Business Resources Project

This project report analyzes Debenhams Plc., a retail organization in the United Kingdom, focusing on its business resources. It examines recruitment documentation, employability skills, physical and technological resources, internal and external sources of finance, financial statements, budget analysis, and ratio analysis. The report provides insights into Debenhams' performance and offers recommendations for improvement.

BUSINESS RESOURCES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PROJECT 1......................................................................................................................................1
P1 Recruitment documentation for Debenhams.........................................................................1
P2 Employability, communication and personal skills required for the job...............................2
M2 Importance of employability, communication and personal skills.......................................3
PROJECT 2......................................................................................................................................3
P3 Physical and technological resources required in business operations of Debenhams..........3
M1 Improvement of performance of Debenhams.......................................................................4
D1 Report on the performance of Debenhams............................................................................4
PROJECT 3......................................................................................................................................4
P4 Internal and external sources of finance for Debenhams.......................................................4
P5 Financial statements of Debenhams along with interpretation..............................................5
M4 Advantages and disadvantages of budgets...........................................................................6
D3 Recommendations.................................................................................................................6
PROJECT 4......................................................................................................................................7
P6 Identification of three budgets along with their issues and graphical representation of
profitability..................................................................................................................................7
P7 Ratio analyses of Debenhams................................................................................................8
M3 Benefits of ratio analyses......................................................................................................9
D2 Interpretation of ratios...........................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business resources are the human, technological and physical resources which are used to
improve efficiency of an organisation. In this project report, Debenhams Plc. is analysed in order
to solve various issues. In this report, various recruitment documents are produced along with
various financial resources which are used in procure finance. Several skills along with various
sources is discussed in this report. Financial statements are prepared in this report, by which ratio
analyses and budgets are also evaluated. The main purpose of this organisation is to review
position and performance of Debenhams.
PROJECT 1
P1 Recruitment documentation for Debenhams
Debenhams Plc. is a retail organisation operating in United Kingdom. In order to apply
for the supply chain assistant position, there are various skills which are needed and they are:
Job description & specification: A supply chain assistant is responsible for the logistics
department. They need to ensure that all raw material is procured from the reliable sources and
all final goods be transported safely to warehouses. They have to handle workers appointed in
warehouses and in transportation (Cosgrove, Rijsberman, 2014).
Skills and experience: A candidate should have minimum experience of 2 years in the
same industry and should be able to communicate with managers and lower level staff
effectively. Candidate must have problem solving skills so that they can be make quick
decisions. Confidence, patience and diplomacy are the skills which should be in the candidate.
Recruitment documentation: When a candidate is applying for a job, they have to
comply various documents along with application form and they are Curriculum vitae, cover
letter, academic degrees and report cards, relieving letter, last salary slip etc. (Hart, Dowell,
2011). CV and cover letter is produced below:
Cover letter:
007,Elizabeth street
England
1 Aug, 2018
Mr. James Bond
1

Supply chain manager
Debenhams Plc.
Dear Mr. Bond,
I am a current employee of XYZ organisation and like to be interviewed by your company as I
think my skills and experience of 2 years in supply chain management is suitable for the most
of supply chain assistant. Kindly consider my Resume which is attached with cover letter.
Sincerely,
Bill Stevenson
Curriculum vitae:
Bill Stevenson
12 July, 1992
Male
Contact no.- XXXX654XXX
Objective:
To be a part of a dynamic organisation to improve my skills and knowledge.
Education:
MBA from Wishwere University
BBA from Wishwere University
Experience:
2 year experience of supply chain assistant
Awards and achievements:
Awarded as student of the year
Declaration:
I hereby declare, that all the above information are of my knowledge and consent.
P2 Employability, communication and personal skills required for the job
Employability Skills: In this defined those skills that an individual should have in order
to get a job role in more effective and efficient manner. This skill is essential that allow the
person to have appropriate behaviours with other colleagues, mutual understanding and friendly
relationship so that there would be less chances of occurring any disputes or problems. In the
2

Debenhams, employees can build strong workforce and positive environment by managing
relationship among each other which facilitate to accomplish common goals or objectives in an
effective manner. Employees can apply their skills while performing their job that must be
possessed including qualification, experiences for achieving task and targets (Inman, 2016).
Personal Skills: In this consider the personal skills which individual apply or possess
during the job performances or its role. In the Debenhams, employees also undertake their
personal skills for the purpose of getting best possible outcomes. The examples of this skills are
speaking different languages, have sense of humour and trustworthy as well. It is essentials in
differentiate employees and employers as well as from other so it can be helpful in achieving
growth and success with effective manner.
Communication skills: This is one of the best or important skills that a person should
have if they are doing any job. In this defined the set skills that support to the person in
conveying messages and other information to the another people in effective and efficient
manner. Manger and employees can get advantages with the helps of proper communication
process as they can share their ideas, opinion, thoughts for making better decision within
Debenhams.
M2 Importance of employability, communication and personal skills
These skills are important for an organisation as they can help in proper communication
system which is considered as the essence of management. Personal skills of an employee leads
to proper functioning and effective business operations.
PROJECT 2
P3 Physical and technological resources required in business operations of Debenhams
In the Debenhams, there is required to manage and maintain several equipments and tools
or techniques so that best possible outcomes can be get. There are various resources and tools
that support in running business activities and perform each or every tasks with appropriate
manner so that company can achieve higher growth and profitability as in this included
Machinery, Building and Facilities, Stocks, IT Equipments, Management of Waste Materials,
Intellectual Property, Software Licenses and many others for developing business and perform
entire operations with an effective manner. The management of Debenhams have to be ensure
regarding utilisation of available resources and maximise profitability through allocation of such
3

