INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS

-
ASDA

2001179 – Amelia Ghibu

2001388 - Gabriel Munteanu
2001413 - Alin Dumitrescu
 Introduction
 ASDA is the 3rd biggest retailer in the UK, born in 3rd of May, 1965. With a long story
behind it, starting back in 1920. In 1966, the company became the first food store that
offered general merchandise. By December 2019, ASDA has 14,8% market share and
over 630 stores. Nowadays, ASDA has different store formats as Supercentres,
Superstores, Supermarkets, Asda living, George stores, and Petrol Filling Stations.
(ASDA, 2020)
 This presentation will provide details on how different departments of the same company
are working together for the same objective. Also, we’ll provide explanations on how
internal and external factors impact the business course.
 Departments in ASDA

 1. Marketing department. Marketing refers to activities in an organization that

attempts to advance the purchasing or selling of an item or a service. Marketing
incorporates promoting, selling, and conveying items to purchasers or different
organizations. (Alexandra Twin, 2020). The marketing department in ASDA is
divided in several sub-departments like Product, Price, Place, Promotion,
Process, People, and Physical Evidence. Even if each department has different
strategies and different goals, they communicate and keep a close touch.

 2. Distribution department. This department is the one charged with the

responsibility of receiving items and directing them to other customers.
(Malcolm Tatum, 2020). Asda has 15 main distribution centres in UK. The
warehouses are used to store food and non-food items before being moved to
their individual stores.(thenxgroup, 2017). According to their site, distribution
activity incorporates 39 operations nationwide, including 21 food depots, 3
clothing centres, 2 ambient GM hubs, and 2 import centres. (corporate.asda.com)
 Departments in ASDA
3. Legal department. This department has the role to maintain and prevent
any legal issues that might appear within company. People from legal
department assume a critical role in investigating and drafting contracts,
employing policies and handle court cases. (Josh Castle, 2017).

4. Human resource department. Human resource includes creating and

controlling projects that are intended to expand the effectiveness of an
organization or business. It incorporates the whole range of making, managing,
and developing the business worker relationship. For ASDA, human resource
department is responsible for:
- Managing job recruitment, selection, and promotion
- Developing employees benefits and wellness program
- Providing orientation programs for new hires
- Providing guidance regarding disciplinary actions
(humanresourcesedu, 2020)
 Teamwork and its
Importance
Talking about the teamwork, we can refer to the dictionary definition
which is a “co-operation between those who are working on a task.”
(www. the-happy-manager.com).
But this lack of the most important thing that describes a teamwork,
and that’s the willingness of people in working together to achieve a
common goal. Only when each individual involves with his/hers best
aptitudes and qualities in the task given, we can see the real
advantages of teamwork.
Among the benefits that teamwork can bring to a business are the
improvement of communication, diversity of solutions you can
choose from, building trust between co-workers, and teaching how
to solve conflicts over ideas in the workplace.
Collaborative Work Practices
 Marketing and Sales: Teamwork doesn’t refer only to people working
together in the same department, but to inter-department work, also.
For example, sales and marketing have to create profiles of buyer
personas so they could better target the customer. The two departments
work so better together, that a new word was created around 2010, to
describe them both: “Smarketing”.
 Finance and Human Resource: Every time HR hires new people,
regardless the payment, it has to consult the finance department if the
company has the right budget. Same thing if the company wants to
invest in high qualification of its employees (Sao, S., 2017).
 Finance and Marketing: The same issue appears for people on
marketing department. When they decide a new commercial needs to
be done, super offers for Easter or winter holydays, they always have to
ask for approval from finance department.
 INTERNAL FACTORS
Financial Resources: The financial resources represent the totality of the financial means
necessary to achieve the economic-social objectives in a certain period. Large amounts of
business financing can create a variety of problems for a company. On one hand, if the
company has too much debt, its access to financing may be constricted, perhaps before
the company had a chance to complete its growth strategy. In addition, if a company has a
high amount of debt and revenue suddenly stalls, such as in a recession, it may leave the
business unable to fulfil its obligations. On the other hand, if a company continually relies
on equity financing, it may find that it loses a certain amount of decision-making
authority, a factor that could inhibit growth strategies just as much as a lack of funding.
The multinational retailer ASDA can reach its desired financial goals because it is a
successful company and has confidence in the creditors. (Public Financial Resources,
2020)

Human Resources: Human resources (HR) is the department within a business that is
responsible for all things worker-related. That includes recruiting, vetting, selecting,
hiring, onboarding, training, promoting, paying, and firing employees and independent
contractors. HR is essential for Asda. The HR management must organize the training
program for personal development. The consequence of the development of human
resources increased the production. Asda’s HR has motivational training, assessment, and
personal development planning. (O'Farrell, R., 2020)
 INTERNAL FACTORS
3. Management: The management definition is a single or group of individuals
who challenges and oversees a person or collective group of people in efforts to
accomplish desired goals and objectives. The management of ASDA is
professionalized and adapted for the kingdom market, in relation to the
availability of labor force and finally to the clients' demands. Like the other
companies in the UK, ASDA prioritizes the management of the company by
investing in all areas of professional activity. (Wilkinson, J., 2013)

