Welcome Guest
Friday
10.02.2012
13:41 GMT
10.02.2012
13:41 GMT
| Site menu |
| Section categories | |||||
|
| Search |
| Site friends |
| Statistics |
Total online: 1 Guests: 1 Users: 0 |
| Main » Articles » Management |
Management at Tesco
| Introduction 1920s Tesco was founded in 1924, when T.E. Stockwell, a partner in a firm of tea suppliers, and Sir Jack Cohen came together. Legend has it that Sir Jack Cohen used his gratuity from his Army service in the First World War to start selling groceries in London's East End markets in 1919. The brand name of Tesco came from the initials of T.E. Stockwell and first two letters of Cohen. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgware. 1930s Self-service supermarkets first opened in the USA in the 1930s, during the depression. They soon realized that by selling a wider variety and larger volume of stock, and employing fewer staff, they could offer lower prices to the public. The Tesco business prospered and grew in the years between the war. 1940s In 1947 Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd was floated on the Stock Exchange, with a share price of £ 25. The price at the beginning of February 2002 was around £ 2.42. Self-service stores came to Britain after the Second World War, and Jack Cohen opened the first Tesco self-service store in St Albans in 1948. 1950s In 1956 the first Tesco self-service supermarket was opened in a converted cinema in Maldon. 1960s By the early 1960s, Tesco had become a familiar name. As well as groceries, the stores sold fresh food, clothing and household goods. The Tesco store, which opened in Leicester in 1961, had 16,500 square feet of selling space and went into the Guinness Book of Records as the largest store in Europe. During this period, Tesco introduced trading stamps so that it could bring lower prices to its customers. Tesco introduced the concept of the superstore in 1967 when it opened a 90,000 square feet store in Westbury, Wiltshire. The 'superstore' was a new concept in retailing and the term was first used when Tesco opened its store in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1968. 1970s By 1970, Tesco was a household name, its reputation built on providing basic groceries at very competitive prices. But as people become better off, they looked for more expensive luxury items. In the late 1970s the company decided to make its stores more attractive to a wider range of customers. Tesco introduced more superstores, which sold a broader range of goods, and had wider aisles and better lighting. In one year, in the late 1970s, the Tesco market share increased from 7% to 12% and, in 1979, its annual turnover reached £ 1 billion for the first time. 1980s During the 1980s, Tesco continued to build new superstores, opening its 100th in 1985. In 1987 it announced a £ 500 million programme to build another 29 stores. By 1991, the popularity of Tesco petrol filling stations at its superstores had made the company Britain's biggest independent petrol retailer. In 1985 Tesco introduced its Healthy Eating initiative. Its own-brand products carried nutritional advice and many were branded with the Healthy Eating symbol. The company was the first major retailer to emphasize the nutritional value of its own brands to customers. 1990s In the 1990s, the company built on its success by developing new store concepts and new customer-focused initiatives. Tesco broke new ground in food retailing by introducing, in 1995, the first customer loyalty card. Club card now offers Airmiles and Clubcard points can be collected in 5,000 different venues in the UK. Other customer services followed, including grocery home shopping (now Tesco.com), Tesco Direct for catalogue shoppers and the Tesco Baby club for new parents, as well as the launch of Tesco Personal Finance a joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Tesco has also expanded into Retailing Services, forming a joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland to offer a broad range of financial services, closely followed by the launch of the Tesco Visa card, Insurance and other financial services. Tesco Personal Finance now offers a range of 15 different products and services; as well cheque deposits at the checkouts, and instant travel insurance. In August 2003, Personal Finance had more than 4 million customer accounts, and delivered a profit of £ 56m in the first half. 2000s Tesco now has 2,291 stores around the world and about 300,000 employees. The organization has grown from a purely UK operation, developing international markets in Ireland, Central Europe and Asia. Today, there are four strands to Tesco's strategy: core UK business, non-food, retailing services (personal finance and online grocery sales) and international. Tesco is one of the best-known names in the high street. It is a large public limited company (plc) with approximately 165 000 shareholders. By 1995, Tesco had become the largest food retailer in the UK, overtaking Sainsbury's. The company operates over 800 stores throughout Europe. After serving in the First World War, Jack Cohen used his savings and started selling groceries in London East End markets. Tesco was founded in 1924. The name was based on the initials of T E Stockwell, a partner in a firm of tea suppliers, and the first two letters of Cohen. In 1929, the first store was opened in Edgware, North London. The business prospered and, in 1947, Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd was floated on the Stock Exchange. In 1956, the first self-service supermarket was opened. Apart from opening new stores, Tesco has expanded by taking over other businesses. For example, in 1992, it bought 57 William Low stores in Scotland and, in 1997; it purchased 109 stores in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland from ABF pie. Tesco is an ambitious company with plans to open more new stores in the United Kingdom (UK). However, in recent years, a major part of the firm's strategy has been to open stores in other European countries. Organisational structure of tesco The functional areas of my business are * The finance function * The administration function * The human resources function * The