Introduction to Business Operations and Management

This report covers various aspects of business operations and management, including contemporary research on the impact of Brexit, a case study on ALDI's business model, positive ethical approach in business, and a class discussion on human resources. It highlights the importance of efficient management and coordination of resources for achieving specific goals in the most effective way.

Introduction to
business operations
and management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Task 1 Contemporary Research .................................................................................................1
Task 2 ALDI ..............................................................................................................................2
Question 1: ALDI and similar stores offer different customer experience. Do you think a
similar business model would work in other industries? .......................................................2
Questions 2: What are the sacrifices customers have to make in order to have access to this
shopping experiences?............................................................................................................3
Task 3 Business Ethics ...............................................................................................................3
Task 4 Class Discussion .............................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
References:.......................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
The operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and
controlling the procedure for producing goods and services. This ensures that business operations
are efficient in regards of using few resource as required and effectively in terms of meeting
customer requirements. The resources are managed for converting inputs into outputs. The
business operations leads to growth in business and management plans for accommodating
change. Whereas the management is procedure of planning and organising resources, business
activities in the aim of achieving specific goals in most effective way(Benjaafar, S and et.al.,
2019). In the company different level of management is needed which objective is to coordinate
the business functions of company. The report is based on the development of portfolio of
knowledge which are dawn on real life examples and situations. The report comprises number of
task. The task 1 is related to contemporary research which researches on current news. Task 2 is
based on case study of ALDI. The task 3 discusses positive ethical approach in business and task
4 is related to class discussion on the topic of Human Resources.
MAIN BODY
Task 1 Contemporary Research
The industries are affected due to the potential economic impact and manpower issues.
The business with continental European suppliers or customers are impacted. The Brexit affected
the business as every organisation faces different challenges when it comes to UK leaving to EU.
The issues faced by organisation are supply chain which brings a risk of increased cost and deals
to supply chains. A disruption in the flow of goods and services from the UK to the EU was a
long-awaited effect of Brexit and will continue to do so through 2021 (lightspeed, 2021). It is
much more difficult to fulfil customer orders while not getting longer easily goods, and many
companies responded by storing goods while UK-EU duty-free trading still existed. The
withdrawal has affected business on both sides of the canal. So to continue trading cross-border
it is important to maintain good relationships with EU suppliers and be transparent about trading
practices.
The another issue an brexit cause for business is workforce. Free movement between
Great Britain and the EU ended on January 1st, 2021. EEA citizens who lived in the UK before
January 1st can still do so provided they have applied for settlement or pre-sedled status. Skilled
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EU migrants have long been an attractive option for small UK businesses with high skills and
low labor costs. Under the new post-Brexit immigration laws, both EU and non-EU migrants are
subject to a point-based system for visa eligibility. Much of this is based on a job offer from an
approved employer sponsor (GOWLING WLC , 2021).
Task 2 ALDI
Question 1: ALDI and similar stores offer different customer experience. Do you think a
similar business model would work in other industries?
This is true that customer have different experiences from similar stores. The ALDI is an
German supermarket founded in 1946. The ALDI store focuses on efficiency and caters the need
based shopping clientele who makes an frequent visits in stores rather than stocking up. This
store provides few variant of product that limits to the choices of the customer. The small size of
store reduces number of products that is offered to customer. As compare to other similar store
such as taking an example of Tesco it is an British multinational groceries and general
merchandise retailer company which offers variety if products to its customers which makes
customer faces different experience. In the Tesco they have to restock up there shelves and
requires efficient management inventory by having planning and forecasting of the required
products (Bisogno, Sand et.al.,2017). The customer also faces different experience in similar
stores regrading the prices as ALDI is discount groceries chain which gains an substantial ground
in its operations management.
According to my thinking, the similar business model won't work in the other industries
as ALDI deals in retail industry which have small store offering few variety of products to
customers. The sites to accommodate small stores are easier for finding close to target locations
such as city centres. This generally operates in 1000 to 1500 square meters of space. As compare
to other industry such as taking of service industry the customer service is an customer
experience which are interrelated as the this involves the human interaction and directly supports
customers. The staff of stores helps the customers in providing information regarding product
and helps in making better choice (Wensveen, J.G., 2018). The effective service leads to increase
in customer satisfaction and by employing right people in departments. There are ways to
mitigate the negative impact by upskill workers and investing them in long term. The another
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way could be bring ypung workers on apprenticeships, hiring older employees. The technology
can be used for tracking employee performance.
Questions 2: What are the sacrifices customers have to make in order to have access to this
shopping experiences?
Customer sacrifices is the gap between what is delivered and what really an customers
wants. The customers is need to make sacrifices along with customer experience as in all stages
it needs to use some resources such as their time, efforts or emotional for reaching to next step.
The following sacrifices are made by customers.
 Time- It is a time taken for physically arriving at business outlets for searching the
required product and making comparison with similar products in respect to its
specification and cost.
 Money- This is a prime concerned as apart from product or service offered by business it
may involve value added Tax, surcharge, etc. similar there can be discounts for first few
customers or other schemes (Kerzner, H., 2018).
 Energy- The customers invest in energy for getting ready, stepping out for shopping,
travelling from home to outlet or making driving which also involves fuel consumption
for transport.
 Emotional costs- In making an product purchase this can be very hectic, frustrating and
sometimes annoying for customers. As they needs to plan what and when to make
purchase, went out and arriving at store, dealing with staff, making choices in product,
the payment has to be done etc.
