Impact of Recruitment Practices on Employee Retention: A Case Study of Community Nurses in the NHS
This dissertation is based on evaluating the effect of recruitment practices on the retention rate of an organisation. The study focuses on the health sector on NHS and analyses the reason for the high turnover rates of the NHS nurses. Thus, the report is dedicated to the analysis of secondary qualitative and quantitative in finding the effect of the recruitment practices on retention rate in NHS nurses. The report shows the recruitment practices of NHS and the possible reasons for their high turnover.
The study has allowed evaluation of the recruitment and selection practices that have an impact on the retention of the community nurses in the NHS. The reasons of increasing employee turnover or lack of retention as found in the research are; poor recruitment planning, the wrong expectation of job roles and responsibilities, ineffective communication of job roles, and lack of use of technology to express the company’s culture, norms, and facilities. The high turnover rate is linked to the recruitment practices using the literature review of the past studies. The study found a difference in the actual practices and advertised practices of National Health Services.
This is one of the many reasons the NHS nurses are dissatisfied in their workplaces. In the NHS, internal recruitment effectiveness is a primary driver of motivation of nurses and consequently to their retention. The study suggests areas for improvement in the recruitment practices in terms of addressing diversity, regional shortcoming, technology usage, internal recruitment effectiveness, national and international recruitment, and demographic balance.
Dissertation Objectives
To explore the impact of recruitment on retention in the NHS
To evaluate the existing recruitment practices that drive the retention of NHS nurses
To make appropriate recommendations for effective recruitment practice that contribute to the retention of community nurses in the NHS
To achieve the research objectives, the following research questions are set:
Research Question 1: What are the recruitment practices for community nurses in the NHS?
Research Question 2: How the existing recruitment practice are relevant to employee retention on NHS focus?
Research Question 3: Which of the best recruitment practices should NHS adopt that retain in the NHS?
NHS-Recruitment-Practices-Dissertation
Dissertation Contents
1 – Introduction Background of the study Purpose of research Research questions and objectives Rationale of research
2 – Literature Review Human resource management Recruitment Retention Recruitment process Sources of recruitment Methods of recruitment Recruitment challenges Selection practices Initial screening and application form Assessment centres and psychological testing Interview Employee turnover Employee Retention factors Compensation, reward and recognition Promotion and work-life balance Training and development Job motivation and satisfaction Job characteristic model Herzberg motivation theory Job satisfaction and employee retention
3 – Research Methodology Research design and approach Descriptive research Research approach: Inductive vs deductive Research methods Research strategy Data collection and sources Study population Data analysis
4 – Data Analysis Community nursing expectations framework Quantitative data Community nurses as a proportion of the total workforce Demographics of community nurses Workforce statistics and shortfalls of community nurses Percentage change in community nurses Joiner and leaver of community nurses Turnover rate for community nurses Workforce nationality and overseas employees Qualitative data HR planning context Recruitment and selection practices Retention practices and Rate at NHS Retention issues and challenges for community Nurses NHS
5 – Result and Discussions Summary of quantitative and qualitative findings Evaluation and discussion of results
6 – Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusion Recommendations
Did you find any useful knowledge relating to NHS nurse recruitment practices and Employee Retention in this post? What are the key facts that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments. Thank you.
Consumer Perception of the Effectiveness of Cryptocurrency in Day To Day Financial Operations – Dissertation
Cryptocurrency has not received that much attention from IS (Information Systems) and as a consequence of this, there is still a gap in the literature with a great potential for research, specifically how the technology fares within the consumer context. Most notably, this dissertation is interested at the traction Cryptocurrency is gaining in today’s economy and how consumers are responding to this innovation. This dissertation will broadly present the evolution of Cryptocurrency, its financial characteristics, and what factors influence its value formation. The focus will then shift at the underlying models that are used both in a practical and academic setting to illustrate the factors that contribute to the acceptance and diffusion of a new technology. The conceptual model will be based on the Innovation Diffusion Theory of Everett Rogers.
Using a specifically designed questionnaire, consumer opinions are quantified in order to ascertain current attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore, after examining specifically designed hypothesis that deal with technology adoption, it was discovered that pivotal factors such as complexity, relative benefits and education play a distinct role in the uptake of Cryptocurrency. This is important because as a new technological instrument, Cryptocurrency opens the door to a number of opportunities for consumers, but only after overcoming a number of challenges and limitations that might prevent it to be accepted.
