Chaim Brandeis Macdo - Lecture notes 5 PDF

Title Chaim Brandeis Macdo - Lecture notes 5
Course The UK Economy - Microeconomics
Institution University of Manchester
Pages 27
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BTEC UNIT 1 OXFAM Section 1 – A.P1 A.P1

Explain the features of two contrasting businesses

1. What is the ownership of the business? Oxfam is a Worldwide non-governmental organisation. A global confederation of charitable organisations concentrated toward the alleviation regarding global poverty1. It is a limited company2, thereby causing a limited liability, which means private assets are not at risk if the company were to fail3. It is a charity; therefore, it has trustees but no owners. The day-to-day operation of Oxfam is overseen by corporate leadership team comprised of the chief executive and several divisional directors.

2. What liability does the business have? Oxfam is a not-for-profit organisation, which is limited by guarantee. This means the parties involved do not remove the company's profit, which is the exact opposite of a regular for-profit business. Any profit made by the company is reused for the benefit of the business4.

3. What is the purpose of the business? Oxfam is a not for profit organisation that operates globally, with a primary focus on the alleviation of global poverty5. The purpose of Oxfam is to help overcome poverty and suffering in the world, and they do this by supplying safe and clean water to thousands of people who are unable to access it. Furthermore, Oxfam pledges millions of pounds into improving the education of millions of unfortunate children. The charity further provides life-saving support to vulnerable individuals at times of emergency6. The two businesses that I have chosen are Oxfam and McDonald's; Oxfam operates as a charitable organisation with a not-for-profit status, which means they have no profit motive; however, McDonald's is a money-making business that supplies its products to maximise its profit and retain its customers. To summarise, both Oxfam and Macdonalds have different aims for their business.

4. What business sector does the business operate in? Oxfam is a charity it operates in the voluntary area7. Oxfam is also in the tertiary category; however, it also provides a service to other charities rather than selling products. It does this by selling clothes at low prices.

5. What is the scope of the business?

Oxfam is a global charity where it operates in more than 60 different countries9, Like Asia, Africa and Indonesia; furthermore, Oxfam owns more than 1200 shops worldwide, including 750 shops just in Britain10.

6. What is the size of the business? According to the Oxfam website, this charity organisation recruits more than 10,000 employees working in 67 different countries11. There are approximately 20,000 dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to help people worldwide overcome poverty and injustice.

7. What are the reasons for the success of the business? Oxfam examines its success based on the number of individuals supported by the charity, Oxfam individuals that the organisation helps, the number of volunteers at the business, and the budget volume available for the charity's growth, which relies on private donations and public fundraising. To measure the organisation success, plus monitor its growth, the company handles the Effectiveness Reviews. This technique enables the charity to monitor and fix any potential problems and enable the charity to grow. Another way Oxfam measures the success of the organisation, Oxfam established a department dedicated to monitoring and analysing progress. The department conducts an assessment of the situation before the intervention and then uses its monitoring system to assess its progress. Success is when a business achieves its aims and objectives, but the aims and objectives depend on what type of company it is or how long it has been running for. For example, it would be a success for a new business if they stayed afloat and managed to survive, but for an established company, they would aim to expand the business and make a profit.

OXFAM Section 2 – A.P2, A.M1 A.P2 A.M1

Explain how two contrasting businesses are influenced by stakeholders. Assess the relationship and communication with stakeholders of two contrasting businesses using independent research.

1. What are stakeholder? A stakeholder is interested in a business1 and can either affect or be affected by a business.

Internal stakeholders are groups within a business whose interests in a business come through a direct relationship. External stakeholders are those who do not directly work with a company but are effected somehow by the companies actions2. Internal stakeholders are groups within a business whose interests in a business come through a direct relationship. External stakeholders are those who do not directly work with a company but are effected somehow by the companies actions3

2. Who are the various stakeholders of your business? Stakeholders can be both internal and external to the company. Since Oxfam is a charity, a not for profit organisation, its internal stakeholders include; staff, volunteers and owners. The external stakeholders include; customers, the government and the local community. Because Oxfam is a charity, customers and Employees provide essential services to keep the organisation running. Oxfam's internal stakeholders include all those whose interests in Oxfam come through a direct relationship4. For example, the staff of Oxfam is the individuals who work for Oxfam. They are interested in higher wages and promotions. Furthermore, they want to have their opinions heard. This means they want to have a say in how they think the business should be run. On the other hand, volunteers have no profit motive, as they do not earn a wage or salary. Most times, people volunteer to get work experience, as this helps them with future jobs. The board of directors has to be exceptionally careful how they treat their volunteers since volunteers have little motive to work as they are not getting any wage. If they are unhappy with their working conditions, they might all go on strike and cause Oxfam to go into Jeopardy regarding their aims and objectives. Another example of an internal influence on Oxfam would be the managers; they have a span of control over groups, their main motive in Oxfam would be to get promoted to get a higher wage and more extensive span of control5, they would do everything within their power to achieve this goal. However, if they do not have the power to make decisions and are not being heard by the board of directors, they might become less efficient, causing Oxfam not to achieve their aims and objectives. Owners often have the most significant influence on a business they want to see their success, and this means for Oxfam that owners will do everything to see success and not give up until they achieve that.

