Analyzing Globalisation's Impact on John Lewis' Marketing Functions

This report analyzes the positive impacts of globalisation on the marketing functions of John Lewis, a UK-based retail organization. The assignment starts with an introduction to the concept of globalisation and its influence on business operations. Task 1 focuses on project aims, objectives, and the background of the research, outlining the positive economic, cultural, and ethical impacts of globalisation on John Lewis. The project management plan, including aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk, and resources, is discussed in P2. P3 presents a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart to illustrate project timelines and stages. Task 2 describes the research methodology, including qualitative and quantitative research methods and a questionnaire to gather data. Task 3 involves data interpretation and analysis, presenting findings on respondents' perceptions of globalisation and its impact on John Lewis' brand image. Task 4 focuses on the value of the research in meeting stated objectives. The report concludes with recommendations and references, demonstrating the application of project management principles and research methods to assess the effects of globalisation on a business's marketing strategies.

Managing a successful
business project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1: Project aims and objectives..............................................................................................1
P2 Project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication,
risk and resources...................................................................................................................2
P3: Work Breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide time frames and stages..........3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P4: Small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods...........5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P5: Research and data using an appropriate tools and techniques.........................................7
P6: Appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis.......................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P7: Value of undertaking the research to meet stated objectives.........................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................14

Title: To identify the positive economic, cultural and ethical impacts of globalisation on
different business functions within an organisation: A case study of John Lewis.
INTRODUCTION
Business project consists of efforts, time and resources which is utilised to execute in
order to develop something that supports the sustainability of an organisation. It requires
management to perform its roles and responsibilities in desirable manner so as to achieve
expected results within pre-determined time period. It includes preparation of project
management plan consists of various elements such as cost, time, risk, communication, scope
etc. which all are briefly discussed under this report. John Lewis, a UK-based organisation which
is currently engaged in providing wide range of items such as clothing, watches, banking and
financial services etc. is selected for the purpose of preparing the present research report. The
project discusses the Gantt chart and Work-breakdown structure along with suitable project
management plan. It also briefly explains the small scale research, data collection and analysis,
recommendation and a valid conclusion.
TASK 1
P1:
Overview of the research:
John Lewis is UK-based organisation which deals in providing wide range of products
and services such as clothing, watches and jewellery, cosmetics, banking and financial services
etc. It was first established in the year 1929 and from then to now, the company becomes third
largest private company in sales in the year 2016 according to the Sunday Times Top Track 100.
Along with this, the company decide to expand its business operations at global level which can
be affected by several influencing factors such as ethical, cultural and economic. It huge affects
the marketing functions which plays an important role in influencing consumer behaviour,
increasing brand awareness, promoting their offerings etc. All such functions assist organisation
to achieve huge sustainability in new market within shorter time period (Adzic, 2011).
Background of the research:
Globalisation defined as an ongoing process that linked different nations, their cultures
and people through conducting an international trade. It is the combination of national economics
into global economic with the help of foreign direct investment, migration, spread of technology,
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cash inflow and outflows etc. Globalisation consists of various influencing factors such as
technological biological, political, economical and social-cultural factors which brings more
challenges towards an organisation while globalising their business.
Aim:
To analyse the positive economic, cultural and ethical influence of globalisation on
marketing functions of business organisation- A case study on John Lewis.
Objectives:
 To understand the term of globalisation.
 To analysis the positive impact of globalisation on marketing functions in order to
increase trade in other nations.
 To examine the better outcomes of globalisation on existing brand image of John Lewis. To determine the interrelationship between impact of globalisation and brand image of
John Lewis.
Questions:
 Define the term globalisation?
 What is the positive impact of globalisation on marketing functions in increasing trade in
different nations.
 How globalisation contributes towards building brand image of John Lewis.
 How globalisation and brand image of company interrelated with each other.
