Tesco: Organizing, Leading, and Planning - Essay Example

Tesco: Organizing, Leading, and Planning Introduction Management is the core element of any successful business. No business endeavor can be successful and efficient, unless all resources and efforts are properly managed and organized. This is particularly the case of large retail networks, which are widely dispersed across numerous locations, run complex organizational structures, and have to deal with strategic uncertainty to keep their customers satisfied. Tesco is one of the most successful examples of quality management. A leader of the European retail market, Tesco can readily become a role model for other big and small retailers to follow. Tesco’s organizing function is focused on human resources, departmentalization, and a well-developed chain of command, followed and supplemented by situational leadership and flexibility at all levels of organizational performance. Planning could add value to Tesco’s organizing and leadership efforts, by providing an insight into market and strategic environment changes and making Tesco prepared for dealing with the uncertainties of the global business reality. Tesco: organizing and leading Organizing is the second most important function of management, after planning. “Organizing is the grouping of resources and activities to accomplish some end result in an efficient and effective manner” (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor 2009, p.171). Simply stated, organizing is essentially about finding, developing or creating resources and organizing these resources in ways that help the organization to meet the desired strategic/ tactical goal. Once an organization is created, the organization process begins and usually comprises five principal steps: ‘job design, departmentalization, delegation, span of management, and chain of command’ (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor 2009). All these steps and functions are used by Tesco to organize its management processes and functions. It should be noted, that as a large retail company, Tesco uses the main management functions to develop and implement efficient decision-making models, promote creativity and innovation, and establish teams of employees that have capability and skills to deal with numerous business challenges (Pitt & Musa 2009). More often than not, in its organizing decisions, Tesco relies on its human resources; the latter are considered by Tesco as the most valuable asset. This is why the company is exceedingly ambitious in its recruitment, selection, and employee retention efforts. Tesco is fairly regarded as one of the most enlightened employers in the United Kingdom and beyond (Guthridge, Komm & Lawson 2008). As part of its organizing function, Tesco divides its recruits into those, who join the company after graduating from school, those who want a part-time job, and those who have already graduated from the University (Guthridge, Komm & Lawson 2008). Tesco uses its official website to address each of these groups and provide them with comprehensive information regarding job requirements and expectations (Guthridge, Komm & Lawson 2008). The company runs programs to reduce absenteeism and teaches employees to deal with cultural and diversity issues (Pollitt 2004; Owens & Quinn 2007). As a result, at the very first stage of organizing, both the company and its employees have a clear picture of the company’s careers, job design, and even chain of command. The latter has four retail managing directors on its top, with store managers finalizing the company’s chain of command (Anonymous 1997). At the shopping centre level, the chain of command includes the general and centre managers, public relations and marketing managers, human resource managers, operational manager, IT manager, retail liaison manager, and customer service manager (Pitt 2009). Tesco’s chain of command is the key ingredient of efficient management, since innovative HR approaches and a clear chain of command guarantee a balanced distribution of roles and responsibilities and guarantee effective use of scarce resources. Excessive reliance on technologies in resource and product distribution improves Tesco’s management results (Jin-Hyuk 2009). A five-year HR plan is constantly updated and revised; as a result, Tesco stands out of the crowd with its unique organizing capabilities, which serve one of the main sources of its competitive advantage (Anonymous 2008). Organizing as a function of management would never bring Tesco to the desired strategic outcome, if not for productive leadership. Tesco keeps away from traditional authoritarian and autocratic leadership styles, trying to manage its operations through flexibility and adaptability to changeable business environments (The Times 2000). Moreover, the company invests considerable resources in developing leadership and management qualities in its staff, irrespective of their position, job, and place in the organizational hierarchy (The Times 2000). This is why organizing and leading at Tesco are complementary: organizing helps to re-distribute human resources effectively, whereas leadership skills enhance the efficiency of organizing decisions taken by employees and managers. Tesco’s leading relies on three essential principles: (1) thinking strategically; (2) growing people through achievement and performance; and (3) providing empowerment and recognition (Lawson & Cox 2010). Tesco constantly enhances strategic understanding of management through shared communication and understanding of the common goals (Tranfield & Braganza 2007). The use of technologies adds weight to leadership at Tesco (Tranfield & Braganza 2007). Again, it is through education, training, empowerment, and recognition that Tesco employees and managers have sufficient freedom of decision-making and can act in accordance with the company’s organizing principles and functions. Empowerment and recognition gives Tesco employees and managers a stimulus to manage resources in ways that support the company in its way to meeting its strategic goals. As a result of efficient organization and careful design of multiple operations, Tesco manages to deliver superior customer value on a daily basis (Ma & Ding 2010). Planning Everything Tesco does and its successes in managing limited resources suggest that Tesco has a well-developed planning function. Yet, there are no limits to perfection, and planning could help Tesco to deal with various uncertainties of the global business reality. Tesco’s successes in the international retail industry prove that the company is not afraid of making mistakes and learns from them (Anonymous 2005). Planning could reduce the amount, scope, and negative effects of strategic mistakes in Tesco’s internationalization decisions. Planning is needed to retain loyal customers and manage customer loyalty profitably and without significant losses (Gee, Coates & Nicholson 2008). Planning is extremely important for productive risk management and strategic control, since risk is inherent to all businesses but only planning can let organizations like Tesco anticipate and deal with these risks (Woods 2008). Planning is required to guarantee that the company’s daily actions do not distort the company’s strategic vision and mission (Anonymous 2009). Certainly, planning cannot address all market and global business uncertainties, but it can create the basis for reducing these uncertainties. Some organizations are convinced that, as the global market rapidly changes, planning as the function of management is quickly becoming obsolete. This is not true, as planning could add value to Tesco’s organizing and leadership efforts, by providing an insight into market and strategic environment changes and making Tesco prepared for dealing with the uncertainties of the global business reality. Conclusion Tesco’s organizing function is focused on human resources, departmentalization, and a well-developed chain of command, followed and supplemented by situational leadership and flexibility at all levels of organizational performance. Tesco uses the main management functions to develop and implement efficient decision-making models, promote creativity and innovation, and establish teams of employees that have capability and skills to deal with numerous business challenges. Tesco keeps away from traditional authoritarian and autocratic leadership styles, trying to manage its operations through flexibility and adaptability to changeable business environments. However, planning could help Tesco to deal with various uncertainties of the global business reality. planning could add value to Tesco’s organizing and leadership efforts, by providing an insight into market and strategic environment changes and making Tesco prepared for dealing with the uncertainties of the global business reality. 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