Customer

Musgrave is one of the leading companies in the distribution and sale of food, beverages and drugstore products operating in Ireland, Spain and United Kingdom. In Ireland, Musgrave is the largest grocery distributor. The operations of Musgrave are carried out under the retail establishments of Super Valu, Dicost Dialprix, and Cash & Carry wholesale Dialsur (Musgrave Group Annual Reports, 2011). In the retail division, the business method of Musgrave remains the franchise model and almost all of the supermarkets operated by the company operate as franchisees.

There is a business-to-business division of Musgrave, as well, which focuses on the development of a quality service for the hotel, restaurant and independent food shops. The group currently operates in Ireland more than 445 shopping centers and 186 Supervalu outlets (Musgrave Group, 2012). In England, the group operates under the franchise Budgens Londis controls 2,000 stores throughout the region. The size of the group can be estimated from the fact that sales of the group in 2010 were EUR 4. 6 billion and the group posted a profit before tax of 81 million Euros (Musgrave Group Annual Reports, 2011).

On the other hand, wholesale (carried out under Cash & Carry Dialsur) achieved sales of 91 million Euros in 2010 (Musgrave Group, 2012). The paper evaluates the external and internal environment of Musgrave by utilizing models of strategic management. The impact of the changes in external environment on the competitiveness of Musgrave is also addressed in the paper.

Internal Analysis

The strategic model used for evaluation of the internal environment of Musgrave Group is SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis is one of the most widely used methods of strategic planning which is used to evaluate the factors and phenomena affecting the enterprise (Alkhafaji, 2003). In this section Strengths and Weaknesses of Musgrave will be used for identifying the internal factors that contribute to the organization’s achieving it corporate objectives. Strengths Currently, the major strength of Musgrave is its market leadership in the region in which it operates.

Musgrave is second largest company in grocery retail in Spain and the largest one is Ireland. This market leadership gives the company large financial resources and the strength to take new initiatives. Another key strength of the group is resilience of consumer demand even in tough economic times because it is perceived as most economic supplier of groceries. Even during the global financial crisis of 2007-08, Musgrave Spain sales exhibited a growth of 6. 5% over the previous year (Krafft and Mantrala, 2010).

Majority of cash flow is reinvested in the company giving way to organic growth. Strengths| Market leadership in Ireland and SpainTops the list of the grocery retailLarge financial resources which enables taking new initiativesBrand equity based on customer service and corporate social responsibilityResilience in demand. Stable revenues in tough economic times Cost advantageCustomer loyaltyInnovation in supply chain and procurementHighly developed pricing and distribution mechanism.

Still relatively small as compared to other brandsAllegations regarded cheap and low quality itemsWeak online presence| Customer loyalty is yet strength of the company which is attributed to higher level of customer orientation within the organization. Musgrave is a company dedicated to service and personal attention to clients (Ketzenberg, Metters and Vargas, 2002). Honesty, integrity, consistency and transparency are required to be exhibited in all actions of the people who comprise Musgrave’s team. The culture of Musgrave is a key strength of the company since the culture of the organization is built around dedication and commitment.

Commitment, motivation and high level of responsibility is attached to all the members of the organization, which is partly responsible for making Musgrave a company that continues to grow along with its employees (Musgrave Group, 2012). The culture of the company is designed to develop the potential of people sharing the organization. Linked to the culture of the company are the human resources of the organization which constitutes another major strength of the organization. In addition, human resources of the group are highly trained which enables Musgrave stand out from its competitors (Finne, 2009).

The training plan of the company is based on the principle of continuous improvement and professional program is focused on customer orientation and taking responsibility at all hierarchical levels. Lastly and most importantly, the brand equity of Musgrave’s brands – namely, Super Valu, Dicost and Dialprix is very high within consumer markets built around promise of low price and corporate social responsibility (Ramakrishnan, 2010). Also, it is known that the company responsibly manages its facilities and vehicle fleets in order to minimize the environmental impact of energy consumption and the production of waste and harmful emissions.

Therefore, consumers prefer to buy from Musgrave’s brands over other competing brands in Ireland, United Kingdom and Spain. Weaknesses the dependence of Musgrave only on Ireland, United Kingdom and Spain as the major source of revenue is a major weakness. This implies that the dependence on only three markets as the source of revenue makes the company vulnerable to any form of economic recession in those regions. The size of operations of Musgrave is quite small compared to other international retailers in grocery segment. In recent years, consumers have reported problems with the quality of products at Musgrave’s retail.

Even though online retail has grown steadily at the international level, Musgrave has been considerably weak in this segment. Online sales currently comprises of only a very small segment of the total retail of the business. External Analysis The external analysis of Musgrave Group is carried out through Opportunities and Threats elements of SWOT model. Opportunities A major opportunity for Musgrave Group is to create leadership in non-food retail segment. The multi-format retail of Musgrave Group means that the company has a strong likelihood of increasing its sales and market share in non-food retail segments (Sadler, 2003).

The key is to take advantage of this opportunity by improving its merchandising skills. The global trend is towards growth in non-food retail as compared to food retail (Schirmer, 2007). Pharmacy retail is yet another segment of retail which is forecasted to exhibit extraordinary growth in coming years. Pharmaceutical retail is, therefore, another key opportunity for Musgrave Group. Opportunities | Growing middle income groups in emerging economiesFocus on market niches within existing marketsCreating customized strategy for each market rather than a uniform global strategy.

Strong pressure on prices and strong competition from the discountersRising commodity prices and suppliers erosion of profit margins. Potential economic slowdown| Emerging middle-income groups in developing economies like Indonesia and India represent another major opportunity for Musgrave Group (Ramakrishnan, 2010). A sizeable population is these regions is experiencing growing incomes and is willing to spend this growing income (Hill and Jones, 2010). Rather than using a uniform strategy for its entire business, Musgrave Group can create a separate strategy for each one of its regions to gain sustainable competitive advantage.

Threats Growing competition in United Kingdom’s and Spanish retail market and a likely price war is a major threat for Musgrave Group. Other grocery retailers in UK market which have become highly aggressive in recent years. Another likely economic threat for Musgrave Group is that the unemployment rate in United Kingdom is climbing up and purchasing power of the target market of the retail group is decreasing (Krafft and Mantrala, 2010). Anticipated rise commodity prices in the grocery segment are yet another threat for Musgrave Group.

