Strategic Management at Sainsburys

Strategic Management at Sainsburys Introduction The word â€Å"strategy† is often over-used in a fuzzy manner. Therefore this simple and straight-forward definition of strategy given by William E Rothschild, the business leader and an ex-General Electric veteran is one of the best available. He defines strategy as â€Å"What do you want to achieve or avoid? The answers to this question are objectives. How will you go about achieving your desired results? The answer to this you can call strategy.† The highlight of this definition is that it clearly distinguishes strategy from â€Å"objectives.† This assignment examines strategic management at Sainsburys, during various booms and busts from the days of its launch till date. The analysis is done within the various conceptual frameworks of strategic management in general and Michael Porters five forces model, in particular. Strategic Management An articulate, well-laid out and well-executed strategy is the cornerstone of long term prosperity of any business. Strategy operates at various levels, starting with Business or Corporate strategy. Since the ultimate goal of a business is to gain leadership position in one or the other form, business strategy shapes marketing strategy, competitive strategy and growth strategy. Corporate Strategy This is an organisation wide strategy that directs and controls the composition of all business activity. It starts with a clear and quantified mission statement. This area is a preserve of top management. Decisions are taken on: How resources will be allocated across the organisation Portfolio of activities for the firm Clear definition of the objectives One of the key ingredients of good strategic management is organisational leadership and its ability to clarify strategic intent. Driven by vision, it is â€Å"an articulation of a simple criterion or characterisation of what a company must become to establish and sustain global leadership.† (Source: Pearce et al pp 340). Competitive Strategy In an ideal situation of a monopoly, competitive strategy has no significance. But in reality this is never the case. In near perfect competition, leadership position comes to a business only by gaining sustainable advantage over its competititors. At times this also determines the growth paths that a business should take. For instance, evaluating a move away from core competence into a completely unrelated business, or initiating take-over of another business that can offer synergies. The five forces model Michael E Porter proposed the five forces model in 1980 in his book â€Å"Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors.† In this widely respected and accepted framework he suggests that there are five generic forces that act upon a business irrespective of what industry it operates in. These forces are: Competitive rivalry within the industry between existing businesses: The significance of this force in a sector such as the UK grocery retail sector, with large number of players, is the erosion of loyalty because of perceived commoditisation. Threat of new entrants: If the barriers to entry are low because of low capital investment or lack of regulation, it can create further pressure with price cutting. Bargaining power of suppliers: Leads to lack of control over the supply chain Bargaining power of customers: Erodes loyalty and causes switching Availability of substitutes: Once again erodes customer loyalty and causes switching. This is a real pressure on UKs retail sector. To counter these forces and gain competitive advantage a firm can adopt either or a combination of two business strategies: Comparative advantage / cost leadership: This emerges from economies of scale. It is a firms ability to source and produce at cost which is lower than its competitors and therefore earn higher margins. It does not necessarily mean offering lower price in the marketplace. Differential advantage / differentiation: Is a firms ability to create a unique perception about itself vis-à  -vis its competitors in the marketplace. It allows a business to cultivate loyal segments of customers. Sainsburys Background Founded and launched in 1869, J Sainsburys PLC has as rich a history as modern London. John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury launched their first store named Sainsburys at Drury Lane and quickly expanded to a chain of four shops by 1882. â€Å"Throughout companys history, the Sainsbury brand has been synonymous with good-quality, well-presented products, with 50 and 60 per cent of the range being sold under the various versions of Sainsburys brand.