Areas of improvement for Worksop Leisure Centre (WLC):
Main areas of improvement for WLC are, the structure, operation and communication of the business as a whole. Having a structured and organised business is vital for a successful business and having this in place will make it far easier to communicate properly. According to Torkilsden (2005, pg 490):
“An organisation structure represents the way in which the work is organised and shared out and the manner in which an enterprise is managed.... used effectively the structure provides the framework through which the work operations proceed in an orderly manner towards achieving organisational objectives”.
There are 4 ways to structure an organisation:
1. By function – this is where the organisation is put together with regards to what each section or department does.
2. By product or activity – this is where the organisation is put together with regards to the different products made or different services offered.
3. By area – this is where the organisation is arranged due to its geographical location.
4. By customer – this is where the organisation is arranged due to customers having different needs and desires. (Collington, 2010).
Here is how Worksop Leisure Centre is structured:
Debenham. R. (2010)
From the diagram above it is clear to see WLC has a functional structure. This structure has both advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages
Specialisation – each department centres its attention on its own work.
Accountability – it is clear to see who is responsible for each section.
Clarity – it is clear to see yours and others roles in the organisation.
Disadvantages
Communication – a lack of focus may occur due to the closed communication within the departments.
Change – because of departments being tight knit, some may become unwilling to change.
Co-ordination – Because of the wide span of control, co-ordinating the firm may take a considerable amount of time.
Gap between top and bottom – as there is a gap between the top and bottom, information may take a long time to travel between departments and by the time it arrives the information may even be incorrect. (Collington, 2010).
Although this type of structure has its advantages, they seem to be heavily outweighed by their disadvantages. For example, communication is such a hugely important part of making a business successful, that it is not acceptable to be nothing other than excellent at it, if a business wants to be at its optimum level of functioning. Communicating is far more important than just transmitting a message, the way it is used can affect attitudes and performance of staff and the relationship that is acquired with customers. (Torkilsden, 2005).
Another reason as to why WLC has poor communication is the use of one-way communication. One way communication is quick and satisfying for the sender but more often than not frustrating for the receiver.
According to Torkilsden (2005, pg406),
“One way communication is fraught with difficulties, it is impossible to know if your message is getting through. Many problems of management, in industry and in leisure services, stem from the misunderstanding, misconception, mistrust and underlying feelings not being put clearly in the picture which arise from one-way communications”.
Furthermore, as well as good communication, evaluation and feedback of the communication process which is being currently implemented is also of paramount importance in relation to communication. According to Mullins (2010, pg 233),
“Feedback is a vital ingredient of the communication process. We may misjudge the receiver and regard our communication as unsuccessful, but unless we have some feedback from the other party we may never know whether what we have said or done was received in the way it was intended”.
Bibliography:
Trenberth.L and Hassan.D, (2012), Managing Sport Business An Introduction. Routledge: UK.
L.J.Mullins, (2010), Management & Organisational Behaviour, Prentice hall: England
Torkildsen (2005), Leisure and Recreation Management, Oxon, Routledge.
Collington (2010), organisational structures [lecture] chesterfield college clowne campus, 10th January 2012.
Trenberth.L and Hassan.D, (2012), Managing Sport Business An Introduction. Routledge: UK.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
SWOT Analysis of Worksop Leisure Centre (WLC)
Swot Analysis of Worksop Leisure Centre (WLC)
SWOT Analysis Template
Situation being analysed: Worksop Leisure Centre (WLC)_________________________________________________________________
Many criteria can apply to more than one quadrant. Identify criteria appropriate to your own SWOT situation.
