Evaluating Globalisation's Impact: John Lewis Case Study

This report examines the multifaceted impact of globalisation on the various functions of John Lewis, a multinational retail company. It delves into the positive economic, cultural, and ethical consequences of globalisation, exploring how the company adapts its operations, marketing, human resources, and accounting practices in response to global market dynamics. The report includes a project management plan, work breakdown structure, and discusses research methodologies, data collection, and analysis. Furthermore, it outlines the aims and objectives of the project, offering recommendations and a concluding summary of the findings. The report aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how globalisation influences a business like John Lewis, providing insights into the challenges and opportunities that arise in an interconnected global market.

Managing A Successful
Business Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Background of the Research...................................................................................................4
Research Plan.........................................................................................................................5
Work breakdown structure for the project..............................................................................8
Research methodology and Data collection.........................................................................11
Analysis and Interpretation...................................................................................................13
Recommendation on findings...............................................................................................22
Conclusion of the report ......................................................................................................23
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................24
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................27

Topic- “To evaluate the positive, economic, cultural and ethical impact of globalisation on
various functions of an organisation”.
INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is a process in which an organisation interacts with various companies,
people around the world. Each organisation wants to expand its business at international level
and for this they have to face various challenges during the expansion of business. Due to
globalisation, there is a huge competition in marketplace therefore every organisation need to
introduce their new innovative products. If an organisation wants to expand its business activities
at global scale then they have to take support from their different departments such as marketing,
Human resource, accounting etc. The chosen organisation for this assignment is John lewis
which is providing its services in clothing sector with headquarters in United Kingdom. Present
assignment will discuss about the aims and objectives of the firm along with a proper project
management plan. Gantt chart and Work Break Down structure will also covered in this report.
Various type of research methodologies, data collection, analysis and interpretation will also
discussed in the report.
Positive impact of Globalisation on the businesses in UK:
When an organisation expand its business functions at global level, it creates positive
impact on economic, cultural and ethical aspects of the business. It is further explained as under:
Economic impact- Due to globalisation, the competition is enhanced in the marketplace
which brings various opportunities such as providing employment, huge tax duties to
government etc. in a specific nation. It also improves the standard of living of people due to
which, the nation gets economic growth.
Cultural impact- A multinational company recruits a large number of staff members
who are from different culture and speaks different type of languages. With the help of this,
company will easily understand the market conditions and provide products to the customers as
per the demand of the customers. Due to which, company gets maximum opportunities at the
time of expansion (Sekaran, 2016).
Ethical impact – Different nations have different norms, rules and regulations which
have to be followed by the organisation at the time of expansion. Rules and regulations supports
organisation in eliminating illegal issues through which organisation can handle their business
activities in effective manner.

Background of the Research
John lewis is a multinational company which deals in retail sector. Its headquarters in
United Kingdom. It offers clothing products, home accessories, electric and many more. It has
more than 38000 employees in all over the world. The company is providing their quality based
products to their consumers which is helpful for company in expanding their operations. The
company was founded by John Lewis in 1864 at the location of London. In present time,
company wants to expand its business activities in other nation for achieving a huge market
share or building a good brand image in the world. But before expansion they have to analyse the
positive affects of globalisation on their different business functions such as operation, HR,
accounting etc. It is more understood by as under:
Operations – This department has responsibility to eliminating extra cost which have
negative impact on the growth of business. In addition to this, it can reduces the activities of firm
which are not necessary for company. BY this, the company can focus on expansion without any
problems. For this, a proper communication structure is required so that all information will be
communicated in well manner.
Marketing- If an organisation wants to expand their business, they have to analyse the
market situations and needs of the customers through which they can provide the products and
services in an effective manner. It can be possible through taking support from the marketing
department. Through the help of marketing department, company can determine the preferences
of customer of new country which is necessary for introducing new product based on their
requirements. Through these products, company can achieve growth and sustainability in the
new market.(Nicholas, 2017).
Human resource- During the expansion, an organisation requires maximum efforts from
their employees who have knowledge about the market along with skills and strength. It will be
possible through taking support from the HR department because they have responsibilities to
provide training programmes to the employees in order to giving them knowledge about different
culture.
Accounting – At the time of expanding business activities, John Lewis have to make
various transactions which are maintained in the financial accounts of the organisation. Through
this, organisation will make a proper budget along with income and expenses. It will be done

