Management Analysis for the Body Shop International Plc - Case Study Example

Introduction This paper looks to conduct a management analysis for The Body Shop where it looks to evaluate Body Shop on different areas and parameters. The paper focuses on Body Shop as a whole business unit and then narrows it down to the entrepreneurship business of Body Shop in Australia. It then analyzes the different strategies and issues which have been handled by Body Shop with regard to organizational behaviour, human resource management, international business and technology management. This is followed by bringing forward the manner in which innovation is witnessed in Body Shop and the future steps and strategies which Body Shop can further adopt so that the long term growth of the business can be ensured. This will thereby help to understand the different dimensions and will set out the path which Body Shop is following and the manner in which it has grown and the expected future prospect. Background & Importance of the business The Body Shop International Plc which is famously known as Body Shop offers its customer a range of cosmetic and make up products. The organization has over 1,200 products with over 2,500 franchises in 62 countries (Body Shop, 2015). The company has its headquarters in Littlehampton, West Sussex. England and was started in the year 1976 by Anita Roddick (Body Shop, 2015). The organization has now become a part of the L’Oreal group and looks to carry out its business under the brand umbrella. The products which Body Shop offers range from products meant for body, face, hair and home (Body Shop, 2015). The company claims that its products are inspired from nature and contains ingredients like marula oil and sesame seed oil. The company further looks to certify that the products offered by them are organic and has little impact on human body. Body Shop looks to be innovative and keeps on adding new products so that they are able to attract different section of the society. A worldwide presence and have a large number of products has helped Body Shop to create a brand name which different customers from different section of the society look towards having. The Body Shop opened its first store in Australia in 1983 and since then the business has grown and has over 90 stores across the country (Body Shop, 2015). The Body Shop in Australia offers its customers with a wide range of products where customers can purchase the same through three different channels like their store, Body Shop at Home and online. The organization looks to continuously evolve by adding new products, using new ingredients which are organic and campaigning on different social issues which have helped to gain better attention. The Body Shop has been able to increase its volume of trade in Australia as the products are of superior quality and provides customers with an opportunity to use products which have little or no harmful impact on their body. Sustainability Related Strategies & Issue Body Shop to develop its business and to have a global presence has looked towards continuously evolving the business and has developed different strategies which focus on different areas so that better results can be achieved. The overall dimensions has provided an opportunity to grow its business but has also raised different issues which the management keeps on addressing from time to time so that better effectiveness can be garnered. This has helped Body Shop to ensure that their business is developed on strong grounds and the business is able to achieve its different objectives. Some of the sustainability related strategies and issues which Body Shop faces are as Role of Organizational Behaviour: The success of Body Shop can be largely attributed to the manner in which the organization works. Body Shop has looked towards having a similar organizational structure everywhere to ensure that the business is carried out in a similar manner and has similar goals (Barbosa & Cabral-Cardoso, 2007). The most crucial aspect while doing so is dealing with people as behaviour of people are complex and varies from one individual to another. The mechanism which has been adopted looks at treating people with dignity which not only involves the internal stakeholders but also the external stakeholders. The overall dimensions are aimed towards creating a culture where people are able to come together and work in an accomplished way. Body Shop has looked towards establishing authority and responsibility relationship within the business enterprise (Day, 2007). This has helped the business to be carried out on grounds where they look towards working in the hierarchal concept which has been identified. This has helped to improve relationship. Further, the process of organizational behaviour looks to treat all people equally and aims towards providing the required opportunity and respect which people aim for. This has helped to improve relationship and has improved the degree of coordination as the different work can be accomplished in the best way. Organizational behaviour has thereby helped Body Shop but at the same time has different issues among employees, created differences between the management and the employees which have hindered the manner in which different work is being carried out (Hoobler, Basadur & Lemmon, 2007). It becomes imperative that Body Shop addressed those issues and develops strategies which will help to combat those. Human Resource Management Practices: Body Shop has been very active in determining the different human resource management practices which will be used within the organization. Body Shop looks at hiring the best talent in the industry and then looks to provide complete training to the employee so that they are able to understand each product better (Cable & Judge, 2006). This has helped to improve communication as the employees are clear and have all knowledge about the products which makes it easy for them to communicate