J Sainsbury PLC :: Business and Management Studies

J Sainsbury PLC INTRODUCTION J Sainsbury PLC is one of the leading food retailers in the UK and also has interests in financial services. It comprises of Sainsbury's Supermarkets, Bells Stores, Jackson's Stores and Sainsbury's Bank. There are currently 583 Sainsbury’s supermarkets throughout the UK employing over 145,000 people, offering over 34,000 products and serving over 11 million customers a week. It is for these reasons that careful management of operations within each of the stores is vital to ensure that all processes are kept running smoothly so that customers can be served and products can be replenished. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES Customers want a quality service when they shop. A quality service is defined as ‘a service that consistently meets or exceeds a customers expectations’. The supermarket needs to look at the current value of a customer – how can they make this person spend as much money as possible in the store. They also need to look at the future value of the customer – how can they make sure that this person will return, when they will spend more. The objectives of the supermarket need to be looked at and worked towards very carefully. The diagram below shows the main performance objectives that are worked towards in the supermarket. Things operations should do†¦ Objective Provide error free goods and services Quality Minimise lead time Speed Keep delivery promises Dependability Adapt to change in circumstances Flexibility Minimise cost Cost Dr Andi Smart, University of Exeter For the customer to have a hassle free shopping experience then most, if not all, of these objectives need to be met. The first, and arguably the most important, objective in the store is quality. It is important because it is the most visible part of what operations do and therefore customers are easily able to make judgements on quality. In real terms inside the supermarket this means ensuring that products are in good condition, that the store is clean, that the interior decorations are appropriate and of a good standard and ensuring that staff are polite and friendly. Quality is managed very carefully within the store. The floor manager is responsible for overseeing the operation as a whole and controls the managers from each section of the store. These managers in-turn oversee staff in their own section and control stock rotation, cleanliness of the isles and goods and ensure that all fixtures are maintained. This top-down approach to the operation ensures that quality is maintained successfully within the store. The next objective is speed – ensuring a short transaction time at the checkout and making products readily available is the only way that speed can be managed within the supermarket. A checkout manager controls the checkouts, increasing and reducing the number of staff on