Managmeent

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to identify, discuss and evaluate how the ideas from the organising and leading functions of management can be used by the Coles Group to rebuild its organisation capacity and improve its performance.

Coles-Myer was split up in 2007, Wesfarmers bought the Coles Group believing it had the requisite knowledge and skills gained from successfully running the hardware retail chain Bunnings to bring back the Coles chain of retail shops to its former glory, to lead this transformation, Richard Goyder selected Ian McLeod, who’s portfolio including Halsford, Asda and Wal-Mart Germany to lead this transformation

Organising: The Coles Group seems to adopt a more mechanistic design currently, which is why Wesfarmers’ CEO Jim Goyder mentioned about dismantling this culture. Considerations should also be made with regards to the elements that the Coles Group is operating in before making this suggested change. Current HRM practices include centralised decision making and open communication is discouraged, these practices discourage staff from taking pride in their work which is why new practices have to be introduced.

Leading: An autocratic style of leadership is currently evident in the Coles Group, with most decisions being made by the top management ( Bureaucratic Structure ). As reflected in the company website, the company also has many teams across various states in Australia which means much emphasis is placed on team leadership.

The report will go through in detail the aspects of the organising and leading function that can be used and improved to rebuild the Coles Group organisation’s capacity as well as improve its performance. The weakness of the Coles Group current mechanistic, centralised decision making structure and autocratic style of leadership will be highlighted, as well as the need for inculcating the culture of open communication and implementation of leadership and workforce development programs.

Organising...