The Business Environment.
P1
In this assignment I will be comparing two different organisations Sainsbury & Sir George Monoux. Sainsbury provides food and non-food products as well as other services. In contrast to Sir George Monoux that is a college providing services for students.
John James Sainsbury found Sainsbury in 1869 this is when Sainsbury first shop opened. Over years and years Sainsbury has now become international in countries providing goods and service. Sainsbury is now one of the UK largest supermarkets chains/ operating more than 400 stores and employing over 142,000 people and can offer 30,000 different products and among these products offered Sainsbury own brand and fresh produce would comprise 50% of total products. Quality food and grocery products are sold by the supermarket and there are a lot of offers and service e.g. bakery, meat and fish, counter and non-food products such as clothing, home ware and pharmacy.

Sainsbury is a PLC Public Limited Company this just means shares can be bought from Sainsbury this expands the business and more profits are made. The advantages of a PLC company is that there is limited liability for the shareholders also these business can raise large capital sum as there is no limit to the number of shareholders. Sainsbury has accomplished this by having shareholders all around England. The downside of a PLC is that there are lot of legal formalities required for forming a public limited company. It is costly and time consuming. However Sainsbury would not find this as a problem as they are successful in UK and one of the largest supermarkets. The liability of J-Sainsbury's is limited this means that the owners (shareholders) of the business are only responsible of the losses of the business, but only of the amount they have invested. To start a PLC, the business must have more than £50,000 capitals before it can Go Public and must have a satisfactory financial track record. Otherwise Sainsbury can be in a risk of debt however Sainsbury is popular and going well as it is one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK.

In a business there are three main sectors primary secondary and tertiary. Primary is all due to farming and the material of the product, secondary is when the product is nearly finished being made and finally tertiary is when the product is ready to be out in the market.
Sainsbury's belongs to the tertiary sector because it does not make products as such but it mainly provides a valuable service that consumers and other businesses are prepared to pay for and/or use. Sainsbury have suppliers coming in on a weekly or a daily basis to restock this is where Sainsbury falls under secondary sector. The supplier gets all of it from the manufactures and the manufacture is where these products are being made from raw material this fall under primary sector. Sainsbury’s main sector as a business is secondary and tertiary.

Sir George Monoux

Sir George Monoux is a sixth form college based in the north east London borough of Waltham forest. It has 2000 students’ aged 16-19 year olds on a full time course. There are over 80% of students come from minority ethnic groups living in east London. It has become the first sixth form college to win an ashden award. From 1527 to 1999 the school underwent many changes. From 1659 to 1968 it operated as a grammar school for boys. From 1968 to 1986 the school was a comprehensive, and in the late 1960s, it was ranked as the 11th best state school in the country. In 1986 the school became a sixth form college and girls were admitted for the first time. In 1993, Monoux became an Incorporated College, which it remains today.
Sir George Monoux was the founder of the grammar which it first became before a sixth form college. He was a warden of the drapers company which is one of the 110 livery companies of the city of London. He also became a sheriff of London and in 1514 he became Lord Mayor. He was a wealthy man who spent much of his time in Walthamstow. The Monoux school operated there for 353 years until moving firstly to west avenue then to high street, and finally to Chingford road in 1927.
Sir George Monoux is a self-government independent co-operation this mean it is government funded. Shares cannot be bought so it stays as a local business for the community. Advantage of the college to be government funded is that the government pays for all students needs such as facilities and trips and the school just keeps running. However the disadvantage is the government would not pay if improvement are not being made for example the students attendance need to be over 90%. If students have below that percentage the government will not give as much it affect teachers’ pay as well as the school.
Sir George Monoux comes under tertiary sector in a business this is because it provides service for students for example teaching and also goods such as certificates winning vouchers and food in the canteen. Whereas secondary and primary would be collecting raw materials and making the products and service but Monoux do not do this. Monoux provides education and other services.