Cryptocurrency Dissertation
Thus, the aim is to investigate the monetary characteristics of a financial innovation in conjunction with the sociological component. This will lead to a better understanding of the constructs that influence the decision to adopt a novel technology by looking at a number of social and psychological factors. An overview of the leading technology adoption theories is provided that will address a number of cognitive, effective and contextual factors. While the study could potentially draw from all these theories, the Innovation Diffusion Theory of Everett Rogers will serve as a foundation, and all the assumptions will be based on this particular model.
Dissertation Objectives
What is the consumer response regarding the use of cryptocurrencies in day to day financial operations?
The main objective of this dissertation is to determine the level of consumer awareness, perception and degree of utilisation.
What are the main factors that influence the consumer intention to adopt cryptocurrencies?
Dissertation Contents
1 – Introduction Background and Context The Rationale for the Research Research Objectives
2 – Literature Review The Evolution of Cryptocurrency What Is Cryptocurrency And What Is It Based On? What Gives Cryptocurrencies Value? Difference between Cryptocurrency and Traditional FIAT Currency Cryptocurrency Nomenclature Advantages and Disadvantages in using Cryptocurrency Advantages Disadvantages Technology Adoption Theories Hypothesis
3 – Methodology Research Philosophy Research Approach Research Design and Strategy Sample Size and Population Ethical Considerations Data Analysis
If you enjoyed reading this post on Cryptocurrency, I would be very grateful if you could help spread this knowledge by emailing this post to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you.
Title: Management Accounting Process. Management accounting entails the process of identifying, analyzing, recording, and presentation of informed management information to the different management in entities so as to make informed decisions. The informed decisions are both short and long term ones. The information provided may be wide covering different areas like the sale made in ascertain period and the budgets, the growth in profitability, customer base and payments made. The information being provided relates to the management, is always timely and is useful in making the entity’s decision.
The managerial information is critical in making different strategic decisions, helps in making performance decisions which are involved in creating an area of comparing the profits of the entity with previous periods and coming up with better techniques of improving on the same (Drury, 2013, p.17).The organization is also involved in the creation of risk managing actions on different lines of management whereby this will be through ensuring that the entity ventures in different business through taking risks which may lead to better performance.
The
data which is collected by the different management accountants are involved in
the process of planning, performance rating and maintaining operational status.
Planning enables the different entities to know what to produce and when. This
is aided by knowing the amount of the raw materials being needed and the labor
force too. The planning process enables the entities to take into consideration
performance rating which entails comparing the input rate for the different
employees and the resultant profit.
Maintaining
the operational status enables the different management to know the cost
incurred in the production process and keeping a record of what is occurring in
the entity. The costs incurred in the production process can be identifying
from the different raw materials and the input in the production process based
on the labour force and the time employed. The improvement in the operational
status of an entity will hence lead to achievement of different set target
which will motivate the different management personnel and the staff too. These
goals can only be achieved with good setting of strategies by the management accountants
from the initial states and making the different responsible personnel on what
to do. The different roles assigned will at the end evaluated and the
achievement of the different target evaluated too.
Role of Management Accountants
The
traditional management accountants role were mainly geared towards cost control
and reduction but the Strategic accountants in the current era are focused on a
wide area of activities like ensuring that there is improved competitiveness,
identifying new opportunities in different markets and ensuring that the
decisions being made are longterm and of benefit to the different organizations
(Hilton, 2013,p.39).The roles of the management accountants have hence highly
changed in the current period as compared to the past. This has been brought
about by the increasing level of technological advancements, increased business
sizes and the existence of different opportunities in different areas. The
following are the different roles played by the Strategic management
accountants in the current world which are quite different from the traditional
management accountants.
Keeping a Prospective View in the Entity
The
management accounting process management is employed today by the strategic
management accountants is of more benefit as compared to the traditional one
resulting from the different changes in the global environments. The management
accountants today use information which is more broad-based and doesn’t
consider only internal information in an organization and is highly
prospective. The broad-based information has been made through having a broad
information base through the enterprise resource planning systems. The newly
implemented systems by the management accountants enable them to be able to
keep track of huge amounts of data relating to different parties. The data can
be kept for the different customers and suppliers of the entity which will
enable them to keep a track of the active and frequent customers and suppliers
too. The data enables the different management accountants in ensuring that the
make the payments to the different suppliers in time and hence they don’t build
up their balances which may lead to the inability to settle them in future.
