Executive summary on the Thornton case study

Executive summary on the Thornton case study This report is subsequent to the Thornton public limited company case study. A little, bit introduction about Thornton public limited company. Thorntons is one of the most prestigious brand names in the business of chocolate in the world and especially in the Great Britain (U.K.). The company has established around 100 years ago and has various products and different sources to marketing their product like own retail shops, cafà ©, franchisees, supermarket, and Thorntons direct, commercial channel etc. In this report, the concept of leadership and management in relation to Thornton will be review. Secondly, their stated aim of placing greater emphasis on retailing will be analyze and then their influence in situational factor on leadership in present and future will be critically examine through several leadership models INTRODUCTION: Before the report began with the Thorntons the report would like to define the term Leadership and Management what does it mean to organization? Leadership: According to http://sbinfocanada.about.com, Leadership means the art of motivating the employees of an organization to achieve their goals and help the organization for development in today competitive time. Management: In simple words generally use in organization to achieve their desired goals effectively and efficiently. Management involves planning, organizing, employees, and controlling the organization to develop business in todays competitive time. In addition, it is the exchanging of knowledge to create, to outsource, or to produce a new strategic or product for the development of organization. The report is dividing into two parts. In the first part of the report will consider the achievements and negligence of the last chief executive Mr. Mike Davies. Moreover, which model of leadership he has use in Thornton during his time along with the SWOT analysis of the company will be analyze and evaluate along with the way he has role in the company is a transactional leadership skills. In the second part of the report the model Mc Kinsey 7 s and contingency: path goal theory on the new leadership will be analyze and evaluate in Thorntons along with transformational leadership skills and how it will support Thorntons to achieve their goals in the field of retail sales of chocolate and other products along with their situational factors. Discussion: Where are we right now? Firstly, we will look at Last Chief Executive Mr. Mike Davies and his role in the Thornton public limited company. During the leadership period of Mr. Mike Davies, he has practice the leadership model Action Centered Leadership and SWOT analysis of Thorntons. Group needs: Strengthened our retail management team new initiatives to arise sales strengthened the senior retail management team with innovative marketing promotional programmes. Task needs: Manufacturing operations, the product range and performance of its commercial channel and innovative new product. Individuals needs: Tough trading environment, Reference: Action Centered Leadership Adair, john.(1983) Effective Leadership. Gower. SWOT ANALYSIS on Thornton public limited company: Weakness: Thornton direct failed to meet the expectations of the company. Clearing of access stock in shops and then selling them with heavy discount. Strength: Change of liabilities into assets, increase in eps (earnings per share) by 20.4% as compared to last year, Strong Balance sheet, and innovative new Products. THREATS: increase in cocoa prices by 25% and butter prices has increased by 66%. Opportunities: Introducing of Haiti charity bloc, new moulding line to increase productivity, design your own box with personal photo printed for consumers. From the above analyzing, Mr. Mike Davies performance in Thorntons public limited company and while looking at his past work experience in mars of 20 years along with his own consultancy, he has performed as a transactional leadership skills in Thorntons plc. During his period of leadership, he has reconstructed the company and made a valid change in manufacturing operations along with innovation of chocolate box for the exclusively customers which had grown up by 84% in the last year and in the current year also increased by 5% in the current year. Now, Thornton has more than 30% of inlaid chocolate box market. Moreover, he shows strong balance sheet during the time of world economic crisis. However, he wants to reduce the dependence of Thorntons public limited company. As the chocolate is a seasonal product large number of staff is temporary staff on production and own stores of Thornton that should a major problem in the management of the company. 