Project description
Discuss the effectiveness of the approach to managing workplace commitment and engagement at Jinnikins Jeans. that is the topic that you have to
focus on.
You then have to write an outline REPORT of 500 words (excluding references, models etc)
Your references need to be in the correct (Cite them right) Harvard format with an accurate reference list.
Please dont create a bullet point list and this doesnt allow you to explain your thoughts fully.
Your formative report should cover:
Structure: the logical sequence in which themes and ideas are presented using the summative assignment marking criteria as guidelines.
Appropriate key theories applied: although some of the taught sessions covering the assignment choices are later in the semester, with some advance
reading you should be able to identify at least a basic sample of 3 key theories which support your chosen topic. You should be able to identify why
these theories are relevant to your chosen topic.
Outline of analysis and evaluation of the JJ case study with examples from that case study: This is where you demonstrate how you are going to use
theory to explore the case study, by using relevant examples (with page references) from the case study to illustrate the key points you are making.
Outline action plan/policy content: this section offers an opportunity for you to briefly indicate actions and/or policy content might need to be
taken based on 2. and 3. above. Its important that practicality and relevance are identified.
JINNIKINS JEANS
1. HISTORY and COMPANY BACKGROUND
Jinnikins Jeans was established in the early 2000s by two brothers, George and Trevor, born and raised in the East End of London. As teenagers,
their original business was selling highly fashionable items of girls’ clothing from market stall sites throughout London and then Birmingham. The
items were sourced from India, using local and ‘value for money’ labour. By the end of the 2000ss the business was considered a model of youthful
entrepreneurism, the brothers were modern business icons and the darlings of the media with their exciting business, personal exploits, innovative
use of the Internet for marketing.
The business struggled with the setting up of their business on a more formal basis, claiming that ‘It did not suit their business style’. But with a
combination of their hallmark entrepreneurism, design creativity and determination they pulled through, and are now thought to be a real commercial
force again. Expansion up to the mid 2000’s was accelerated by buying up existing textile businesses and converting the factories to their own
product lines. However, since 2008 like most high street retailers their profit is down (see Appendix 5), and their online marketing activities
seems to generate less response. At present they have no direct online sales facilities for the general public.
Their turnover is rated in the multi- millions, and over the years they have invested heavily in a purpose-built, state-of-the art ‘high tech’
headquarters in Moseley, Birmingham, England. The new headquarters building accommodates: the Chairman of the Board, the Managing Director, the
Finance Department, Marketing ( but not the regional sales offices), Human Resource Management (HRM), IT, Distribution and Fleet Management, Design
and now Production. Previously the Production Director had been based at one of the underwear factories in Leicester, now closed. (See Appendix 1)
The current staff on the payroll is 252 full-time (see Appendix 2) and a floating population of agency temps, part-timers and casual labour to cover
for sickness, new posts and periods of peak demand. There is no manufacturing at all in the UK; it has now been out-sourced to overseas manufacturing
bases. The company has a strong tradition of an ethnically diverse work-force that helps to contribute to the highly creative and innovative profile
of the organization. The gender balance is not quite so even-handed; with the exception of the HRM Director, all the directors are men and among the
senior managers only the Senior Designer and one of the regional sales manager’s are women.
This is very much a family business with nearly all the directors and senior managers related to the brothers or are close friends from the ‘old
days’. Although there are ‘directors’, ‘senior managers’ and ‘managers’ their jobs all differ widely in the extent of responsibility and salary
levels; these are titles rather than descriptions of function or corporate responsibility (see Appendix 1).
There had been considerable IT investment; the design studio has the latest in CAD (computer aided design) packages and after a very slow usage
start, the designers find that it allows them to generate endless style, colour and fabric ways without the huge time wastage of pen design.
Everyone feels that it has been a really good investment to the point that more terminals are needed to allow designers’ access to the programme.
However, the Marketing department wants to expand and develop their web site to make it more in line with those of their customers and competitors
such as ‘All Saints’ and ‘Gap’. The marketing department is also very keen to invest in direct online sales to the general public, but the design and
set up costs are thought to be very high. The financial planning programme is running well, but it needs more input from the marketing division, but
it is hoped that the new Marketing Director will sort that out.