Keeping
this track enables the different suppliers need to be met in time and hence
that will also increase and improve on their supply of the different resources
to the entities as there will be no fear of losing any amount upon their
supply. The customers’ data can have also been kept to track the different
purchasing habits and in case some of the customer’s claims of any balances
owed to the entity, it can be easily traced (Malmi,2016, p.32).This has enabled the entities to be
able to identify the different measures to meet their customers’ needs and
overcome competition in their environment.
The
use of the prospective data on how the entity may be performing with the
different customers and suppliers has enabled the different management accou
tan ts to come up with different strategies of maintaining the existing
customers and suppliers and acquiring new more ones and hence being able to
open up in a wider area which leads to an improvement in their competitiveness.
Management Accounting Create Competitive Focus
The
strategic management accountants are involved in creating a competitive focus
in their different environments as compared to the manufacturing focus of the
tradition alk management accountants. The traditional management accountants
were focusing only on the manufacturing process and the monetary value benefit
they will get. This made most of the entities produce different products with
the concerned of the value they would acquire, while in the new era the
management accountants are taking into consideration the value of the different
non-financial information in an entity like the predicted sales, the market
share, the potential competitiveness.
The environmental concerns which have no direct costs but have a great impact on the public and the future generations are also taken into consideration (Hasniza Haron,2013, p.104).The consideration of the different budgeted sale has enabled different entities performance to be high as they are forced to work on tight schedules to ensure that they meet the different standards. The entities are also involved in ensuring that these deadlines are kept in track and improvements in the quality of the products with far pricing which lead to an improvement in their sales.
Taking into consideration the different aspects of their market share in the market has enabled the different entities to keep information on their performance and hence be able to track on the weak areas where improvement is highly needed. The market share size enables the different entities to borrow more from their competitors in getting to identify the gaps which exist between them and the competitors too. These gaps are core in ensuring that the entities are to out-win the other customers in the wider competitive market. The new strategic management accountants are able to identify the different non-direct cost acts which have an impact on the entity now and in the future.
The management accounts in the current era are involved in ensuring that they meet the different cost acts which are involved in creating good relations with their different stakeholders. These activities are like being involved in the different community development projects and providing incentives to the different customers and suppliers too like providing trips to the customers who made the high purchase in the entity (Malmi, 2016, p.34). These incentives create a good gesture to the different stakeholders and hence the organization can easily be in a line of attracting and maintaining more different customers and stakeholders too.
Management-Accounting-Dissertations
Acquiring
the different information of stakeholders from the different periodicals, business
magazines and newspapers to have enabled the management accountant to be able
to keep a track of the potential market opportunities in the different
environment. Benchmarking in the different entities which have been performing
well in their environments leads to the entity acquiring the different new
skills which enable them to be more competitive and hence improve on their
performance.
Identifying New Economic Possibilities
The
strategic management accountants are involved in learning more of the potential
economic possibilities which enable them to create a new marketing area and
acquiring more new market. The new possibilities are obtained from the
different researches which are carried out by the accountants and the teams in
their entities. The strategic management accountants are involved in
researching more on the different changes in the accounting and reporting
field, the new potential markets and the possibilities of any challenges in the
future.
Researching
on the different possibilities has hence led to the creation of a wider line of
management techniques which are enabling the different organization thrives
well in their markets. The researches on the increasing demands of the different
products of an entity enable the different manufacturers to come up with more
efficient production mechanisms which will not only cut costs but also increase
on the quality of the different commodities (Goretzki,2017, p.20). Researches on using the
computerized production techniques in different entities has enables the organizations
to cut costs on manpower as a lot of data can be easily compiled through the use
of computers by only a few individuals.
The
cut cost can be employed in different fields like in research or improvement of
the production process in the entities. The entities are also able to identify
new potential marketing areas in different zones. This will hence lead to more
improved production process by the different entities which will mean that
there will be a high level of increasing quality to attract more customers. The
new marketing areas will also lead to more researches on how to target supply
over a wider market scope which will lead to more research in the area of the
population growth with demands of the different products. This leads to the
opening of different branches by the different organizations in the different
parts so as to be able to efficiently supply to their potential customers (Malmi,2016,p.38).
Management Accounting Decision Making
The
strategic accountants are involved in creating an environment of tracking the
past and ensuring that they focus on improving on the same. This has been
enabled through having different lines of sequence and pattern analysis in the
different entities. The different entities are hence employing the use of the
Target cost techniques in planning their different daily operations. This
technique includes the use of patterns in terms of customer growth, growth in
sales and profitability.