2). Where are we going now? Secondly, what company aspects from the new leader in Thornton should observe the situational factors and strategic development of retail sales and management of the company? The report will analyze the Mc Kinsey 7s model in Thornton and evaluate how it will help them to restructuring the management and retail sales along with the overcome of situational factors. Analyze of Mc Kinsey 7 s model in Thornton has to look after the situational factors. Structure: Change of working environment of staff from temporary to permanent staff in production and management. Strategy: How to achieve goals and proposal to overcome with situational factors. System: Innovation of technology, government support etc. Skills: Assets or resources provided by company. Goals: Improvement in retail sales, situational factors and management. Style: Leadership should concern with employees regarding motivation training. Employees should feel free to share new ideas .regarding the new business source. Staff: Looking after the employees. Like rewards and position in company. Evaluation how does Mc Kinsey 7s model work in Thornton. The new leader should adopt the McKinsey 7 s model approach in the Thornton along with transformational skills so that the employees should be able to share new ideas and new business source of development the organization and they should feel free to share their ideas with the leader directly. Therefore, that will help them achieve their goals in retail and over come with the situational factor. In addition, the new leader should overlook at the changes done by the last chief executive, and try to adapt some changes that are good for the company to cover up with the management in Thornton. How contingency: path goal theory does help the leader and employees to achieve the goals. Nature of employees: How should employees perform to cover up situational factors and improve retail sales, with determination or with disinterest in task? LEADER SHIP BEHAVIOUR 1).Directive 2). Supportive 3). Participative 4). Achievement Oriented Nature of task: situational factors and emphasis on retail sales of Thorntons; it is an ambiguous structure task or manageable structure task. Employees approach and motivation towards this situation in Thorntons. Goal Clarity shows the improved performance of the retail sales, situational factor, and job satisfaction of employees. Evaluation how does contingency: path goal model work in Thornton public limited company. From the above analysis of the path goal model in the Thornton public limited company. We can examine that the working conditions of management need to be friendlier between the leader and the employees so that each task should be structure first so that management could complete the task properly within a period, it will give job satisfaction to employees, and company performance will be improve accurately. Conclusion: This report has analyzed and evaluated Action Centered Leadership and SWOT analysis under the leadership of Mr. Mike Davies and he performs as a transactional leader in Thornton. Mc Kinsey 7s and contingency: path goal theory has analyzed and evaluated for the role of new leadership that is require by Thornton and it will help the cover up all the situational factor of management as the employees are on temporary basis they should be on permanent so they will be interested in their work. Recommendations: From the case study of Thorntons and this report, I would like to share my opinion that Thorntons should go for vertical integration process of their daily needs product like milk etc. As this project is a low investment project, nevertheless it will help the organization to improve their strategic goals describe in the case study. They just need some greenery area or farm house to where they can take care of cows, and in return, they will get 100% fresh milk daily. That milk they could make butter, because it prices was arose by 66% in the year 2009. Moreover, milk can be use in the mixing of chocolate. This business is ecological and neither will it occur any global warming. Also with the help of vertical integration, they can improve the quality of chocolate that will stay for a longer period. Besides this, they can sell their own milk in their own brand name as a new product; they can launch different kinds of milk shakes in their own cafà © in the U.K. and Ireland. That could h elp them to increase their own retail sales. It will also turn unemployment into employment that will help the government in terms of tax increase.

