Significance Of Managers In Achieving Organisational Success: An Analysis Of Tesco

Manager, Management and Organisation

Briefly explain: manager, management and organisation. Assess the significance of managers in achieving organisational success for a company of your own choice?

Management principles refer to the guidelines that help managers in decision making and planning their actions (DuBrin, 2011). It not only affects the managers but everyone associated with the organisation. Observation and analysis of events that occur in actual practice serves as a base for the formulation of management principles.

An organisation is defined as an entity like an association or an institution that are linked to an external environment and its members work in close coordination in order to achieve collective goals (Koontz, 2010). It can also be defined as a social unit of individuals who are managed and organised in a way to meet common goals. Every organisation posses a specific management structure also called as organisational structure that defines the relationship between activities and members and also facilitate in assigning authorities, roles and responsibilities to members (Armstrong, 2011).

Management within an organisation is the function that helps ensuring efforts of individuals are coordinated in an effective manner to achieve desired goals and objectives by using available resources in the most effective and efficient manner (Ansoff, 2007). The activities performed by management in order to achieve desired goals are; planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling employees (Bamford & Forrester, 2010). Management is referred to as the fourth element of production along with money, materials, machines and it helps transforming resources into utility.

Manager is an individual who is responsible for controlling and administering some or all parts of the organisation (Armstrong & Stephens, 2005). Manager is responsible for planning, directing and controlling the workforce and is accountable for their performance and end results. Responsibility, authority and accountability are the three words that define the role of a manager in an organisation (Barrows & Powers, 2008). Managers are responsible for the end result produced by their teams, they have the authority to direct, control and evaluate their team members and are accountable for growth and development of the team members as they work to achieve targets and desired goals.

Managers at Tesco play a very vital role in ensuring desired organisational goals are achieved (Ellis, 2005). Managers at Tesco perform five basic tasks to ensure company remains successful; they define realistic and achievable goals and performance objectives for employees and direct ways by which work needs to be performed in order to achieve defined goals. They ensure that tasks are allocated and distributed in an organised manner, they divide the tasks into manageable activities and they assign it to available resources based on their skills and expertise (Freeman, 2010). Manager at Tesco ensures employees are highly motivated through effective communication and employee engagement. They encourage their employees to openly share their views and participate in important decision making. Managers at Tesco are responsible for evaluating employee performance and rating it for performance appraisals (Luis, 2010). They are responsible for developing a customer-oriented, knowledge sharing culture at Tesco where employees treat each other with respect and integrity. Managers at Tesco ensure that employees are giving ample opportunities to realise their full potential and achieve individual goals as they work towards achieving organisational goals.

Effect of Size and Strategy of a Company on its Organisational Structure

Organisational Structure defines the way in which activities such as task allocation, supervision and coordination are performed in manner to achieve desired organisational goals (Moyles, 2006). It is the structural framework that defines hierarchy within an organisation. There are three main types of organisational structures which an organisation can adapt depending on a number of factors namely; Divisional Organisational structure wherein the company is divided into small independent divisions on the basis of geographical location, products, strategy and functionality (Chambley, 2013). Functional organisational structure wherein employees are divided into specialised functional groups on the basis of the skills and expertise (Chambley, 2013). Matrix organisational structure which is characterised by dual reporting lines, that is an employee reports to two managers (Chambley, 2013). Organisations can either choose one of these structures or a mix of them in order to achieve desired goals.

There are a number of factors that influence an organisations choice of organisational structure such as, size of the organisation, strategy, technology, environment and life cycle (Ng, 2011). Size of the organisation and its strategy has a considerable impact on the choice of organisational structure. Greater the size of an organisation greater is the complexity of involved operation and hence greater is the need for an organisational structure. Large organisations which have wide global presence and serve large number of customers tend to develop highly complicated operations for which they need to employ large number of human resources (Lussier, 2014). In order to effectively manage their operations and human resources it is very important they define hierarchies and procedures for allocating roles and responsibilities. A well-defined organisational structure will help them in effective management of their complex set of operations and allocation of tasks. Big brands such as Toyota, Ford, Apple, Face book, McDonalds etc have adapted a well defined organisational structure in order to achieve desired goals. However the same is not true for smaller organisations such as local restaurants, retail stores, real-estate firms etc, as they have lesser number of employees and involve simple operations which can easily be performed by members of the organisations (Murray, et al., 2006). They do not feel a need to develop and follow an organisational chart because tasks are allocated and complete as and when they come depending upon the skills and availabilities of members. Such organisations either do not need an organisational structure or can function with a simple one. 

