Table of Contents                                                                                                                Page

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3

Background information ………………………………………………………………….4

Aims and Objectives………………………………………………………………………6

Vertical integration…………………………………………………………..……………7

Accountability……………………………………………………………………..………8

Ethical considerations………………………………………………………………..……9

Checks and Balances………………………………………………………………………10

Working culture……………………………………………………………………….…..11

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………14

Reference list………………………………………………………………………….…………………….15

Introduction

Objectives are mainly the achievements or goals that are targeted by an organisation. An organisation lay out objectives that looks at the interest of various stakeholders such as the customer, shareholders etc. The objectives can be either primary/strategic or secondary/tactical. Primary objectives are target put in place in the long term while secondary objectives are mainly short term. Long-term objectives only work well when an organisation is in a stable financial performance (Jones & Robinson 2012). The objectives should be specific, quantifiable, challenging, attainable, realistic, time bound and understandable.

The Morrison supermarket enjoys various benefits that come along with economies of scale. Due to its large size, the company manages to attract the best managers available in the job market. This is due to their ability to offer good salaries and work related allowances. This translates to their exponential growth due to the injection of top quality managerial skills.

Secondly, the companies have a large capital base. This makes it easy for them to establish new retail outlets to bolster their rate of stock turn over. In turn this translates to increase in revenue base which ensures that they remain big and competitive.

Thirdly, the big companies have well established market networks. This provides a ready market for their products and consequently generating high revenues. The high revenue realized plays a major role in the maintenance of their size and further growth.

Lastly, they are able to initiate vertical integration through the process of take over. This is due to the fact being big companies; it becomes easier for the negotiations since each company has a large bargaining power. This helps to create a competitive advantage over other big players in the market (Carter, Kornberger & Schweizer 2011). A good example is the take over of Safeway back in the year 2004 a move that ensured it moved to other regions away from its traditional location (North of England).

Thus for Wm Morison chain of supermarkets to achieve organisational objectives as well as satisfy the needs of customers, strategic planning is essential since it will prepare the organisation for unexpected changes commonly referred to as crisis management. Strategic planning usually covers a period of three to five years while laying emphasis on the market dynamics. The organisational benefits that can be derived from strategic planning are;

• Preparation for future opportunities
• Better business environment awareness
• Definition of organisation mission
• Imparts a sense of continuity and direction
• Facilitate employee accountability

Background information

According to Morrisons-corporate.com, Wm Morrison Supermarkets is the fourth largest among the chains of supermarket in the United Kingdom with it’s headquarter is based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Its business is mainly in the retail industry and has a total of 569 retail outlets across the UK. The Morrison supermarket commands a significant market share of approximately 11% such that change in its business strategies cause ripple effect in other rival chains of supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s. The retail industry in the United Kingdom is a highly competitive and capital intensive which makes attractive to only the big players in the sector.

What makes Wm Morrison to be different and have a unique heritage is their array of fresh food, their supportive working environment and initiation of vertical integration in their manufacturing business. This has given their retail outlets a platform to build on so as to create a competitive advantage over the other players in the industry.

They are particularly keen on improving the way they conduct their business which involve doing those things that matters most to their customers. Furthermore, they have laid emphasis on offering top quality services by the improving their overall service ensuring total customer satisfaction. In addition, to successfully meet the majority of customer needs, they possess a high affinity on new business opportunities that can ensure they improve their customer base. This can be seen in the successful take-over of Safeway in a mega deal which ensured they reach out to new customer further out of North England (Dailymail 2004). This helped them improve efficiency by capturing 479 stores across the UK that was previously owned by Safeway.

Indeed, their strategy development which is based on market dynamics has made them more appealing to customer in a very competitive environment. This comes at a time when most of its rivals have embraced the online sales and marketing to get closer to their customer while improving service delivery. The blue-print to their outstanding market strategies is derived from their main objectives of ‘capturing growth’, ‘increasing efficiency’ and ‘driving top line’. However, they do link their strategies to sustainability to ensure that their main focus is on those areas that can significantly improve the business.