Company’s Strategic Position

From the above mentioned analysis, meaningful inferences about the strategic position of Musgrave Group can be drawn. The strategic position of Musgrave Group appears to be stable, however, considerable drift can be observed between the changes in external and internal environment of the company. The strategic direction of the business appears to create a distinctive business model that is able to attract new segments. The online retail segment of the business is also significantly lagging and needs to be established so as to contribute a sizeable proportion of sales.

Dialprix and SuperValu appear to be the two star brands of the group. Human resources of Musgrave Group possess expertise in distribution and procurement. Creating the best team is one of the basic principles on which all actions of the managers within the company are inspired. Human resources policies of Musgrave group have been devised with the belief that employees are needed to be leaders in customer service and quality. Musgrave has a long history of making positive contributions to its community through environmental initiatives and looking after the interests of its customers, employees and society above profitability motive.

Musgrave Group recognizes the social and environmental impact generated by its business activities and declares its commitment to monitor, assess and improve its environment.

Conclusion

The paper evaluated the external and internal environment of Musgrave by utilizing models of strategic management. The impact of the changes in external environment on the competitiveness of Musgrave is also addressed in the paper. It is found that Musgrave is one of the leading companies in the distribution and sale of food, beverages and drugstore products operating in Ireland, Spain and United Kingdom.

In addition, it is found that the business method of Musgrave remains the franchise model. The SWOT analysis of Musgrave showed the major strength of Musgrave is its market leadership in Spain and Ireland. The large financial resources and the strength to take new initiatives are found to be the key strengths of the group. Another key strength of the group is resilience of consumer demand even in tough economic times because it is perceived as most economic supplier of groceries. In conclusion, considerable drift can be observed between the changes in external and internal environment of the company.

A non-profit organization uses the current ratio to evaluate some of its assets. These assets are both cash and other things that could be changed into cash, and they might be used if necessary to pay their costs of operating. A non-profit organization uses the long-term solvency ratio to find out if they are likely to be able to pay their bills. This ratio will tell the non-profit exactly how much they depend on contributions from other sources outside of their organization. The organization uses the management/expense ratio to tell them how much they should set aside for administrative costs, besides their program costs.

If they save too much money in this category, they can spend less money on their programs. The revenue/expense ratio tells them how much funding they have used to support their fund-raising. The revenue/expense ratio is like the management/expense ratio because if too much money goes into revenue/expense, not enough will go to their programs.

Customers

Discuss the purpose, advantages, disadvantages, and type of feedback provided by a line item, performance, and program budget in a 350- to 700-word essay. Using performance, line-item, and program budget systems has a few advantages. Each system is best for a particular reason.

Each system has both is pros and its cons. The administration will consider the needs of its organization, and with this in mind choose which system they should use. Martin (2009) explains, “The three major budgeting systems (line-item, performance, and program) provide the financial performance feedback in a performance measurement system” (p. 77). A performance budgeting system’s most important advantage is that it gives the administration information about the cost of the organization’s “outputs. ”For example, this performance budgeting system calculates the cost to the organization of particular individual services.

If this budget is related to a homecare program, it would take into account even service that is included in or related to the homecare service– for instance, if there is a separate charge for administration of medicines or for travel time. Only the program-level is the right place for this kind of budget system. This kind of budget also gives a great deal of detail, which makes it often better than line-item budgeting. One disadvantage to performance budgeting is that it is more difficult to calculate. An umbrella is a useful metaphor for a program budgeting system. It reaches over each of the individual program expenses.

A cafeteria, for example, has expenses like supplies, utilities, salaries. A program budget does not list each individual expense; it instead gives the program a total figure of cost. Administration can use a program budget to look at the smaller parts of the total budget. This system’s disadvantage is that it only applies at the program level and does not give any details about which expenses come from what. A simpler kind of budget system is the line-item, which is easy to use. Administration can quickly read a line-item budget and use it to predict the future expenses of the organization.

If there is any question of verification, the information can be accessed at any time. A line-item system would take into account particular things like salaries, donations, and the operating expenses of the organization– like utilities or the phone. A line-item budgeting system, though, is not suitable for use by a large organization, which is a disadvantage. It does not outline what the organization spends on the costs of its programs. Both a performance budget and a program budget are used at the program level, but a program budgeting system and a performance budget system operate in different ways.

The biggest difference is that a performance budget calculates how much each of the organization’s individual services costs them. For examples, for the homecare program, this kind of budget would take all of the services offered with the homecare program into account in its budget for this program. These could be particular charges for medicine administration or for time spent traveling, for example. An umbrella is a useful metaphor for a program budgeting system. It reaches over each of the individual program expenses. A cafeteria, for example, has expenses like supplies, utilities, salaries.

A program budget does not list each individual expense; it instead gives the program a total figure of cost. Administration can use a program budget to look at the smaller parts of the total budget. A human service agency must always keep its expenses in mind. They need the kind of detailed information that comes from a performance budgeting system in order to know exactly how much each service costs them. Keeping this kind of budget lets the administration guess how much things will cost in the future, and change their costs if the need to.

A program budget lets the administration know exactly how much their programs costs, so that they can adjust their costs by looking at the budget. The program budget tells their administrators how much each of their programs costs compared to others. Provide a 350- to 700-word response to the following: Identify and describe two types of traditional approaches to fund development, and two types of nontraditional approaches to f und development that would be appropriate for the XYZ Corporation, and provide a conclusion of the organization’s current and future financial picture.

An agency can try several different kinds of fund development. Each of these forms is to attain the same purpose – the help the agency to reach the funds for a particular goal. Traditional approaches to fund development: Fund raising: The organization might have scheduled Campaigns to ask for money in an organized way large company might give the organization a donation that would then lower their own taxable income. Most organizations use the mail or telemarketing to get publicity for their campaigns.

The organization might have:

• Special events To raise funds through auctions or other rewards for donations, they might use a raffle or a walk-a-thon, among other ways, to raise funds in this form.
• Client’s donations Is another source of funding for an organization, a client might give donations to an organization without hoping for any reward or service, often from gratitude.
• Entrepreneurial approaches to fund development: Entrepreneurial approach: Affinity marketing Is a joint venture between a vendor and an organization which raises money for the organization?

A store could tell its customers, for example, that they will contribute a set portion of their profit to a particular organization. This relationship benefits both parties involved with it. The vendor wins because they make a profit on each item and bring in more customers. The customer gets the satisfaction of contributing to a cause and buying something that they want. The organization wins because they get funds with little to no effort.

