Analysis of Management and Leadership Practices at Gray-Nicolls

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Gray-Nicolls, a prominent UK-based cricket equipment manufacturer, focusing on its management and leadership practices. The report begins with an introduction to management and leadership principles, then delves into the nature of Gray-Nicolls, applying sports typology. It proceeds to analyze the external environment using PESTLE analysis, highlighting political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors, with a focus on the technological environment. The internal environment is assessed using the VRIO model, evaluating valuable, rare, inimitable, and organisable resources. The report then explores leadership styles, specifically transformational and democratic leadership, using Carlton's sales manager as an example, and their impact on Gray-Nicolls' performance. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations based on the analysis.

MANAGEMENT
AND LEADERSHIP
IN SPORTS AND
EVENTS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
NATURE OF GRAY-NICOLLS.....................................................................................................1
Application of Supply Sector of Sports Typology......................................................................1
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS.................................................................................2
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS..................................................................................4
LEADERSHIP AND PERORMANCE...........................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Management is a key activity that is related to effective planning, organising,
coordinating and controlling the functions and operations of a company to achieve the targets
and goals set by the organisation (Wemmer and Koenigstorfer, 2016). Apart from this, leadership
is a process through which appropriate guidance and motivation is provided to employees which
supports the objectives and outcomes of the firm in an appropriate and fair manner. Hence, in
this context, the report below is based on management and leadership of Gray-Nicolls, which is
one of the leading manufacturers within the UK that is responsible for developing Cricket kits,
inclusive of bats, shoes, as well as the overall kit bag. In regards to this, the assignment includes
determination of nature of the company, along with external and internal analytical tools to
determine its business environment, along with determination of a leader within a company.
NATURE OF GRAY-NICOLLS
Application of Supply Sector of Sports Typology
There is an appropriate typology that has been developed effectively by Taks &Misener
(2015), that have been evaluated previously as well. According to the same, there are several
typologies that are required to be considered to determine nature of the organisation. Hence,
these typologies are reflected below:
 Public Sector:
This sector is the one that comes directly under the government and operates in a way
that is related towards public service. There are two dimensions of government under which the
firms operate. These are central government and state government. The nature of these
organisations is that they are very much controlled by the official authorities and are solely
existent due to provision of public service.
 Private-Not-for-Profit Sector:
This is the sector that is associated with voluntary existent for public welfare. The nature
of these organisations is not to earn any profit, however, use the earnings and other essential
aspects for the welfare of different communities and other social groups. Within sports, there are
several football and cricket clubs that provide major opportunities for local players to furnish
their skills. Moreover, the earnings would be acquired by the organisations are distributed
towards public welfare and several social initiatives in an appropriate manner.
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 Private Sector:
Within this sector, the companies that operate survive only on profit basis. This means
that the agenda of their operations is purely to generate revenue. Within the sports sector, there
are various companies and private clubs that exist on profit basis. In this context, Gray-Nicolls
also falls in this category of the typology. The justification of the same is that the firm is a
leading manufacturer in cricket tools and equipment and has a large market share due to its
profitability (WHITE, 2016).
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
External environment of an organisation includes several external pointers that are not
directly linked with the organisation and yet have an appropriate and effective impact on it s
operations and functions in an appropriate manner.
Hence, to analyse the external environment of Gray-Nicolls, PESTLE analysis is being
used which is one of the most effective frameworks that evaluates the external pointers
influencing the strategies, management and performance of the company. Therefore, this
framework is mentioned below:
 Political Factors:
These factors are related to the the political conditions and scenario that is currently
existing in a country which has a direct influence on the company. Currently, the UK is under a
transition period with European Union , following the events of Brexit. Hence, the whole British
Sports industry, along with Gray-Nicolls are negatively impacted due to this aspect. The reason
for this is because there is a strong uncertainty in the supply chain regulations within the EU
nations, that refrains the company to act in a flexible manner with these organisations.
 Economical Factors:
These factors are related to the economic performance of the company. The economic
environment of the organisation is not effective at the current moment, due to Brexit, which has
certain negative implications on its currency rate, which has fallen, as well as on the inflation
rate that has enhanced. Moreover, due to this uncertainty and poor economic performance, the
organisation's supply chain is currently charging more price to supply their products. Hence, this
has also negatively impacted the company.