Skills and Learning Statement Acca

Skills and Learning Statement Here, I will be discussing my experience, which I have gained while working on the project: ? Things learnt during the meetings with Project Mentor – Mr Raj My meetings with project mentor became a key success factor for my project. He showed me the direction from where I could start my project and reach to conclusion. Most of the meetings were held personally, which proved more effective than other sources of communication. I also managed to secure his personal contact number, which enabled me to contact him from time to time helping me solve my confusion relating to research. First meeting On our first meet I did not have a clear idea with what am I going to discuss with him. I was confused, rather lost with a couple of options/ideas in terms of the project, but my mentor immediately caught my uneasiness and he himself initiated the discussion. He asked me some questions regarding my interest and objectives for choosing the particular project an d spotted the ideal topic on which I should research and write a report on. This was the time when he gave me basic outlines on how should I approach the subject, the ways I should analyze it and so on. It was quite basic, but it was our first meeting, he didn’t want to put pressure on the first day. From above, I learnt that planning should be the initial stage of any topic or subject. Even before the meeting, if I had only planned everything in advance, it would have been more productive. †¢ Second meeting On this occasion I was much more organized and had a clearer idea of what I was going to talk about with him. I was more confident, which helped me initiate the discussion and ask more questions that further helped securing his trust in me. But, during the meeting, he realized that I was deviating from my subject area. Therefore he gave me certain suggestions through which I was able to draft a report structure, so that I do not go off topic yet again. Some other recommendations include approach to report, critical evaluation and conclusion. From this meeting, I learnt how to design a project structure and how to approach the subject area, concentration being the key. †¢ Third meeting This is the time when I made my first presentation, when I showed first draft through a slide show to my mentor and a group of people (mentor’s colleagues). My familiarity was limited to my mentor, which made me nervous and gradually affected my presentation in front of unfamiliar group of people. But, I managed to give my best and eventually ended up answering most of the questions asked by audience. Since beginning, I found it too hard to make judgements and reach to conclusions from the information I gathered. As a result, project was redrafted so many times that it became very frustrating for me. Further, my mentor kept stressing on a point that is to be critical to what I wrote from the beginning to the end. He believed by being critical one can improve one’s own work, which I later realized was true. This was a good learning part of my project, from which I learnt: -How to present yourself in front of others. -How to be confident when we are dealing with questions asked by audience at the time of a presentation. -How to attract other people’s attention and make them more interested in one’s topic. ? Personal performance on project objectives: In the event of data collection process, I was hoping that I have answers to all questions, but from actual analysis I realized that sometimes reality is different than what you think it is. The preliminary source of data was the company’s annual report. The information presented in financial statements is only a summary of company's operations and financial performance, which is normally related to events, which took place in the past. Ratio analysis was used to analyse the information contained in financial statements. Both of the companies being public ltd. companies, the research question was answered in greater depth as I got access to required information on non financial indicators, corporate governance structures and the likes. While some best practices are only included in company’s internal documents such as internal audit reports, I did not have access for the same, which I believe was one of the drawbacks I faced while working on this project. What I got was external and past information of the companies and on those bases I did the assessment of their decision. But, I am sure that internal information may have been more helpful. I believe that the quality of RAP would have been much better, if only the data collection was successful i. e. if I could get precise information, e. g. I could not manage to secure data for overall airline industry i. e. the overall financial ratios, which could be used to compare with the chosen companies. Attempts were made to gather data through calling and e-mailing, BA and Iberia, but all in vain. Also initially, I didn’t take referencing concept seriously. But through out my research review by different people especially by my mentor I found out how important referencing of data was. Now, I understand the necessity of referencing, corresponding to data gathered. Finally, as per the information availability, the amount of research I elieve was reasonably enough to cover whole aspect of the project. I constantly strived to get the best answers, making my project worthwhile. This was the best practice for my research to make it more objective than subjective. ? Demonstration of my interpersonal and communication skill: As suggested by my mentor I gathered my thoughts together before I started writing my report or even a to pic. It helped me enhance my skills from structuring my report to keeping it in a flow, which I feel I acquired through my ACCA papers. During the initial stages, the most prominent problem I faced was the mis-communication, may be due to the communication gap between me and the people with whom I worked till the finalisation of report, especially with my mentor. This I feel is very natural, when you are not meeting your mentor everyday and if there are some doubts, one has to email the other, leading to mis-communication. Also, every person has a different thought process, viewpoint and lookout. Some agree to it, while others don’t. To be honest even I didn’t like some of the comments and suggestions given by my mentor. This led to some complications in my project, i. e. basing on different opinions. But, to solve the problem, adequate steps and efforts were put in to reduce the communication gap. Presentation stage – This was the most dreaded part of my project as I have never made a presentation in my life in front of a group of people. I had to practise hard to improve my presentation skills, for which I made some presentations from a mirror to my family and friends. I tried to learn from negative feedback, while positive comments were taken well into consideration basing it as my strengths for presentation. Overall from each meeting, Mentor suggested that things could be better if I work on my verbal communication skills, which he said could be improved by interaction with more people. Mentor also suggested me to stick to one point to reduce any confusion. Interpersonal skills, which I developed with time, helped me in a manner where I communicated with different people in regards to my project. I learnt how to respect other’s opinions and views but at the same time how to exchange my views in an appropriate manner. As I mentioned earlier, my mentor was very critical, which helped me learn a lot from him. I realised that if I control my ego, then I can probably interpret in more efficient way. I learnt that the change in my attitude will help me enhance myself and my skills for my further professional career. ? Impact of project in my accountancy studies and employment career From this project report I found other sources of gaining knowledge other than lectures in college. This project was a learning curve for me, which improved my adaptable learning skills, which I feel will definitely help me in my future professional encounters, where I will have to be flexible at every stage. The techniques to study and analyze the project are all related to my past and current studies and future career. In my past education system, I often relied on understanding the techniques and models to solve case studies, but the current project report improved my critical thinking skills, which I believe will not only be supportive to my further ACCA papers but also to my career. The project provided me the knowledge i. e. what does each and every model I used meant and how was it implemented, in the real world? Furthermore, improvement in my writing style would help me score good marks in my exams. Since, there was a word limit for RAP, through this project I enhanced my writing skills i. e. to write to the point and not beat around the bush. The project did help me to consider time limit, which improved my organisational skills that should be helpful for my future career. Time management is important to meet deadline for any project. By this time I feel I have became more capable to plan and organize my further ACCA papers. My research work also improved my reading skills, which I believe would lead me to finish my exam in a limited period of time provided. The project work made me interested into reading newspapers, different kinds of articles, business pod casts and magazines, from which I will gain more knowledge and it may also be helpful for my future career. Through out this research I identified my strengths and weaknesses along with my personality, which will lead me to beat my drawbacks and enhance my skills in my accountancy profession.