Wm Morrison has assumed a slow approach to embracing online marketing a competitive advantage that has been utilized by its rival Asda, Sainsbury and Tesco for years. Dalton Philips the chief executive at Morrison argued that this was just a precautionary move so as not to get embroidered in the teething problems of going online. He also claimed that online marketing only accounted for 5% of sales made in the grocery market. He further claimed that the Morrison were therefore not “too late to the party” and was bound to benefit from “late mover advantage” in the long run (Kathy 1^st July 2013). However, to edge the other players in the online market in the future will take more money and time since its rivals already boast of infrastructural network that will cost Morrison millions to establish. Failure to efficiently tap the online customers who are generally satisfied by the efficiency of doing business online will come to hurt its profitability. Currently, the Morrison chains of supermarkets boast of having the strongest balance sheet compared to its rivals.

Aims and objectives

aim of this report is to critically analyse how individual and team activities contribute to meeting the organisation objectives while satisfying the needs of the customer.
The objective will be to critically analyse how the Wm Morrison can achieve its objectives and the needs of customers by initiating strategic plans namely;

Vertical integration,

Enhancing employee accountability

Ethical consideration

Checks and balancess

Embracing a positive working culture

Vertical integration

Vertical integration is a term used in microeconomics and in management to refer to a form of control over the growth and management of a company. This integration is usually geared to enhance efficiency in the market ((Carter, Kornberger & Schweizer 2011). Each of the members specializes in one area of production which is later combined for the satisfaction of a common need. This greatly reduces any potential hold-up problem.

There are mainly three types of vertical integration that big companies employ in their quest of raking more revenue. These are backward, forward or balanced vertical integration. A company may choose one of them based on which part of the supply chain they want to have control.

There are various reasons why most big companies initiate vertical integration. A few of them is as analyzed below;

1)      Technology – a company can enjoy some of the technology of a rival company in its activity. This reduces its’ cost of production by enhancing efficiency.

2)      Supply chain – due to its large size a company can synchronize the forces of demand and supply in the market.

3)      Market monopoly – as a result of the integration, the big companies can monopolize the existing market. This is due to the power of their combined market share.

4)      Independence – they enjoy a great deal of independence especially in cases where the raw materials are not easy to find or where prices keeps on fluctuating.

Accountability

Accountability refers to a situation where an individual or a certain organization has an obligation to give an account of their activities in their bid to achieve the set goals. It is a form of liability that binds the employees due to their willingness to engage in duties presented upon them. This leaves them answerable to their actions as they discharge their duties. Due to the fact that the employees and management will be held accountable, it helps to instill a sense of a responsibility in the organization (Carter, Kornberger & Schweizer 2011).

An area that requires a high level of accountability is in the procurement process. The procurement department has a duty of ensuring that products are available, the right quantity and at the right price. Any acts of corruption may cripple the smooth running of the organisation. Proper auditing and consequently ensuring the relevant staffs are held accountable can help to deter such heinous acts. This could ultimately save and safeguard the firm financial resources from embezzlement by the firms’ employees. To effectively measure the employees’ accountability; a performance management system must be in place and also a well drafted method of performance appraisal. The system will ensure that all the relevant data is captured about the employee such as the time he/she gets in for the shift, the activities he/she engage in etc.

Another informal way of measuring the employee accountability is through the managers and supervisors. They can be tasked with the role of ensuring that they provide a continuous feedback pertaining to staff supervision. They can enhance employee performance through the constant monitoring of their activities in the workplace. The feeling of being watched can make the employees feel accountable for their deeds. The supervisor can then convey their reports to the top management regarding their findings at the workplace (Carter, Kornberger & Schweizer 2011).

Lastly, the retail industry can set up ethical standards to govern the industry across the board. The standards can be put in the terms of engagement with the employees. Their accountability can then be measured in line with the laid down ethical standards.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical consideration is the quest to do what is right and shunning the wrongs. Accountability and ethics go hand in hand in every industry including the retail sector. Accountability instills the pillars that govern a successful industry that leads to ethical practices. Such pillars are;

• Honesty and integrity

This is the act of telling the truth and exhibiting professional commitment in the execution of ones duties. Customers may feel confident when dealing with retail outlet employees they can trust. In certain cases when the customers have to use electronic cards to make payments, it requires honesty and integrity from the employee especially in this era where financial fraud has gone a notch higher.

• Transparency

This refers to the act of disclosing factual and relevant information to the public and shareholders. The retail industry is not spared being in the spot light especially in the declaration of annual financial reports. In addition, the products pricing should be fair to the public. This could deter dishonest trading practices in the numerous retail outlets.

• Social responsibility

This refers to what the organisation gives back to the society. This may be through organizing free medical check ups or offering casual employment opportunities to community members in the immediate environment.