These
are carried out on a monthly basis and the trend of the movements are
extrapolated over the other years and the final amounts are compared to the
budgeted ones (Puyou,2018, p.13).
The use of the sequences and patterns has enabled the different entities in
creating a room of potential improvement in performances are the different
operation lines are considered while carrying out this.
The
strategic accounts considered the possibilities of improving on the past
sequences and patterns since the different cycles like increasing more
technologically advanced production machines which will cut staff costs. The
accountants are also involved in creating an environment in which the different
patterns which have been existing can be employed in making decisions on the
future performance of the entity which will be through ensuring that the past
weakness is sealed. The accountants are also involved in enabling the management
know the area where more cost is being incurred in the running of their
business and hence come up with new techniques on how to cut on the same while
maintaining or improving on their values. The sequence of the decisions being
made are all long term and are of great impact on the entity.
Identifying New Opportunities
The
strategic management accountants are involved in making decisions of relative positions
as compared to the traditional management accountants who were only focused on
a single entity. The strategic management accountants are hence involved in
creating a decision on different entities which involves coming g up with plans
on how to come up with new entities in different areas. Making decisions for a
wider scope has hence enabled most of the strategic accountants to come up with
new plans of creating a new potential business in different areas.
Decision
making on a wider scope leads to the increase in the level of acquiring more
new techniques in running the entity which leads to more improvements in the
different areas of management (Puyou,
2018 ,p.22) Making decisions on different areas enables the accountants
to learn more on different line businesses which are of advantage to the whole entity.
this will hence mean that the final decisions will be of great importance as
this will lead to more borrowings on the different areas which lead to better
performance. Making decisions in the different entities leads to the creation
of more opportunities in identifying new business opportunities which will be of
great importance to the different operations in the entities.
Creating Linkages With Management Accounting
The management accounts take into consideration of creating different linkages. The creation of linkages is made through creating new market opportunities in the different business areas and also in meeting different accountants globally. There have been different conferences which are held for the different accountants globally which lead to the creation of linkages in sharing the different management techniques by the different accountants.
Traditionally, the different accountants were not able to create linkages in their operations as they were overlooking them. The creation of the linkages creates an opportunity for different accounts in acquiring more new skills in learning their different management roles (Janin, 2017, p.16). The creation of the linkages makes the different accounts to be in the line of making new opportunities in their operations and hence be able to know the different changes which have occurred in the new management positions. Creation of linkages in different matters in an entity leads to the creation of more room for embracing different changes in an entity.
The
linkages enable different accountants to link different acts to an entitled
cause. This will hence create a room for the different accountants to know the
cause of different challenges in an entity and also come up with the solutions
to the same challenges.
The management accountants are hence core in
running the different entities as they are considered when there is an arising
in a challenge in the management in terms of operations and in determining the
performance of the entity in future. The strategic management accountants are
hence core in ensuring that the different entity operations are running
efficiently while ensuring cost-cutting measures and quality of the different
products. The accountants are hence core in ensuring that the different set
targets are achieving and helping in guiding on how the same should be
achieved.
Conclusion
Management
accountants are very core in the running of an entity and their contributions
towards the performance of an entity should always be appreciated as they are
core in guiding on the planning, decision making and implementation of the
different processes too.
References
Drury, C. M. (2013). Management and cost accounting.
Springer.
Goretzki, L., & Strauss, E. (Eds.). (2017). The
Role of the Management Accountant: Local Variations and Global Influences.
Routledge.
Hasniza Haron, N., Kamal Abdul Rahman, I., & Smith, M.
(2013). Management accounting practices and the turnaround process. Asian
Review of Accounting, 21(2), 100-112.
Hilton, R. W., & Platt, D. E. (2013). Managerial
accounting: creating value in a dynamic business environment. McGraw-Hill
Education.
Janin, F. (2017). When being a partner means more: The
external role of football club management accountants. Management
Accounting Research, 35, 5-19.
Malmi, T. (2016). Managerialist studies in management
accounting: 1990–2014. Management Accounting Research, 31,
31-44.
Maskell, B. H., Baggaley, B., & Grasso, L. (2016). Practical
lean accounting: a proven system for measuring and managing the lean enterprise.
Productivity Press.
Otley, D. (2016). The contingency theory of management
accounting and control: 1980–2014. Management accounting research, 31,
45-62.