Overall both businesses have a few similarities and differences, for instance they both had a founder and history but the ownership is different. Sir George Monoux is a self-government independent co-operation, shares cannot be bought and Sainsbury is public limited so shares can be bought. Another difference is that Sainsbury do a wide range of products and services for example food, clothes, books and more and George Monoux only focus on education. They both are in a tertiary sector this is when they sell goods or provide services instead of making products from raw material. Both businesses have to pay taxes Sainsbury would have to pay higher tax as they have many shareholders. Both businesses are similar in some ways but have different purposes and ownership.

P2
The 5 main stakeholders in Sainsbury are
Customers
Employees
Suppliers
Local and national community
Shareholders
Some customers just want to buy standard products but at the lowest possible price. They will therefore shop from supermarkets that offer the lowest prices and provide a reasonable range of goods. In contrast, some supermarket shoppers are seeking such aspects as variety and quality. They will therefore choose to buy from an up-market supermarket. This where Sainsbury would have to provide this but Tesco, asda and Morrison can provide cheap prices for standard products as well this is competition for Sainsbury. Other customers will have special tastes and expect fair-trade products or organic fruit and vegetables. It is clear therefore that to be successful a business has to have a clear understanding of their target customers and the expectations and to provide this in order to keep customers coming in and increasing profits. Customers will expect good customer service from the employees within the business. So if a customer needed help to find a product or even purchasing a product they will expect good service. Good service is an advantage for the business as well because the customer will be willing to come back again to the business.
Sainsbury’s employees would expect a safe environment to work in this is where Sainsbury give a contract for the employee to sign an agreement before working. This way the employee and manager will have some sort of agreement before starting the job. Employees would expect to be paid on time weekly or monthly, the contract will satisfy the employee. Employees may expect discounts or bonuses In Sainsbury during Christmas employees get bonuses as well as discount vouchers at least more than 10% off.
Suppliers expect to have a good relationship with the business this way they both have a mutual understanding for example the manager should know when to expect supplier and the supplier should know when to be expect to deliver the products. Similar to employees’ suppliers would be expected to be paid on time and no delays as well as the company to keep buying their products. If Sainsbury's fail to keep its suppliers happy this could cause a chain reaction, if suppliers refuse to supply goods for Sainsbury's and the customer demand is high after a certain time customers will change sides and go to a store which satisfies their needs.
The community expectations in Sainsbury would be providing goods and services as well as being ethical. If Sainsbury had an ethical issue just like Tesco did with ‘horse meat’ Sainsbury would lose their reputation as well as it is an international business. The community is really wide and increasing for Sainsbury however the community will expect positive out of Sainsbury with offers and their services. Sainsbury have difficult competition for example Tesco Asda and other supermarkets Sainsbury will have to impress the community to why they should come to Sainsbury rather than the other supermarkets.
Shareholders are shares bought from a public limited company and become owner of that business. Shareholders expects their cuts from profits each year for example Sainsbury. In Sainsbury shares are bought you can tell from all the stores they have in the world. Shareholders expect the business to have a good reputation in order to buy shares Sainsbury have a good reputation with their customers and their community so Sainsbury is ideal to buy shares from. A good reputation would be expected.

Sir George Monoux stakeholders:
Teachers
Students
Government
Community
Teachers are internal stakeholders that take a big role in the college. As a business teachers in Monoux expect to be paid on time and teach students teachers also expect funds from government in order to pay for facilities. If they were no teachers the purpose of the college would fail students wouldn’t receive the knowledge they need. Teachers are also expected a contract in order to have a good understanding of what the term and conditions are in the college and when they will be paid what days to come in and holidays until their contract ends.
Student expect to be taught by teachers and expect to receive knowledge. In Monoux students come in and are given a timetable and follow that students expect services such as a canteen for lunch being in lesson all day can be tiring. Students expect extra help Monoux provide this through study plus for example this is where students go in and there would be teachers giving that extra help needed. Students has a main role in Monoux in business wise without students the purpose of the college would be a failure. Students are basically the main target for Sir George Monoux.
