Walmart: Global Retail Giant

Unit 1: An Introduction to the Business Environment

1. Different types of business and stakeholders

1.1 Different types of business and their ownership

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation operating within a chain of hypermarkets, discount stores and grocery stores. The company provides quality products and services including the electronics, movies and music, home and furniture, clothing, footwear, health and beauty, photo finishing, grocery and sporting goods and fitness and the services are Walmart pay, Pickup Today, Money card etc. The revenue of the company in this year is approximately $514.405 billion and total numbers of employees are 2.2 million. It is a publically traded company, controlled by the Walton family and tit is a family business and the ownership is in the Walton family. On the other hand, Tesco is another competitive firm of Walmart, operating in the global retail industry. The ownership of Tesco depends on shareholders, who invest on the company for successful establishment.

1.2 Different types of stakeholders

There are external and internal stakeholders and the external stakeholders of Walmart are government, suppliers and distributors as well as the customers of the business. The internal stakeholders are owner, manager, employees and other staff member. On the other hand, the internal stakeholders of Tesco are mainly the shareholders without whom the business purpose of Tesco cannot be accomplished. Additionally, there are other stakeholders such as employees, front line managers, leader and CEO as well a government, suppliers and customers who play crucial role in maximising the business purpose of the company (Burns & Dewhurst, 2016).

2. Understanding business

2.1 Ways to organise the business

Both the organisations, Walmart and Tesco are operating in same industry which is retail and both the firms are operating worldwide. The ways of organising the business is almost same in both the organisations. Managing the office and store is one of the best propriety of the firms to represent their products and services in the market. Recruiting the front line managers and staff at the retail stores is also necessary to manage the customers and help them to choose the best quality products according to their needs and preferences. Improving the workplace culture, developing training program and motivating the employees are essential to manage the workers and lead them towards achieving success. Moreover, developing market mix and managing the operational activities are also crucial task for the organisation to organise task and fulfil the purpose of the business which is to maximise customer’s values by delivering quality products and efficient services.

3. Meeting the target of the business

3.1 Different types of business targets

There are different types of business targets such as maximising the customer’s expectations, managing quality of the products and efficiency of the services, creating values for the stakeholders of the company and maintaining corporate social responsibilities. These are the different types of targets through which the retail firm tries to establish their business in the global retail industry and maximise their global presence successfully.

3.2 Ways to business to achieve target

In order to achieve the above mentioned target, the organisation like Walmart focuses on recruiting and selecting the efficient staff and employees in the company as well as provide them proper induction and training and development in order to improve their knowledge and technical skill as well as enhance their performance so that they can deliver quality products and efficient services to the customers. Moreover, developing proper marketing mix strategic planning is another way to fulfil the target to strengthening their customer’s base where the company can promote their products and retain long term buyers successfully. Moreover, providing high return on investment to all the stakeholders is another strategy for fulfilling the target of creating values for the stakeholders where the stakeholders can feel value while working in the organisation.

4. Identifying legal, political, and social factors

4.1 Factors affecting business

The legal, political and social factors are playing curial role in influencing the business process. In this regard, political stability and support from the government are necessary for doing the business internationally. Following the legislation of international trade, managing tariff and quota as well as accessing the free trade region for exporting and importing are effective to run the business ethically, moreover the registration, copyright and intellectual property rights are also effective for managing the business sustainably and maximise the organisational values successfully. In addition to these, there are social factors which affect the business process.

In the recent era of globalisation and digitalisation, all the people across the globe prefer online activities and e-commerce service for making effective purchase decision and this is why, the company like Walmart focuses on online business to attract more audiences in the market and provide them a chance to choose the best products and services successfully from the online sites of the organisation. Social development and economic growth further enhance the business activities, where the leader and the mangers focus on innovation and creativity to serve the customers uniquely.

Reference List

Burns, P., & Dewhurst, J. (Eds.). (2016). Small business and entrepreneurship. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Myers, M. D. (2019). Qualitative research in business and management. Sage Publications Limited.

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Unit 2: Business Resources

1. Human resource management

1.1 Selection and documentation of the employees

There are different types of selection and recruitment process, through which the company Walmart can recruit the best employee, who can perform better in the organisation for maximising the organisational values. Receiving the application and screening the applications for understanding the employee profile so that the employer can understand the suitability of the employee in the organisation. Additionally, employment test is mandatory through which, the employer can understand the technical abilities of the employees and after that, and personal interview provides a scope of the employers to understand the capabilities of the employees to perform the organisational task.

The employer in this regard, tries to understand whether the employee is able to manage the organisational task r not and after that final selection is being made by the employer. After selection, it is necessary to have proper documentation, employment and joining letters, medical test of the employees so that the whole process of recruitment and selection has been happened legally.

1.2 Importance of employability and personal and communication skills

The employability skill and communication skill are necessary for the organisation to recruit and select the right candidate for the organisation. Communication is necessary while recruiting and selecting the employee, where the employer needs to interact with the employees for understanding their skill and abilities to perform in the organisation. Through communication, the employer can understand whether the employees are eligible for the organisational job role or not.

Additionally, the employability skill is effective for the employees during the selection process where the employees need to show self management, time management, positive attitude, thinking skill and problem solving skill as well as willingness to work cooperatively and learn more through gathering experience. These skill and abilities are important for the employees to get selected in the organisation where the employer can understand the abilities of the employees to perform better in the organisation and contribute positively in the workplace.

2. Purpose of managing physical and technological resources

2.1 Importance of physical and technological resources required in selecting employees

Both the physical and technological resources are required in the recruitment and selection process, the availability of senior management team, organisational infrastructure proper physical environment are required in the selection process and job advertisement and utilising the organisational portal for promoting the job and vacancies are also beneficial for the company Walmart to retain eligible employees in the market. Apart from that, the technological resources such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), computerised data base and cloud computing is required for selecting the right candidate for the organisation. In this regard, both the physical environment and technological resources are necessary to recruit the right candidate for the organisation after proper assessment and interview of the employee.

