Unit 34 (P3, M1): Physical and Technological Resources

Physical Resources

Describe the main physical and technological resources required in the operation of a selected organisation (P3)

Buildings and Facilities

At Tesco, there are approximately 3,378 stores across the UK. The main reason why people shop at different shops is because certain shops are closer to them in their local area than others. So, having a lot of stores spreading across the UK gives diversity and variety and the most important to Tesco, customers. Tesco are able to gain customers as the people who shop at Tesco than any other store is because it is closer to them. This means that having buildings enable new customers who may not want to shop online.

Equipment Including ICT

In the offices they would need a phone, computer, chair, desk, file/storage and other equipment. This would mean that they would be able to manage all of the things that they do and record everything that they need. This would mean that the physical resources would need to insure that the job gets done effectively. Without these physical resources in the office there would be nothing to use to get the job done and organise the company effectively.

Planned Maintenance and Refurbishment

Tesco is planning to provide the best experience for their customers and they claim that they are making a big programme of store refurbishment. This means that customers will be satisfied when they walk into a clean environment.

Emergency Provision

Tesco explains that they want to tackle three important issues in 2015 which are: food waste, improving health and youth unemployment.

Tesco has developed and improved the way they process their frequently purchased products. These now show where most food waste occurs in the value chain. Tesco can then identify these hotspots and focus their action plans to reduce food waste where they can make big differences.

In improving health, Tesco’s new Healthy Little Differences Tracker will map the health profile of their customers’ shopping trips over time. Tesco has carried out extensive research with young people to find out their ambitions, the challenges they face and the support that they need.

Insurance

Tesco would have to have legal aspects such as insurance; this would mean that they would be able to protect their buildings. If they do not have insurance then they would not be protected and any damage that is caused to the building, then Tesco would have to pay to repair them. The insurance would also cover the people who work at Tesco’s as well. This would protect them if they had an accident. Therefore Tesco would have to have the legal aspects to insure that everything is protected.

Security

They would also need some form of security system in place such as fire/burglar alarms or detectors that can identify non-purchased products. This would reduce the amount of people that shoplift as appose to buying the product. Without security, Tesco would not be able to insure that products will not get stolen which Tesco could lose a considerable amount of money. Tesco would also need to have fire alarms to protect the people who are currently in the building and make them aware that there are hazardous areas so that they can leave immediately with near to no injuries. This would mean that Tesco would have to insure that there are alarms to protect the resources and the people who go there.

Without the physical resources at Tesco they would not be able to get the job done. This would mean that Tesco would not be effective and they would not have a base for the business activities. Therefore they would need these physical resources to get the job done effectively.

Technological Resources

One technological resource that Tesco would need is a domain name which in this case is Tesco.com. Fortunately, Tesco already has a domain name registered. However, if they were a starting company or a company that was interested in going online, then they would need to secure a domain name. This would mean that they would have to insure that there is no other site that has the same potential name as them and they would have to pay for the domain name, so that they can have the name for their business.

Intellectual Property

Tesco would also have intellectual property which would be protected by the law. Property such as the Tesco logo that they have created and put on their website; this will be protected in case of copyright etc. They would use copyright to insure that no one else would use their logo. Furthermore, the copyright protects any advertisements and anything else that they do as part of their business. They would have to pay to get everything they want protected by copyright. This means that Tesco would use this to prevent someone from using their logos, advertisements and other property they want protected.

Software Licences

Another technological resource that Tesco needs to consider would be the software licences found on the computers such as Microsoft Office which they would have to pay for to have on the computer. This would mean that they would have to pay £80 for the software each year for each computer; Tesco could probably get a deal with Microsoft to make it cheaper for Tesco which covers more computers. Without this software they would not be able to run as a business effectively as they would not be able to do computer related task such as making reports.

Protection via Patents and Copyrights

If Tesco came up with an idea for their business, they can protect it by using a patent which would protect the idea. If someone then uses that idea before they had completed and put it into place they would be entitled to some of the money from the other company. In addition to this, Tesco would also have trademarks which they would protect by law to insure that people do not use their trade marks. Therefore, Tesco would use patents and trademarks to insure that there ideas and trademarks are protected.

Overall, technological resources would benefit Tesco in many ways as they would use them to insure that they can do the work needed and insure that everything is protected. This would mean that all of the physical and technological aspects would benefit Tesco as they would be able to be an efficient and effective business with the resources that have got.

How can the Management of Physical, Technological and Human Resources Improve Performance

Explain how the management of human, physical and technological resources can improve the performance of a selected organisation (M1)

Physical Resources

Tesco needs to have a facility to record data, without this, Tesco would not be able to record any data. This would make it difficult for employees since they would have to remember the data instead. This would also make the data unreliable since it is coming from memory. Having a computer to record data and make documents is an efficient and reliable way of recording. A computer can also make it easy to share with other employees by sending them the document. This would mean that Tesco would be more productive with computers since putting information on paper may be hard to read someone’s’ handwriting or it could get damaged or lost if no more copies are made.

The building and offices itself also count as a physical resource and can improve the performance of Tesco because they would be able to have a place in which they can work and get everything that they need done. This would mean that the work would get done quicker and more effectively as the employees are in a work environment which helps them better rather than them being at home as they may be more relaxed and lose concentration. Also, the employees would be able to share ideas in meetings and communicate more effectively.

Overall, without the physical resources, Tesco would not be able to work effectively and this would mean that the business would be affected. Therefore, it is important that Tesco has all the physical resources that they need so that the business can function effectively and be more productive when working.

Technological Resources

One technological resource that Tesco would use is software such as Microsoft Office. This would improve the performance because they would be able to record the information in many different ways. For example, if Tesco want to write up the information; then they would use Microsoft Word. They would also use other programs to create different forms of reports that they need. Having software would improve the performance of Tesco as they would be able to get everything they need done, otherwise employees would need to hand-write the information on paper which can take up a lot of time.

Another technological resource that would be useful for Tesco would be service checks. This means that someone needs to check all the services they have such as computers, printers etc. are working as intended. If a service is unavailable such as the printer ran out of ink, then Tesco is able to quickly order more ink for the printer and fix it before anyone needs to use this. If, however, Tesco did not have service checks, then the employee who wants to use the printer is unable to because there is no ink. The employee needs to report this to Tesco in order to sort the problem out. This method would take up a lot of time and the employee would be unable to print for a long period of time. Service checks would be useful to Tesco so the employee would be able to work effectively.

Another technological resource that Tesco would need is intellectual property. As described before, intellectual property is where Tesco can claim copyright on their ideas such as the Tesco logo on their website. This would improve the performance of Tesco as their ideas would be protected and if someone tried to take that idea, then they would be entitled to some of the money that the other person using their idea is making. This means that without intellectual property, and then the performance would not decrease as people would be taking their ideas and Tesco would be getting nowhere.

Overall, the technological resources would improve the performance of Tesco in many different ways. This would mean that they would be able to work effectively without the worry someone will take their ideas or if a computer is not working when it is needed.

Human Resources

Human resources would improve the performance of Tesco. Without human resources, then nothing will get done. The facilities will still be there but Tesco would need employees to make the work flow. Everything that is done within Tesco is made by human resources to begin with. It is important to Tesco to hire people to work for them so the performance of Tesco can increase. Having said this, Tesco would need to pick good human resources that will not lower the performance of Tesco. Tesco would need to keep hiring people if there are any vacant jobs as vacancy will decrease the performance of Tesco. Therefore, human resources are important to Tesco and they improve the performance of Tesco, without this, then they would not be able to perform effectively.