
John Clayton is the director of customer service, who is also the operations and training director. These are some of the things they have for customer service:
- Knowledgeable and friendly staff
- A national call centre
- A corporate sales section
- Mail order and web sales
- An order line for free catalogues
- Specialist customer service staff
- A service and repairs section
- Well laid out, welcoming stores with easy access
- Demonstration rooms
- Pets welcome policy
- Competitive prices
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed or money back
- New products by known manufacturers
- Full access to technical back-up and spare parts
- Computerised stock control system
- Web access in stores
- Part-exchange scheme
- A clear product key code
- All repairs covered by a three month warranty
- Till receipt customer questionnaire
- Informative in-store catalogues
- Free seasonal refreshments
- Free delivery scheme
- Mystery shopper scheme
B2
How the three functional areas work together to support the business
Operations keep everything organised and under control so there are no problems. This can help the other functional areas work better. The marketing area will be able to do its bit easier as the stock order has been checked and they know what they have to sell. The customer service area will then begin and they will try to help the customer as much as possible and resolve any problems.
Example 1 (Operations)
Operations organise visits to the stores to make sure everything is in order. If a store isn’t visited then something could happen without operations knowing. If an employee in the marketing department has an argument with another employee from the customer service department, and if the operations department does not sort this out, then both of the employees could be slacking on their jobs. If they slack on their jobs then the marketing department won’t be able to reach its targets. The customer service could also be a failure which would harm the business more as it involves interacting people from outside the business. This could cause losses in the store as less people could be going to it. The store may then close down. This would all be because the operations didn’t do their job properly.
Example 2 (Marketing)
Marketing is split up into 4 groups. If one of these areas doesn’t perform well, then that could affect the other groups and could affect the whole marketing area. The operations will have to sort this out as if it isn’t sorted out, then more work will be put on the customer service area, and if they can’t handle it, then the store could close down as above.
Example 3 (Customer Service)
If the customer service area isn’t performing well, then this could have a major impact on the business. This is because the employees are interacting with people from outside of the business. The business could lose a lot of customers in a short amount of time if customer service isn’t good as customers wouldn’t like the service and would stop going there and wouldn’t recommend others to go there. This could also make the store close down.
If any store is disliked for some reason, then it could affect other Richer Sounds stores as well because they will be losing their reputation.
B3
Richer Sounds’ main three aims are:
- To provide second to none service and value for money for their customers
- To provide themselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment
- To be profitable to ensure their long term growth and survival
How the functional areas work together to achieve the aims
Aim 1 - To provide second to none service and value for money for their customers
The operations area keeps things organised and make sure that stores aren’t performing less than expected. They also keep in contact with stores and the stock/prices of products are sorted and organised for the stores. Depending on the location of a store, it will be customised to adapt to the environment it is in. Any problems with store managers or employees will get sorted out. This makes things easier for the marketing area.
The marketing area tries to make products sell by advertising, making them look attractive e.t.c.
The customer service area tries to keep the customer satisfied.
Aim 2 - To provide themselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment
The operations area makes the jobs easier for the marketing area and the customer service area. They sort out any problems with store managers or employees. They set budgets for stores so they can sell products, but not buy too much. They make sure that the stores are achieving their targets, otherwise something will be done about it. They keep in contact regularly with stores and also visit them.
The market area tries to make products sell and want the business to be successful.
The customer service area tries to satisfy the customers so the business has an increase in their reputation.
Aim 3 - To be profitable to ensure their long term growth and survival
The operations area sorts and organises stock/prices of products are for the stores. Setting a budget for each store can help make a profit as well as preventing a loss. Setting targets for each store makes the employees work to their potential. Advice to store managers or employees can help a lot as it could get rid of a major problem, which could help the store improve.
The market area tries to make products sell as much as they can.
The customer service area try to keep customers satisfied as much as they can.
C1
Richer Sounds do not call their employees by ‘staff’ or ‘employees’. i think they do this because they want everyone to feel equal as much as they can, and not treat them like slaves.
Also, instead of saying ‘head office’ they say ‘central office’ because ‘head office’ makes it sound more important to the others. Even though ‘central office’ makes it sound more important aswell, it is better than saying ‘head office’.
Richer Sounds also use the term ‘career key timer (CKT)’ instead of ‘part-time’ as ‘part-time’ could make the part-tme employees think that they are only partly involved in the business.
Instead of approaching customers by saying ‘can I help you?’ the employees use a better way which is by offering the customers a free cup of coffee or ice lolly. This is a good way to appraoch a customer as the customer will be happy that they are receiving free refreshments and at the same time can get help if they need it. Some different types of communication are:
- Writing a letter
- Recording a message
- Reports
- E-mail
- Fax
- Phonecall
- Posting information on the internet
- Meetings
- Surveys
- Face to face
- Oral/Written feedback
An example of written communication
The employees are given the directors’ home numbers. This is because if they have a complaint then they can talk directly so the problem gets sorted out quickly. This helps the employees have private conversations aswell, which is why this method would be used for any problems or complaints. This also shows that the employees are trusted with these numbers and that they wont misuse them or give them out to any unknown person.