3. Identify ways to access different sources of finance

3.1 Importance of internal and external finances

There are external and internal sources of finance, through which the organisation can source proper finance to the business for successful operational activities. In this regard, for example, in the company Walmart, the major internal sources of finance are personal fund of the Walton family as well as investment in extra cash, selling assets, retained soft and working capital which is utilises again in the business process by reinvestment. On the other hand, the external source of finance are such as shared cap[ital, loan capital, leasing, hire purchase, debentures, sponsorship, government subsidies and trade credit which are important to invest proper financial asset for the benefits of the organisation.

4. Understanding financial statements

4.1 Importance of content of financial statements

Financial statement plays a crucial role in making effective business strategic planning. For Walmart, the financial statement is mandatory to develop the strategic planning and decide further investment. The financial statement is developed at the end of the year where it helps to mage the cash flows of the business successfully. Moreover, the financial statement is required for managing the shareholders and it is also important for national income where it is possible to address total fund coming in the country through exporting the goods and services of Walmart. In addition to these, proper financial asset enables to know the earning capabilities of the firm and financial strengthen of Walmart as well as it helps to decide the investment amount in near future. Future prediction is being made on the basis of financial statement of the company and thus it provides a scope to expand the business in near future and improve efficiency and effectiveness of the organisational management.

Reference List

Yeniyurt, S., Wu, F., Kim, D., & Cavusgil, S. T. (2019). Information technology resources, innovativeness, and supply chain capabilities as drivers of business performance: A retrospective and future research directions. Industrial Marketing Management, 79, 46-52.

Barry, R. B. A., Adman, A., Supardi, E., Sarino, A., Yatimah, D., & Purnama, R. (2019, May). Recruitement Effectiveness of Employees to Support Performance. In 1st International Conference on Economics, Business, Entrepreneurship, and Finance (ICEBEF 2018). Atlantis Press.

Unit 3: An Introduction to Marketing

1. Importance of marketing in an organisation

1.1 Marketing technique of the organisation

Marketing strategic planning is beneficial for both the organisation Tesco and Walmart, where it helps to promote the organisational products and services in the retail market. In this regard, both the organisations use tag line to promote their brand in the market. The tag line of Walmart is ‘save money, live better’ which attracts the customers to have quality products at affordable price and save money for living better in future. On the other hand, the company Tesco uses the tag line ‘every little helps’ which is also effective to retain the customers in the market. On the other hand, the companies are trying to promote their brands through social media as in the recent era of digitalisation; social media plays a crucial role in promoting the organisational products and services and attracting the customers in long run. Through social media posts, the company Walmart and Tesco are trying to target he customers in the market and retain them for long run.

1.2 Describing limitations of marketing

The major limitations of marketing are lack of finance, inappropriate marketing planning and inefficiency of the marketing manager. These are major limitations, for which the organisation sometime face difficulties in managing their marketing strategies. It is important to have efficient marketing manager to develop proper marketing mix strategic planning in order to promote the products and services at the market. Additionally, lack of timing and financial resourcs is other limitations in the marketing tactics, where it is difficult for the organisation to develop proper marketing mix strategic planning. Lack of proper marketing research is another limitation for which the marketing manager fails to understand the market trend and demand of the customers to develop product planning and marketing tactics to attract the audiences at the market.

2. Understanding marketing research and planning

2.1 Ways marketing research helps to develop marketing plan

The organisation Walmart utilises market research for developing effective marketing strategies, where it is possible for the marketing manager to identify the market trend and understand the customer’s choice and preferences. It is beneficial to have proper marketing research in order to develop product line which can meet the expectations of the customers and apart from that, the market research is helpful to understand external business environment including social development, latest technological advancement, political factors and environmental sustainability through which the marketing manager tries to develop marketing mix strategic planning further improvement of marketing to attract the audiences in the market. in addition to these, the market research is beneficial for the marketing manager of the company Walmart in order to plan the promoting strategy and target the right audiences with maintaining the quality of the products so that the manager can deliver quality products and services according to the choice and preferences of the audiences in the market, hereby, the market researcher is advantageous for the company Walmart to understand the external environment, develop proper product line and set effective price as well as develop proper strategy and choose the right place to launch the product in the market.

3. Understanding how and why customer groups are targeted

3.1 Ways to target the customers group and its reason

STP analysis is effective to target the customers in the market, where the business leader can choose the right customers and retain them for long run. It is necessary to target the customer in the market in order to strengthen their customer’s base and sustain the growth of the business. The ways of targeting the customers in the organisation depends on segmentation, targeting and positioning. Segmentation depends on the demographic, cultural background, taste and preferences and geographical locations of the customers (Awan, Salam & INAM, 2015). In this regard, Walmart segment the market on the basis of customer’s choice and preferences. The company targets the customers in urban region where the sales rate for fashionable clothing, health and beauty products and others is increasing at a rapid rate. After segmentation, targeting is necessary for the organisation Walmart in order to retain them for long run. in this regard, for targeting the customers in the retail industry, the organisation develops proper product line according to the taste and preferences of the customers in the market so that the firm is able to deliver quality products and efficient services to the customers which meets the customer’s expectations and fulfil the customer’s needs and preferences.

After developing proper product strategy the company needs to focus on positioning in order to establish the product in the market successfully. In this regard, for positioning, it is effective for the organisation to focus on developing the marketing strategic planning and promote the brand efficiently in the market which in turn helps the company to improve brad visibility and retain more long term customers successfully. Hereby, targeting the right customers is beneficial for the organisation, where it can have proper customer base where the company can retain more old as well as new customers in the retail industry. Through targeting the customer, it is possible for the brand to expand the business by strengthening their customer’s base as well as secure future sustainable development and improve the market share. The target of the customers in the retail industry and positioning of the brand provides a scope to the company Walmart to gain high competitive advantage and run the operational activities successfully in the retail industry worldwide.

4. Marketing mix

4.1 Marketing mix strategic planning for product launch

Marketing mix strategic planning if beneficial for promoting the organisational products and services as well as in crease brand visibility in the market. In this regard, the firm Walmart focuses and invest a huge amount for marketing their products and services and promote the brand strategically. In order to develop proper marketing mix strategic planning, it is important to utilise 4p marketing mix strategy to develop product, price, place and promotion.

