MBA 5002: Managing Admin & Control - Woolworths Expansion Report

This report provides a comparative analysis of the legal frameworks in Australia and the Netherlands concerning business administration and control, specifically in the context of Woolworths Group's potential expansion into the Netherlands. It delves into various legal aspects, including contract law, employment law, intellectual property rights, and agency, highlighting the differences and similarities between the two countries. The report assesses the viability of Woolworths' expansion strategy by examining relevant laws and regulations, such as contract formation, employment standards, and intellectual property protection, using a matrix format to clearly illustrate the comparisons. It also addresses key legal issues and their potential impact on Woolworths' operations, offering insights into compliance requirements and risk management for successful market entry.

MANAGING
ADMINISTRATION AND
CONTROL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Administration management and control is the process or activity which involve starting
and running a business by following all the public and government rules and regulations. This
report will discuss and compare the legal framework of the Australia and Netherland country
(Debus, 2018). The present report is in the form of business proposal to the board of directors
which define the viability of expansion of Woolworths Group Company to Netherland country.
For this, various aspects of law will be discussed in this study such as contracts, employment,
intellectual property and agency. This presentation will help the board of directors of
Woolworths Group to decide whether expanding the business in Netherland is viable for the
company or not. Apart from this, it will also discuss the legal issues in more depth along with
how these issues affect the Woolworths Company’s expansion strategy. Lastly, the description
will also cover the comparison in matrix format to make it more clear and viable.
MAIN BODY
Woolworths is an Australian chain of supermarkets and grocery stores founded in 1924.
Today it is the largest super market chain with huge amount of market share and specialises in
groceries along with doing business in other products as well such as health and beauty,
household products, baby supplies, etc. The firm operates 995 stores all across the Australia
relies on 115,000 team members in all of their stores (Rutherford, 2018). The Woolworths
provide their consumers with superior quality of services, value, range and convenience. This is
one of the most innovative retailers and extremely able to understand that their consumers are
looking for simple and new ways to shop. Now the firm wants to expand their business activities,
they are going to start their functioning within the Netherland. In order to start new business
activities along with certain considerations related to legal framework, the firm have to follow
legal rules and regulations to run their business in proper and without any kind of error manner.
It has been well known concept that while starting any kind of business or run any business
organization, the firms have to follow certain rules and regulations to make their business work
in most effective ways. The laws and legislation are different in their own terms such as in
Australia they follow some other rules and regulations while on the other hand, in Netherland the
Woolworths have to follow some other rules and legislations in order to run their establishment
effectively. When entering into any contract it is important to recognise and understand the legal

system which governs the contract both in its formation and in case of even any kind of disputes.
The difference between the laws and legislations has been discussed below with the help of
matrix format which highlights the differences among them in fruitful methods:
Elements Australian Law Netherland Law
Contract Law Australian contract law are
particularly based upon the
English common law rather
than on any other codified or
ruling law. The major and
primary principle of
Australian contract law is
freedom of contract under
which all the other parties are
at independence to strike
whatever good deal they
would like to have or choose.
Under Australian contract law,
with limited exceptions, those
who are not parties to a
contract can never bound by it.
This is known as the privity
rule. By the similar kind of
token, contracts can generally
only be compulsory by parties
to the contract. Where the
third party creates a trust level,
that third party may be able to
enforce the contract. If ant
firm or corporation is
registered under the
Corporations Act 2001, its
Netherland follows the Dutch
contract law which is mainly
found in the Dutch Civil Code.
It creates an internal part of
the general law of compulsion.
Within this agreement, the two
or more parties creates in each
party a duty to do or not do
something along with the right
of performance of the other
party’s duty or a remedy for a
breach. For outside companies
such as foreigners who try to
conduct business activities in
their business transactions in
the Netherland, accessing
information about Dutch
Contract Law that can be
challenged (Hertogh, 2018).
Under the Dutch Contract
Law, the acceptance is a
declaration on the part of the
offeree addressed to the
offeror, which creates consent
of the offeree to their terms of
offer. Under this contract law,
acceptance must comply with

