Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies

TMA 01

Part 1

Question 1 - Write a brief account of your own experiences to date using one of the three module themes

Using the module theme of ‘Theory and Practice’, I have used my experience as an employee at PwC to convey my thoughts on business organisations & their environments

My current role is as an IT project manager leading the application development of several analytics applications for use by staff within the Assurance practice and our clients globally. We can look in further detail by looking at PwC’s internal and external environment.

Some of the internal or immediate environment characteristics of PWC are;  Structure - Staff work together using a ‘hierarchical relationship’ (Powell), which means that there is more a clear cut reporting structure & specific individuals are empowered to make decisions and interact with the external stakeholder community  Culture – In the UK the culture is diverse, corporate and people work within a grade structure. Employees interact through formal channels  Focus - PwC is mostly known for accountancy & tax services but has a large consulting practice.  Size and reach - PwC is comprised of network of firms across157 countries and was deemed to be the 2nd largest professional services firm in the world. Within the UK firm there is approximately 20,000 staff across all lines of service and grades.  Complexity – The organization is a professional services multinational company with many different stakeholders on all levels and bridging multiple cultures/countries

Using the STEP Model, I can take a closer look at the influences in PwC’s external or wider environment:

Sociological  One of the big factors in recent years is people’s attitude towards healthy living. PwC instigated a new management strategy to address the need to provide for this in the workplace. An internal program to encourage a more acceptable work life balance culture was introduced offering flexible working, working remotely, providing the means to use work computers and phones for personal use, healthy eating campaigns and setting up initiatives for employees to take part in corporate fitness challenges.  Corporate responsibility – Green initiatives are also prevalent, such as recycling on every floor and removal all normal bins that do not allow for recycling.

Technological

 Technology is constantly changing the way we do things and if PwC do not stay on top of this challenge, then our clients will not differentiate us from our competitors.  Technology also allows us to do things differently. The demise of Arthur Anderson’s could have been prevented with better tools to manage the audit risks and information.  The company communicates to the world through it’s online presence.

Economical Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies

 Interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate have an impact on how PwC operates and make decisions. For example, interest rates affect the firm's cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business can grow.

Political  Legislation can affect how PwC operates. Sarbanes Oxley (2002) set enhanced standards for accountancy firms. This meant that top management must individually certify financial information. PwC had to change the way they audit public companies in order to comply.

Question 2 - Write a brief account of your personal and professional goals, and how your study of B201 is a part of that

In Appendix 1, I have drawn my personal system map from the ways of thinking module theme to illustrate my purpose in life and everything that that involves. It is clear from doing this exercise that we do not have a single purpose, but in fact we have multiple. The course material relayed this more succinctly, ‘However, most people have a much more complex existence than the pursuit of a single purpose – and that generates a multiplicity of roles.’ (B201, Activity 2.3). The map draws upon several significant aspects of my personal life but it is clear that to meet my goals B201 plays an important part of that;

1. Continue with my family. Role: Mother, girlfriend & role model  Harvey the greatest source of my happiness. I want to be a good mother and I want him to look up to me as someone who has a successful career  Joe is a biggest supporter of everything I want to achieve and the ‘stakeholder’ that has the most power and interest.  Together they are my stability and support system that allows me to study, work and have the confidence to try new things. My study impacts on their time with me and but I always have their support.

2. Provide for my family. Role: Employee  My current job is as a project manager at PwC and I enjoy the work that I do. The role that I currently perform is interesting and appropriately challenging. However, I have been at PwC for 15 years, the pay is poor, there is little reward and the promotion prospects are limited  Not having a degree may limit my ability to move to other permanent roles externally. B201 is a milestone on my degree path but it also provides a greater understanding and insight into the complexities and dynamics of the organization internally and externally.