Elsewhere the implementation of IT has been less warmly welcomed; in the warehouse, the new centralised distribution system seems to create more
problems than it solves – late deliveries, deliveries to the wrong address and misplaced orders. The biggest problem seems to be in the receipt,
processing and then dispatch of new product orders for new customers (that is customers who don’t already have an established customer file and
number) sent in by the sales force. (See Appendices 2 and 6)
2. PRODUCTS AND MARKETS (SEE APPENDICES 4 AND 5)
Their own brand of jeans ‘Jinnikins’ continues to generate volume sales mainly through departmental stores in major shopping centres and some larger
leisure and specialised ‘young fashion’ outlets. Some thought is being given to opening a chain of their own shops in order to increase their market
share from its current 9.75%, but there is debate whether or not the company should pursue a more aggressive online direct sales approach. Overall
gross turnover is down by a huge 31%, but no-one is clear why this is. No-body is panicking as the core denim/jeans business is internationally
acknowledged as a market leader and continues to perform well. Further, the current trend in high street sales is downwards, so they are conforming
to the overall trading conditions and this drop is no worse than say ‘Gap’ or ‘New Look’.
However, the jeans-wear and denim leisure-wear are very crowded market-places with plenty of competitors, ranging from M&S own brands (the biggest
selling jeans in the country) through to ‘couture’ jeans – brands like Armani which retail at £280 per pair. ‘Jinnikins’ has always positioned
itself in the teen to twentysomething market; as a brand they like to compare themselves with Levi,, Wrangler, and Pepe.
In an effort to steady the cash-flow the company has recently branched out in to making ’own brand’ ladies leisure-wear for a big name ‘high street
giant’ – All Saints Ltd. This has not turned out to be the money-spinner as hoped, as All Saints is still struggling to re-position itself in the
market after a period of low sales and boardroom rows. All Saints is increasing the pressure on its suppliers to trim their profits in order for All
Saints to maintain its own profit margins and keep costs down for its own customers. In an effort to increase profit margins from both All Saints
and their own brands Jinnikins Jeans has responded by outsourcing all its garment manufacturing to overseas factories and closing its entire UK
manufacturing base. The income generated from the sale of the UK factory sites was used as a ‘start-up’ fund for some of the overseas factories, and
perhaps could be used for some of the web-based marketing and sales innovations.. The salary savings through redundancies allowed Jinnikins to
further reduce its price point on its product offerings to All Saints. No factory staff were offered alternative jobs within the company. No staff
at the Moseley HQ were laid off; in fact the closure of the UK factories led to an increase in the recruitment of temporary staff to handle the
increase in queries and complaints.
A lot of the staff at the Leicester and Nottingham factories had worked in the same factories since they left school. Everyone understood the
business argument, but given the number of temps at Moseley, some said that at least some of the support staff could have been re-employed. There is
no formal redundancy policy, they followed the ACAS Code of Practice and paid what the law said.
All manufacturing has now been relocated to Morocco, Sri Lanka and China – all countries that offer skilled, non-unionised and educated work forces.
These factories are all operated through a series of local ownership and Jinnikins partnerships, in which the local owners have a controlling
interest. Jinnikins has no permanent staff presence in these factories but sends out ‘know-how’ teams from the remnant of the previous Production
Department to help with the factory start-up. When new ranges are about to go into production, a project team will fly out with the template
patterns for the manufacturing of the new ranges. There are a number of continuing unresolved problems attached to this long-distance out-sourcing:
language can sometimes be a problem with the machinists. Sometimes the project teams find that the expensive computer systems set up to help
manufacturing, supply and information for the UK are not used effectively. This is creating some quality challenges, sizing differentials and on
one epic occasion the wrong fabric was used. Several of the senior production staff from the now-closed UK factories had offered to work as self-
employed contractors in the new overseas factories to help sort out the problems, but the brothers preferred to carry on using the project team
system.
The company’s focus is on, its ‘designer led’ status. The design team is encouraged to go off on research trips to Milan, Paris and New York to
check out what is hot on the ‘cat walks’. Asha, the Senior Designer, feels that the customers really appreciate the amount of time and effort put
into this level of research; last year she spent about 8 design days perfecting the look of some tricky top-stitching on some denim shorts. Trevor,
in particular, encourages attention to design detail and has been known to join the design team on their research trips. Asha is on the Management
Team and is very influential even in areas not directly within her control, such as sales and marketing.
