Background of Tesco

Question –

Manager plays a critical role in achieving organizational success. The major challenge of a manager is to provide creative solutions to the organizational issues for ensuring uninterrupted growth. This paper will focus on discussing various management theories and applying it to the real business organizations (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014).   In this paper, the management of Tesco will be studied in order to analyze the roles of the manager in an organization.

Presently Tesco has been serving more than millions of customers per week through physical stores and online store. In 1997, Tesco had started its operations in Ireland by acquiring the retail operation of Associated British Food in Ireland. Tesco has been encountering significant growth in Ireland and it has become the leading grocery retailer in Ireland. Presently it has more than 146 stores in Ireland. Tesco Ireland has been significantly focusing on the commitment of purchasing the local for supporting the local suppliers of Ireland. It has been found that more than 11,000 local farms of Ireland are engaged in supplying its products to Tesco. Moreover, the non-organic and fresh milk sold in Tesco is supplied by the farms in Ireland. Fresh pork, lamb and beef re supplied by the Irish farmers in Tesco. Tesco has been significantly encouraging the small community farmers with the aid of Local Supplier Program. This program has been found to be helpful as it permits the local suppliers for providing high quality products to the nearest Tesco outlets (Tesco plc, 2015).

The major aims and objectives of the assignment are listed below:

• Analyzing the roles of manager in organization
• To discuss the relevant management theories by undertaking literature review
• Application of the theories in practical context for assessing its relevance
• Undertaking primary research for analyzing the role of manager in a particular organization

The scope of the study is limited to the four managerial functions in Tesco. It has been observed that the time is a major constraint for undertaking this assignment. Additionally, access to the information of Tesco is restricted.

In this paper, research method has focused on collection of two types of data: primary and secondary. Secondary data are collected from books, journals and authentic websites for analyzing the existing theories and past researches. Primary research has been conducted for analyzing the validity of the management theories in real life. The managers of Tesco have been interviewed and for privacy purpose the names will not be disclosed in this paper.

The major responsibility of the manager is to think strategically and deliver creative solutions to the organizational problems in order to ensure successful achievement of the organizational vision and goals. The classical as well as modern theories of the management have segments the responsibilities of the manager in four major categories: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. The four functions of the managers are integrated for undertaking the organizational activities. This section will focus on delivering an overview of these four functions on the basis of the past researches, existing theories and management approaches.

Planning

Planning is consisted of setting different objectives and goals of the organization along with activities which will help in meeting those. The major responsibility of the manager is to consider the external as well as internal conditions for making effective decision and planning. Planning engages various steps such as analysis of the environment which helps in the identification of the critical and potential contingencies which can be encountered by the company in terms of its competitors and economic conditions (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014). Hence, the major activities of planning includes decision making regarding setting goals, forecasting, scheduling, resourcing, setting standards and developing the procedure for monitoring (Pinnington, Macklin and Campbell, 2007). Research scholars have identified three types of planning such as strategic planning, tactical planning and operational planning.

Research Aims and Objectives

Strategic Planning:

Strategic planning is associated with the analysis of the threats as well as opportunities in the competitive environment along with the internal strength and weakness of the organization. Strategic planning is formulated for determining the long term activities of the company. The strategic planning of an organization is extensively reliant upon the vision and mission of the organization (McLoughlin and Aaker, 2010).

Tactical Planning:

Tactical planning is conducted for short term or less than three years. It has been designed for implementation of the strategic plan.

Operational Planning:

Operational planning of an organization is developed for determining the set of activities of the sub units of the organization in order to achieve the organizational goals. Operational plans are developed for short term which supports the tactical and the strategic plan (Morden, 2007).

Organizing

Organizing is considered to be one of the most important functions of management which is engaged in the development of the organizational structure that allows allocation of the human resource in order to accomplish the objectives. The structure of the company is a framework and the employees co-ordinate their effort within it. Organizational chart helps in representing the chain of command within the organization. Organizing function is also associated with designing the individual job responsibilities and makes decision regarding duties and targets. Initially the job designing function of the manager was based on the principles of the division of labor as well as specialization (Collings and Wood, 2009). Presently, various organizations have been attempting to establish equilibrium between the requirement for the specialization of the workers and the requirement for workers to have jobs which will entail autonomy as well as variety. Presently managers are focusing on the principles of team work, job enrichment and empowerment. Organizing engages in determining how to departmentalize or cluster jobs into the departments for co-coordinating the effort effectively. There are various ways for departmentalizing which includes organizing in terms of product, functions, geography etc.

Leading

Leading is associated with the social as well as informal sources which will helps in influencing the activities of others. Research studies have indicated that the subordinates of the effective leaders will be highly motivated for exerting effort in order to achieve organizational goals. Behavioral scientists have significantly contributed in order to understand the major leading functions of management. Studies regarding personality as well as attitude towards job have provided significant information regarding functions of management. It has been found that understanding the personalities, attitudes values and emotions are important for becoming an effective leader (Kramar and Syed, 2012).

Various motivation theories have provided significant information regarding the mechanisms which helps in energizing the workers and enhance productively. Contingency theory is associated with the selection of the appropriate style of leadership at different stages of maturity or the ability along with the willingness of the staffs.