The government is an external stakeholder this is because the government just gives funds and not working inside the business. The government expects the college to have high attendance and achieve good grades. This way the government will keep funding the college and the college will keep paying for student needs. Student would need to pass and have a certain percentage to meet government expectations.
The community around Sir George Monoux expect good pass rates and excellent facilities. Sir George Monoux is an outstanding college in Waltham and have a positive reputation this way the community can look on the website or talk about how good Monoux is and send their children or relatives. This way Monoux will increase their students in the college and government will keep funding.
Stakeholders in Sainsbury and Sir George Monoux are similar and different in many ways. One of the similarities would be both businesses need to meet customers and student’s expectation in order to keep going. If the customers stop purchasing from the business and students stop attending to the college. Sainsbury wouldn’t make profit and fail as a business and Monoux would have a bad reputation and the government will stop funding. One difference is that Sainsbury is public limited and Monoux is government funded shares are bought from Sainsbury and you can’t buy shares from Sir George college.

References: http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/2042-sainsburys.html Accessed on: 06/09/2015 http://writepass.com/journal/2012/06/swot-analysis-of-sainsburys-plc/ Accessed on: 06/09/2015 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_(corporate) Accessed on: 07/09/2015 http://www.george-monoux.ac.uk Accessed on 07/09/2015 http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk Accessed on: 07/092015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/environment/stakeholders1.shtml Accessed on: 07/09/2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/aims/partnershiprev1.shtml Accessed on: 08/09/2015

P3
Sainsbury
Aims and objectives
One of Sainsbury aims is to meet customer needs the organization does this by providing them to shop for food clothing general merchandise and services. When customer have various of needs and Sainsbury providing it to them this brings in sales as well as increasing population of Sainsbury customer. Sainsbury will have regular and loyal customers, as they are proving good and services to their local community. This can be through the ‘the nectar scheme’ which is based on a loyalty scheme is source of their insight and gives the organization an important competitive advantage. Nearly 15.5 billion of nectar cardholders shopped with Sainsbury this year in store, online, and through Sainsbury bank giving valuable information that increases knowledge of how their customers are shopping and interacting with Sainsbury. This is an objective in to meeting an aim, which is growth. Sainsbury reward their customers in a targeted way into making customers feeling satisfied to where they shop this can spread the word about the business bringing even more customers to shop in Sainsbury.
Another aim for Sainsbury is to getting better every day meaning as days go by Sainsbury is getting better by bringing happy customers satisfying their needs. Keeping the local community happy etc. By doing this Sainsbury have started to listen to the opinion of their customers and colleagues then just looking in to the organisation. Sainsbury meet their goals by fixing the basics and then will accelerate through getting better each and every day.
Sir George Monoux
In Monoux the aim for the college is to provide high quality education with the power to change lives. By achieving this the college puts the students first in what they do for example responding positively to own needs and needs of others helping each other and pushing each other towards success is putting the students first and achieving excellent grades as well as meeting the aim of the college. The colleges objective is recognise and celebrating the effort and achievement doing this on a basis allows the students to know they are doing very well and pushes them to succeed even more. Just like In a business giving a high raise to one of the employers will give them the motivation to keep going and do even well on the job. So when students receive a award such as a phone call about their progression or a certificate makes them to focus even more and feel even more motivated this way they will achieve higher grades.
Another objective for the college is to build a learning community based on trust, mutual respect, support and fairness this will happen by through creating a safe and fulfilling place to work and study. This is achieved in the college because as you walk in you see security guards monitoring the college this makes the students in the college more safer knowing the college provides high quality of security. The college also provides facilities such as the LRC this is where student can work their silently in a wide library providing books to help them on their course. The college also provides study plus where students can go in and receive help to achieve their grades as the college is providing high quality education this gives the ‘power to change lives’.