3. Stakeholders Influence? Stakeholders who have high power and high interest, like Managers, Owners and employees, need to be managed closely and informed of any recent decisions as these people are very high, on both interest and power. They are the ones who will have the most significant impact on Oxfam.

Stakeholders with high power, but low interest, like the government, needs to be informed of any big decision, like any legal matters. However, they do not need to be informed of the small changes in Oxfam.

Oxfam Stakeholder Mapping

. Government

Mangers Employees Owners Donors . Manage Closely

Stakeholder Power

Stakeholder Power

Stakeholder Power

Low

. Monitor

Customers Local Community

. Keep Happy High

Low

. Keep Informed High

Interest

4. How can stakeholders help Oxfam? The employees are internal stakeholders. Employees are crucial to the success of the organisation. They can help Oxfam by being polite and knowledgeable when speaking to potential donors, as this will help Oxfam raise money for the organisation and raise the annual spending budget.Customers who buy from the charity shops are helping the organisation collect much needed funds to be able to carry on their vital service.

Oxfam’s stakeholders communication Stakeholder s

Internal/ External

Communications &

Owners

Internal

Every year the owner produces an annual report on all the previous activities of the previous year

Volunteers/s taff

Internal

Oxfam sends out a newsletter every single month to all their volunteers working in the shops

Clients

External

Oxfam communicate with them through their Facebook page.

Methods

1. What is the relationship between each stakeholder and the business? 

Effective communication is vital for the development of the organisation. Communication is also vital within a business. Everyone should be able to have ways of contacting the necessary people.



All Their relationship is positive as far as I know. I never found any information saying otherwise. I looked around but never found any information relating to any previous conflicts.



Yes, there have been trade unions, "The trade union Unite, which has 400 members of the organisation, described the threat to jobs as a "tragedy in the fight against global poverty". It said it believed a third of the charity's 800 staff at its Oxford headquarters were at risk of losing their jobs"—quoted from the guardian.



Every charity or big known business have had public interest; Oxfam's most significant public interest was the Haiti sex scandal.1



Yes, there has been, between Oxfam and their donors. As explained above, this was all due to the Haiti sex scandal.



There is no share-holders value as it is a charity, not a public limited company.



Oxfam aims not to hold customer retention concerning the people they help, as they hope to one day have no poverty in the world. However, regarding Oxfam's charity shops, they hope to retain their customers by offering the best prices and giving the best customer service. This will ensure people shop there again. The charity shops are crucial to the running of Oxfam, as they bring in much income to help with the annual spending budget.



Employees are critical stakeholders in the organisation. They answer the phones to potential donors, deal with suppliers, and run the charity shops, vital to gaining the much-needed funds to continue the organisation.



The charity communicates with the owner/CEO via the annual report. The annual report is a written document with all details regarding the previous year. For example, it will discuss the organisation's previous activity, finance,

success fails, and many more topics in the document. This comes out yearly and is available for all to see.



The charity communicates with its employees via a monthly newsletter given to everyone. In the newsletter, it has updates on the organisation's success the previous month.



Oxfam communicates with its clients via its Facebook page; potential clients could leave comments explaining their situation, and Oxfam will do everything to assist them.



Yes, they use Facebook is one of their most recent communication methods with their clients/customers.



Oxfam changes its method of communication depending on the stakeholder. The way the owners communicate is via annual reports. The staff communicates via an official newsletter every month and the clients via Facebook comments.



Yes, as they are still helping people worldwide fight poverty and injustice; therefore, they must have effective communication with their stakeholders.



The effects of poor communication to the stakeholder would be getting the wrong message and which would cause chaos for the business. An example of this would be messages sent out to the wrong stakeholders, and this would cause staff to get mixed up with their roles and the result of things not getting done.



Yes, they use social media a very lot, Just like every charity does nowadays. They have their own Facebook and Instagram page, and they try only to post positive images of people they have helped. They do not post negative pictures of people who need help and look unhappy. They only post positive things on their social media accounts.

OXFAM Section 3 – B.P3, B.M2

B.P2 Explore the organisation structures, aims and objectives of 2 contrasting businesses B.M2

Analyse how the structures of two contrasting businesses allow each to achieve its aims and objectives.

