Essay: Bunnings Warehouse's Management And Business Context.

Discuss about the Management and Business Context of Bunnings Warehouse.

Bunnings Warehouse was founded in the year 1887 as a limited company but later on changed to a public company in the year 1952. Its headquarters are located in Hawthorn East, Victoria. Bunnings Warehouse is the leading Australian company in the sale of hardware chain; home improvements and the general living products. Bunnings is committed and specialized in offering innovatively created kitchen designs and the splashbacks that are unique in the industry. The company also helps housing project builder customers in color consultancy, building doors, accumulating of BBQ, air conditioning of the buildings and installations of the hot water systems. This organization has two main housing brands; the Ozito power tools and the Click electrical fittings and accessories. The company has grown widely in this business and is currently serving millions of customers in the world and has remained leading in sits market areas (Bunnings, 2017).

Governance

Governance defines the established rules, policies, processes and systems through which a given company is directed and controlled.  Corporate governance is composed of both the internal and the external factors. The internal factors include the organizational policies, the constitution among others which work together with external factors such as the laws, regulations, and community expectations among others. Corporate governance is a critical concept in business since it helps to establish how these enterprises are lead (Clarke, 2007).

Innovation refers coming up with new ways of doing things through continuous improvement of the existing process, the products or service offered. On the other hand, entrepreneurship usually refers to the organization's ability to manage and organize a new business venture and its willingness to handle the associated these risks related to the investment. Most factors in the business environment are not static, but they are always changing (Lichtenthaler, 2011, pp.138-139). Therefore, adoption of innovation and entrepreneurship is a vital change driver for every business.

Knowledge management refers to the process through which organizations create, use or manage knowledge and information. It explains how organizations can make the best use of knowledge to achieve their objectives. Knowledge management targets to facilitate a smooth transition from those retiring to those succeeding, targets to avoid loss of corporate memory at some point and identify resources and knowledge that is necessary for the organization. Besides, the concept helps the organization to build up and empower others who become the intellectual capital of the organization (Booker et al., 2008). This is, therefore, important for the team since it facilitates business continuity and the overall achievement of company's objectives.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation models can be defined in different ways depending on their nature (Oke, 2007, pp. 564-587). Change is essential for growth and sustainability of Bunnings. The company has made efforts to improve and promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation and entrepreneurship have a direct impact on the business since sustaining innovation increase the organization's sustainability.

Through innovation and entrepreneurship, Bunnings has managed to deliver value and quality to its stakeholders. The company has, therefore, managed not only to improve the brand quality but also to extend the brand reach to its customers. Bunnings has increased the number of stores, came with programs that are customer oriented thus increasing the product value to them. Some of these plans of Bunnings include FlyBuys loyalty programs and also the PowerPass offers. These are some of the creative programs that this company has created through creativity and innovation to increase customer value. Innovative branding of Bunning's products and an increase in the number of stores has ensured that the brand reaches most of its customers (Chessum, 2017). 

Also, the company has managed to adopt technological innovation and accepted to handle the possible risks that may arise out of this. Implementation of the innovation ideas is associated with many risks. An entrepreneurial company, therefore, needs to accept these risks and work out on how to manage them. Bunnings Warehouse has established an online store which has facilitated convenience and easy reach to customers. Online sales have extended the company channel to reach more consumers. This use of technology has targeted particular customer segment and thus increased the market for products and services of Bunnings. Besides, Bunnings Warehouse has demonstrated its support of innovation through the use of technology by assigning dedicated technological expertise to handle technological innovations. This among others describes the commitment of Bunnings for innovation (Neilan, 2016). 

Innovation and Entrepreneurship have been the key value for the business longevity of Bunnings. It ensures the continuity of the firm despite the change in the business environment thus sustaining the business life of this company. Innovation should be continuous, and therefore there is a need for Bunnings implement the strategy that supports innovation in all ages. Failure to design strategies that ensure change sustainability can cause an end to an innovative culture at some point.  It is also evident that innovation and entrepreneurship contribute to the business profitability and the general business growth. Bunnings is, therefore, able to benefit from the value derived out of these new ways of doing things and thus get financial gains out of innovation (Enkel, et al., 2009, pp.311-316).

Knowledge Management

Also, Bunnings Warehouse may face challenges during innovation and entrepreneurship implementation. The primary challenge in the endeavor is usually the failure to align the implementation strategies with the business operation correctly.  Approaches taken to achieve innovation in an organization must be in alignment with the company process else the business will face resistance in its course. Also, Bunnings should establish a risk management system to handle or mitigate the potential hazards that may arise out of this course. This can be attained through implementation of the system that identifies risks, perform risk examination and analyses, solve the risk and finally monitor and evaluate the possible risks that may happen again. Risk management system increases the company's entrepreneurial spirit or its willingness to support innovation (Midgley, 2010).

