Comprehensive Business Overview and Analysis of ASDA Stores Limited

This report provides a detailed business overview of ASDA Stores Limited, examining its establishment, product offerings, and financial services. It delves into the company's history, highlighting key achievements like the creation of an iPhone app and addressing challenges related to IT infrastructure and integration. The report outlines ASDA's aims, including achievable, time-bound, understandable, and clearly communicated goals. It also explores ASDA's mission, focusing on customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, employee motivation, and clear communication. Furthermore, the report discusses ASDA's vision, emphasizing SMART goals for long-term success, including specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based objectives. The conclusion summarizes the key aspects of ASDA's business structure, and the report includes a list of relevant books and journal references.

Business

INTRODUCTION
• Business is defined as the buying or selling activity between the
customers and the sellers in order to get desired product by the
customer and profits by the sellers. Entrepreneur tries to develop the
product or services according to the trend, current needs and
requirements of the customers. This is done to earn revenues and more
number of sales. Business contains various departments like marketing,
production, finance, research and development, human resource,
operations and many more according to the business requirement. There
are various business functions which includes planning, organising,
staffing, directing and controlling the activities in a business to meet the
objectives and goals of it. The following discussion is made on the
particular organization, analysing it’s overview, product and services they
offer and aims of the business with it’s history and background.

Company Background
• Company name: ASDA Stores Limited
• Establishment: 19th Feburary, 1945 in United Kingdom.
• Deals with: ASDA delivers an extensive variety of products including fresh
food, grocery, clothing, home, leisure and entertainment goods. Customers
can buy fresh, chilled, and frozen food, drinks, health and beauty products,
laundry and household products, clothing, outdoor and entertainment
products, pet products and many more from ASDA. The company has
financial services as well. Credit Card, Travel Insurance, Travel Money, and
Personal Loans are to name but a few financial services of ASDA.
• Board of directors: Roger Burnley-President and CEO, Rob McWilliam-Chief
Financial Officer, Derek Lawlor-Chief Merchandising Officer, Hayley Tatum-
Chief People Officer, Anthony Hemmerdinger-Chief Operating Officer, Anna-
Maree Shaw-Chief Customer Officer, Helen Selby-General Counsel and
Company Secretary, Mark Simpson-Chief Supply Chain Officer.

Company History
• Achievement
ASDA created first iPhone app, it was promptly well acknowledged by
customers, over 1,000 downloads a day and the knowledge exercise
was well-thought-out a success. The ASDA Price Guarantee app permits
customers to enter their shopping receipt details and then receive a
money-back voucher if they could have shopped for less elsewhere.
• The Challenge
From 2007 to 2008, sales of Iphone had increased almost 400% from
3.7M to 13.7M. ASDA were very curious to explore apps but were
stressed to find a plan that could be implemented within 6 months. This
was because to current IT work backlog and integration complexities.

Company History
continued..
• The Work
Pocketworks has worked with ASDA to discover diverse opportunities in order to find one
that could be done within a short timeframe.
Process is that when shoppers fills the receipt details, an automatic highlighted structure
can focus on displayed screen. Due to this, conventional web technologies can create a
problem in execution. Earlier, Apple cheered app developers to utilize skeuomorphism in
their app design. This simply means that app relates to the simple life objects. In context
of ASDA’s app, receipt roll shoed the exact receipt and user content data was animated.
Reason behind was actually, the app was having the ability to extract data from third party
web content. This data helped in creating and printing of customer discounts based on
their number mentioned on the reciept.
• The Results
ASDA's goal was to gain more knowledge about the mobile phones and technology. They
promoted the app innovation on television and on internet advertising and accomplished
over 1,000 downloads per day. This was a success for ASDA because after downloading,
people were highly engaged in some activities using this app.

Aims
continued..
Goals:
• Must be achievable
ASDA sets their goals that can be achievable. This simply means that ASDA must be having those resources of
financing and any other which is requiring to accomplish the goal. ASDA must also have the effective leadership
to be able to target these firm’s goals.
• Must be within time duration expected
Goals are either long term or short, they must be having some time frame to achieve those goals. This can be
only possible if the organization’s operations are that much efficient and effective to achieve targets within that
time frame proposed.
• Must be understandable
Goals which are set should not be complex, it must be easy to understand especially by those people who will
be largely involved in executing it. This can be achieved when employees are the reason behind for the targets
which are set like about benefits, future grown and many more reasons so that they can work accordingly.
• Must be easy communication
Understanding of the goals also needs the proper communication process. This simply means that the motive
set to achieve the goals must be precise and clear from employers as well as employee point of view.
Communication must be from both the ends that is from top level to operational level and vice versa because
one sided communication leads to high misunderstanding of the goals set.

Aims
continued..
Mission:
• Satisfaction of customers
ASDA’s mission is to focus on solving issues related to customer satisfaction. It’s mission defines that it has
recognised its target customer groups, and also recognised their requirements and demands. It’s mission reflects
that how they should represent their products in order to maximize their satisfaction of customers at it’s best
level.
• To gain competitive advantage
ASDA’s mission is dependent on its external opportunities and internal strengths. This can be achieved by
analysing various external models like PESTLE analysis and internal models like SWOT analysis. This marketing
study of models will give ASDA a deep interpretation and observation of core competencies in the market and
strategies to use in a firm.
• To provide motivation and inspiration
ASDA’s mission is to support their employees in achieving the goals by motivating them and inspiring them to be
more goal oriented and focus on the targets which are to be accomplished. Their mission is also to provide their
workforce a better assistance in their personal growth and goals as well along with the organizational goals.
• Sharp and specific
ASDA’s mission must be is exact and to the point. It must be easy for the customers to understand about the
products and services offered by the firm. It is essential to be more goal specific, it must be short and clear, no
complexity so that there must not be any problem in communicating regarding the goals.

Aims
continued..
Vision:
ASDA’s vision statement is to focus on SMART
goals theory for a long term success of the firm. It
includes specific, measurable, attainable, relevant
and time-based. This means that the goals which
are set by the company must be specific and clear
which can be easily measurable and comfortably
attained with full relevancy in a proper time
duration which is set at the time of goal setting.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded that business overview of ASDA
which involves the company products and
services, board of directors, establishments,
achievements, challenges, work, objectives,
mission, vision and goals are discussed in order
to better understand the business workings and
structure.

REFERENCES
Books and journal
• Benson, M., Murray, F. and Taylor, A., 2019. Food Innovation Consultancy
Challenge:'Live'Learning and Professional Development with an Industry Client.
• Bentham, J., 2018. Business and Economics in the News–Sainsbury's and ASDA-the decade's
mega-merger. Teaching Business & Economics. 22(3). pp.11-12.
• Fisher, K., 2018. ASDA rolls out new mental health policy. Occupational Health &
Wellbeing. 70(5). pp.22-22.
• Guirguis, M., 2019. How the Product Structure and Distribution Channels Affect the Business
Cycle of the UK Life and General Insurance Companies. Available at SSRN 3354631.
• Haydock, J. and Smith, T., 2019. No magic dust: The relationship between the national and
local assessments in Sainsbury’s/ASDA. Journal of Competition Law & Economics. 15(4).
pp.538-558.
• Hotchkiss, J., 2018. Polar Opposites: Judgments and Counterfactuals in Sainsbury’s V.
Mastercard and ASDA V. Mastercard. World Competition. 41(3).
• Johnston, K., 2017. ASDA Retail Employees Can Compare Themselves to Distribution Centre
Employees in Equal Pay Claim (UK). Eur. Emp. L. Cases, p.198.