One of the areas of greatest pressure in production and design, is the increasingly fast turn-around times required by the high street retailers. 10
years ago the pace was more leisurely with ranges being presented seasonally, but these days with the advent of ‘New Look’ and its ‘instant’
fashion’, they now have to turn everything around in three/four weeks max. from design studio to high street sales point. Asha has tried to counter
this by recruiting more designers, but it appears that yet again the catch –point is quality and speed of delivery. At present all shipments are made
to Jinnikins from their manufacturers and then Jinnikins re-dispatches onwards to their customers. Again to counter this, distribution and
warehousing have increased their staffing to 36 including recruiting more HGV drivers for deliveries, plus using temporary and agency staff as when
required.
3. PEOPLE ISSUES (SEE APPENDICES 1, 2, 3, 6 AND 7)
The Management Team
George is the Chairman of the Board; he sees his role as the ‘business brain’ and insists on a daily review of all production, delivery and sales
figures. He receives weekly status reports on all facets of the business; he has been known to contact customers personally. He is a well-known
figure on the business lunch circuit in the City, and is well-respected for his business acumen and ability to drive a hard bargain. George sees
himself very much in the Steve Jobs mould; crativecreative, focused, dynamic and with a clear corporate vision .Trevor, George’s younger brother, is
the Managing Director; while this is meant to be an operational role, George’s constant day to day involvement can create conflicting pressures for
the staff. He is very popular with the staff as an easy going, sociable and approachable person. He has a strong instinct for popular design and
will powerfully argue a case for maintaining the creative approach. He regularly appears in ‘Hello’ and ‘Heat’ magazines usually emerging from a club
after midnight with a group of friends
The rest of the Management Team include the Production Director – Lionel, but as production is now sourced overseas he feels increasingly
marginalised and uninvolved to the point where is preparing his c.v. for a head-hunter. He feels very concerned that the overseas sourcing decision
was taken without considering the implications for managing a long distance and diverse manufacturing operation. He spends most of his time on the
telephone trying to explain how to do things to people who don’t understand the design and manufacturing briefs… He feels that the best way of
handling the quality issues is for some sort of direct UK control over the overseas factories. He secretly feels rather responsible for the
wholesale removal of the manufacturing base overseas because it was a report of his a few years ago about the embryonic unionisation movement at a
couple of the factories which triggered an almost panic response by the brothers, both of whom have overly-dramatised memories of previous union
encounters.
Dan is Distribution Manager and is responsible for the Warehouse/Distribution Centre; he was brought in 8 years ago to run the company’s fleet of
lorries, but since then has been promoted to his present job. With the computerisation of the distribution system he now sits with the directors as a
member of the Management Team. He feels that they are all blaming him for the problems over distribution and he wonders if he is really up to the
job. He relies heavily on the Warehouse Manager for support and troubleshooting the constant IT problems. He really likes the company and thinks
the products are great, but the stress is killing him and he wonders how long he can hang on, but the money is fantastic and he has some really heavy
financial and domestic commitments.
Sandy, the new Financial Director, was appointed in 20132 (this was grudgingly agreed to by the brothers under direct pressure from their bank who
have supported them through the up and downs on the last 15 years), until his appointment the company had a financial controller, Eric, who is still
with the company. Sandy is an MBA from Oxford Brookes University, with several years at Unilever and just recently spent 3 years developing the
financial package for a new brand image at Gap. He is very enthusiastic and committed, and under his prompting for the first time the company has a 5
year ‘Strategic Vision’ (see Appendix 7) that covers not only the finances, but new product development, website developments, quality control and
customer care. After much discussion and debate, Sandy and the rest of the ‘top team’ persuaded the brothers that a statement of organisational
objectives would be a useful ’summary’ of the company’s developing commercial and design aspirations, and would signal their commitment to a dynamic
future:
‘Jinnikins Jeans offers the world cutting edge design and fashion manufacturing at prices every one can afford, by the imaginative and creative
management of all its resources: people, systems, products, services and processes – only the best is good enough for our customers and their
customers’.
