Exploring Business Purpose Essay

Introduction: In this assignment I will be focusing on 4 different organizations and explaining their purpose, ownership, size and scale in full detail. Organization 1 ASDA: ASDA is a huge British supermarket which retails Mediterranean Food, CDs, Books, Videos, Clothing, Jewellery and House wares. ASDA is the UKs second largest food retailer after Tesco, ASDA was owned by Wal-Mart in 199ASDA is Wal-Marts largest non-US subsidiary. Furthermore ASDA is a private sector business (a business run for private profit and it is not controlled by the government). Purpose of ASDA: The purpose of ASDA is mainly to make profit but apart from that ASDA’s purpose is to provide goods and services that are cheap and affordable to consumers or the public. Also to reduce the cost of their products, in addition ASDA has another purpose which is packaging their products well and to support voluntary sector services. ASDA lives by a set of values that makes them unique, the company’s values include respect for individuals (staff, and customers) and good customer service and a try hard for excellence. ASDA takes corporate responsibility (management on a company’s impact on society and the environment) very seriously, ASDA believes that supporting corporate responsibility can make their products more affordable for customers. Ownership: ASDA is a Public Limited Company PLC (A PLC is a type of limited company which is permitted to offer shares to the public) an American retailing company called Wal-Mart owns ASDA. Its shareholders own the company and this causes the ownership to constantly change, as the share are constantly bought and sold. Size/Scale: ASDA is a very large business because it currently has 356 stores, which has 160,00 employees 95,00part-time employees and 65,00full-time employees. Also ASDA is a very large business because it sales in excess of 17 billion with over 17 million customers. This shows that ASDA is a very big business. ASDA is a national business which is all around the UK, they also have a brand George which is global, George is ASDA’s clothing brand name, so any clothing that is sold will be a George brand. This means that ASDA will be known more and will be making more money. Organization 2 Richer Sounds: Richer Sounds is a business which is owned by Julian Richer, Richer Sounds retails electronic goods such as; TV gears, hi-fi, home cinema systems etc. Previously Richer Sounds was in the Guinness book of records for the highest sales per square foot any retail outlet in the world and in 2002 Richer Sounds was judged as the best British owned company by the Sunday Times. Purpose of Richer Sounds Richer Sounds purpose is to expand their business, also to work as a team and to provide us their greatest products at a price which beats other company’s prices. Ownership: Richer Sounds is in the private sector, however in1987 they have decided to become an unlisted Public Limited Company (PLC) and since 1990 they have been an unlisted plc. Richer Sounds is 100% owned by Julian Richer (the founder and managing director of the company), Richer sounds decided to become an unlisted PLC because they did not want to offer any shares to the public. Size/Scale: Richer Sounds is a medium sized business, it currently has 48 stores nation wide 10 stores in London and 38 stores out of London. It has around 500 employees, 180 workers in their office or in their management and 320 employee’s works in retailing and warehousing. Moreover in 2003 Richer Sounds sales turnover was nearly 87 billion and their profit before tax was 4.5 million this means Richer Sounds has sold almost 280,000 of goods (in 2003). Richer Sounds is a nationwide business (businesses owned through out the whole nation). Organization 3 Royal Mail/Post Office: Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom, the Post Office is a retail company in the United Kingdom formerly part of the postal service Royal Mail. Post office is an independent agency of the regional government responsible for mail delivery (and sometimes telecommunications) between individuals and business in England. Post Office is the operator for the royal mail, it delivers mails and parcels for the royal mail. Purpose of Post Office: The purpose of Royal Mail is the leading postal service operator in the UK, Providing national and international distribution of mail and parcels, the Royal Mails operating unit is mainly Post Office. Furthermore the Post Office provides different types of services which are; licenses, taxes and insurance, stationary (in store). Ownership: Royal Mail/Post Office is a public sector business (the part of economy concerned with providing basic government services), the public sector deals with delivery of goods and services by and for the government whether national or regional. Size/Scale: Post Office is a very large business because, everyone uses Post Office because they have to send off their mails which is very important to them. Post Office has a network 12,500 branches, Post Office is the largest network in Europe and the largest retail branch in the United Kingdom handling more cash then any other businesses. Post Office has more than 400,000 members of staff in addition it has had a profit of 16 billion. Post Office is a nation wide business it operates in the United Kingdom. However Royal Mail delivers mail through out the world but they do not operate globally. Organization 4 Oxfam: Oxfam is a confederation , that has joined hands to help find solutions to poverty and injustice with 13 organizations working over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries. Oxfam works to improve the lives of the poor and to influence the powerful so that their message can be spread. Purpose of Oxfam: The purpose of Oxfam’s being is so that they can help people who are in need of shelter, food and money Oxfam does by collecting donations from us which is their customers. Oxfam does not just receive donations they also have stores which sales second hand clothing for a very cheap price, the money they receive is given to people in need. Ownership: Oxfam is a Voluntary Sector business (Business that involves workers who do not work for profit and operate with a meaningful degree of volunteer involvement) because it is done for the sake of helping people, private sector is mainly done for profit and to supply goods, so therefore I think that Oxfam is a voluntary sector business because it is a business organized to help people and it is not done for profit. Size/Scale: Oxfam is a medium-large business but it is not as large as other businesses e.g. ASDA and Post Office however Oxfam is a very important business. Oxfam has more than 13 organizations working with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam is a Global organization because it has 13 stores in different places all around the world.