Page 1: Introduction The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as 'the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating

and satisfying customer requirements profitably.' This definition shows that, in order to be successful, an organisation should find out what customers require. Knowing what they want, it should then attempt to satisfy these needs. It is this that helps business organisations to meet their mission, purpose and values. In recent years, however, many companies have taken a wider view of the marketing concept. This implies that they should balance all the things they do against the needs of the society in which they operate. ASDA is the second largest retailer in the UK, and it has been the largest subsidiary of the Wal-Mart family of companies since 1999. ASDA's scale can be appreciated by the number of stores it runs as well as how many people work for it. For example, it has 321 stores across the UK and Northern Ireland, 29 depots and more than 148,000 colleagues. These all help to generate more than 15 billion of turnover. In recent years colleagues from ASDA stores and depots have become much more involved in the community. This has included working with local communities to raise money for charities. This case study shows how being involved with the community has helped ASDA to improve the way in which it meets its mission, purpose and values. In recent years the UK's supermarket sector has become more competitive. This contest between retailers in the marketplace helps to keep prices down. It also makes sure that organisations always produce and sell the goods that consumers really want. However, with so many stores to visit and ranges of products to buy from, figures have shown that customers have become less loyal. Price competition has also pushed customers to try different stores. Consumers are prepared to travel there if they save money. Consumers like price competition, as it means they can buy goods at low prices and save money. The strapline 'ASDA Price' helped customers to link the store with the low prices it offered. Prices are very important, but when modern consumers make a decision about where to shop, there are a whole range of complex motives that control their choice. To meet these motives ASDA needed a clear business strategy that would help to distinguish its stores. This would then help to provide the organisation with a clear competitive advantage. Today ASDA still heavily engages in price competition. But it also takes on non-price competition, and its interest in the community helps to create a clear image in the minds of its customers.

Page 2: Mission, purpose and values Managers who make decisions that affect the route of an organisation need to show those choices to others. The way in which ASDA does this is through its mission, purpose and values. These statements are designed to help stakeholders understand the direction in which the company is heading. A mission statement sets out the long-term direction of the organisation. ASDA's mission is: 'to be Britain's best-value retailer exceeding customer needs always'. As well as having a mission statement, ASDA has a statement of purpose. This helps stakeholders to understand why the business exists. ASDA's purpose is 'To make goods and services more affordable for everyone'. ASDA also has a series of values. These are moral statements that help to encapsulate the company's beliefs which then determine the decisions and actions it takes in the marketplace. ASDA's values are: respect for the individual strive for excellence service to our customers.

To aid new colleagues at ASDA in understanding what the mission statement, purpose and values stand for, they are given a 25-hour induction programme called 'Best Welcome'. Every year ASDA researches statements through an intranet survey. This data helps to ensure that, at every level within the company, colleagues, teams, departments and managers see how the mission, purpose and values should power the decisions they take.

Page 3: Stakeholders Any individual, group or organisation that is affected by the actions of a business is a stakeholder. Internal stakeholders may be within an organisation, such as the directors, managers and colleagues who are colleagues of each other. External stakeholders exist outside an organisation and some of these will be customers, suppliers and shareholders. Each of these groups of stakeholders is affected by the actions of ASDA. They have a real interest in the nature and types of decisions that the company's managers take. For example: Customers want low-priced, good products. Modern customers also have high expectations of organisations. They will want them to get involved in the local community. They will then want to know about them. ASDA stores and depots have community noticeboards and a monthly magazine is produced which features community events. Colleagues like to serve the community. The retail industry is not highly paid - customers demand low prices and operations require a large number of colleagues. So working with the community helps to motivate colleagues. All the events that ASDA holds are shared in an inhouse monthly newsletter. Shareholders want a good return on their investment. They also believe in community interest, as they like to see the company they have invested in acting positively in its environment. Suppliers at a national level are the very large providers to ASDA. They will want to sell goods in volume at good prices. This gives them economies of scale. ASDA has worked hard at building up links with local suppliers. It works with small and medium-sized businesses that are able to provide products for groups of stores at terms that suit them.