Puyou, F. R. (2018). Systems of secrecy: Confidences and gossip in management accountants’ handling of dual role expectations and MCS limitations. Management Accounting Research, 40, 15-26.
Did you find any useful knowledge relating to Management accounting in this post? What are the key facts that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments. Thank you.
Title: Airbnb as an economic space. An economic space is either physical or non-physical system that creates a model through which people can design and interact with financial values. There are numerous platforms that can be classified as economic spaces including social websites such as Airbnb and Facebook. These platforms create spaces for people to gather and interact. Basically, the interaction of individuals within an economic space is determined by its structure and design. Each economic space has specific behaviors and traits associated with the social systems it forms. Airbnb has numerous benefits as an economic space because of its scale, allowing people to list and book accommodation from any part of the world.
Airbnb as an Economic Space
Airbnb is platform
that allows peers to list and reserve housing around the world. Individuals
with vacant rooms are allowed to register on Airbnb as hosts in order to list
their properties. Similarly, guests enroll on the platform as hosts and are
permitted to verify their identity using their online profiles or government-issued
documents before they are allocated an accommodation. The platform is
accessible through mobile application and websites. Recently, I interacted with
Airbnb as a guest and experienced the numerous benefits associated with the
space. It is easier, cheaper, and accessible from every part of the world. The
listed properties are of diverse sizes and prices and are in locations that
allow tourists to stay with the local people during their travel period. Airbnb
is global in terms of scale because like many internet-based platforms, it is
utilized by a global audience (Coe, Kelly, &
Yeung, n.d.). Guests have the option of choosing the listing based on
diverse criteria such as region, city, price, date, and features of property.
Nonetheless, the platform can be categorized into several scales that include a global, regional, national, urban, and local scale. One aspect of the platform that should be noted is that it is operated from a particular region although it is global. The listing of the products occurs from any place in the globe and hosts can easily update if their space is already booked.
Airbnb Economic Space
Airbnb is fascinating because complementary economic activities are occurring concurrently at multiple scales (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung, n.d.). The accommodation services enabled by Airbnb are part of the sharing economy where users share assets and services using digital intermediaries. The difference between Airbnb and the traditional accommodation services is in the way of delivering these services. Because of the unique model utilized by Airbnb, there are numerous advantages for the hosts, the guests, and the populations at local levels. While searching for a suitable accommodation based on the available budget, I interacted with numerous hosts and the diverse properties available to clients across the globe. Basically, the actions of both the guests and hosts are shaped by the design of the platform, with each having a personalized interface to mediate the interactions.
Airbnb Interventions
Regarding interventions aided by Airbnb, it is not easier to isolate one scale of the system because the processes at a particular scale depend on the activities at another scale. The decisions that lead to the success of the business model are made at different levels of the systems. In this context, the human effort is augmented by digital structures. Each of the consumers is beneficiaries of the knowledge invested in the web platform. In the contemporary economic spaces, technology is the main tool to enhance the efficiency of the everyday activities. However, it is apparent that Airbnb platform does not overshadow the essence of ordinary work in the physical sense.
The design of the platform reveals what is an economic space and what it can do. Airbnb is a hallmark of economic globalization that braved the traditional methods of looking for accommodation. Consumers across the globe can choose from a variety of available spaces. Airbnb is a unique form of economic geography that has rationalized the tourism and travel industry (Walker, n.d.). Essentially, the analysis of Airbnb as an economic space is not confined in a singular scale but rather understanding that different scales are performing and active at the same time. When the platform is considered in one scale, we create a restricted and ambiguous understanding of the digital model used (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung, n.d.).
Conclusion
Airbnb is popular
because it allows efficient and easier listing of properties that serve a
global clientele. It is a digital system that allows people to undertake
economic activities in a worldwide scale. There are numerous economic benefits
associated with Airbnb because of the several scales that allow economic
activities at the individual, local, national, and international level. The
platform can be accessed through the website or mobile application and lists
properties of diverse features, prices, and location. At all scale levels, the
activities occur simultaneously. Listing and booking of accommodation occurs
from any part of the world and the activities of one scale depend on the
performance of the other. Airbnb is different from the traditional accommodation
services because it offers benefits to people at different scales of the
economic hierarchy simultaneously.
References
Coe, N. M., Kelly, P. F., & Yeung, H. W.-C.
(n.d.). Thinking geographically. In Conceptual Foundations.
Walker, R. A. (n.d.). The geography of production.
Did you find any useful knowledge relating to Airbnb as an economic space in this post? What are the key facts that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments. Thank you.