Sandy wants George to persuade the brothers to consider succession planning issues; at present they are both adamant that they plan to go on ‘until
they drop’.
Etty, the HR Director, is related to the brothers, but is also their loudest critic. She is very dominant at the Management meetings, sometimes to
the point where Dan does not feel he can contribute. She has plenty of ideas, such as introducing online for recruitment/selection, setting up a
graduate recruitment programme; making Jinnikins a corporate member of the CBI, rewarding staff with incentive trips to the Milan, Paris and New York
Fashion Shows, and offering staff opportunities of job rotation in different departments, but dislikes what she considered to be the administration
element in her job and so tends to leave what she considers the dull bits. She is able, popular with the staff and a good communicator, but is not
professionally qualified. She feels that Sandy might be patronising her because of her lack of formal qualifications and her kin relationship with
the brothers. And she is wary of his missionary zeal in wanting to establish policies and procedures, which, in her view would harness the company’s
unique creativity and adversely affect staff morale.
Asha, the Senior Designer on the Design Team, strictly speaking should not be on the Management Team, but her design talents are seen to be a vital
part of the company’s success and they don’t want to lose her. She has been with the company since she left college and is fiercely loyal. She wants
the title of Design Director, but Trevor feels that design is his overall responsibility so is reluctant to promote her. It is an open secret that
she has been having a tempestuous affair with Trevor for a while.
Currently there is no Marketing Director. Dinash recently resigned after being headhunted to run the marketing division of one of their biggest UK
rivals. The Marketing Director is responsible for marketing strategy, new product development, website developments, the sales force with four
regional sales managers, and for customer service. The Marketing Director has personal responsibility for liasing with his/her opposite number at All
Saints Ltd.
The sales managers are responsible for all accounts and sales in their areas: corporate accounts, i.e. departmental stores, and individual accounts,
i.e. high street and other shops for all product ranges. The Regional Sales Offices with a Regional Sales Manager, office administrator and customer
service assistants are located in: Acton, London W3; King’s Heath, Birmingham; Mary Anne Lane, Cardiff and Haymarket, Edinburgh. There is a
deliberately fostered culture of intense sales team rivalry which supports the sales figures. However known to the sales managers but unknown to the
Marketing Director this is generating some explosive tensions between the leading sales ‘stars’ and the lesser performing sales personnel.
The New Product Development Manager – Liam, (who reports to the Marketing Director) is currently Acting Marketing Director and he expects to be
confirmed in the job. However, George is looking outside the company for a replacement – George is handling this personally as he does not want
anyone to know.
Corporate Culture (SEE APPENDICES 2 AND 7)
A particular characteristic of the brothers and the people they recruit is to deliberately avoid a ‘Business School’ culture with everything being
done by the book – emphasis is on collaborative creativity. Staff are encouraged to see themselves at the cutting edge of fashion design, to be
people with a fashion-mission. The emphasis is on casual, youth, informality and being laid-back. With few exceptions most people in the company
are well-below 35, apart from the brothers.
‘Hot Spots’
At the various departmental meetings there is real tension between ‘the creatives’ – those who designed the garments, and the ‘bean counters’, those
who have financial or administrative responsibilities. This lack of dialogue is causing log-jams in information flow between design, marketing,
production and delivery.
The brothers – George and Trevor, are very keen to keep close central control over all facets of the business. The brothers make virtually all
decisions, large and small. In order for any new idea to be implemented it has to have their agreement and support. This means that all decisions
take a long time, both in preparation and research (the brothers love detail and always ask the ‘what if’ question) and then waiting for the brothers
to get round to thinking about it.
Morale is patchy among the staff: they are paid well above the industry norm for their work, and the year end bonus is always worth having; but some
people say that they want a personal performance bonus like the sales force, particularly the designers who feel that they should have individual
performance bonuses.. The brothers make sure that they know everyone by name and like to say ‘that we are all one, big, happy family’. But there is
still some lingering doubt/guilt about the factory closures. Some staff worry that it might happen here at HQ. Most of the staff know each other
pretty well and there is lots of after-hours socialising at the pub.
The continual problems with customer complaints about quality beginning to affect staff in the Regional Office, HQ Customer Services and Distribution
Centre; they feel that no-one listens to them about the issues. Further, because there is no specialised IT manager directly in charge of IT, apart
from Sandy the new Financial Director, the computer problems are always handed to outside consultancies to sort out, with some very variable results.