marketing function * The research and development function. The administration of each function is based around the offices. In every organisation some sort of administration office supports them all. For example in a small organisation the administration office may be in one room with a small number of employees. However in a large organisation there may be one department dedicated to the administration of the organisation of the organisation. Generally when we look at large organisation we can see that there are more specialised office workers. If we look at these six functions, I can see that tesco the company I am writing my assignments on would have all of them expect the research and development simply because the marketing department does everything. Also all these department are an essential part of tesco’s success as they are the basis at which all of the planning and ideas comes from. From the information above I am going to point out what the different functions do in an organisation. FINANCE FUNCTION The main activities of the finance department is: · To record all business transactions This means that they record in their logbooks all the expenses that have been paid and all the incomings. Measure the financial performance of the business This means that businesses look at how well or badly the business is doing financially. · Control the finances and cash flow so the business stays solvent. This means that they make sure that there is enough money in the business to pay off debts. Also make sure that there is enough money so stay afloat. · Take timely financial decisions by comparing the predicted performance with actual performance. This means that if the company wants to invest more money in the business, then it would be up to the finance department to make the decision on whether there are enough funds to do so. They would do this by looking and comparing the financial situation in previous years with the financial situation of the present year. By this they can see whether the expense will leave them with enough at the end. The finance department in an organisation is there to make sure that the company stay's afloat. They do this by checking the financial status of the company; when I say checking the financial status I mean that they record all the money coming into the business and all the money that is going out. Upon looking at this information they are able to monitor and act accordingly. The finance department is probably the most important department in the organisation, simply because everything costs money and it is the job of the finance department to ensure that the necessary funds are available when they are needed. This is really important when the organisation has to pay their running costs such as loans. This is because if they don't pay their debts then they risk losing their investment. The finance department also has a system, which is called the Management Accounting Information system. This system is used for planning, decision-making and control. This system involves looking at the future financial events, and with this system they will be able to answer future question such as when will the money be available to renew the roof at the Sandfield site? The Management Accounting function also prepares budgets and monitors financial progress. If we look at the information above and then look at Tesco I can say that Tesco's finance department have a similar sort of system, which looks at the future financial events. They way in which the finance department look at the future is to look at the financial status in past years, and by that they are able to see how much they will have in the future and they are able to look a ways in which to improve the amount of money they will have in the future. THE HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTION The human resources in an organisation is the second most important department, simply because this is where all the new employees are chosen from. The main purpose of the Human Resource department is to recruit, select, train and develop staff. This means that they have to find the right people at the right place at the right time. Once the new employees have been found it is the Human Resources responsibility to train and develop them to make sure that they reach their full ability. This recruitment process starts right with the application form, with this they have to judge whether the employee is going to make a good new recruit. If we have an example I would say that with Tesco's human resources department, they make sure that they read what the applicants have written in the application form. The application form is very important to Tesco and that is why they ask a lot of questions about personal qualities and communication skills, because they want the right employee who will do a good job. The Human Resources department also has a legal obligation, and that is to keep all records that they have in their possession confidential. This means that they have an obligation to abide by the data protection act. Also the records that are kept by the Human Resources department must have information on the needs and activities of the business. So as you can see that the Human Resources department, have got a lot of responsibility in terms of getting the best new employees, and making them reach their full potential and also by abiding by the laws that there are on keeping records in their possession. MARKETING FUNCTION The Marketing department would be responsible for: Marketing Research This means when an organisation collects data by doing a questionnaire, and also they do presentations to tell everyone what new ideas they have come up with to make money. Customer care and services This means that the marketing department deals with any customer complaints and problems that they have. Sales promotion and advertising This means that they are responsible for making sure that all the sale promotions are out so that customers can see them, and also they are responsible for making sure that advertisements are done for the organisation and their products or services. These are the main responsibilities that the Marketing department