with the help of finance manager due to which, management of John lewis will measure the
future outcome of expansion.
Aims of the Project: “To evaluate the positive, economic, cultural and ethical impact of
globalisation on various functions of an organisation”- A case study on John Lewis.
Objectives:
 To understanding the concept of globalisation
 To examine the positive economic, cultural and ethical impact of globalisation on
different business functions of John lewis.
 To analyse the interrelation between business functions of John lewis and globalisation.

Research Plan
Project Title “To evaluate the positive, economic, cultural and ethical
impact of globalisation on various functions of an
organisation”- A case study on John Lewis”.
Project Plan
Company Name: John Lewis
Cost Cost is an important part which must be analysed by the
company during the expansion. Every activity which is
related with the business expansion needs appropriate
funds. It consists various factors such as installation of
machinery, labour cost, maintenance cost etc. Whereas,
researcher have also needs huge funds for carrying out
the research programme (Inauen, 2011). As per the
researcher report, the funds estimated for the research
programme is around 40000 pound and Management of
John lewis has estimated the funds for expansion is
around 450000 pound.

Scope The scope of globalisation is larger because it give
positive outcome to the organisation for future. For
getting profitable outcomes, Management of John lewis
have to follow the rules and regulations of the nation
where they are expanding their business activities
because it will help them in creating strong brand image
of the organisation at new marketplace. As John lewis is
facing a tough competition from their rivals at the
marketplace so the company needs to expand business
activities in order to earn more revenue. Through this,
their rivals will not affect their business functions at
large scale. On the other hand, Scope for the research
programme is very high because through this
programme, researcher gets knowledge about new tools
and techniques due to which they will reach at the valid
conclusion with taking small period of time.
Time Time is an essential element which helps the
organisation in taking competitive advantage in a small
period of time. It also assists the management in taking
maximum contribution from their employees through
which, they can easily achieve their goals in allotted
time period. With the help of time, employees will
perform their duties with full dedication for completing
their assigned task in the given time frame (Wincent, J.,
2011). The researcher has estimated 4 weeks for
completing the research programme. Apart from that, the
management of John lewis estimates time period for
expansion is 4 months.
Quality Quality is an important part through which organisation
can easily gets growth and sustainability in new market
places. Therefore, Management of John lewis have to

provide training programmes to their employees due to
which, skills and strengths of employees will be
enhanced and they will be able to provide quality
products to customers at new locations.
Communication Communication plays an important role in every
organisation because without this, any function cannot
be completed in proper way. For getting mutual support
from the various department such as marketing, HR,
accounting etc., Management of John lewis have to
create a suitable communication structure at their
workplace through which, they will better interacts with
every departments (Peppard, J., 2012). Whereas,
researcher has to use proper communication channels for
getting valuable informations from their respondents.
For this, they can use emails, voice chats, personal
interaction etc.
Risk Risk is situated in every aspects of firm such as cost,
technology, management activities etc. which have
negative impact on the profitability of firm. For this,
company have to organise proper research programmes
so that they can identify the upcoming risks and face
them in effective manner. Researcher is also facing
various risks during the research programme such as
wrong data collection, poor communication structure etc.
Resources An organisation can build its growth and sustainability
through resources. It includes technical skills,
employees, machinery etc. for conducting research
programme, researcher needs various type of resources
such as internet connection, computers, printer etc. with
the help of this, they can easily provide a valid
conclusion of the research.