• Environmental responsibility

The organization should strive to create customer awareness on the need to reuse packaging materials. This would reduce rampant disposal which has serious environment implications. This will go along way in safeguarding the customer interests which is the major concern for most retailing outlets.

Checks and Balances

Check and balances also helps in promoting accountability. They are procedures which are aimed and creating a harmonious decision making process. It creates a separation of powers where a single person cannot singlehandedly make a major decision that could have a negative impact to the whole organisation (Sims, 2009).. It ensures that no single person has too much power and clearly states the duties of each employee under the organization.

In a successful organization checks and balances ensures that roles are clearly defined. This impedes the duplication of duties thereby enhancing efficiency. The duties assigned to every employee are clearly stated ensuring they are expeditiously carried out. This in turn increases the output from the work force.

In addition, checks and balances ensure they are no misuse of powers. Misuse of powers can adversely affect the organization operations. It can also lead to misuse of available resources by rogue employees bringing the organization to its knees. Checks and balances are crucial in enhancing accountability and cooperation which in turn result in the organization becoming successful in the log-run (Sims 2009).

Working Culture

Work culture can also affect accountability. It defines or explains why people behave in a certain manner and creates a set of rules that justifies the acts. In an organization it’s of high importance for managers and employees to cooperate and keep their end of bargain. This promotes accountability as each one of them sticks to the commitment and ensure he fulfils his promises (Jones & Robinson 2012).

There are various organisational cultures that can be adopted by in an organization mainly;

1)      Power culture – a few individuals dominate the organisation and are involved in the making of key decisions.

2)      Role culture – individuals have clear role to perform which is laid down in their job description. The employees’ creativity is hindered in this type of culture since they struggle to stick to the rules.

3)      Task cultures – this culture promote individual creativity since teams are created and empowered to complete specific tasks

4)      Person culture – individuals are fully given the freedom to express themselves and make decision.

A positive working cultureis a very crucial aspect in every work place. It ensures that morale remains high among the employees. It motivates the workers to work harder even in time when things seem to be working out slowly. It also reduces the chances of eruption of internal conflicts which can have a very serious effect on a good working culture. A positive working culture to be successful should be initiated from the top management downward (Jones & Robinson 2012).

Positive working culture creates respect among the employees. This is due to the fact that each employee plays his part to perfection creating a vibrant team spirit. By doing so, even the less gifted in talents are appreciated based on their relative contribution.

Team work created by positive working culture help to enhance a sense of responsibility in the employees. This imparts positively to the learning process as an individual refines his skills to meet the standards. The realization of skills improvement in turn attracts more responsibility and the cycle continues. This helps improve the working culture.

Positive working culture also ensures that the available resources are put to good use. This reduces instances of underuse overuse or misuse. This ensures that they are no interruption of activities in the organization that may be caused by shortage of necessary resources.

Finally, positive working culture ensures that the laid down objectives are met. This is through the creation of priorities that should be put in place to ensure the organizational goals are met in a timely manner (Jones & Robinson 2012). This enhances the success of the whole organization.

There is various keys issue that can help in the creation of a good working culture. These are;

1. Hiring of employees with the right attitude that is those who want to achieve a common objective.
2. Initiating and implementation of a code of conduct that every employee should adhere to failure to face the consequences.
3. The communication with the employees should be based on honesty so that they get the message right and your intentions.
4. Creation of an employee appraisal program. Those who have done exemplary well upon evaluation should be rewarded accordingly.

The above four points are some of the things that can really help create a positive working culture and impede the development of a culture of blame game.

 Conclusion

The analysis above provides a bigger picture on why the Wm Morrison should strive to put strategic plans in place with special emphasis on vertical integration, accountability, ethical considerations, working culture and laying the necessary checks and balances. This will help it achieve efficient individual and team activities that will help it attain its objective while placing the customers’ needs on the front-line.

References List

Carter, C., Clegg, S. R., Kornberger, M., & Schweitzer, J. 2011. Strategy: Theory & practice. London: Sage.

Jones, P., & Robinson, P. (2012). Operations management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kathy G. 2013. Morrisons Must Get Online Fast to Bolster Sales, Retrieved from: http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2013/01/07/morrisons-must-get-online-fast-to-bolster-sales/

Safeway decision sends out shockwaves, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-197629/Safeway-decision-sends-shockwaves.html

Sims, E. 2009. Checks and balances. Columbus, MS: Genesis Press.

Strategy and structure, Retrieved from: http://www.morrisons-corporate.com/About-us/Strategy-structure/