Organisational Structure Assignment help

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Organisational Structure Assignment help
QFC Level	Level 5

Part 1

a) Short Essay

Introduction

Organisational functions are the things done by a company including production, marketing, sales, billing, human resource management, etc. and the organisational structure is the way of interaction between these departments and organisational functions. Organisational structure assignment is based on  the allocation of roles, responsibilities and power of accomplishing various functions and processes to different departments and employees. Organisational functions and structure are very closely related as mostly the structure is designed as per these functions and if not; the functions and structure still exert a major influence on each other (Rubalcaba, et al. 2010).

Body of essay

Primark have functions like HR department managing organisations’ huge workforce; operations department controlling day to day sales production, etc.; supply chain and logistics that ensure product supply to stores, raw material supply to production house, etc; IT sector controlling billings continuously and several other functions like marketing, finance. All these functions are interrelated and have impact over the objectives as well as structure of company. For instance, the environment primark’s  objective to be a profitable organisation with continuous growth can be majorly influenced if any of the above mentioned area fails to accomplish its assigned function. If the IT department faces problems and fails to do billing process, the business and sales of the company would be hampered and would negatively affect the company’s objective of generating profit (Schmieder-Ramirez and Mallette, 2015). This objective can also be impacted by non functionality of other department like failure of logistics to supply stock to store or employees strike. Similarly, achievements of other objectives of Primark like to have a sustainable business or availing quality products to people at reasonable prices largely depends on different organisational functions.

Organisational functions are also interdependent and interrelated to each other. It can be explained as effective HR policy keeps the work force motivated that increases the overall productivity and efficiency which further leads to enhanced business and profitability. The interconnectivity of these functions has its own advantages and disadvantage. The effective and efficient functionality of HR and PR department including marketing and promotions have direct impact over sales department. Good marketing and promoting activity increases sales dramatically and thus, is beneficial for both the departments as well as whole company. But the disadvantage of this interconnectivity is that an error or non functionality of a single function or department would impact almost every function and would affect the business as a whole.

Conclusion

This interconnectivity of functions also influences the structure of the organization. As shown in the figure 1(b) below, the organisational structure of Primark is a matrix structure where employees work similar to a functional organisational structure, manage function based departments and have to report to their respective managers but at times they may also be assigned tasks by different manager from different department (Sawyer, 2004). The HR, PR and sales department of Primark are very closely interconnected where marketing, promotion, buying and sales go hand in hand and employees also work in collaboration and cooperation with each other. While the management and finance department are quite separately managed.

                              Fig: 1(b): organisational Structure of Primark                                              

Thus, it can be said that organisational functions plays a major role in determining organisational structure and also help in directing activities for achievement of organisational objectives.

Part 2

a) Report         

Section 1

Both macro and micro environment factors have an impact on the business operations of companies like Primark and UK is one of the prominent markets for Primark with a huge market share. Macro environmental analysis of the company can be done using PESTLE framework while micro environmental analysis would be using SWOT framework for assessment. Once that is done then a correlation between both analysis and their impact on the decision making process would be discussed and critically evaluated. PEST analysis is used on a regular basis to maximize the benefits of the organization and enable the identification of the new business and marketing trends (Kotler, 2009). It is also used to observe the external factors that have very high influence on a specific department of an organization. It may help in identifying potential changes and also clarifies why change is required.

Section 2: Pestle

• Political:- Political environment of UK is currently stable and conducive for business. There is some ambiguity regarding Brexit situation but it is not making much impact to the business of Primark because it has strong presence in both UK as well as European markets. Government policies are in favor of business growth and it would be easier for Primark to make decisions regarding their investments because there would be not many changes in policies, taxation and other such political decisions.
• Economic:- The economic growth rate of UK is not very high but it is stable and has a large base. Income of company’s target population is increasing and thus, it would be a great opportunity for company to enhance its business. Company is focusing on middle and upper class people of “Y” or tier-II cities and thus, increasing the number of stores in these potential areas is a decision which company can take (Dudovskiy, 2013).
• Social:- The socio cultural factors of UK market is such that people prefer to purchase products from organizations like Primark where they can buy their products of daily usage under one roof and at competitive prices. It makes the weekly shopping trip for most of the working class people only a one stop activity. This is the factor on which Primark should build upon their strategy.
• Technological:- Countries like UK have a large number of smart phone users, internet and social networking website like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram users and therefore, the company has adopted these latest technological advancements in their marketing and promotional activities. Primark can use advanced technological developments of UK to enhance their operational efficiency and effectiveness. Introducing new techniques for bringing out major advancements to stand out the in the competition can be an important factor in affecting the UK business organizations. Such factors are responsible for driving organizations towards adopting new technologies and inventions (Hall, 2012). Thus, the above mentioned factors such as social, legal, political and technological factors are greatly responsible for affecting UK organizations to such a great extent. Any amendments or changes in these factors will eventually influence Primark in almost every aspect of their business.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is an acronym which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It helps in assessing firm’s strengths, weaknesses, markets opportunities open to you and threats which company have to face. SWOT analysis is a useful framework for understanding and for decision making for all sorts of situations in the business. In includes both internal and external factors. Strength and weakness are internal to organization and opportunity and threat are external to organization (Afonso & Sousa, 2012).