Product:

Under the product strategy, the company focuses on enhancing the quality of the product by utilising proper technology and fresh raw materials and organic products for pricing healthy and safe products which fulfil the taste and preferences as well as expectations o the customers. New product development is anthers strategy through which the company increases the product line of the firm and target variety of segment of the customers for better performance in the retail market. Strong product line and quality products are hereby the best strategic planning of the company Walmart in order to strengthen the position of the brand in the international retail market. Suitable benefits of the products and services as well as safe packaging style of the products are also effective for the organisation to establish the brand in the market.

Price:

As per the pricing policy, the company focuses on effective price that can represent the quantity and quantity of the products in the market. For setting proper price, the organisation tries to consider the cost of production and operation, operating profit and value for money. In this regard, the organisation tries o set competitive price so that the customers can afford the products in the market. Additionally, the company is also able to minimise the cost of the production so that it can maintain profit and deliver the quality products at competitive price.

Place:

For placing the products in the market, access to target market ad channel of distribution and networking are important for the organisation in order to deliver suitable products of the organisation successfully. In this regard, Walmart also focuses on logistics management and strengthen the supply chain in order to deliver the products successfully. Moreover, the company tries to develop strong relationship with the suppliers and distributors by giving them high return on investment so that it is possible to manage the distribution network and global supply chain efficiently.

Promotion:

Promotion of the brand is one of the necessary factors in market mix strategic planning of the company so that the company can improve the brand visibility and establish the brand successfully in the market. In this regard, the company Walmart focuses on developing public relationship through communication and cooperation and it further helps to improve word of mouth for promoting the brand in the retail industry. Additionally, the promotion through developing the mobile application and creating authentic company online website are also beneficial through which the customers can place their orders online and enhance the e-commerce activities strategically. Moreover, the social media advertisement is one of the effective ways in the recent era of digitalisation through which the company can develop two way communications with the customers and attract the consumers across the globe through social media posts wit authentic information about the quality of products, pricing and sustainability of the products. These are the major marketing process of Walmart to strengthen their customer’s base and expand the business sustainably.

Reference List

Kotler, P., Burton, S., Deans, K., Brown, L., & Armstrong, G. (2015). Marketing. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Awan, W. A., Salam, A., & INAM, S. G. (2015). The impact of marketing mix (5 Ps) elements on sales of UPS: A case of Karachi Market–Buyer’s perspective. VFAST Transactions on Education and Social Sciences, 6(2).

Unit 4: Human Resource Management

1. Internal and external factors involved in human resources planning

1.1 Internal and external factors required for human resource

There are different factors which affect the recruitment and selection of the employees. In this regard, the external factors are such as supply and demand o the labour market, goodwill of the employee, political, social and legal factors of recruitment, competition in the labour market and unemployment rate which affect the organisational recruitment process.

On the other hand, the internal factors are such as recruitment policy of the firm, human resource planning, size of the firm and required workforce of the company, cost of recruitment and growth and expansion through which the manager of the human resource department tries to recruit the right candidate who can be able to fulfil the job role of the firm.

1.2 Identifying the skill for improving employee’s performance

It is important to identify the skill of the employees to understand whether the employee is able to perform the job ole of the organisation or not. In this regard the recruiter of the firm tries to take technical exam of the employee to understand the technical skill of the employees. After that, proper one to one interview is one of the effective ways to test the abilities of the employee to performance the job role in the organisation.

2. Ways of motivating the employees

2.1 Motivational strategies of the employees

Motivation of the employees is necessary for the entire corporate firm to retain the employees for log run and encourage them to perform better in the organisation. In this regard, the Herzberg’s motivational theory is effective to identify the strategies to motivate the employees. There are some hygienic factors as per the theory of motivation, which are salaries and wages to the employees, providing benefits to work n the organisation, quality of supervision, job security, working condition and work life balance through which the manager of human resource department tries to encourage the employees to stay and perform with their full potential in order to contribute on the organisational success. In this context, the company Walmart focuses on the structured salary and benefits for the employees so that the employees can get valued at the workplace, providing performance related pay and bonus are also effective to motivate the staff of Walmart. Apart from that, the manager tries to providing safety and healthy environment to the employees so that all the staff can feel safe at the workplace. Emergency exit, CCTV cameras and maintaining hygienic factors at the workplace as well as fire extinguisher, wearing gloves are effective to maintain the health and safety of the employees. Apart from that, Walmart provides health insurance to the employees in case of any accidents of the employees at the workplace. Work life balance is also another factor which motivates the employees and on this regard, the organisation focuses on providing flexibility and freedom to choose the working hours where the employees can manage their work and tries to contribute positively in the organisational success.

As per the Herzberg’s theory of motivation, there are the motivational factors such as sense of personal achievement in the workplace, promotion and personal and professional growth, recognition, status, strong committeemen and satisfaction through which he leader tries to strengthen their employee’s base and lead the staff towards achieving success. In this context, the manager of Walmart provides the sense of achievement and promotes the staff to a higher position of the organisation according to their skill and experience. Apart from that, providing training and development program further motivates the employees through giving the chance of personal and professional development as well as satisfaction level among the employees through providing high return on investment are also effective to encourage the employees and lead the towards achieving the organisational success.

3. Ways to manage employee performance

3.1 Managing and measuring employee performance

It is essential for the human resource manager to manage the employee’s performance ad measure it properly in order to understand their performance level and contribution in the organisational success. In this regard, managing the performance depends on rewards and recognising, goal setting and revisiting, developing planning and managing and coaching through which the leader can encourage the creativity and innovation of the employee successfully. In this regard, Walmart focuses on managing the employee’s performance through building strong relationship with all the staff by enhancing communication and improving cooperation so that they can be encouraged to develop effective team and work as a partnership basis.

Apart from that, managing and coaching is necessary where management and measuring the employee’s performance depends on training and development program which is effective for the manager to enhance the technical skill and knowledge among the staff and lead them towards high performance achievement. For measuring the performance, apply performance assessment and monitoring the contribution of the staff are effective through which the manager can interact with the staff and encourage them for better performance.