P2:
Before expanding business in other nation, the first important role of project manager is
to analyse the market situation where they decide to expand and accordingly prepare an effective
project management plan which facilitate employees to understand their roles and
responsibilities more clearly (Byram and Parmenter, 2012). It is basically a written document
which provides essential aspects in detailed manner such as cost, scope, time, quality, risk,
communicate etc. These all aspects are required to be utilised in an optimum manner so as to
achieve desired outcome within limited time period. It is further briefly described as under:
Project scope: Under this, the objectives and purposes of executed project is determined
along with work breakdown structure and Gantt chart in order to facilitate managers to distribute
activities to their staff on the basis of their skills and knowledge. Globalisation is wider scope
that encourages organisation to maximise the capabilities of marketing functions in order to
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achieve huge sustainability. It is important for John Lewis to forecast the scope of project and on
the basis of which execute plans and strategies to ensure the growth and success in new market.
The scope of expansion of business at global level is much wider due to receiving maximum
outcomes to company in terms of capturing huge market share and revenues.
Cost: In this, the project manager focuses on attracting financial institutions as well as
inviting shareholders to provide them financial support in expansion of business. For this, project
manager is liable to prepare cost budget, planning of investing capital, reducing wastage of cost
etc. It has been estimated by the project manager to incur approx. 200000 pound to conduct an
effective research.
Quality: It is an important and crucial aspect under project management plan which
mainly focuses on attracting new customers in new market through communicating them about
the quality of their products and services. It requires adequate support from marketing
department to adopt promotional tools in order to spread information about the benefits of
buying company's products and services (Fisher, 2011)
Communication: It is primary function of marketing department who is responsible to
inform people of new market about their entrance with quality products and services. Apart from
this, the management also required to communicate to its staff regarding plans and strategies
formulated by them under project management plan so that roles and duties can be understand by
employees more clearly.
Resources: It is another more effective aspect without which the desired project activity
cannot be executed properly. It includes human resources, financial resources etc. which support
for better execution of project without any interruptions.
Risk: It always exist in market environment due to having lots of rivals and influencing
factors such as political instability, economic fluctuations etc. which directly affects the buying
power of targeted people. Apart from this, time is another risk factor which limits the
organisation to grab competitive market opportunities.
P3:
Work Breakdown and Gantt chart are two important part which communicates the
manager regarding the progress of desired project. It represents the time scale which shows that
how much work is done and how much time will be required to execute remaining project
activities. Therefore, it is important to understand both these concepts in briefly manner:
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Work breakdown structure: It may be described as the division of project activities into
small parts so as to easy for employees to understand their roles and responsibilities. It will be
more helpful for project manager of John Lewis to adopt such tool in order to execute desired
activities in an appropriate manner. Division of project activities will bring beneficial result to
company in terms of estimating the risk, cost and time. It brings various beneficial outcomes
such as maximising efficiency level of project, support to estimate the resources needed, such as
time, staff, cost etc.
Gantt chart: It is considered as an effective tool which displays information about project
activities in graphical form. It communicates the project manager about the opening and ending
time of project activity. Therefore, it will bring motivation among employees to perform
predetermined project activities within limited time period. It also provides various beneficial
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outcomes to company such as providing clarity, effective communication, motivation,
coordination, creativity, time management, flexibility etc. It supports in achieving desired goals
and objectives (Harish and Kumar, 2014).
TASK 2
P4:
Research shall be conducted in more appropriate manner with the help of using various
research methods such as qualitative and quantitative methods which assist research to collect
relevant information about the topic of research. These two methods are further described as
under:
Qualitative: It is more reliable method of research which is mainly focuses on collecting
information in quality manner. It includes review of documents, in-depth interview and focus
groups. It increases the effectiveness of decision regarding expansion of business with the help
of marketing functions.
Quantitative: It is another form of research in which information has been collected
through interpreting figures or statistical data in an understandable manner. It requires specific
skills and knowledge in a researcher so as to make easy to collect relevant information which are
suitable for providing evidence about topic of research (Intriligator, 2017).
