Evaluation Of Management Strategy Adopted By PureGym Corporation

Using reliable information from own independent research study into “PureGym” company, carefully address the following tasks:

Briefly introduce the organisation. (You could include details such as; what the organisation does; what industry it operates in and; when and how the organisation was created)

Critically analyse and illustrate the organisational structure of the company. (You should include relevant definition of terms and, where possible, use diagrams to support your answer)

Explain one modern management approach that could be used in the company. (Modern Management approaches such as situational, contingent or systems should be considered)

Critically analyse two innovative strategic management objectives of the company. (You should consider using a strategic management framework of your choice such as Ansoff matrix, Porters’ Generic Strategy Matrix or SWOT analysis to explain the identified objectives)

PureGym’s Unique Attributes and Features

This report will evaluate the management strategy adopt by PureGym Corporation. The first sections of the report will briefly describe the company’s unique attributes and other features. The second part will focus on analysing the organisational structure of PureGym Company. The third part will suggest a managerial approach which can be adopted by PureGym’s management. The fourth sections will evaluate two innovate strategic management approaches, such as Ansoff and SWOT, for PureGym corporation.

The company is situated in the United Kingdom as a fitness club chain; it has its operations throughout the country. The corporation is Britain’s largest gym chain with more than 450,000 members. Presently, PureGym has more than 180 gyms, and they are planning to open 300 gyms by 2020. The strength of PureGym is their dedicated staff members who assist in growing operations of business by focusing on the improvement of its members. The company also focus on requirements of its employees, in 2016; PureGym won the best place to work awards. PureGym motto is to ensure that each of its members has a memorable day when they visit their gym.

PureGym provides its members flexible and affordable membership plans which give them access to high-quality gym equipment. The company offers an online membership facility to its members in which the members pay 20 percent less for a month membership fees, and it does not require any form filling. All the gyms provide 24*7 facilities to its members, and they are located at easily accessible locations throughout Britain (Kingsley, 2012). The company gained a competitive advantage in Britain’s gym industry by providing high-quality services to its members and using the latest technology into their facilities. The company has also initiated a program for old people which provide them an advantage as compared to other fitness clubs. PureGym also provides many other offers such as one-year membership at a discount, autumn deal concessional prices, and exceptional 20 percent off for student members (PureGym, 2017). PureGym gives 50 to 80 fitness sessions every week to its members by more than 2000 personal trainers. The fitness equipment is high quality, and the gyms have a large area available for the member to do their fitness exercises. The company also invest its capital in multiple fields relating to fitness with an objective of improving their services.

The organisational structure defines multiple activities inside a corporation which includes task allocation; coordination and supervision to ensure that company achieves its organisational objectives (Foss, Woll and Moilanen, 2013). The functional departments of a firm are divided into various parts to focus on common corporate goals. Following is the organisational structure of PureGym Corporation:

Analysis of Organisational Structure of PureGym Company

PureGym’s CEO is Humphrey Cobbold who was appointed to his post in 2015. Cobbold possesses a high level of experience in fitness field by working in various positions including Chairman of Fish4, Director of Strategic Development and many others (PureGym, 2017).

The CFO focus on finance related matters and PureGym’s CFO is Adam Bellamy; he is experienced in numerous fields other than fitness such as retail business, hospitality, and others. Bellamy’s primary role is related to the financial decisions and transactions in the corporations, planning the growth strategies, act as a team leader and other critical functions which are gravitating towards the achievement of organisational goals.  

PureGym’s COO is Jacques De Bruin which was appointed in 2011. Bruin performs various tasks relating to controlling and supervision the daily transaction of the corporation. As per the organisational structure, the final approvals for decisions taken in the company are acquired by COO to CEO.

PureGym has two non-executive directors, Richard Zannino and Thomas Walker. They both are responsible for proposing policies, integrating financial status, strategies, and others. They primarily concentrate on accomplishing the organisational goals by assisting COO in framing future strategies and objectives.

The employees of PureGym are the prime reason for their success because they perform daily operational tasks with efficiency. PureGym’s workers are highly motivated to work hard and accomplish the estimated targets set by executive officers. The CFO focus on financial department’s functions and the COO maintains operational department. They focus on completing their transaction in given time frame and company also ensure to fulfill their requirements.

PureGym can implement contingency approach in their business structure which can assist them in achieving their organisational objectives. The contingency approach is a management concept which does not have a universally acceptable set of principles; it is also known as a situational approach (Flynn, Huo and Zhao, 2010). It provides that the management effectiveness depends upon different conditions; one management approach is not suitable for various organisations because each organisation has unique attributes. In case of PureGym, the management can implement this strategy to gain competitive advantage and achieve its organisational goals. The fitness industry is constantly changing due to the introduction of modern technologies such as body sensors, virtual workouts, and convenient mobile applications (Chung, Lu Wang and Huang, 2012).

