Management and Marketing Analysis of Kier Group

This essay provides an analysis of the management structure, marketing mix, and HR functions of Kier Group. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the functional structure and the 4Ps of marketing mix. It also covers the talent development and recruitment process of Kier Group.

INTRODUCTION IN
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management can be defined as framework which involves planning, decision making and
guiding the human resources. It is related to formulating strategies and policies for achieving the
goals and objectives of the organisation. It helps in growth and making expansion by effective
and efficient utilization of the resources. The Human Resource Management is a very important
aspect for properly running the operations of the business. The HR department is established for
maximising the productivity and performance of the workers in the organisation. The companies
can gain an edge in the market by making a culture in the business(Buhalis, 2022). The
management structure is a framework by which helps in development of a system which
provides a path how the tasks of the business are to be performed. It helps in assigning the
responsibilities and roles to the workforce in the companies. Marketing strategy is a policy which
is prepared for promoting the products and services and also reaching for prospective consumers.
It is aimed at attracting the customer's for buying the products from the organisation. The essay
will be on Kier group which is a British construction, services and property group. The
organisation was founded in the year 1928 and it is a public limited company. The headquarter of
the business is situated at 81, Foundation Street, Manchester, U.K. The essay will discuss about
the background of the company and the business it is involved in. The existing management
structure which is prevailing in the organisation is examined along with the advantages and
disadvantages. The 4Ps of marketing mix on the chosen business is also covered in the essay.
The overview of the HR functions of Kier group are discussed in the essay.
MAIN BODY
The organisation began in the year 1928 in Stoke-on-trent and founded by Jorgen Lotz
and Olaf Kier under the name Lotz and Kier. In the year 1991, the name of the company was
changed to Kier. The chairman and Ceo of the organisation is Matthew Lester and Andrew
Davies respectively. The headquarter of the business is situated in 81, Foundation Street,
Manchester, U.K . It has more than 20,000 employee's working all across the world(Davies,
2018). It is a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil
engineering. The company was listed on stock exchange in the name of Kier in 1996. The
organisation invest, builds and maintains education, health, heritage, defence and various other

sectors. Kier group operates in various countries and continents such as United Kingdom,
Australia and Middle East Region. It is specialized in providing commercial and residential
property development and infrastructure project investment services. During the early 21st
century, the business expanded through acquisitions. Kier was ranked as the second biggest UK
construction contractor in terms of turnover. The portfolio of services involves construction, civil
and structural engineering and facilities of asset management and housing maintenance. The
purpose of the company is to sustainably deliver the infrastructure which is very essential for the
economy of UK. The organisation focuses on providing technical excellence by utilizing the
latest building methods, technologies and innovations(elGuebaly and BowdenJones, 2021).
The organisation structure is the framework which describes the way the roles and
responsibilities of the business are to be followed. It aims at developing the path which is aligned
to achievement of the goals and targets of the business. Kier group uses functional structure in its
business due to the need of various departments in the organisation. It is also called bureaucratic
organisational structure since it breaks the company on the basis of specialization of the
workforce. The business has divided the firm into various departments such as marketing,
operations and sales. Kier group has opted for a functional management structure since decision
making and running of operations are easy through the functional departments due to the proper
knowledge of specialization. The company has appointed functional managers and department
heads to supervise the functional units. It has developed each department with a framework that
the members of the team will directly report to the department heads(GarciaZamor, 2019). Then,
these heads will report to the top level management of the organisation. Kier group have a senior
management that supervises the organisation at large due to the top-down hierarchical structure.
The employee's have specialization related to the role assigned. The workforce is divided on the
basis of their skills in various fields. Each department is responsible for their own performance
and does not interfere in the work of other department. This situation is often termed as 'silos'
because of the independent function of each department. This structure helps in determining the
strength and weakness of every employee which is very essential in putting them in different
specialist group. This encourages healthy competition among the workers of the Kier group.
There are various advantages which is provided by this organisation structure. The first one is it
provides a stable working environment in the company. The employee's are clearly defined their
roles and what is expected from them. Kier group is a large organisation and it prefers each