4. Understanding organisational strategy for cooperating with the employees

4.1 Ways to cooperate with the employees

Cooperation is effective for the employees to participate in the task as a team and achieve the common goal of the team successfully through collaboration and coordination so that the knowledge and skill of the employees are shared and together they can perform better to achieve ultimate gaols. In this regard, positive attitude and polite behaviour are necessary to cooperate with each other. Moreover, participation of all the employees and coordination with each others are also effective where positive communication and honesty towards each others are beneficial to improve cooperation at the workplace, sharing the values at the organisation and proper share of experience and skill of each other are also advantageous to improve cooperation where all the employees try to be collaborative to meet the organisational goal. Moreover, building strong relationship, participation in the group discussion and training program of the firm as well as interaction to each other are helpful to improve cooperation and work as a partnership basis.

Reference List

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Unit 5: Business Communication

1. Different types of business information

1.1 Using different types of business information to fulfil their purpose

There are deterrent types of business information through which the organisation tries to fulfil their purpose of the business. In this regard, the external information is helpful to understand the market trend. The political and legal information are helpful for Walmart to understand the political stability and government rules and regulations to conduct the operational activities ethically. Moreover the technological information helps to utilises the latest technology and improve innovation and creativity of the business. The environmental information is helpful for Walmart to improve the sustainability of the business and provide positive environmental footprint in the market to create values for all the stakeholders of the business. Apart from that, the financial information is necessary to understand the financial statement, investment and capital flows of the business which is beneficial to expand the organisation successfully.

Marketing and social factors are effective to target the right customer’s base and strengthen their customer’s base successfully. Moreover, the sales and management information are effective for Walmart to understand the market trend as well as acknowledge the actual needs ad preferences of the customers which in turn helps to improve satisfaction level of the customers and retain long run customers for fulfilling the business purpose.

2. Presenting business information effectively

2.1 Different types of cooperate communication

It is necessary for the organisations to improve different types of business communication for representing the information of the business. In this regard, the corporate presentation as well as using charts, diagrams ad tabular formation is effective to represent the business information efficiently. Apart from that, the mangers try to improve online communication with the staff members and utilises the online portal of the company for representing the business information successfully. Additionally, the organisation utilises ICT or improving corporate communication sand also use email for sharing the information with others at the workplace.

3. Limitations in relation to the use of business information in an organisation

3.1 Legal and ethical issues to use business information

There are several ethical issue and legal compliances for using the business information in the organisational context. Data privacy is one of the major ethical issues, where the managers sometime cannot protect the privacy of the data and information. In this regard, Data protection Act 1998 is mandatory to be applied in the organisation for protecting the safety and security of the data and information. Moreover, abuse to privileged as well as misinterpretation of the data and certifications is also other ethical issues in using the business information.

Additionally, the conflicts of interest, lack of management of the information, inappropriate monitoring, and data hacking, overstating issues are serious ethical issues in the organisational context where the management team fail to maintain the safe the gathered data and business information.

4. Ways to communicate the business information

4.1 Electronic and non-electronic methods to communicate business information

There are several electronic and non-electronic ways to share the business information internally and externally. The electronic ways of sharing the business information are developing presentation of the gathered data, sending personalise email, uploading the information n the organisational web portal and website and utilizing ICT for sharing the information. On the other hand, the non-electronic ways of sharing the information are creating reports and online business letters as well as developing company yearly report for sharing the statistical data ad business information as well as providing training to the employees for sharing the information.

Reference List

Bovée, C. L., Thill, J. V., & Raina, R. L. (2016). Business communication today. Pearson Education India.

Brink, K. E., & Costigan, R. D. (2015). Oral communication skills: Are the priorities of the workplace and AACSB-accredited business programs aligned?. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(2), 205-221.

Unit 6: Understanding Health and Safety in the Business Workplace

1. Health and safety legislation and regulations affect a business working environment

1.1 Legal requirements and regulations for ensuring the health, safety and security

It is the responsibility of the organisation to manage health and safety of the workers at the workplace so that it is possible to provide a chance to the employee to feel valued and safe while working at the organisation. In this regard, new health and safety legislations 2019 as well as Health and Safety at work Act 1974 are effective to manage the environment of the workplace and provide safety and security to the employees. All the employees are secured in the organisation under the rules and regulations of the health and safety. The management of health and safety department are taking care of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrence at the workplace where the employees are under proper supervision of safety and security (Sorensen et al., 2018).

2. Requirements for healthy, safe productive working conditions

2.1 Requirements for a healthy and safe workplace to apply physical environment and equipment

The organisation Walmart focuses on health ad safety regulations and developing proper physical environment with successful infrastructure in order to handle the employees and lead them towards achieving success safely. It is the responsibility of the human resource manager at Walmart to maintain safety and security of the employees. The factors such as emergency exit signs and workstation ergonomics as well as implementing CCTV cameras are effective to provide secured workplace to the employees. Implementing fire extinguisher at the workplace as well as maintaining electricity and noise in the production unit is also beneficial to manage the physical environment of the workplace of Walmart. Additionally, maintaining sanitary and hygienic factors at the workplace as well as providing insurance to the employees is also effective strategies of Walmart to promote safety and secure of the employees successfully.

3. Role and responsibilities of key personnel

3.1 Roles and responsibilities for health and safety of key personnel

It is the roles of the health and safety personnel to review the workplace positively and efficiently and check all the safety measures such as emergency exit, electricity board, production units, and hygienic factors, so that the employees can get secured workplace to work with their full potential. In addition to these, the health and safety manager at the workplace are responsible for managing the workplace safety and monitoring the employees through CCTV s that immediate actions can be taken in case of any injuries happened in the workplace. Proper monitoring, continuous check up of the workplace and hygienic factors are the roles of the health and safety personnel who is efficient to manage the security and safety of all the employees.

4. Assessing and managing risk

4.1 Risk assessment for a selected administrative work environment

Risk assessment and management is necessary at the workplace for identifying the possible risks at the workplace as well as develop proper planning for managing the risk successfully. Developing corporate governance is necessary for successful risk assessment and management where transparency and accountability as well as proper working environment, communication and cooperation are effective to manage the risk at the workplace.