The UK fashion clothing market has been hit by many changes in the last decade. The UK’s plan to exit from the European Union has been one of the main changes that are facing business in the UK. The EU has been regulating trade in its member states and the UK’s exit will present a new environment for fashion retail market in the country (Dhingra, Ottaviano, Sampson, & Reenen, 2016). UK Fashion retailers have been enjoying free trade under the membership of the EU. In the past cloths are presented in shops where buyers could come and buy. Then come e-commerce. Cloths are sold over the websites and marketing is done through social media, a change that many clothing retailers are struggling to come into terms with. The economic recession presents an environment where businesses struggle to grow due to low sales and the high cost of doing business. This report will refer to Zara fashion Company to analyze the key changes in the UK fashion clothing market and suggest strategies to fix the changes.
UK Fashion – An Introduction to Zara Fashion Company
Rosali Mera and Amancio Ortega founded Zara in 1975 in Galicia, Spain, under the name Zorba. They later changed the name to Zara after noticing that there was a bar several meters away which had the same name. The company opened many other outlets in Spain during the 1980s. During the 1980s, Ortega started using a group of designers rather than individual retailers to respond to the new trends in the market in the fastest way possible. He also introduced information technologies to reduce lead times. In 1988, the company started to expand internationally and by 2011, the company had many retailing shops in the UK, China, Estonia, Russia, Philippines, South Korea, India, Australia, and South Africa. The company sells over 480 million clothing items every year in its shops.
In 2010, the company launched an e-commerce site where the cloths can be sold. The site was available in the UK, Germany, France, Portugal, and Italy. After five years, its online services extended to all other countries where it has shops. In 2014, RFID technology was made available in its shops. RFID technology involves fixing RFID chips on clothes before they are sold which notify them when a cloth is sold for an immediate replacement.
Zara retails on both men and women clothes. Children cloths are also sold under the name Zara Kids (Zara.com, n.d.). Zara uses consumer trends in the market to supply the clothes. The company spends less than 15 days before new cloths reach the shops after they have been manufactured.
Changes within the UK Fashion Retail Market
Economic Changes
A report made by the World Bank puts the UK at number fifth in the world of the largest economies. The high population of the UK and enabling infrastructure enables smooth business which makes the country attain the fifth largest GDP in the world after the US, Japan, and Germany. However, the UK was hit by the economic recession in 2008 and the recessionary conditions are just decreasing gradually. Zara has been storing new clothes in its shops twice a week but during the recession period, the target could not be achieved. The recession period presented a high cost of living to citizens making it difficult to buy cloths every time. Zara had to store its clothes in stores for a longer period than expected.
Another economic change that has hit the UK market is increased inflation rates. The inflation rate in the UK reached 3.1% percent in November 2017. This increase in inflation rates translated to increased prices on clothes which make it difficult for consumers to purchase the clothes (Cowling, Liu, Ledger, & Zhang, 2015). Zara stores cloths which have been manufactured in its plant in Spain. The inflation rates in the UK makes the cost of importation to be high which forces the company to sell its cloths at higher prices than before. The consumer confidence in the UK is depreciating due to an unexplained increase in the company’s products. The company is struggling to restore consumer confidence and at the same time sell at prices that can make it make profits.
Corporate taxes has been increasing in the UK. The corporate taxes were 17% at first before they increased to 19% and now the Labour Party promises to increase the corporate taxes from the current 19% to 21%. The corporate taxes are one of the largest expenses of the company as they account for 19% of the profits that are made. Increasing the corporate taxes will lead to a reduction of the amount of money that is shared to the owners of the business (Suárez Serrato, & Zidar, 2016). They increase the cost of doing business which forces retail companies to increase their prices.
Political Changes in UK Fashion
The UK is set to exit from the EU. The company faces uncertainties of whether the importation tariffs will increase and by how much. The company sells which have been manufactured in Spain cloths in its UK shops. The UK and Spain being member states of the EU enjoy free trade. By free trade policies of the EU, the company pays zero importation tariffs to import its goods to the UK. This means that it can sell the sale the cloths at the same prices as those in Spain.
However, the UK’s exit from the EU (Brexit) will come with changes in trade terms which will include the introduction of importation tariffs since the UK will no longer be a member state of the EU. The companies will have to pay importation tariffs for the goods imported from Spain. This will increase its cost and make the company increase the price of clothes. Selling the cloths at high prices than those of the competitors like Arcadia UK fashion group which sell clothes made in the UK will have adverse effects on its business.