† (Source: Varley). An average Sainsburys supermarket today stocks approximately 30,000 products 50% of which are its own label. The company not only wants to deliver high quality products but also wants to be seen as doing this by its customer. (Source: Thompson et al pp 192). The mission of revival: In the last decade, the company has lost its leadership position to Tesco and ASDA.. Currently it has between 16-17% market share, and is placed at third position. In 2004, there was a change at the top level. In 2005, its new chief executive clarified the companys strategic intent by launching an organisation wide revival programme â€Å"Making Sainsburys Great Again† and announced a mission of increasing sales by  £2.5bn by the end of 2007-08. As a result of this turnaround program, at the end of this financial year, Sainsburys â€Å"has reported sales growth ahead of expectations.† (Source: BBC New Website) Competitive strategy: If history of successful businesses is analysed, it will clearly emerge that winners are in the top slots because of the risks they have take. Businesses hungry for long-term success identify gaps and problem areas and attempt to provide solutions to their customers. Leaders at the helm do this with a combination of instinct backed by objective analysis of emerging trends. This is precisely what Sainsburys did in an extremely tough economic and social environment during and after the World War II when external forces were threatening its existence. In a pioneering move in the UK market, the grocery chain re-engineered its store operations by adopting the American format of food-retailing. Its first â€Å"selfservice† store launched in 1950 immediately after the World War II, when food and other resources required for subsistence were scarce, became a success because it solved a major problem faced by customers it busted shopping queues. (Source: Sainsbur ys website). Such moves are evident through out its existence and its march towards becoming one of the best known retailers in the history of British business. Sainsburys today: A move towards consolidation and growth The company plans to focus on three of its core areas: Sainsburys Supermarkets, Sainsburys Online and Sainburys Bank Steps taken since 2004 in the retailing business: Price reduction across a number of products. Improving availability. Introduction of over 3000 new items. Introduction of nutritional labelling branded â€Å"Wheel of health† on over 1500 products. Introduction of â€Å"Try cards† under the slogan ‘Try Something New Today built on healthy eating plank. The initiative aims to add value to the food shopping habits and changing food consumption habits. Its success measured by â€Å"over 7 million ‘Try cards picked up in stores.† Engaging its 3500 smaller scale suppliers by launching a campaign â€Å"Supply Something.† The initiative is aimed at making local supply chain robust. Increasing non-food product categories especially to generate a minimum of  £700m sales. Initiating community participation programs such as â€Å"Active Kids campaign† involving donations of equipment to schools. Attempting to become a responsible corporate citizen by setting targets of reducing carbon emissions and introducing re-cycling. The company has a sourcing office in Hong Kong â€Å"Sainsburys serves 16 million customers each week in 455 supermarkets and 301 convenience stores across the country. The company employs 148,000 colleagues commited to delivering ‘Great Food at Fair Prices.† maintains the companys official website. All the above activities are aimed towards gaining either diffrential or cost leadership or a combination of both. The future There is an increase in sales in the grocery business over the last financial year amounting to Pounds 324 million a growth of 458.6% over 2006. However financial services that accounts for just 1.7% of the total sales has seen a fall of 11.8% over 2006. The organisation states one of it values as â€Å"Getting better Every Day.† In the current tight economic scenario, Shareholders are expecting most of the retailers to use their real estate assets for generating additional liquidity. But in a move completely reverse of the expectation, Sainsburys has tied-up with their lessor British Land. â€Å"Sainsburys also announced it was teaming up with British Land to create a  £1.2bn joint venture to run 39 superstores across the UK. The supermarket says it will invest  £273m into the venture, in which it will have a 50% stake. The stores are currently owned by British Land and leased to Sainsbury for 20 years.† (Source: BBC News Website). Land is the fundamental element in a large scale retail business and store location, store design and merchandise are all important critical success factors. It can be safely concluded that this recent collaborative move by Sainsburys is a deliberate long term. By investing in developing its stores, it can further hope to get a differential advantage over its competitors.

