Risk Management Plan for Woolworths: BSBRSK501 Risk Assessment

This assignment provides a comprehensive risk management plan for Woolworths, an Australian grocery retail center. It includes a stakeholder analysis, scope of risk management, and an analysis of both inner and outer contexts of risks, such as organizational structure, resources, political factors, and technological risks. The report also evaluates the likelihood and consequences of identified risks, presenting them in a risk register. Furthermore, the assignment details Woolworths' mission, objectives, vision, and critical success factors, alongside financial and WHS requirements. It discusses risk identification methods like brainstorming and tools for analysis and mitigation, offering a detailed insight into managing potential risks within the Woolworths business model. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

Running head: MANAGE RISK
Manage Risk
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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MANAGE RISK
Table of Contents
Part-A.........................................................................................................................................2
The organisation/small business................................................................................................2
Company overview.................................................................................................................2
Stakeholder analysis...............................................................................................................2
Scope of risk management......................................................................................................3
Analysing context of risks......................................................................................................3
Analysing and evaluating the risks for the organisation........................................................6
Hierarchy of control...............................................................................................................8
Part-B.........................................................................................................................................9
Risk Management Plan (RMP)..................................................................................................9
Documenting risk management plan......................................................................................9
Identifying and documenting associated risks......................................................................10
Preparing a risk treatment plan.............................................................................................11
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................12

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Part-A
The organisation/small business
Company overview
Woolworths is a popular Australian grocery retail centre that provides a variety of
products to its customers. The company was initially set up in 1924 as a grocery-selling store
but due to the rise in competition in the market, it started to sell other products such as beauty
and health care products, supplies for babies and stationary items. Therefore, the risk
associated with the company is more as it needs to comply with every legal statute that exists
in the country (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018).
Stakeholder analysis
The internal stakeholder of Woolworths consists of the employees and the owners.
The external stakeholder includes the customers and the Government. The stakeholder
analysis includes:
Stakeholder Impact Influence Priority level
Employees Contributes to
the productivity
Helps in
increasing the
productivity
2
Owners Motivates and
encourages
employees.
Develop
strategies
Ensures loyalty
of the
employees
remain
3
Customer Contributes to Helps in 1

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the success of
Woolworths
increasing the
revenue of the
company
Government Ensures that
legal laws are
complied with
Maintains
political ties
with other
countries
4
Table 1: Stakeholder analysis
(Source: Created by author)
Scope of risk management
The scope of risk management that Woolworths require to undertake is based on any
new projects that are undertaken by the company. Therefore, it is necessary that the company
identify the risks associated with the business that complies to employment and providing the
employees with the basic salary. At the same time, the customer analysis is also required to
be maintained so that the company can identify the demands of the customers.
Analysing context of risks
Inner context
Organisational structure: The risk associated with organisational structure is that the
hierarchy of control can be complicated. Employees need to understand their immediate boss
so that they can report to him about any problems that are faced within the work. A poor
organisational structure can hinder the progress of Woolworths for being the best grocery
retail store in the country (Holt-Lunstad et al. 2015).
Resources: The risk associated with the resources can be its longevity and the
availability. The resources may the employees as well as the raw materials that are necessary

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for the manufacturing of the products. The fact that Woolworths tries to sell varieties of
products in the market, makes it vulnerable to fall short of suppliers. Therefore, the risk
mitigation for the resources needs to be based on the type of manufacturing process
undertaken by Woolworths.
Culture: The culture of an organisation can be at risk if it is acquired by a different
organisation (Modarres 2016). In the case of Woolworths, the company is associated with
Coles as a conglomerate and thereby some of the values of Woolworths may be inspired by
that of Coles. The risk in this case involves gaining the trust of the people with the change in
the cultural factors of the company.
Power relations: The power relations consist of the relationship that exists between
the employees and the employers. The risk can be stated with the fact that the power relations
may not be taken seriously by the employee and employers because the power distance
between the two entities in Australia is less. Hence, risk may occur during the decision-
making activities of the organisation, as the employees may want to be a part of important
decisions related to the welfare of Woolworths.
Risk perception: The perception of risk may be different among the employees. As
stated by Modarres, Kaminskiy and Krivtsov (2016) risk can occur in every department of an
organisation and therefore, the perception of the risk may differ. This can cause conflict
within Woolworths and because of this; the company may have to suffer from loss of
customers and employees.
Strategy: The strategic risk can be associated with the internal and external factors
that dictate the success of a company. In the case of Woolworths, the company can face risk
with the fact that the external analysis of the company may provide it with a large amount of

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threats. These threats can be associated with the factors that involve politics and the
environment that form an important part of success for business (Kou, Peng and Wang 2014).
Motivation: The motivational factor may cause risk in an organisation in a way that
employees may not remain satisfied with the advantages that are provided to them. This can
cause huge problems for the owners, as they need to identify new ways to motivate the
employees and hope for the success of Woolworths. Therefore, it can be said that the internal
context of risk can have a significant impact on the business of Woolworths.
Outer context
Political: Aven (2015) has stated that the Government of Australia provides support
to the companies. However, there may be risks associated with the continuous change of
policies owing to the change in the economic and climatic change of the country. Some of the
risks that can be associated with the political factors include restriction of trade rights that
may prove as a problem for Woolworths. This is because the products manufactured by the
company are exported outside of the country.
Economic and market: The continuous fluctuation in the economy hinders the
progress in the market. The marketing factors of a Woolworth can be hindered due to the fall
in the economic condition of Australia, most importantly during the recession. Therefore, the
manager of the company needs to ensure that the economy of the country does not affect its
progress in a negative manner by applying price strategy on the products.
Social and cultural: The social and cultural aspects of the people need to be analysed
for proper business. In the case of Woolworths, the risk associated with this particular factor
can be related to the products manufactured and the promotional method used. Any ethical