Task 3 Business Ethics
The business ethics is an study of appropriate business policies and practices which helps
in determining ethical principles and morals that are arising in business environment. The
business ethics is applied to all aspects of business conducts which governs the actions and
behaviour of an individual in business organisations. Every organization has a code of ethics that
guides their decisions and activities in order to be effective in productivity and uphold their
reputation (Sloan, J., 2019). Ethical behavior ensures that employees do their work with honesty
and integrity and achieve the goal of an organization by adhering to rules and guidelines. The
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TESCO has implemented positive ethical approach by offering wide range of policies. The Tesco
aims in positive contribution to society.
The ethical approach in Tesco benefited employees by offering them better working
conditions, providing equal opportunities and their pay of salary on time. The Tesco mission is to
create value for customers and earning life time loyalty. While making ethical decision the Tesco
combines agency theory and stakeholder theory towards the society. For employee benefit it
developed the ethical standards by creating code of conduct. The Tesco practices CSR in its
business dealing taking responsibility of society (Harris, Fand et.al., 2021). Business ethics is
the most important aspect for the organizations as it improves the law by outlining acceptable
behaviour outside of state control. Business organizations set the ethics to promote the integrity
of their employees and gain the trust of their stakeholders, who are investors and consumers.
While this ethic is common, it differs from the various approaches and methodologies
used by companies. As the organization's management team has taken various ethical approaches
to help their employees. The different approaches are explained below-
 Several practices performed by the company for sustainable development and for
environment benefit as harmful gases are produced. The company has issue poly bags for
saving environment.
 The Tesco used the Deontology approach which means “ Treat people who we like to be
treated”. To keep employee happy and motivated the company trust and respect its
employees for their suggestions and ideas.
 Tesco is making the financial contribution to the Fund for Animal Replacement in
Medical Trials. The company is also looking for ways to end animal testing. It also runs
the computers for school vouchers that help local schools support their computer
equipment (SM, R. and Kumara, S.A., 2018).
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The Tesco practised the positive ethical approach of CSR as it considered as an integral
part of its corporate framework which involves local regeneration projects, being
environmentally conscious and community issues. The CSR strategy of Tesco was to earn trust
of its customers by acting responsible in community where it operates by maximization of
benefits they bring and work for minimizing and negative impacts. The company committed
itself of maintaining healthy environment and made all employees taking an active role in its
environmental initiatives.
Task 4 Class Discussion
The Human resource is been selected for business area. The human resource is set of
people which makes up the organisation workforce. This is business division that is charged with
finding, Screening, recruiting and training of job applicants (Tiwari, Sand et.al., 2018). This is
used for describing the people who work for organisation and department responsible for
managing human capital of an organisation.
Reflection
During the week 9, I study that human resource contributes in overall business
management of an organisation as the purpose of HR is to maximize productivity by optimising
effectiveness of employees. While I was studying HR I seen that in the organisation various
challenges are faced such as aligning workforce after getting right talent. The HR also face
challenge in attracting talent according to the position vacant. As an HR it is concerned with
development of both individuals and organisation in which it operate by performing the
responsibility of job analysis and staffing, organisation & utilization of workforce, appraisal of
work force performance, implementing reward systems. The job satisfaction and productivity on
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equitable workplace with open line of communication and strong relationship is also an
challenging for HR in managing relationship. Along with this, I seen that HR department also
face an challenge in training and development strategies for maintaining growth and
productivity. While I was studying human resource I came to know that if in organisation lacks
human resource it becomes difficult for them to manage the employees, hiring and selection of
applicants. The company will have difficulty in developing and maintaining employee relations,
problem in employing strategy. The large amount of money can be saved by not implementing
HR. Therefore, it can be said that HR department is an important part for organisation which
leads to company success as it helps in recruiting top talent, employee engagement, building
corporate culture etc.
CONCLUSION
From the above report this is been concluded that Brexit has affected the organisation in
supply chain and workforce as an issue of business operations. It is also seen that Aldi provides
few variety of products to its customers and customer faces different experiences. For an
organisation the human resource is an important part which deals with manpower in company
and performs several functions for creating productivity. The employees are trained and there is
development of their skills for working efficiently. The business operation is an centre for
company which overlooks several functions of business. The efficiency of managers and others
workers helps in accelerating individual and company progress.
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References:
Books and Journals
Benjaafar, S and et.al., 2019. Peer-to-peer product sharing: Implications for ownership, usage,
and social welfare in the sharing economy. Management Science, 65(2), pp.477-493.
Bisogno, Sand et.al.,2017. Theory of constraints applied to scheduled and unscheduled patient
flows: does it improve process performance?. International Journal of Services and
Operations Management, 26(3), pp.365-385.
Harris, Fand et.al., 2021. Modern construction management. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2018. Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. John Wiley
& Sons.
Sloan, J., 2019. Learning to think strategically. Routledge.
SM, R. and Kumara, S.A., 2018. Improving Productivity in Manufacturing Industries by
Minimizing Bottlenecks: A Simulation-Based Approach. IUP Journal of Operations
Management, 17(3).
Tiwari, Sand et.al., 2018. Big data analytics in supply chain management between 2010 and
2016: Insights to industries. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 115, pp.319-330.
Wensveen, J.G., 2018. Air transportation: A management perspective. Routledge.
Online references
lightspeed, 2021 [Online] Available Through <https://www.lightspeedhq.co.uk/blog/what-is-
the-impact-of-brexit-on-uk-businesses>
GOWLING WLC , 2021 [Online] Available Through <https://gowlingwlg.com/en/topics/how-
will-brexit-affect-your-business/>
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