Strength Strong financial muscle Presence in most of the towns and cities of UK Strong brand name and brand value Competitive pricing because of outsourced manufacturing	Weakness Opposed by local traders. Shopping experience becomes too impersonal. Too much dependency on contract manufacturing. Lack of designer clothing.
Opportunities Huge growth potential in UK and European markets still. Economies are out of the recession after meltdown of 2009 and they are ready for a period of growth. Technological advancements and HR training and development can boost the efficiency of the company.	Threats Competition is very stiff and cut throat in retail industry. Profit margins are continuously slipping because of competition in the market. Growth rate of these economies is relatively low and it would not help the companies in gaining the higher than average growth rate.

Section 3

If a detailed analysis is to be done it can be seen that strength which are mentioned in the framework coincides with the macro environmental factors of the country. Financial strength is one of company’s core strength and considering the economic situation of UK and business pattern of Primark, they have a strong revenue model which can fuel any decision made by Primark’s regarding its expansion and developing new stores. Similarly it can be seen that HR policies of the company, their training and development requirements are also continuously evolving and developing strong HRM strategies which would help in gaining higher retention rate for the company. One of the core weaknesses of the company is high attrition rate of employees. Decisions regarding better HR policies, training of employees and their clear progression of career are in correlation with this core weakness and it is an attempt to reduce the weakness levels which act as a hindrance in growth of the company (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006).

In order to facilitate international proliferation and meeting the challenges of globalized business model differentiation and focus are the primary strategies which are followed by Primark. Primark has always been used to follow the strategy of low cost provider but now that strategy is not just limited to that only but it is also developing clothing lines and products which can be premium priced. This is to create the differentiation aspect in their products which is one of the opportunities they are exploring.  This strategy focuses on supplying a product which is different from your competitors. This strategy helps to improve brand loyalty and reduce price sensitivity which might help Primark to improvise its profit margins.

A) Reflective report

While collecting information and data to write this report, I became aware of several essential components and factors that play essential role in decision making process as well as setting up objectives for an organization. I realized that an organization does not work in vacuum and is majorly affected by the  marketing environment in which it operates. There are various local, national and internationals factors that exert major impact over its operations, functionality, business and overall profitability (Armstrong, 2006). I got the opportunity to understand that local factors are termed as micro environmental factors that involves a self analysis of organization. It can be done using SWOT analysis model where company’s strengths, weaknesses, available opportunities to grow and potential threats hampering progress can be identified. Identification of these factors greatly helps the company in strategic planning process, selecting appropriate ways and methods to achieve organizational objectives and finally implementing these actions to get desired outcomes. Micro environmental analysis assists in evaluating strengths of the company that may be used to gain competitive advantage over others while weaknesses are identified, that must be considered and steps must be taken in a direction to overcome them. The company may make decisions and formulate strategies to take maximum advantage of available opportunities in markets and identification of threats allows them to be prepared and effectively manage these negative business situations.

In addition, the importance of macro environmental analysis including national and international factors cannot be overlooked. I got to know that it is done using PESTLE framework where impact of political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors of the market on the business is analyzed and evaluated. These factors have major impact over new business strategies, help in depicting market trends and therefore are of major use when a company is planning to enter a new market. This analysis not only depicts impact of these macro environmental factors on whole company but also depicts these effects on specific department, allowing the company to identify areas needing improvements and changes and thus, the company can change accordingly. This framework analyzes the external market in such a way that existing opportunities are highlighted that may be effectively used and the overall business can be strengthened and potential threats like some upcoming competitor is also being identified. Further, target population, their needs, requirements and preferences can be identified. Therefore, the organizations can make decisions and formulate strategies that would bring maximum benefit and would lead to minimum damage (Schiller, 2011).

I learned that these factors have strong impact on company’s marketing campaigns and promotional activities and are extremely important to be considered while choosing appropriate strategy or making strategic plans (Moon, 2013). The final outcomes and success of marketing campaigns can be really enhanced and a strong brand image can be created in the market. Company can identify existing market opportunities and the requirement of new product, new marketing strategy or any potential change requirement is depicted by these factors.  Company can also gain competitive advantage over others and may successfully grow to achieve leading positions in the market.

References

Afonso, A. & Sousa, R.M. (2012). The macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy. Applied Economics, 44(34), pp.4439-4454.
Armstrong. M. (2006). A handbook of  Human Resource Management  Practice (10th edition) Kogan Page , LondonISBN 0-7494-4631-5
Curtis, M. (2015). Business news:: Open House at Picanol.-Rieter cuts Swiss jobs.-Primark joins SAC.-Auriga adds US capacity.-A good lie down at Heimtextil.-FR issues for furnishings., (6), 4-5.
Dudovskiy, J. 2013. Impact of Global Forces on UK Business Organizations (online) available at http://research-methodology.net/impact-of-global-forces-on-uk-business-organisations/ last accessed on 9/11/2016
Hall, S., (2012), http://www.ehow.com/facts_6899691_implications-policy-monetary-policy-business.html [Accessed: 10 November 2016]
Moon, J. A. (2013).Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Routledge.
Rubalcaba, L., Gallego, J. And Hertog, P.D., (2010). The case of market and system failures in services innovation. The Service Industries Journal, 30(4), pp.549-566
Sawyer, M. (2004) – The UK Economy: A Manual of Applied Economics, 16^th edition (OUP Oxford; 2004) ISBN:9780199266517
Schiller, B. R. (2011). The macro economy today. Tata mcgraw-Hill Education.
Schmieder-Ramirez, J. and Mallette, L. (2015) Using the SPELIT Analysis Technique for Organizational Transitions, Chapter 28 of "Education Applications and Developments" edited by Mafalda Carmo, Science Press