Controlling

Controlling is associated with ensuring that the organizational performance aligns with the standard. Controlling functions start with establishment of the standard for performance. Therefore, comparison of the actual performance against standard will be undertaken (Katsioloudes and Katsioloudes, 2006). The next step will be associated with taking corrective measures according to the requirement. The standard of performance is expressed in various terms such as cost, revenue, bottom line, number of defective product, quality of customer service etc. Effective organizational control requires the necessity of a plan (Salaman, 2001). It has been observed that planning helps in providing efficient tools for setting standards. Additionally, the management needs a lucid idea regarding the responsibility for deviation from the pre-defined standards. Performance and budget audit are two popular and effective controlling mechanisms. The production and other operational activities of the organization are also controlled in order to ensure that those comply with the organizational policies.

Methodology

Primary research was conducted for analyzing as well as evaluating the role of manager or the major four functions of the management in Tesco Plc in Ireland. In order to collect primary data, an appointment was fixed with an employee from the top management level and employee from mid-management level. The findings of the primary research have indicated that the major four functions discussed in the secondary research section are performed efficiently by the management of Tesco which has been helping the organization in the achievement of sustainable growth (Salaman, 2001).

Planning:

It has been found each activity of Tesco is pre-planned. For example, the top level manager of Tesco has stated that the management engages in the planning activity before designing as well as launching a new product in the market. It has been found that the top level management of Tesco is engaged in development of strategic plan. On the other hand, tactical planning and operational planning are undertaken by the mid level management and the departmental mangers respectively (Katsioloudes and Katsioloudes, 2006).

Organizing:

In Tesco, organizing has been found to be one of the most important functions of Tesco. In Tesco, organizing function is associated with the management of raw materials, human resource as well as fund. Human resource management of Tesco has been significantly focusing on promotion of fair practice so that the staff retention is high. The job description and targets are clearly communicated to the staffs so that the strategic plan can be implemented effectively in order to achieve the desired state (McLoughlin and Aaker, 2010).

Leading:

Leadership is the major factor for ensuring success of the organization. It has been observed that the effective leadership style has heed in motivating the large workforce and it has made the major contribution in the success story of the Tesco. According to the managers, the leaders have adopted a participative and democratic style of leadership. It focuses on inclusion of the all concerned people in the decision making process. However, it has been also stated that the organization has been focusing on the contingency theory and various managers are adopting the situational leadership styles which has helped in responding to the dynamic business environment (Shekhar Singh, 2012). Leaders in Tesco have introduced several financial as well as non-financial motivations for retaining the talent (Pinnington, Macklin and Campbell, 2007).

Controlling:

A sound controlling mechanism is needed for the achievement of organizational goals. The interview session with the managers of Tesco has helped in understanding that Tesco has been able to successfully establish a controlling system which has set the standard of organizational performance (Kramar and Syed, 2012). It has set a bench mark for its employees in terms of performance (Holden and Beardwell, 2001). The organizational activities are monitored by the management of Tesco in order to ensure the activities comply with the organizational policies (Katsioloudes and Katsioloudes, 2006).

Analyzing the primary and secondary data, an insight regarding the major functions of the managers has been obtained. It has been found that Tesco has been effectively managing the functions of management in order to achieve the objectives of the organization.

From the collected data, it can be implied that the Tesco is engaged into serious planning activities for managing the activities of the company. In each and every step, plan along with contingency plan are developed in order to direct the organization into the right pathway. Strategic planning is undertaken by the top management level in Tesco. Both the human resource and raw materials are effectively managed by the managers at Tesco  (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014). The organizational structure has focused on effective communication so that the job roles and responsibilities are clearly conveyed to the staffs. Participative and democratic leadership styles are the two major factors which have leaded to organizational growth. Additionally, Tesco has focused on the contingency theory or situational leadership for responding to the dynamic environment. In order to control the organizational activities, Tesco has focused on setting standards for performance (Collings and Wood, 2009). Moreover, it has established a controlling mechanism for ensuring all the activities are undertaken by complying with the organizational policy (Holden and Beardwell, 2001).

Conclusion

This paper has demonstrated that the major activities of a manger is planning, organizing, leading and controlling. It has been found that these functions proposed by the social scientists are right in the present business context. Tesco has been focusing in these four activities in order to achieve the organizational goals.

References

Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A. (2014). Human resource management. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Collings, D. and Wood, G. (2009). Human resource management. London: Routledge.

Holden, L. and Beardwell, I. (2001). Human resource management. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Katsioloudes, M. and Katsioloudes, M. (2006). Strategic management. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Kramar, R. and Syed, J. (2012). Human resource management in a global context. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

McLoughlin, D. and Aaker, D. (2010). Strategic market management. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Morden, T. (2007). Principles of strategic management. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.

Pinnington, A., Macklin, R. and Campbell, T. (2007). Human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Salaman, G. (2001). Understanding business. London: Routledge in association with the Open University.

Shekhar Singh, A. (2012). Retailing in 21st Century: Current and Future Trends. Jnl of Product & Brand Mgt, 21(3), pp.226-227.

Tesco plc, (2015). Tesco plc.