The managing the hazard at the workplace is another important way to manage the risk where continuous monitoring and assessment planning are helpful to manage the chemical reaction for other hazards at the workplace. Additionally, physical environment and recovery of the planning and responding the planning are also effective to manage the possible risks at the workplace, where the leader and the managers can manage safety and security of the employees through proper assessment and taking immediate actions.

Reference List

Bruening, R. A., Strazza, K., Nocera, M., Peek-Asa, C., & Casteel, C. (2015). Understanding small business engagement in workplace violence prevention programs. American journal of health promotion, 30(2), e83-e91.

Sorensen, G., Sparer, E., Williams, J. A., Gundersen, D., Boden, L. I., Dennerlein, J. T., ... & Pronk, N. P. (2018). Measuring Best Practices for Workplace Safety, Health, and Well-Being: The Workplace Integrated Safety and Health Assessment. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 60(5), 430-439.

Unit 7: Managing Business Operations

1. Functions and structures of businesses

1.1 Key functions of businesses and how these lead to business success

There are different functions of the business which are important to fulfil the business aims and objectives successfully. The functions are productions, finance, human resources, sales and marketing, administration and research and development. In the production process, the leader and the managers focus on using organic and healthy products in the organisation Walmart in order to produce quality products and efficient service that will match the customer’s expectations. In this regard, proper technology of production, infrastructure of the production unit and using proper raw material are important to maintain the functions of the organisation.

Secondly, the human resource functions and management are necessary as the employees are the major stakeholders of the organisation, in which the managers and the leader implement different tactics to satisfy the employees and staff members through monetary ad non-monetary incentives. On the other hand, the financial function as well as research and development program is also important functions to improve innovation and creativity of the company through reallocating the resources and investing more financial investment in the organisation. Sales and marketing is another important function, for promoting the organisational products and services and maximise the organisational profitability level successfully.

1.2 Organisational structures and how they impact on business operation

Organisational structure is important for achieving the organisational success where proper structure and allocation of job are helpful for doing the organisational job and responsibilities at the workplace strategically. In this regard, under the CEO of the organisation, there are different departments such as sales and marketing, production unit, human resources, finance, purchasing and research and development. The manager of each department plays crucial role in developing the tactics of leading the people and provide proper instruction to conduct the job role successfully (Slack & Lewis, 2017).

The structure of organisation of Walmart is helpful where the marketing manager is taking care of sales and marketing functions by developing marketing strategies and maximising sales volume by targeting the right customer segment. On the other hand, the prediction manager is responsible for managing the production function as well as financial manager take care of the financial records and manage balance sheet of the firm which is beneficial to invest financial resources and maximise the organisational output.

2. Importance of operational control

2.1 Benefits of operational control

Managing operational control is beneficial for the organisation to achieve future success. In this context, Walmart focuses on operational control in order to reduce the operational cost and deliver the quality products at affordable price. Operational flexibility and better operational control with proper utilisation of the organisational resources and capabilities are the other benefits of operational control in the company Walmart, where all the managers and the employees try to perform their own job role and responsibilities strategically. Operational storage utilisation, warehouse and production management as well as continuous information access and developing automated process are also other advantages of managing the operations of the company.

2.2 Organisational system for achieving operational control

The operational system of the firm is important where the leader and the managers try to control different activities of the organisation to control the operational activities and maximise the purpose of the business.

The activities such as scheduling, location strategy and maintenance are important to develop the operational strategy of Walmart. In addition to these, the operation manager tries to layout design and strategic planning as well as warehouse management and inventory control mechanism are beneficial for Walmart to develop proper supply chain and strengthen the distribution network for managing he organisational products and services efficiently an satisfy the customers by delivering the product according to their needs and preferences (Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017).

3. Best practice of the organisation

3.1 Explaining excellence and quality in the organisational context

In the organisational context, excellence and managing quality are necessary to be maintained in order to maximise the organisational purpose. It is essential to follow the benchmarking of production, marketing, strategies and operations so that the manager cans maximise the operational process successfully. On the other hand, using proper raw material and utilising the organisational resources ad capabilities in the operations are necessary to produce quality products. In this regard, Walmart utilises organisational resources and capabilities as well as uses fresh raw material and organic products for producing the products which are in good quality to satisfy the customers (Bozarth & Handfield, 2016).

3.2 Tools and technique to enhance quality of the products and services

Product life cycle is one of the major techniques to understand the value of the product and demand of the product. Additionally the value of the product needs to be measured so that the manager can understand the suitability of the product in the market. Thirdly, customer review is also effective tool for measuring the product performance and understanding the quality of the products. In this regard, Walmart focuses on gathering customer’s data and feedback to understand the quality and suitability of the products (Worthington & Britton, 2015).

Reference List

Bozarth, C. & Handfield, R. (2016). Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management. 4th ed. Pearson.

Heizer, J., Render, B. & Munson, C. (2017). Principles of Operations Management (2017) 10th ed. Pearson Educational.

Worthington, I. & Britton, C. (2015). The Business Environment. 7th ed. Pearson

Unit 8: An Introduction to Finance

1. Requirements for financial recording and reporting

1.1 Purpose and values of financial recording

Financial recording is important for the organisation to analyse the past performance and predict future value of the firm. The financial recording is also beneficial for the organisation as it provides a scope to reallocate the resources ad understand the capital flows of the firm which is important to operate the functions in the company to establish the firm successfully. Through financial recoding, more research and development can be conducted where the financial recorded data and information further expand as the scope of research and development of the organisational products and services which in turn helps to create values for all the stakeholders.

1.2 Technique of recording financial information

Management of financial accounting is necessary, where the mangers try to create balance sheet and financial statement for better understanding of the capital flows. Through book keeping ad double entry method, it is possible for the financial manager to enter the right records of financial costs and benefits in the balance sheet to analyse the financial asse4ts of the company. Cash flows forecast are also another effective way to improve the financial record through while the revenue and capital flows can be analysed properly.

1.3 Legal requirements for financial recording

Care quality commission provides rules and legislations to maintain authenticity of the data and information for developing financial record. Additionally, managing copyright is necessary where the data and information cannot be copied by others. All the data and information are utilises only for the organisational purpose. Moreover, data protection is legal requirement where the mangers of the organisation maintain security and safety of the information and data in the organisation and these are utilises only for organisational performance management and strategic planning.

