Managing Communication, Knowledge and Information at Tesco - Case Study Example

?MANAGING COMMUNICATION, KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION-TESCO COMPANY al Affiliation) Table of Content: References 14 This report investigates the key principles of managing information, knowledge and information in Tesco Company. The Company’s decision-making process, the range of decision taken and some of the information needed for effective decision-making are examined. The sources of internal and external information are also identified. The discussion then focuses on the collection, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge. Recommendations are also suggested for some of the changes needed for the information to be managed properly within Tesco Company. 1.0 Introduction The Management official of Tesco Company understands the importance of decision- making in the operation of every aspect of the business. The company has a complex form of management due to its large size and the number of stores it operates which have reached up to 6 351 in numbers. The company also manages approximately 472 000 employees (Fernie 2005, p.36). This kind of work force has to be managed well if the company needs to maintain its growth and profitability. 2.0 Decision Making Process Decision making processes in the organization is as complex as is the Multinational Company itself. They rely on good information experience and consultation in making these decisions. The managers here are highly qualified and experienced. Decision making within the company happens at all level of the organization. The Board of directors are the grand strategic decisions maker about the investments and the future growth direction. The various managers of the various stores under the company are also involved in making decisions that continually contribute to the overall company objectives (Richardson 2004, p.15). Lastly, the ordinary employees are involved in making of decisions concerning their respective tasks. The decision making process involves a series of steps that are followed to ensure the decision made is the most appropriate for the situation in hand. Tesco Company operates in a highly competitive market. Its main products are mostly consumables and thus the need to make the right decision at the right time and place. To ensure this is achieved the decisions made must pass through a highly analyzed process (Richardson 2004, p. 29). Source: http://tutor2u.net/business/organisation/decisionmaking.htm The company has a well-established mission and vision statements. The Management officials must first identify the objectives of every action to be made. The objectives outlines the goals that the department, store or even the entire company want to achieve once the identified actions are carried out. A supervisor in Tesco Supermarkets identifies the need to increase the number of cashiers during peak hours so to improve the quality of customer service as well as reduce inconveniences and thus creating an overall good image of the company (Richardson 2004, p. 31). Once the objectives are identified, the decision maker is required to collect as much information as possible regarding the identified problem. This determines the cause of the problem and identifies various alternatives that can solve the same problem. The managers ensure that they gather all the information about the situation. This helps them to be aware of all the aspects of the issue. The managers of various stores carry out the studies to establish approximate numbers of customers that are shopping at various times of the day. They also identify the number of adequate cashiers that should serve customers at various times of the day. The analysis of information gathered identifies various alternatives available to the managers to make their decision. It also tries to find the viability of such information to eliminate chances of making an error. Once the manager is clear about all issues, they usually choose the most viable course of action to solve the identified problem. This decision is made after evaluating all the available information about each alternative. The advantages and disadvantages of each are analysed so to eliminate those that would not meet the identified objectives. The decision made represent the option with the least number of drawbacks and one that efficiently address the problem facing the department, store or the Company(Richardson 2004, p. 35). Lastly, the decisions made are usually communicated to the right employees. This helps them to know what is expected of them in the achievement of the set goal. The company has a well-established communication system that notifies all the employees about changes in the company. Some of the main channels include internal memos, direct mails, team-discussions, and oral-communications (Richardson 2004, p. 39). 2.1 Levels and Types of Decisions 2.1.1 Programmed Decisions Different types of decisions are made within Tesco Company at various levels of managements. Firstly, programmed decisions are quite crucial in the normal operations of the company. These are standards decisions that tend to follow an identified routine. Mostly they are written down as a series of relatively fixed steps. This enables quick and same procedure of solving solution in similar situations. For instance, the company has an identified employment procedural plan that strives to employ only the most qualified and experienced personnel to the company. Most of these decisions are written as computer programs to enhance efficiency (Richardson 2004, p. 41). Source: http://tutor2u.net/business/organisation/decisionmaking.htm 2.1.2 Non-Programmed Decisions These are quite non-standard, non-routine and each of them is different from previous decisions. The managers in the stores face new challenges every day. The economic crisis and the needs of the customers are changing every day. This requires managers to react by putting in place strategies that have not previously been used in past. Such decisions are meant to remedy urgent situations, which might not have been experienced before. The managers and the employees have the experience and qualifications that allow them to make such decisions. 