4. Strengths: The strengths points of a company are represented by internal and

positive factors that could help that business evolve, take advantage of
opportunities, and finally become superior to its rivals. (Farooq, U., 2018)
ASDA is the third biggest retailer in UK, famous for its solid administration. A
good move was to hire people from other big global names in strategic position,
consolidating its position.
External Factors
 External Factors - Pest Analysis
Political factors. The political structures in every country have a
massive impact over companies’ business in any branch they might
activate in. Every decision taken by the government can lead to
increases or losses in companies. This is the reason why every company
has to be ready to deal with both local and international politics.
(contributor, 2015). An example when the government was involved in
ASDA’s business course, was in 2013, when the products had to be
described accurately, otherwise it can cause an issue.

Economical factors. These factors are connected to money, goods, and

services. Every one of them influence the demand and supply. A new
product on the market will have a higher price due to its high demand,
whether is an electronic device or a bio-food item. (Farooq, U., 2018).
ASDA was affected by the inflation rate, when products and services
cost more and the costumers had less money to spend as their wages
had not increased. (Essays, 2018)
 External Factors - Pest Analysis

Social factors. We can not talk about a specific list with social factors,
due to the fact that every country, region has its own habits. Among
social factors we can count education level, immigration, minorities,
ageing population, celebrity following, new style of live (more bio
products, eco-friendly recyclables). ASDA has to understand the
importance of all these factors and introduce new products and services
to line up to this new world-tendency. (Sodry, S., 2018)

Technological factors. In a world that is constantly moving forward at a

high speed, technological factors are important part in developing any
business. Online sales, home delivery, fidelity cards for customers are
examples when technology has a crucial role. ASDA has to constantly
sustain its present technology, upgraded it when possible, and invest in
new ones to improve productivity. (Essays, 2018)
 Conclusion

Regarding all the factors involved in

such a big structured company as
ASDA, it is hard to give an answer to the
question “what can the retail company
do for its best future?” The management
involved has to constantly watch closely
the competitors, prices, new
technologies, productivity, cost structure,
price and demand, political and social
tendencies in order to ensure a bright
future on a long term.
References
Alexandra Twin, 2020, Marketing, available: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing.asp,
last accessed 18th feb. 2020.

Malcolm Tatum, 2020, What does a Distribution Department do?, available: https://
www.wisegeek.com/what-does-a-distribution-department-do.htm,
last accessed 18th feb. 2020.

Thenxgroup, 2017, Asda Distribution Centres, available:

https://www.thenxgroup.com/2017/02/08/asda-distribution-centres/
last accessed 18th feb. 2020.

corporate.asda.com, Company Facts, available: https://corporate.asda.com/our-story/company-facts

last accessed 18th feb. 2020.

Josh Castle, 2017, General Administration & Legal Department in Business, available: https://
study.com/academy/lesson/general-administration-legal-department-in-business.html,
last accessed 18th feb. 2020.

Humanresourcesedu, 2020, What is Human Resource?, available: https://

www.humanresourcesedu.org/what-is-human-resources/
last accessed 18th feb. 2020.
 References

The-happy-manager.com. Define Teamwork, available: https://the-happy-manager.com/articles/define-teamwork/

Last accessed 18th feb. 2020.

Public Financial Resources, 2020, available:

http://www.referatele.com/referate/economie/online10/Referat-resursele-financiare-publice-referatele-com.php,
last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Renee O'Farrell, 2020, The Impact of Finance on Business Growth, available:

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/impact-finance-business-growth-4506.html, last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Definition of Human Resources, 2020, available: https://www.shopify.com/encyclopedia/human-resources-hr,

last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Jim Wilkinson, 2013, Definition of Management, available: https://strategiccfo.com/management-definition/,

last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Umar Farooq, 2018, SWOT Analysis Strengths Definition & Examples, available online
https://www.marketingtutor.net/swot-analysis-strengths/, last accessed 3rd March 2020.
 References
Contributor, 2015, What is PESTLE Analysis? A Tool for Business Analysis, available:
https://pestleanalysis.com/what-is-pestle-analysis/, last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Essays, UK, 2018, The Business Environment Of Asda. available:

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/economics/the-business-environment-of-asda-economics-essay.php?vref=1,
last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Dr. Sewel Sodry, 2018, Pestle analysis of ASDA, available:

https://www.howandwhat.net/pestel-analysis-of-asda/, last accessed 3rd March 2020.

Sanket Sao, 2017, HR and Finance: A strong relationship for your business success, available:
https://www.financialforce.com/blog/hr-and-finance-a-strong-relationship-for-your-business-success/,
last accessed 3rd March 2020.