has. In order to fulfill them, the marketing department would need to work closely with the finance, purchasing, production and transport departments. This is because if there is a breakdown anywhere in the line, whereby the marketing department has less materials than they need then the other departments are there to correct the breakdown. Nearly all the information that the marketing department uses is all the computer databases; this information would be for example price lists, customer details and retail outlets. They would put the information on computer so that it is easy access for them when they need it, and also they are able to change and correct any wrong information without the database getting messy. However the information that is on the computers still paperwork, simply because for example if there is sales document about buying products on computer, then the company will have to send some sort of paperwork to the suppliers about the transaction and that would be done by hand. The marketing department is a very important to Tesco simply because each of the promotional advertisements come from that department, so without them none of the customers would know what promotions are on. ADMINISTRATION FUNCTION Every business would need to have an administration system, in order to be organised. If the organisation is organised then they are able to achieve their objectives that they have set themselves. The purpose of the administration system in the organisation is to create an ordered way of working which enables the business to function smoothly. The administration system does the job of bringing together the various parts of the business so that they can all work towards achieving the same goals. The ideal administration system would be to have good communication between the management and workers, and a system, which enables the objectives to be met. For example once an order has been placed, the order has to be delivered within 48 hours of the receipt. The other thing that would make an ideal administrative system is that all the methods and procedures should be written down. This is because everyone are able to see the way in which things should be done in order to achieve their objectives. It should be written down simply because the administration system incur problems because staff are always being changed so they wouldn't be aware of the methods and procedures. The third aspect that would make an ideal administration system would be to have proper procedures for controlling and monitoring work. This means that there would have to be a high level of supervision and well - motivated staff. This aspect would be important when the business is changing, simple because it would be important to keep workers under constant review. The forth aspect would be to make sure that the administration department would be properly resourced to make sure that they reach the objectives. This is important because if the administration department isn't given proper resources then they won't be able to reach their deadlines, so it important that the administration department has the right amount of staff, materials and equipment to do their jobs properly. The fifth and final aspect that would create an ideal administration system would be to provide the proper controls and methods of supporting the people within the organisation. This is because another name for the administration department is the support staff; this is because the majority responsibility of administration is to support the staff within the company. So as you can see that the administration system is a very important department as well as they are the backbone of the organisation, and without them the business wouldn't be organised enough reach their objectives. If we look at Tesco again we can say that the administration department is also a very valid member of the team because they make sure that all the paperwork is in order and that whatever the other departments need they get. I think that without this department none of the other departments would be able to function properly and efficiently like they are now. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT The main purpose of the research & development department is make sure that an organisation can compete successfully and achieve a permanently sustainable competitive edge over their competitors by becoming more efficient and giving customers added value. Research & development are there to change an organisation from an old type of company to a modern and well-sophisticated company. The jobs of the research & development department can range from little simple design changes to large high-risk projects worth millions of pounds. Although most of the research for a company takes place in a large research organisation, some organisation would have a department devoted to research & development. With research & development investments, they all involve high risks as there are no guarantees of commercial success and also most research & development expenditures end in failure which costs the company lots of money. Management styles and leadership used in tesco Tesco’s tend to use autocratic because the company needs too or the e tasks wont be carried out within the business, also decisions need to be made quickly or they wont be done for example a task that is set for a shelf filler to put the milk out but hasn’t been told to put the milk out because the management are still deciding who’s going to put what out, so the milk would be still sat in the storage room and the customers cant buy it. So if the management didn’t use autocratic then Tesco’s wouldn’t be run sufficiently. Tesco also uses management by objectives. They use this because they state to each employee in their appraisals what there objectives are for a certain period. Also each manager is set objectives by there line manager for there team for example the sales teams objective that has been set is to increase the amount of customers using Tesco by 25%. The way in which Tesco is structured and managed. | |
| Category: Management | Added by: Antonio (15.06.2009) | |
| Views: 160 | Rating: 0.0/0 | |
| Total comments: 0 | |
