Woolworths' Management: A MGMT6012 Perspectives Case Study Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Woolworths, a leading Australian supermarket chain, focusing on its management practices, organizational ethics, and diversity. It examines the impact of leadership on the company's culture and performance, highlighting issues such as customer-centricity, ethical considerations, and the importance of employee relations. The report explores the vision and values of Woolworths, organizational theories like contingency theory, and ethical frameworks such as consequence-based and duty-based theories. It utilizes a research methodology involving explanatory research design, deductive approach, and both primary and secondary data collection methods, including questionnaires and literature reviews. The findings reveal the significance of ethical practices, the role of managers, and the consequences of overlooking customer needs and market dynamics. The report concludes with recommendations for improving management strategies and addressing organizational challenges within Woolworths.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

Executive Summary
Management is considered to be the building block of any and every organization. Thus it is the
responsibility of the managers to make sure that they are making the right decisions at the right
point of time. Thus the managers have to maintain a customer-centric and also an employee-
centric approach to make sure that their organization is proceeding at the right place. The
organization has to make sure that they are imbibing a culture of respect and proper values
among all their clients and their customers at the same time. This report has dealt with the issues
that cropped up in one of the leading supermarket chains of Australia that is Woolworths. This
report has dealt with the faults on part of the managers and the different ways in which they
overlooked the organizational issues in general and customer benefits in particular.

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................4
Sampling techniques used................................................................................................................5
Analysis of data...............................................................................................................................5
Vision and Values of the Organization............................................................................................5
Organization purpose- adding quality to life...............................................................................5
Vision...............................................................................................................................................6
Organizational Theory.....................................................................................................................6
Contingency theory......................................................................................................................6
Ethics and Diversity.........................................................................................................................7
Consequence Based or Utilitarian theory.....................................................................................7
The duty-based theory or Deontological ethical theory...............................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
The ethics and culture in an organization are influenced by the leadership roles and how
the diverse range of operations might be correlated. In this relation, the diverse range of values
and ethical constructs supports an organization in maintaining the efficiency of the operations in
alignment with the needs of the venture. Warren, Gaspar, and Laufer (2014) opined that the
operational criteria and the organizational culture are correlated to one another which supports an
organization in enhancing the market position of the same. In this relation, the research will take
steps to develop a coherent understanding of the vision and the values of Woolworths and the
major issue that is being encountered by the organization. The research will also enumerate a
methodology for reflecting on the activities that would be considered for examining the case of
the organization. On the other hand, the report would inspect the ethics and diversity-related
concerns in the organization after understanding the organizational structure. The different
changes in the organizational operation and how the same might be repositioned in alignment
with the corporate values or ethics are being evaluated as a part of the report.
Research methodology
The research methodology supports a researcher in examining the different systematic
steps that might be commenced by the same to frame and guide the study towards an unbiased
outcome. The research will be initiated through the explanatory research design which would
support in identifying the cause and effect relationship between the leadership practices in the
organization and the ethical or diversity-related performance of Woolworths. The delineation of

the cause and effect relation would support in identifying the significance of the leadership roles
in shaping the organizational culture and ethical constructs. On the other hand, the research
design would ensure a suitable understanding of the different values that are being followed by
the organization to maintain the efficiency of the operations. The research will be initiated
through the utilization of the deductive approach, which would support in retrieving information
from different available sources. The data that will be collected through primary data collection
method. A questionnaire would be created and circulated among the respondents with the view
of gathering their viewpoints.
The questionnaire will consist of 20 close-ended questions which would be reliant on the
extensive understanding of the correlation between the variables. The data from the
questionnaire would support in enhancing the quality of the report and thereby guiding the study
towards an unbiased outcome. On the other hand, the literature review will be conducted through
the secondary sources of available data. The secondary sources that will be considered during the
research study are peer-reviewed journals, organizational reports, testimonials, government
websites, and articles, which would support in identifying eth context of the research. The
collection of different data points from diverse sources would support in ensuring the reliability
of the study. Therefore, data will be driven from different sources to maintain the subjectivity of
the study while guiding the same towards an unbiased result in alignment with the research
objectives.
Sampling techniques used
The convenience sampling technique will be applied while collecting the responses from
the respondents which will allow the researcher in selecting respondents that are easy to reach

