Introduction to Business and Management

This document provides an introduction to business and management, focusing on the main functions of business operations and evaluating the operations management decisions of a company. It includes a brief description of Lidl, a German discount supermarket chain, and discusses its business operations.

Introduction to
business and
management
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY .................................................................................................................................3
The main functions of business operations.................................................................................3
A brief description of company..................................................................................................3
An evaluation of the company’s operations management decisions..........................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Business operation is considered as activities in which business are engage in one daily
basis for enhancing the value of enterprise as well as earn profit. The business operations
activities can be optimised in order to generate sufficient revenue successfully. There are several
business operations conducted in an organization such as marketing, production, office, legal,
financial, human resource and so on (Beverungen and et. al., 2020). It is essential for every
company to conduct business operations properly as that help in enhancing sales, productivity
and profitability. Organization selected for project is Lidl which is operating in retain industry. It
is founded by Josef Schwarz in year 1973. Its head office is located in Neckarsulm, Germany.
Topic mentioned in report are main functions of business operations, description of firm as well
as it also include evaluation of company's operations management decisions.
MAIN BODY
The main functions of business operations
In business, ample number of functions are being presented such within organisation
which are further discussed as follows-
Planning-
It is first most important function of firm in which it states that it is essential to
implement planning so that everything is being done proper manner. With help of planning,
business functions are easily executed. In relevance of chosen firm, planning is done by
managers & leaders.
Organising
It is also crucial function of business in which it includes that organising is required to
be done so that time is saved. With using this business function, it is easy to analyse the work
and tasks are being operated in proper manner. In relation of selected entity, they organised their
activities with use of tools & technologies.
Controlling
It is another important one in which measuring; monitoring is being done so that
problems or risk are avoided. Managers are one who are measure & monitor the work and other
activities. To control the activities companies need to focus on several tools such as balance
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score card, key performance indicator etc. so that activities are controlled and activities are
performed in smooth manner.
Finance
In this function, it states that manages and maintains all audit and outgoing as well as in
going of transactions. Finance is a backbone of every business success and its sustainable nature.
In this organisation need to focus on developing budget so that task are completed under proper
budget.
Marketing function
In this, main role is to promote, advertise and do the branding of product so that it is
easy to access to customer activities, market analysis & which helps in executing of business
operations easily.
A brief description of company
Lidl or Lidl Stifting & Co. KG is a well-known German international discount
supermarket chain which is founded in 1973 by Josef Schwarz. The areas in which respective
company is surving are Europe, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and United State. The parent
organization of this company is Schwarz Group. Respective company mainly offer products and
services at the discounted price which help in attracting more and more customers which
enhance their customer's based as well as profitability ratio successfully (Erasmus and et. al.,
2020). About the company can be understood more effectively by swot analysis which is
presented in several headings such as strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Swot
analysis is a planning process which helps a company to overcome challenges faced and
determine the new leads to pursue.
The company is working for Strengthen following aspects:
 Low prices: Supermarkets like LIDL offers low price on daily products which attract
most of the customers towards them. They offers promotional discounts to ensure more
savings to the customer which helps them to stay their customers with them. And
seasonal sale is the opportunity to bind more customers with them.
 Customer Satisfaction: Highest quality product at lowest possible prices, less waiting
time, faster checkout and better services help LIDL to satisfy existing customers and
attract new customers.
There are several aspects on which Lidl need to focus to done improvements:
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 Ethical issues: LIDL faced criticism from numerous sources for unethical business
practices. LIDL's reputation was at stake for various controversies such as spying case on
employees in 2008, extortion cases in Lithuania in 2016, numerous poisoning incidents
across a gamut of products in various regions and a number of religious non compliances
(Tourish and Craig, 2020).
 Less employees then needed: LIDL has relatively less number of employees in each store
to help customer in product search and address their queries.
Case of Lid – The respective company is a grocery wholesaler in German market in 1930 but
today it is famous as a largest grocery retailer in Europe market. Moreover they offer their
products at the discounted rate which help them attract and retaining customer, currently
respective company has opened more than 600 stores. The case taken for this report is based on
problems which is experienced by respective company in launch new product range of nuts and
pulses for different suppliers (A Case Study for Lidl’s Nuts and Pulses, 2020). According to this
issue, company needed to do Retail Ready Packaging (RRP) which are capable of flowing by
different suppliers. Due to this every supplier has different printing as well as shipping
requirement. Moreover products are very heavy due to which company need to design durable
packaging so that it can not break during shipping. In this, main issues is that there is only two
month time for launching the product in store. In this limited time company need to design the
packaging as well as produce the RRP. In this case, the respective company come up with
solution and develop a clever design as well as their innovative cardboard engineering help in
developing packaging strong. In addition to this they also use different printing according to
suppliers as for one they use litho printing and for another flexo printing.
An evaluation of the company’s operations management decisions
In a company management ensure that their operation function conduct in proper manner
because through that they can attain their desire goal and objectives successfully. Conducting
proper operating management also help developing effective decision as well as plan for
resolving issues properly for attaining desire goal (Gresham, 2020). In respect of Lidl they
experienced problem related to packaging of new range of product. In this their respective
company operation management decision plays major role, which evaluation is mentioned
below:-
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 Production – The function of production department is to adopt innovation and creativity
in order to develop innovative products and services to customers. Through this Lidl get
opportunities to attract more and more customers and retain them for long time. In
respect of respective company they experienced issues related to packaging of their new
range of products i.e. nuts as well as pulses. These products are comparatively heavy due
to which production department developed new packaging which is strong or durable in
nature. Through this operation management able to successfully production of products
as well as packaging properly for launching product within two months effectively.
