Comprehensive Report: Debenhams Business Resources and Finances

This report provides a detailed analysis of Debenhams' business resources. It begins by examining recruitment documentation, including job advertisements, job descriptions, and person specifications. The report then explores the employability, personal, and communication skills required within the organization. Further sections delve into the physical and technological resources essential for Debenhams' operations, followed by an examination of internal and external sources of finance. The report also covers the contents of trading, profit and loss accounts, and balance sheets, as well as the use of budgets for financial control. Finally, it concludes with an overview of the financial state of Debenhams, drawing together the key findings from the analysis of its business resources and financial management practices.

BUSINESS RESOURCES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1. Recruitment documentation used in a selected organization................................................1
P2. Employability, personal and communication skills required in Debenhams........................2
P3. Main physical and technological resources required in the operation of Debenhams........2
P4. Sources of internal and external finance for Debenhams.....................................................3
P5. Contents of a trading and profit and loss account and balance sheet....................................4
P6. Use of budgets as a means of exercising financial control...................................................4
P7. Financial state of Debenhams...............................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Business resources are considered as human, financial, physical and knowledge factors
that provide a firm the means to perform its business processes. Debenhams plc is a British
multinational retailer operating under a department store format in the United Kingdom and
Ireland with franchise stores in other countries (Montgomery, 2011). For a business to run
successfully on a daily basis it needs finances. Success comes when a business expands,
reinvests and uses human resources to run.
P1. Recruitment documentation used in a selected organization.
If Debenhams are looking to recruit workers to be behind the till and on the shop floor,
first of all they will advertise the job role, they can do this in many ways today. They can
advertise the vacancy in a newspaper, posters, website, web adverts. An economic or productive
factor required to accomplish an activity, or as means to undertake an enterprise and achieve
desired outcome (Breton‐Miller and Miller, 2011). Three most basic resources are land, labor,
and capital; other resources include energy, entrepreneurship, information, expertise,
management, and time.
Job Advertisement– It is a notice that jobs put out for the public to see to inform them of
a job vacancy they have open. It includes the job title, requirements, what makes a suitable
candidate and responsibilities (Chaffey and White, 2010). The purpose of this is to promote the
job vacancy they have open and to inform people of what they need to have to be a suitable
candidate and make sure people who apply do actually fill the needs for the jobs.
Job Description– A job description explains what skills employees need to have to get a
certain job. It explains limitations and skills which are needed for the job and the duties and
responsibilities that the employee will have if they get the job. The purpose of this is to inform
the candidate of what they will be doing if they get the job and what they need to do the job.
Person Specification– This is an expansion of the job description. This outlines the
training requirements, grades and personal qualifications of the individual to actually be
considered for the job. This is all about skills and the purpose of this is to outline clearly to
candidates what they must have to get the job.
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P2. Employability, personal and communication skills required in Debenhams.
Employability skills can include having suitable qualifications, most jobs will require
some formal qualification and an applicant will be required to have those formal qualifications or
they will not meet the job description. If there is a vacancy and one of the applicants has had
experience in a similar job then that is something that makes them look better to the employer
than if they just have the qualifications needed, as the employer would think if they worked in
that role before than it would be easier for them to do the same work again.
Having knowledge of products and services that are being used or sold by the organization is a
benefit to applicants especially if they intend to work in customer service (De Clercq, Lim, and
Oh, 2013). If they can demonstrate knowledge of products and services relevant to the
organization then this can improve chances of obtaining the job. If an applicant has experience in
a specific industrial sector, this can be highly valued by employers. Meeting targets is vital for a
business’s success, if applicants show they have experience and are effective at meeting targets
and deadlines than they are seen as more employable, if they show they have met targets in a
previous Job or education.
Experience in a similar role such as a store manager of a small business else ware
beforehand shows that they already know a lot of what their job role entitles and is also useful
for the employer as it means they require less time to train and become accustomed to their new
job and what is expected of they (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). Showing a knowledge in the
products and services provided by the business and what they will have to do shows that they
have extensive background and foreground knowledge which implies they are hardworking and a
well prepared staff member and can be an asset to the team.
P3. Main physical and technological resources required in the operation of Debenhams.
Debenhams use both physical and technological resources. Physical resources are
resources that are available to business organizations in the form of buildings and other
machineries needed for the day to day running of the organization. A few examples would be:
Buildings and Facilities: All businesses need buildings which they control from, this can range
from someone’s front room, or tower blocks all over the world, buildings play an important role
in the image of a business and can influence different types of customers, many financial
institutions such as banks like Lloyds TSB and HSBC have very famous buildings as their
headquarters and are still located in central London near the stock exchange.
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These resources are owned like physical resources and have to be managed in the same way as
all the others. At Debenhams, technology is right at the heart of the business. Helping to improve
the shopping experience for all their customers. As you would expect from a world-class
business, Debenhams need systems which are at the forefront of the industry and if the
technology doesn't exist, they’re not afraid to innovate and be the first globally to develop and
use it. Physical resources are resources that are available to business organisations in the form of
buildings and other machineries needed for the day to day running of the organization. The
management of human resources is very important for an organisation like Debenhams the
management should therefore find the proper approach to their employees to be able to plan and
manage them in a professional way (Meyer, Ruppen and Magerkurth, 2013). The management of
human resources is very important for an organisation like Tesco; the management should
therefore find the proper approach to their employees to be able to plan and manage them in a
professional way.
P4. Sources of internal and external finance for Debenhams.
