Business Development: Reflective Report on Sainsbury's Performance

This report provides a reflective analysis of Sainsbury's, the second-largest supermarket chain in the UK, examining its business environment through various strategic frameworks. It begins with an introduction to the business environment and its impact on organizational development, followed by an application of Porter's Five Forces to assess the competitive landscape, including competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, the threat of substitution, and the threat of new entry. The report then delves into a resource audit, evaluating the utilization of physical, financial, and human resources, along with an assessment of employee skills, capabilities, and competencies. Finally, it applies a stakeholder mapping model to identify, analyze, prioritize, and engage with stakeholders. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and emphasizes the importance of strategic management in navigating the complexities of the business environment. The report integrates personal reflections and observations throughout its analysis.

Reflective Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Business environment includes different type of aspects that influence in
organisational development procedure. In a business organisation various
environmental factors affect decision making process and profitability as well. For this
management of organisation requires to use impactful strategy that helps to reduce
negative impact of these factors (Moon, 2013). This project report is based on
Sainsbury which is second largest chain of supermarket in UK. This organisation was
established in the year of 1869 by John James Sainsbury. Firm provide their effective
and quality services in several countries. This project reflect own experience by
including porter's five forces, Research audit and stakeholder mapping model.
Porter's Five forces – This strategical tool was created by Professor Michael Porter to
analyse market attractiveness. Porter's model basically uses to analyse competitiveness
in market. In this process, I analyse that a firm requires to build effective strategy to
understand marketing effectiveness and power of customers as well as suppliers that
affect business operational activities. For this, I can say that this model is beneficial to
understand different environmental factors that affect organisational profitability. This
model is determine through five different elements that affect profitability of firm as -
 Competitive rivalry – Through a specific research I analyse that in retail market,
several competitions are covered market by providing quality services to their
customers. I observe, Sainsbury is a largest supermarket chain that serve
effective products and services in several countries. At the same time they faces
high competition by existing retail stores. In UK market, Tesco, Asda, morrison's
are three well known supermarket chain that create high competition level for
Sainsbury. This model is basically uses to analyse competitiveness in target
market for a specific organisation (Mena, 2013). Competitive rivalry are those
organisation's that serve similar services in market by their own marketing
strategy. These kind of business firm's affect treading process and profitability of
an organisation.
 Supplier power – This is determine power of suppliers to sales their product in
competition market with a impressive cost. Through a marketing research I
analyse that suppliers play a most important role in understand customer's
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demand and need. After this, they requires to use effective methods to serve
unique services to them that helps to build strong customers relation in target
market. As per my research I analyse that, Sainsbury uses impactful marketing
strategy for providing quality products to their target consumer on effective
prices. Suppliers requires to understand organisation's and customer's
requirement to make impactful strategy for desired outcomes. Suppliers are
known as those individual's who provide quality services and products to target
marker as per attractive costing that also maximise organisation's revenue.
 Buyer power – For a new organisation, it is require to analyse customer's buying
capacity for build cost effective strategy. In this process I analyse that lots of
organisation's serve their products in target market on high cost because they
has strong brand loyalty in target market. But in the same case newly established
firm requires to provide their products on low cost to build strong customer's
relation that provide long term benefits (Hendricks, 2013). As per my observation,
buyers play a most important role in an organisation that increase firm's
profitability and growth in effective manner. For this procedure, Sainsbury uses
impactful marketing strategy to analyse customer's capacity and similar products
costing which are served by rivalry firm's. Purchasing Power of Buyer's directly
affect firm's growth and income as well.
 Threat of substitution – For an organisation, substitute firm can be the biggest
threat who provide same services in market on cheaper cost. As per my research
I observe that in retail market there can be low substitute because customer's
show their faith on specific brand that provide higher satisfaction to them. I
analyse that customer's always demand for quality products and services that
provide proper satisfaction to them as per their requirement. Substitute of a
product can reduce organisation's image and goodwill by reducing its quality. For
this I analyse that firms require to use advance technology in innovative ideas for
utilizing their resource in appropriate manner that can not uses by any other firm
as substitute services.
