Specsavers Case Study: Leadership, Communication, Motivation, Culture

This case study examines Specsavers, a multinational optical retail chain operating in over 30 countries, focusing on its organizational culture, communication strategies, and employee motivation. The study analyzes how Specsavers has maintained its success through strong communication pipelines, liberal platforms for stakeholder participation, and a unique franchise model. It delves into the company's division structure, the role of optometry and retail divisions, and how they interact. The study also applies Herzberg's two-factor theory to explain employee behavior and motivation within Specsavers. Furthermore, it explores the importance of standardized communication, the impact of organizational culture on employee loyalty, and the role of innovation in maintaining high service standards. The case study highlights the interconnectedness of communication, motivation, and organizational culture in driving Specsavers' long-term success and market leadership.

Specsavers: A case study exploring
“Communication, ”Motivation”
and “Organizational Culture”

Introduction
Inter-organizational communication, motivation levels of the employees and the
organizational culture are three terms that are interconnected to each other. Setting up an
organizational culture for a small unit is an easy task, here communication can act as a
facilitator and allow the organization to perform certain day to day task. However, this type of
communication cannot support the intentions of an organization when they want to scale up
the business.
In the current assignment, we are discussing the case of Specsavers; it is an organization that
has its arms in more than 30 countries and surviving from the last three decades. Most of the
business units associated with this organization are not dependent on the parent organization
by the virtue of technological superiority or mass scale production. They are connected to
the parent organization because of the knowledge base.
This condition makes it a special case to study because most of the other multinational
organizations are surviving on the merits of technological monopolies and other investment
related barriers. Specsavers is an organization which is surviving purely on the merit of the
organizational culture derived by strong communication pipelines liberal platforms where all
the stakeholders are well connected with each other and they are in a position to participate
in the processes of the innovation.

Selection of an organization
For this assignment we opted for Specsavers Optical Group Ltd, it is a
British multinational optical retail chain; the main operational area of this
company are British Isles, Australia, many parts of Asia, European
countries and the Nordic countries. When it comes to the offerings, we
can name optician services like eyesight testing, vision glasses,
sunglasses, and contact lenses. A few years ago this company also
stepped into the business of hearing aids and won the status of being a
leading brand of United Kingdom. In terms of the market share in the
organized market, we find that this company holds a major share of 42
percent, which is the largest share among three other companies in a
single market.
It is a multinational organization; in the terms of the organizational behavior, they have set an example for the rest of the companies by setting a different kind of arrangement of the franchise in a different country. Three decades ago when
Specsavers started developing their retail network they faced the challenge of clubbing together the medical experts along with the regular marketing staff. It was difficult for them to balance these two necessary elements of their business model.
During that period, the market for optical solutions was not organized and most of the players were dependent on the prescriptions are given by the experts. Experts were an external part of the business model and it was difficult for the
organization to retain their loyalties for longer periods because of the competition.
In the current study, we will explore the innovations done by this company in order to come up with organizational culture to meet the challenges. We will also explore that how this newly invented organizational culture helped the company in
sustaining its business and helped it in completing this three-decade-long journey with an impeccable record of sales and customer satisfaction (Pappas, 2014).

Selection of an organization
It is a multinational organization; in the terms of the
organizational behavior, they have set an example for the rest of
the companies by setting a different kind of arrangement of the
franchise in a different country. Three decades ago when
Specsavers started developing their retail network they faced the
challenge of clubbing together the medical experts along with the
regular marketing staff. It was difficult for them to balance these
two necessary elements of their business model. During that
period, the market for optical solutions was not organized and
most of the players were dependent on the prescriptions are
given by the experts. Experts were an external part of the business
model and it was difficult for the organization to retain their
loyalties for longer periods because of the competition.