Err Booklet

ERR Booklet Task A – Short Answer Questions Ai – Imagine you are a newly appointed supervisor/manager within your service. You need to update your staff handbook to reflect current employment law. Identify three different sources of information you could use to enable you to do this. Direct. gov website Citizens advice Existing company handbook Aii – List three aspects of employment covered by law Work Conditions (safety, discrimination, accommodation, etc. ) Wages Hours ) List three main features of current employment legislation. Minimum wage Training Holiday entitlements Aiii – Briefly outline why employment law exists. Employment law exists to safeguard the interests of both employers and employees. We understand that this particular area of law is continually developing and it is of critical importance to keep abreast of evolving legislation. Bi – Describe the terms and conditions of your employment as set out in your contract of Employment or employment agreement )Job description – defining the role, responsibility level (eg Manager, Deputy Manager, Assistant etc). It might include limits on decision making/to whom one reports/is supervised by. 2) Entitlement – rate of pay, holiday entitlement, retirement and ill-health benefits, bonus/overtime rates, uniform and/expenses allowances, canteen facilities, etc. 3) Responsibilities: working hours, dress code, reporting illness/absence, annual assessments, complaints procedures, notice periods for leaving/dismissal, requirements to change working hours. )General: Depending on the type of job, there might be other conditions restricting the employee taking other part-time work, confidentiality clauses, using company equipment for private use (eg phones, computers, vehicles) general codes of behaviour and adherence to certain corporate practices, health & safety regulations, etc. The actual format of the contract will vary from company to company. Some will cover more general matters in a Staff Handbook which the employee is required to read and confirm he/she has done soBii – Describe the information which needs to be shown on your pay slip/statement: Employee’s name Tax code National Insurance Nett pay Payment of overtime, bonus’s or tips Date Company name Payment method Payment period Biii – Identify two changes to personal information which you must report to your employer. Address Bank detail Biv – Describe the procedure to follow if you wanted to raise a grievance at work. You may describe this in writing or produce a flow chart or diagram. 1) Firstly, write to your employer setting out all the details of your grievance. ) Meet with your employer. Your employer should then arrange a meeting to discuss your issue and look at possible resolutions. It is your legal right to take a companion to this meeting, such as a colleague, a trade union representative or trade union official. This companion may spea k on your behalf, but may not answer questions on your behalf. 3) Appeal your employer's decision. After the meeting has taken place, your employer should write to you in a timely fashion with a decision on how your rievance will be resolved. If you are unsatisfied with this decision, then you have the right to appeal. This appeal should again be made in writing, and your employer must arrange another meeting. Bv – Explain the agreed ways of working with your employer in relation to the following areas: Without a job description how would you apply for a job, both you and your employer need to know the perimeters that you will work to be able to determine: the responsibility; the type and class of work you will do and pay scales.Unions will always never agree to working conditions that are not safe or health and safety valued,, however, the employer has a right to expect that when you are working in a firm that your time is productive so implementing ways of working by the us e of ‘Time and Motion' studies is not regarded as being taboo. That is why it is essential that there is communication between employer and employee or the employee's representative, the Union.

Modern Technology: For Better or Worse Essay

When it comes to the topic of the impact of digital devices or modern technology on society, most of us will readily agree that technology has positive and negative effects on our social and personal life. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of does technology control us? Whereas some are convinced that we need to embrace the technology, others maintain that we are living too much in the virtual. While still others are concerned about how we lose sight of the reality because of technology’s capability to make it happen. Andrew Lam, a Vietnamese journalist and a short story writer makes a point in his article â€Å"I Tweet, Therefore I am† about how technology is drastically changing the way we look and react in our society. One of the examples he uses to clarify his point is about the professor who collapsed while preparing to give a lecture. Lam said, â€Å"Instead of helping him, many students in the audience took out their cell phones, sna pped photos, texted and tweeted† (Lam 1). The students wanted to be the first one to spread the news so that they could gain popularity or feel proud of themselves for having the power of recording the extraordinary event that just happened. As we try to be the first one to tell the news, we don’t realize that