Company Structure
Discuss about the Contemporary Case Studies In Corporate.
The company chosen for this particular assignment is Wesfarmers. The company has grown to become one of Australia’s largest listed organisations. The headquarters of the company are in Western Australia and the diverse business operations cover a majority of areas. The areas covered include “supermarkets, liquor, hotels, convenience stores, home improvement, office supplies, departmental stores and an industrial division with businesses in chemicals, energy, fertilizers, industry and safety products and also coal.” The company is considered to be one of the largest private sector organisations in the country of Australia. The employees of the organisation include around 220,000 employees and possess a shareholder base of around 530,000.
The company desires to achieve the objectives which desires for itself by fulfilling certain objectives. The company aims to satisfy the needs of the customers by means of providing goods and services on a basis which is competitive as well as professional. The company provides a safe environment of work which is also fulfilling and this also allows for the rewards to employees who perform well and there are great opportunities for advancement as well. The company aims to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the countries in which it operates by the improvement of existing operations in a proper and efficient manner which helps in finding suitable opportunities for expansion. The organisation is such that it responds to the attitudes and expectations of the communities in which the organisation operates. The organisation also gives a huge emphasis on the protection of the environment and there is a proper action regarding the dealings of the company. It is seen that the principles of integrity and honesty are maintained in all the organisational dealings.
The company got its start as a famer’s cooperative in the country of Western Australia which happened more than a century ago. At present the company is one of the country’s most diverse companies and it is regarded as the largest retailers after the acquisition of the food and liquor sales of the Coles group. The interests of Wesfarmers ranges from general merchandise, office products, retailing, coal mining, gas processing and distribution, production of chemicals and fertilizers, building of the sales of the materials and the distribution of maintenance, repair and the operating products and the industrial and safety products and insurance. Under the leadership of Goyder, the company satisfies the requirements of the consumers by means of the provision of goods and services. This is on the basis of competition and provision. The story of Wesfarmers helps proves clearly that the success of the organisation is totally dependent on the proper management and the good leadership of the company. This is irrespective of what the industry which the business is working in. There is a concrete business structure which helps in the prioritization of the business model.
Company leadership Style
The method of performing business in the Wesfarmers Company is the commitment towards the creation of value for all the relevant stakeholders in a sustained and responsible way in all the communities of operation. There are over 5 lakh stakeholders, more than 2 lakh employees and excellent business portfolios. There are different operative locations all over the world. The group structure of the company has been clearly shown in the above figure. There are two major situations which are retail and that of industries and other businesses. Under the retail category of Wesfarmers there are four major subdivisions. These include that of Coles, Home Improvement and office supplies, target and that of Kmart. Under that of Industrial and other businesses, there are five types of divisions which are included in this particular connection. These include the resources, insurance, chemicals, energy and fertilizers, industrial and safety factors and finally that of other activities. All these come under the company group structure and are equally important for the overall organisational success.
“The year 2008 marks the major milestone in the company’s development history. Acquiring Coles Retail Group in this year has made Wesfamers become one of Australia’s largest retailers with the rate of the contribution to the total revenue of the company is greatest during the following years. More detailed, the revenue of 27,688 million USD (taking 82.6% total revenue of the company) in 2008, 43,736 million (85.9%) in 2009 and 45,688 million (88.2%) in 2010. Inside, the Coles division holds the biggest contribution rate with 16,876 million (50.3%) in 2008, 28,799 million (56.6%) in 2009 and 30,002 (58%) million in 2010”.
“Apart from generating the highest revenue, the Retail segment brings the highest profit to the company. And the evidence is that EBIT of 1,432 million (61.4%) in 2008, 2,021 million (62.2%) in 2009 and 2,341 million (78.8%) in 2010. However, the contribution rank, for the divisions, is different each year such as the highest EBIT in 2008 is of the Home and Office Supplies division with 625 million (26.8%) but the Resources division comes to the top by 2009 with nearly 885 million (27.2%) and year 2010 is the come-back of the Coles division with 962 million (32.4%).
There are various types of leadership styles which are applied in business organisations. These styles include that of Autocratic, Participative, Transformational, transactional, Laissez faire among others. The style of autocratic leadership is that where the managers are allowed to take decisions without the interference of the others. The managers in this situation like to possess a level of complete authority. The participative style of leadership is responsible for helping the employees to take part in the decision making of the company. In case of transformational leadership, the managers provide the rewards or punishments to the team members on the basis of the results of the employees. The transformational leadership style is considered to be effective in several situations.
