Contemporary Management Issues

This document discusses contemporary management issues, focusing on the dynamic forces influencing business and society. It evaluates the organization's responses to these forces and analyzes the relationship among them in relation to effective strategic decision making. The document also explores the use of decision-making tools to address contemporary drivers for change.

CONTEMPORARY
MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Contents

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Dynamic forces influencing on business & society...........................................................1
2. Evaluation of relationship among dynamic forces in relation of effective strategic decision
making....................................................................................................................................3
3. Prepare an evaluation of organisation’s responses to key dynamic forces in contemporary
business world........................................................................................................................5
4. Select and use decision making tools to address contemporary drivers for change...........7
5. Analyse the relevant theoretical foundations to support identification & application of
effect corporate responses to contemporary management issues...........................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books & Journal:..................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management is defined as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in
which individuals is working together in order to achieve goals in an effective and timely
manner. There are various issues arise at workplace due to internal and external factors and it is
essential to analyse the impact of all these factors on the performance of an organisation. It assist
company to develop effective strategies and enhance productivity in an effective manner. For the
present report, Mothercare is taken into consideration. It is a British retailer and specialise in
goods for expectant mother & general merchandise up the eight years of children. The company
was founded in the year 1961 and at present it has 79 stores globally. At present, the company is
facing issue and its 150 stores reduced to the 79 stores only. It is determine that Mothercare store
will be closed after the PWC appointed administrators in the United Kingdom business. In
addition to this, the organisation still has high market share due to some products like pushchairs,
car seats and many more. But the product such as toys and clothing is undercut by online
retailers and supermarkets as well. The present report covers an analysis of dynamic forces
affecting on business as well as society. Along with this, the relationship among all these factors
with effective strategic decision making is discuss in the report. Moreover, an evaluation of
company response to key dynamic forces within the contemporary business is describe in the
report. Later, there is discussion about decision making tools in order to address contemporary
drivers for change.
MAIN BODY
1. Dynamic forces influencing on business & society
In today’s business world, there are different dynamic forces that has an influence on the
overall business performance and societies in both negative as well as positive manner. It is
important for an entity to analyse the impact of all these factors so that they can maintain and
cope up with the changes in an effective manner. Analysing all these factors assist company to
attain higher growth and success in market. The dynamic forces that impact on society and
business is given below:
Technical forces: Technology is changing rapidly and impact on the buying behaviour of
customers as they prefer to consume those goods that is innovative and new in market. It provide
benefit to the companies such as internalisation, enhancing profitability and raising customer
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base of the company in an effective manner. The technology allows an organisation to reach
maximum number of people by using social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram,
YouTube and so on. In relation to Mothercare, the company is required to use advanced
technology in order to enhance its sales that has positive influence on the market share of
company. In addition to this, it also allow company to maintain sales after the reduce in number
of shops and its physical presence in market as well. The advanced technology assist company to
develop their own website and application so that the online retailers who stop selling its toys did
not impact on the performance of business. Furthermore, it impact positively on the societies as
they get more option and products at their own place.
Social forces: It is undertaken as one of the essential dynamic forces, which can affect on
both society and business at the same time. The preference and taste of people living in society is
change and in order to sell product to this people, it is important to make alterations in their
product and service according to customer taste and preferences. One of the main factor that
influence on the society is culture and it is determine that it plays an important role in the choice
and preferences of customer. With reference to Mothercare, it is needed to ensure that its product
develop the value to customers and build positive mind set of customers towards the brand. The
social forces include belief, opinions, customs and value of people prevailing in the society. For
gaining success and maintain market share, it is important for company to analyse choice of
people of society and meet with their requirements effectively.
Political Forces : The another force that has influence on business and society is political
forces. The factors includes intellectual property rights, trade barriers, technical standards,
policies and procedures, technical standards, formation of trade group and so on. It is determine
that political stability of a country is required in order to sustain company in market for longer
time frame. In context to Mothercare, it is located at UK, where the political stability is quite
well. Due to Brexit, the inflation rate of country is decline and impact negatively on the sales and
profitability of company. Decline in Inflation rate decrease the buying capacity of people living
in UK that has negatively influence on the overall productivity as well as profitability of
Mothercare.