Type of Research
Primary and Secondary
Quality and Quantity
There are two types of methods such as primary and
secondary which can be used by the researcher for
conducting research programme.
Primary: This method is used when researcher has
enough time for completing the research programme. In
this method, researcher collects the data which is fresh
through various resources such as surveys, panel
interviews, questionnaire etc.
Secondary: This method is used when the researcher has
limited time for performing the research activity. In this,
researcher collects second hand information which is
less reliable in comparison of primary information.
Researcher can collect this information through books,
journals, newspapers etc. (Tsou, H. T., 2012).
Qualitative: This method is adopted for collecting the
information which is non numeric in nature and
represents the opinions and views of the respondents
who have knowledge about the topic.
Quantitative: This method is less adopted by the
researcher. In this method, the collected data is presented
in numerical and statistical form. As it is very tough to
interpretation of the data and chances of right
information are also low.
Work breakdown structure for the project
Work break down structure (WBS) – It is an effective method through which,
management can creates their working structure into manageable categories due to which,
employees can perform their duties in effective manner. In addition to this, there are some
complex activities which can not be perform by a single employee due to which management
have to divide this activity in small parts so that employees will perform the given task in

effective way. It also makes simple and understandable project activities which brings
motivation in the employees and they work hard towards the organisational goals. According to
project management body of knowledge “ work breakdown structure is a hierarchical
decomposition of total work which is done by the whole team members of a project for
completing the given project in allotted time period (Toulmin, C., 2013).
Gantt chart
This chart was given by Hnery L. Gantt in 1917. Gantt is an American engineer and
social scientist they described this chart in graphical method which defines a proper schedule
related with carrying out of project activities. With the help of this, project manager can make
plans, policies and strategies for completing their project in the allotted time period. It helps the
manager in measuring the performance of employees along with project activities. It also defines
the accurate position of project activity to the manager. Through which they can estimate the
time period of completing the project.

Research methodology and Data collection
Research methodology – It is a process which is used by the researcher for
identification, selection and evaluation of the research topic. It enables the researcher for making
a valid conclusion at the last of research programme. There are two methods such as theoretical
and numerical which can be used by the researcher for conducting a research programme:
Data collection- For getting a valid conclusion researcher have to collect various
informations through different methods such as primary and secondary. Primary data is
collected through questionnaires, panel interviews, surveys etc. it provides real and accurate
information to the researcher. But secondary data is collected through magazines, newspapers
etc. it gave informations but it is less reliable and accurate than the primary informations. In this
research, researcher have used both methods for collecting the data. For collecting primary data,
researcher has used questionnaire whereas, for secondary data, the book which are written by
different writers are used.
Questionnaire – It is an effective technique which defines the opinion and views of
individuals towards the research topic. It includes a list of questions that will be asked to the
respondents in order to getting valid conclusion for the research programme.
Questionnaire
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Q1) Are you aware about the term of globalisation ?
A) Yes

B) No
Q2) What benefits John lewis gained after expanding their business at global level ?
A) Growth in market share
B) Proper utilisation of resource
C) Maintaining relationship with other organisations
Q3) What were the barriers of John lewis at the time of expansion?
A) Distinct diversity exposure
B) Enhancement of cost
C) Distinct tax policies
Q4) Which function is more effective for John lewis in order to expand their business?
A) Operations
B) Marketing
C) Human resource
Q5) What are the roles of marketing at the time of expansion of John lewis ?
A) Awareness of services
B) Benefits to society
C) Publicity of products
Q6) Which element provide competitive advantage to the John lewis in new nation?
A) Technological factors
B) Huge amount of capital
C) Unique ideas of foreign employees
Q7) Which is the main factor of globalisation that have a huge impact on the economic
growth of a nation?
A) Foreign exchange deposits in bank
B) Employment in the country
Q8) What are the resources John lewis needed most at the time of expansion ?
A) Economical resources
B) New techniques
C) Image of company
Q9: Which element provides maximum benefit for increasing the performance of John
lewis in negative manner?