the same to the customers. The human resource practices at Body Shop also aim at motivating the employees so that they remain loyal to the organization. The organization has certain different steps like providing training, direct communication, informal dialogue at market level, a company intranet and a variety of employee and consultant magazines (Khatri, 2010). In addition to it different incentives and perks are also provided so that the employee remains motivated and is able to contribute towards the goal. Body Shop has also looked towards having different methods and strategies which are aimed towards the development of employees so that they can carry out the different roles and responsibilities even at higher position within the organization thereby looking towards succession planning. Despite the different developments and areas which Body Shop has identified with regard to human resource it faces difficulties associated with difference in culture of people making it difficult to come together, differences in opinion of people which has increased differences and shortage of supply of manpower (Sevari & Kandu, 2011). This is an area which Body Shop needs to focus and deal with as it will help them to improve their performance and ensure better opportunities in the future. Role of International Business: The growth and success of Body Shop can be acknowledged to the fact that international business has supported them. Working on the global arena has helped Body Shop to ensure that they become a global brand as otherwise the business would have been limited to England only. International business has opened the doors for Body Shop as moving into other markets has reduced the level of risk with regard to dependency of the business and has provided a new market to cater (Peng, 2011). The increase in the volume of sale and growing trade relations has helped Body Shop to be innovative and add new products to its already present product line. Body Shop has also taken the required steps which are needed while working in the global arena and has looked to abide with the different rules and regulations which has been provided. This has helped Body Shop to ensure that all the legal formalities are abided and has thereby helped them to consolidate their business position and deal with competition in a better way. Despite the different gains that Body Shop has been able to garner it faces different risk associated with currency and exchange rate fluctuations, different rules and regimes in different countries which has increased the amount of paper work and other legal formalities which they need to execute. Body Shop has to look at working on those dimensions so that appropriate policies can be developed which will improve their international business and provide an opportunity through which overall growth and development would become possible. Role of Technology Management: Technology is another important determinant which has shaped the performance of Body Shop. Body Shop is highly dependent on technology as working on the global arena requires the usage of technology to be able to withstand competition and to provide customers with all their requirements. The usage of technology can be seen with regard to purchase as consumers can procure the products online, solve their queries online, and garner new information about products through the same medium. The usage of technology has also provided the opportunity to ship the products to even far flung areas and has helped to improve their penetration which is seen from the presence in over 61 countries. This has also helped Body Shop to reduce the cost as different products prototype can be easily tested and based on it product design and other things can be tested. The brand development process of Body Shop is heavily dependent on technology as using it the business has been able to penetrate and reach different parts of the globe. Despite the different gains the manner in which technology is constantly changing has increased the cost as the business needs to continuously upgrade the same and while looking to do so have to ensure that technology changes keeps them ahead of competitor. In addition to it the pace of technology change is very rampant which has multiplied the degree of risk and has made it difficult for Body Shop to deal with the changing business environment. The organization as a result has to find out counterproductive measures which will help to deal with the issues associated with technology change and provide a framework through which overall development of the business becomes possible. Analysis of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Body Shop Body Shop was started by Anita Roddick in 1976 in UK where the store looked to sell cosmetic products. The idea was generated when Roddick visited a store which sold scented soaps and lotions under the banner The Body Shop (Body Shop, 2015). The shop which sold scented soaps and lotions ensured that their product used natural ingredients and looked to provide training to immigrant women so that they could use the same and develop products through the use of organic materials. This generated the idea and Roddick looked towards developing a chain of stores under the same brand name. Slowly with the passage of time Body Shop started to gain popularity and had stores over different regions of the world. The organization ensured that their products were organic and not tested on animals which thereby helped them to gain popularity and were able to create the required market through which growth and development became possible. Innovation was another important aspect which Body Shop relied on. Continuous innovation and addition of new products to their product line helped them to ensure that a complete change was witnessed in the manner different activities were carried out. Body Shop looked to be innovative and used different social campaigns through which they were able to work on