A Summary on the Article

The article entitled Omit the Unimportant discusses design in general and how it should be executed. There have been numerous technological innovations at this time and people patronize them because these things make their lives easier and more comfortable.However, many companies forget this important fact and turn their efforts to a product's design. They spend too much time on unnecessary details just to sell a product that they do not realize that the product has lost its functionality because of these details.â€Å"One of the most significant design principles is to omit the unimportant in order to emphasize the important† (Rams, 1989). Designers need to remember that simplicity can speak so much more than a complicated design.They need to go back to the basics and ask themselves what their customers want to see in them: functionality or design? While design is an important factor of a product, there is no doubt that their functionality should still be their main strength in terms of their ability to sell to the consumers.â€Å"Complicated, unnecessary forms are nothing more than designers' escapades that function as self-expression instead of expressing the product's functions† (Rams, 1989).It is also important for designers to remember that consumers are very influenced by a product's design. While this is beneficial for designers, it is not what consumers really need and they do not realize this soon enough.The author indicates two essential points that should be taken into consideration when designing. The first is that â€Å"items should be designed   in such a way that their function and attributes are directly understood† (Rams, 1989). Designers should be creative and innovative when it comes to their designs.However, their designs should not be misleading and confusing. They should remember that people appreciate it more when they can use something without too much effort. It all goes back to the basics: people patronize these innovations due to the way they make lives easier. Complicated designs and products loses this basic point.The second point that the author tries to make is that â€Å"the fewer the opportunities used to create informative designs, the more design serves to evoke emotional responses† (Rams, 1989).This means that people are influenced to buy a product just because of what it looks like. It also means that the more designers focus on the product's design, the more that the product's functionality is compromised. Products nowadays are made so as to attract people to be able to sell more.What the author suggests is for designers to go back to the idea of simplicity. Competition cannot be helped and it will always be present in all fields.However, this is not the only factor that makes a product â€Å"sellable† to consumers. No matter how great the design is if it proves to be confusing or not practical because the functionality is lost, the product will not sell in the ma rket. â€Å"Design is the effort to make products in such a way that they are useful to people† (Rams, 1989).Having said all these, it is still important to note that the author does not have anything against a great design. What he wants to say is that a product can have both without compromising the other.A product does not have to have a complicated design to be able to sell. In short, designers should omit those that are unnecessary so that they could focus more on the product's uses.Many people, especially those who belong in the older age groups, do not really mind how a product looks like as long as it does what it is supposed to do.

Fiffteen by William Stafford - 1184 Words

The poem Fifteen by William Stafford, describes the ideas of a young teenager and imaginations when he sees a motorcycle at the side of the rail, It tells us of how the main character gets familiar with adulthood and starts getting mature, it gives us changes. The author in his poem describes the ideas and temptations that a fifteen year old would have, and it gives us a message of how when you are blinded of your teenage dreams, at the same time to take and decide the correct paths and decisions. In the first stanza William Stafford stops realization. He describes a motorcycle below a bridge. The cycle is abandoned, â€Å"engine running as it lay on its side, ticking over slowly in the high grass.† To begin his poem Stafford gives†¦show more content†¦But the boy finds the cycle unexpectedly, he did not know or even awaited it. In the second stanza it connects temptation and imagination. The cycle becomes his forbidden imagination, it has a â€Å"pulsing gleam†¦shiny flanks†¦demure headlights fringed where it lay;† it is arousing him. First with its beauty it’s pulsing and shiny. It’s elegant and bright as described in the second stanza . Then it’s interest, he â€Å"led it gently to the road and stood with that companion, ready and friendly.† It draws him in. And for the first part he’s taken with it. He â€Å"admired† it. He â€Å"stood† with it. He was young and he saw the beauty as something he wanted. He was a teenager after all chasing his dream. These moments are him being a child this is him before the â€Å"good man† from later in the poem. You can tell he is taken with it from the way he â€Å"gently† leads it to the road, he is taking care of it. You are not gentle with things that you think are not needed or that you dislike. One does not describe these things either as having a â€Å"pulsing gleam.† Possibly freedom and perhaps bliss are shown in stanza three. The character is imagining himself on the open road. He’s picturing taking the motorcycle and riding away on it. It gives to speculation if he, being fifteen can even legally drive one, let alone that would then surely be considered stealing. Assuming that he’s not there appears the forbidden imagination