An example of oral communication
Meetings gather people together so that they can talk face to face and elaborate on any issues. This is an effective way of communication as more than just one person is bieng communicated, which saves time. People can also debate and have problems sorted out quickly ad effectiveley.
How ICT is used to communicate and operate
ICT is used in a variety of ways. Some of them are:
- Customer service. This includes staying in contact with the customer until they are satisfied, helping them with product issues such as insurance, product support e.t.c.
- Posting information on the internet, which could be on their website for customers, or other sites for others to see
- Sending e-mails to people. Sometimes, this would be easier than going to meet the person as they could be a long distance away, or they may need to know the information as soon as possible.
- Sending and sharing files with others. This saves time as people know where all the shared files are, and people don’t need to bother others for information
- Having a network for ease of access for employees inside the business
- Advertising
- Organising products, prices, quantities e.t.c. More than one department is needed to sort these things out, so it is important that they keep in regular contact with each other
- Support (this includes people from inside the business and outside the business). This also ranges from different types of communication, but ICT can be used a lot. Employees could help others who are facing a problem with ICT, they can sort out problems within the business and also outside the business
C2
The functional areas need to keep in contact with each other and so do the staff inside a functional area for the business to avoid any problems.Examples of how communications methods are used inside a functional area include:
- Employees could phone each other for convienece if they are a fair distance away
- Someone may need to show a report to the other employees to help with improving the functional area
- Someone may need to send an e-mail to another employee for privacy, or for more convinience
- A meeting could be held for more convienience as instead of explaining the same thing to each employee repeatedly, it can just be explained once to all the employees together. This will also allow the employees to show their opinions regarding what is being said
- Talking face to face can be useful for people talking in private, or if people arent far away so it would be easier to talk to them
This is effective enough to run the functional area but it can be improved.
Examples of how communications methods are used between functional areas include:
- A manager could write a letter to another manager of a functional area
- Julian Richer records a message weekly which all the managers can hear
- Someone may need to show a report to others to help with improving the functional areas
- Someone may need to send an e-mail to another employee for privacy, or for more convinience
- A Fax could also be sent for the same reason as an e-mail
- Employees could phone each other for convienece if they are a fair distance away
The business needs to keep in contact with its customers and the other businesses it is involved with. Communcications methods used outside the business include:
- An employee could write a letter to a customer for customer service
- An e-mail could also be sent to a customer or another business such as a supplier
- Phonecalls could be made to customers and other businesses for customer service or to sort out transactions e.g. with suppliers
- Posting information on the internet may be useful for anyone. However, this can be a bad thing as rival businesses can find out about Richer Sounds and improve their own business
- Surveys can be given to customers so Richer Sounds know where to improve on thei customer service
- Talking face to face can help with transactions and helping customers
- Advertising shows customers attractive products and prices. But this can also help rival businesses to improve on their advertising to get more customers aswell
C3
Improvements which could be made to communications inside functional areas may include:
- Being connected to a network so that people can stay communicated with each other and share files more easily
Improvements which could be made to communications between functional areas may include:
- Being connected to a network so that people can stay communicated with each other and share files more easily
- Having surveys between employees to help improve on functional areas
- To have a chat area for Richer Sounds’ employees only, so that they can all stay conneced to each other and help each other with problems within the business
Improvments which could be made to communications outside the business may include:
- Feedback. If Richer Sounds do this then they will know how to improve on their services
- Having a chat area in which Richer Sounds’ customers and employees can have general conversations. This could be done by allowing people to register onto the Richer Sounds site and having an available chat area
D1
Cameron Balloons External Influences
Business Competitors
Cameron balloons have worldwide competitors. This is because they are a large company, exports goods to customers abroad and they also have a partner in the United States, which is called Cameron Balloons US. Here is a list of some of the competitors of Cameron balloons
Europe - UK
Lindstrand
Rest Of Europe - Excluding UK
Ballonbau Worner
Balony Kubicek
Ultramagic Balloons
US
Aerostar
Avian Balloon Corporation
Firefly Balloons
Head Balloons
Australasia
Kavanagh Balloons
Germany
Schroder
As I have shown above, Cameron balloons has about nine competitors. However, Cameron balloons is a very successful company so it is hard for some companies to compete with Cameron balloons. This can narrow the list of competitors down for Cameron balloons. So Cameron balloons’ main competitors are:
- Lindstrand
- Ultramagic Balloons
- Aerostar
- Schroder
Economic Conditions
- Changes in interest rates
- Changes in exchange rates
- Inflation
- The amount of unemployment
- Changes in government tax
Environmental Constraints
- Noise Pollution
- Air Pollution
- Waste Pollution
- Global Warming
Richer Sounds External Influences
Business Competitors
Richer sounds have many competitors. This is because they have a large amount of products with different manufacturers. They sell products from approximately 140 different manufacturers and also sell approximately 50 different types of products. This means that their list of competitors would be very big. Although richer sounds have many competitors, they still have an advantage over some of their competitors. This is because richer sounds are specialists in certain equipment.