2. Understanding accounting technique

2.1 Business management and financial accounting

Financial accounting is the accounting system to track the financial transactions of the organisation and on the other hand, business management is the functions of the leader and the managers of the organisation to develop strategic planning to conduct the operational activities and fulfil the organisational aims and objectives. Financial accounting mainly provides a scope to the managers and leader of the organisation to develop the strategic planning and utilise the resources by reallocating the organisational resources and employees capabilities to maximise the organisational vision.

2.2 Explaining budgetary control process

Budgetary control process is the process of determining the various results of budgeted for the future success of the organisation. Under the budgetary control of the firm Walmart, the management team of finance department prepare the budget and communicate the budget with the leaders and shareholders of the firm in order to measure and evaluate the upcoming result (Bamber & Parry, 2014).

After proper evaluation of the budget, the analyst compares the outcome and analyse the deviation and results and revisits the budget in order to be ultimate success of the business.

3. Financial statement

3.1 Financial statement using accounting

In the accounting system, the financial statement such as income statement, statement of cash flows and capital flows as well as notes of accounts are utilises well to represent the transaction sand profitability of the organisation. Apart from that, key stakeholder of the company, corporate social responsibility and business strategy are also evaluated in the financial report through which the major process of business, investment and key stakeholders can be developed well.

3.2 Format of financial statement

The format of financial statement in case of Walmart includes total asset, total liabilities, total review, capital flows, liquidity cash flows and profitability and net profit.

3.3 Content of the statement

The major content of the financial statement of the organisation Walmart are such as proper introduction and overview of the firm, purpose of the business, values and vision of the company as well as milestone and deliverables are there to understand the business process. Additionally, in the financial statement, there is the content related to the brand strategy and tactics to create values for all the stakeholders through corporate social responsibilities as well as cash flows, income generation and review and sales through which the performance of the organisational can be determined efficiently (Dyson, 2007).

4. Interpreting financial information

4.1 Needs of interpreting financial information

Financial information is mandatory for all the corporate films to analyse the performance of the business and predict the future scope of the business successfully. In this regard, the purpose of financial analysis is to conduct rate analysis, profitability analysis, investment ratio by evaluating the return on investment, liquidity ratio for understanding the liquidity cash flows and benchmarking.

4.2 Using ratio analysis for financial interpretation

Ration analysis is important for the firm Walmart to understand the performance of the business and efficiency of the employee to achieve the organisational aims and objectives. Through the ratio analysis, it is possible for the company to analyse future path and growth of the business as well as determine the financial strengthen of the organisation in expanding the business (Atrill & McLaney, 2016).

Reference List

Atrill, P. & McLaney, E. (2016). Accounting and Finance: an introduction. 8th ed. Pearson Educational.

Bamber, M. & Parry, S. (2014). Accounting and Finance for managers. Kogan Page.

Unit 9: An Introduction to Leadership Skills

1. Understanding the leadership role and leadership functions

1.1 Roles and functions of leadership

The leaders play a crucial role in organising the company with proper operational activities and reallocation of resources and capabilities. The leader of Walmart is efficient to develop proper vision and mission and set the strategic goals of the organisation to provide suitable path to the managers and employees so that they can follow it for achieving the future organisational success. In this regard, the leaders lead the people towards achieving success and develop proper strategic planning to enhance the performance of the employees.

Change management and continuous improvement planning are also the functions of the leader where they try to manage the organisational culture and lead he changed process for achieving the organisational success uniquely. Moreover, the leader is responsible for optimising the organisational resources and creates short term plans for managing the workplace sustainably.

1.2 Evaluating leadership theories

Her are transactional and transformational leadership theories. As per the transactional theory of leadership, the leader promotes compliances through rewards and punishment. In the transactional leadership theory, the leadership style is responsive and the leaders are working within the organisational with proper structure where the employees are also bound to follow the structure and organisational status-quo. The objectives of the firm are achieved trough both rewards and punishment.

On the other hand, the transformational leadership style, the leaders are proactive and communicate with the employees positively, continuous support to the employees and encouragement further motivate the staff to work as a team and achieve the organisational success efficiently. In addition to these, the leaders provide innovative ideas and strategies for promoting creativity in the company so that the organisational aim can be achieved proficiently.

1.3 Concept of situational leadership

As per the situational leadership style, there are four types of leaders such as supporting, coaching directing and delegating, under supportive, the leader is highly supportive and low directed behaviour and under coaching, the leader tries to be highly directive ad high supportive behaviour to help the workforce for achieving the organisational aim cooperatively. On the other hand, delegating leader is low supportive and low directive and directive leader is high directive and low supportive.

It is beneficial for the leader to be highly supportive and directive to encourage the workforce and fulfil the organisational goals strategically.

2. Understanding effective leadership skills

2.1 Attributes and personal qualities for effective leaders

It is necessary to have proper leadership skill to manage the workplace ad fulfil the organisational aims and objectives. Strategic thinking and people management are necessary skill for becoming a good leader where the leader is responsible to manage the workforce and develop proper strategy. In order to develop appropriate strategic planning, the leader also needs to have proper problem solving and critical analysis skill so that the organisational problem can be analysed well and the leader can develop solutions to enhance organisational performance (Iszatt-White & Saunders, 2017).

Additionally, the skill of persuasion and influence as well as planning and delivery, communication and change management are important qualities which enhance the performance in the workplace, where the leader can communicate with the employees and support the worker for better innovation and creativity.

2.2 Leadership behaviour

The behaviour of the leaders needs to be supportive where the leader can communicate with others and show respect and integrity while interacting. In addition to these, the leader must have the abilities to inspire the workforce and be able to challenge for better performance. Encouraging the workforce, continuous improvement, enhancing communication and cooperation are effective for the leader to support the workforce and maximise the organisational goals and objectives successfully.