Political Instability

The operations of every company depend on the political state of the country of exploitation. If the political condition of the country is stable, there is a likelihood of the company to thrive well, but when there is political instability, the organization's business operation is affected in many ways, hindering innovation and entrepreneurship, leading to low productivity and the general profitability of the business enterprise.

Different countries have different policies and regulations that may affect the business in various ways. Some state policies may restrict the general operation of the company and make it difficult to carry out some activities. Bunning’s success can be partly attributed to the better government policies in the countries of its operation since most of its operations such as innovation are legalized, and the company has not had restrictions from the policies (Anders, 2017).

Locally, infrastructure has an enormous impact on the organization's productivity and the general profitability. Basic infrastructural elements such as transport and telecommunication substantially affect the general well-being of the company thus lowering their profitability. Poor transport affects the movement of people and goods from destination to another while poor telecommunication system affects the information sharing among different people.

The Economic factors

The Economic state of the world has the effect on the operation the company. The economic situation of the world is determined by many aspects like inflation, the labor conditions, and cost of production among many others. Companies make more profit when the economic state is good, but their profit is lowered when the economic state is bad. Companies need to come up with the strategies to apply during the hard economic state. Bunnings has managed to survive through bad economic states by its incorporation of the innovation and entrepreneurship culture.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Bunnings

The operations of the company are significantly affected by the culture in the environment of operation. Different cultures have different effects on business. The beliefs of the people have the influence on what they consume and thus the specific products which they buy. It is, therefore, important for Bunnings to understand the cultural state of people in which it runs its business so that it can deliver the best for them that meets their cultural demands (James & Szeman, 2010).

Legal factors have a great impact on business since the company must adhere to the established legal system. This includes tax laws, ownership rights, the business registration process and rewarding systems among many others. At times there are some established laws which are discriminative, and this impacts the business operation to a large extend. Bunnings should use innovation and technology to analyze, understand various legal systems and then come up with strategies to handle various legal issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion, innovation and entrepreneurship are critical to every business organization. Companies should put in place policies that control, promote and sustain innovation since it is the driver to sales. The best way of embracing change is through incorporation into the organizational culture. Companies that embrace innovation and entrepreneurship enjoy many advantages that increase their productivity and give them a competitive advantage. Making use of the latest technology is also the best for businesses to take since it helps them get reach to many customers and of various segments. Also, it is important for Bunnings to understand the various domestic and international contextual factors that can affect its business operation.

References

Anders Kjellberg (2017). "Self-regulation versus State Regulation in Swedish Industrial Relations." pp. 357-383

Booker L., Bontis N., and Serenko A. (2008). "The relevance of knowledge management and intellectual capital research." Knowledge and Process Management. 15 (4): 235–246

Bunnings (2017). Retrieved from https://www.bunnings.com.au

Chessum, Victoria (2017). "Bunnings Warehouse chain to replace former B&Q site in Folkestone." Retrieved from Kentonline.co.uk.

Christensen, C.M., Raynor, M.E. & McDonald, R. (2015). What is Disruptive Innovation.hbr.org website at https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation accessed 05 May 2016?

Clarke, Thomas (2007) "International Corporate Governance” London and New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-32309-6

Dahlan, L. and Gann, D. (2010). ‘How open is innovation?', Research Policy, Vol. 39, pp.699–709

Enkel, E., Gassmann, O. and Chesbrough, H. (2009). ‘Open R&D and open innovation: exploring the phenomenon,' R&D Management, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp.311–316.

Gassmann, O., Enkel, E. and Chesbrough, H. (2010). ‘The future of open innovation,' R&D Management, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp.213–221

James, P. & Szeman, I.  (2010). Globalization and Culture, Vol. 3: Global-Local Consumption.     London: Sage Publications.

Lichtenthaler, U. (2011). ‘Is open innovation a ?eld of study or a communication barrier to theory development?’A contribution to the current debate’, Technovation, Vol. 31, pp.138-139.

Midgley, D. (2010). Integrated Strategies and Practical Tools for Bringing Value Innovation to the Market, Wiley

Neilan, Catherine (2016). "Homebase to be rebranded Bunnings after Wesfarmers completes £340m acquisition from Home Retail Group - now what's happening with Argos?". Retrieved from https://www.cityam.com/235594/homebase-to-be-rebranded-bunnings-after-wesfarmers-completes-340m-acquisition-from-home-retail-group-now-whats-happening-with-argos

Oke, A. (2007). Innovation types and innovation management practices in service companies. International journal of operations and production management, 27 (6), pp. 564-587