An individual might contribute from their estate with a Be quest program. This way, a person leaves money for an organization in their will. The organization might decide to enter into a

Commercial Venture

An organization could sell its services to people who can pay in many ways. Willing clients with handicrafts skills might donate things that the organization could sell on the internet. This kind of fundraising needs a lot of planning and organizing, and the organization still needs to keep receiving donations while they plan their commercial venture. The venture itself might require extra costs. People might be more willing or able to donate items to support an organization than to donate cash.

Reference

1. Martin L. (2001). Financial Management for Human Service Administration, Boston, MA Allyn and Bacon

My small business Introduction A brief description of my small business. My small business is a local business that is located near its potential customers on Nags Head Road, Enfield. This small business is a small off lenience that it is a sole trader however it does have two employees working for him regularly. A small selection of the products/services are that It provides for Its customers If things Like bread, sweets, drink, alcohol and a key meter that allows you to put money on the key, which then provides the customers with electricity for their homes.

Another thing that this small business provides to the customers is that it allows them to top up their oyster card for them to travel around London. The consumer profile of customers would be 10 years and above, this business attracts all ages of customers whether you are a young or a senior person. Furthermore this business provides a standard/excellent customer service which gives this small business a really good name and reputation. Map of the location of my small business and its front and side view of the shop.

Consumer Profile Competition and their location/ why they are competitors. I have Identified my competition by conducting primary research and secondary Off License This business is located at Tyrants Road and they provide competition to my business because they Just like my business are also off licenses who practically sell the same products at say different prices. This business has the upper advantage as they are also nearer to their customers and are located on the main road which gives them more customers to advertise at that are driving past.

This then gives them more of a chance to make more sales and more profit than my business. Tests extra This business is located at Southbound Rod, NNE ART and this well-known business provides completion to my small business due to it being so big and so well known in 13 countries including the United Kingdom and they plan to still expand. Tests also provide the same products to the customers but at a lower and cheaper price attracting more. Moreover they have a massive product portfolio giving the customers more of a chose.

Furthermore they attract to all ages from young children to seniors. Licks Chicken This also small business is located right next to Deco’s. They happen to be an indirect threat to my small business due to them not selling the same products and services as mine. However they sell chicken and chips and burgers etc. , which are cheap and fill people up and attract them. This business attracts customers by making deals not like my business as they attract customers using posters on their windows using bright and bold colors to attract the customer’s eyes.

Sad This business is located on 67 High Street, Ponders End, Enfield, NNE FEE and they just like Tests, big competitors with similar products and a wide product portfolio. Sad compared to Tests have more cheaper products which is a threat to my small business and they may be out of business if big companies like Tests and Sad decide to set up more of their business nearer my potential customers. SOOT analysis for my small business. Competitive strategies of my small business Off License: Product Description of the product/service of my small business.

The products that my small businesses entrepreneur sells are things like tobacco, alcohol, groceries and the things that are convenience in a normal persons day to day life because my small business knows that if someone forgets something when doing ND they are fine and don’t need to worry. They also provide a guaranty service and deliver what the customers need closer to them than say someone like Tests or Sad. Furthermore this small business a personal service which most big companies doesn’t.

Why the product/service that my small business sells is important. The product/ service that my small business sells is important because it knows the customer’s needs and is in walking distance of them making it easier for the customers to pop in quickly if they say have guest over and need something like biscuits. Also it is important because it has convenient daily needs and its own unique selling point. The USPS of my small business is that it sells calling cards allowing customers with friends and families abroad to talk to each other.

Moreover the location of my small business is really well thought because on the road that they are located on many of the customers have families and friends in countries like Bangladesh, giving them a chance to sell more cards and make more sales which then would add up to their profit increasing them. Finally the service they provide is kind of on a personal level skins the customers how their day was and getting to know them a bit. A satisfactory customer service is provided also. Through my questionnaire I asked the entrepreneur why he thinks customers buy his product/service.

Selling these products/services help my business competes. These strategies are good and they work. The strategies that the business uses do work due to them still being there and not having any liquidation problems. The promotions that the business uses are that it has large images of some of the products on its window and its wall on the outside of the shop. Big and colorful images that attract the customers due to its selling convenience goods that customer’s need, which makes them meeting their needs.

Also strategies of getting to know the customers as they come in and go out of the store on a daily basis. This helps my small business compete in the big market because it interacts with its customers finding out what feel as if they have made a new friend. Again this would be another of their unique selling point unlike big businesses like Tests who don’t have enough or a lot of time on their hands to talk to each individual customers asking them how their day is due o them needing to move on to the next customer in the line waiting to be served.

Competitive strategies of my small business Off License: Price Definition of the term price and explanation of the importance of pricing to a small business. Price is part of the marketing mix and is the amount charged by a business for its products and services and if this is done in the wrong manner then my small business might not be so profitable. If the pricing is too right then the customers might not go and buy the products; but if it’s too low then the customers might think that there is meeting wrong with the product hence them selling it for a really price.

Explanation of why the pricing strategy used by my small business is important. The pricing strategies used but my small business is important because if the product/ service is too high, they might think that the product is not worth that much which might put the customers off buying the product. However if the products price is too low then the customers might think that there is something doggy about the product. If the price of the product/service is not right then the demand for the small genuineness products/services might no longer be needed or required.

That is why my small business has a wide range of products to make sure that if one fails then the whole of the business will not be affected so badly. Through my questionnaire I asked the entrepreneur of my small business which pricing strategies the business. Using these pricing strategies help my small business to compete. Using these strategies is good and they do work. Using these strategies my small business has been able to compete with other big businesses and still managed to stay open and make some sort of it’s in the big outside market.

Using the penetration pricing strategies helps my small business as it sells his products/services at a lower price saving the customers a lot of money instead of having to go to the big supermarkets and spend a lot of money there, which through the questionnaire he said was mostly Tests. Even though it’s at lower prices than its competitors it still makes enough profit for the business to carry on with its daily essentials for examples bills, rent etc.

Competitive strategies of my small business Off License: Promotion is the method of advertising the business uses to communicate around in the local rear, trying to get customers to come into their shop and buy their product/services. The type of promotion my small business uses to attract its customers are thing like big images and posters on the big windows of the shop and another cost free one is the word of mouth which is good for the business as it gets the business recognized . Also it promotes to make people aware of the shop presence and to stand out from its competitors with its products and services.

However using the promotion word of mouth can also be a really bad thing as customers could be telling their friends that hey had a bad experience at the shop which will stop them from coming to the business and spending their money. The cost of my small business’ promotion budget. During my conversation with my small businesses entrepreneur I think that roughly they spend around a year IEEE but however this is Just an approximation from by knowledge that I have gathered from the questionnaire that I have asked him to fill out.

