Sainsbury's: Management Structure, Business Functions, and Strategies

This report provides an analysis of management structures and business functions within an organizational context, using Sainsbury's as a case study. It explores various management theories, organizational structures (hierarchical and functional), and key business functions such as operations, human resources, marketing, and accounting/finance. The report details essential management functions including planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling, emphasizing their interrelation and impact on organizational performance. It also examines the role of the marketing department in coordinating with other departments to enhance productivity, innovate new products, and meet market demands. Furthermore, the report discusses the importance of HR and talent management in attracting, retaining, and developing high-potential employees, fostering a positive organizational culture to improve employee satisfaction and productivity. The analysis concludes that effective management structures and business functions are crucial for developing successful strategies and improving overall organizational performance.

INTRODUCTION TO
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Management structure and business functions............................................................................3
Management Functions................................................................................................................4
Marketing Functions....................................................................................................................5
HR and Talent Management........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Management is defined as an art of getting work done effectively by creating an
environment where individuals can coordinate and enhance their performance. The current report
will be based on Sainsbury's which is a successful supermarket chain in the United Kingdom.
The purpose of the report is to explain management structure and its functions, management
functions and how they are managed, marketing functions, organizational structure and talent
management.
MAIN BODY
Management structure and business functions
Organizational structure refers as a system that is used to define a hierarchy within
organizations. It is developed to establish how Sainsbury's operates and manage its crucial tasks
in order to improve their performance (Akgün and Karataş, 2020). Management is known as an
activity which helps in organizing the group efforts in order to achieve aims and objectives of
organizations. It may be helpful for organization to preparer effective strategies in order to
improve their existing performance and gain competitive advantage in the industry. There are
various management theories which are designed in order to recommend general rules and
regulations for managing the crucial tasks effectively. One of the management theories is human
relations theory that may focus on the basis needs of individuals in the workplace by making
effective changes in the current organizational structure in order to increase motivation in the
workforce. The bureaucratic management theory is another important theory of management
which may focus on preparing strict rules and regulations in the organization in order to manage
the work effectively.
There are various types of organizational structures which may help a business to identify
a suitable work environment. Hierarchical structure is one of the most common organizational
structures which is helpful in defining level of authority and responsibility in an organization. It
may motivate employees with chances for appraisals and clear career paths. It may have some
negative impacts on the organization like decreasing the innovation or creative activity in the
company. Functional structure is another organizational structure which is easily scalable in
different types of companies (Bakator and et.al., 2019). It helps in increasing specialization in the
work in order to increase productivity. A major disadvantage in this structure is that it may affect
the interdepartmental communication of the organization.

Business functions refers to various activities which are divided into various departments
that may be performed buy a company in order to manage their overall business. There are
different types of business functions such as operations, which may focus on converting various
inputs into finished outputs and maintain level of production and quality of finished goods.
Human resource is another business function which is responsible for identifying needs of the
workforce, recruiting and selecting appropriate candidate and focus on their training and
development in order to enhance their productivity (Yablonsky, 2018). Marketing is
accountable to deal with market research, product development, distribution, customer
relationship management and other crucial aspects of the business. The accounting and finance
function of business is responsible to prepare appropriate budgets and managing the financial
transactions of the business in order to remain profitable.
Management Functions
There are various management functions which are crucial for performing different tasks
of a business which are as follows:
Planning
It is one the most important management functions which may require proper
consideration and active participation of entire organization. This function is responsible for
collecting an analysing the crucial information and choosing the best course of action for the
organization.
Organizing
Organizing is an effective system to establish authority of relationships between selected
people and workplaces in order to increase productivity. The major role of this function is to
prepare and manage all the resources and activities which are required to achieve organizational
goals.
Commanding
It explains the clear orders and tasks by the superiors which may help the organization to
mange the overall performance of employees and enhance their quality of work (Bashir, M. and
Farooq, 2019). This function is responsible for understanding the needs of team members and
deal smartly with the incompetencies of among different teams.