registration number,
Australian company number,
Australian business registered
number and Australian
business number must also be
cited for that parties in all their
public documentations.
Personal Property Security
Act 2009 will be applied if a
security interest is created
over any assets which are
comes under the consideration
as personal property (Howard,
2020). Under the general law
of contract it is allowable for
parties to agree upon a sum of
liquidated damages, or the
method of calculation of such
a sum, payable by one party to
other in the event of defined
breaches of contract. This is
helpful when monetary
damages are difficult to
calculate and the parties wish
to avoid the cost of disputes
resolution. If penalties are by
either of the parties as a threat
to enforce compliance, is
specified in a manner to arise
in circumstances which are
formless in nature, then the
the terms of offers. The time
has been fixed by the offeror
to accept the offer. If no time
has been agreed upon, a verbal
offer will lapse if it is not
accepted immediately. Even a
written agreement will lapse if
it has not been accepted within
a reasonable period of time
period. The Netherlands is a
contracting state to the United
Nations Convention on
Contracts for the International
trade of goods and services.
When both the sellers and
buyers are from contracting
states the CISG applies. This
will also applied if Dutch law
is applicable to a contract for
international trade (Passchier
and Voermans, 2017). This
law contains its own rules and
regulations about the
formation of contract. There
are no formal requirements for
a contract for the sale of goods
under the CISG act which is
majorly consists of Dutch law
in accordance to general
contracts. The preferences for
online shopping and the

provision may be regarded as
a mere penalty and will not be
enforced by the court. In
terms of restrictions and
restraints of trade, it has been
identified that it consists of
exclusive dealing regulated by
the antitrust provisions of the
competition and consumer act
2010 in which the restraints
operates will be cancelled, and
unenforceable by laws. In
terms of Consumer Law which
was created on 1 January
2011, which are applies at the
state, territory and federal
levels. The consumer law can
be grouped into certain
categories which include
product safety provisions,
which offer mandatory
consumer standards,
notifications of voluntary
recalls, product information
and the power to order
compulsory recalls (Saunders,
2020). A prohibition on the
manufacture of defective
goods, are restricted to
consumer goods. Any
corporation can never be
enhanced wage rates along
with production continue to
threaten the margin levels of
retailers and indirectly rent
prices. According to the most
effective and utilised contract
for retail space in the
Netherlands, certain models
have been issued to fulfils the
requirements of the
agreements. In terms of
consumer law shared by the
Netherland, it states that
different rules are applied
upon the consumers and
businesses than those for
contractual relationships
between businesses
themselves. The law provides
more rights and reaches high
level of protection to the
consumers than to the business
itself. For instances, the
consumers are free to choose
among the replacement and
repair of a product if there is
something wrong with it. A
consumers also have full and
complete rights and they are
also able to claim that the
product that has been bought

allowed to engage in any kind
of misleading practices or
make false representations.
The Australian court system is
considered to be fair and
impartial. Although, the states
and territories have their own
judicial systems and courts.
Australia is a signatory to the
Vienna convention on
contracts for the international
sale of goods which offers
uniform rules that govern the
formation and performances
of contracts for the
international sale of goods and
set up a structure of rules that
highlights the obligations of
parties to them. The parties to
the contract for the
international trade may agree
that the convention is not to
apply and may select the laws
of one of the parties’ home
jurisdiction as a governing law
of their regulations. Thus, it
has been identified that
entering into the contracts that
are governed by Australian
Law; independent legal advice
should to be obtained.
by them are not according to
their expectations and not
according to the
advertisements after that they
make up their mind to
purchase the good. Moreover,
the law also prohibits the
usage of number of clauses in
general terms and conditions if
a contract is concluded with a
consumer. If your business is
targeting the consumer, it is
prudent to have number of
matters such as the general
terms and conditions,
advertising materials and user
instructions and these all
should be handled in mature
and fruitful manner.

Employment Law As an employer, the firms
have to fulfil certain aspects
that are obliged with the
employment law in Australia
in terms of legislation,
industrial instruments and the
common law. The
employment law consist of
Fair Work act 2009, which has
its purpose to establish the
parameters of the employment
relationship among the
employer and an employee.
This act serves the purpose of
safety related to the minimum
wage and National
Employment Standards with
further employment conditions
and set proper agreements
(Freiberg, 2017). This law
entitles flexible working
arrangements, protection from
inequitable discharge and
consists of general protection
provisions which ensure
employees are treated within
the firm in fair manner.
However, the sole traders,
unincorporated entities,
partnerships and non trading
corporations are not covered
According to the Dutch law
that has been running within
the Netherland, it has been
evaluated that employment
contract consists of fixed term
contract and contract for
indefinite period of time.
Contracts can be agreed in
written as well as verbal
format. One of the major law
that has been created for the
betterment and safety of
employees are treat and pay
equally to their male as well as
female employees. Working
conditions must be the same
for all of their employees.
Discrimination whether it is
based on the beliefs, religion,
political opinions, age,
disabilities or on any other
grounds is unlawful (van‘t
Foort-Diepeveen, 2019).
Employers have to offer same
legal positions along with
similar kind of working
conditions to their employees.
They also have to inform them
about the working conditions
prior to even hiring them
within the organization.