The understanding regarding the organisational style of the company is concerned with the adoption of participative style of leadership. The participative style of leadership is applied in case of Wesfarmers company. This is because the opinions of the employees are given their due importance in the company proceedings. The CEO of the company, Rob Scott, has stated that “as a leader it is not about having all the answers. I do not subscribe to the stereotypical view that a leader needs to be extremely charismatic and have all the answers to thump the desk.” In the opinion of the CEO, “I take the view a good leader builds a really strong team around them, provides equal measures of support and challenges to the team and creates an environment where the values are clearly understood and the team feels inspired to deliver better outcomes.”
There needs to be a relevant development in several areas of organisational performance in order to become an effective leader. There needs to be the presence of an effective communication skill which is required to manage the teams and their work effectively (Vidovich and Currie 2012).
The CEO of the company has stated that there are certain factors which need to be maintained at the time of running a huge organisation like Wesfarmers. The manager states that there should be the absence of ego and the requirement to control the key attributes of the leaders. The leaders who possess high ego, tend to be in a level of high control over their subordinates. The leaders need to be themselves and the personal strengths and weaknesses need to be focussed on. This helps leaders understand themselves better.
The most important fact which has been highlighted is that of being strong and supportive in bad times. It is natural for the leaders to look to their subordinates for all sorts of reasons. Therefore the leaders need to be focussed in hard times so that the people consider them to be dependable. The leaders also need to allow employees to get on with their own jobs. In case the employees are encouraged in their work, they are bound to develop a certain amount of respect for their managers. This will help the employees perform efficiently (Biddle 2016).
The boss of Wesfarmers, Richard Goyder, the conglomerate needs to be careful. Otherwise it would be considered as negligent, in case the company did not leap into the international markets by an offshore acquisition. However, it needs to be carefully noticed whether the investors are patient or not. The company aims to direct and make way for the ground work for the eventual move overseas, the group consulting, in order to get proper opportunities and the skills which are necessary to fulfil the challenges of an offshore deal. According to the chief manager of the company, “A leap outside of Australia when the time is right would add an overseas edge to Wesfarmers and the existing assets of the organisation which are currently heavily domestically dominated and in particular around the retail sector by the ownership of Coles, Bunnings, Officeworks, Target and Kmart.”
Wesfarmers is one of the top organisations of Australia. The company for the provision of suitable return to the shareholders has set the goal for the development of a unique highly focussed and disciplined working culture in the business. There is an adherence to the amount of integrity, openness, boldness as well as that if the accountability. The company has believed in the accomplishment of the goals need to focus on the suitable principles which help in the company achievements (Kilroy and Schneider 2017).
The maintenance of the enhancement of the physical environment where the company operates is crucial for including the strategies for the minimisation of the emissions, improvement of water as well as energy efficiencies. The minimisation of commercial by products and waste are also included. The company also tries to ensure there us a safe and secure work environment for all the employees, customers and stakeholders. The stakeholders who are to be treated with respect and decency include the employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers and the overall community with relevant amount of respect and decency. There has also been the investment in the community through partnerships, programs and sponsorships regarding the direct economic and commercial benefits (Tait and Loosemore 2012).
For providing, satisfactory returns to shareholders, Wesfamers has set the goal for the development of a exceptional, highly-focused and disciplined work culture in its business through adhering to integrity, openness, accountability and boldness. In addition to this, giving value to shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and community partners based on ensuring the strong economic, environmental and social performance also the sound governance framework that their contributions will drive the company’s business to the success in a broad and complex society. Apart from this, Wesfamers also aims to the national reconciliation with Aboriginal people as a way to enhance the importance and equality of persons. The company needs to ensure that the proper standards are maintained in all the avenues and the aspects. The company needs to maintain the overall operations by ensuring that the needs and requirements are maintained in the following manner.
Due to the interest of the company in the overall development as well as in meeting the needs of the customers and consumers the company has been able to achieve a level of global dominance. In order to emerge even more successful the company must maintain the overall standards of the business and development.
References and Bibliography:
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