Georetailer.com Notes
Table of Contents:
Introduction:................................................................................................................................................2
Understanding the Case Study:................................................................................................................ 2
Overview.................................................................................................................................................2
Strategic Objectives (Business Goals)................................................................................................... 2
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How the two areas of Georetailer.com operate:.......................................................................................3
Fulfillment Centres:.................................................................................................................................3
Head Office:............................................................................................................................................3
Functions of Leadership & Management................................................................................................4
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Action Centred Leadership Model:......................................................................................................... 4
Motivational Theory:............................................................................................................................... 5
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Challenges, Proposals & Recommendations...........................................................................................6
Challenges:........................................................................................................................................... 7
1. Unsuitable Management Style:.................................................................................................... 7
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2. Poor Motivation:........................................................................................................................... 8
3. No Recognition or Career Progression:....................................................................................... 9
4. Repetitive Work:...........................................................................................................................9
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5. Poor Business Culture:.............................................................................................................. 10
Proposals:........................................................................................................................................... 10
1. Transformational and Democratic Leadership Styles:............................................................... 10
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2. Satisfying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.................................................................................... 12
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3. 360 Performance Appraisals......................................................................................................12
4. Job Rotation:..............................................................................................................................13
5. Initiatives to Foster a Positive Business Culture:....................................................................... 13
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Recommendations:............................................................................................................................ 14
1. Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model................................................................................................... 14
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2. McGregor’s Y-Theory................................................................................................................. 15
3. Career Progression Opportunities............................................................................................. 15
4. Human Resource Planning........................................................................................................ 15
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5. Functions of Leadership.............................................................................................................15
Data Analysis:........................................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 1: Performance data at Georetailer.com................................................................................... 16
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Figure 1: Charts....................................................................................................................................18
Figure 2: Employee feedback results at Georetailer.com.....................................................................20
Figure 2: Charts....................................................................................................................................21
Updates:.....................................................................................................................................................23
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,Introduction:
This document provides a detailed analysis of the Georetailer.com case study for the April 2025
Unit 6 exam. It covers everything students need to know about the company, from its business
goals to the challenges that the business faces, along with the corresponding proposals.
Please note that the document contains significantly more information than students will need
for the exam. The approach is to allow students to select the topics and theory they feel most
confident about to use in the exam in order to help them achieve a Distinction grade. Students
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can pick and choose the most relevant information that showcases their understanding of
principles of management.
The document will continue to be updated up until the April 2025 exam, based on feedback from
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students. Please send feedback, suggestions and any questions to
to help improve the resource.
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Understanding the Case Study: ot
Overview
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Georetailer.com is an online retailer that sells clothing, home, beauty and electronic products.
There’s two key parts to the business; the three fulfillment centres (where products are stored,
picked, dispatched and where returns are handled), as well as the head office in Birmingham
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that has 20 permanent staff. The two areas of the business operate quite differently, with the
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fulfillment centres having a point-based system to improve behaviour, and having a rating scale
performance appraisal system. Throughout both areas of the business there is a lack of
motivators and career progression, with an autocratic leadership style where decisions are
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made by top management with no involvement of employees in decision-making. Figures 1 and
2 highlight the poor performance of the business, also highlighting the severity of the
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challenges. Figure 1 illustrates that the business is lagging behind industry averages, and
Figure 2 paints an incredibly worrying picture about how employees feel about working at
Georetailer.com.
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Strategic Objectives (Business Goals)
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Georetailer.com has three strategic objectives:
1. Achieve 5% net profit margin annually
a. Net profit is the final profit made after deducting all costs and the margin can be
calculated by dividing the net profit by revenue
2. Customer satisfaction should be at 90% or above
a. High satisfaction → repeat business → positive word of mouth → increased
revenue
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, 3. Maintain a positive business culture with high employee satisfaction
a. Creates a positive working environment with high levels of productivity
Their mission statement is “Always the best quality products, chosen especially for you.”. There
is clearly a focus on customer satisfaction.
How the two areas of Georetailer.com operate:
Georetailer.com is made up of two areas; fulfillment centres and the head office. These two
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areas have a separate function and a completely different way of operating, from the motivators
and system put in place. This section focuses on explaining those differences, and highlighting
the challenges faced in each area of the business.
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Fulfillment Centres:
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The fulfillment centres handle everything related to e-commerce with employees working 10
hour shifts involving lots of walking (physical labour).
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Main struggles employees face in the fulfillment centres:
1. The work is repetitive and there is no opportunity to complete different tasks
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2. Few opportunities for career progression and no benefits for hitting targets
3. Operates under a point-based system, where employees are given points if they exhibit
bad behaviour (lateness etc) and are punished
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4. Social events are shutdown
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5. Lack of quality/thoroughness of performance appraisals
Head Office:
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The head office consists of 20 permanent full-time employees who update the website and run
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the customer care line.
Main struggles employees face in the fulfillment centres:
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1. Employees are not empowered to make their own decisions
2. Poor quality IT equipment due to aggressive cost saving/cutting
3. Employees are tightly supervised including monitoring (micro-managing)
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4. No formal appraisal system
5. No opportunity for recognition of good work
6. Employees are criticised in front of their colleagues
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