Method of promotion Advantages Disadvantages Leaflets Word Of mouth Posters on The window Through my questionnaire and my observations I found out that my entrepreneur seed the following strategies to promote his small business. Strategies is good and they do work. Using these promotional strategies do help my small business compete as it does put forward an image of itself making itself look good in selling convenient thins like snacks: drink: bread and more.

My small business has big posters up on its window displaying some of the many few products that it sells to its potential customers letting them know if they need anything urgently they can always rely on this small business giving them a good reputation. The other strategies my small business uses that works are things like the word of out encouraging customers to tell others about their experience in the shop. For example a friend to me about the small business and told me that this business is really good and that it has reasonable pricing for their products and good quality products.

This made me want to go there and check it out for myself and now I always go there. Proposal Competitive strategies of my small business Off License After having collected primary research from my small business and portraying the data that I have collected I will provide a proposal of strategies for my small business in order or me to help them improve their business in any shape or form. Whether that be making it more known around the local area or helping it attract a wider range of potential customers.

Proposes strategy: Customer Service Implementation-My small business could provide a special/standard greeting for their customers s they walk in to the shop making them feel wanted there like ‘How may I help. ‘, so the small business sounds professional and looks good. In comparison to that my small business could have some sort of dress code or a special uniform that makes them stand out compared to their competitors and also hen customers come in and go out of the store they are able to recognize who they recognized and build up a reputation for themselves.

Success-This strategy of customer service would be really successful as it will give the small business recognition for the types of services that it provides making new customers attracted to it even more, even if they don’t live that close around the business. Building their reputation will give them an opportunity to ask big brands to allow them to sell their products in the small business, increasing their product portfolio. Proposes strategy: Promotion

Implementation of this strategy-My small business could use different forms of promotional strategy by making posters and putting them up on the trees promoting their products wanting customers to come to their small business and buy their products giving the business chance to increase its sales and hopefully its profit. The good thing about this strategy is that it does to require any special training or anything like that to make a decent poster to put up on trees.

Moreover to implement Chichi would be reasonable amount of money for a small business like mine to spend annually on promotion. Success- This strategy of promotion would be really successful because in the long term it will draw in more new/potential customers increasing the sales and the profit, however during the short term it might cause the business minor cash flow problems as they might not have enough money coming in to pay the day to day bills for example rent, electrical bills etc, making harder for them to cope.

But putting this hard work in now will pay off eventually in the long run. Proposes strategy: Diversification Implementation of this strategy This strategy will help my small business as it allow he customers to purchase different items of products than Just the convenient products like bread and sweets etc, giving them more of a variety of things to hose from, that way they will spend long in the shop and might buy than they came in for.

If the customers are able to purchase different items on a daily basis then maybe there may not be a reason for them to go to the big supermarkets to buy single items making them attracted to the offers of different products and spending all their shopping money there. To implement this strategy will take a maximum FIFO but ritually this will be paid off in the long run giving the small business a bigger chance of growth.

Success-Diversification strategy will be really successful as it will encourage potential customers to come to the small business not only for convenience but also for other things for example labeled brands that you would have to go to the big supermarkets for increasing the small business chance to wow the customers with their products making them want to take their money out of their pockets and put in to the small business cash machine, making them happy and the small business really happy.

Proposes strategy: Sales and BEFOG Implementation of this strategy-Applying this sales and buy one get one free strategy will help the small business as it will allow more customers to come to the store and buy products at a cheaper price compared to the competitors making them want to come to my small business instead of going to the big supermarkets for a couple of products, increasing the chance of more sales and more profit for my small business.

Having sales and buy one get one free offers automatically send a message to customers minds that this is a really good deal and that it cheaper compared to no ales and no buy one get one free. Success- The success of sales and buy one get one free offers are that they make customers want to buy more at say couple pennies less making it seem to them that they are getting a good deal, making the customer not need to go to the big supermarkets for the products and maybe the same 10 minutes walk away from them when the my small business is only 4 minutes walk away from their house.

Proposes strategy: Increase product range (product portfolio) Implementation of this strategy- Having a wider range of products gives the customers more of a chose in what they want to buy making them spend more time in the shop looking for a product, which is the kind of same as diversification (giving the customers more of a pick). To implement this strategy will take EYE or more in buying the different products for the small businessmen them to sell to the customers.

At first this might sound like a lot of money for a small business to use to buy products but the money that was used to buy the products will later be repaid by the Success-Using this strategy will help my small business succeed as it allows the customers to come to the small business to buy what big branded products other big supermarkets have attracting them to the small business.

Recommendations for my small business I have been analyzing for the past few weeks my small business which is called Nags Head Off License and have been gathering in depth primary and secondary research to give some suggestions and recommendations to help try and improve the small business. Even though some of the recommendations might have some sort of disadvantages mostly being with money; I think that in the long term this would ally beneficial and help to grow the business further.

Being a regular customer at the shop and also being a well-educated business student; not only do I have a professional view of the business, but I can talk from past experience and these are the recommendations that I have come up with for my small business. Recommendation no. L- Advertise in the local newspapers I am recommending this to my small business as I would like them to be successful in their business and the recommendation that I will be advising to them is that they put a local advertisement in the local newspaper making them small business known round the area.

This way many potential customers will know what types of products/ services my small business has to offer for them meeting their needs and other customers’ needs and letting them know that they can come in at any time to purchase any item knowing that this small business is a really good business. With this recommendation will come a fee fee that will have to be paid to the local newspaper in order for them to advertise the small business advert however it is really simple to do.

All that my entrepreneur will have to do is that they will have to all up the local newspaper telling them that they want to advertise their business which then will take two days Max to print their advertisement in the paper for the public/potential customers to see. From my secondary research that I have gathered I have been able to find out that not only does Tests its main competitor put advertisements in the national papers but also do TV adverts giving them the upper advantage compared to my business.

Even with this huge disadvantage I am certain that the benefits will outweigh the Costa and the competition. Recommendation no. -Having the employees wearing the same uniform Another recommendation that I would offer to my small business is that he has his employees and him-self wearing the same uniform making them look smart and professional and feel that way about their business.

From being a regular customer of theirs and having collected secondary data I have noticed that the employees wear what they want and that it a not ironed shirt and a pair of Jeans which you can’t see because they are sitting on a stool behind the counter makes them look like they don’t care about the business. Also the clothes that they wear reflect their business and right now the reflection is not a good one. This may prove to be a problem when customers black pair of trousers and a simple one colored shirt can make all the difference and give that professional touch to the business that it never had.