 Supply chain – It is considered as function according to which a company supply their
finished products to their potential customer in different marketplace. It is essential for
company management to have best suppliers because through that they able to ensure that
they deliver the products to customer on time as well as proper condition (Janiesch and
et. al., 2020). In respect of respective company they need to supply their two new product
range i.e. nuts and pulses and for that they decide to use different supplier. The different
suppliers required different printing and packaging. So company supply chain
management decide to use litho printing and flexo printing for different supplier.
 Logistics – It is considered as part of supply chain management which plan, control the
efficient, implement, effective forward, reverse flow, storage of goods, services and so
on. The logistic management need to develop strategies and plan in order to conduct
operation according to customer requirement (Mikhailovsky and Kunin, 2020). In respect
of Lidl through the logistic management company able launch their new products i.e.
nuts and pulses in effective manner. Through this they able to attract more and more
customers in potential marketplace successfully. Moreover they also conduct scheduling
of the activities of launching effective for attract market.
 Location strategies – According to respective function, management conduct work
related to development of strategies related to the location so that they able to determine
most appropriate market their products and services in effective manner. In respect of
Lidl they are conduct their work in retail industry as well as they cover the market as the
name of discounted store. The respective company is launching their new range of
products i.e. nuts and pules so the location function management need to develop
strategies and plans for determining best location for product as well as they also create
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strategies for attracting customers of that location. In this Lidl focus on providing their
goods and services at those places where customers are conveniently reach in all over the
world where firm have its presence. To maintain their location strategy organisation use
internet to supply products and services on every stores so that people does not face the
issue of shortage of products and services at different locations.
 Quality control – It is another major function of a company according to which they
develop quality control activities for maintaining the quality of products and services in
effective manner. In respect of Lidl their quality control function conduct work in order
to maintain the quality of their new products i.e. nuts and pulses so that they attract
customers. In terms of Lidl there are several areas of operations management by using
these they innovate , test the user who are mainly involved within this. In this iterative
testing and debugging are mainly adopted by an organisation as it facilitates to ensure
products and services are serve to customer with minimum errors. As an organisation
effectively invites users to send error reports that a firm is adopts to enhance the quality
of products and services.
 Human resource – It is another main function which is help a company in attaining their
desire goal and objectives successful. In respect of Lidl company their human resource
management function conduct several activities which help in ensuring that all the work
are conducted in proper manner (Montarnal, Delgado and Astudillo, 2020). Moreover
this will help in developing effective packaging of new products as well as it also help in
launching products at the potential market successfully. In this Lidl provides training to
their employees so that they provide productive results to company and it should helps in
gaining competitive advantage.
CONCLUSION
By analysing above mentioned point it can be summarised that for every company it is
essential to conduct business operation activities in proper manner because through that they able
to enhance production and earn profit. There are several several function of business operations
such as accounting, management, sales, production and operations, marketing, finance and so on.
It is essential for company to conduct these functions in effective manner as that help firm in
enhancing their profitability ratio successfully. In addition to this it is also essential for a
company to evaluate operations management decision related to several functions such as
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production, human resource, supply chain, logistics, quality control and so on. It is so because
because that help in developing effective decision for attainment of desire outcome or objective
successfully.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beverungen, D. and et. al., 2020. Seven Paradoxes of Business Process Management in a Hyper-
Connected World. Business & Information Systems Engineering, pp.1-12.
de Bem Machado, A., Catapan, A.H. and Sousa, M.J., 2020. Incubators Management Models.
In Sustainable Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1646-
1656). IGI Global.
Delgado, A., Montarnal, A. and Astudillo, H., 2020, January. Introduction to the Minitrack on
Digital Government and Business Process Management (BPM). In Proceedings of the
53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Erasmus, J. and et. al., 2020. The HORSE Project: The Application of Business Process
Management for Flexibility in Smart Manufacturing. Applied Sciences, 10(12), p.4145.
Fernández, A. D. R. and et. al., 2020. Support System for Early Diagnosis of Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Based on the Service-Oriented Architecture Paradigm
and Business Process Management Strategy: Development and Usability Survey
Among Patients and Health Care Providers. Journal of Medical Internet
Research, 22(3), p.e17161.
Gresham, J., 2020. Manufacturing Trends in Automated Inspection Equipment: Linking
Technology with Business Change Management Using the Technology Acceptance
Model (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).
Janiesch, C. and et. al., 2020. The Internet of Things Meets Business Process Management: A
Manifesto. IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Magazine, 6(4), pp.34-44.
Mikhailovsky, D. and Kunin, V., 2020, April. The Concept of End-to-End Risk Management of
Commercial Business Organizations Under Conditions of Digitalization of Russian
Economy. In III International Scientific and Practical Conference" Digital Economy
and Finances"(ISPC-DEF 2020) (pp. 12-16). Atlantis Press.
Montarnal, A., Delgado, A. and Astudillo, H., 2020, January. Introduction to the Minitrack on
Digital Government and Business Process Management (BPM). In Proceedings of the
53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Tourish, D. and Craig, R., 2020. Research misconduct in business and management studies:
Causes, consequences, and possible remedies. Journal of Management Inquiry, 29(2),
pp.174-187.
Online
A Case Study for Lidl’s Nuts and Pulses. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://weedongroup.com/lidl-case-study.html>.
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