2.3 Effectiveness of leadership style

The leadership style affects the organisational culture, working practice and maximisation of the organisational goals, in this regard the transformational leadership style is beneficial for the organisation, where the leader is supporting and directs the workforce towards achieving success. In addition to these, the leader provides new creative ideas and improves innovation through motivating the employees and this organisational practice further enhances communication and cooperation to perform as a team and fulfil the common team objective (Northouse, 2018).

3. Ways successful leaders bring effective changes

3.1 Importance of change management

The change management process is beneficial for the organisation, where the leader tries to develop alternative solution for enhancing the organisational performance. Through the change management process, the organisation is able to achieve the organisational success through more innovation and creativity. In the global competitive market, change management provides a scope top the organisation to gain highly competitive advantage and improve their market share trough innovation and technological advancement where the change management is a contributing factor to enhance the performance of the employees successfully.

3.2 Stages of change management

As per the Kotter’s stages of change management, there are eight different steps, through which the leader can implement effective change process and lead the employees towards achieving success. In this regard, the first stage is to increase urgency so that the employees can understand the benefits of change management process. After that, developing management team and communicating the vision to the employees are necessary for improving proper cooperation and communication where the leader tries to interact with the employee and let them understand about the need for change at the workplace.

After creating the climate for change, it is necessary to improve communication and enable the actions at the workplace by creating short term goals. After that, implementing the change in the organisation and making it successful are providing a scope to the leader to lead the employees towards achieving the organisational success in a unique way. Hereby, three stages of change management are effective for leading the employees through supporting, guiding, communicating and motivating (Roe, 2014).

3.3 Need for focusing on people and task for change management

It is necessary to focus on the people and task of change management so that the leader can motivate the employees through providing monetary and non-monetary rewards as well as lead the employees towards success. Focusing on the task is effective for the employees to follow a suitable path to achieve success and on the other hand, the leader tries to encourage the employees and communicate the goal of the organisation and benefits of change process so that the employees contribute positively to achieve future success.

Reference List

Roe, K. (2014). Leadership: practice and perspectives. Oxford University Press.

Iszatt-White, M. & Saunders, C. (2017). Leadership. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.

Unit 10: Organisational Culture

1. Understanding organisational culture

1.1 Theories of organisational culture

Organisational culture represents the collective values, beliefs and principle of the organisational members. It is rather influenced by the history of the organisation, structure and function of the company, products and market as well as business strategy and technology as well as management skill of the managers. The organisational culture needs to develop well to motivate the employees and achieve the organisational aim efficiently. In Walmart, the diversified culture has been followed which create values for all the employees. The leader provides cultural training and treats all the employees fairly which is also effective to develop suitable organisational culture by maintaining transparency and accountability at the workplace.

As per the theory of Scheid’s organisational culture there are three stage such as basic assumptions, espoused values and artefacts through which it is possible to understand the minds et of the employees and observe the feelings and contribution of the employees which further influence the leader to manage the employees with honesty and integrity in order to lead them towards achieve success.

1.2 Types of organisational culture

There are different types of organisational culture, which team oriented, detailed oriented, innovative aggressive, outcome oriented, stable and people oriented.

Under team and people oriented, the leader focuses on managing the employees as they are major stakeholder to make the business successful. Additionally, there is aggressive culture which reduces communication and cooperation and raise cultural conflicts.

1.3 Developing suitable organisational culture

It is necessary for the organisation to develop proper organisational culture so that it is possible for the company to manage the people at the workplace and achieve future success. In this regard, the leader needs to maintain transparency and accountability at the workplace in order to build strong relationship with all he workers and apart from that, communication and cooperation need to be managed for working efficiently (Browaeys & Price, 2015). Additionally, the leader needs to encourage innovation and employee’s creativity and give them freedom and flexibility to work in the workplace. Hereby, the organisational culture needs to be cooperative where one employee can rely on other and develop teamwork for achieving the common team goal.

2. Influence of culture on business performance

2.1 Cultural values in operations

Cultural values also play a crucial role in running the operational activities of the business, where the values of cooperation, strong relationship, cooperative working practice and shared vision is effective to improve the performance of the employees and contribute positively to run the business operations.

2.2 Influence of cultural values on leadership style and business structure

The cultural values of integrity, honesty and respecting each other are helpful to develop appropriate business structure and leadership style where harmony and flexibility of work can be managed well. in addition to these, proper disciplines are maintained and also the leader lead he followers by suitable strategies, motivation and creating value or them where the employees are interested to follow the organisational structure and fulfil the organisational aim successfully.

2.3 Influence of cultural values on productivity

The cultural values influence the productivity of the organisation as a whole, where the employees are valued well at the workplace. The leaders treat all the employees fairly and maintain integrity and honesty among the team members, the culture of cooperation and communication further helps to build strong corporate relationship with all the employees and this further motivate the employees to perform better and maximise the organisational productivity successfully.

3. Impacts of organisational culture

3.1 Effects of culture on business

The organisational culture also influences the business process, where the leader focuses on leading all the employees cooperatively to achieve the business aim. In this regard, managing the organisational culture is effective to follow the strategic planning and guidelines of the managers to achieve future success. Additionally, proper management and working in partnership as well as cultural diversity management and respecting other at the workplace also improves the business outcome, where all the staff are trying to collaborate in order to achieve the organisational aims (Mullins, 2016).

3.2 Management style affecting the task and person culture

The management style is important to affect the task and person culture, where the managers try to improve communication and cooperation so that the employees are encouraged to develop effective team for fulfilling their job role. Shared vision and experience further improve the efficiently of the employees and it further provide a scope to the staff to improve personal culture and manage the workplace culture through improving honesty, integrity and respecting others.

3.3 Preferred organisational culture

The preferred organisational culture depends on managing cultural diversity and working as a partnership basis, where all the staff can maintain ethical conduct in the workplace and respect each other for more cooperation and communication. Apart from that, the leader also focuses on communicating with the employees for leading them towards success (Hamilton, Mitchell, & Mangan, 2014).

3.4 Benefits of behaving ethically

Behaving ethically is essential for developing ethical workplace culture, where all the employees can get safe and secured workplace as well as follow proper guidelines to fulfil their job roles in the organisation. Behaving ethically is also beneficial to improve the corporate image of the brand and secure future sustainable development.