My small businesses like Sad, Tests even Licks Chicken all have uniforms making them look smart and have the advantage over my small business. Recommendation no. 3-Having the employees greet customers Moreover another recommendation for my small business could change how it revises its services and this could be done by getting to know his daily and none daily customers by asking them things like ‘How was your day? , and giving them a warm smile with it.

Also if they (the customers) come into the shop on regular basis, like once every day, the entrepreneur could give them something like a small sweet extra, to make them want to come back again. Even more they could then go and tell their friends about the shop and their service which could encourage more customers to come in and spend money. This would then give the business a good petition may be increasing their chances of say expansion. To implement this recommendation will not cost any amount f money what so ever or any special training.

All the employees have to do is remember a few words that will be said when a customer walks through their door giving the customer and sense that this business is really good and they are being treated/ served with an excellent manner, they will probably come back again. On average a happy customer informs seven to eight people about their experience and recommends them to go there. Hence, this proposal will benefit the business mostly but also its customers.

Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,750 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 133 domestic and 132 international destinations. More than 750 additional points are served via current alliance partners. Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year. Based in Houston, Texas, the airline must provide an IT infrastructure to support its global reach. Its IT department delivers services for internal operations as well as for its customer service and external Web applications.Make a small description of the case pointing out the main management issues.

This case study demonstrates how Continental Airlines adopted new strategies and how they got successful when most of the U. S. based airlines were in risk of bankruptcy after the 9/11. The company wasn’t very highly regarded because of its organizational culture and it’s IT and Biz. Strategy weren’t aligned. Continental slowly reinvented itself by using new strategies, “Worst to First” which made them one of the most admired global airline in the world. They used IT as a service centre and aligned Biz. with IT.

Describe the external environment and Continental’s strategic goals After the 9/11, the nation’s airline industry struggled to regain altitude, because of the loss of billion of dollars since a smaller number of people wanted to fly which made thousands of people loose their jobs. But it is believe that the U. S. airlines were already struggling before the attack due to broader economic and competitive issues. Also, economics problems in the U. S. and Japan and the weakening of the dollar has not helped for the recovery of the airline industry. See appendix 1) The legacy carriers – American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United, Continental Northwest and US Airways had to face new lower-cost competitors entering their Amrita Ranchhod Pagina. Off markets, and all airlines had to face soaring fuel prices over the last years. According to Phil Baggaley, the senior airlines credit analyst for rating agency Standard & Poor’s, “The legacy carriers were forced to pull back their capacity and that opened a vacuum that the low-cost carriers could fill.

I think 9/11 made a material difference in that way -it accelerated a trend that was already occurring. ” (www. money. cnn. com). This lead to an unused aircraft, demand for new planes went down which didn’t help the manufacturers and their suppliers. To understand better Continental Airline’s external environment I will use SWOT analysis:

• Strenghts  : Revenues increased of 17. 1% from 2005 to 2006  Profits: Operating Profit: during fiscal year 2006 operating profit was $468 million, compared to operating loss of $39 in 2005.
• Net Profit: during fiscal year 2006, net profit was $343 million, compared to net loss of $68 in 2005. ? CEO: The CEO of Continental Airlines played and important role in stimulating the company. The “Go Forward Plan” made possible to focus on every aspect of the organization.
• Target Market: Having a well-defined target market, Continental provides services to upper-class and business travelers.
• Weaknesses  Financial Difficulties: The company had some financial problems with great amount of debts and operating at loss.  High Operating Costs: Continental had a high operating cost because they decided to attract consumers by offering in-flight meals preventing them from going to other airlines.
• Opportunities:  Reestablishing Customer Base: The airline industry is becoming “normal” as in returning to pre-9/11 status.  Align new marketing strategy, more consumer oriented, with low cost strategies.
• Threats: September 11th: The public lost faith in the airline industry after the September 11th and for many companies this meant bankruptcy. Even after this, the majority of the airline industry had lower profits. ? Oil prices were getting high. Increasing Rivalry As stated in the case study, Continental Airlines was ranked at the very bottom of the list of airlines and regularly received low marks for customer service. Its external environmental was very instable and each carrier was trying very hard to save the company from bankruptcy.

The company had 45 different CRM systems and the carrier had no way to verify who the most important customers were. The company’s strategy was mainly to identify and increase the loyalty of continental’s most important customer and also to find new customers even outside the U. S. keeping prices stable and increasing routes. The way they implemented this strategy was basically creating and IT department which would improve customer services and operations. Bethune’s “Worst to First” business strategy made reorganize company’s structure by launching new service routes. But according in Teradata (www. teradata. com), Bethune’s “Worst to First” business strategy relied little on technology. Bethune began by reshaping the company with his “Go Forward Plan,” which still guides the business today. The Go Forward Plan has four interrelated parts, dealing with the airline’s product, finances, market and people:  Fly to Win: Understand what products customers want and what they are willing to pay for.  Fund the Future: Manage costs and cash flow so the airline can continue to operate. Make Reliability a Reality: Get customers to their destination safely, on time and with their luggage.  Work Together: Create a culture where people want to come to work. The second phase of Bethune’s strategy, “First to Favorite”, the IT team decided to transform the airline’s CRM systems into one which made possible to save around $6 million costs in operating costs.

What are the new management capabilities and business processes? Are they information-intensive? How they work? Continental’s success was due to the use of innovative technologies to improve internal operations and customer service. The real-time data warehouse provided data from 25 internal operational systems and two external data sources loaded into the data warehouse. The source systems included: schedules, inventory, employee and crew payroll, airline tickets, customer care, and others and it was applied to areas such as revenue management, customer relationship management, flight management dashboard and fraud detection. The CVM provided by Continental’s database, allowed them to Amrita Ranchhod Pagina . Tech Strategy Takes Off know the most profitable customers which helped the marketing department in customer segmentation.

Management understood that good quality information was critical. According to Jane Beeby, Continental’s Senior Director, as part of its strategy to optimize service, Continental maintains unique 800 numbers for various types of customers. For example, international fliers dial a different number than do customers booking domestic flights. Rewards Program members have their own toll-free line. To even more precisely identify individual customer needs, callers may also respond to a series of network-level prompts before being connected to an agent.

The new capabilities and business processes attained by the company made possible to know more about their customers which lead to more profit and consequently to a better customer service.  Does IT have a strategic role at Continental (Apply Porter’s 5 forces model) As an early adopter of new technology, Continental Airlines uses the latest information technology allowing the company to progress. I believe that IT was a brilliant opportunity to invest in the future providing real-time business intelligence which made possible to save $500 million in costs and revenues produced a ROI (Return on Investment) of more than 1. 00% (See Appendix 2).