department working independently which helps in achieving greater efficiency in the job. The
issues and problems in one department will not lead to a conflict in the whole business
organisation(Gibson, Williams and Hancock, 2021). It helps the company in placing the right
worker in the right department on the basis of the specialisation and does not make burden with
tasks that pushes the limits of their skill-set. It enhances the productivity and quality of the work
done by the workforce. Another major advantage is every functional head is expert in the field
and proper guidance and supervision is provided to the employee's for performing the work. It
also reduces the burden on the top level management of the organisation. It also provides better
execution development of the jobs and work. This structure offers greater opportunity for
expansion as compared to other structure of the organisation. The expertise in performance also
helps in minimisation of cost which is very essential for the sustainability of business for a long
period of time(Hoon, Hack and Kellermanns, 2019). It becomes easier to monitor the growth and
provide various trainings to the workers. Kier group is able to easily develop skill of the
workforce by using this structure. The chances of duplication of work is almost zero since work
is allotted separately to every department and employee. The level of communication and
interaction between the workers also increases when working in the same department for a
period of time. There are various disadvantages as well in using this functional structure in the
organisation. It has been seen that when various divisions are created in the organisation, the
overall objectives of the business takes a step-back. The workers feel less invested in their work
and does not make interaction with employee's of other departments. The issue of competition
arises among the workforce for performing better. It also create hindrances in innovation and
companies sometimes misses various chances. The operations are complicated and sometimes
not understand properly by the departments. The employee's are taken by surprise by various
instructions from various functional managers. This sometimes creates a sense of confusion in
the whole organisation. Kier group faces the issues of dual command in its business operations.
It also violates the principle of unity of command when the employee's are liable for more than
one head(Hubert, Miller and Burkett, 2021). The reach and perspective of the departments are
restricted and the managers work within a specific boundary. This results in loss of overall
perspective in dealing with the problems of the business. The company experience the delay in
decision making because of the presence of various departments. The lack of coordination
among the functional heads causes the delay in the process of decision making. The process of

decision making involves more than one managers. The problem of succession comes with the
adoption of functional structure. It develops specialists instead of generalists which lead to
creation of problem of succession in the top level managers. It has been seen that employee's
with similar skill-set generally develop conflicts with each other in case one worker is given
promotion. Kier group is a very huge company and the size of the departments is also large. This
sometimes result in mismanagement of operations in the business(LeCrom and Naylor, 2020).
Marketing mix is a strategy which helps the organisations in analysing the various factors
which are vital for the marketing of the business. The companies can very easily identify the
needs and wants of the market which assists in making policies accordingly. There are 4Ps of
marketing mix. The analysis on Kier group is conducted for better utilization of resources. The
first element is Product which is the goods and services offered by the companies in the market.
The organisation is involved in different product lines such as buildings, infrastructure, design
and survey, real estate and overseas projects. The business focuses on providing best quality
products to the customer's in the market. It has also developed a strong and effective distribution
channel which helps in delivering the goods and services on time. The company is also involved
in providing support services and private finance initiative. The next element is pricing which
means the rate at which the goods and services are offered to the customer's in the market. It can
be better understood as the amount which the consumers are willing to pay for the products in
the market. Kier focuses on providing goods and services at a reasonable price which has helped
in attracting a lot of customer's in the industry. The company has realised the importance of
deciding the pricing strategy for properly competing in the market. This will also help the
business in maintaining a dominant position in the industry(Patel, Yang and Sanders, 2021). Kier
group has paid special importance on its price range for inviting new customer's and retaining the
consumers in the organisation. The company is also offering discounts to remain competitive in
the market. The third factor of the marketing mix is place. It is the channel or route where the
products of the organisation are available to the consumers. The Kier group is an international
company and it has no borders to operate. It is operating in UK and outside also. The business
has focused on developing an effective production and distribution channel through which the
operations can be conducted properly. It has also identified the prime locations for selling its
products which is assisting in attracting a large number of customer's in the market. The
management of Kier group focuses on making the products available in the market so that the