from within a selected population. Convenience sampling is a type of non- probability sampling
where the researcher would consider respondents who are freely available (Emerson, 2015).
Therefore, the utilization of the convenience sampling while initiating the research would
support in recording responses from the available respondents. A sample size of 150 respondents
would be selected which will be freely available. The sampling technique would support in
ensuring the efficiency of the research study while encouraging the involvement of the freely
available respondents.
Analysis of data
The primary data that would be gathered during the data collection procedure would be
assessed through the utilization of SPSS tool and other statistical methods. The assessment of the
different information that is being gathered through the responses and their representation in
charts would enhance the quality of the study and guide the same towards the unbiased outcome.
The hypothesis would be tested and the P-value would be determined. The positive hypothesis
would be considered if the P-value is lesser than 0.05 (P value< 0.05). The assessment of the
different responses from the primary questionnaire would support in maintaining the efficiency
of the operations in alignment with the objective of the study. On the other hand, the findings
from the secondary data collection will be represented through the literature review which would
support the responses that are gathered from the primary data. Therefore, the analysis will
support id4ntifying the organizational position and how the culture and ethical constructs of
Woolworths are influenced by the leadership style.

Vision and Values of the Organization
Woolworths is one of the most well known and top-selling supermarket chains in
Australia. They try their level best to satisfy the needs and demands of all the customers. They
must make sure that they are being able to bring about a large and widespread innovation in their
products and their selling techniques (Hodges, 2016). This will be very helpful for them as they
will be able to pose a very tough competition for all the competitors arising in an around them in
Australia. There are some very unique goal and objectives that are followed by the organization.
Some of the essential goals and the objectives are-
Organization purpose- adding quality to life
Woolworths is one among the many companies who always try to add some values to the
products and the services that they are selling to their customers. They make sure that the
customers are getting the exact value in return that they are paying. Woolworths always makes
sure that they can provide some very memorable and also beautiful moments to the selling and
the whole transaction process to the customers. Thus they always try their level best to bring in
some kinds of additional services like free coupons, discounted price of the products and other
such additional services so that they can stay close to the customers.
Vision
To develop themselves as one of the most responsible retails of the world
Woolworths is one among the most advanced retail chains or the supermarket chains in
Australia. They always try to stay committed to their objectives, visions and the goals that they
have set for themselves. In other words, they always try to save the world and the planet as a
whole. Thus they try to use many green technologies and the eco-friendly technologies as well so

that they can handle the production and the selling processes in the best way possible.However,
just as every organization makes some faults some errors have been committed by the
organization.
As per the opinion of Shahriari and Diken (2016), Woolworths lost sight of their
customers and this was one of the major problems in their entire planning and management
system. The managers of the organization overlooked the issues and the companions that were
coming from their customers, in particular, they did not pay any attention to the opinions in
general and the negative opinions in particular. Woolworths wanted to follow or imitate the
strategies that have been used by Coles.
As per the opinion of Yu et al. (2018), in this similar context, it has been seen that on the
average level the price of many of the products being sold by Woolworths was less. For instance,
the back basket products are usually set at a very higher price that is they were set at a level of
about 100 points higher. Thus customers were not getting a low or affordable price from the end
of the market. Thus Grant, Arjoon and McGhee (2017) has suggested that this particular
negligent attitude from the side of the store will naturally be an impetus for driving the attention
of the customers from Woolworths to many other alternatives
Organizational Theory
The organizations have to be managed based on some kinds of theories so that the
managers and the other hierarchical members can focus on the right kind of management and
also the prior sale of the products. Some of the organizational theories that must be followed
in the organization are as follows