Page 4: ASDA's community programme ASDA's community programme is there to help the company meet its mission, purpose and values. The aim is to: 'differentiate ASDA from its competitors by appealing to customers and motivating colleagues'. It is an ongoing programme that is now seven years old. At its centre are the stores, depots and head office. Their actions are determined by five criteria, which are: 1. people 2. health 3. education 4. community 5. 'big' events. Each of these criteria is then used as a focus for a yearly programme of activities. These are set up in each store by a local events co-ordinator. So, for example, under the criteria of health, ASDA stores and depots were involved in raising money for its Tickled Pink campaign, which supports Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Campaign. Colleagues and customers acted as blood donors. ASDA encourages blood donor vans to be set up in its car parks, ensuring the service is available to everyone in the community. Dietary and nutrition advise is also provided. ASDA's programme helps colleagues to take part in their local community, after all they live and work there too. This process of working closely with others underlines the company's values. Such principles have helped it to give a moral focus for the planned direction of the organisation.

Page 5: Benefits to stakeholders Under the ASDA in the Community programme, customers enjoy a whole range of advantages. Many of these gains are locally focused. Colleagues get involved in good causes and help to raise funds for them. One example is the Brake Walking Bus, a road safety charity that encourages children to walk to school safely and teaches them about road safety. ASDA helped this cause break a World Record when over 50,000 children took part last year. Local sourcing of products helps to meet the needs of suppliers and customers in specific areas, and ASDA also helps with local recycling campaigns. All in all, ASDA colleagues spend many hours outside the stores helping in the community. Other benefits are aimed at some of the wider causes, such as the Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake appeals, as well as to more established causes such as its Tickled Pink campaign, supporting Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Campaign. As part of this process of community concern, ASDA's colleagues feel more valued. A 'We're Listening' survey was conducted and this showed a real step up in how they felt. Working with the community had become a high source of colleague motivation. This was because colleagues were driven by: action - they felt that their role was not just about going to work to earn money, but was also about helping the community recognition - stores have been graded for what they are doing with the community. Each year colleagues want to make improvements to the community programme in order to get better grades initiative - colleagues have been set SMART targets. This means they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely for community involvement. Colleagues are free to decide the best way to meet these targets. This means that they are not being told what to do, but have the freedom to use their ideas for the benefit of the society and decide what will truly reflect the needs of their specific local community. Where colleagues feel better and more motivated, this reduces colleague turnover and the subsequent training and development costs of new ones. It also makes them feel more valued and helps them to work towards meeting the values at the heart of ASDA's mission. Page 6: Conclusion There are many different ways in which organisations can build customer loyalty. ASDA does not use a cold approach to building relationships with customers using promotions and activities. Instead it has developed a warm method that uses its values by doing positive things in the community. Market research has been done about customer insight. It has revealed that customers are aware that the

company sells products that people like and is very much involved in the community. Such actions are helping ASDA to differentiate and create a distinct image of the organisation in the marketplace.

Page 1: Introduction ASDAs mission is to be Britains best value retailer exceeding customer needs, everyday. This is backed by its purpose - to save everyone money, everyday. ASDA recognises that these depend on a commitment always to put customers first in everything ASDA does, which is achieved through dedicated teams of ASDA colleagues. ASDA is a private limited company, with its Home Office (Head Office) in Leeds. ASDA shares a common culture with its parent company, the US retailer Walmart and puts value for money at the heart of its operations. ASDAs beliefs (also known as values) are lived and communicated to all colleagues and reflected in everything the business does. ASDA is always at the heart of the community, often with many generations of a family working at the same store. ASDA also supports a strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) ethos. This is shown through its employment and career opportunities in communities, its support for customers through low prices, as well as charity activities and health initiatives. ASDA is recognised nationally for its low prices and warm and friendly service. The business has over 500 stores across the UK and Northern Ireland, including large Supercentres and Superstores as well as smaller supermarkets found in towns and suburbs. ASDA has seen significant expansion over the last few years. As well as offering food and general merchandise, ASDA has diversified into optical and pharmaceutical services, as well as mobile phone and financial services, with more categories launched each year. There are 25 ASDA Living stores for non-food merchandise, two Home Shopping stores supporting the online shopping service and 27 Distribution centres. The George brand overtook Marks and Spencer in 2009 to become the UKs leading fashion retailer by volume. ASDAs customer base has increased through its online services, www.asda.com and ASDA Direct. ASDAs training and development programmes help its colleagues and managers to grow to meet these challenges. Equal opportunities ASDA is an equal opportunities employer. It supports young people with careers in retail, for example, its Flying the Flag programme offers work experience at ASDA for young people for one or two weeks each year. Each store adopts two local secondary schools to encourage young people to consider a career in retail. Each store has a Community Colleague that works in the local community. He or she regularly visits schools to talk about the retail sector and their own experiences of

working at ASDA, as well as the varied and numerous career options available. The company provides development opportunities to enable ASDA colleagues to reach their potential, whether as a manager in store or taking a place in the boardroom, regardless of their starting point. ASDA employs over 170,000 colleagues and rewards long service. It focuses on developing an accessible family atmosphere in the stores. This provides a platform for long-term careers as colleagues develop within the business. Around 80% of ASDA managers began their careers in its stores.