 Social Factors:
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These factors include the trends, customer preferences, along with the current social
condition of the markets that directly impact the company and its operations. In the UK market,
there is a high preference over cricket products within the masses, especially for teenagers and
millennials, because of rising preference and inclination of these customer groups towards sports.
However, they wish their products to be reliable, durable, as well as affordable, which presents
major opportunities for the company in context of manufacturing products that satisfy the
demand of masses.
 Technological Factors:
Currently, there are certain technologies, which the British Sports and Manufacturing
industries are currently rooting for. As an example, Automation and Artificial Intelligence are
few technologies, which companies use in order to manufacture, promote, market, as well as
deliver their products. Hence, this could be an opportunity for the company as it could use these
technologies to develop even better and more effective products that would help the firm in
enhancing its target market (Wicker, Longley and Breuer, 2015).
 Legal Factors:
These are the factors that are associated with the legislative environment of the company.
Hence, in this context, the organisation is currently working as per the EU laws, due to the
transition period of the UK. However, after an year, the laws related to sports industry would be
changing, which might be negative for the firm and its policies and procedures. Therefore, this
brings negative impact towards Gray-Nicolls as the firm would be unable to formulate any long
terms strategies for the market in which it performs.
 Environmental Factors:
All these factors are related to the environmental sustainability, along with protection of
several natural resources and energy. In relation to the UK, currently the government and other
authorities are taking strict actions against aspects like climate change and global warming,
which is forcing organisations to change the way in which they produce and manufacture their
offerings. Hence, in this context, the company is presented with advantages and opportunities to
mould its ways in order to ensure sustainable production in an appropriate and effective manner.
Hence, all these elements are very much appropriate and essential for the organisation to
analyse in a way that helps in determining the impact of these factors upon the company. Out of
the elements presented above, the most significant dimension of the external environment is the
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Technological Environment (Zakinuddin and Ghazali, 2019). This is because currently the firm
is affected by all the major forces of the external environment, due to economic slowdown as
well as Brexit. The impact which this dimension has on Gray-Nicolls is that it would allow the
firm to boost its performance in terms of productivity by eliminating the notion of wastage, along
with better performance testing for better products. In terms of management, elements like AI
and Automation would positively impact the company in terms of performance appraisals,
training and development, employee performance management and so forth.
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
Internal Environment of an organisation is inclusive of its resources, capabilities and
strategies which are internal to the firm and affect the performance of the company internally
(Cotterill and Fransen, 2016). Hence, for determining important dimensions of Gray-Nicolls,
VRIO Model is used that to determine the strategic capabilities of the firm. Hence, in context of
the firm, its VRIO analysis is mentioned below:
RESOURCES VALUABLE RARE INIMITABLE ORGANISABLE COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
Brand Image Brand Image - - -
Temporary
Competitive
Edge
Financial
Resources
Financial
Resources
Financial
Resources - -
Partial
Competitive
Edge
Technical
Resources
Technical
Resources
Technical
Resources
Technical
Resources -
Partial
Competitive
Edge
Human
Resources
Human
Resources
Human
Resources
Human
Resources
Human
Resources
Sustainable
Competitive
Edge
As per the above display, the VRIO of the organisation is explained below:
Valuable:
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 Brand Image: This aspect is valuable as it allows the firm to enhance its brand image in
the market (Ivashchenko and et. al., 2017). Financial Resources: These resources allow the firm to conduct its major operations
such as manufacturing, supply and logistics, marketing and other functions effectively. Technical Resources: There are several technical resources of the firm which enables
Gray-Nicolls to measure, manage and digitally communicate in an appropriate manner.
 Human Resources: They provide the firm with effective support which makes them
effectively valuable.
Rare: Financial Resources: The financial capability with the company is quite rare to be found
in other firms. Technical Resources: High end technologies are used within the company which other
organisations are yet to explore.
 Human Resources: The capabilities and skills possessed by employees of this company
is quite rare.
Inimitable: Technical Resources: All the specific technologies used by the company are patented
and hence, are legally inimitable.
 Human Resources: The mindset and competencies of individuals within the firm are
impossible to be copied by individuals in other companies (O’Boyle, Cummins and
Murray, 2015).
Organisable:
 Human Resources: Effective training and development is provided to individuals to
enhance their skills in an appropriate manner.