criteria examples Advantages of proposition? Capabilities? Competitive advantages? USP's (unique selling points)? Resources, Assets, People? Experience, knowledge, data? Financial reserves, likely returns? Marketing - reach, distribution, awareness? Innovative aspects? Location and geographical? Price, value, quality? Accreditations, qualifications, certifications? Processes, systems, IT, communications? Cultural, attitudinal, behavioural? Management cover, succession? Philosophy and values? | Strengths · Location – Worksop leisure centre I situated near one of the most affluent places of Worksop (Gateford). This means it is likely that many people living Gateford will see the centre and want to join. · Season – this season is one of the busiest most profitable seasons as many people join the gym to get fit after the Christmas period. · Accreditation – at current the centre is extremely close to attaining quest accreditation, this would be excellent as it would show customers how hard the staff of WLC work and how successful as a sports Facility WLC is. · Reception technology – WLC has just installed a state of the art till system which will make the receptions and administrations job much easier. | Weaknesses · Location - Worksop leisure centre I situated near one of the most affluent places of Worksop (Gateford). This means it is likely that many people living Gateford will see the centre and want to join. · Season – although this season is one of the busiest, the season doesn’t last very long and membership soon starts to drop, typically around March time. · Accreditation – if WLC fails to meet the accreditation standards this would reflect poorly on the company and may have a detrimental effect on membership numbers as customers may lose trust in WLC. · Reception technology – the reception staff of WLC are not yet comfortable or confident in how to work the till system and at busy times customers are left waiting at reception longer than they should have to resulting in them becoming frustrated and giving management poor feedback as to how productive the new system is. | criteria examplesDisadvantages of proposition? Gaps in capabilities? Lack of competitive strength? Reputation, presence and reach? Financials? Own known vulnerabilities? Timescales, deadlines and pressures? Cashflow, start-up cash-drain? Continuity, supply chain robustness? Effects on core activities, distraction? Reliability of data, plan predictability? Morale, commitment, leadership? Accreditations, etc? Processes and systems, etc? Management cover, succession? |
criteria examplesMarket developments? Competitors' vulnerabilities? Industry or lifestyle trends? Technology development and innovation? Global influences? New markets, vertical, horizontal? Niche target markets? Geographical, export, import? New USP's? Tactics: eg, surprise, major contracts? Business and product development? Information and research? Partnerships, agencies, distribution? Volumes, production, economies? Seasonal, weather, fashion influences? | Opportunities · Location- in the small town of Worksop their are as many as 5 gyms, this is an opportunity as through successful marketing the centre may be able to take some of the customers from the other gyms boosting their income and memberships. · Expansion – WLC is looking to expanding the fitness suite as well as purchasing a new sports hall and 5 tennis courts, if this is successful this would be a great opportunity to gain customers but more importantly fulfil societies needs for sport and leisure. · Partnership with council and private leisure firm – if used properly this partnership could be extremely successful as 3 times the amount of brain power could be put into decision making. · Competition – other gyms in and around Worksop are not taking the chance to gain new customers through successful advertising whereas WLC is. therefore, WLC have a great opportunity to gain new customers from other competitors. | Threats · Location - in the small town of Worksop their are as many as 5 gyms, this is a threat as they have the potential through successful marketing to take some of our customers. · Expansion - WLC is looking to expanding the fitness suite as well as purchasing a new sports hall and 5 tennis courts, if WLC is successful in doing so, it will need careful management and staffing, if this were not to be the case members using the facility may observe this and choose to participate in sport and leisure at a different centre as they feel they are not getting the level of service they should. · Partnership with council and private leisure firm – although this may seem like a good idea with regard to decision making, with three separate entireties being involved decision making could be long and drawn out with some parties feeling unmotivated to work towards the goal decided on, because it was not their first choice. · Competition – if other gyms were to be more successful in their marketing it is quite possible that WLC could see a decline in memberships as customers choose to partake in sport and leisure at a different gym due to better offers are perks. | criteria examplesPolitical effects? Legislative effects? Environmental effects? IT developments? Competitor intentions - various? Market demand? New technologies, services, ideas? Vital contracts and partners? Sustaining internal capabilities? Obstacles faced? Insurmountable weaknesses? Loss of key staff? Sustainable financial backing? Economy - home, abroad? Seasonality, weather effects? |
© Alan Chapman 2005-09. Free PDF version of this tool and information about SWOT analysis methods are available at www.businessballs.com/swotanalysisfreetemplate.htm. This is a free resource from www.businessballs.com, which contains lots more useful tools, diagrams and materials. Not to be sold or published.