Suggesting a Managerial Approach for PureGym’s Management

Modern gyms are expected to adopt such technologies quickly to provide better services to their members. PureGym can use contingency approach to implement such technology which benefits the corporation and members. The contingency approach allows management to modify its policies and roles as per the requirement of its members which help in quickly achieving organisational goals. The chances of success for highly tailored management projects also increases with the option of contingency planning (Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010). The contingency approach is considerably flexible as compared to other approaches which giver freedom to the management to change strategies and functions as per the market demand. PureGym can use this method to gain a competitive advantage since they will be able to change their policies quickly and as per the market requirements.

The company has the opportunity to increase its operations by targeting members of competitive corporations, focusing on demand of young members, and providing better services to current members in order to retain their membership. The company can use the swimming initiate started by the UK to penetrate swimmers market by providing such services (Thomas, 2012).

PureGym can adopt segment strategy to expand its operations into a new market of the fitness industry. The strategy of the organisation should focus on attracting and increasing new members and business respectively. PureGym can implement an outreach strategy to expand its business in low operational areas to gain a competitive advantage.

Efficient development of products requires identification of requirements, analysing resources and advertisement of such products to present clients. There are numerous factors which influence and the process of product development such as risk factors, customers’ demand, future strategies and many others. The company should ensure that their products are excellent in quality and fulfills the requirement to attract a large number of customers.

The process of diversification is considerably riskier, and corporations are requiring conducting necessary research of both market and product. Many competitors of PureGym are introducing new policies for attracting young members, and it has been difficult for the company to adopt such strategies. PureGym should conduct required research and adopt an effective strategy for diversification of its services (Sassatelli, 2010).

The requirements and demand of member are considered as a primary focus in PureGym, and they also formulate policies for fulfilling such needs. PureGym is providing its minimum subscription at 20 percent off and it does not require a longer commitment (PureGym. 2017). PureGym has simplified their joining process to improve the experience of new members, and the process of leaving the subscription is considerably easy as well. The lively, modest, straightforward and flexible environment of PureGym improves the experience of its members.

Evaluation of Ansoff and SWOT Strategy for PureGym Corporation

The lack of availability of adequate space for member’s workout is primary weakness of PureGym. The gym equipment is limited which makes it difficult for each member to use them in their workout. Another problem is lack of availability of parking space near the gyms. The peak season of the gym makes it significantly difficult for a member to park their car near the gym and it wastes their workout time (Rovnick, 2017).

The company has the opportunity to expand its business in cities outside Britain and expand its operations worldwide. In recent times, people are more aware regarding their fitness which assists PureGym in rapidly increasing its membership. The company can also target younger audience while expanding its operations globally.

The number of competitors is increasing rapidly which is the key threat for PureGym (Woolf, 2008). The changing regulations of government and lack of fitness supplies are also the risks faced by the corporation.

Conclusion

To conclude, PureGym is the largest fitness chain in Britain; they provide various fitness facilities to its members which include both young and old members. The report analysed the organisational structure of PureGym, and provide the utilisation of contingency theory in the management. The Ansoff and SWOT analysis provide information regarding strengths, weakness and market opportunities of PureGym which they can evaluate to formulate future policies.

References

Chung, H.F., Lu Wang, C. and Huang, P.H., 2012. A contingency approach to international marketing strategy and decision-making structure among exporting firms. International Marketing Review, 29(1), pp.54-87.

Flynn, B.B., Huo, B. and Zhao, X., 2010. The impact of supply chain integration on performance: A contingency and configuration approach. Journal of operations management, 28(1), pp.58-71.

Foss, L., Woll, K. and Moilanen, M., 2013. Creativity and implementations of new ideas: do organisational structure, work environment and gender matter?. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(3), pp.298-322.

Groeneveld, S. and Van de Walle, S., 2010. A contingency approach to representative bureaucracy: Power, equal opportunities and diversity. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 76(2), pp.239-258.

Kingsley, P., 2012. Hard at it in the all-night gym. [Online] The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/29/exercise-in-all-night-

PureGym., 2017. Leadership. [Online] PureGym. Available from: https://www.puregym.com/puregym-group/leadership/

PureGym., 2017. Students! Get Up to 20% Off. [Online] PureGym. Available from: https://www.puregym.com/landing-page/student-membership/

PureGym., 2017. Up to 20% Off. [Online] My Unidays. Available from: https://www.myunidays.com/GB/en-GB/partners/puregym/view/online?p=AQI

Rovnick, N., 2017. Pure Gym sold to Leonard Green private equity house. [Online] Financial Times. Available from: https://www.ft.com/content/1ab146c6-c09b-11e7-9836-b25f8adaa111

Sassatelli, R., 2010. Fitness culture. Gyms and the Commercialisation of Discipline and Fun.

Thomas, N., 2012. Pure Gym in £37m expansion push. [Online] Telegraph. Available from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9591624/Pure-Gym-in-37m-expansion-push.html

Woolf, J., 2008. Competitive advantage in the health and fitness industry: developing service bundles. Sport Management Review, 11(1), pp.51-75.