Primary Research
Elements from the definition of the organizational culture that is applicable in the case of Specsavers
The primary definition of culture says that “culture is a shared set of values and beliefs that determines a
collective course of action for the members of an organization. While considering the case of Specsavers we
find that the "method associated with the optometry diagnosis of the problem is formed the first part of the
information, and the aid given to the patient in the selection of right kind of solution for the problem forms
the second part.
In order to complete this operation, Specsavers divided its operations into two segments. In terms of
organizational structures, we can define them as two separate divisions (Yang,2012). The first division is
Optometry division and the second division is retail division. The organizational structure of Specsavers
follows this structure on macro and micro levels. The optometry division reports to the optometry director
of the unit whereas the retail division reports to the retail director (Smith,2012).
This structure is unique in many ways because both these directors become an associate with the company
by the virtue of the license of a franchise (Mayer,2014). While looking at the organizational structure from
the top order, we find that it is a family run organization where the top three posts of the company belong
to the family members of the founders of the company. The executive rank of the company follows the
structure of two divisions, one belongs the retail while the other belongs to the optometry (Quinn, 2011).

Primary Research
The matrix of culture, motivation, and communication of the Specsavers give us an idea that
the organizational culture is dependent on communication under which the two different
divisions of the organization share the relationship of a buyer and the consumer. It means the
division which is manufacturing the tangible goods, collects feedback on a regular basis from
the optometry division where experts in the field of the optical solutions are dealing with the
end users and influencing them for the final purchase (Peterson, 2011). They optometry
division of the company acts as a secondary buyer and communicate the technical feedback
along with the feedbacks relate to the experiences of the customer (Hennink,2010).
This arrangement propagates a different kind of culture where the correction in the set
standards and high standard of quality acts as a motivational factor for the team which is
producing the goods. The marketing division along with the advertising experts helps the
optometry division in developing an understanding of the brand perception of the probable
customers. This exercise creates a motivation for the optometry team so that they can
connect the products with different anecdotes and enhance the impact of the positively
perceived qualities of the product (Hofstede, 2011).

Primary Research
While having a look at this organizational culture we find that
this company cherishes its organizational knowledge well, they
have already seen the "four seasons of a vendor" in the market.
They are well aware of their fluctuations. Moreover, they are
capable of creating the prototypes of the business models in
the developed countries and later on transfer this technology to
smaller countries. The brand value of Specsavers is another
factor, this brand value places them as a consistent medical
technology player in the market and the brand positioning
further supports this organization in retaining its status as an
international player (Ronen et al.2013).

Secondary Research
Herzberg's two-factor theory can be utilized in the organizational culture of Specsavers. According to this theory
motivators and Hygiene associated with the immediate culture of the organization has this potential to change the
attitude of an employee (Hevner et al.,2014). Here we can explain the employee behavior with the help of X factor
theory. This theory divides employees into many compartments in accordance with the motivation levels. Based on
these compartments we can figure out the assets of the organization and the burdens that are bothering them. The
X-Factor theory says that an employee becomes a burden on an organization when he starts repulsing the
responsibilities (Macdonald,2015).
The two-factor theory explains this behavior under the hygiene of the organizational culture. This theory states that
apart from the basic factors like the salary, safety and working conditions, factors like the inception of the right
policies and justified supervision also act as a hygienic factor for the employees. In the case of Specsavers, we can
clearly see that the employees often feel secure about their jobs unless and of course, they are not doing anything
drastically wrong (Quinn, 2011).
The role of culture and communication in the improvement of the organizational efficiency
While going for the primary research exercise we find that the case of Specsavers presents three main layers of the
operations.
The production unit
Marketing division and advertising team
Optometry division enabled the outlets where they are selling the goods with the help of the influencers

Secondary Research
This structure is slightly different when we check the organizational profile of the other players
in the same industry sector. Here the company is taking care of the operations at an above the
line level. It means that instead of waiting for the feedback from the secondary market, they
are actually collecting the feedback from their own sources (Shobert, 2015).
Organizational communication can play a crucial role in this setup. It can act as a motivator and
set benchmarks of quality for all the divisions. The flow of communication can travel in two
pipelines. The first pipeline connects the producer of the goods with the advertisers. Producers
develop a product with some salient features with an intention to cater to a market. In the case
of Specsavers, we can see that their producers are developing new solutions in the field of
ophthalmology and placing them in front of the marketing team. Marketing team develops a
story around the product and passes it on to the next level where the influencers sell it by the
virtue of their expert status (Antal et al.,2017)
The second pipeline is the feedback pipeline where the influencers share the feedback of the
customers. The two-factor theory can define the elements that can improve hygiene under this
setup (Howard,2018).

