MGMT6012 Case Study: Management Perspectives, Ethics at Woolworths

This case study report analyzes management perspectives within Woolworths, Australia, focusing on the roles and functions of managers, challenges they face in a changing organization, and the impact of values, ethics, and diversity on organizational culture and managerial performance. It identifies issues such as achieving objectives, employee management, hiring practices, and lack of innovation. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical leadership, diversity management, and a positive work culture for improving managerial performance and achieving organizational goals. It utilizes qualitative analysis and secondary data to support its findings and offers insights into how Woolworths can address its challenges and foster a healthier, more productive work environment.

Running head: MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES
Management perspectives
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Challenges associated with the managerial functions in today’s changing organizations..............3
Roles and functions of managers.....................................................................................................5
Impact of values, ethics and diversity on the organizational culture and managerial performance 6
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The report introduces the various concepts of management and aspects related to it within
the organization in Australia namely Woolworths. The topic will illustrate about the various roles
and functions of the managers while the issues and challenges associated with the managerial
functions in the present changing nature of organization will be illustrated here as well. The
report will present relevant data and information about the various ways by which the managers
can deal with the issues and challenges, furthermore manage proper business functioning within
the retail sector. The importance of maintaining proper values, ethics and diversity to form a
great culture can also facilitate the business performance and ensure generating higher revenue
and gain competitive advantage in business as well (woolworths.com.au, 2018). The research
methodology section will present idea about the most suitable research strategies and approaches
along with the collection of qualitative data required for fulfilling the roles and legitimacy of the
management functions. This can be influenced by politics and social environment, thereby create
an impact of the management of business functions at Woolworths, Australia too.
Challenges associated with the managerial functions in today’s changing organizations
Few of the major challenges faced by the managers within the organizations are inability
to achieve a stretch goal or objective, bringing out the best from the employees, hiring the right
people, lack of skills to respond to crisis situations, unable to facilitate continuous improvement
and not considering the views and opinions of others. The managers often face challenges while
achieving a stretch goal or objective, which often requires proper planning to understand the
organizational people, resources and keeping the staffs motivated and encouraged too. Bringing

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out the best from the employees is another major challenge faced by the employees, because the
employees should be treated with respect and aligns their goals with the work goals (Drori,
Höllerer & Walgenbach, 2013). It has been a major challenge for the HR manager at
Woolworths to handle the underperforming staffs, because of their higher absenteeism rate
during the training sessions provided to them. Woolworths, being a retail company, needs to
focus on managing the staffs properly and prioritize on improving their skills, knowledge and
expertise for delivering the best quality services to people and keep them satisfied. The
underperforming employees often could not understand the ways of handling the clients
properly, which deteriorates the quality of customers’ services and even damages the brand
image and reputation. It is also found that the managers face challenges to deal with the
outstanding employees sometimes. It is because the outstanding employees need treatment and
for bringing out the exceptional from them, they must be paid special attention (Bohensky,
Butler & Davies, 2013). The managers need to motivate and encourage them through training
and development sessions, which can result in contributing to the business performance as well
as assist the employees in career growth and development. Hiring the right employees has been
another major issue faced by the manager of Woolworths in Australia because the candidates are
selected based on their performances during the interviews rather than assessing their skills and
knowledge needed to make them perform to their potential at work. It is a daunting task and
managers often face challenges in hiring the right person for the right job roles (Kokubu &
Kitada, 2015).
The management success is dependent upon the performance and contribution of the
individual holding the managerial position in Woolworths. There were issues related to the lack
of understanding and maintenance of business policies, long terms strategies and laws.

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Woolworths, though has a good working environment, still has been subjected to challenges
regarding team collaboration, sharing and exchange of information across the departments. This
has resulted in redundant tasks that deteriorated the company’s production level. The lack of
innovation is another problem faced at Woolworths and the manager failed to identify the actual
cause that caused hindrance in innovating the business operations and service delivery (Sippola,
2014). The retail sector in Australia has brought some major challenges that can test the patience
and ability of the manager and at the same time, result in delivering innovative solutions to meet
the changing demands and expectations of customers in the marketplace.
Roles and functions of managers
The functions and roles of the managers are to manage the business functioning through
management of staffs and making sure that the corporate strategies align with the organizational
policies, legislations, strategies, rules and regulations. The challenges stated in the above sector
have resulted in high staff turnover and sometimes deteriorated the business performance, which
hindered the successful production and delivery of products and services to the customers and
unable to meet their demands and preferences too (Haworth, 2016). The manager of the retail
company should strive to create a proper plan for determining how the organization’s people and
resources are applied to accomplish the business goals and objectives. This would make the
staffs understand their roles and responsibilities clearly and follow a strategic vision to move in
the right direction. The managers should praise the performances of the workers and keep them
motivated and encouraged so that the roadblocks are removed from the path and the milestones
are reached properly (Sahlén, 2013). To bring out the best from the employees, it is important for
the manager of Woolworths to communicate with the line manager, who acts as an intermediary