Economic Conditions
- Changes in interest rates
- Changes in exchange rates
- Inflation
- The amount of unemployment
- Changes in government tax
Environmental Constraints
- Noise Pollution
- Waste Pollution
- Global Warming
- Waste Electricity
D2 + D3
Impact Of Changes In External Influences To Cameron Balloons
And What Is Done About It
Business Competitors
Cameron balloons is a very successful company and is about twice as big as its main competitor. It has also diversified into making medical products. So there isn’t much to worry about unless the competitor starts to rapidly gain more profits and expand.
Economic Conditions
- If interest rates go higher, and if Cameron balloons make a loan, then they will have to pay more back to the financiers. This would put them in a big dilemma if they stopped making profits. So if interest rates go lower, then that would be the best time to make a loan
- If exchange rates change, then this can affect Cameron balloons depending on whether the pound is stronger or cheaper. For example, if the pound is stronger than the dollar, then the prices of imports from America will be cheaper and the prices of exports will be more expensive to American customers. But if the pound is weaker than the dollar, then imports from America will be more expensive, and exports will be cheaper to American customers. So Cameron balloons will benefit more if the pound is stronger. This is because they order materials in the UK, so there is no need for imports, but if they did import, then it would be cheap, and also, when they export, they would get more money from their customers
- Inflation will mean that Cameron balloons will have to pay more for materials and will have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount of profit
- An increase in government tax would mean that Cameron balloons would have to pay more for materials and so they would have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount of profit
- If there is a large amount of unemployment, then Cameron balloons can let go of the employees that aren’t doing their job properly, and they could get better employees. They could also make new jobs to make space for more employees. If there is a low amount of unemployment, then Cameron balloons will have to hold onto their employees and will have to train them if necessary, which will mean that it will cost time and money
Environmental Constraints
- Cameron balloons don’t have to worry much about the amount of noise pollution as they have a large site and the equipment they use isn’t very noisy
- Air Pollution isn’t a major factor for manufacturing the balloons but Cameron balloons have to make sure that their balloons work properly and don’t cause too much air pollution when in use
- Cameron balloons have come across a solution to lower the amount of waste pollution. Using their balloon fabric, they produce medical products. They could use their scrap or leftover fabric for this so they have less waste and, at the same time, more profit
- Because Cameron balloons are manufacturers, they have to make sure that they don’t contribute too much to global warming
Impact Of Changes In External Influences To Richer Sounds
And What Is Done About It
Business Competitors
If one of richer sounds’ competitors cuts prices on their products then richer sounds will cut their price as they monitor competitor’s prices. They also offer a price reduction on any product if a customer finds the same product cheaper at a different store. I think it may be hard for richer sounds to do this as they will have to constantly find cheaper suppliers otherwise they may end up with losses that could end up in bankruptcy.
Economic Conditions
- If interest rates go higher, and if richer sounds make a loan, then they will have to pay more back to the financiers. This would put them in a big dilemma if they stopped making profits. So if interest rates go lower, then that would be the best time to make a loan
- Exchange rates don’t affect richer sounds as they are only a national company
- Inflation will mean that richer sounds will have to pay more for supplies and will have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount profit
- An increase in government tax would mean that richer sounds would have to pay more for supplies and so they would have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount of profit
- If there is a large amount of unemployment, then richer sounds can let go of the employees that aren’t doing their job properly, and they could get better employees. They could also make new jobs to make space for more employees. If there is a low amount of unemployment, then richer sounds will have to hold onto their employees and will have to train them if necessary, which will mean that it will cost time and money
Environmental Constraints
- Richer sounds don’t allow any sound systems to be played in the store as someone could be affected and may complain or leave the store. This doesn’t just include customers, as employees could be affected as well. People with hearing disabilities could also be affected. That is why if a customer wants to listen to a sound system, they have to go to a demonstration room, which is sound proof, to listen to it. Richer sounds help to protect peoples hearing by having warnings in their stores and also by selling ear-plugs.
- Richer sounds also try to keep waste pollution low. They accept old sound systems as part exchanges for their products. This helps keeping customers’ waste low as well as putting the systems to good use. Cardboard and wood which aren’t needed are recycled
- Lights, heating and all equipment are turned off at the end of the day so richer sounds don’t contribute much towards global warming
- Electric forklift trucks are used at the warehouse to prevent air pollution
