International Business Organisation Management Report Essay

International Business Organisation Management Report - Essay Example The Bunnings Group Ltd is Australia and New Zealand's leading retailer of home and garden improvement products and is also a major supplier of building products. Its home building section especially targets small - medium builders. It became a public company in 1952 and in 1994 Wesfarmers acquired it. (Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust - BWPT website, 2006). The trust was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in September 1998. The BWPT properties are on long-term leased to Bunnings Pty Ltd. typically for a period of 10 - 15 years. (BWPT History Overview 2006) 2001 was the year of extensive growth for Bunnings as Wesfarmers took over Howard Smith Ltd, which resulted in Bunnings fully integrating Howard Smith's Australia and New Zealand's BBC hardware operations known as Hardwarehouse, BBC and Benchmark. The Bunnings brand was to replace all three previous brands (Wesfarmers website 2006). Bunning's is in the pursuit of sustainability within their operations by striving to making the operations socially responsible, environmentally aware and economically viable. Bunnings took shape in 1886 when Arthur & Robert arrived in Perth, WA from London and soon won a government building contract and soon founded the group of companies known as Bunnings Bros Pty Ltd. The company has since seen many milestones. In 1952, Bunnings became a public company and expanded into retail. In 1994 Wesfarmers Ltd., one of Australia's largest public companies acquired Bunnings and Wesfarmers has given an able leadership and direction to the company. All the departments and divisions are being managed very professionally with. Organisational Structure Bunnings is structured around a team-based belief in providing the best service alongside the widest range of home improvements at the lowest prices. On a company level, they are structured to pursue sustainability in all its departments and through all their supplier relationships. A manager is manages the trust which in turn is run by a board of directors. These directors and management control the general everyday activities of the business. The management chain goes down to the state manager followed by the regional manager and then individual store managers. A store manager controls the business which has his/her group of employees broken into teams depending on their department or specialty. For example, there may be up to 5 different teams, with a team leader in control of the employees of that team. The team leader has an important role as he/she has to manage and motivate the employees. Each Bunning's store has a strong emphasis on teamwork and each employee is valued in the business. A key factor that all team leaders have at every Bunnings warehouse stores is that they have "reward power". This is where they have the ability as a manager to give or withhold tangible and intangible rewards such as pay rises, bonuses and verbal praise. As a result members of the organisation are more motivated to perform at a higher level; managers will have a highly motivated workforce as efforts are appreciated. This is a fine example of the 'path goal theory' model. Bunnings Encourages empowerment by expanding employee's tasks and responsibilities, giving employees authority to take decisions, be responsible for their outcomes, improve quality, and cuts costs - and provide feedback