The pre-Brexit policies have not been formulated which brings further uncertainties about how the business will be done after the UK withdraws from the EU. The minister of trade in the UK held a meeting with the UK Fashion and Textile Association in December 2018. However, a clear direction was not given to the fashion retailer on how they will do their business after the Brexit.
Technological Changes
The UK provides one of the fasted bandwidths on the continent. The penetration of smartphones in the country has been high in the last decade. This enabling environment has made people within the market to change their shopping preferences to online shopping. People are now preferring to shop over the websites (Peng, An, & Vecchi, 2017). UK Fashion retail companies are facing this challenge by investing in e-commerce and launching shopping websites. Zara has never been left out in this campaign and in 2014, it launched its online boutique in the UK.
Environmental Changes
The recessionary period in the UK presents an environment where business finds it difficult to grow at the expected rate. In as much as Zara Company want to expand by opening more sales in the UK, the environment discourages such a move. The recessionary environment also makes it difficult to make the expected prices and abide to its policy of replacing the stocks twice a week.
Legal Changes
In May 2018, General Data Protection Regulatory (GDPR) came into force. The policy requires every social media firm and e-commerce sites to be transparent on how customers data is used. Zara Fashion Company is affected by the regulation since it owns an online boutique launched in 2014. To avoid litigations, the company should adhere to the General Data Protection Regulatory (GDPR) regulations. In April 2018, the bill passed by the UK parliament came into force. The bill required that all companies whose employee turnover is above 250 to publish the details of the employees including their gender and their salaries. This new rule affects Zara because it has more than 250 employees.
Social Changes
Unlike Spain where the market comprises of one main race with similar culture, the UK market features multi-ethnic cultures. The market has different design needs which should be fulfilled. Different people living in the UK have different design preferences.
Changes within the Micro Environment
Changing trends in the UK Fashion Market
The designs in the clothing market are subject to change within a short period of time. If the clothes are not sold within a short period of time they become useless to the customer and they might never be sold (Grewal, Roggeveen, & Nordfält, 2016). The company uses a group of designers to design every new design that is introduced as a tactic to respond to the changing trends in the market. The company also sells the cloths within a week to avoid cloths saying for long in the shelves which might render them useless. The RFID tag on clothes can monitor the clothes that have spent a long period in the shelves and change them.
Change in Marketing Strategies
Two
decades ago Television sets and the print media were the well-known and
reliable marketing channels. However, the changes in technology have brought
digital marketing where marketing can be done over the internet. Social media
marketing is also a new trend in fashion marketing. Social media sites are
being used to market fashion products. Links are created on social media pages
which lead the user to the website of the retail company (Okonkwo, 2016).
Increased Competition in the Retail UK Fashion Market
The UK market has too many too many fashion companies which bring undue competition in the market. The competition has led to a reduction of prices by some fashion retailers. Large discounts are also being offered to lure customer.
Online shopping
Over the last decade, consumers have a switching motive from shopping in the malls to shopping over the e-commerce sites. Some customers prefer online shopping to shopping in the shops. Retailers in the UK fashion market are exerting pressure by using e-commerce sites to sale their products. The company’s in the market are now required by the standards set by the level of competition to have both selling channels. Zara Company uses its online boutique to respond to such changes in selling strategies. The company has now used its online platform for a period of four years.
UK Fashion Dissertation
Strategies and Tactics to Employ
Open a manufacturing plant in the UK
Zara Company depends on clothes that are made in Spain and transported to the UK. After the UK’s exit from the EU, there will be tariffs imposed on the imports. The tariffs will increase the price of clothes imported by Zara Company. To avoid import tariffs Zara should retail on cloths made in the UK rather than importing its stock from Spain. Zara has four manufacturing plants where its cloths are made. The plants are in Spain, Morocco, Portugal, and Turkey. The cloths made in Spain are freely exported and sold in European Union member states including the UK, Spain being a member of the EU. However, after the Brexit, it will not be easy to transport them under free trade terms to the UK.
Staff Training
One of the challenges in retail fashion market is the ever-changing trends in the market. A new design can register large sales today and become an old fashioned cloth with a year. If such cloth spends a year on the shelves without beings customers will start ignoring it for new fashions. Although Zara has been using trend in the market to sell its clothes, staff training is essential. The staff should be trained on how to respond to ever-changing trends in the fashion market (Dillenburger, 2017). With the incorporation of new technologies in its business process, the company should also train its staff on how to use the new technologies.
