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Tesco staff:

• Are all retailers, working as a one team.

• Trust and respect each other.

• Respect all customers, the community, suppliers and the competition.

• Strive for personal excellence in everything they do, leaving no stone unturned in order to get it right.

• Are encouraged to take risks, give support and do not blame others.

• Are rewarded for creating value for customers.

• Are talked and listened to: and their knowledge is shared, so that it can be used.

• Have fun, celebrate success and learn from failure.

What is the comment Tesco has to its customers?

Tesco customers want the best possible value for their money. Tesco is determined to offer its customers quality products, good service, attractive stores and low prices.

To meet this aims, Tesco:

• works closely with suppliers to ensure products are of the highest quality and are delivered to stores in the best possible condition.

• makes sure that its staff are committed to giving the best possible quality of service.

• aims to create in its stores an environment which makes shopping easy, interesting and comfortable.

For example, in 1993 Tesco introduced Value lines, which offer exceptional value for money, followed by New Deal Pricing on leading commodities and brands in 1994. In 1996, Tesco introduced Unbeatable Value with the pledge that nobody would sell the equivalent product for less price.

E3

Organisational functions.

All organisations require resources to carry out their functions. One way of judging the success of a business is to compare the resources it uses with the value of the product that results. For example if it is a small business running by it’s owner, for example small shop, so it doesn’t need any workers, large piece of land and big capital, owner can work alone. But if it is a very large business like car manufacturing so it requires a lot of workers, very large piece of land and big capital.

The resources of the business.

One way of considering the resources used by a business is to classify them into the factors of production. The main capital of production are capital, labour and land.

• C

  Business

  Activity

  APITAL refers to any manufactured product used by the business to make other products. This category therefore includes all machinery, vehicles and office equipment used in businesses. It also includes the company’s buildings.

• L ABOUR is the human resources used by business organisations during production.

• L AND – site on which the business is located and natural resources it might use.

• E NTERPRISE – owners and shareholders.

Functional areas.

All businesses combine factors of production as an essential part of their production activities. To combine these factors, to engage in production and to achieve their objectives organisations undertake a number of functions. The major business functions include:

• finance

• production

• human resources

• administration

• research and development

Business requirements for functional areas depends on its size, for example small business might merge many of these functions within their administration department, with responsibility in the hand of one or two people. As a business grows the number of people required to carry out these functions increases.

The financial function.

Advises managers and budget holders

Extensive use of IT

Records all financial data

Monitors and analyses financial data

Chases up slow payers

Finance department

• accountants

• account technicians

• account clerks

Advises board of directors

Collects payments from customers

Analyses

costs

Provides information to external bodies

Produces standards

cost data

Customers Auditors Inland Revenue and

(price list) (accounts) Custom & Excise

(information relating

to tax liability)

Figure 1.3: The financial function

A separate department normally carries out the finance function of the business. The finance department carries out a number of key activities:

• records all financial data

• chases up slow payers

• collects payments from customers

• provides information to external bodies

• analyses costs

• advises board of directors

• monitors and analyses financial data

• advices managers and budget holders

Production function.

Production covers all the activities that must be undertaken to make the firm’s products, from the receipt, of raw materials through to the output of the final product. The production function concentrates primarily upon planning and controlling the various stages of production so that the most efficient use is made of business resources.

Production manager responsible for:

• maintaining supplies of components and raw materials to ensure continuous production

• ensuring that the precise requirements of customers are met

• monitoring quality to insure that finished products meet the quality standards expected by customers

• using resources – people, machinery and production space – as efficiently as possible to make the business competitive in the markets in which it trades.

One of the most important issues in production is quality. Modern businesses compete just as strongly on the quality of their goods and services as they do on price.

For example it is vital for a washing machine manufacturer to produce a high-quality product. If the machine is not reliable or does not have a wide range of functions, customers are more likely to purchase a competitor’s product.

F

Finance department

igure 1.4: The links between the production function and other departments

Production activities

Marketing department

Research and development department

The human resource function.