we are losing our empathy. The students sure did feel badly for their professor, but their first reaction was that they have to record it instead of giving a hand or calling an ambulance. I understand why the students reacted by taking pictures or videos of their professors, because I also had those times where I witnessed some unusual happenings and the first reaction I felt is that I have to take pictures of it and share it with my friends by posting the pictures/videos in social networks I am using. I also understand why Lam is concerned about this, but this is a reality that automatically happens as we immerse in the generation of technology. This is not good because we are letting the influence of technology forget one of the most important aspects of socializing, showing respect and care to someone. We are changing in order to fit in to the digital media and social world. Lam mentions, â€Å"Generations  have been raised on video games, spent the bulk of their lives in chat rooms and on YouTube, on cellphones and iPods. They have been conditioned to invest the bulk of their emotional life in the virtual space† (Lam 5). I agree that most of us, in this generation, isolate ourselves in our own place inside the technology. It makes us busy in not such a productive way because we can sit in a chair or lie in bed just focusing on our phones, computers or tablets and not realize that we’ve just wasted hours or worse, our whole day. I could stay in my bedroom facing my laptop, chatting my friends for three hours. When I am done with chatting, I close my laptop and start texting. When I don’t text I watch funny and interesting videos on my iPod. Therefore, I would say that my daily routine is occupied with technology and mobile devices, whether it is good or not, technology is a part of every single day of my life. As we get benefits in the use of technology, we also need to accept the consequence that comes with it. Lam also makes a strong point when he said his view about the social media and its effects in on our personal lives, â€Å"We do not fully exist without some sort of electronic imprint in the virtual world, a digital projection of ourselves† (Lam 25). I agree with that because as I see it, we are now in a generation where people use technology, our life revolves around it, and we introduce ourselves to others using technology. We are then starting to care less and less about our personal lives. We are now posting what we feel on a Facebook status, we tweet our thoughts in Twitter, we even write what we are doing and where we are in our personal blogs. Instead of just writing it in our journal or diary, we are now sharing it to the world which makes us feel part of the society but making us care less about what we share and lets us forget the real meaning of privacy. What I don’t agree with in Lam’s article is when he said that, â€Å"†¦they (we) may just be leaving something important and irretrievable behind† (Lam), because although there are certain negative impacts of technology. I would not say that we are losing empathy as we immerse ourselves into the digital devices because the technology and its advancement aids the society as a whole and the important things we want to share. Whether it is good or bad news, we get the freedom of sharing it, reaching more people faster. Most importantly is when we find some people who can relate to us makin g us feel more important and better, and that is because of the widespread influence of the technology. Another  essay that makes a point and shows concern about the impact of technology is entitled â€Å"How Computer Change the Way We Think† by Sherry Turkle, and Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Turkle’s concern is how digital devices change the ways we think, how we are all relying on the benefits of technology and as we rely on it. We are losing our true identity and ability to do deep thinking. Technology blinds us with what is most important, which is enjoying and making friendships and relationships through physical interaction. Tukle said, â€Å"For those who are lonely yet afraid of intimacy, information technology has made it possible to have the illusion of companionship without the demand of friendship† (Turkle 603). Instead of meeting real friends in the park or mall, we add â€Å"friends† on Facebook. Instead of talking to a person face to face, we can text or tweet them and they will text/tweet back to us. Technology helps our social life easier in a way that we are losing the ability to interact to a person physically. As a personal example, when my family and I are having a dinner in a restaurant and while waiting for our order to come, we hold our iPods and smartphones, texting or playing games and I notice the silence because we are so busy with our gadgets and mobile devices. After reading Turkle’s concerns, I realize how rude that is. We are in the restaurant to bond and talk, yet we are in our gadgets talking to other people who are not in the table by means of texting. We are playing games instead of chuckling with our sisters and brothers. We are slowly forgetting the importance of having a face to face interaction. We depend so much in the computer that we are now letting the computers do the work for us and it is making us do less deep thinking. Moreover on Turkle’s concerns, he said â€Å"It does not teach students to begin a discussion or