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?