Out of all these dimensions, organisable is one of the most effective dimensions that
impacts the firm's management and performance. For instance, there are several appropriate and
effective training methods such as Simulations, which would allow the individuals to practice
their skills in mock scenarios and later apply them effectively, which would contribute to both
the management, as well as its performance.
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LEADERSHIP AND PERORMANCE
There are several individuals working in a range of companies that could be considered
while becoming leader. One such company is Carlton, which is another effective manufacturer in
the UK sports sector (Megheirkouni, 2017). Within the firm, its sales manager is an effective
person so it should be consider as a leader in the organisation. Company can appoint sales
manager as a leader because he deals the marketing situation in a very effective manner, directs
the communication to their workers so the work can be done effectively and in a productive way.
It follows a two types of leadership style that are explained below. Transformational leadership style- It refers to that leadership style in which leaders
works with their team members to analyse the change, creates vision to guide the change
through inspiring their subordinates and than implement the change with their team
mates. In context of Carlton, this helps the sales leader to transform their followers way
of thinking and inspiring them with a sense of excitement and purpose. It also encourage
and influence the workers to adopts the change very easily and increase their productivity
with the coming change. This leaders helps in successful driving the development of new
go to market strategies.
 Democratic leadership style- This leadership style of sales leader helps in sharing the
decision making with group members and believe everyone should participate in group
decisions. In context of Carlton, sales leader manages democratically all the decisions
and make the final decisions. In this, group members are encouraged to share their ideas
and opinions. It will enhance the productivity of the team mates and they feel more
engaged in the process of doing work (Cummins, O'Boyle and Cassidy, 2017).
Out of two of the above explained leadership style, the sales manager of the firm uses
Transformational Leadership. However, there are positive and negative implications that are
exerted on the performance of Gray-Nicolls. As for positive, it would allow the firm to embed
effective change whenever required. Moreover, the firm would also be working towards an
appropriate vision, which would be beneficial for motivating individuals. However, the decision
making in this process might take time due to the inclusion of individuals in this process.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
 Gray-Nicolls must ensure that the manufacturing and other effective functions like
marketing and distribution must be sustainable by implementing waste management
techniques, such as Lean Management.
 The products that the firm manufactures must be affordable and in high quality for the
firm to overcome events like Brexit (Fransen and et. al., 2015).
CONCLUSION
Thus it is concluded from the report above that management and leadership are crucial
activities within an organisation to sustain and enhance its business performance in the market.
Moreover, it is necessary to determine the nature of the company, along with justification of the
same through typologies developed by Taks & Misener. Moreover, external and internal
analytical tools like PESTLE and VRIO are crucial to determine various crucial dimensions and
competence of the firm respectively. Lastly, it is necessary that several leadership theories are
implemented to assess a desirable in an appropriate manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cotterill, S.T. and Fransen, K., 2016. Athlete leadership in sport teams: Current understanding
and future directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 9(1).
pp.116-133.
Cummins, P., O'Boyle, I. and Cassidy, T., 2017. Leadership in sports coaching: A social identity
approach. Taylor & Francis.
Fransen, K. and et. al., 2015. Who takes the lead? Social network analysis as a pioneering tool
to investigate shared leadership within sports teams. Social networks. 43. pp.28-38.
Ivashchenko, O. and et. al., 2017. Leadership as a fundamental aspect of the performance of
student-athletes in university men’s sports teams.
Megheirkouni, M., 2017. Leadership styles and organizational learning in UK for-profit and
non-profit sports organizations. International Journal of Organizational Analysis.
O’Boyle, I., Cummins, P. and Murray, D., 2015. Framing leadership in sport. In Leadership in
sport (pp. 13-18). Routledge.
Wemmer, F. and Koenigstorfer, J., 2016. Open innovation in nonprofit sports
clubs. VOLUNTAS: international journal of voluntary and nonprofit
organizations. 27(4). pp.1923-1949.
WHITE, A., 2016. The Brighton Declaration and Women’s Leadership in Sports. Women and
Leadership: History, Theories, and Case Studies, p.250.
Wicker, P., Longley, N. and Breuer, C., 2015. Revenue volatility in German nonprofit sports
clubs. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 44(1). pp.5-24.
Zakinuddin, S.N.A. and Ghazali, S.H., 2019. The Relationship between Athlete Satisfactions
with Coach Management Training Programme, Transformational Leadership and Sports
Innovations. Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, pp.1-8.
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