construct a narrative. It encourages presentation, not conversation† (Turkle 603). Though the PowerPoint gives us better look of what we want to share, it also have negative effects especially to students. Because of the PowerPoint, the class has now lack of discussion, making the PowerPoint do all the talk. The â€Å"swooshing sounds, animated icons, and flashing test, a slide show† (Turkle 603), distracts the students from the real purpose of the presentation. Some focus too much to the functions of PowerPoint and end up thinking of how can we make it looks attractive to the eyes of the audience instead of how they can understand  the ideas behind main poi nts. When it comes to privacy, we are not fully aware of the negative and dangerous impacts of sharing our personal information to the public and to the government. We thought that as long as it’s the way to get access on particular websites, it is fine to share anything they ask for. Turkle says, â€Å"Unlike past generations of Americans, who grew up with the notion that the privacy of their mail was sacrosanct, our children are accustomed to electronic surveillance as part of their daily lives† (Turkle 602). When it comes to accessing web services, I also don’t hesitate giving my personal information such as my name, address, contact number and I am willing to type it down as it is the only way to get in to the web services that I need, especially for school and work. Also for social networks, it is required to put my name, a profile picture and some basic information such as birth date and relationship status. Technology is taking away our privacy. We are giving the world to access our life. The dangers of sharing information have been in the news nowadays. There are now people who hack accounts and try to change or mess with our profile. Although we are aware of the danger of sharing personal information on the computer, we are still doing it because we enjoy its benefits. Whatever negative impacts we get in technology and mobile devices, we have to face the reality that we are now in a generation where technology will grow and grow and the next generations to come will depend on it more than we depend on it now. The only thing we can do is not to let technology fully control our daily life by appreciating the outside world and the real people. Works Cited Lam, Andrew. â€Å"I Tweet, Therefore I Am†. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012 Print. Turkle, Sherry. â€Å"How Computers Change The Way We Think†. The Writer’s Presence. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2012. Print.

Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting Essay - 1056 Words

Psych: Drug Addiction The meeting I attended was held in Millersville University at Lehr Hall at 9:30 Am. I attended the meeting alone and was initially very hesitant and uncomfortable with the idea. At the beginning not unexpected occurred really happened. It appeared to be a very informal meeting that everyone seemed to already be acquainted. All the members directed each other by name and I was welcomed by, what seemed to be, a regular attendee as well as a new member. I sat down and initiated conversation with the member next to me. She informed me that she goes to multiple meetings and this was her first time at the specific location. She asked me of my major and other information. A member of the group, who seemed to be the†¦show more content†¦This put the topic more towards forgiveness rather than anything else. The only topic discussed, as I recall, was forgiveness. Many members gave their accounts of moments in which they felt â€Å"sorry† and how they handled the situation. I w ill refrain from going into further detail about any of the members of the group to keep their anonymity. The meeting concluded with the â€Å"serenity prayer.† I was not familiar with this prayer so I just held the hands of those near me and bowed my head out of respect. Specific attendees of the meetings appeared more active and attentive than others. Some of them seemed as though they did not want to be there and looked miserable. About one or two of the members even fell asleep a couple of times. Maybe some members went because they had to or because they just wanted to help tell themselves that they are trying. This really interested me because it is important to take notice that some people go and progress due to being active and others are just forced. In the case of being forced it is very easy to go to the meeting and just not be attentive or active. During the meeting I felt very enlightened. The topic of forgiveness is very broad and is even relevant in my own life . The viewpoint on the topic was very different and interesting. They talked more about being forgiving of ourselves because we are the ones that cause ourselves to react negatively to life’s daily hassles and stressors. They also spoke on the controlShow MoreRelatedAlcoholics Anonymous Meeting, And A Nar Meeting1269 Words   |  6 PagesFor this assignment, I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Ala-Anon meeting, Narcotics Anonymous meeting, and a Nar-Anon meeting. The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was in Greensboro titled â€Å"Back to Reality†. It was located at a fellowship club. The Ala-Anon meeting was located at Centertary United Methodist Church in Greensboro. 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