Contingency theory
Belwal and Al Maqbali (2019) has suggested that contingency theory is useful when
there are several changing conditions in the atmosphere or the social and the political set up of
the country. Thus the managers of the organizations must make sure that they are being able to
adapt themselves to the changing conditions and the changing scenarios of the socio-political set
up of the organization. As far as the case of Woolworths is concerned the managers overlooked
the actual needs and demands of their customers thus setting the product price at a very high
level, Apart from this they lost the sight of their valuable customers as they failed in maintaining
a horizontal and open communication set up with all their customers
Ethics and Diversity
The organizational culture in the modern day scenario must be based on the maintenance
of a proper cultural diversity. The managers must be responsible for including employees from
all the different regions of the country. In other words the involvement of employees from
different socio cultural backgrounds will be able to give in a large number of culturally diverse
ideas. For an instance Woolworths suffered from the lack of emphasis on customer relationship.
In other words the managers failed to adapt to the changing conditions of the market where
customer involvement and customer opinion in the decision making process is of utmost
importance. Thus inclusion of employees or customer representatives from different diverse
backgrounds would have helped in generating a huge number of innovative ideas for taking care
of the needs of the customers. Service quality management was not well developing in
Woolworths. Thus the customers complained about the inventory handling, displaying of goods
and services, interaction among customers and the salespersons and many other such services,

Thus , managers must take a lesson from the customer complaints and take active steps in
solving these issues.
Consequence Based or Utilitarian theory
This ethical theory is mainly based on the pursuit of the common good or the good of the
general people. Thus it can be seen that the managers or the hierarchy of Woolworths did not pay
any attention to the needs and demands of the customers in general. They thought about the
maximization of their profit and thus ignored the interest of the common people (Feigin, 2016).
Thus Woolworths have to abide by their ethical rules so that they think about the overall welfare
of the customers and not just about the personal gains of their own
The duty-based theory or Deontological ethical theory
The duty-based theory of ethics or the Deontological ethical theory must be followed by
the organization that is by Woolworths so that they can promote the overall welfare and the
common good of all their stakeholders, in other words, the Deontological ethical theory is mainly
focused upon the overall welfare of the customers, the community, society and that of the
country a whole. Thus the managers must make sure that they are being able to take care of the
interests of their customers.
Role and legitimacy of the management function are one of the most important aspects
that must be maintained by the managers of the organization. Woolworth’s management must
spend a good amount of fund over the R&D sector of their organization so that they can get to
know about the changing need and demands of their customers and solve them accordingly.

Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that Woolworths have been trying their level best to take care of
the welfare interests of their customers, however like all other organizations they have made
some of the other kinds of mistakes in the overall planning and the management of the
organization. They have been a failure in setting the right price of their products and also in
taking proper care of the interests of their customers. Thus it is recommended that Woolworths
must make an in-depth research analysis to understand the need and preferences of their
customers so that they can set the right price and the right feedback system for taking the
opinions of their customers.

References
Belwal, R., & Al Maqbali, A. (2019). A study of customers’ perception of Islamic banking in
Oman. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 10(1), 150-167.
Emerson, R. W. (2015). Convenience sampling, random sampling, and snowball sampling: How
does sampling affect the validity of research?. Journal of Visual Impairment &
Blindness, 109(2), 164-168.
Feigin, L. M. (2016). The effects of protests and boycotts on a brand and its reputation: a case
study on Woolworths and boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) (Doctoral dissertation,
The IIE).
Granlund, M., & Lukka, K. (2017). Investigating highly established research paradigms:
Reviving contextuality in contingency theory based management accounting research.
Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 45, 63-80.
Grant, P., Arjoon, S., & McGhee, P. (2017). Reconciling Ethical Theory and Practice: Toward
Developing a Business Ethics Pedagogical Model. Business and Professional Ethics
Journal, 36(1), 41-65.
Hodges, J. (2016). Managing and Leading People Through Organizational Change: The theory
and practice of sustaining change through people. Kogan Page Publishers.
Otley, D. (2016). The contingency theory of management accounting and control: 1980–2014.
Management accounting research, 31, 45-62.
Shahriari, M., & Diken, A. (2016). Business Ethics, Decision and Cost Relations. In Ethical and
Social Perspectives on Global Business Interaction in Emerging Markets (pp. 165-185).
IGI Global.