Learning Outcomes:
L01: Discuss the financial and ICT issues for key business functions.
L02: Evaluate and identify use of corporate governance and ethics within a business context of Royal Mail PLC.
Word count – 2,500 words
Write a report of 1250 words for each of the two tasks.
TASK 1 (1250 words):
“Creativity concerns the use of imaginative thought, leading to new ways of seeing things and may result in innovative solutions to a problem or the initiation of a change. Technology is often used in the process of creativity and creating”. Kelly, P. & Ashwin, A. (2013).
- Analyse the impacts of innovation and technology and how it has affected the sales, profits and growth of Royal Mail PLC.
- Presentation, referencing and grammar
POINTS TO CONSIDER:
- Generate your understanding of innovation, and the role of technological change in economic progress.
- A complete description of Royal Mail PLC company, and practical illustrations of how innovation has impacted the sales, profits and growth of your company.
TASK 2 (1250 Words):
“Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of achieving those objectives and monitoring performance are determined” OECD (2004)
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be referred as an attempt of business in order to meet certain legal, ethical, and commercial expectations as set by society. As a business goal, corporate social responsibility has grown in importance over recent years.
Using the same organisation chosen for Task 1:
- Examine the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the organisation
- Use Archie Carroll’s (1991) CSR model to the organisation
- Presentation, grammar and referencing
POINTS TO CONSIDER
- You are required to critically analyse corporate governance, including the responsibilities of the Board of Directors to the stakeholders.
- Determine the four areas that make up corporate social responsibility as identified by Archie Carroll. (1991). Use this model to your company. Mention relevant practical examples to demonstrate your understanding of this model.
INTRODUCTION
Business environment is absolute combination of set of conditions or factors that influences business to great extent. It connotes institutions, external forces and internal factors which are on the far side to control and affects functions of enterprise. Some factors may have direct influence while other operates indirectly (Boddy. 2016). By using analysis tools, corporate strategy managers of firm understands business environment so to deal with challenges, open new frontiers to achieve growth, improving business image, meet competition and determine threats with opportunities. For understanding the abstract idea of business environment, Royal Mail PLC is selected. The entity is one of postal service addition to courier entity that has headquarters in London, United Kingdom since the year 1516. The assessment includes impacts that it further covers importance of corporate social responsibility and application of Archie Carroll's (1991) CSR model to the business.
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TASK 1
1. Impacts of innovation as well as technology.
Concept of innovation and technology
It is the concept that involves procedures for adding additional aspects to develop new commodities or services which fulfils unaddressed requirements and solves needs that were ignored in past. It majorly emphasis towards technological aspects of commodities despite of covering full enterprise business model. With this concept, companies adopts latest method addition to techniques in the operations so to maximise level of productivity together with profitability (Cadle, Paul and Turner, 2014.). The concept helps in entity in embarking the journey by identifying the significance of technology as innovation source for achieving sustainability within market competitiveness. In context to Royal Mail PLC, the entity followed traditional methods in order to deliver commodities but after online mode as well as digitalization, general public prefers to send their information through e mails rather then letters which has decreased their profit margin. To overcome this, Royal Mail Plc has launched E-Commerce venture so to provide encrypted communication services through online across the country. By using the technology, the organisation was benefited in maximising its operational functions.
In present era, information communication technology has emerged as one of leading industry that brings various new innovation as well as job opportunities that helps in developing economy and also beneficial for the business enterprises. Technology advancement determines growth of economy that further leads in maximising efficiencies, revenues and productivity of the organisation. When business adopts latest innovational technologies, they are able to perform operations in distinct manner and improves effectiveness together with efficiency of their key operations that reduces overall product cost that are to be offered to customers for fulfilling the unmet needs. Through innovation, various beneficiary outcomes are achieved such as enhancing customer base, entering in new market, improving profitability along with productivity levels. It overall increases standards of living by providing jobs to people and contributing in infrastructural development that impacts positively on economic growth. Further, it also contributes in identifying opportunities for expansion of UK market at international level.
The management team of Royal mail Plc has recently installed new machine that is automated parcel sortation machine in one of their Bristol Mail Centre in order to speed up delivery of parcel services. The managers has replaced manual sorting procedures as it was time consuming and required huge efforts (Chava and et. al, 2013). Technological usage ion operations improved the capability to process parcel that helped in improving effectiveness together with efficiency to great level. In present duration, Royal Mail PLC has only sorted 12% of parcel through the machine and they are expecting to enhance it till 80% in coming five years. In addition, more utilisation of technological innovation shows reduction in costs that can lead in maximising profits of entity and also improves entire operational efficiency that reduces labour force and makes delivery practices more faster.
