Performing Stakeholder Analysis of Asda - Essay Example

Performing Stakeholder Analysis of Asda of the of – Introduction In definition, stakeholder is any person or group of people who are affected by the business in any organization. They could be primary and secondary or internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders exist within an organization, such as the CXOs, Directors, Managerial rank and the colleagues who could be colleagues of each other in the same organization. For reviewing the stakeholders and reviewing the key people and positions in the organisation, it is necessary to identify and familiarise with the key components. By external stakeholders, it usually refers to those people who exist outside the organisation, such as, customers, suppliers, shareholders, customers, governments, and competitors. In case of the proposed companies discussed in this paper, the both categories of stakeholders are affected by the business activities and their real interest in the nature and types of decisions that the company takes. Stakeholders come together for a unified purpose and help to increases their strength to solve the business problems of conflicts at various levels to achieve common goals (Steven, Normand and Glavas, 1998; Jones, 2007). In this section, an attempt has been made to critically analyse the stakeholder composition of Asda and perform a thoughtful insight of the success features and the need for improvements, in this direction. 2. Explaining the Stakeholders and their roles in Asda In case of Asda, prioritizing on the quality product services and competitive price setting, the customers would be drawn towards the company due to its low-price setting and good range of products. Present day customers have high expectations from present day organisations. At the same time, they want to reap benefits and give back to the community. This way it helps to inform about the company’s dealings and ethical business proceedings. Similarly, the Asda stores and depots have community notice-boards and a monthly magazine to disseminate information. Adsa has been taken over by the American retail giant Wal-Mart. This as a result makes Wal-Mart a primary stakeholder of Asda as the business performance of the company will largely affect the financial status of Wal-Mart. The role of Wal-Mart as a stake holder lies as the owner of the majority of the condoling shares. However, the power to make decisions still dwells in the hands of Asda. Any major decision that can potentially change the organizational structure of the company needs to be approved by the parent company (Cowe, Buckingham and Martinson, 1999). Employees at Asda are conscious about the needs of serving for the community. It is a fact that retail industry is highly competitive and adequately paid. At the same time, customers demand low prices and expect the operations to be smooth, requiring a large number of colleagues to handle operations. All sorts of community-based events at Asda are duly reported in the monthly magazine (Glassdoor, 2013). The competitors of Asda are mainly Sainsbury, Morrison’s, Tesco, etc. The business activity of the company largely influences their position in the market. As of now, Asda bears a market share of 16.9% which is quite close to that of Sainsbury which is at 16.7% (Statista, 2015). These as a result have forced Asda to employ aggressive marketing strategies so that it can take over its nearest competitors. However, due to the recent acquisition by Wal-Mart, the company has gained sufficient financial support to expand its business and take over its competitors (Cowe, Buckingham and Martinson, 1999). All shareholders deserve a decent return on their investment and believe in community o direct proper investment. Similarly, suppliers at the local and national level serve to be large providers to Asda’s resource base. They also want to sell goods at best prices, giving them the opportunity of maintaining economies of scale. The greatest benefit of Asda is the strong link with local suppliers and contractors, partnering with the small and medium-sized businesses to deliver products for groups of stores at their convenience. A brief summary of the stakeholders with SIC code and the industry sector has been tabulated as shown below: Stakeholders Internal stakeholders may be within an organization, such as the directors, managers and colleagues who are colleagues of each other. External stakeholders exist outside an organization and some of these will be customers, suppliers and shareholders Industrial sector and classification Multiband retail industry and SIC code: 701 (Asda, 2015) Organization structure Private Limited Company with strict hierarchal structure The stakeholders in Asda keep customers as an important stakeholder in business operations. Similarly, employees are considered to be important stakeholders in the decision-making of the company. For businesses to operate, some sort of exchange must be happening. Presence of multiple parties helps in exchange of ideas that directly affects the business purposes. This makes for a poor business that will likely not last long. Ideally, anyone involved in the business is a stakeholder even if they are not directly involved in business. For others, they might be strict with the definition of stakeholders to be the ones directly involved with the business operations. 3. Conclusion It is clear that for a company to be successful in business, it has to be responsible to its consumers, suppliers, employees, and all shareholders, including the local community and society in general. In the case of Asda, the two of the most influential international brands in the specific industry sector, it is clear that the success of a business is dependent on its organizational culture, theories, vision and stakeholders in order to achieve the ultimate business aims. In both of these cases, the operational principle is varied in terms of the organizational culture, theory and structure. In all this, however, Asda has been striving to gain market share by gaining the trust and preference of the customers so that it can take over its rivals, particularly Siansbury. One particular trait of Asda in serious acknowledgement of customer needs is to always tailor-make products to suit the country-specific needs. The company also recognizes that the resources and skills are part of core-competency of a multi-domestic strategy. This also assures increase in profits, less wastage of bureaucratic costs and product differentiation by ruling out competition. A company needs to respond locally by adapting the culture and values of a host country and integrate them into the company’s core value system. The business reality in the case of Asda and their endeavours to improve sales continue to expand, depending on the information transmission and discretionary powers of the owner company. Asda’s success is owing to its rich organizational culture and stringent policy and business roles, however in a top-down format. The form of structure empowers the lower-line employees and moves higher up to strategize decisions. This aids in decision-making and behavioural issues for a better performance delivery at each level. However, there needs to be more focus on building diversity in culture and workforce and more job security and employee motivation to inculcate team-work and practice organizational discipline. References Asda, (2015). About Asda. Retrieved from http://www.asdasupplier.com/about-us/about-asda. Glassdoor. (2013). ASDA - Lack of organisational structure and companies three main principles are just words. Retrieved from http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-ASDA-RVW2316641.htm.. Jones, G. R. (2007). Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Statista. (2015). Market share of grocery stores in Great Britain (UK) for the 12 weeks ending February. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/279900/grocery-market-share-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ Steven H. A., Normand SP. & Glavas W. (1998). Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity. Management Decision, 36(5), 289-301. Cowe, R., Buckingham, L. and Martinson, J. (1999). Wal-Mart swallows Asda. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/jun/15/8 Read More