P4
Organisational structure
Sainsbury
Organizational structure is a system used to define a hierarchy within an organization. It identifies each job its function and where it reports to within the organisation Sainsbury is a PLC public limited company this means that if the company gets bankrupt then the shareholders are only liable for the amount that they have invested into the company and their personal possessions will remain untouched. J Sainsbury are within the private sector this where business owned and controlled by individuals of groups and not the government.
Sainsbury is a tall organisation as it has a large number of levels of management hierarchy but has a narrow pan of control. Span of control is the amount of personal that a manager or supervisors have at their disposal. The advantage of having a narrow span of control is that Sainsbury has a large amount of security on the downside is that Sainsbury labour expenses will have increase as they have more levels of management and they receive higher salaries.
The structure style by J Sainsbury PLC is a matrix structure. The matrix structure is flexible and this allows Sainsbury to adapt to other situations like if employees want a pay rise or they can adapt in matters of price etc. To compete against their competitors by using the matrix structure. This structure gives Sainsbury employees greater security in the task they undertake as their objectives are well instructed to them. So whether they are planning a product launch or entering a different market altogether this allows the employees to focus on their task they have been given. Sainsbury’s main aim is on their customers and meeting their needs so by using matrix structure they it gives them the flexibility so that they can provide what their consumer want.
In nearly all organizations the most important functional area is the finance department. Sainsbury finance staff support the accountants by keeping financial records. The roles in finance department is to record money that is received checking and paying invoices received also preparing the pay roll and paying off staff salaries.
Marketing is responsible for identifying the needs of customers and fulfilling the customer desires profitably. In other businesses sales and marketing may be combined into one department but in Sainsbury’s they are two separate departments. Marketing in Sainsbury’s is related to investigating customer needs. This will involve the marketing department in Sainsbury’s to carry out market research to find out what the customers want, where they find it, how they like and what price. For human resources Sainsbury’s call this department the Personnel Department. In Sainsbury’s the personnel department are responsible for recruitment, paying off staff, training and development, disciplining and promotion, days off work etc. Personnel records on employees will store all the information needed by Finance to make to the correct payments to employees. Basically personnel are there in Sainsbury’s for the welfare of the workforce.
Sir George Monoux is structured in subject department with the principal being right at top. The secretary and deputy head as well as head of departments.
The role of the principal is to insure everything is operating as he is entitled to funds from the government and provide college needs. The principal makes major decision each year either with students behaviour if very serious or facilities that are needed in the college. The principal is the main function to ask permission for events that may want to happen dace shows etc. The principal has a big and main role for the college as everything is depending or him to provide for students and staff.
The subject departments are important in the college they would need to provide help and to teach high quality of education to the students. The students rely on the subject department in order to teach and providing everything that is needed. In business level 3 the head of department would need to keep everything organised such as what unit to teach when to set the assignment when it should be submitted. The head of the department would need to make sure students are achieving the standards of the subject or they will be kicked off the course the head of department has reasonability from the principal to keep students on track. For example if a student is behind in work not attending college it’s the head of department role to check and insure what is happening with the students. As each year pass rate is calculated in the subject this shows how good the college is so it’s the head of the department to make sure students are on track.
Teachers in the college are another function they are different from head of department as they are given responsibility and instructions from the head of department and to do it. Teacher witness a students behaviour each and every day in work punctuality everything teachers witness the students being on track and if any problem with the student they will report it to head of department and may arrange a meeting with parent or pro monitor the student. When pro monitoring the student it means to check their behaviour and everything and student has a chance to improve and change if not they can come to and conclusion for the student to expelled.