Both these methods are more suitable method which facilitate researcher in gathering
relevant data and information from the respondents. In the present research, qualitative research
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is adopted in order to collect accurate and reliable information which increases the effectiveness
of drawing a valid conclusion. Under this, the researcher prepare a questionnaire contains
relevant questions related to the topic of research that to be asked to the respondents which
includes employees, customers etc.
Sampling: Under this, probabilistic and non-probabilistic method are there to adopt
among which non-probabilistic method will be adopted by researcher in which sample size has
been taken that represents the whole population. In the present research, 50 respondents are
selected as sample size to who questions mentioned under questionnaire form will be asked
(Kowalkowski, Kindström and Brehmer, 2011).
Questionnaire
Age:
Gender:
Date:
Q1) What is your perception towards globalisation?
A) Positive
B) Negative
Q2) How globalisation contributes towards building brand image of John Lewis?
A) Capturing a new market
B) Facilitate in utilisation of limited resources
Q3) Are you a regular customer of John Lewis?
A) Yes
B) No
Q4) What kind of relationship globalisation and success of marketing functions have?
A) Negative
B) Positive
Q5) How globalisation support John Lewis in expansion of business at international level?
A) Increased economic of scale
B) Free trade
Q6) Whether globalisation makes impact on marketing functions of John Lewis?
A) Yes
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B) No
Q7) What is the positive impact of globalisation on marketing functions in increasing trade in
different nations?
A) Following Rules and regulation
B) Support wealth equality across worldwide
Q8) How marketing manager support John Lewis in globalising their business?
A) Using of various kinds of promotional tools.
B) Offer standard quality of products at an affordable prices
C) Others
Q9) Which issues restrict John Lewis to globalise their business?
A) Lack of financial resources
B) Poor time management
C) Lack of knowledge about using promotional Channel
Q10 Recommend various suggestions towards John Lewis to increase its brand image at global
level.
TASK 3
P5:
Data interpretation is an important part of research which enables researcher to draw a
valid conclusion regarding the topic of research. For this, the researcher must required to attain
skills and abilities to interpret the collect data in understandable manner.
Theme 1: Perception of respondents towards globalisation
Q1) What is your perception towards
globalisation?
Frequency
 Positive 35
 Negative 15
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Positive Negative
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
35
15 Frequency
Interpretation: From the above graph, it has been observed that most of the respondents
has positive perception towards globalisation. Among 50 responders, 35 respondents have
positive perception towards the concept of globalisation whereas 15 respondents have opposite
perception as according to them, globalisation brings negative impact on the business operations
of company.
Theme 2: Contribution of globalisation in building brand image at global level
Q2) How globalisation contributes towards
building brand image of John Lewis?
Frequency
A) Capturing a new market 32
B) Facilitate in utilisation of limited resources 18
8

A) Capturing a new market
B) Facilitate in utilisation of limited resources
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
32
18
Frequency
Interpretation: It is clearly seen from the above graph that most of the respondents have
clear views that globalisation contributes towards building brand image of John Lewis. Out of
the 50 respondents, 32 respondents have same opinion as according to them, it enables an
organisation to capture a new market whereas remaining 18 respondents said clearly that
globalisation assist company to utilise resources in an optimum manner.
Theme 3: Loyalty of customers towards John Lewis
Q3) Are you a regular customer of John
Lewis?
Frequency
A) Yes 33
B) No 17
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A) Yes B) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
33
17
Frequency
Interpretation: From the above graph, it is clearly identified that most of the respondents
are regularly consumes John Lewis products and services. Among the 50 respondents, 33
respondents are loyal customers due to which their views are more accurate and reliable whereas
the remaining 17 respondents are not regular customers of company due to which giving their
opinions through having their knowledge.
Theme 4: Relationship between globalisation and success of marketing functions
Q4) What kind of relationship globalisation
and success of marketing functions have?
Frequency
A) Negative 14
B) Positive 36
10