Page 2: Training and development Training involves acquiring new skills and knowledge in relation to a current role. Development relates to a persons potential to acquire wider capabilities. ASDA uses both to support its mission and to benefit the business and colleagues. The retail sector offers a long-term career path. By developing colleagues with the potential to be GSMs, ASDA has put in place a robust long-term succession plan to develop the ROMs of the future. GSMs are like managing directors many have responsibility for 500+ colleagues and sales turnover of over 1 million a week. They need to be able to demonstrate a wide range of behaviours and technical skills. They are responsible for: leadership leading their store teams celebrating achievement and managing under-performance, supporting improvement where needed coaching and developing colleagues and managers setting goals and agreeing priorities by responding to change and spotting opportunities being a role model for the ASDA Way of Working - an approach whereby all colleagues are engaged and involved in improving the business through inspiring and coaching others. ASDA uses both on-the-job and off-the-job training to develop colleagues at all levels. As a GSM begins their transition to a ROM role, they need to complete several different types of activities. On-the-job training On-the-job, GSMs begin to experience the ROM role in order to put their skills into practice. On-the-job activities account for 80% of their development and it is up to the individual to drive their own development opportunities. Examples include: covering their ROMs duties when they are on holiday receiving guidance from a mentor on the Retail Board (a senior manager) attending meetings on behalf of the ROM owning regional projects. Off-the-job, GSMs develop the skills needed to be a ROM through modules and a series of external coaching. These account for around 20% of the overall development: Being at my Best this programme focuses on emotional intelligence and supports GSMs to understand their strengths and areas for development. Multi-site coaching improves an individuals capability to coach across the range of GSMs using different coaching conversations and styles. Influencing across the business provides an opportunity to learn how to communicate in a compelling way.

 Thought Leadership develops the capability to lead a team through innovation, creative thinking and leading with courage. GSMs also receive telephone coaching to support them and address development needs. Page 3: Costs and benefits of training and development Even in tough economic times, ASDA takes the long-term view that investment in training and development is the right thing to do both for the business and its people. ASDA has dedicated Stores of Learning (SOLs) across the company. These are stores which serve as centres of excellence for technical and behavioural training. Appropriate investment in training and development increases retention of colleagues and leads to higher performing and productive teams, which in turn support ASDA's growth and expansion plans. The key benefits of ASDAs training are seen in: increased colleague productivity - where customers are served and satisfied more quickly. This improves colleague efficiency, reduces costs and leads to higher profitability. the quality of ASDAs well trained colleagues. A pleasurable shopping experience means customers are more likely to return to the store to shop. This gives ASDA a competitive advantage. high morale which leads to a more motivated team. If colleagues are motivated to develop there are many opportunities open to them. The resulting sense of achievement that colleagues convey in their work contributes to a positive corporate image. ASDA aims to fill 80% of appointments through internal promotion. Wendy is an ASDA colleague who developed from a GSM to ROM role. This is her view of what working at ASDA is like. Its dynamic, fast-paced and challenging. Im given all the space I need to do things my way, which I find really inspiring. Of course, we have a framework that we all work to, but it is very flexible, so I never feel constrained at all. In fact, this is one of the reasons I joined ASDA in the first place. My first role was as GSM for a failing store in Kent. I devised a three-month plan - Project Phoenix - to turn the whole store around. When I started, we achieved a score of just 56% at our audit; three months later and we were at 95% - a brilliant example of success when everyone pulls together. I am now a Regional Operations Manager for Kent. At ASDA, if you put in the work, the reward and progression is definitely available'.

Page 4: Progression routes There are many different roles within ASDA, from shop floor colleagues and specialist roles like bakery, to fashion buyers and lawyers. The career path shown is for a GSM who wants to develop to a ROM. Working in several different stores provides GSMs with the experience and background to operate effectively in a ROM role.