A) Taxation policies
B) inefficiency of employees
C) Carbon dioxide performance
Q10) Any suggestion you want to provide John lewis for increasing their business
activities into foreign countries?
Sample size: 30 respondents are selected for the sample size whose opinions and views
are considered in this research. They will represent the opinion of the whole population.
Respondents includes employees,stakeholders and customers of the organisation etc (Boserup,
2013). The secondary data is collected from online sources such as articles, journals etc.
Whereas the primary data was gathered from the primary sources such as from local people.
Secondary research – Secondary research is used for collecting secondary data which is
less reliable than the primary research. For this project, researcher have used various websites
and internet sources for gathering information about globalisation along with its advantages and
disadvantages for the firm. It has been analysed through secondary research, there is a huge
impact of the globalisation on the operational activities of the organisation which can be
overcome through making effective strategies and plans.
Analysis and Interpretation
THEME 1: Awareness about Globalisation
Q1) Are you aware about the term of
globalisation ?
Frequency
Yes 18
No 12

Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
18
12
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above graph, it has been clearly identified that 18 out of 30
respondents have knowledge about the concept of globalisation whereas, 12 says that they have
no knowledge about the globalisation.
THEME 2: Benefits received by John lewis at the time of expansion
Q2) What benefits John lewis gained after
expansion of business at global level ?
Frequency
A) Growth in market share 18
B) Optimum utilisation of resources 8
C) Maintaining relationship between other
organisations
4

A) Growth in market share
C) Maintaining relationship between other organisations
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
18
8
4
Interpretation: From the above chart, it has been identified that various benefits are
achieved by the John lewis at the time of expansion. For this, 18 gave their opinion on growth in
market share 8 says that optimum utilisation of resources and remaining says that organisation
has maintained relation with other firms.
THEME 3: Barriers that can restricts John lewis
Q3) What are the barriers to John lewis at
the time of expansion?
Frequency
A) Distinct diversity exposure 10
B) Enhancement of cost 12
C) Distinct tax policies 8

A) Distinct diversity exposure
B) Enhancement of cost
C) Distinct tax policies
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
10
12
8
Frequency
Interpretation: It has been analysed from the above graph that barriers affects most on
the growth of organisation for this 10 out of 30 respondents gave their views on diversity
exposure, 12 says that enhancement of cost and other gave their suggestions on the tax policies.
THEME 4: Role of different business functions
Q4) Which function is more effective for
the John lewis in order to expand their
business?
Frequency
A) Operations 10
B) Marketing 14
C) Human resource 6

A) Operations B) Marketing C) Human resource
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
10
14
6
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above graph, it is clearly seen that business functions provide
supports to the organisation at the time of globalisation. In this, 10 out of 30 gave their opinion
on operations. 14 gave their views on marketing and remaining 6 says that human resource is the
most important function which provides support to the organisation.
THEME 5: Role of marketing in the expansion of business
Q5) what are the roles of marketing at the
time of expansion of John lewis ?
Frequency
A) Awareness of services 12
B) Benefits to society 12
C) Environmental preservation 6

A) Awareness of services
B) Benefits to society
C) Environmental preservation
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
12 12
6
Frequency
Interpretation: It is clearly seen from the above graph that marketing plays an effective
role in the organisation's expansion. 12 out of 30 says that it provides awareness of product in the
customers other 12 also says that it is beneficial for the society and remaining 6 says that it
provides environmental preservation.
THEME 6: Factors which provides competitive advantage to John Lewis
Q6) Which element provide competitive
advantage to the John lewis in new nation?
Frequency
A) Technological factors 10
B) Huge amount of capital 8
C) Unique ideas of foreign employees 12