One thing worth mentioning is that one of the key resources at Continental were the employees. More productive employees lead to better margins. The ability to deal with problems efficiently, in turn, created job satisfaction, as employee see their efforts give way results. According to Porter’s analysis, The Five Forces determine the competitive intensity and therefore the attractiveness of a market.

Continental is implementing a unique strategy making hard for new companies to enter the market and uncrease barriers. Therefore, there is a low threat of new entrants because the service they are offering is difficult to copy . Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers will decrease because as Continental is controlling more information about customers therefore they are offering exactly what costumers need which makes possible to build brand awareness – the bargaining power of the company increases. Threat of Substitutes: The IS strategy gives to Continental Airline a competitive advantage because they control customer’s information therefore they are able to capture loyalty of them and minimize substitutes.  Bargaining Power of Buyers: Since there is a new IS the company is increasing barriers for customers switching costs. The buyers are becoming more loyal and establishing a bound to the company services which makes difficult for them to change. Therefore the bargaining power of buyers is decreasing.

Conclusion

The information systems at Continental have a strategic impact in because they have a major positive impact in:  Increasing Industry Rivalry Lowering Customer Bargain Power 4. Regarding their business value analyse the IT systems mentioned positioning them in McFarlans’s Matrix. According to the McFarlan’s Matrix listed bellow, for example CRM (Customer Relationship Management) plays a strategic role in Continental’s Airline, because the existing and future expansion is vital to the firm’s success. CRM made possible the Amrita Ranchhod Pagina 7 Case Study: Continental Airlines Tech Strategy Takes Off lose relationship between the company’s customers and each employee, giving these last ones better information about specific needs of their customers. Loyalty is very important for them, so by using the data warehouse with real time information ensured higher customer retention. The CRM system also facilitated crossselling (offering customers complimentary products based on their previous purchases) and up-selling (offering customer’s premium products in the same category).

Alignment is always going to be a moving target. Business objectives are in change, while IT tends to move in more stable patterns. From my point of view the key recommendation is to focus on what can the company achieve now and take one step at a time. For them to be aligned there should be a balanced in terms of communication. Business people “speak in business language” and IT people in technical terms. To solve this problem, we should put this two together and “make them” find their own language and this involves communication, process alignment and value demonstration.

These people must have the right tools and skills to work together so they can arise the best strategies. In my point of view, creating a new department, in theory is easy but they are always full of obstacles and always busy. For example, employees profiles can be created to gather information about their competencies. Also within the organization make audit objective as ensuring a strong coupling between the business operations and the IT operations and to ensure that both the operations align with the overall business strategy.

This case discusses the customer service initiatives of LL Bean, Inc, a US-based multichannel retailer. LL Bean had evolved from being a mail-order company selling hunting boots into a leading international retailer selling apparel, home furnishings and outdoor equipment. Its endeavor was to deliver quality products at reasonable prices and offer excellent customer service to customers. In its 98-year long history, the company had preserved the customer-centric tradition set by the founder and had, over the years, molded its operational policies to provide superior purchasing experience to customers.

The company believed that a satisfied customer helped build customer loyalty and encouraged repeat purchases, which were essential to achieve success in the retail business. The case discusses in detail the customer-friendly policies of LL Bean and the customer service practices that had resulted in its being recognized as a customer service champion by consumers and industry observers. This also helped the company to perform better than its rivals during the global economic recession of 2007-2009.

Experts felt that the company’s superior customer service provided it with a competitive edge. The case will help students to:

• understand the importance of customer service, particularly in the retail industry;
• study the customer-centric policies of LL Bean and the various practices that the retailer followed to provide superior customer service;
• understand how the customer-centric policies and practices contributed to the success of LL Bean;
• explore strategies that LL Bean could adopt in the future to attract more customers.

This case is designed for MBA / MS students and is intended to be part of the marketing management curriculum. It can also be used in the business strategy curriculum. The teaching note includes the abstract, teaching objectives and methodology, assignment questions, feedback of the case discussion, and additional readings and references. It does not contain an analysis of the case.

We recommend you seek the guidance of a professional. You’ve downloaded this guide for one of the following reasons: You are in business and are looking for ways to better your chances for success and grow your business You were recommended by a contact You’re Just plain Curious You’ve recently started, or are thinking of starting your own business If the last reason Is you. We recommend you check out our guide: Starting a business, which you can download for free from our website. We say this as there may be some things, important things, which you have not thought about before starting your equines.

This guide will help you make sure you know everything you need to know about starting a business, from choosing the right business structure for you, to how much you should pay yourself. Get It right, from the start Going into business for yourself is a huge step; one that should not be taken lightly. If you’re already up and running, you’ll know this. The advantages are almost never ending; independence; control; freedom to make all decisions. However, the pit falls can prove disastrous and even character breaking; working far too many hours; poor quality of life; little income. So start how you Intend to finish.

Whatever reason you are starting your own business, make sure that, whatever vowels you have for your business, its core values, practices and operations, are implemented right from the start. For example, if your burning desire is to be a world class company and a market leader, make sure you start behaving like one right from the outset. There is absolutely no reason why you cannot act like a world class company, if that is what you are aiming for. Why would you suddenly change your operations after 10 years being established? ‘Make time to daydream and ignore anyone who mocks you.

The mocking will stop when you’re able to make your dreams a wonderful reality – and they’re not’ What do you daydream about now? And what future did you daydream about as a child? Make time to daydream and ignore anyone who mocks you. The mocking will stop when you’re able to make your dreams a wonderful reality – and they’re not. Free thinking is vital in business. Daydreaming is good. Ideas are the seedlings of reality which need to be nurtured into real, living, breathing enterprises. Being a business owner means harnessing the power of your imagination constantly.

Imagination has no boundaries or constraints. Great ideas are central to you and your business. Let your imagination breathe. We’re not saying turn into one of those loopy weirdo’s you meet who constantly stare at the sky and wear grass shoes. We’re saying that sometimes you need to step out of your business and look at it from a different perspective. Always remember why you are here and where you want to go. Set aside a few hours a week thinking time (maybe in the bath or when you take the dog for a walk). Let your imagination wonder to see if you can improve any aspect of your business.

