Significant History of Selfridges in the United Kingdom - Case Study Example

Selfridges Introduction Selfridges hold such a significant history in the United Kingdom. The brand that has been established over the years has been part of the culture in many locations in London, Manchester as well as Birmingham. Fundamentally, the business organisaton is a departmental store which was named after the founder. What makes selfridge different is that it particularly targets high end consumers. The store has a notable organizational culture which has made it establish a business niche within the markets that it operates in. For instance, other then just being stores, the architectural design of the buildings that house the stores make them stand out. Besides, the ethical and business relations that the organistaion has developed with its clients over the years make the business acceptable by many. The following discourse seeks to focus on the departmental stores of Selfridges. The vision of the business organisation Selfridges seeks to operate in a business friendly envrionment which promotes its vision of serving clients to meet their demands as well as obejctively achieving its organistaional goal of ttaining profitability. As part of its vision, the departmental store seeks to be the most revolutionary and innovative fashion outlet in the whole of Europe. Basically, it seeks to accord its clients the luxury of being able to shop for the differnt brands and apparels that are fashionable and trendy. In doing that, the stroes also aim at offering the best in terms of its ambience to the customers. In brief, the stores seek to offer an experience which are incomparable to any other. As per the mission statement, the departmantal stores operates under the misson of providing brands as well as events that will be inspiraional to the consumers as well as its staff. Basically, Selfridges does not only seek to only profit from the business but also aims at providing to the consumers together with the workers a whole new shopping expeience. The organisational strategy of Selfridges The organisation operates under given guidelines and principles which seeks to promote its vision as well as mission. Chiefly, the organisation is concerned with the welfare of the customers. Just like every business, the organisation seeks to make the experience of its clients as lovely as possible. Other than that, the business also seeks to empower its employees. The succesul operation of any business is always centered on the welfare of its employees. The organisaion geves freedom to its employees to encourge them to devbelop their own cretivity in view of helping the business attain its business objectives. The other business principle of the organisation is the aspect of responsibilty. What this impies is that the organisation seeks to uphold all the ethical and moral conerns while doing its business. For instance, when it comes to environmental conservation, the departmental store knows that a clean environmntal is the responsibility of everyone. Lastly, the orgainastion operates with innovation being one of the drivers of its business model. In a world where competition compels all businesses to be creative, Selfridges knows that innovation cuts it different from the rest of the competitors. The copany employs strategic management styles that ensure that each store enjoys adegree of idependence. Each store has a manager who reports to the general managing director the individual tasked with making daily operational decisions. Among the decisions that each of such managers make include the type of gods to stock and the quantity of the products. This way, each store stock diverse yet unique products that are marketable in particular market niches. In order to achievve such efficient types of managmet, the company has an effective model of communication coupled with an equally reliable communication media that enhance the communication ammong the manager and the juniore employees of the organisation based in dfferent stores throughout the country. The company thus manages to maintain efficiency of operations owing to the ease of decision making and the reliability in the model of communication which contributes to the ease of decision making (Honeycombe 55). Employee motivation is a fundamental feature of managemnet that influencs the productivity of employees in any organisation. The managemnet of Selfridges portrays this understanding and therefore employ different employee motivation techniques in order to enhance productivity. The chain structure of the organisation for example creates numerous management positions most of which the managemet of the chain store uses to motivate and train managemnet. This way, the company enjoys a large pool of reliable managers who readily inherit any vacant position in the managemnet thereby sustaining the profitability of the organisation. Additionally, the company renumerates its employees appropriately a feature that ensures that the employees value their jobs and strive to sustain the profitability of the company. The organisation structure at the company Selfridge is among the largest chain of stores in the United Kingdom. The success of the business within its years of existance portrays the effectivenes of the managemnet of the organisation. The structure of the organisation begins with a committed board of dirrectors. the hhead of the board is a chairperson who leads the board meetings besides perfoming other numerous functions concerned with securing funding for the business. The board of directors represents the interests of the investors of the company and therefore makes fundamental operational and investment decisions in the company. The managing director is the highest employee of the company who works in liason with the board of directors a team of other middle level and junior level managers at the company. Other essential managers in the company include the chief finance officer and creative director among others. The managing director is therefore the linkage between the board of governosr and the employees of the company. This implies that he implements the decisiions of the board by influencing the daily operations of the company. The diagram below provides a graphical representation of the structure of the company. As a chain store, Selfridge has strategic braches in numerous cities within the country. The company has four strategic locations in Oxford street in London, Trafford Center and Exchange Square both in the city of Manchester and the other in Bull Ring in the Birmingham. The strategic placemnet of the store is a fundamental marketing features that influences the company’s target market. As a high end departmnet store, Selfridges targets unique market. The store targets the rich and the wealthy in the English market. This requires the company to employ unique marketing strtegies in order to saffeguard its profitability. The location of the four stors for example is a result of numerous considerations thus succeding in sustaining the company’s profitability. A business organisaton like Selfridge needs an effective leaderhsip structure to be prosperous. Because of the nature of the busineses that it hadnles, the leadership structure in the organisation is categorically classified. For nstance, in the course of the operation of the orgainsation, it has a hierachy which makes the most autocratic leadership to be at the top. In addition, the leadership is structured depending on the responsibility bestowed on it. In as much as the leadership in the departmnental store has a hierachical arrangement, it is participatory. The participatory leadership allows for the contrnution by even the surbodinate staff. This makes everyone be part of the leadership. In essence, what this kind of leadership seeks to achieve in Selfridges is to accord everyone a sense of responsibility. In so doing, the creativity and innovation which is much needed in the operation of the business is also acieved. The design of the bulidings which house the departmental stores is a factor which should also be considered. For instance, the architecrue of the buildings is specific. The windows are made to be large and expansive to showcase the goods and services that the company offers for sale. In addition, the design of the buildings is usually unique. Beises, the goods in the stores are usually stocked according to the latest fashion ternds. Being a stroe which deals in fashion, Selfridge has to remain relevant by having the designs that appeal to people most. In view of this, the company has to lways offer what woul be comfortable and fashionalble to people. Another notable design through which the company operates is by respecting the consumer demands. Consumers are normally the mainstay of businesses. Main challenges facing Just as any other large chain store, Selfridges faces numerous operational challenges most of which arise from its structure. Among such challenges is the fidelity of the communication media the company employs. Information is among the most vital resources in any organisation. Selfridges therefore employs millions of pounds in developing and maintaing efficient communication systems. However, the managers face numerous decision making challenges owing to the redudabcy of the managemmet positions in the different branches. As explained earlier, each of the stores enjoys a limit of idependence. This implies that the some of the decisions that the managers make may apppear redudant thereby resulting in internal wrangles that affect the company’s operations. The other challanges which is equally evident with any other large organisation is competition. The company competes for the common market with other high end departmnets stores in the country a feature that requires effective consideration of the numerous marke features and marketing strategies in order for the company to retain its large market share. Work cited Honeycombe, Gordon. Selfridges, Seventy-Five Years: The Story of the Store 1909–84. London: Oxford University Press, 1984. Print. Read More