2. Practical illustration of the ways innovation impacts sales, profits together with growth of the entity.
Organisational overview: Royal Mail PLC is UK based organisation which performs postal services along with courier facilities. The headquarters of the entity are situated in the year 1515 at one of the city in London, UK (Royal Mail PLC. 2019). The company provides wide services including parcel services, delivery facilities, letter post and EMS. At present, more than 162000 people are employed in which around 143000 people have belongings from UK and rest are from other nations. In the year 2011, a agency was established for staffing purpose as well as recruiting temporary employees by Royal Mail PLC. It also has subsidiary entity such as general Logistics System which delivers parcels and letters within or outside the nation.
New technology adopted by entity
Royal Mail PLC has adopted the latest technological machine that is Automated Sorting machine and Intelligent Letter Sorting machine that has improved speed along with efficiency to sort the letters and deliver them to appropriate person. In addition, it also installed other innovation that was Parcel Sorting Machine that comprises conveyor belts as well as scanning technology which automatically sort all the parcels as per the names and dispatch them to mail centres so that they are further processed to final destination. With this innovational technology, organisational managers are able to manage bulk of parcels that are required to be delivered on continuous and ongoing basis (Eling and Schaper, 2017). Through the automated machine, more than 90% parcels are effectively sorted and delivers to correct person. Moreover, after adoption of technology and innovation, the company was successfully in maintaining its position in the competitive market and made various changes in its workings so to follow the emerging tends.
Sales and profits of Royal Mail PLC before and after launching new innovational technologies.
When new and updated technology with innovation are adopted by business enterprise then they are more benefited in maximising the sales volumes and profit. Technological changes improves effectiveness as well as efficiency that leads in reduction of various costs to deliver commodities. At Royal Mail PLC, the manages uses Automated Sorting machine, Intelligent Letter Sorting machine and Parcel Sorting Machine which sorts the parcels and letters automatically and reduces efforts of humans to sort the letters or parcels. With installation of such technologies within operations, the revenue and profits were increased that are mentioned in the table.
The above table interprets that after adoption of the technologies, there was enhancement in sales and profit of the Royal Mail Plc from 2016 to 2019. in the year 2016, the company earned revenue of £ 9251, in 2017, revenue of £ 9776, in 2018, revenue of £ 10172, in 2019, revenue of £ 10581 was earned (Annual report, 2017). in addition, it resulted in increasing overall business profits that were in 2016, profit of £ 248, in the year 2017, profit of £ 273, in 2018, profit of £ 398 and in 2019, profit of £ 409 was achieved by the entity. Earlier, the entity was using traditional methods to sort and deliver letters and parcel that takes more time in deliver and resulted in reduction of customer base. But after adoption of the innovational technologies, it has achieved huge growth. As per the changing trends, the company needs to adopt more technologies so that they can also maximise the profits and achieve growth to huge heights.
TASK 2
3. Importance of CSR for the entity.
Corporate governance
Corporate governance is characterised as assemblage of laws, rules and procedures on the basis of which business activities are operated, regulated along with controlled by managers. It is one of technique through which organisations are managed and directed so to carry forward operations in accordance with stakeholders' desires (Morrison, 2017). With this concept, organisational management is able to direct together with control practices of internal people and comprises responsibilities such as building strategies, adopting suitable leadership style for maximising performances of individual and productivity of organisation. In context to Royal Mail PLC, corporate governance helps in executing operational activities systematically and effectively. Major role of corporate governance at the entity is to establish suitable system wherein workings are managed, directed addition to controlled. Through this concept, elements such as accuracy, security, accountability along with accountability are more emphasised by Royal Mail PLC. It is mandatory to follow the compliances so to make implementation of operational activities smoother along with minimum complexities.
Corporate social responsibility
It is described as self regulated model of business which assist company to become social accountable for themselves, general public addition to stakeholders. It aims in contribution towards societal objectives of activist, charitable nature and philanthropic for ethically oriented practices (Franks and et.al., 2015). As per the concept, when entities acquire raw materials, infrastructural services and many more for society then it is their responsibility to make payments from their profits so to contribute in societal development and enhancing standards of living. In context to Royal Mail PLC, the company contributes fixed proportion of its profit reserves to develop society and resolves its issues that facilitates in making good image in the market. In addition, the entity is also benefited in representing positive reflection of the efforts they have made towards managing and developing welfare of society in front of stakeholders.
History of Corporate-governance in the UK
The concept of corporate governance was introduced 20 years ago with the objective to check listed companies as well as ensuring that all the standards addition to ethics are followed by them or not (History of corporate governance of UK. 2019). Earlier, organisations were not forced to contribute their profits for societal development. But due to emergence of the concept, it was necessary for all companies to follow the regulations and laws as stated by government so to make contributions from their profits for development of society. Entities like Royal Mail PLC follows all guidelines that are stated within corporate-governance so to manage and execute the activities properly for achieving desired revenue and making contributions. organisational managers works in compliance with the CSR so to provide accuracy, accountability and transparency in their contributed proportions in order to restrict government interference possibilities in operations of
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