Why do you need a business plan? ‘Most people aim at nothing in life and hit it with tremendous accuracy If you have no aim for where you want your business to go, how will it ever get there? It’s easier to be passionate about the future if you can visualize where you want to go and how you are going to get there. Like any Journey, you need a map – a business plan. A business plan is a set of actions which will take you from where you are now, to where you want to go. I’m not talking about one of those elaborate, flashy business plans which you are hoping will impress the bank manager.

I’m talking about a equines plan for your benefit – a business development plan. You need to get your own goals down on paper and record an action plan for the next 90 days, 6 months, 2 years and so on, to make sure you’re doing the things you need to do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to better your chances of success. The most valuable use of your time is working on your business development plan How to use this guide This guide has been designed to be used as a template and a step by step process for creating a business development plan which will help you take your business from where it is, to where you want it to be.

It should be used together with our business development plan template which you can find on our website, here: . The best part about a business development plan is that it is for your use – so make it however you want to! If you don’t like big chunks of text, use bullet points throughout (we’d recommend it! ) so long as you understand it and it works for you. General Company Description The first part of any good business plan is the general company description, or as I like to think of it, an introduction to the business this plan is for.

Things you should include in this part are: What does the company do (industry & Industry history) A brief outline of the products/services the business supplies and the benefits to the customer/client A brief description of the target market (people who use those products/services) A small section on the businesses difference to its competitors (unique selling points & niche) A brief outline of the businesses vision including a mission statement and business philosophy A section on how the company will succeed Why do you need this? This section will be used as a constant reminder of why you are in business.

The Business vision here should be short, sharp and send chills down your spine whenever you read it because after you’ve completed this plan, you’ll realize this is possible and you stand a very good chance of achieving your goals. Vision This is the exciting part! Where do you want to be in a year? 2 years? Areas? Even 10 years? This is the part of the plan which needs you to be imaginative and think long and hard about what it is specifically you want to achieve. Things like: Do you want to be market leaders? – Who are the existing market leaders?

Do you want to be a world class company? – What does this mean? Do you want to make lots of money? – How much money? Do you want a reasonable standard of living? What exactly does reasonable mean? Do you Just want to survive? – K, but what exactly do you need to do to survive? You’ll come up with one or maybe even a list of 20 things you want to achieve. This is your vision. This is why you woke up one day and thought You know what? That’s a good idea! I can do this! ‘ The clearer you are about your vision, the more specific you are – the easier it is going to be to achieve.

Only when you know where you are going, can you plan the steps to take to get you there. Use the following template to plan your vision. Creating your In 10 years I will be. E. G. Market Leaders, in the top 100 UK accountancy practices in the I-J, have income of Elm pa To achieve this we need to… Have a client/customer base of. With an average value of . Gain new clients Which means and average of new clients per year Which means and average of . New clients per month In 5 years I will be… Have a client/customer base of.For us to succeed, we need to.

Which means and average of  new clients per year Which means and average In 2 years I will be… Have a client/customer base. For us to succeed, we need to Gain  new clients new clients per month Products/Services This section is to describe in detail every products/service the business is going to supply. Use a what, who, why, where, when, how description (see the template below) on each product and be a detailed as you can possible be. Remember: this is a business development plan. The development part means this will be continuously updated and not left on a shelf to gather dust.

If you improve a product or introduce a new one, be sure to include it here. Oranges – (Product/Service Name) Who? – (who will buy it? ) People who eat oranges Why? – (what are the benefits or what will the product/service do? Oranges are full of vitamin C and taste delicious! Where? – (Where and how will it be sold? ) Supermarkets When? – (how often will it be sold to customer? Once a year, once a week etc) Every day! Because everyone loves Oranges! How (much)? – (How much will it cost? If product, include manufacturing/purchase price) El . 0 per orange (they are that nice) Marketing Plan The marketing plan covers several sections that need to be considered: Market (size) Customer Profile Competition USPs/niche Promotion or routes to market Pricing Sales forecast Market The burning question here: ‘Is there a big enough market for your product/service? That is; are there people that will actually buy it? This is what we need to prove in the market analysis. How big is the market? Who does it consist of? Who wants/needs your product or service? An example here: SIR Toomey & Co provides accountancy services to small businesses. There are 4. Million businesses in the I-J. Of these, 99. 3% are small business. This may need to be separated out to include demographics (e. G. Which if those businesses are located in Hampshire? ) but it is a start. What you need to consider: How big is your target market? What are the demographics? Are these markets concentrated in one geographical action? (Include a map showing location would be useful) How much of this specific market are you hoping to attain? Only by identifying your target market specifically can you start to think of ways to generate interest in your product/service from them.

When considering who your customers will be, think of your ideal customer, and focus your attention on them. For example: ‘SIR Toomey & Co is targeting small businesses’ ‘Small Businesses’ is a very broad range. Small Businesses is not specific, it could be a million different things (literally). There are those certain types of clients who SIR Toomey & Co is targeting: Small Businesses that have the ambition, desire and motivation to succeed and be the best in their market place’ This is still not specific enough, but now you have an idea.

If your business was ideal, you would only gain the customers that you really want. Those customers, who pay on time, without nagging, refer others to you without asking and really appreciate the service/product you provide. Would it not make sense to focus on those customers? Things to consider: Age Gender Geographical Location Occupation(s) General like/dislikes Hobbies Where do they frequent? (Hotels, pubs, bars, etc) Why do they want your product/service? Why would they choose your product/service over your competitor?

What would they value from your product/service Competitors Looking at your competition is very important. What if they are offering an improved version of your service, or better products? First off, you need to identify the competition who is offering a similar product/service as you, in the same geographical location. List each competitor on a separate page of your plan Include a copy of their website home page (if applicable) Include address and contact details What are they up to? What products/services are they offering? What makes them different?

Or so they say? ) Are they offering any special deals? Is there service offering more attractive than yours? Now decide which two competitors is your main competition and complete the table (see next page). This is a more in depth competitor analysis which will highlight areas you need to improve to look more attractive to your customers. Be sure to ask for an biased view! Use a scale of 1 – 5 (5 being excellent, 1 being very poor) for each column on how your product/service is rated, how your competitors measure up and the importance to the customer.

Highlight whether this is a strength or weakness for you. Competitor Analysis FACTOR Products Price Quality Selection Service Reliability Stability Expertise Company Reputation Location Appearance Sales Method Credit Policies Advertising Image You Strength Weakness Competitor 2 Importance to Customer speeches Why is your company different? Why are your customers going to use your product/service? These are the questions that you need to think about and will ultimately, play the biggest part of why people will buy from you.