In particular the continuing economic pressures has led to anxieties about the continued levels of business performance by their customers and
therefore the impact this may have on JJ.
An issue which faces all departments is the headache of getting rid of staff who are either under-performing or who don’t in some way conform to the
corporate view of creative achievers. The brothers firmly believe that ‘dead wood must be pruned’ and are keen to start this as soon as they can.
However, Sandy, and to a degree, Etty, is firmly convinced that without some sort of reasonable redundancy policy they will quickly find themselves
facing all sorts of tribunal trouble, and further, a skills gap will be created by the loss of these staff. Etty’s solution is to offer all
potentially redundant staff huge packages, and then recruit a batch of graduates whom they can train and mould as they wish. Sandy’s more cautious
approach is to establish a reasonable redundancy policy with particular attention to selection; and then manage any potential skills’ gap by a
thorough Corporate Skills Analysis and then engage in an intensive multi-skilling programme for remaining staff.
4. MANAGING PEOPLE SITUATIONS (SEE APPENDIX 3)
Recruitment and Selection
Etty has worked hard to convince George and Trevor that they must consult her before appointing staff; several new sales staff, including some fairly
senior managers, were appointed because of whom they knew, rather than what they knew (just like Etty herself).
Staff Attendance
Etty is also aware the company needs to be clearer on issues such as punctuality and absenteeism, but doesn’t want to ‘cramp managers’ personal
leadership style’. Often offices seemed almost deserted even by 10.00 am; staff have always been allowed to make up their hours if they came in late,
but this increases the communication issues between some of the departments, and with the factories overseas. At present managers either ‘work it
out’ for themselves or just don’t bother. This means that there are a variety of different approaches on absenteeism, punctuality, unpaid leave,
disciplinary and performance issues. Staff often seem unsure or vague about the precise objectives of their jobs and their key functions, but they
work hard and seem very committed. (see Appendix 3). Etty knows that the brothers prefer not to tie people down with ‘bits of paper’ and will think
that such regimentation might stifle people’s individuality and creativity.
Reward
The brothers sometimes offer salary increases to anyone they feel might be a bit de-motivated, but Etty wants to develop some sort of pay scheme to
overcome this ad hoc approach. She feels herself, as the most senior woman in the company, to be paid well above comparable industry norms, but she
is not sure, for example, if the female merchandising staff should be paid the same as the male (or female) sales staff. It’s easy when people are in
exactly the same jobs, but it’s the parity question she is not sure about
The current standard package is:
a) Salary review after six months
b) Annual salary increments based on of a basic percentage 28 days holiday a year for the first five years, 32 days thereafter, plus all UK
statutory public holiday AND personal religious festivals
c) Car loans for all staff. Senior managers and all sales personnel have a company car
d) Year End Bonus for all staff calculated on a percentage of company profits, usually between 2-5% of annual salary
e) All marketing and sales personnel receive a personal Performance Sales Bonus that can be up to a 100% of basic salary if all targets are
exceeded in addition to the Year End Bonus
Some of design team feels that they too should have performance bonuses instead of the Annual Bonus to bring them into line with the sales force with
whom they work closely.
Communication
Etty is not concerned about moves by some of the staff to have a ‘Works Council’; in her view they are very well-paid, with superb benefits in a
kindly organisation, so collective bargaining and interference by the staff in senior management matters is not useful to anyone. The one point made
that has caused her to think deeply is the comment that all communication seems to be ‘top-down’, there is no process for the views and opinions of
the staff to be channelled up to the ‘top team’ and the brothers.
The easy-going culture of the organization encourages plenty of two-way feedback, at least between leaders and teams. Managers and team leaders are
expected to have plenty of conversations with their teams, which usually take place in the local pub. Managers and team leaders take an active
interest in their people and really try to put some of their leadership training into practice.
Training and Development
There is a major investment in training and development programmes; Etty, with the brothers’ support, spends a considerable amount of her time and
company money in sending people on various training programmes usually on personal or leadership development topics. Etty collects the various
training brochures and then sends out a ‘Training Newsletter’ with the course descriptions inviting staff members to apply for whatever they want.