resources with correct manner (Montgomery, 2011). Manager play an important role in
managing all required aspects and ensure about its effectiveness for getting higher returns. They
perform several duties regarding managing stocks as follows the rules like FIFO and LIFO and
also maintain inventory for serving better and effectively to the customers. Operations manager
ensure about the condition of machinery and other equipments as it should be effective and better
to produce particular goods and services. Debenhams can manufacture more efficient products
and services with appropriate quality so that customers can be satisfied. They focus on
employees health and safety during operations where major safety factors required so that
maximum accidents can be controlled or overcomes in well manner. Company undertake latest
technologies and IT equipments that facilitate to make work easy, without any delay employees
can achieve their accomplished targets.
M1 Improvement of performance of Debenhams
Human and technological resources are the key controlling features which can manage all
the activities of the business operations. Technological resources which are used in inventory
management system helps in proper allocation and maximum utilisation of resources. Resources
such as human, technological and physical can help Debenhams to improve their performance.
D1 Report on the performance of Debenhams
Budgets are the estimates which are prepared using various forecasting tools. These
budgets can help in analyse financial statements of an organisation, as these budgets can help in
comparing current year profits and expenses from estimated profits and expenditures.
PROJECT 3
P4 Internal and external sources of finance for Debenhams
As working under finance manager of Debenhams, various sources of finance are
identified and mentioned below:
Internal Sources:
Owner's saving - Owner is the person who invest his money in business and owners
saving is the money which is invested by the owner in the business. Owners can be the
shareholders, proprietor etc.
Capital from profit - Capital from profit is also called capital gain and a company can
earn capital gain by selling capital assets like share, bond, debentures etc.
4

External sources:
Bank loan - Bank lend money to the business is known as bank loan. Banks provide
loans for long tern and medium term and bank sets a fix period to lend the money i.e. 3, 5,10
years.
Overdraft - Overdraft means allowing an individual to withdraw money from bank when
he/she is not having the sufficient balance in their bank account and this facility is provided to
the premium customers of the bank.
Commercial mortgage – Commercial mortgage is a type of loan which is secured by
commercial property such as office building, warehouses etc. The amount which is received
from the mortgage is used to refinance, redevelop the business.
Venture capital – The capital invested in a business is known as venture capital and
mostly venture capital is provided to the start ups and new growing companies.
Hire purchase – Hire purchase means to buy any asset on instalments this method
usually used to buy expensive assets and goods (Hire purchase, 2018).
At Debenhams, the most appropriate source of finance is venture capital as it involves
investment through start ups which is considered as the most beneficial.
P5 Financial statements of Debenhams along with interpretation
Profit and Loss account
Particulars Amount Particulars Amount
To Cost of revenue a/c 2046100 By Total revenue a/c 2335000
To Gross Profit 288900
2335000 2335000
To selling general &
administrative expenses 181400 By Gross Profit 288900
To other expenses 48500
To Tax expenses a/c 10200
To Net Profit 48800
288900 288900
5

Balance sheet
Liabilities Amount Assets Amount
Long term debt 197900 Fixed Assets:
Total stock holders equity 917600 Property Plant & equipment 654900
other liabilities 420700
Current Liabilities long term investment 1200
Accounts payable 331300 Goodwill 819500
short term debts 315900 Intangible assets 172400
other current liabilities 41400 other assets 116000
deferred long- term asset
charges 15300
Current Assets:
Cash & cash equivalents 40000
Net receivables 33800
Inventory 317800
Other current assets 53900
2224800 2224800
Interpretation:
From the above financial statement, it can be said that Debenhams has earned gross profit
of 288900 dollars in the year 2017 and net profit of 48800 dollars. It has been observed that this
organisation has high fixed assets when compared to fixed liabilities. Current liabilities of the
above entity are higher than the current assets and that is 445500 and 688600 which shows that
this organisation has low liquidity is unable to pay their short term debts effectively.
M4 Advantages and disadvantages of budgets
Every organisation including Debenhams is required to control their costs and budgets
with the help of preparation of proper budgets. These budgets assist an organisation in the
process of proper decision making and better allocation of available resources. Along with the
6