Personnel management considers the tasks involved in managing people – recruitment, selection and so forth – as separate elements. It does not take into account how these elements can combine to achieve organisational objectives.

The personnel management approach makes decisions relating to recruitment, training and pay systems independently, without considering the impact the individual decisions have on each other aspects of management and the achievement of corporate objectives.

Human resources management (HRM) elevates the effective use of a business’s labour force to an issue to be considered by senior managers as an essential element of the organisation’s strategy. This approach has raised the profile (and salaries) of those employed in human resource management. The human resources function engages in a number of activities to ensure employees are utilised affectively. These activities are carried out with the aim of contributing to the achievement of the business’s objectives.

Workforce plan sets out likely future needs for labour and how these needs might be met. Achieving the workforce plan involves the human resource function in a number of day-to-day activities.

• recruiting employees – both internally and externally

• training new and existing employees

• paying salaries

• dealing with disciplinary matters and grievances

• overseeing industrial relations, by seeking to avoid disputes and maintain harmonious relations and constant production

• developing and monitoring an employee appraisal system designed to assess performance, set targets for achievement and identify any training needs

Figure 1.5: Developing a human resources plan

Corporate objectives

Supply of labour

• existing workforce

• skills shown through skills audit

• changes in productivity and working week

Demand of labour

• numbers of workers needed

• skills required

• location of employees

Human resources plan

This may require the use of one or more of the following:

• recruitment

• training

• redundancy and redeployment

The marketing function.

The marketing department carries out a wide range of functions on behalf of the business. Essentially marketing is communications. The marketing department communicates with a number of groups inside and outside the business as it carries out its tasks.

Marketing activities:

• keeping customers satisfied

• discovering the needs of customers and advising the production function accordingly

• carrying the responsibility for ensuring the effective distribution of products to wholesalers and retailers

• liasing with marketing agencies to provide the necessary expertise (small firms)

• if the firm is an export, the marketing department may have contact with government agencies.

Marketing provides the organisation with information about its customers and its markets. Effective marketing can offer businesses a number of benefits:

• early warning of changes in consumer tastes and fashions through regular market research

• knowledge about competitors and information regarding competitors’ product

• the means to present the company in a positive light through public relations activities

• allowing the firm to improve the quality of its products by coordinating and analysing customer complaints

• providing a catalyst for growth by forging relationships with distributors, retailers and customers in new markets

• supplying consumers with the products they want and giving high levels of customer satisfaction, which might permit a business to charge higher prices thereby increasing its profitability.

The administration function.

The scope of the administration department varies enormously between organisations. In a small business the administration function might incorporate a number of the functions like finance , personnel and marketing. However, larger organisations are more likely to operate a specialist administration department.

A typical administration department has a number of functions:

• Administration department carries out organisation’s IT system.

• Clerical and support service. Information processing, data processing, filing and reception services can be provided to all areas of the organisation.

• Security and maintenance. These services are essential to the smooth running of the business and to the effective operation of other business functions such as production in particular.

• In some businesses, the administration function takes responsibility for important public relations activities such as customer services.

The research and development function.

The nature of research and development (R&D) varies enormously between businesses. Traditionally, the term research and development is taken to refer to scientific research undertaken by firms producing manufactured goods, high technology products or pharmaceuticals. However, R&D is equally important to firms providing services.

By investigating in research and development a business seeks to maintain competitiveness against its rivals. Competitiveness measures a business’s performance in comparison with rival firms in the same market. A highly competitive firm has some advantage over other businesses. This competitive edge can take a number of forms:

• lower prices

• more advanced and sophisticated products

• a better image with consumers

• a good reputation for advise and after-sales service

• reliability in terms of operation and delivery dates

Types of research:

• basic research

• applied research

• development

The prime function of R&D is to develop new products that can give the firm a competitive edge in the market. This necessary involves the R&D department in close liaison with staff in market research, design and production.

Function 1.6: The nature of business activity

Характеристики

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