Reference List

Hamilton, L., Mitchell, L. & Mangan, A. (2014). Contemporary Issues in Management. Edward Elgar

Browaeys, M. & Price, R. (2015). Understanding Cross-Cultural Management. 3rd ed. Pearson.

Unit 11: Workplace Welfare

1. Concept of workplace welfare

1.1 Explaining team workplace welfare

The workplace welfare is beneficial for the employees to feel valued in the workplace, where the employees are valued and rewarded with the monetary and non-monetary rewards. The leader focuses on creating values for the employees by providing them suitable workplace and physical environment where they can work safely. Team workplace welfare is beneficial, where all the team members are coordinating with each other and share their experience and skill for better performance (Leatherbarrow & Fletcher, 2019). The shared vision, shared responsibility as well as respect to each other and supporting each other are helpful to perform better and achieve organisational success innovatively.

1.2 Cost and benefits of workplace welfare

The benefits of employee’s welfare are increasing organisational performance, achieving future success, organisational growth, gaining high market share, improving profitability and enhancing sales volume. On the other hand, the costs are high investment on human resource management and the risk of employee day lost.

2. Responsibilities of health and safety

2.1 Responsibilities of health and safety of the employers and employees

It is the responsibility of the leader to manage the health and safety of the employees and employers through implementing the Health and Safety at Workplace Act 1974 in the organisation as well as avoiding hazardous condition, implementing fire extinguisher and CCTV and managing hygienic factors at the workplace (Wilson, 2018).

2.2 Health and safety management procedure

It is necessary to improve hygienic factor through sanitisation and providing physical environment where the employees can work safely. Managing fire extinguisher and monitoring the safe production unit are also necessary to improve safety at workplace.

3. Steps of maintaining workplace welfare

3.1 Safety culture

Implementing the Health and Safety at Workplace Act 1974 in the organisation

Avoiding hazardous condition

Implementing fire extinguisher

CCTV

Managing hygienic factors at the workplace

3.2 Staff training needs

It is necessary to provide staff training for managing the workplace safety and security s that the workplace accidents can be avoided.

4. Reducing work related stress

4.1 Reducing occurrence of work related stress

Through time management, shared vision and working responsibilities and team working practice, it is possible to reduce the work related stress among the employees and motivate the staff for better performance through cooperation and communication (Armstrong, 2016).

4.2 Benefits of reducing organisational stress

Improving employee’s engagement

Enhancing the interest of the staff

Maximising organisational performance

Positive contribution of the employees

Improving employee’s innovation and creativity

Reference List

Armstrong, M. (2016). Armstrong’s Handbook of Management and Leadership for HR. 4th ed. Kogan Page.

Wilson, F. (2018). Organizational Behaviour and Work: a critical introduction. 5th ed. Oxford University Press.

Leatherbarrow, C. & Fletcher, J. (2019). Introduction to Human Resource Management: a guide to HR in practice. 4th ed. Kogan Page

Unit 12: Thinking entrepreneurially

1. Understanding self analysis

1.1 Understanding entrepreneurship, opportunity assessment and creativity

The entrepreneur is the person who sets up the business by taking financial risk in hope of the profit where the business ideas, creativity and innovation are utilises well to establish the business successfully (Paul, & Elder, 2014).

1.2 Examining types of entrepreneurs

There are different types of entrepreneurs such as trading, manufacturing, technical, small scale and large scale as well as agricultural entrepreneur.

1.3 Self analyses for entrepreneurial abilities

It is necessary to have entrepreneur abilities where, problem solving skill, critical analysis and decision making skill are required to become a successful entrepreneur. The strengths of communication, positive attitude and cooperation further help to gather more in depth knowledge and understanding about the business and explore more market opportunities for successful establishment of the organisation.

1.4 Identifying own strengths and weakness

Strengths:

Problem solving skill

Communication

Cooperation

Respecting others

Positive attitude

Weakness:

Lack of critical thinking skill

Poor knowledge in finance and accounting

Lack of market research

Poor decision making skill

2. Developing critical thinking skill for business innovation

2.1 Critical thinking and innovation

It is necessary for the entrepreneurs to have critical thinking skill for better innovation and creativity.

Through remembering, understanding the context of research, conducting more research and development as well as applying the technical skill and abilities, analysing and evaluation help the entrepreneur to improve the critical thinking skill.

2.2 Mind map for critical thinking skill

Personal knowledge and gathered experience are necessary for the entrepreneur to improve the critical thinking skill; where the problem-solving and decision making skill of the entrepreneur further helps to improve explore critical ideas for the success of the business.

2.3 Potential barriers of entrepreneurs

The major barriers for an entrepreneur are such as lack of variable concept and market knowledge, poor technical skill, lack of financial asset and social stigma, legal constraint and regulations and risk of investment.

2.4 Conducting market research for analysing potential business ideas

Market research helps the entrepreneur to gather business ideas and explore the business opportunities for successful business establishment, through market research, the entrepreneur tries to think critically and identify potential opportunities to retain the customers by establishing the business (Drummond, 2009).

3. Evaluating entrepreneurial business ideas

3.1 Justifying business idea for innovation

Business ideas for innovation and creativity is necessary, where the entrepreneur needs to explore more knowledge and conduct research for gathering knowledge and technical skill to establish the business by ensuring more innovation and creativity (Birch, 2012).

3.2 Reasoning behind business ideas

The business ideas are important to establish the business, where the entrepreneur starts gathering new ideas with me innovation and creativity so that the business can be established uniquely in the market.

3.3 Importance of knowledge in IT, finance, and accounting and marketing and sales

The knowledge of IT, finance, accounting and marketing and sales are important to become a successful entrepreneur who needs to have in depth critical understanding about the marketing and sales of the organisational products, managing the financial asset of the company and investment for future success.

Reference List

Birch, R. (2012). Thinking Like an Entrepreneur. Credit Union Journal, 16(39), 14.

Drummond, H. (2009). How to be a Successful Entrepreneur [electronic resource]: Spot the Opportunity, Take a Risk and Build a Brilliant Business. London: Kogan Page.

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2014). Critical thinking : Concepts & tools (Seventh ed., Thinker's guide library).