customer's get to know about the goods and services. This has helped the company in increasing
the revenues of the business. The last element of the marketing mix is promotion. It is activity of
advertising the goods and services among the customer's in the market. Kier group has paid more
focus on the promotion. It has made sure that all the advertising activities are upto the
mark(Ratten, 2021). The company is aiming to communicate the message of the business to the
customer's so that they purchase the products from the organisation. It has invested in all kinds of
promotions such as radio, television and other online systems. It also helps in developing public
relations which is very essential for maintenance of positive image in the industry. It uses
different social media platforms for advertising the products. It enable the company to spread
awareness related to the products and strategies to the consumers. The organisation makes
collaboration with different influencers and businesses for creating a positive and good
reputation in the market. It also launches various campaigns and events for increasing the
engagement of the consumers in the market.
The HRM is considered a vital aspect in the business. The Kier group has developed the
human resource department for managing the available human resources of the organisation. It is
responsible for allocating the right number of individuals in the right place so that proper
execution of assignments and tasks can be achieved. The first function of HRM is recruitment
and selection. It is a very essential part for the management of people(Vallero and Shulman,
2019). Kier group has focused more on the process of selecting the individuals. It has paid
attention on attracting and retaining the skilled candidates which can perform the work properly.
The HR department of the organisation is very important in building a strong and efficient
workforce. This helps the company in achieving the objectives within the specified time period.
It is the role of the management to identify the vacant position in the business and formulate a
hiring policy for the purpose of recruitment. Kier group follows a system when it is making the
selection of candidates for the company. It creates internal and external job postings, implement
the screening of the resumes of the candidates and conducting the initial interviews. Kier group
hires the best candidates after the completion of the recruitment and selection process. The next
function which is performed by the HR department is maintaining good relations between the
workers. It acts as a link between the top level management and the workforce of the business. It
conducts various activities that assists in developing the bond of all employee's strong. This also
improves the relation between the workers and the managers. It also builds various departments

teams for increasing the communication and interaction level in the workforce. The workers are
given the exposure and autonomy to share tier ideas and express the views. The next function
which is performed by HR managers is talent development. It is the system of integrated
organisational processes which are formulated to attract, develop, engage and retain the workers
in the organisation. Kier group has focused on this element since it is very essential aspect in the
company. The business has developed a process which assists in enhancing the quality and
productivity of the employee's(Wu, 2020). The various skills are developed along with the
constant motivation for performing the work properly. The company focuses on building a strong
and effective workforce which will stay with the organisation for a long period of time. It is
helping the business in achievement of the objectives and goals. It also makes the company
competitive which helps in becoming stronger in facing the problems and risks of the future. It
assists in driving innovation within the organisation. The skilled and talented workers somehow
find methods for developing the abilities with the usage of various new equipments and tools.
This makes the workforce more effective and efficient in solving the issues with the assistance of
new and unique ideas and opinions. The performance and productivity of the overall business
enhances by the increased knowledge and skill. Kier group formulates various teams based on
the talent and innovation level which helps in improving better utilization of available resources.
The process of talent development also minimises the turnover rate since it makes the workers
feel satisfied and valued. The company is receiving the advantage of paying attention on talent
development and it is performing well in the construction industry. Kier group has focused on
the role of HR for the smooth and effective running of operations of the business. This is the
reason behind the company is successful in the building industry.
From the above essay it can be concluded that Kier group is a big company in the
construction industry. The structure of the organisation plays a very crucial role in the operations
of the business. Kier group follows a functional management structure which is the main reason
it is performing well in the market. The organisation is able to create various departments such as
marketing, sales and operations. This allows the business to complete the assignments and tasks
effectively and efficiently. The essay has also covered the advantages and disadvantages of the
functional structure which is used by the Kier group. The 4Ps of the marketing mix on the
company which is a very crucial aspect is also discussed in the above essay. The organisation has
been focusing on all these four essential elements which are product, price, place and promotion.

The business need to formulate various policies and strategies for being competitive in the
market. This will help in maintaining a strong and dominant position in the industry. This way
the Kier group will be able to achieve its objectives and targets within the specified time period.
The role of HR is performing different functions in the organisation is also examined. Kier group
has established a effective HRM department which is helping in properly managing the human
resources. It focuses in enhancing the existing skills and knowledge of the workforce which
leads to increased productivity and quality. The business will be able to take better decisions and
formulate the strategies properly. The three main functions which are performed by the HR
managers are recruitment and selection, employee relations and talent development. This will
build strong workforce which will make the organisation successful in the industry. Kier group
must identify all the problems which it is facing and try to develop solution as soon as possible.
The business will able to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

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