P5
A recession is falling levels of consumers spending and confidence mean lower profits for business, which start to cut back on investment. Spare capacity increases and rising unemployment as businesses cut back and reduce stocks. Recession has impacted on Sainsbury by when VAT increased and impose it on food where the poorest hardest and stoke inflation. This was in 2010 when the government was told to government needed to maintain its economic stimulus to ensure Sainsbury will avoid a recession happening. Otherwise Sainsbury would have to cut down meaning people will loose jobs and Sainsbury will have to increase prices as they wont receive as much from a product if VAT increase. The Sainsbury's figures are the lowest growth since the summer of 2005 and mark a year of steadily declining growth as food price inflation has eased. However, the fourth quarter figure was a "good performance completing a strong year". Like-for-like growth over the full year was 4.3%, and the Sainsbury's boss said there would always be blips dependent on promotional activity. They expected the fourth quarter to be tougher for Sainsbury's and for the entire supermarket sector, hit by January weather and a clampdown on spending after Christmas. Sainsbury is rapidly expanding the supermarket chain and expects to have 1,000 stores by March 2011 – up from 800 a year ago. Some 50 additional convenience stores have opened in the past year, with 24 in the past three months alone. Online sales are up 15% on a year ago.
During recession in Sainsbury people tend to save money because there is a fall in confidence. If people expect to be made unemployed then you don’t want to spend and borrow, it is less risky to save. Also lower interest rates may not actually help increase spending if confidence is low There is a limit to how much the government can cut taxes because government borrowing is already quite high. US national debt is about 65% of GDP. In the recession this will definitely increase. A recession is associated with a decline in prices. This makes intuitive sense, but it can also be explained via the supply and demand curves. When people lose their jobs and cannot afford to pay as much, businesses must lower prices to keep sales up as much as possible. The supply and demand curves also attest to this, since a leftward shift in the demand curve will result in lower equilibrium price and demand levels, where supply and demand meet. Not all demand curves are hit equally hard during a recession, however. While diamond sales may drop dramatically, bread sales decline far less. How much a business should reduce its prices during a recession depends on the severity of the shift in the demand curve of its products.
The term boom means high levels of consumer spending business confidence, profits and investment. Prices and costs also tend to rise faster. Unemployment tends to be low as growth in the economy creates new jobs. King leaves behind a market undergoing what some say is the biggest transformation since Sainsbury's opened the first UK self-service grocery store in 1950. The business models of the big four are under attack from new competition, fast-changing technology and a seemingly irreversible shift in shopping habits. The five years of recession followed by stagnation from 2008 cut consumer confidence and spending while high fuel costs made driving to a giant superstore expensive. People short of cash started shopping around and finding the value they wanted at Aldi and Lidl, sending their sales soaring. Local convenience stores took off as people tried to minimize food waste, while Waitrose thrived as those with cash to spend moved upmarket.
One challenge that the company faced during recession was with competitors this is when competitors sell cheap food such as meat and fish cuts, fruit and vegetables with cheaper ingredients. Bigger supermarkets such as Tesco or Asda try to snatch market share from each other this is when recession happens to one the supermarkets. It gave more of a benefit to Sainsbury, as it was a chance for them to make more sales and this is known as boom years in Sainsbury.
M1
In this part of the assignment I will discuss the point of view of different stakeholders seeking to influence the aims and objectives of Sainsbury and sir George Monoux.
Employees are important stakeholders within a company because a company cannot operate without any workers. Sainsbury creates competition between its employees by giving the lowest wages possible for its employees to compete to get to higher ranks within the organisation. Employees will be self-motivated because of the 'prize' it can be discounts or bonuses, performing better at work and racing to help the customers around the market is an advantage to the business. A better service will attract more customers, increasing profit, which will also satisfy the shareholders. Sainsbury's also offer pension schemes providing motivational factors such as job security. Employees influence the company without employees the company may be in debt and Sainsbury would not have any workers, customers would not receive customer service and the manager may lose his or her job. Employees are a big impact to Sainsbury especially as it is an international business.
However the business can have situations when an employee is sick it can impact on the business because each employee are put in specific departments in Sainsbury. But if that employee does not come in no one will be at the department and customers would need to go to other departments for help, which is time consuming. The employees in the other departments would have to leave their department in order to help the customer so if an employee is sick it can effect another employee’s job role. Not every employer is exactly the same therefore, personality clashes. One employee may have a reserved personality while another may be more outgoing and forward. Problems arise when the two do not understand or respect each other’s' inner nature. For example, the more extroverted employee may feel slighted if the more introverted worker doesn’t talk to him much. He may perceive it as a slight, rather than it simply being the employee’s personality. Furthermore, his approach to handling projects may be analytical while hers is intuitive. When the two do not understand and respect each other’s approach, conflict occurs.