For a business to run successfully on a daily basis it needs finances. Success comes when
a business expands, reinvests and uses human resources to run. Debenhams need money to run
their business effectively and successfully (Zott and Amit, 2010). It needs finance for its daily
running of the business for example, paying staff wages, paying bills for electricity and rent,
paying taxes on time and ordering stock regularly. For a long term goal, Debenhams would need
the finance to expand their business, franchise, buy new equipment and or buy new buildings
around the current building to expand the area and possible generate more sales with new renting
for high street retailers.
Other organizations such as charities and or non-profit organizations cannot route for this
direction. Debenhams however can take this procedure very effectively as they are a well-
established and profitable business that can take out a large retained profit to reinvest into their
businesses. Debenhams could use this investment to expand their business as well as gain a
larger market by attracting new customers. Fixed assets are another way to convert assets into
cash. Any equipment or items such as computers, TV, furniture and vehicles can be converted to
cash by selling them. This procedure may be appropriate for as small business to gain quick cash.
For Debenhams this procedure may take longer and the amount may not be large enough to
invest in. Debenhams is a large business and a large investment is needed to expand the business.
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Trade credit is a way of short borrowing and or delaying payments to suppliers so that the
business cycle for Debenhams can run smoothly. Delaying payments for as long as possible can
ruin the relationship between the supplier and the business. This may also affect the sales and
discounts that the supplier may offer in the future.
P5. Contents of a trading and profit and loss account and balance sheet.
There are two main financial statements: The profit and loss account:
The profit and loss account is also known as a statement of profit and loss, an income statement
or an income and expense statement. The profit and loss summaries on how much the business
revenues are, their costs and expenses that has been sustained during a specific period of time
which could usually be a quarter of year or a year (Ciabuschi, Perna and Snehota, 2012). These
summaries show how capable a business is to generate profits and handle costs. Sales are
important in a business like monsoon because it shows you how well the business is doing. As
monsoon is a business that sells items such as clothes, shoes etc. The amount that they sell is
important so that they can sell stock and receive some money that can be spread out for costs and
expenditure it also enables the business known if they are going better that other competitors
looking at their volume of sales.
P6. Use of budgets as a means of exercising financial control.
A budget is a financial plan for the future concerning the revenues and costs of a
business. However, a budget is about much more than just financial numbers.
Budgetary control is the process by which financial control is exercised within an organization.
Budgets for income/revenue and expenditure are prepared in advance and then compared with
actual performance to establish any variances (Korunka, Kessler, Frank and Lueger, 2010).
Managers are responsible for controllable costs within their budgets and are required to take
remedial action if the adverse variances arise and they are considered excessive.
Fixed Costs- The running costs of a business such as rent and wages.
Variable Costs- Costs that varies with the level of output or sales. An example of a
variable cost would be direct labor costs.
Benefits of such process are as follows:
1) Cut down on the variable and fixed costs. The Debenhams’s costs have risen which
has resulted in more loss than profit, therefore if the Debenhams lower their costs there may be
more room for profit. The Debenhams could get their supplies from cheaper suppliers, could
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switch companies for their electricity, gas, water and lay off staff if a high volume of staff is not
essential.
2) To increase sales the Debenhams Excellent could advertise and promote themselves
more; this will bring publicity and attention to the Debenhams. Advertising is essential if you
want to communicate to a specific audience therefore if the Debenhams Excellent advertised on
an online holiday booking website it could bring in customers from outside the local area,
internationally and nationally.
3) Improve each component of the marketing mix. If the Debenhams Excellent where to
improve the service, promotion, price, people, process and physical evidence of their business
then they will see drastic improvements to their level of sales. To improve the full service the
Debenhams could include more services in the package.
P7. Financial state of Debenhams.
The three basic financial statements are the (1) balance sheet, which shows firm's assets,
liabilities, and net worth on a stated date; (2) income statement (also called profit & loss
account), which shows how the net income of the firm is arrived at over a stated period, and (3)
cash flow statement.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above report, it has concluded that three most basic resources are land,
labor, and capital; other resources include energy, entrepreneurship, information, expertise,
management, and time. Debenhams plc is a British multinational retailer operating under a
department store format in the United Kingdom and Ireland with franchise stores in other
countries. A budget is a financial plan for the future concerning the revenues and costs of a
business. There are two main financial statements: The profit and loss account:
The profit and loss account is also known as a statement of profit and loss, an income statement
or an income and expense statement.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chaffey, D. and White, G., 2010. Business information management: Improving performance
using information systems. Pearson Education.
Montgomery, C.A. ed., 2011. Resource-based and evolutionary theories of the firm: towards a
synthesis. Springer Science & Business Media.
Breton‐Miller, L. and Miller, D., 2013. Socioemotional wealth across the family firm life cycle:
A commentary on “Family Business Survival and the Role of Boards”. Entrepreneurship Theory
and Practice. 37(6). pp.1391-1397.
De Clercq, D., Lim, D.S. and Oh, C.H., 2013. Individual‐level resources and new business
activity: The contingent role of institutional context. Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice. 37(2). pp.303-330.
Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y., 2010. Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries,
game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Meyer, S., Ruppen, A. and Magerkurth, C., 2013, June. Internet of things-aware process
modeling: integrating IoT devices as business process resources. In International Conference on
Advanced Information Systems Engineering (pp. 84-98). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Zott, C. and Amit, R., 2010. Business model design: an activity system perspective. Long range
planning. 43(2). pp.216-226.
Ciabuschi, F., Perna, A. and Snehota, I., 2012. Assembling resources when forming a new
business. Journal of Business Research. 65(2). pp.220-229.
Korunka, C., Kessler, A., Frank, H. and Lueger, M., 2010. Personal characteristics, resources,
and environment as predictors of business survival. Journal of Occupational and Organizational
Psychology. 83(4). pp.1025-1051.
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