Interpretation: It has been identified from the above graph that organisation have to
consider various factors through which they can gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.
For this,10 out of 30 gave their views on technological factors, 8 gave their views on huge
amount of capital, and remaining 12 gave their views on unique ideas of foreign employees.
THEME 7: effort of the globalisation in the economic growth of a country
Q7) which is the main factor of
globalisation that gave a huge impact on
the economic growth of a nation?
Frequency
A) Foreign exchange deposits in bank 18
B) Employment in the country 12
A) Technological factors
B) Huge amount of capital
C) Unique ideas of foreign employees
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
10
8
12
Frequency

A) Foreign exchange deposits in bank
B) Employment in the country
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
18
12
Frequency
Interpretation: It has been identified from the above graph that 18 respondents clearly
defines that foreign exchange deposits in bank is the most important effort. Whereas, remaining
12 says that globalisation increases the employment in the country.
THEME 8: Resources used in expansion of business
Q8) What are the resources John lewis
needed most at the time of expansion ?
Frequency
A) Economic resources 14
B) New techniques 10
C) Image of company 6

A) Economic resources
B) New techniques
C) Image of company
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
14
10
6
Frequency
Interpretation: Out of 30 respondents, 14 says that economic resources are mostly
required to the company at the time of expansion 10 gave their views on new techniques and
remaining 6 says that it improves image of company.
THEME 9: Factors that negatively impacts on the performance of John Lewis
Q9: Which element provides maximum
benefit for increasing the performance of
John lewis in negative manner?
Frequency
A) Taxation policies 10
B) inefficiency of employees 12
C) Carbon dioxide performance 8

Interpretation: Out of 30 respondents 10 gave their views on taxation policies 12 gave
their views on inefficiency of employees but 8 says that carbon dioxide performance is the most
negative factor for the organisation at the time of expansion.
Recommendation on findings
As per the above analysis, There are some recommendations which have to considered by
the Management of John lewis before expansion of their business activities. Some of
recommendations are given as under:
 Organisation needs to focus on their operations and activities using researchers and must
conduct research on the country for expanding in that country.
 John Lewis have to allocate their resources such as funds, technological equipments etc.
for the time of expansion which will help them in taking competitive advantage at new
place.
 Organisation have to train their employees as per the nation's culture so that, they will
able in providing better services at new marketplace.
A) Taxation policies
B) inefficiency of employees
C) Carbon dioxide performance
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
10
12
8
Frequency

 John lewis has to support their marketing department through providing them enough
funds to acquire effective marketing tools and techniques so that company can gain
maximum support from the such department at the time of expansion.
 Management of John lewis have to identify various type of barriers such as fund
unavailability, inefficiency of employees etc. which can harm their business functions in
future time.
Conclusion of the report
From this report, It has been concluded that globalisation have positive impact on the
growth and sustainability of organisation. It also helps them in creating brand image and
profitability in new marketplace. It assists the management in achieving competitive advantage
and huge customer base in different nations. At the time of globalising the business, organisation
have to face some difficulties such as huge cost, tax and duties etc. for this, Managers have duty
to make suitable plans and policies due to which, they can easily expand their business along
with utilisation of their resources. Work break-down structure and Gantt chart are also important
in the organisation because through this, employee's performance are evaluated and they are
motivated towards organisational goals.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. eds., 2017. The globalization of world politics: an
introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press.
Boserup, E., Tan, S. F. and Toulmin, C., 2013. Woman's role in economic development.
Routledge.Furlong, J., 2013, January. Globalisation, neoliberalism, and the reform of
teacher education in England. In The educational forum (Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 28-50).
Chen, J. S. and Tsou, H. T., 2012. Performance effects of IT capability, service process
innovation, and the mediating role of customer service. Journal of Engineering and
Technology Management. 29(1). pp.71-94.
Doherty, N. F., Ashurst, C. and Peppard, J., 2012. Factors affecting the successful realisation of
benefits from systems development projects: findings from three case studies. Journal of
Information Technology. 27(1). pp.1-16.
Falguera, V., Aliguer, N. and Falguera, M., 2012. An integrated approach to current trends in
food consumption: Moving toward functional and organic products?. Food Control.
26(2). pp.274-281.
Florén, H. and Frishammar, J., 2012. From preliminary ideas to corroborated product definitions:
Managing the front end of new product development. California Management Review.
54(4). pp.20-43.
Frishammar, J., Florén, H. and Wincent, J., 2011. Beyond managing uncertainty: Insights from
studying equivocality in the fuzzy front end of product and process innovation projects.
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 58(3), pp.551-563.
Inauen, M. and Schenker-Wicki, A., 2011. The impact of outside-in open innovation on
innovation performance. European Journal of Innovation Management. 14(4). pp.496-
520.
Nicholas, J. M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Routledge.Mhamed, A. A. S., 2012. Globalisation and higher education in
the Arab Gulf States.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Taylor & Francis Group.Nicholas, J. M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for
engineering, business and technology. Routledge.
Zajda, J., 2015. Globalisation and its impact on education and policy. In Second International
Handbook on Globalisation, Education and Policy Research (pp. 105-125). Springer,
Dordrecht.
Online
Research Methodology. 2018. [Online]. Available through:<https://explorable.com/research-
methodology>.