There is no correlation between training and perceived organizational or individual need, nor is there any feedback or evaluation about the training
afterwards. There is no Training and Development Policy as such as Etty feels that everyone knows what they have to do get some training either by
looking in the ‘Training Newsletter’ and booking through the HR Department, or by getting in contact with Etty directly if they want something not
currently advertised.
SOME NEW DEVELOPMENTS (SEE APPENDICES 6 AND 7)
Sandy is concerned that the computerised programme of centralised distribution is not really worth the investment. He is not sure but he thinks the
problem might be the skills level of some of the staff. IT is one of his responsibilities, but he never really has time to focus on it; he is relies
more and more heavily on external consultants to handle the IT ‘trouble-shooting’ for him. He’s well aware of the marketing department’s increasingly
urgent demands for much more investment in their internet presence, both as a marketing tool to their corporate customers and a platform for direct
sales to the public.
He is also concerned that the staff overtime figures for the marketing and distribution departments are much higher than for the rest of the
business. At least 30% of the warehouse staff have been with the company since its early days; they don’t like to use the computerised centralised
stock ordering/dispatch systems, preferring to use their own methods. Some of the jobs had really ceased to exist years ago after computerisation
had been introduced. This is a really sensitive subject in the company as the computerisation of all its systems was the personal ‘brain-child’ of
Trevor’s brother Brian, who helped write some of the programmes himself.
The absence of formal historical data makes it hard for Sandy to get a precise idea of the staff turnover figures, but recently Etty and he had a
conversation about the sudden increase in staff turnover in the marketing department especially in the sales force for the Scotland Region: two
sales personnel walked out within days of each other without giving notice. Their sales figures had been OK and according to Sal, the Regional Sales
Manager for Scotland, there had been no problems ‘other than the usual ones you get with salesmen working for a woman’ was her view. Customer
Service has a mixture of temporary and permanent staff that are in the front line in handling customer complaints. They have a newly promoted
supervisor – Kate, who was a first class customer care assistant which was the basis on which she was given this new job. Kate is based at the
Moseley HQ, but at present is spending a lot of time travelling to the regional sales offices to support the hard-pressed customer service staff in
the locations.
APPENDICES
1. Senior Management Team 12
2. Staff Profile: age/gender/department 13-14
3. Summary of Key Staff Functions 15-18
4. Product Ranges 19
5. Product Sales by Product Ranges 20
6. Overtime by Department 21
7. Strategic Business Vision – Main Points 22
APPENDIX 1
SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
GEORGE – CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
+
TREVOR – MANAGING DIRECTOR
Etty Sandy vacant Asha
HR Finance Marketing Senior
Director Director Director Designer
+ + + +
Reception Payroll Sales Merchandising
+ +
Office IT Customer
Management Service
Lionel Dan
Production Distribution
Director Manager
+
Warehouse
+
Fleet management
APPENDIX 2
STAFF PROFILE: AGE/GENDER/DEPARTMENT
AGE/GENDER/DEPARTMENT BY NUMBER OF PERMANENT STAFF (252) (excluding George and Trevor and all temporary or agency staff)
DEPARTMENT AGE BAND FEMALE MALE TOTAL
Marketing inc. 18-20 9 12 21
Sales
21-25 11 42 53
26-30 2 9 11
31+ 0 2 2
TOTAL 22 65 87
Finance inc. 18-20 12 6 18
IT/payroll
21-25 9 10 19
26-30 0 3 3
31+ 6 1 7
TOTAL 27 20 47
HR Reception/ 18-20 8 1 9
Admin. Clerks/ 21-25 6 2 8
Catering staff 26-30 1 1 2
Gardeners/ 31+ 2 9 11
Drivers
TOTAL 17 13 30
Distribution inc. 18-20 2 28 30
Warehouse &
Fleet 21-25 1 2 3
26-30 0 1 1
31+ 0 15 15
TOTAL 3 46 49
Production 18-20 0 0 0
21-25 1 7 8
26-30 0 0 0
31+ 1 1 2
TOTAL 2 8 10
Design/ 18-20 5 4 9
merchandisers
21-25 19 8 27
26-30 2 1 3
31+ 0 0 0
TOTAL 26 13 39
TOTAL 97 155 252
APPENDIX 3.