 Threat of new entry – In a economy, new companies always established with
impactful strategy that can be the threat for existing firms. Customers of market
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also show their interest to purchases new products and services. New
organisations uses cost effective methods to capture customers eyes toward new
services. These type of strategies ca build create strong competition for existing
organisations. I analyse that Sainsbury always uses impactful strategy to secure
their customer's loyalty for their own brand. These type of marketing activities
build new marketing share for those organisation's that provide product and
services on appropriate cost and with appropriate quality for provide higher
satisfaction to target customers (Nicol, 2012).
Resource audit – For a business organisation, it is require to appropriately analyse
utilization of resources that helps to maximise organisation's productivity and profitability
as well. Resources audit is a effective process that helps to understand requirement of
resources to getting desired outcomes. For a business organisation, I analyse that
resources audit is very beneficial that helps to provide maximum opportunity from target
market. These kind of business activities maximise productivity or profitability as well as
reduces market risk. Resource audit procedure always maximise firm's growth and
income. Through this, they can easily achieve future objective and goals in appropriate
manner.
 Resources - In a business, this process is going through allocation of resources
as per its requirement and need. These resources can be physical, financial and
human resources as well. All these sources are uses in different kind of variation
and objectives of firm. Physical resources are those like equipments, machinery,
building and inventory that improve production services of firm as per the specific
utilization technique (Brookfield, 2017). I analyse that management of firm
requires to provide effective training and learning to their workforce who can use
those resources easily. Through this employees of firm can utilize their resources
in proper manner or by effective knowledge as well. As per my opinion,
Sainsbury also require to provide impactful skills development process to
manage organisation's resources properly. While as financial resources of a firm
are requires to analyse properly to analyse different available resources of
organisation. In this process, finance and accounting division conduct proper
audit report of firm in which they analyse organisation's expense and income that
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affect business growth. I analyse that a firm requires to manage proper financial
record so that they can easily control further expenses and losses. This is a
money management process that maximise profitability and competitive
advantages for firm. Financial resources management process is based on
positive decision making process of management. Human resource is also a
organisational procedure that helps to build effectiveness in firm through different
management decision of HR manager. For them it is require to conduct proper
monitoring process to analyse worker's skill and working approaches. Afater
analysing these, they require to conduct proper training process that enhance
interpersonal skill and working capacity of employees. I analyse that human
resources method can be more beneficial for firm to increase productivity and
profitability as well (McKinney and Sen, 2012).
 Skills – In a business organisation various employees provide their own
contribution through effective and quality services. For this, HR manager of firm
require to analyse their employees interpersonal skill to enhance their through
impactful training method. Skilled employee always helps to increase firms
productivity and profitability to achieve future objectives easily. As per my
research, I analyse that employees of organisation require decision making skill,
problem solving approaches, communication skill to interact with target
customers, Time management and team working skills that helps to increase
organisation's values and productivity as well. In a research procedure of
Sainsbury, I analyse that their workforce has appropriate skill that helps to build
long term relation to getting desired profit easily. I analyse performance
management process of HR manager that helps to maximise individual's skill and
working approaches to getting desired and higher benefits.
 Capabilities – This is proper management process, in which manager requires
to analyse worker's capability to allocate responsibilities to them easily. I analyse
that this is a large procedure in which different kind of activities classify as per its
requirement (Slotnick and Sherman, 2012). In Sainsbury, human resource
manager conducts different analysing activities in which they understand
employees skill and working capability to enhance them properly. After this
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procedure they distribute roles and responsibilities to them as per their working
ability. In this, management require to analyse capability of each department to
allocate different task to them properly. Through this procedure, they can easily
achieve maximum profit and competitiveness from target market as well.