Economic forces: It is the another major factor that has influence on society as well as
business. Global financial markets, increasing individual income, global competition, world trade
are undertaken as some of the important factor that impact on thee decision making of
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organisation and society as well. For example, most of the customers spent less amount on
jewellery, vehicles and luxury goods as compare to their expectations. This as a result decline the
profitability as well as market share of the company, in relation to Mothercare, it is suggested to
company to enhance their business activities in developing countries that assist in gaining higher
profit. In addition to this, it also help company to attain objectives and meet with their targets in
an effective manner. The economic forces include exchange rate, inflation rate, taxation rate and
many more. Change in all these rates impact on business performance and society. For example,
increase in taxation rate decline the profit margin of company and due to this, it is required by
the organisation to increase the rates of products and service sell to customer. Therefore in order
to purchase product, customer pay high price that directly has an impact on society as well as
business.
Main two drivers which affect the chosen form are mentioned below-
Technological drivers- This have deep impact on Mother- Care because technology s
changing by the blink of an eye so to deal with situations they require high level of skills &
knowledge.
Social drivers- Another one is social driver which slow down the growth of business
because people demand & needs are changeable mostly due to region or culture. Thus, entity has
to conduct market research properly which is time consuming & cost expensive.
Mother-Care has responded to these drivers & changes in effective manner as they are
deciding merge their business with other e-commerce retailers so that products are sold online at
global level.
2. Evaluation of relationship among dynamic forces in relation of effective strategic decision
making
Ever organisation faces problems and issues due to change in external forces as it directly
influence on the overall performance and productivity of an organisation. It is determine that
interrelationship among all these forces such as social, technical, economical & political assist an
organisation to take effective decisions that help them to perform business activities in an
effective and proper manner. It is needed for organisation such as Mothercare to emphasise on
developing effective strategies as it face lot of issues due to change in dynamic forces rapidly. It
is important for an organisation to analyse market trends and customer requirements so that they
can fulfil customer needs and retain them for longer time frame. The interrelationship among all
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this factors assist company to take right decisions that will help in gaining higher profits and also
assist in strengthening market position. The link among the dynamic forces that help in decision
making is given below in relation to company:
Link between social-economic forces : It is determine as one of the strongest and
effective relationship that help in better decision making and leads to increasing in growth of
company. It is analysed that social philosophies, ethics and social norms involve different
aspects that impact on customer behaviour and on the shape of an economy (Huang, 2019). All
this will result in making effective strategies that is beneficial for the company as well as society.
In addition to this, it is determine that socio-economic group is consider as a group of people that
have same characteristics. This interrelationship include current profession education,
background, social class and so on, by considering all this factors, Mothercare may enhance its
business activities and increase its profit margin in an effective as well as proper manner.
Link between technical and political forces:
In the case study this has been identified that the Mother care company which are
reducing their sales, so this is essential for the company to maintain the sales with the assistance
of the technology in the well define manner. There is recent change in the technology which
have increase the sales and effectively. In the context of Mother care the manager of the
company have to take affirmative action and focus on the technological aspect which help in
providing better opportunity to improve the current positioning of the company in a well define
manner. Apart from this it is essential for the Mother care to develop effective policies which
help in increasing the sales and provide better opportunity to achieve desire aims and objective in
a well define manner. There some of the factor which are associated to the changes in the
political environment which aid in increasing the profitability and increase the profitability of in
a well define manner.
There are different kind of technological advancement which take place in the business
world and the company like Mother care which deals in the baby product such as toys and other
product so the company have to come up with new and advance ideas to overcome the problems
effectively. The enterprise can use online sources through which company can achieve the desire
aims and objective in a well define manner. Beside this there are different aspect such as meeting
the customer needs and improving the customer experience by developing new ideas to
overcome the problems. Beside this in the case where the Mother care is losing their presence as
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there are other competitors such as Johnson and Johnson as they have major share in the baby
care. So, company have to come up with new technology such as brining focusing on the online
market and taking aid of social media through which company can focus on the customer.