Performance Review and Self-Assessment
Learner Name
Project Title “What are the positive economic, cultural, and
ethical impacts of globalisation on different
business functions within an organisation.
Important stages  Identification of topic
 Aims
 Objectives
 Data gathering
 Selection of Respondents
Key factors you learned from the
project
I develop different type of skills such as
communication, measuring etc. Due to which I get
a valid conclusion at the end of research.
What skills did you develop Time management, cost saving skills are highly
required to be develop.
Discuss the project management skill
you developed
Better understanding of communication and risk
management.
Project
Positive effect of the globalisation on the various business functions such as HR, accounting
etc.

Did the project achieve its aim:
Yes
Was the Team efficient:
Yes
Did the project succeed:
Yes

APPENDIX

Project Logbook
Name:
Project title: “To evaluate the positive, economic, cultural and ethical impact of globalisation
on various functions of an organisation”- A case study on John Lewis .
Date:
Update on weekly research/tasks achieved
Points to consider:
What have you completed?
I had completed the research report on the topic “Analysis of economic, culture and ethical impact
of globalisation on an organisation.
Did you fulfil task requirements?
Yes
Are you on track and within deadlines set?
Yes
Did you need to make any changes to your project management plan?
No
Any risks and/or issues identified?
Related to time and cost
Points to consider:
Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of skills required for undertaking research/tasks?
This project was assigned to me late due to which I got the less time for execution. Also I
faced communication issues for communicating with the regional and local people due to the
language difference.
Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on the project management
plan?
I had identified several difficulties while promoting the business at a new location. Also I got
the little time to complete my research due to late allotment.
Problems encountered
Related to time
Points to consider:
What barriers did you face?

I faced problems like communication issues, travelling to other places for gathering the reliable
data and also several technical issues were faced by me in gathering the data.
How did you overcome them?
With the help of my managers and guidance of high level authorities
New ideas and change of project direction
Acceptance of the new technologies and ways of working
What have I learnt about myself this week?
Points to consider:
How did I feel when I had to deal with tasks/problems? Did I find it useful to complete the
tasks?
This project was very time consuming for me due to issues which arise in executing the project
effectively.
How well have I performed? What did I contribute? What can I improve on next week?
I had completed the project in the given time period with my full efficiency.
How might this learning apply in the future?
In future, when same issues and problem will arise, I will be ready to tackle them effectively by
improving my weaknesses.
Tasks planned for next week
Points to consider:
Which tasks are priority?
Data gathering was a important task in this project.
Have you set aside sufficient time for completion?
Yes

Project plan status to date (on, ahead, behind)
Supervisor comments to address