Pest Analysis of Worksop Leisure Centre (WLC)
Pest analysis of Worksop leisure centre:
PEST Analysis Template
Situation being analysed: Worksop Leisure Centre ______________________________________________________________________
PEST analysis (political, economical, social, technological) assesses a market, including competitors, from the standpoint of a particular proposition or a business.
criteria examples ecological/environmental current legislation future legislation international legislation regulatory bodies and processes government policies government term and change trading policies funding, grants and initiatives home market pressure- groups international pressure- groups wars and conflicts | Political Politics and the Government have a major say in how WLC is run and what facilities/ activities are offered there (the free the swimming scheme initiated by the government). At this moment in time a coalition government is running the country which has brought about major cuts to funding for organisations and firms in the public sector, this means that WLC will receive less government backing and therefore less government grants and bursaries, in the long term this will most likely negatively affect the standard at which WLC offers its services and facilities and therefore have a negative effect on the amount of people choosing to take part in activities and spend money at the centre. Current health and wellbeing initiatives set by the government can also dictate what kind of activities WLC offers, an example of this would be the centre offering GP referral and cardiac rehabilitation services to fall in line with government guidelines. In addition to this, National objectives and health issues also have an impact on WLC’s services, currently the centre offers periodic weight management sessions with a view to eliminating the national concern of obesity. | Economical The leisure centre is situated in Worksop and although the town does house small pockets of people who could be regarded as affluent, on the whole Worksop’s resident have little disposable income. This means that the majority cannot afford pricey leisure activities and would be deterred by pricing which is unrealistically high, with this in mind WLC offers different schemes and discounts (such as the 10-4-8 scheme which enables customers to purchase 10 swims but only be charged for 8) to accommodate for a broad range of customers, but mainly focusing upon those with little disposable income. At present, the fitness suite is becoming more and more popular and to keep this trend progressing, WLC, BPL and B.D.C are in discussion with regards to building a second floor in an attempt to cater for and attract a higher volume of customers. If the building of the second floor gets the all clear, this will strengthen WLC’s position in its market and in the long term make the centre more appealing to its customers. For the second year running WLC is offering a deal on their fitness memberships where you pay £9.99 per month for the first 3 months (after these 3months the price is then increased to a normal rate of 25.95) when you sign up for a 12 month direct debit membership. Typically the busies time for WLC is in the run up to summer and the start of the new year, this is mainly due to people wanting to participate in exercise to lose weight and look good for their summer holidays or to try and lose the extra weight they have gained over Christmas. | criteria exampleshome economy economy trends overseas economies general taxation taxation specific to product/services seasonality issues market/trade cycles specific industry factors market routes trends distribution trends customer/end-user drivers interest/ exchange rates international trade and monetary issues |
criteria exampleslifestyle trends demographics consumer attitudes and opinions media views law changes affecting social factors brand, company, technology image consumer buying patterns fashion and role models major events and influences buying access and trends ethnic/religious factors advertising and publicity ethical issues | Social Worksop is a small town which is very densely populated and a large percentage of its residents have a low level of disposable income. At current, two of the types of customers WLC is attracting are single and young parent families. With this information in mind, WLC is prioritising making their facilities as appealing as possible to young people, offering junior gym memberships from as little as £9.99 per month to try and attract and provide for the extra numbers of younger people living in Worksop. As well as this, Worksop has become very popular among Polish immigrants as more and more are choosing Worksop as a place to live and work. As yet, no communication problems have occurred but if they were to do so, WLC would need to look into solving the problem and depending on how serious the problem became, may even have employ a translator to help keep the smooth running of the centre. | Technological WLC’s main technology lies inside its fitness suite, where the suite boasts latest state of the art Technogym training facilities ranging from weights machines to treadmills. Through the use of a TGS key (a data holder which plugs into Technogym machines) the Technogym equipment can tell the user how many calories they have burnt, how long they have been training for and how hard they have been working (according to their heart rate etc). As well as this the, Technogym TGS keys enable users to send and receive messages from other gym members adding a social side to the fitness suite. The TGS keys also help to monitor how many members are using the gym at a specific time and provides very useful information as to what trends are being set, with regards to when the busiest times are and which age ranges tend to use the gym at what times etc. Other areas of technological advancement include customer service where WLC is in the process of setting up a texting service which will be more efficient in keeping in touch with members with regards to fitness packages, swimming lesson payment dates and useful information about the centre. This is a good move as it shows WLC is moving with the times and is accepting that its majority of customers nowadays are happy and actually prefer to be contacted via their mobile telephone. | criteria examplescompeting technology development research funding associated/dependent technologies replacement technology/solutions maturity of technology manufacturing maturity and capacity information and communications consumer buying mechanisms/technology technology legislation innovation potential technology access, licencing, patents intellectual property issues global communications |
A PEST analysis is a great tool which enables a business to sit back and have a in depth review of where they are at present and where they are looking to move forward to In the future.