aspect which people felt important. This thereby helped to come up with new ideas which brought about the required change and framework through which Body Shop was able to work on the different dimensions. As a consequence of the different steps which were undertaken Body Shop was able to bring about a complete change and has thereby revolutionized the manner in which different activities were undertaken. Future Strategies Body Shop based on the manner in which they performed and the different directives which they are looking to achieve have to formulate new strategies which will help them to perform better. The overall process for the future will be aimed towards looking towards consolidating their position and finding out the different areas where they need to give special focus. Some of the major strategies which Body Shop has to look at in the near future are Firstly, ensure that the turnover rates for employees improve. This will require strengthening their human resource policies by having ways which looks at retention of employees. Body Shop has to look at developing strategies which ensures continuous training, better perks and incentives and motivating the employees so that they remain within the organization (Ahmad & Schroeder, 2009). In addition to if having a proper work life balance and providing flexibility to employees which provides them an opportunity to develop different business dimensions is an important aspect of business. Further, the business has to look at determining the manner in which better team work and coordination can be developed (Darling & Leffel, 2010). Body Shop has to look at taking steps where they have a bench of talented employees who are capable of carrying out different activities. This will help Body Shop to deal with acute shortage of employees and will provide an opportunity where business will be able to handle the different task in a better way (Cipolla, 2010). Further, the training process has to be such that it looks to provide maximum information to the employees so that they understand the product better and will be able to handle the different needs of the customers in a better way. The employees as a result will be better placed and will be able to handle the different responsibilities which are assigned to them. This will lead towards determining the different dimensions through which overall business development would become possible and the business would be able to handle the different requirements in a better way. Secondly, Body Shop has to look at developing a process where their international business is better developed. This will look at having a standardized process so that customers visiting the stores at any region of the country are able to get the same feel and visualize the entire scenario to be the same. The working on the global arena has to further look towards ensuring that all the legal requirements are met and all steps are taken to ensure that they remain ethical and carry out their roles and responsibilities in a same process (Hisrich, 2010). The process of working in the international arena has to further look at ensuring that similar products are provided and the products are consistent. Further steps have to be taken to ensure that the exchange rate risk is dealt with so that while working in the international arena the business is able to work on the required fundamentals. This will help Body Shop to ensure that they are able to identify the different areas through which business effectiveness would improve and will provide an imperative through which the overall growth and business development would become possible. Thirdly, Body Shop has to aim towards determining the manner in which change in technology is impacting the business. Body Shop has to be on the forefront and has to look towards making timely changes in the technology so that business can ensure better rate of growth. While looking for technology growth and penetration the adoption of new technology has to further look towards ensuring that they stay ahead of competition (Daniels, Radebauch, and Sullivan, 2011). The adoption of technology should be such that it matches with the business needs and requirements so that the different process can be carried out smoothly. Care should be taken while using new technology as the business should ensure that the benefits outweigh the cost involved in it. This will help to determine the dimensions through which overall business effectiveness and development of the business becomes possible. Body Shop thereby has to look at determining the different dimensions which they need to look at and develop so that overall changes in the business process is ensured. This will help to bring effectiveness and will help Body Shop to carry out the different process and role in the most effective manner. Conclusion This paper conducts a management analysis for The Body Shop where it evaluates Body Shop on different areas and parameters. The paper focuses on Body Shop as a whole business unit and then narrows it down to the entrepreneurship business of Body Shop in Australia. It then analyzes the different strategies and issues which have been handled by Body Shop with regard to organizational behaviour, human resource management, international business and technology management. This is followed by bringing forward the manner in which innovation is witnessed in Body Shop and the future steps and strategies which Body Shop can further adopt so that the long term growth of the business can be ensured. This will thereby help to understand the different dimensions and will set out the path which Body Shop is following and the manner in which it has grown and the expected future prospect. References Ahmad, S., & Schroeder, R. G. 2009. The impact of human resource management practices on operational performance. Journal of Operational Management, 21, 19−43 Body Shop. 2015. The Body Shop. 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