2.1.3 Strategic Decisions These are quite common with the top management of the Company. These decisions affect the direction and the growth of the company in the long-term. These decisions involve the Board of Directors, the President of company among other top officials. The decisions that led to buying out Royal Bank of Scotland stake (50%) in the company on 28 July 2008 could be termed as a strategic decision. This decision was arrived at after analyzing the future prospects of the company (Fernie 2005, p. 46). 2.1.4 Tactical Decisions These are medium-term decisions that the managers make to implement strategies such as the kind of marketing strategies to apply in different areas. Stores are located in different towns. Other stores are in different oversee countries such as Thailand, Turkey, Japan, Poland among others. The company also has to make employment decisions, which tend to be medium-based plans. Currently the company has over 472 000 employees (Fernie 2005, p. 53). The stores all over the country and those oversees make the most basic of decisions referred to as operational decisions. These are short-term decisions and are about implementing the tactics used by every manager. The managers make these decisions on daily basis by determining the firm to use for repair and maintenance work within the store, the firm to use to make deliveries among other decisions. Operational decisions are also made by most of other employees apart form managers and top management officials. In the supermarket, a cashier will decide on how to treat and serve the customers on the queue. They also make decisions about responses to customers, conduct of their allocated tasks and the ways to improve business practice. The Supervisor will find ways of solving such problems as power system failure in storage department (Fernie 2005, p. 34). 3.0 Sources of Information and Understanding Tesco Management relies on the information collected in ensuring that the most effective decisions are made. This information and knowledge is also used in formulation and implementation of various strategies across the company management functions. Most of this information is gathered from both the internal and external sources (Desouza 2005, p. 13). 3.1 Internal Sources of Information Tesco utilizes internal sources of information that refer to the various credible sources of information within the company, which can be used by management for strategy formulation. One of these types of source includes the employees’ fraternity. The company boast of more than 480 000 employees in 14 countries in which it is operational (Desouza 2005, p. 45). This kind of a workforce is highly resourceful when it comes to information and idea generation. The management is aware of this fact and they ensure that these employees are involved in decision-making. Group discussion also generates lot of ideas especially through brainstorming and other idea generation methods. Secondly, Tesco has partnered with a number of companies to enable serve them offer more quality services and other goods to the customers. For instance TESCO Bank was a formally a joint venture between Tesco Company with Royal Bank of Scotland. Such partners provide additional information and ideas that enhance the decision making process. Customers constitute one of the most crucial aspects of Tesco Company. Customers may include both existing and prospective customers. The company work very hard to ensure that the needs of all customers are met. To achieve this, customers provide information about their satisfaction on certain areas around the company. They also provide ideas on how to improve the less appealing aspects of the company. The review page on the company’s website (www.tesco.com) gives its customers’ thoughts on various issues in respect to management, operations and products. Communication channels such as, customer care toll-free number, e-mails, mail addresses are all available for customers to give their views and recommendations about the company. Suppliers and dealers are yet another group that provide useful information to Tesco Company. These companies and individuals have ground information about the source of the products and the market respectively (Desouza 2005, p. 57). The company use this information to make marketing and production strategies. 3.2 External Sources This comprise of the information coming from sources that are not directly, in any way, connected to Tesco Company operations. In addition, the company do not have the direct control or influence on these sources. Hence, the management employ observant and research methods to collect such information. Firstly, government agencies provide useful information to the company. For instance, rules and laws governing business operations are available in government agencies. Non-governmental agencies such as Consumer Rights Movements provide information about practices and consumer rights in respective to their safety. This information is crucial in making decisions concerning consumers. Competitors in the trade industry also form the source of external information. These include other major Supermarkets, Banks, Mobile phone companies, grocery stores and other business who offer competing products. Study of competitors’ strategies and moves in the industry are essential in helping the company formulate counter strategies to remain competitive. This information is collected by carrying out industry research and other studies such as analysis of information available in the business journals, magazines, newspapers and online information. Television programs also provide this information especially the business related viewing. 