by the Fair Work Act 2009.
Apart from this another act is
Work Health and Safety Act
2011, implemented by the
common wealth in each
individual state and territory to
bind them legally. This model
provides a framework that
protects the health, safety and
welfare of all the employees
who are at work. Within this
concept, the Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 also
has been designed to protect
everybody who is disabled in
certain actions and thus it
becomes a part of the
employment law of Australia
(Bant and Paterson, 2020).
According to this act it is
illegal to treat an employee in
less fair manner as they have
any kind of disability.
Intellectual Property Laws The property rights of
Australia include Patent
Protection Act that provides a
legal right to stop third parties
from utilizing and
manufacturing an innovation
in Australia. It has been also
utilised to license someone
Copyrights has been utilised
within the Netherland in order
to protect their work and piece
of art from duplicity. In order
to differentiate their products,
investors can opt for
trademark their products Each
trade mark is constituted with

else to manufacture product on
agreed terms. It also involves
the Trade Mark Protection
according to which a well
developed legal system has
been created that protects the
intellectual property of
businesses and individuals.
Businesses can register their
trade mark as a marketing tool
which provides legal
protection to the brand (Watts
and Casanovas, 2019).
Registration of domain names
also provides unique internet
site address that allows others
to access the website. Design
protection and Copyright
protection are also some of the
acts that provide safety to the
framework of the act with
properly meeting legislative
requirements.
a symbol. All the firm register
their names in Trade names
which has been registered by
Dutch Chamber of Commerce
in Netherlands (de la Rasilla,
2018). The trade names are
registered with the other
important information’s which
includes business activities
performed by entity, members,
address and other relevant
information’s.
From the above discussion, it has been identified that the laws and legislatives within the
Netherlands are also somehow similar to the Australian law and thus, the firm Woolworths can
easily able to expand their business in Netherlands as well. The Nether land provides advanced
economies combines with first rate infrastructures provides various advantages to the business.
The Netherland provides competitive tax rates and pro business policies as it favours foreign
direct investment which helps to promote research and development activities. Currently the rate
has been set at the 25% (Ten Cate, van Tol and van de Vathorst, 2017). The government of the

Netherland is a major proponent of public Private Corporation and technological modernism.
Effective participation in other structural programs and international cooperation efforts shows
the country’s commitment to cultivate and establish modern approaches for the Woolworths in
order to expand their business activities. The country also has large amount of talented people
who are highly skilled in their own ways. It also consists of strong financial centre which plays a
major role in Dutch economy. It also has been evaluated that the climatic conditions over there
are also favourable for the business in order to expand their activities. Thus, all the factors are in
favour of the Woolworths which easily allow the firm to expand their business activities within
the Netherland.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that, in order to expand their business in
Netherlands like all other firms Woolworths also have to adopt and follow certain rules and
legislations through which they can appropriately able to establish their business within the new
market place of Netherlands. The Netherland are highly favourable for the Woolworths in each
and every format regarding the legal framework which explained within the above report in
terms of contract law, employment law and intellectual property law which explains that it does
not highly differ from the Australian law and thus the firm able to fulfil the requirements that
helps the Woolworths business to make themselves successful with their other competitive firms
who are also dealing in similar industry type i.e. retail industry.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bant, E. and Paterson, J.M., 2020. Evolution and Revolution: The Remedial Smorgasbord for
Misleading Conduct in Australia. FIU L. Rev., 14. p.25.
de la Rasilla, I., 2018. A very short history of international law journals (1869–2018). European
Journal of International Law, 29(1). pp.137-168.
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Review]. Australasian Parliamentary Review, 33(2). p.170.
Freiberg, A., 2017. Regulation in Australia. Federation Press.
Hertogh, M., 2018. Nobody's law: Legal consciousness and legal alienation in everyday life.
Springer.
Howard, T.M., 2020. Regulatory resistance to environmental law in rural Australia: land
clearing, murder and the media. Local Environment, 25(2). pp.130-146.
Passchier, R. and Voermans, W.J., 2017. The Dutch constitution in comparative
perspective. The Dutch Constitution Beyond, 200.
Rutherford, J., 2018. Equality and Discrimination Law in Australia by Beth Gaze and Belinda
Smith.
Saunders, C., 2020. Constitutionalism in Australia. The Cambridge Legal History of Australia,
Cambridge University Press, U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper, (880).
Ten Cate, K., van Tol, D.G. and van de Vathorst, S., 2017. Considerations on requests for
euthanasia or assisted suicide; a qualitative study with Dutch general
practitioners. Family practice, 34(6). pp.723-729.
van‘t Foort-Diepeveen, R.A., 2019. The Legislative Framework for Working Conditions in the
Dutch Ready-Made Garment Sector. Yuridika, 34(3). pp.549-569.
Watts, D. and Casanovas, P., 2019. Privacy and Data Protection in Australia: a critical
overview. In W3C Workshop on Privacy and Linked Data. World Wide Web
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