The interaction of the staff with customers is also very important in ensuring that the customer buys the product and that the customer is maintained to purchase in the future. The staff should be trained on how to interact well with the customers. Every staff member should be trained in good customer relations.
Using both traditional marketing
strategies and Digital Marketing
Both digital marketing and traditional channels like print media and television sets are useful when making advertisements. The company should employ both channels to boost its sales without ignoring either of them. Many people use the internet on daily basis and targeting those people through digital marketing is a wise idea. However, the two channels are not mutually exclusive and television sets, radios, and the print media can be used to reach people. Many people use these channels and digital marketing should never be used in place of them.
Forecasting
Every part of the world has cloths which are highly preferred to others. The company should be carrying research on which clothes to sell to a particular ethnic group as the market in the United Kingdom comprises of many cultures. This will reduce the risks associated with clothes being on the shelves for many days.
Continuous
innovation
People in business are continuously innovating new strategies to make more sales. Retailers are not an exception and they should be innovative enough to be ahead of their competitors. A big challenge that is facing the retail market in the UK is increased competition from other retailers. Innovation is a tool that can be used to reduce competition. Innovation can involve using a shared economy by using the resources of other firms to boost sales. There are online platforms which sell various products without being fashion retailers or specializing in a particular product. Zara should partner with such firms so that the firms can be selling the products of Zara on top of Zara’s online boutique.
Recommendations
The Zara Company has tried to be innovative by introducing RFID chips to monitor the movement of cloths and introducing Zara online boutique to boost its online sales. The company and other fashion companies in the UK market should use the following challenges to meet the changes in the fashion market.
The company
should open a manufacturing plant to avoid import tariffs after the Brexit. The
UK might impose tariffs on the goods imported from Spain after the UK’s exit
from the EU.
The company
should use a variety of channels to make sales. Online shopping and shopping in
the shops are all important.
Digital
marketing is becoming popular in the retail market. The company should use both
digital marketing and traditional forms of marketing.
Innovation is the
best tool to use to have a competitive advantage over other companies. The
company should be continuously innovating to meet the challenges in the market.
Having
litigations against a company risks its existence and loss of funds through
settling fines. The company should comply with the regulations set by the
relevant authorities. It should be transparent on user data usage and should
publish the details of its employees.
Conclusion
The changes in the fashion market have been a
challenge to Zara and other companies in the market. The Brexit has also
brought confusion about how cross border trade will be after the UK withdraws
from the AU. Zara retails on clothes which have been by its plant in Spain
which puts it under a threat of incurring import tariffs to the UK just after
the Brexit. This threat can be met by setting up a manufacturing plant in the
UK. Considering all channels in selling products and all forms of marketing can
help the company meet the challenges in the market.
Bibliography
Cowling,
M., Liu, W., Ledger, A. and Zhang, N., 2015. What really happens to small and
medium-sized enterprises in a global economic recession? UK evidence on sales
and job dynamics. International Small Business Journal, 33(5),
pp.488-513.
Dhingra, S., Ottaviano, G.I., Sampson, T. and Reenen, J.V., 2016. The consequences of Brexit for UK trade and living standards.
Dillenburger,
K., 2017. Staff training. In Handbook of Treatments for Autism Spectrum
Disorder (pp. 95-107). Springer, Cham.
Grewal,
D., Roggeveen, A.L. and Nordfält, J., 2016. Roles of retailer tactics and
customer-specific factors in shopper marketing: Substantive, methodological,
and conceptual issues. Journal of Business Research, 69(3),
pp.1009-1013.
Peng,
F., An, N. and Vecchi, A., 2017. Cross-Cultural Study of Online User Behavior
in Fashion E-Commerce: A Comparison of Britain and China. In Advanced
Fashion Technology and Operations Management (pp. 277-293). IGI
Global.
Suárez Serrato, J.C. and Zidar, O., 2016. Who benefits from state corporate tax cuts? A local labor markets approach with heterogeneous firms. American Economic Review, 106(9), pp.2582-2624.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post on changes in the UK fashion and how it affects the clothing market. There are many other titles available in the Marketing Dissertation Collection that should be of interest to marketing students and practitioners. There are many dissertation titles that relate to other aspects of marketing such as branding, corporate advertising, marketing strategy and consumerism to name a few. I would be grateful if you could share this post via Facebook and Twitter. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you.