SUMMARY OF STAFF OBJECTIVES, FUNCTIONS AND SKILLS
In the last six months all staff have been on a Team Development Activity Away Day. The purpose of this activity was for the teams and leaders to
develop clearer understanding of the teams’ overall objectives, key functions and essential skills. Etty, the HR Director had herself been on an
external Team Development Programme where they worked in teams on similar topics. Etty has adapted the training methodology and decided that she
would brief the managers and team leaders herself, seeing no need for costly external consultants to act as facilitators. Each team chose its own
location, created its own agenda of activities with the overall goal of satisfying the brief as indicated.
These are unedited and may not conform to the received orthodoxy of what these departments should be doing. This is, in their view, of what they do,
why they do it and what they need to get the job(s) done.
HUMAN RESOURCES:
Overall Objectives:
• provide a personnel service at all levels of the business
• be responsible for all Health and Safety requirements
• manage the Reception Staff
• manage contract support staff (cleaning, maintenance and security)
Key Functions:
• maintain all staff records
• establish and maintain HR systems
• provide a caring and supportive environment for staff
• train and develop staff
• ensure all staff are paid fairly
• provide management with all necessary HR information
Essential Skills:
• understand the legislation
• procedure, policy and process design
• communications skills
• warm and caring: empathy and sympathy
• time/stress management
• financial/budget management
• information gathering
• understand the business
• word-processing
PRODUCTION:
Overall Objectives:
• provide a link between UK HQ and out-sourced overseas manufacturing bases
• provide ‘technical/manufacturing’ know-how to overseas bases
• provide ‘troubleshooting’ services to overseas bases
• collect and disseminate all relevant technical research data for review by management team
• provide quality assurance input to overseas manufacturing bases
Key Functions:
• visit overseas manufacturing bases twice a year
• provide models of ‘best’ practice’ for overseas manufacturing bases
• liaise with customers to ensure that the technical/manufacturing quality assurance requirements are met
• represent ‘Production’ at management meetings
Essential Skills:
• B.Sc. Applied Engineering
• understand technical garment manufacturing processes
• time/dead-line management
FINANCE:
Overall Objectives:
• provide sound financial information to management
• research current financial market trends
• invest company’s resources effectively
• ensure profitability at all times
• budget management
• manage the IT facility
Key Functions:
• handle all accounting procedures
• administer the payroll
• liaise with banking and other investment bodies
• prepare all legal documentation for returns
• inform management of all significant trading/financial trends
Key Skills:
• CA
• ACCA
• ACT
• Able to analyse/synthesise financial reports
• able to write effective financial reports
• effective budget management skills
• negotiation/influencing
• IT
MARKETING:
Overall Objectives:
• develop and manage marketing strategy
• establish total quality control
• position products effectively in the market place
• influence customers
• develop long-term and profitable customer relationships
• maintain customer service
• ensure effective sales
Key Functions:
• manage customer base
• accurately identify the customer target group
• design marketing strategy and tactics
• sell the products
• research competitors’ marketing strategies and tactics
• identify fashion trends
• respond to customers’ complaints
Essential Skills:
• pro-active sales ability
• assertiveness
• understand fashion/textile markets
• able to spot the fashion trends
• establish understanding of customers’ needs
• tactful and understanding manner
• able to ‘get the job done’
DISTRIBUTION AND WAREHOUSE/FLEET MANAGEMENT:
Overall Objectives:
• manage the IT systems
• troubleshoot the IT systems
• distribute the products on time and to the right customer
• manage the IT, warehouse and fleet budgets
Key Functions:
• staying ahead of IT disasters
• researching new IT developments
• liaising with external IT consultants
• maintaining the distribution fleet
• keeping the warehouse running