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biasness need to be considered so that Woolworths does not violate ethical laws of the
country (Iooss and Lemaître 2015).
Legal: The legal risks associated can be maintaining with the legal compliance of the
country. For example, Woolworths need to comply with the organisational law, employment
law; environmental law and fair wage law so that it can maintain a legal business. However,
changes in the law need to be taken into consideration so that the company does not violate
any of the rules merely due to the failure of remaining updated with the legal stature.
Technological: The technological risk can be the failure of the machines used by
Woolworths. In the modern day, over dependence of technology usually provides
organisations with an advantage in the competing market. Therefore, any failure in the
technological aspects may provide a huge problem for the organisation (Cox 2018). Hence, it
can be said that the technological factor pose one of the strongest risk for Woolworths.
Environmental: The environmental risk involves the sustainability factors. For
Woolworths, the sustainability can be a risk for the company as the environment of the
country need to be maintained. Hence, it can be said that Woolworths need to manufacture
the products or dump its wastes keeping in mind the sustainability of the country.
Analysing and evaluating the risks for the organisation
Risk Likelihood Consequences Level of
risk
Criteria Risk
priorities
Maintaining
sustainability
Medium May loose the
trust of the
people and
deviate from the
social
Medium Medium 5

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responsibility
Technical
failure
High May not be able
to continue
manufacturing
and interacting
with customers
High High 1
Changes in
Government
policies
Medium May create
hindrance in
policies and
procedures
related to trade
Medium Medium 4
Changes in
legal rights
Low May probe
organisations to
commit illegal
conduct
Low Low 8
Economic
recession
High May deplete the
purchasing
power of the
customer and
reduce
profitability
High High 2
Changes in
the tastes of
the
individuals
Low May lower the
loyalty of the
customers
Low Low 7

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Organisationa
l structure
Low May create
misunderstanding
between
employees and
employers
Low Low 6
Lack of
resources
Medium May not provide
the company
with the required
ability to
maintain
production
Medium Medium 3
Table 2: Risk register
(Source: Created by author)
Hierarchy of control
The hierarchy of control present in Woolworths involves a hierarchical flow of power.
This means that the employees need to report to the immediate supervisors about any
discrepancy within the organisation. At the same time, it is also necessary that Woolworths
maintain the hierarchy by analysing the problems that are associated with the transferring of
information from the bottom tier to the top tier.

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Part-B
Risk Management Plan (RMP)
Documenting risk management plan
i. Mission: The mission of Woolworths is to become the heart of the community in which it
serves and become the best retail company for families (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018)
Objective: The objective of the company is to improve its stock turns and optimize the
efficiency of the networks in which it serves (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018)
Vision: The vision of the company is to become the most responsible retail company
in the world (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018)
Critical success factors: The critical success factors of the company is its employees
and the resources that are used for the manufacturing of the products
(Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018)
ii. The financial objective of the company is to ensure increase its revenue from $42.132
billion to $60 billion within 2 years (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018). This can be possible
by providing necessary products to the customers.
iii. The WHS requirements and relevant legislations for Woolworths need to be the Work
Health and Safety Act of 2011. The statutory compliance in this legislation is that every
company need to ensure the safety of the employees and provide them with the minimum
wages that they are entitled to get. The requirements of WHS of Woolworths are the safety of
the work policies particularly during the movement of goods from one part of the
organisation to another.

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iv. Woolworths is in a partnership with Coles. According to Andriof et al. (2017),
Woolworths and Coles together comprise for 80% of the retail market of the Australian
market. The organisational culture and the employees of both the companies work together to
ensure that the retail sector in Australia maintain its existence in the competitive market.
v. The short-term goal of Woolworths is to ensure that the loyalty of the customers is
maintained. The loyalty of the customers can be maintained by ensuring the raw materials for
the manufacturing of the products are maintained. The long-term goal is to expand the
business in international markets and increasing its reputation in the international market by
franchising (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018).
Identifying and documenting associated risks
i. The risk identification method that can be used by undertaking a brainstorming method.
This can provide the employees and the employers of Woolworths to work together and
ensure that the risk associated with every department is identified and mitigated in an
effective manner. The advantage of brainstorming is that various solutions can be gained
about the manner in which risks can be identified and mitigated. For example, the risk
associated with the lack of supply of raw materials can be mitigated by ensuring that the
bargaining power of suppliers is reduced.
ii. The tools that are associated with the analysis and mitigation include the contractor tools,
monitoring tools and customised tools. These tools provide a comprehensive analysis of the
risk management factors and ensure that proper management of the risks are devised. The
support to the risk management programme is provided that can be used by Woolworths to
customise the solutions associated with the application of the tools. Therefore, it can be said
that the application of the tools can help Woolworths to monitor the progress of new
strategies that are adopted by the company.

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Preparing a risk treatment plan
Risk Deadline Action Training
required
Monitor
and
evaluate
the plan
Reference
to legal
rights
Engage in
third party
audits
Gain the
support
and
loyalty of
the
customers
Within 5
months
Provide
discount
coupons
and
maintain
interaction
with the
customers
on a
regular
basis
Yes The
monitoring
can be done
based on
the
effective
use of the
contractual
tool
The
Competition
and
Consumer
Act 2010
No
Table 3: Risk treatment plan
(Source: Created by author)

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https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/icms_docs/182380_Corporate_Governance_Statement
.pdf [Accessed 5 Jun. 2018]