benefits there are few limitations too of using budgets and they are this method is time
consuming and requires a lot of skills and knowledge which needs high costs. If Debenhams left
these budgets unmonitored then they can face issues of improper management practices and cost
overlapping (Tang, 2011).
D3 Recommendations
Debenhams should control their costs by proper allocation of resources and by preparing
several budgets such as cash, production, sales, inventory etc. This organisation should appoint
skilled staff, so that they can develop all budgets. In order to monitor their financial statements,
analyses such as ratio and cash flow analyses should be done along with budgetary control (Zott,
Amit, Massa, 2011).
PROJECT 4
P6 Identification of three budgets along with their issues and graphical representation of
profitability
a.)
Budgets are the estimates which are prepared with the intention to compare current actual
performance and future predictions. Problems which can occur in budgetary control along with
their solutions are:
 Estimates which are developed can has high probability of failure in that case,
organisation has to re plan their policies regarding allocation of resources and this
problem can be solved using effective estimation tools such forecasting, contingency and
scenario.
 Preparation of budgets requires high level of skills. In order to solve this issue,
Debenhams should appoint new staff which has proper qualification in this field.
 The process of budgeting involves high cost and ample of time. In order to prepare
reliable budgets, business organisation should use effective management and controlling
practices (Trainor, 2014).
b.)
From the above produced financial statements, graphical representation of profitability is:
Actual profit Estimated profit
Gross profit 288900 320000
7

Net profit 48800 80000
Gross profit Net profit
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
288900
48800
320000
80000
Profitability
Actual profit
Estimated profit
P7 Ratio analyses of Debenhams
Ratio analyses is a tool which is used to measure performance of an organisation. Here,
various ratios of Debenhams are calculated in order to ascertain their financial position.
 Net profit ratio:
Net profit ratio = net profit/sales*100
= 48800/2335000*100
= 2.08%
 Acid test ratio:
Quick ratio = Quick Assets/ Current liabilities
Quick assets = current assets- cash & cash equivalents
=445500-40000 =405500
Quick ratio = 405500/671700
=0.60:1
 Current assets ratio:
8

Current ratio= Current Assets/ Current liabilities
=445500/671700
=0.66:1
 Mark up ratio
Mark up ratio = Gross profit/sales*100
= 288900/2335000*100
= 12.37%
M3 Benefits of ratio analyses
Ratio analyses is a tool to interpret financial statement of an organisation. Above various
ratios are determined which are beneficial for Debenhams to ascertain their true and fair position.
Net profit ratio helps to measure profitability of a company by which it can be curtained that how
much profit this entity is earning. Acid test ratio helps to determine that how effectively a
company can cash their quick assets. Current ratio or current assets ratio can help Debenhams to
ascertain their short debt paying ability. Mark up ratio measures gross profit making ability of an
organisation (Wahl, Prause, 2013).
D2 Interpretation of ratios
From the above ratio analyses, it has been observed that Debenhams has higher gross
profit ratio than net profit ratio and that is 12.37% and 2.08%, which shows that this company
has to bear various expenses and has low income when compared in profit and loss account.
Ideal current ratio in the related industry is considered as 2:1 but Debenhams has 0.66:1, which
shows this organisation is weak in paying their short term debts. Ideal quick ratio is considered
to be 1:1 but Debenhams has 0.60:1, which reflects that this company takes time to convert their
assets into cash (Zikmund, 2013).
CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it has concluded that business resources can procured by
various sources which are further used to enhance business operations of an organisation.
Debenhams is a retail organisation which is observed to be growing by analysing their financial
resources. Various skills and resources are evaluated in order to determine their importance in
the above mentioned organisation. Debenhams should frequent use cash budgets in order to
improve their functioning.
9

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Cosgrove, W. J. and Rijsberman, F. R., 2014. World water vision: making water everybody's
business. Routledge.
Hart, S. L. and Dowell, G., 2011. Invited editorial: a natural-resource-based view of the firm:
fifteen years after. Journal of management, 37(5). pp.1464-1479.
Inman, K., 2016. Women's resources in business start-up: A study of black and white women
entrepreneurs. Routledge.
Montgomery, C. A. ed., 2011. Resource-based and evolutionary theories of the firm: towards a
synthesis. Springer Science & Business Media.
Tang, Y. K., 2011. The Influence of networking on the internationalization of SMEs: Evidence
from internationalized Chinese firms. International Small Business Journal, 29(4).
pp.374-398.
Trainor, K. J., and et. al., 2014. Social media technology usage and customer relationship
performance: A capabilities-based examination of social CRM. Journal of Business
Research, 67(6). pp.1201-1208.
Wahl, M. and Prause, G., 2013. Toward understanding resources, competencies, and capabilities:
business model generation approach. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 1(2).
pp.67-80.
Zikmund, W. G., and et. al., 2013. Business research methods. Cengage Learning.
Zott, C., Amit, R. and Massa, L., 2011. The business model: recent developments and future
research. Journal of management, 37(4). pp.1019-1042.
Online
Hire purchase. 2018. [Online]. Available through:<https://efinancemanagement.com/sources-of-
finance/hire-purchase>.
10