There are some political forces which effect the business as all the company are operated
under the guidance of the government rules and regulation. So, this is essential for the firm like
Mother care to understand the political condition and follow all the rules regulation in order to
smooth functioning of the company in well define manner. As the company stores has been
closed so the management have to indulge the research and development process and then make
blueprint as this ensure to minimize the risk which is present in the business. This is vital for
Mother care to build healthy relation with the target customer and the company have to focus on
the mother and the quality of the product which tend to increase the sales and revenue in a well
define manner. Beside this Mother care have to invest or open the stores in those area where their
political stability which facilitate the firm to increase the market share. As there is link between
the technological and political factor because government plays as vital role to manage the
different aspect for the company.
3. Prepare an evaluation of organisation’s responses to key dynamic forces in contemporary
business world
Business sector is changing drastically and new businesses are entering into the market.
This results in increased in competition and enhances market potential for business. In relation
with Mother-care, they need to tackle with these dynamic forces which are to be done by using
Porter five forces model (Herremans, 2016). This is framework which is used by organisation to
determine and examine the level of competition in industry. This assists firm in making
strategies & tactics accordingly. Further, by using this tool it also help in making effective
decisions within the management which is then used in process of business. So, it advisable that
Mother-care needs to adopt this tool so that solution for the problem is being analysed in
appropriate manner ( Møller, 2018). To use this approach, accurate information & reliable data
is required so that conflicts and errors do not occur in near future. In this framework, various five
forces are being included which have affects the business at depth. So, these forced are discussed
below-
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Bargaining power of suppliers- In business, bargaining power creates a big impact on
firm productivity as well as profitability. When power of supplier is high, organisation has to pay
more for acquiring resources & material. This disrupts the other activities of business & to have
more profit vendor provide low quality of products or raw materials to the buyers. Their power
high when in market buyers are more and vendors are fewer, market for resources is less; cost of
switching is high etc. These are some common factors which indicate that power is high. In
relevance with Mother-care, it is essential for enterprise to select the right vendors so that
resources are purchased within the line. This helps them in purchasing the raw materials for their
production effectively. It is important because vendors are source through which product is
delivered to consumers and are purchased too by firm. So, business response regarding this is to
positive and effective (Hargreaves, 2019).
Bargaining power of buyers- It often happens that buyers usually demand low prices for
the product by keeping their bargaining power high in market. It is done with mutual
consideration of both parties. Also, it is high when buyers are purchasing the raw materials in
bulk and demand for low price or discounts on products and goods. In relevance with Mother-
care, by keeping the power high they can increase their production process with and increase
their profitability. Moreover, power of bargaining is high also when substitutes are available at
large amount, buyers main focus is on price etc. Thus, chosen firm mostly focus on buying the
raw materials in bulk so they can keep their power high (Horváth, 2019).
Threats of new substitutes- Another force are availability of substitutes which have
impact on business. This is because due to trends and market situation are changeable
periodically. Products get affected by substitute depending upon the importance and need of that
product. In context to Mother-care, they have been also affected by threats of substitutes such as
people have stopped buying clothes from the company because of the new retailers online who
are dealing with same with better prices. So, to deal with this situation enterprise has to introduce
new and extend their product line so that impact of such substitute is less & business run
smoothly as well as effectively.
Threats of new entrants- Business sector has been expanding at rapid level and because
of which new businesses are coming into the market. This is affecting the existing business &
makes it difficult for them to operate their functions & activities in market. In retailing business
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has been changing with new retailers mostly online and e-commerce retailers. In relation with
Mother-care, they are not able to acquire the market as because of e-commerce retailers. This is
trending and emerging so they need to extend their business online for more profit & sales
revenue (White, 2019). This increases their brand value and allows them to reach to customers
globally without any worries on physical investment of stores.
Competition rivalry- In business, competition is increasing and stimulating companies
to compete for more profitability in business. Every entity has competitors in market same with
case of Mother-care have such as Snuggle Bugz,Wattle, Mumzworld.com etc. are some of the
rivals of chosen corporation. To compete with rivals, they prepare strategies & tactics to take
competitive advantage. It is responsibility of the manger of firm to make ensure that market
information regarding the business is known properly. With globalization, Mother-care needs to
be aware about societal change so that rather than moving business from market.