1. What is the organisational structure of the business? The organisational structure of Oxfam is Ricardo Acuna at the top of the board. He recently became the CEO of Oxfam after Dr Henrietta Campbell's resignation in 2020. Next on the board is Gabriela Bucher, who is executive director of Oxfam International. After this, the board is divided into someone in charge of finance and corporate service and two other people in charge of publications and fundraising. Oxfam use a geographical and flat structure for their organisation. Oxfam is structured in such a way because they only have one CEO and one A director who oversees the organisation. The day to day running is split out into separate departments; each country or city has a person in charge with many people underneath them. This is good for the business because it means communication is quick between people's layers, as there is only one person in charge of each place/department, with many people underneath them. However, the downside is, each person in charge of a department, like Asia's head, has a vast span of control, and this is not good because messages could get mixed up between various stakeholders, causing the wrong message to come out. I can not; I searched for ages but did not find any reliable website with an organisational chart; however, I can explain how it is run. Yes, the significant decisions are dealt with by the chief and the day to day issues are dealt with by the smaller departments, who then appoint the right staff for the different types of issues. This is the best structure for Oxfam because it is a big charity, and for any big business or organisation, one person needs to be in charge of each department and have many people underneath them to get their messages out quickly.

2. What are the aims and objectives of Oxfam? An aim is what a company or organisation hope to achieve, and objectives are the actions organisations will take to achieve their aims. Oxfam aims to reduce poverty and end suffering in the world, and the way they hope to achieve their aim is by setting SMART objectives to help them. Business aims are not the same for every business. For example, Oxfam aims to reduce poverty, whereas Macdonald aims to increase their profits; they differ

depending on the type of business. Oxfam is a not for profit organisation; therefore, the aims and objectives will help people. However, Macdonalds is a for-profit business. Therefore they will base all their aims and objectives around increasing profit. Yes, they also differ on what type of ownership the business is if it is a public limited company, their aims are most likely going to be something within relation to making a profit, as they are an established business. However, sole traders are usually people trying to survive, so their aims and objectives would be survival. Yes, their objectives are smart. Yes, one goal I found was, "Right to be heard: People claiming their right to a better life." Their objectives to achieve this goal are: "Organising civil society Organise to persuade governments to lift restrictive laws that deny civil and political rights and engage constructively with civil society. Strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations to self-organise around the priorities of poor and marginalised people (in particular women and youth) in both rural and urban settings Work with youth, women and indigenous people's organisations, recognising and supporting their ways of expression and organisation."

Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely

3. Does the structure of Oxfam allow Oxfam to achieve their aims and objectives? Yes, because of the quick communication between the layers of people, there is only one person in charge of each place/department, with many people underneath them.

4. What does the company value or encourage? Oxfam encourage anything to help them achieve their aim of reducing poverty and ending suffering in the world. Teamwork and innovative ideas are all key for Oxfam to achieve their aims and objectives.

5. How does the structure of Oxfam support or encourage its employees to meet its aims and objectives? Employees do not have multiple managers; they have one manager for each location globally, and then the organisation's Director and CEO. This enables the employees to have quick communication with their managers as there is only one for each location; it also allows them to make decisions independently as not they only have one person on top of them. Managers make the big decisions; however, they do not make them all. Otherwise, what is the point of other employees?

1. What is the ownership of the business? McDonald's is a large franchise1. A franchise is an agreement between two parties, a franchiser and a franchisee; the franchisor pays for everything, including products, furniture, rental, marketing and trademarks. The franchisee pays a percentage of the revenue and a fee for using the business name. McDonald's is also categorised as a public limited company2. One feature of a public limited company is that the shares are placed on the open stock market for anyone to purchase. The McDonald's company structure is as follows: At the top is the chief executive officer (CEO), followed by the chief operating officer (COO), the chief people officer (CPO), the chief financial officer (CFO) and the SVP development3.

2. What liability does the business have? MacDonald's is a limited liability company. This means the shareholders have limited liability; Limited liability is when the shareholders only take responsibility for debt up to their initial financial investment value 4. This means the shareholders' assets are safe and cannot be used against themselves if they were in debt.

3. What is the purpose of the business? McDonald's is a fast-food system that provides good quality food at consistently high levels5. They have 1300 hundred restaurants in the UK, of which 1100 are franchised. MacDonald's has over 36,000 restaurants in the world, operating in more than 100 countries and territories. There are around 120,000 people employed by McDonalds's in the UK, with over one million worldwide 6. As well as the thousands of restaurants McDonald's have, they also help people in need. The RMHC charity has helped over 350 families7. The two businesses that I have chosen are Oxfam and McDonald's. Oxfam operates as a charity with a not-for-profit status, whereas McDonald's is a money-making business that supplies its products with one goal, maximising its profit. A business whose primary purpose is to maximise profit will base all its aims and objectives on maximising profit, as there is a 1main aim. However, a not-for-profit organisation will base or their objectives on reducing poverty in the world. To sum up, Macdonald's supply both a product and service; the product is the food they sell, and the service is their charity.There is a considerable difference between the two businesses I chose; Macdonald's goal is to profit. However, Oxfam aims to reduce poverty and suffering in the world.Most not for profit organisation's goal is to ...


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