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between the employees and manager. By treating the employees with respect and aligning the
personal goals with the work goals could assist in moving in the right direction where they
wanted their career to go. A good working environment must be created, which is required for
the formation of a positive work culture, furthermore utilize the resources accurately to make the
underperforming employees perform to their potential (Delmas, Etzion & Nairn-Birch, 2013).
The employees who performed well within the company should be provided with rewards and
benefits for ensuring that the staff turnover rate is reduced and they could commit themselves
fully to the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives.
The HR manager at Woolworths should ensure that the recruitment and selection
processes are managed properly for hiring the right candidates and ensuring management of a
good working environment with a positive work culture that can promote teamwork,
coordination and sharing of information within the workplace (Jones Christensen, Mackey &
Whetten, 2014). No matter how good the organization is, there are always more scopes for
betterment and improvements by changing the processes and through employee motivation and
encouragement. Performance monitoring should be along with obtaining feedbacks from the
employees regarding their roles and their approaches towards the accomplishment of tasks
(Danylchuk et al., 2015). This should overcome crisis situations and foster the development of a
good culture where the organizational values, beliefs and ethics could be maintained effectively.
Impact of values, ethics and diversity on the organizational culture and managerial
performance
The culture describes the way of doing things the right way following the attitudes, goals,
values and beliefs of the organization properly. The moral and ethical values constitute the

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organizational culture that can allow people to behave and interact properly with others as well
as create a good working environment at Woolworths, Australia. The values, ethics and diversity
management can not only improve the morale of employees, enhance the commitment of the
organization and its employees, furthermore create an involved and retained workforce (Day&
Moore, 2018). The ethical culture is centered on the ethical aspects that can influence the respect
for humanity and create a better world so that the members of the organization remain committed
to the personal ethical environment in the relationship with others within the organization. This
would also make the employees aware of preventing any form of discrimination within the
workplace; furthermore get involved in activities that are related to the management of social
justice and environmental stewardship. By maintaining a diversified workforce, it will be
convenient for placing staffs from different backgrounds, culture, ethnicity, race and religion and
discrimination shall be prevented as well (Slack, Brandon-Jones & Johnston, 2013). The impact
of values, ethics and diversity management is immense and it can enable the organization
commit itself fully to manage the business operations according to the vision and mission. The
360 degree evaluations are deployed from the top management level for managing diversity as
well as measure the performances of the staffs, make necessary changes and improve their skills
and knowledge through participation in the training and development programs. Leadership
plays an important role in the management of a positive culture and foster creativity through
sharing and exchange or valuable information (Reamer, 2013).
The values and ethics must be followed by the managers of the organization ensure
formation of a good working environment as well as improve the process of ethical decision
making. The manager should perform as a role model and leader of the organization to guide the
employees in the right direction, treat all the employees equally with respect and dignity. The

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managerial performance will be improved and he or she will be able to set norms, policies, rules
and regulations so that the employees abide by those along with providing the social guidelines
for maintaining the desirable organizational standards (Parrott, 2014). Not only the manager will
learn to respect the ideas and opinions of the team members, but will also use his power and
responsibility to improve the social environment, audit the ethical decisions and lastly develop
staffs that function with honesty and integrity Australia (Servaes & Tamayo, 2013). Therefore, it
is clear that the maintenance of proper values, ethics and diversity can impact the managerial
performance and establish a health culture at Woolworths.
Research methodology
The research methodology includes the various approaches and strategies followed to
conduct a research on the specified topic of the report and incorporate the utilization of
qualitative analysis. The research methodology holds all the important aspects of the research
along with the various approaches followed to collect and analyze data for deriving a good
conclusion in the end. The research will be conducted considering the positivism research
philosophy and deductive research approach, which enhances the scopes for development of
testing the variables and linking those to accomplish desired research goals and objectives with
ease and effectiveness. It is important to draw analysis of data after collecting data from various
sources along with the selection of right samples for accomplishing the research efficiently
(Goetsch & Davis, 2014). According to the case study, the managers of the organization are
engaged so that they can be interviewed and their useful opinions and responses can be obtained
to incorporate the use of qualitative analysis. The use of high quality external sources include the
secondary data sources like journals, articles, documents and internet websites from which, the

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data and information can be collected and analyzed to derive positive outcomes and ensure that
the research conduction is successful and noteworthy.
Conclusion
The report was prepared for discussing about the most essential aspects of management
and its functions within the business organization Woolworths in Australia. The rationale
demonstrated the main issues and challenges faced by the managers such as lack of ability to hire
the right kinds of staffs, being unable to handle the underperforming and outstanding employees
properly. All these challenges faced by the managers not only hindered the successful
development and management of a healthy work culture, but also created differences among
employees. The challenges, when not overcome, resulted in higher level of staff turnover and
lower production level at Woolworths. The issues and challenges were considered by the
managers as a pathway for creation of new scopes and opportunities to facilitate changes and
promote innovation for fulfilling the clients’ needs and preferences. The maintenance of values,
ethics and diversity within the organization could create a stable culture, where employees
should follow the organizational policies, laws, rules and regulations and this should result in
teamwork, coordination, sharing and exchange of ideas and opinions for the organizational
benefit. All these aspects were included in this report for deriving a good conclusion in the end
and ensure that the management perspectives contributed to the betterment of business
performance and positive business outcomes as a whole.

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References
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and science in natural resource management: perspectives from Australia. Ecology and
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students in sport management: perspectives of experienced advisors. Sport Management
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Delmas, M. A., Etzion, D., & Nairn-Birch, N. (2013). Triangulating environmental performance:
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Perspectives, 27(3), 255-267.
Drori, G. S., Höllerer, M. A., & Walgenbach, P. (Eds.). (2013). Global themes and local
variations in organization and management: Perspectives on glocalization. Routledge.
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woolworths.com.au. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.woolworths.com.au