3.3 Approaches to Storage and Dissemination The company has empowered managers in various stores and bank ventures to manage information properly using the most current technology. This information is crucial for the success of the overall Company. The company data Information system ensures total security from the damage and loss of the information. The company databases are operated by specified employees who are given access to this information. Powerful computers are used to process and sore information (Mutch 2008, p. 23). Although most of the operations are computerized, some data is kept in physical files as back up information. Monitoring occurs at all management levels, are essential in collecting of information, which is then disseminated to employees. The employees are informed of the changes affecting specific store/ organization or the entire Company. Dissemination also includes communication of company purpose and vision. Managers disseminate information to their subordinate workers below them. The information trickles down from the top (Felsted 2012, p. 33). Company’s spokesperson transmits information to the external environment. Both electronic and print media are extensively used to inform the community about the company’s direction. Intranet system in business organization within Tesco has enhanced sharing of information among employees of the company. This has eased and facilitated the speed at which information pass from one level to the next. The company’s website is another winner. It has been operational since the year 2000 and allows customers to make online transactions (Felsted 2012, p. 44). 3.4 Recommendation for Change Information Management in Tesco Company is a vital aspect that should always be given serious attention. They have realized the need to spend quite an adequate effort and time in creating reliable information management to improve business processes. To ensure that the information management activities are successful and effective the management of Tesco should ensure a number of issues (Mutch 2008, p. 19). Firstly, the organization should recognize the complexity of the information within the company. The large size of the organization creates complications for the management. According to Computer Weekly journal (2006, p. 27) this complexity and the risks involved should be identified and corrections measures established to remedy the problems by ensuring active participation of the entire workforce. New and efficient ways of information management should also be implemented. `The management of Tesco company information system should ensure that they have the ability to answer organizational issues. They should provide solution to company’s information management problems (Mutch 2008, p. 22). The solution they deliver should also be obvious and on top of that adopted by the entire company’s venture businesses. The benefits of such strategies should be tangible and visible to all stakeholders. The information need for the company is essential. Thus, the management should prioritize the company’s projects according to the issues that serve the businesses best. All planning efforts relating to the information management within the company should always be geared towards achieving the ultimate organizational goals (Mutch 2008, p. 61). Another important recommendation is provision of a strong leadership that would reduce implementation risks. Apparently, effective information management systems require strong leadership that have the ability to facilitate the entire company into cultural change. These top management officials and other managers should be able to sufficiently generate a sense of urgency that lead to adoption of new information processes and systems. The management should ensure that the employee have a clear understanding of the information systems used. These are possible through extensive communication that helps to equip staff with proper knowledge that enables them to work their way all through the entire system (Mutch 2008, p. 89). It is difficult to achieve effective information management since it involves other aspects apart from storage of basic information. These aspects are technical factors that must be considered as well. Normally, it requires deployment of new technology solutions such as content and document management systems, portal applications, and data warehousing (Mutch 2008, p. 42). This is not merely an issue with the technology but rather a mixture of different other concerns such as organizational and cultural factors. More so, it encompasses the entire Tesco company systems and processes for the use and creation of corporate information. References Computer Weekly, 2006, Tesco Takes Direct Route to Effective Data Management. [Online] Available at: http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240078868/Tesco-takes-Direct- route-to-effective-data-management, [Accessed 12 05 2012]. Felsted, A., 2012, Tesco Faced with More Management Changes. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86266d0a-9b94-11e1-b03e00144feabdc0.html#axzz1udiXAXWa [Accessed 12 05 10]. Fernie, J. 2005, International Retailing, Emerald Group Publishing, London: Emerald Group Publishing. Haerifar, P. 2012, Knowledge Management Within Tesco, GRIN Verlag, London. Desouza, Kevin 2005, Managing Information In Complex Organizations: Semiotics And Signals, Complexity And Chaos, M.E. Sharpe.London. Mutch, A. 2008, Managing Information and Knowledge in Organizations: A Literacy Approach. Birmingham: Taylor & Francis. Orna, E. 2003, Making Knowledge Visible: Communicating Knowledge Through Information Products. Illustrated ed. London: Gower Publishing, Ltd. 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