Coordinating
This function is a crucial part of the management functions as it may help Sainsbury's to
carry out all the activities effectively in order to enhance their overall performance. It focuses on
providing better communication and development channels for the employees to work together
effectively.
Controlling
It focuses on monitoring and controlling the all the activities in order to execute the
organizational plan effectively. The main responsibilities of this function is to report and
measure the actual performance and comparison the results with the pre defined standards.
The organizing, commanding and coordinating management functions are interrelated, as
with the collaborative help of these three functions, the organization may be able increase
productivity of the business. By properly managing these functions an organization may enhance
their performance which may help in its overall success (Lim, Zheng and Chen, 2020). It may
help a business to increase its efficiency in performing tasks and gain competitive advantage in
the industry.
Marketing Functions
Marketing department may have a significant role in an organization in order to manage
the overall functions properly and improving its performance. It may coordinate with various
important departments of the company in order to enhance productivity of Sainsbury's and
manage the current situation of the organization. It is important for an organization to effectively
organize all the departments in order to gain competitive advantage in the industry. By closely
working with the human resource management department, it may be helpful in research and
development of new product ideas and meeting the production targets.
Marketing department may help the organization to understand the training and
development needs of the employees and providing them with the required resources to ensure
their productivity and development (Diklić, 2018). Marketing department may work closely with
the finance department in order to prepare effective budget to meet the promotion, research and
distribution needs of the company. The main role marketing department is to focus upon the
market share and sales volume in order to help the finance department to prepare effective
strategies for increasing their overall productivity. Marketing and production department have
a direct relationship, by understanding the needs of customers, the marketing department may

help the business to innovate new products and decide the production quantities which may be
appropriate according to the market demand. It may help the business to gain competitive
advantage and succeed in the business. The marketing department may have an important
contribution in increasing the productivity of the company by coordinating with various
departments in order to achieve success in the industry. The marketing department may highly
focus on understanding nature of the target market and its competitors in order to enhance the
overall performance of the company in the industry.
HR and Talent Management
The HR department may be one of the most important aspects of the overall management
of the business. It includes strategies which may be effective in order to enhance performance of
employees by fulfilling their needs. The main role of HR is to recruit high potential candidates
and manage their training and development activities in order to increase their efficiency.
Establishing effective communication in the organization is one of the key roles of the HR
department. It may be responsible to provide employees with career assistance and job security
which may help the employees to grow and prosper.
Manage employee conflicts and issues that may arise in order to reduce the distractions
that employees might face in the work environment. Talent management is an effective process
which may involve attracting and retaining high potential employees by developing their
personal and professional skills and motivating them to contribute with their full potential
towards the business. It is important for Sainsbury's to increase its quality of work by effective
managing its talent which may help the business to grow and gain competitive advantage in the
industry (Edelson, Senk and Stock, 2018). By motivating the workforce, the company may be
able to increase their engagement towards the organizational goals in order to achieve success in
the industry.
Organization culture is defines a collection of different values, practices and expectations
which may help to guide and inform the actions of all the team members. A positive culture may
help the company to improve employee satisfaction and increase their productivity. A strong
culture may be beneficial for the organization to standardize the policies and procedures for the
employees in order to provide a flexible working environment which may be beneficial for their
overall development. It may be help the business to effectively achieve the organizational aims
and objectives (Kartikowati, Gimin and Sakdanur, 2018). On the other a weak organizational

culture may arise various problems and confusion among the employees which may have a
negative impact on their efficiency and productivity. It may put pressure on the employees which
may reduce their existing performance and their quality of work.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of the above report it has been understood that various management
structures and business functions have been beneficial for the business to prepare effective
strategies in order to increase their productivity. These functions have been helpful for the
business to manage their workforce effectively and establish a better communication between
various departments.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akgün, A.I. and Karataş, A.M., 2020. Investigating the relationship between working capital
management and business performance: Evidence from the 2008 financial crisis of EU-
28. International Journal of Managerial Finance.
Bakator, M. and et.al., 2019. Impact of human resource management on business performance:
A review of literature. Journal of engineering management and competitiveness
(JEMC). 9(1). pp.3-13.
Bashir, M. and Farooq, R., 2019. The synergetic effect of knowledge management and business
model innovation on firm competence: A systematic review. International Journal of
Innovation Science.
Diklić, K., 2018. Introduction, change management and teacher attitudes. International Journal
of Economics & Law. 8(22). pp.25-36.
Edelson, S. A., Senk, C. C. and Stock, K. L., 2018. Using an integrated business experience to
take the place of “introduction to management” in an integrated curriculum. Journal of
Education for Business. 93(7). pp.332-340.
Kartikowati, R. S., Gimin, G. and Sakdanur, S., 2018. Mind-mapping for conceptual material of
introduction to management. Journal of Educational Sciences. 2(1). pp.83-90.
Lim, K. Y. H., Zheng, P. and Chen, C. H., 2020. A state-of-the-art survey of Digital Twin:
techniques, engineering product lifecycle management and business innovation
perspectives. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing. 31(6). pp.1313-1337.
Yablonsky, S., 2018. A multidimensional framework for digital platform innovation and
management: from business to technological platforms. Systems Research and
Behavioral Science. 35(4). pp.485-501.