 Competencies – For a business organisation it is require to analyse their
reliability and qualities that can easily enhance performance management
procedure of firm. This is using as a benchmark that rate and evaluate
candidates reliability for specific task (Johnson, Becker and Freeman, 2015). For
employees these competencies can be teamwork, decision making ability,
leadership approach, problem solving skill, commitment for career, result
orientation, management or organising approaches. This is based on recruitment
procedure of firm in which recruiter describe qualities for desirable employees for
firm. I analyse that, through this management can easily hire their desired
candidate with specific skill, reliability and capacity as well.
Stakeholder Mapping model – This is a appropriate procedure which is based on
organisation's project management approaches that helps to identify features and
performance. Through this I analyse project requirement that helps to manage and
interact with stakeholders in appropriate manner. This process is classify in four
different elements as -
 Identify – This is the first step of project management approach in which it is
requires to identify who are the stakeholders of firm or who can be anyone that
show their interest in business process activities. They can be anyone who helps
to manage firm's resources in appropriate manner. They can help to provide
fund, innovative ideas and technological advancement that helps to increase
productivity and firm's profitability as well.
 Analyse – This is next process of Stakeholder Mapping model, in which
management identify stakeholders roles and firm's expectation to them. All the
stakeholder of firm are not provide their equal contribution in business activities,
so for this it is require to analyse their contribution to allocate profit to them.
Through this firm can easily mange their organisational activities in effective
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manner. In this, firm can use different matrix that identify stakeholders influence
and interest to describe their involvement properly.
 Priorities – In this procedure, it is require to analyse values of stakeho9lder to
provide them benefits as per the priorities level. These categorised method
classify them into different kind of aspects to manage their activities properly as
per the organisation's requirement (Liston and Zeichner, 2013). This is also
elaborate stakeholder status that can affect business process and activities in
exact manner.
 Engage – This is last stage of this process in which organisation requires to
engage with their stakeholders to getting desired outcomes and future objectives
as well. In this process communication method provide own contribution to build
proper connection with target stakeholder of firm (Miller, 2012). This is a proper
scenario which is based on proper methodology of organisation that influence in
decision making process.
CONCLUSION
As per the above report it has been summarised that business environment can
be a specific process that can affect organisational activities and decision making
process. These elements are divided in two different factors as internal and external
that affect organisation's productivity and profitability. For this management requires to
crate effective strategy that reduce its negative impact and maximise firm's future
growth. This is a reflective report which is based on marketing competitiveness factors
and Sainsbury which is second largest chain of supermarket in UK. This report reflect
own experience by including porter's five forces, Research audit and stakeholder
mapping model.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Moon, J.A., 2013. A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and
practice. Routledge.
Mena-Marcos, J., 2013. Student teacher reflective writing: what does it reveal?.
European Journal of Teacher Education. 36(2). pp.147-163.
Hendricks, C., 2013. Improving schools through action research: A reflective practice
approach. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Nicol, D., 2012. Resituating feedback from the reactive to the proactive. In Feedback in
higher and professional education (pp. 44-59). Routledge.
Brookfield, S., 2017. Becoming a critically reflective teacher. John Wiley & Sons.
McKinney, P. and Sen, B.A., 2012. Reflection for learning: understanding the value of
reflective writing for information literacy development. Journal of Information
Literacy. 6(2). pp.110-129.
Slotnick, S. and Sherman, J., 2012. Buried disc drusen have hypo-reflective
appearance on SD-OCT. Optometry and Vision Science. 89(5). pp.E704-E708.
Johnson, L., Becker, S.A., and Freeman, A., 2015. NMC horizon report: 2015 library
edition (pp. 1-54). The New Media Consortium.
Liston, D.P. and Zeichner, K.M., 2013. Reflective teaching: An introduction. Routledge.
Miller, A.L., 2012. Investigating social desirability bias in student self-report surveys.
Educational Research Quarterly. 36(1). p.30.
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