After a brief analysis of above matter, it is stated that organisation response in
contemporary business world should be done with proper use of market research & measures in
firm. Thus, the above tool specifies that how selected corporation can cope up with globalization
and deal with dynamic forces.
4. Select and use decision making tools to address contemporary drivers for change
Organisation use ample number of decision making tools that assist in addressing
contemporary drivers for change. Making decisions in business not an easy task because it
requires skills as well as high level of expertise to take decisions effectively. In relation with
Mother-care, to select the correct drivers and tools it is crucial for them to take right decisions in
management. This helps in decision making procedure for solving difficult problems in
chronologically order. It also depicts the decision-analysis, using various decision criteria’s,
different types of credentials, and data of varying quality. It briefly justifies the components in
the analysis of decision alternatives and choices, & common goals and objectives that directs
Dm. Thus, tools for addressing contemporary drivers are listed below-
Probabilistic Model: This model is important as it helps in making better decisions in
management and counter the drivers change in business world appropriately. In this, randomly
samples are being collected and present in events. By using this, solution for the identified
problem is found properly. In relevance with chosen entity, they can use this tool for making
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decisions & managing challenges in management. Sometimes, result related to this can be wrong
because of information so proper measures should be taken when adopting this model (Huang,
2019).
Force field analysis: This tool is basically used for making decision accordance with
driver’s change which is forces for change & forces resisting change. In forces for change those
are analysed in which such drivers are identified which trigger to do the change whereas in
resistance change those are determined which stops business to adopt the change. In context to
Mother-care, this can be used by them for examining necessary changes & decisions. This assist
them in creating awareness for identified forces which increases firm productivity.
This model includes different steps and these are discussed below:
Step 1- In this, necessary changes are identified which are required by management.
Without identifying needed changes it is not possible to go further in this tool. So, it crucial for
Mother Care to examine the required changes in management.
Step 2- Further, those forces are to examine which are responsible for change and should
be rectified. Such forces are internal drivers and external drivers. In relevance with Mother-care,
they are affected by external drivers which should be undertaken properly.
Step 3- Then, those forces are meant to be identified who resist the change such as
internal resistors, re-strainers etc. Such types of drivers slow down the whole process of growth
& development in organisation (Abalkhail, 2019). There are many resistance forces of change
such as employee, capital, etc.
Step 4- Once the above steps are carefully managed, next one is to comparison between
the forces so that analysis is done which one has larger impact on business and accordingly
process is to be carried out. So, selected corporation should do this by proper making decisions
in management so that chances of errors & conflicts do not arise.
Step 5- After comparison is done, and then comes the aspect when such forces are
applied successfully in business for improving the performance & progress level of organisation.
Thus, Mother-care should adopt external forces appropriately so that they are able to deal with
market trends & technology factor in UK (Chen, 2019).
After examining the above paragraph, it is analysed that it is crucial to select for models
or say tools if decisions are to be made in management. So, through the above models it is
specified enterprise selects them according to the requirement & need of business. They help
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entities to run all the functions & operations smoothly & consistently. When they are used in
business, it important to have a understanding of both tools so that they are applied thoroughly in
management. Hence, when choosing these tools brainstorming or group discussion is to be used
so that everyone ideas are shared so that right option is selected.
5. Analyse the relevant theoretical foundations to support identification & application of effect
corporate responses to contemporary management issues
In this competitive era, new businesses are coming and taking place which results in
rivalries. Contemporary management issues are defined as perception which is required to
address or counter the issues as they arise. In business world, such issues have deep impact on
productivity, functions as well as operations of business. So, it is crucial to identify the corporate
responses so that problem for solution is carried out effectively. Thus, certain theories have been
used which are mentioned below-
Contingency theory- This theory depicts that there is no particular way of leading
enterprise, or making decisions instead these depends upon events or situations that occur during
period of time. This means that foundation of theory is dependent on the current and uncertain
situation. In relevance with Mother-care, this theory helps them in dealing with issues as well as
challenges in proper way. Traditionally, business considered the system as one unit and then
rectifies the whole system. But with implementation of this theory has changed the view of
business (Mak, 2019).