Secondary Research
Standardized communication is the primary requisite
The offerings of the Specsavers are not lifestyle solutions; they cater to a certain definitive medical need of a
customer. This is why a standardized scientific approach is required. The exactness of the communication along with
the inclusion of the authentic facts is necessary for any communication (Hemgartiener et al.,2011). If we remove the
marketing division from the pipeline, it clearly states that a fact driven internal and external communication is
required. However, the presence of the marketing division ensures that they are able to scale up the product and
drag it in the bracket of being a lifestyle product. The addition of an informal tone in the message is required. The
culture of standardized communication can help the teams in identifying the goals and the missions of the
organization and keep all the associated departments on the right track (Holzinger et al., 2011)
Culture and employee motivation
The case of Specsavers presents a scenario where we can see that the quest for the quality and the consumer
satisfaction flows in the pipeline of the production and keeps the employees motivated. The two-factor theory
mentions about supervision as an important factor for the organizational hygiene, however, in the case of
Specsavers we can see that it is not the supervision but the quest for innovation that keeps the employees
motivated. While looking at the product portfolio of the company we find that this company is acting as a pioneer
of sorts where they are constantly improving their own service standards and keeping their employees motivated
(Han, 2011).

Secondary Research
Organization culture plays a crucial role in defining the loyalty of the employees, a few months ago,
the oldest employee and the first employee of the company Helen Pipet completed 35 years in the
company. Specsavers celebrated this occasion with great fanfare and the photograph of Helen
appeared in all the leading publications of the country the next day. The history of the organization
is full of such celebrations where they celebrated such types of accomplishments (Elliot, 2012).
Big organizations like Specsavers often find it difficult to manage between the standardized global
practices and the local cultures. For instance, we can see that they have well-developed networking
chains working in many countries of the world. All these teams are facing local challenges and
creating a knowledge pool for the parent organization. Specsavers promotes a healthy culture of
the bulletin boards and others mean of communication where an employee can correlate himself
with the organization cultures which are diverse in nature (Shickle,2014).
For a better understanding of this arrangement we can also say that Specsavers successfully
managed an autonomous culture for its far off units where they can get this feeling that they are
enjoying a liberty to change a few things in accordance with the local market, while they are a part
of a big organization (Han, 2011).

Secondary Research
How this culture can be enhanced for ensuring future success
While studying about the organizational culture, motivation, and communication we opted for an organization
like Specsavers for a particular reason. We were seeking for an organization with a vast presence across the
globe and catering to the diverse needs of the different regions while bringing all sorts of knowledge pools and
sales networks under a single roof. The three-decade-long journey of this organization not only successfully
managed these operations but they successfully assimilate and retained these fragments in their main
organization (Elliott, 2012).
If we wish to enhance this culture further then a strong culture of knowledge exchange can be facilitated. For a
better understanding of this culture, we need to look back at the communication pipeline of the organization
once again. For instance, if the optometry department of a store located in the USA sets a new trend by selling
good to the corporate clients on a discounted rates then the same business model can be adopted in India and
European countries as well. The communication pipeline can first flash this story as a success story; in the second
step, their planning division can commission a survey where they can check the feasibility of the same business
model in other countries.
The implementation of many such models can create an organizational culture for the company to utilize their
resources in best possible ways and expect some amazing success stories that can become a source of inspiration
for the other fractions of the organization (Brogan, 2015).