3. Enjoy a successful career. Role: learner & opportunist  I have been working towards a degree for the last 6 years. I started a combined degree straight after school in Business Studies and IT, however due to personal reasons I was forced to leave the course and university half way through my second year. Since then I have been constantly been looking back. I get a lot of satisfaction out of the courses that I am doing and this one specifically will give me the confidence to progress either within PwC or on my own.  I am also currently looking at alternative opportunities: o Contractual employment on a day rate as a project manager. Better monetary reward but less stable employment o Permanent positions externally performing a Project management role. o Starting up my own IT support business. The business objective would be supporting homes and small businesses with their all their technology needs. Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies

 B201 helps me with each of these but more specifically I would need a degree for a permanent position and the course will definitely help me understand more about what’s involved in running a successful business. On top of this, there is a great personal satisfaction to self-development and driving for change and improvement.

4. Enjoy Sport. Whilst this doesn’t necessarily intertwine with the course it does give me the outlets that I need to break from work, study and family. It is something that is purely for me. Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies

Question 3 - Write a brief account describing how a business organisation has used information in order to attempt to better understand the environment in which it exists

Summary The Nectar card is an inventive reward/loyalty scheme which was launched by Loyalty Management Group in 2002 for customers of companies such as Sainsburys and BP. Since the launch, there are now over 20 companies where customers can collect and redeem points. Customers earn 2 points for each £1 spent. Once they save 500 points, these can be exchanged for the value of £2.50. The points can be redeemed at Sainsburys stores as cash or there are non-cash rewards where customers can save up and use them at one of the partner companies.

The information & its value

When you register for a nectar card, there is some required information needed to successfully register. This information includes the obvious information, such as name, address, age but also information about your household, mileage, shopping habits etc.

Once you are using the card, all transactions and spending habits can be tracked. This information is immensely valuable for a number of reasons;  They can use the information upon registration to understand likely spend on groceries, petrol, IT etc and start building a relationship by targeting customers based on the demographic profile.  Loyalty is paramount and points encourage loyalty to the nectar partners but they can also track how loyal you are  As customers start spending, the profile continues to grow to allow more specific targeting and they can also decide on what to sell based on what is bought.

The data is analysed by nectar (or a third party) through a set of rules that allows them to better understand the nature and the quality of the data, this is then used to understand and manage their customers better. Within the theory and practice theme Pfeffer and Salancik use a theory called ‘resource dependency’ to describe how an organization manages its interdependencies, such as the customers in the nectar example.

The information that is gained through the nectar loyalty scheme can be used to understand what action the company needs to take in order to manage their customers and the environment. For example the knowledge pyramid (B201, Activity 3.2) below depicts an example of how nectar could use the information. By ascertaining if they have a loyal customer base in a specific area they may choose to take an action to expand the store in that area to include products other than just groceries. Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies

Impact on the Organisation  They can use the information to stock the shelves based on shopping trends in specific areas.  They can see trends around brands, store locations, uptake of online shopping vs in- store  They can analyse average spends over the course of the year to predict stock levels  Use the scheme to communicate with the customers through email updates and how to earn additional point. This opens a direct line of communications with the customers for offers and news.  Trends during product launches can be monitored to understand the success of the product

In fact just the presence of customers having a loyalty card or not is information in itself for nectar. “If you transact without a Nectar card, you might have forgotten it, you may be a conspiracy theorist [concerned about giving away personal data], and thirdly, it tells us you’re not very loyal. It’s a hugely valuable tool for us,” he said (Computerworld UK, 2014)

Word Count: 1590

References

The Open University, B201 Organisations and their environments

Pugh, D, and Hickson, J (2007) ‘Writers on Organizations’ Sage Publications P71-73

Computer world UK (4 Mar 2014) http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/it- business/3505048/nectar-loyalty-card-gives-sainsburys-overview-of-omni-channel- transactions/ Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies

Appendix 1 – My personal systems map

Appendix 2 – Information held by Nectar Y2046016 B201/TMA01 Erica Jefferies