System Theory- Another one is system theory which focuses on whole system not as
solely but a complete system. In this, it comprises of natural, science, social etc. Through this
theory, business elements are being examined with motive of identifying the elements which are
to be moved or modified to increase profitability & efficiency. So when using this theory it is
crucial to analyse concept properly so that problems do not affects the process in near future.
(Roy, 2020).
After analysing the above matter, it is stated that all contemporary issues are to be
managed and handled effectively with proper use of theories. This is necessary as because this
foundation theory helps business to work in proper way so that challenged are faced in effective
manner. With help of such theory, firm is able to maintain and manage their responses in matter
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of contemporary issues. So, it is also necessary to use system and contingency theory in effective
manner so that problems related with concept is identified & solve effectively.
To deal with mother care situations, change management model is the framework which
is to be applied appropriately.
Change management model- It is tool which is used by firm to analyse and evaluate
change effectively. It includes several elements are listed below-
Unfreezing- This states that awareness is created about the change that it is needed in
organisation. In relation with mother-care, they need to expand their business at e-commerce
sites so that they are able to run business smoothly.
Freeze- After identifying the actual change which is needed , it is also crucial to move
that change into course of action which is called freeze or changing process.
Refreeze- At last, it specifies that members in firm do not get back to their old way of
procedure of doing work so refreezing is also required for continuous process.
CONCLUSION
After examining the above report, it is concluded that forces of changes are dynamic and
affects the business at wider & broader level. It is crucial to monitor or determine such forces
which slow down the development of firm such as economic forces, social, political,
technological etc. They distract company from their activities which is non- beneficial for
organisation. Further, it also specified that how these forces are related with strategic decision
making. These inter-relationships shows that how they have impact on decision making process
of firm. Then, to evaluate firm response key dynamic forces in contemporary world Porter five
forces model has been used in which it depicts that effect of these forces on business and its
performance. At last, foundation theory has been mentioned to deal with contemporary issues
and challenges. Hence, business environment is dynamic which is to be understood by every
business with proper research.
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REFERENCES
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Five Forces Model.Indian Journal of Marketing,49(1), pp.25-35.
Ban, 2019. The professional politics of the austerity debate: A comparative field analysis of the
European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.Public
administration,97(3), pp.530-545.
Chen, 2019. A Study Investigating Teachers Competitiveness Michael Porters Five Forces
Model as Theoretical Basis.Academy of Educational Leadership Journal.
Hargreaves, 2019.Forces for Good: Creating a better world through purpose-driven businesses.
SRA Books.
Herremans, 2016. Sustainability reporting driving forces and management control
systems.Journal of Management Accounting Research,28(2), pp.103-124.
Horváth, 2019. Driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0: Do multinational and small and
medium-sized companies have equal opportunities?.Technological Forecasting and
Social Change,146, pp.119-132.
Huang, Y., 2019, December. Strategic Environment Analysis of Logistics Enterprise based on
SWOT-PEST-Michael Porter's Five Forces Model--Taking SF Express as an Example.
In2nd International Symposium on Social Science and Management Innovation (SSMI
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Mak, 2019. The driving and restraining forces for environmental strategy adoption in the hotel
Industry: A force field analysis approach.Tourism Management,73, pp.48-60.
McAdam, 2019. Towards a contingency theory perspective of quality management in enabling
strategic alignment.International Journal of Production Economics,207, pp.195-209.
Møller, 2018. Service infusion in manufacturing and corporate strategies in the service solutions
market–driving forces and components. InServices, Experiences and Innovation.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
Roy, 2020. Toward an organizational understanding of the transformation needed for sustainable
supply chain management: The concepts of force-field and differential efforts.Journal
of Purchasing and Supply Management, p.100612.
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White, 2019. Change theory and models: Framework for translation.Translation of Evidence Into
Nursing and Healthcare, p.60.
Zahari, A. R. and Romli, F.I., 2019. Analysis of suborbital flight operation using
PESTLE. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 192, p.104901.
Sroufe, R.P., 2018. Index', Integrated Management (pp. 391-406). Emerald Publishing Limited.
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