This is the section to include every little detail of why you are better than your competition and why it will make customers choose you – from your attractive moment terms, to a products ground breaking functionality – you need to list every possible unique selling point. List, (in bullet point form if you find it easier – or even brainstorm) each thing that makes you different. Promotion (Routes to Market) ‘How are people going to hear about you’ is what this means in short and is important for obvious reasons. If people don’t know you’re there – they can’t possibly buy from you!

So how are you going to advertise/market your product/service? Advertising (local paper, publications, posters etc) Word of mouth Direct Mail Internet advertising (Pay per click, SEE etc) Networking Telemarketing Cold calling Door to door salesman This list is not exhaustive and could probably go on forever! This would be a good idea to look back at your customer profile. Where do your ideal customers go, where you could promote your product/service? It’s also important to consider costs. You must be aware how many clients you need or products you need to sell to cover the costs of the advertisement in the first place.

List all forms of promotion to be used (separated by product/service if applicable), the cost involved, and how many clients you need to win/products you need to sell to cover the cost of the advertisement. One of the most important rules of advertising that Vie learnt is that ‘If it isn’t working, stop’. How do you know how much to sell your stuff for? There are many things to consider. First of all, this will depend on market research: How much are your competitors selling a similar product/service for? How does the quality of those compare to yours?

Are they offering any deals/packages? The next things to consider are: What are your direct costs (materials/purchases) How much is it going to cost to produce your product/service to a selling condition? If you’re reselling a product – how much are the goods? Even more things to consider: Operating/fixed costs – you need to make enough money to cover things like wages, rent etc Net profit levels – the selling price needs to be high enough so the business We recommend you check out the pricing calculation on our website.

It’s here: Once you’ve calculated and decided on a selling price, you need to decide how your customers/clients are going to pay you: Will it be point of sale? Will you request a deposit to be paid? Are you going to offer credit facilities? Is there a way you can make your payment terms increase the attractiveness of your offering? (Spreading payments over a number of months perhaps? Sales Forecast This is where your money is going to come from, how you are going to plan for growth and how you’re going to make yourself millions.

It’ll tell you when you need to take on staff, what to do if you don’t make as much as you hoped and when you need to move to a bigger place. If you didn’t get it – what I’m trying to say is that the sales forecast is important. I’d recommend downloading the sales forecast template from our website. Free, as always. How do know what figures to include in the sales forecast? Do you Just guess? Yes – and no. To determine your sales forecast, you’ll need to look sack to your vision. How many sales do you need to make to achieve your goals?

Those are the amounts you include in your sales forecast – you’re going to budget towards your goals. What else would you budget towards? Being an accountant, I’ll also have to recommend that you complete at least one more sales forecast. One which will act as a contingency – Just in case things don’t go as well as you hope – so you can plan for the worse and know what steps to take. Try taking 50% off your sales for the first year, see what position you’ll be in. SOOT Analysts That is: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Before you record these in your plan, take four sheets of paper.

Write one of the above on each of the sheets of paper. Spend some time to really think about this and brainstorm. When new ones pop up – add them to the list (see the example on the next page) What are the strengths of the business? Are the credit control systems unbreakable? Is this a strength? Do you have poor credit control systems and will be forever chasing money? Probably a weakness Are there any opportunities in new product launches/markets? Could a competitor pose a threat to your business? Or perhaps a large competitor could destroy you Have a look again at your competitor analysis.

Are there any strengths listed here that you can use to your businesses advantage? Are there weaknesses that you can work on, to turn them into a strength? The idea here is to turn the weaknesses into strengths and the threats into opportunities.

A mission statement shows the aim of a company. It shows the direction a company is going. And what they are doing to give their shareholders the best dividend. Tesco have a mission statement to encourage shareholders to invest in their company. You need to broadcast your aims to the public so that they can see what the company wishes to achieve e.g. Tesco want loyalty from customers and therefore this indicates that they will do everything possible to achieve this. Tesco needs the profits which only the customer can give and this is only possible if the company provides the right type of goods to satisfy everyone. Tesco has made sure that they stocks are goods and plentiful so that the customer does not need to go anywhere else because their aim is to satisfy each and every customer.

By setting an aim the company is able to set itself targets e.g. to become the leading supermarket and improve its market share every year. By setting targets the company can assess its performance. If things go wrong then they can take steps to improve and achieve their appropriate targets. The company will also attract every type of customer, which will lead to large profits which are desperately required to pay the shareholders dividend, expand the company, introduce new products and improve existing services.

In order to reach their aim Tesco set itself small objectives which are small targets and these help to meet their main aim which is to retain customer loyalty. Objectives are also important because they give the company a direction to work towards and achieve its success.

Customers

Tesco achieves success through various ways and one successful method has been the Club card. I think one of the main reasons customers prefer to shop at Tesco is their facility of the club card. This is a loyalty card which gives customers free coupons to spend in stores and this is a huge attraction for the public. People enjoy the benefits of these vouchers because these are for the products the customers purchase regularly.

Tesco ensure they are keeping their customers happy by giving them a variety of goods they also provide them with special offers. Tesco diversified into non-food products, online shopping, club card, low prices and household items which customers require all these things. Tesco has done all this to retain their customers and not let them go to other stores. Tesco’s competitors Asda and Sainsbury’s failed at this scheme and Tesco were very brave to continue in this area. This has led Tesco to gain a 30% market share and the leaders in food and drink and this shows they met their aim and objectives of retaining loyalty. Grow Sales

Another one of Tesco’s objective is to grow sales. Tesco buy in bulk, this means that one person from Tesco buys millions of products but they get it cheaper. They sell their products through the Internet as well as their 1100 stores. The 1100 stores have helped to contribute a lot of profit. Tesco make �10 millions in profit through the Internet. The Internet is a good benefit to Tesco and has also contributed a lot of profit to Tesco’s bags and bags of profit. They also offer halal meat for vegetarians and Muslims. Many customers buy from Tesco because of their Club card. Tesco get the low prices from the central buying system.

It shows that Tesco have been able to grow sales and expand their services and satisfy the customers. Profits have allowed Tesco to give more money to shareholders. Expand Abroad Tesco also decided to go abroad after they became the leaders in the UK market. This has helped them grow into a bigger multinational organisation. In France Tesco have 109 stores; in Germany, they have 220 stores. Poland has 80 stores. Tesco have a huge investment in different countries around the world. This will ensure shareholders get the largest amount of dividend possible. This is a very good investment for Tesco and you can see this from the amount of stores they have and incredibly high profit they have gained �425 million and this has helped them to give higher dividend to shareholders.