According to Trenberth and Hassan (2012) businesses:
“require knowledge of their external environment (the so-called PEST analysis – Political, economical, social and technological domains), of their customers and of their business competitors, both current and potential, for informed decision making”.
Although if used properly a PEST analysis would be of great use to a business external influences are almost unlimited in number and variety and no study could hope to consider every single one. (Mullins, 2010)
Bibliography:
Trenberth.L and Hassan.D, (2012), Managing Sport Business An Introduction. Routledge: UK.
L.J.Mullins, (2010), Management & Organisational Behaviour, Prentice hall: England
Anon, Pest analysis tools, (2007) http://rapidbi.com/created/pestanalysis.html [accessed 10th January 2012].
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Mission statement and organiational goals of my work placement, Barnsley Premier Leisure
I have always had a passion for sport and one of my career aims is to become a manager in either sport, recreation or leisure. I currently work part-time as a lifeguard a Worksop Leisure Centre which i am also using as my work placement.
Worksop Leisure Centre is located in a small town of Worksop and is only a small leisure facility with its main aims being to provide its community and people with opportunities to participate in sport, recreation and leisure activities at an affordable price. The centre was knocked down, rebuilt and re-opened to the public in 2008, but its most recent development was in April of 2010, where the rights to run the a leisure business within the premises of WLC were bought by a private leisure company named BPL (Barnsley Premier Leisure) to try and maximise the centres potential. according to BPL's website they are:
“Barnsley Premier Leisure (BPL) is a charitable company limited by guarantee. We are a registered charity, established in 1999 to provide sporting and leisure opportunities for local communities. As we are a genuine not-for-profit, social enterprise, any surplus we generate is re-invested into the facilities and services we provide”.
In this modern day many businesses choose to use mission statements and organisational goals to set out the meaning of their business in an attractive manner, in a hope to put on show what they supposedly want to achieve, where as the organisational goals are in charge of telling everyone how the business aims to do this.
According to Mullins (2007),
A mission statement “sets an organisations purpose, guiding values and principles and the way in which it intends to achieve its objectives, while recognising the interests of other stakeholders”.
BPL’s mission statement and organisational goals are:
‘Working together to enrich lives through enjoyable sport and leisure choices for all’.
1. Improving our service.
2. Encouraging health and well-being.
3. Engaging with local communities.
4. Engaging with young people.
5. Developing our business.
6. Developing our people.
7. Managing our environment.
As you can see above, BPL’s mission statement and organisational goals include managing their environment and making an effort to engage with their local communities. These, like a lot of other business all sound very well, but what matters most is whether companies such as BPL are in fact putting these mission statements and organisational goals in to use and proving that not only can they create these wonderful ideas but they can in actual fact, put them into practice to benefit the business, making customers, stakeholders and anyone who is involved with the business believe that they are for real and that the mission statements and organisational goals are not just marketing waffle (which for many people is what they are understandably misconstrued as).
Perrin and Tavakoli (1977) are also concerned with the way in which items such as mission statements are banded about and believe:
“The picture will remain gloomy while managers and consultants believe that creating a mission statement is synonymous with creating a sense of mission. You only create the latter if your mission statement is understood, believed and acted upon by a majority of organisation members”.
In other words mission statements aren’t of any worth if employees do not take them seriously and relate their actions and efforts within the work place towards achieving what is stated in the mission statement or organisational goals. Without this, mission statements become statements about what the business hopes it might be and not what it is.
So my question to you is, are mission statements and organisational goals excellent aids in motivating and empowering employees whilst showing customers what they really want to achieve, or are they just statements and goals designed as a marketing ploy, aimed at making the company look good with no actual real drive or belief behind them?
References
Anon, About us (n.d.) [online] Available from http://www.themetrodome.co.uk/infoPage.jsp?categoryName=About%20BPL [accessed 22nd October 2011].
Mullins. L. J. (2007), Management and Organisational Behaviour, Pg 535, Pitman Publishing Imprint: Great Britain.
Perrin. L, and Tavakoli, I. ‘Mission Impossible Without Commitment’, Professional Manager, pg 14-15.
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