Mangers are important to Sainsbury's, because it's down to the mangers influence and commitment that the company's activity can flow successfully. Their job within the company is to make sure various departments work well together. They are important for Sainsbury's, without them the business would be lacking, as they would not have had the correct support to maintain a sufficiency. Without a manager departments will be confused in what to do suppliers may have delays in payments customer concerns will not be addressed therefore a manager is a very big influence to Sainsbury. When the manager isn’t in it can cause conflicts for example if the customer wants to address an issue with the manager and he or she isn’t in the reputation the business will look bad. Also the customer will be unhappy and may change their local supermarket.
Customers are vital for the survival of a business. Without anyone purchasing the goods and services a business cannot survive. It is vital for a business to satisfy their customer's needs. Market research is very important to find out exactly what customers’ needs are. Sainsbury's strong on promoting its goods and services to customers. Sainsbury's usually use buy one get one free strategy, which allows customers to purchase two of the selected items for the price of one. This has a positive effect on customer satisfaction. Sainsbury's also used Jamie Oliver in the past as its public face to attract more customers. Customers are a major influence to a business without customers Sainsbury has no purpose.
Suppliers are the companies who supply products, which businesses sell. Suppliers are an influence to Sainsbury and are very important stakeholders. If Sainsbury's fail to keep its suppliers happy this could cause a chain reaction, if suppliers refuse to supply goods for Sainsbury's and the customer demand is high; after a certain time customers will change sides and go to a store which satisfies their needs. Without suppliers Sainsbury won’t receive goods to sell and customers will have nothing to buy this is why suppliers have a major influence in Sainsbury.
Sir George Monoux
Teachers are a major influence for the aim for Sir George Monoux teachers educate student with their knowledge. Student receive passes depending on how good the teacher is those passes give a good reputation and government will still keep funding. Teachers are depended to keep students in control as well as students succeeding which are one of the main aims in Monoux. Poor communication between teachers leads to misunderstanding and conflict. For instance, misunderstandings can occur if the head teacher asks one teacher to relay important instructions to the other teacher, but the teacher fails to do so appropriately. Conveying wrong information can lead to lessons being incorrectly done and to teachers blaming each other for the end result. Therefore good communication is important with employers (teachers).
Students that succeed achieve the objective and aims in Monoux because that’s the main purpose of a college. If students do not succeed the government will stop funding and the college would not meet their aims and objective. Students are just similar to customers they are a main purpose for a business, without them the business cannot run. If the student has problems outside of the college, such as parental issues, he or she may take them to college with her. The students’ behaviour may change and the teachers will assume that the student has an issue with the college. This can cause conflicts between the student and teacher.
Government affects aims and objectives for Sir George Monoux without the funds Monoux cannot improve or fund the students. This will affect their aim and objective for now and the future. The government keeps the college going with facilities extra help for students without all this student may begin to fail and Sir George Monoux will lose out as a business. Also employees the teachers would lose their jobs, as the college wouldn’t be able to pay for the teachers to stay. Monoux can be in serious debt and closed down it also can cause health issues in the college with the canteen and toilets because without the funds the college won’t be able to pay the cleaners.
Community can affect the aim and objective of Sir George Monoux in several ways. If the community is unhappy with the college this can trigger many issues such as parents would not suggest this college. Students will pick somewhere else to go. If Sir George Monoux have no students attending as well as a bad reputation they may either refurbish or shut down completely. If Sir George Monoux becomes one of the outstanding colleges that they are today then the community can benefit it even more by talking about the achievements at this college. More and more students will start enrolling in more passes will be happening and as a college the government will keep on funding especially with an outstanding reputation.
M2.