Physical resources are the tangible parts of the company which are: materials and waste, plant and machinery, equipment including ICT, planned maintenance and refurbishment, Emergency provision, Insurance and Security. Buildings and Facilities:
Sainsbury’s have over 1, 200 stores that cater for different purposes. They have Convenience stores, concessions, supermarkets and mixed use developments. They have over 600 convenience stores that are roughly about 4, 500 sq. ft. These provide local communities with quality, fresh, affordable food within walking distances of their homes. Over 14, 000 people work in these stores and this business is growing at 18% a year. Concessions at Sainsbury’s trade within the stores and car parks delivering a range of products and services to their customers. Their supermarkets provide a range of food products, and in their bigger stores homeware, electrical and their Tu clothing range. They generate employment and often provide a regeneration focus for areas of towns and cities. Concessions at Sainsbury’s trade within the stores and car parks, delivering a complementary and compelling range of products and services to their customers. Their partners include: Timpson, Johnsons Dry Cleaners, Centre for Dentistry, Explore Learning, Bupa, Starbucks, Thomas Cook, RAC, AA and Virgin Holidays.
Materials and Waste:
Sainsbury’s have implemented a scheme to reduce waste and materials used in the production and disposal of their goods. It is the 20×20 sustainability plan. A quote from Sainsbury’s says “ Sainsbury’s aim to be the UK’s greenest grocer and look to act sustainably, address climate change and conserve resources. The scale of the business means Sainsbury’s can make a massive difference by reducing their impact on the environment and having a positive effect and using a leadership position to engage and encourage suppliers and others to do the same.” Waste management for Sainsbury’s is an important issue and now their general waste is at 30% and recycling is at 70%. They send their waste to 7 different companies for it to be disposed of or recycled.
These are: general waste sent to the Resource Recovery Centre, Confidential PHS, Biffa Glass, Biffa Dry Mixed Recycling, Sainsbury’s Resource Recovery Centre Cardboard, Sainsbury’s RRC Food Containers and Sainsbury’s RRC Plastic Bales. All food fit for human consumption is donated to FareShare. Waste bread, cakes, pastries and biscuits are sent for reuse and converted into high quality animal feed by Sugarich which is used by Sainsbury’s farmers to feed their livestock. Food unfit for human consumption is returned to the RRC and bulked up with store food waste and sent to Biffa AD plant in Staffordshire.
Equipment:
In a Sainsbury’s store there are numerous Equipment and facilities within their stores. Their customer facilities are: accessible toilets, toilets, baby change, parking, self checkout, hearing aid loop, Sainsbury’s Restaurant and assisted facilities. Their Services are: Photo processing, National Lottery and a pharmacy. They have various food counters, which are: deli, bakery, fish counter, meat counter and hot food counter. Banking facilities they have are ATMs and Saveback machines. Planned Maintenance:
Sainsbury’s work with a consultancy company called Mace and together they created the Sainsbury’s Store Refurbishment Programme. Mace acts as a cost consultant and employer’s agent helping to make sure that all upgrades and improvements are within budget. Emergency provision
Security:
Securitas are the security company that Sainsbury’s have in store. They are a worldwide company that provide security in various different services. In the UK, Securitas employs over 15, 500 people making them one of the UK’s largest security providers. Securitas focus on security and customer segmentation and continue to build on the company’s knowledge and expertise. It is within these customer segments where specialised security knowledge is required. This knowledge enables Securitas to deliver tailor made services to industry sectors like Retail, Property Management and Aviation. Global expertise is backed up by local knowledge. 130 Branch Managers across the UK work closely with their customers to provide complete security solutions. Insurance:
Sainsbury’s have insurance on all their buildings paying money monthly to protect against flooding, fires and storms. Technological resources
Technological resources are more than just equipment; they are Intellectual property (designs, drawings, texts, music and video.), accumulated experience and skills, software licences, protection via patents and copyrights. Intellectual property:
Intellectual property rights allow people to own ideas and have rights concerning what happens to these ideas, including how often they are used, what they will be associated with and if anyone has the permission to copy it. There are five types of intellectual property:
Designs cover the features or decoration of products such as colours, lines, materials shape or texture. Drawings cover the drawing of a product, including the drawing of a patent. Text covers the actual style and content of text, which is used, including data written on websites. Music covers the use of music for public or private performances and it’s copying. Video covers the use of video clips within the websites or whole films and the protection against copying or performances in public places. Accumulated experience
Accumulated experience means experience gained over a number of years when a person has come across lots of different issues to do with the job. If the business can keep people in their jobs, the level of experience in the business can grow, experienced employees are more likely to be able to do a good job in an organisation and should be managed carefully. It is important to build up a person’s skills but organisations have to be careful not to create a situation where for example Sainsbury’s have a stock manager and is the only person who knows how to do it, and then leaves, they will be in a position where they will not know how to sort the stock correctly and record the amounts. Software license
A software license is a document that provides legally binding guidelines for the use and distribution of software. Software licenses typically provide end users with the right to one or more copies of the software without violating copyrights. The license also defines the responsibilities of the parties entering into the license agreement and may impose restrictions on how the software can be used. Software licensing terms and conditions usually include fair use of the software, the limitations of liability, warranties and disclaimers and protections if the software or its use infringes on the intellectual property rights of others. Software licenses typically are proprietary, free or open source, the distinguishing feature being the terms under which users may redistribute or copy the software for future development or use. Copyright
Copyright is the ownership of an intellectual property within the limits prescribed by a particular nation’s or international law. The copyright law provides that the owner of a property has the exclusive right to print, distribute, and copy the work, and permission must be obtained by anyone else to reuse the work in these ways. Copyright is provided automatically to the creator of any original work covered by the law as soon as the work is created. The author does not have to formally register the work, although registration makes the copyright more visible.
Patent
A patent is a government-awarded license that grants the inventor of a product or process exclusive rights to its manufacture, use or sale for a specified time period. As a condition of the patent, the inventor agrees to disclosure. However, although it is possible for others to examine the details of the patent, it is illegal to copy the product or process described. Exclusivity, in this context, means that any unauthorized party that uses a patented process, or manufactures or sells a patented product can be sued for infringement.