• ensuring that all products are out on time
Key Skills:
• HGV license
• good knowledge of IT
• understanding of distribution processes
• clean driver’s license
DESIGN:
Overall Objectives:
• to design ‘cutting edge’, ‘must have’ fashion products within the specified price point to meet a) the client’s brief and b) for our
customers
• to research all current fashion trends: colours, textiles, trim, cut and overall themes
Key Functions:
• design according to All Saint’s Brief
• attend All Saint’s Briefing and Presentation Meetings
• liaise with Marketing and Sales
• keep the management team informed
Essential Skills:
• BA in design
• able to use CAD IT design packages
• able to give effective presentations
• able to get on with the customers
APPENDIX 4
PRODUCT RANGES
JINNIKINS JEANS ‘JINNIKINS’ BRAND LINES
(All Saints Ltd. ranges not included)
Children’s Wear, Boys and Girls (age range: 4 – 12)
• Jeans, denim, x 14 style ways
• Shorts, denim, x 7style ways
• Overalls, denim
• Jackets, denim, x 9 style ways
• Shirts, cotton/poly, x 7 style ways, x 22 colour ways
• Tee-shirts, cotton, x 10 colour ways
Core Denim Jeans Range
• Jeans, ladies, anti-fit, boot leg, classic, straight leg, semi-stretch, x 4 fabric ways, x 4 colour ways
• Jeans, men, anti-fit, boot leg, classic, straight leg, semi-stretch, x 4 fabric ways, x 4 colour ways
Leisure-wear, Men and Women
• Sport shirts, x 6 style ways, x 10 colour ways
• Chinos, x 6 style ways, x 10 colour ways
• Sweat shirts, x 4 style ways, x 16 colour ways
• Jackets, fleece, x 3 style ways, x 12 colour ways
Boys Leisure-wear (age range: 12-16)
• Sport shirts, x 6 style ways, x 10 colour ways
• Chinos, x 6 style ways, x 8 colour ways
• Sweat shirts, x 4 style ways, x 6 colour ways
• Jackets, fleece, x 3 style ways, x 8 colour ways
APPENDIX 5
PRODUCT SALES BY PRODUCT RANGES
JINNIKINS JEANS ‘JINNIKINS’ BRAND LINES:
(All Saints Ltd. ranges not included)
GROSS GROSS
TURNOVER 2014 (to date) TURNOVER 2013
£19,000,000 £27,500,000
SALES BY % OF TURNOVER
Children’s Wear 14 11
Leisure-wear, Men
and Women 29 28
Core Denim Jeans
Range 50 52
Boys Leisure-wear 7 9
APPENDIX 6
OVERTIME AND WAGES BILL BY DEPARTMENT
(excluding George and Trevor and temporary/casual staff)
(AVERAGE ANNUAL SALARY BILL 2013)
DEPARTMENT NO OF STAFF WAGES OVERTIME
Marketing
(basic pay not including PRP) 87 696,000 14,400 (15%)
Finance 47 705,000 52, 875 (7.5%)
HR 30 360,000 10,800 (3%)
Distribution 49 392,000 49,000 (12.5%)
Production 10 250,000 nil
Design 39 702,000 35,100 (5%)
TOTAL 252 3,259,000 275,275 (8.4%)
APPENDIX 7
STRATEGIC BUSINESS VISION -MAIN POINTS:
1. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
a) Reduce overall management costs to 5% from its existing 18.5%, with the focus on reducing the wages bill through redundancy
b) Increase gross profit margins on own brand jeans-wear to 35%
c) ALL departments to produce budgets on income/expenditure, including payroll, overtime and recruitment for the next financial year, starting
in March.
d) HR to generate a ‘contingency’ redundancy plan for all staff in support, admin. and clerical jobs, with a budget for either re-hiring the
same staff at lower salaries (more in line with industry norms) or by using agency/short-term contract staff. One possibility to be considered would
be to offer all existing staff new contracts.
2. PRODUCTS AND MARKETS
a) A full viability plan, with ‘best’ and ‘worst’ scenarios to be prepared as a matter or urgency for the proposed chain of own shops.
b) A new Marketing Director to be appointed to handle all marketing and new product responsibilities.
c) As a priority analyse the trend behind the failure of the boys’ fashion leisure-wear to achieve its projected sales figures
d) Engage in a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign with buyers at ALL major sales outlets, this is directly related to item e) below
e) Increased sales penetration for each outlet by 15% across the ranges
f) A quality control programme needs to be introduced as a matter of urgency following several unresolved complaints from All Saints about the
sizing of out-sourced garments.
g) ‘Customer care’ to be put at the heart of the business
h) Investigate costs for a new website aimed at marketing to corporate customers
i) Similarly investigate cost for another new website for sales to the general public
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