An organisations choice of organisational structure is also greatly affected by its chosen strategy (Barrows & Powers, 2008). Structure of an organisation should support its strategy and should facilitate in its achievement. An organisation that aims at implementing differentiation strategy in order to create its competitive advantage will choose to adapt a flexible organisational structure that is characterised by high decentralisation and medium to low specialisation in order to meet the dynamic needs of marketplace (DuBrin, 2011). Whereas an organisation that aims at offering cost advantage to customers through cost leadership strategy will choose to adapt a mechanistic organizational structure which is characterised by high specialisation and low decentralisation in order to enhance efficiency and productivity.

Tesco's current mission, vision and corporate strategy

Founded in year 1919 by Jack Cohen Tesco was started as a market stall in London’s East End (Tesco Plc., 2015). The company strive to provide best shopping experience to the tens of millions of customers their serve on a weekly basis. The company has witnessed remarkable success since then and today is recognised as one of the world’s largest multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer. It employs 530,000 people and is present in 12 countries across the globe.

Tesco’s Mission: Mission statement defines the short term goals and general purpose of the organisation. Tesco through a very simple and clear statement defines their purpose of existence. “We make what matters better, together” (Tesco Plc., 2015).

Tesco’s Vision: Vision defines its long term goals of an organisation. Tesco aims at being seen as the most highly valued business by its committed and loyal employees, its customers, stakeholders and by the community they serve (Tesco Plc., 2015).

Tesco’s Corporate Strategy: Tesco’s core values form the base of their corporate strategy which aims at making Tesco a highly customer oriented organisation. They help Tesco in achieving is mission and vision. Tesco claims that no one tries harder for customers; they put in their best to understand customers, be the first to meet their needs and act responsible for the communities they serve. Tesco ensures that all individuals associated with them must be treated in a way they would like themselves to be treated. Team work, respect and integrity and knowledge sharing are terms that define Tesco’s culture. They ensure that they use their scale for good.

There are a number of processes that can help Tesco in formulating its corporate strategy for year 2015. They can perform a PESTLE analysis to analysing the external and internal environmental factors that affect the company (Ansoff, 2007). Tesco will have to use Porter’s five forces model in order to analyses the competitive environment. In order to analyses their strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats present in the marketplace Tesco will have to undertake a SWOT analysis. It can also follow the six steps of strategy formulation process where all the management tools mentioned above are used in different stages. Tesco will have to start by defining a realistic goal which is followed by an environmental analysis (DuBrin, 2011). It will have to define quantitative targets and then determine plans for sub units. The company will have to conduct a performance analysis and evaluation and based on the outcomes of the evaluation process they can formulate their corporate strategy. Competitor analysis and market research is an important step in the strategy formulation process (Koontz, 2010). Tesco must ensure that their resources and capabilities are used in a manner to create core competencies that serve as a competitive advantage against the competitors. Tesco can make their operations lean in order to eliminate waste processes and save operations cost which will help them in offering cost advantage to their customers.    

Organisational culture refers to the set of share beliefs, values, attitudes, rules and customs of an organisation that result in creation of a differentiated social and psychological environment with the workplace (DuBrin, 2011). Changing the organisational culture of Tesco will greatly help in improving its overall performance. Organisational culture defines employees’ perception about their co-workers and about the organisation (DuBrin, 2011). Positive perception results in high employee motivations who are inspired to put in their best and deliver high quality performance. Developing a knowledge sharing culture will help enhancing the core competencies of employees which will serve as a competitive advantage for Tesco.

Conclusion

Managers must follow the management principles while planning, directing and controlling employees within an organisation. Managers play a vital role in enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation. Apart from other factors like technology, life cycle and environment, size and strategy of an organisation have a considerable impact on its organisational structure. Culture of an organisation is an important factor in determining its overall performance.

References

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Ellis, C. W., (2005) Management Skills for New Managers. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

Freeman, R. E., (2010) Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Koontz, H., (2010) Essentials Of Management 8E. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education,.

Luis, R. V., (2010) Management skills and leadership techniques. London: Ideaspropias Editorial S.L..

Lussier, R. N., (2014) Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, & Skill Development. London: Sage Publications.

Moyles, J., (2006) Effective Leadership And Management In The Early Years. Boston: McGraw-Hill International.

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Ng, L. C., (2011) Best management practices. Journal of Management Development, 30(1), pp. 93-105.

Tesco Plc., (2015) Core Purpose and Values. [Online]
Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=10
[Accessed 2015].