Mark, a GSM who has recently opened a new ASDA store in Cumbria, says: I joined ASDA as a shop floor colleague in 1990. I knew nothing about retail but my Careers Advisor suggested I apply to ASDA as it looked an exciting place to work. I believe that the development programmes here have been a key part of my career progression. I have been a Grocery colleague, a Night Manager, a Training Manager and a Project Manager at our Home Office in Leeds. I became a GSM about three years ago. Since then I have developed personally and professionally through working as a store manager in three different stores. Prior to becoming a GSM, all managers will usually work as an Ambient Trading Manager or Fresh Trading Manager. These roles are responsible for the whole range of food trading, home shopping and warehousing within a store. This on-the-job experience gives colleagues a better insight into the complexities of the business. They become aware of all aspects of the store, not just the management issues. For example, the warehousing experience is very important in order to learn first-hand the practicalities of effective stock control. This enables prospective GSMs to understand the implications of efficiently managing costs and minimising wastage. Kieran, Retail Graduate to ROM Another ASDA colleague, Kieran, started as a Retail Graduate with ASDA and has now progressed to a ROM role. He says: I was working at ASDA whilst studying for a degree in Law so I applied to the ASDA graduate scheme. After my initial training, I started as a Home & Leisure Manager. I then moved around different roles before becoming a Senior Manager. A year later I moved into ASDA House (Home Office) to work as Project

Manager to the Chief Executive. A year after moving back into retail and running my own store, I became Regional Availability Manager. ASDA lets managers take risks on people and gives them a chance with the right support you can go very far, very fast. Retail is open to all, and if you have the right attitude, work hard and deliver, you will get on. How quickly or how far is up to you. ASDA offers a personalised approach to developing skills and leadership behaviours. Colleagues have the chance to experience different business environments, perhaps in a Supercentre, Distribution Centre or in a role in Home Office (Head Office). At all levels, including moving from a GSM to a ROM role, development must be driven by the colleague and relies on individual activity and personal motivation. ASDA colleagues must take responsibility for their personal development.

Page 5: Identifying training and development needs Identifying skills and development opportunities for senior roles is essential to maintain leadership succession. ASDAs aim is to ensure we identify and create a robust internal succession plan to develop our internal talent. It therefore provides a visible and structured career path for its GSMs, backed up by technical and behavioural training. Asda runs Development Days with its senior managers to identify where their development opportunities are. These consist of many different activities such as business simulations, presentations and in depth interviews. ASDA also uses psychometric tests, 360-degree Leadership Surveys, 1-1 diagnosis with line managers and annual appraisals to help identify development needs. It is essential that each person's development plan is 'fit for purpose' and tailored to individual requirements. These tools help ensure that the investment ASDA makes in training and development helps the business achieve its objectives. All training and development should contribute to improving ASDA's overall business performance. The GSM-ROM programme is designed to provide a structured yet flexible approach to developing a career path. The programme fits around a GSM's own personal experiences and current technical and behavioural skills. This aligns his or her career development path to meet and overcome the challenges of their store. A GSMs performance is measured equally on both outcomes (the what) and behaviours (the how). One of the ways these are assessed is through feedback from other colleagues. This process focuses on Likes, Concerns and Suggestions (LCS) and ensures that feedback is always constructive. Once training needs are identified these are managed through various programmes, such as store visits, Line Manager coaching, off-the-job modules, coaching calls and mentoring. Read more: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study-meeting-business-needs-through-training-and-development-78-421-5.php#ixzz1V8s22WFK Page 6: Conclusion ASDAs tailored and personalised approach to training and development provides a strong foundation to meet its current and future leadership needs. The company plays to individuals strengths and offers various channels through which they can develop. This produces ASDA colleagues who are committed to the success and expansion of the business.

By promoting and supporting progression at all levels, ASDA enables its colleagues to focus on being at their best and growing within the company. The results are increased morale, quality of work, higher productivity, and in the long-term, increased colleague retention and profitability. In this way, everyone in the company delivers the highest standards of service to meet ASDAs objectives and help the business to reach its goals.

Company: ASDA Topic: An evaluational of ASDA's success Plan: Introduction: ASDA history ASDA profile ASDA as a successful example Body: a) Meeting stakeholder needs through community involvement Mission statements Stakeholders Community programme Benefits to stakeholders

b) Meeting business needs through training and development Training and development Costs and benefits of training and development Progression routes Identifying training and development needs

Conclusion