Data Management At Sainsbury’s: Importance And Strategies

About Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s is a retail organization with its origins in the United Kingdom and it has a 16.9% share of the entire supermarket sector of the country. The company was founded in the year 1869 by John James Sainsbury. The organization became the largest retailer in the grocery sector in the year 1992. In the year 1995 however, Tesco overtook Sainsbury’s and became the leader in the market. The company was demoted to the third position in the UK retail market and it remained there up to the year 2014. Sainsbury’s gained its position back in the UK market in the same year. The parent company of Sainsbury’s was further split into three divisions which included, Sainsbury’s Bank, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. and Sainsbury’s Argos (Sainsburys.co.uk. 2018).

This report will be based on the analysis of the processes by which information and data is managed in the organization. Management of data and valuable information is important for the proper functioning of the company in the market. The data integrity related to a particular organization holds utmost importance in the organizational processes. The company holds data and information related to the customers. The protection and management of this data is important so that the company can maintain good relations with the customers.

Managing information and data in an effective manner has always been a major aim of the management of Sainsbury’s. The company has huge amounts of data stored in their systems which are related to their 800 convenience stores and 600 supermarkets.

Human Resources and customer management – The organization has been using this data for the purpose of studying the behaviour of their customers. The behaviour of the consumers can be detected at an individual level and macro level as well. This helps the company in making the right decisions related to the storage of products and making offers to the customers based on their history. The data management related strategies of Sainsbury’s are also improved on a regular basis so that the company can get an edge over its competitors. Data is considered as a valuable asset by Sainsbury’s which can help in improving the operations and sales of the company (Arvidsson, Holmström and Lyytinen 2014). The major focus of the retail sector is always on the governance and regulation of data so that value can be created for the company. The objective of the organization is to use the data in such a way so that they can make a difference in the market. The analysis of data and information that are available for the company enables the creation of better products, keeping the right prices. The optimization of store layouts is also related to the analysis of the data related to the preference of the customers. The company can also take decisions related to the sourcing of better crops from the farmers for the manufacture of fresh products (Braglia and Frosolini 2014). The management of logistics of the company is based on the analysis of the data related to the manufacture and delivery of the products. The data related to the various aspects of the company will mainly provide the support that is required by the management ti take decisions and reach their targets (Wamba et al. 2017).

Importance of Data Management in the Retail Industry

Sainsbury’s mainly aims at creating a balance related to the use of the data related to the customers. The company tries to demonstrate the ways by which the use of customer data can enhance their own shopping experience and maximise the benefits that can be derived from the information. The company however, does not see itself as the owner of the customer data and they just derive permission from them to use the information in a sensible and smart way. The other major challenges that need to be addressed are related to the regulations that are set by the government based on data protection (Coronel and Morris 2016). The penalties that can be imposed on the company on the basis of the protection of customer data also needs to be addressed. The company needs to be transparent about the data that they derive from the customers so that trust can be built on the company.

Manufacturing – The organization holds data related to many other departments which are used for the purpose of analysis. The data that is maintained by the company related to the manufacture of products is also important for the operations and production process. The variability and waste related to the production processes can be reduced with the help of the data that is maintained by the company. The analysis of data related to previous production can help in improving the products that will be manufactured by the company. In the retail industry data related to previous manufacturing processes can help in improving the present and future management of production (Dwivedi et al. 2015). Sainsbury’s also uses the data related to previous processes for the improvement of present manufacturing process. The organization has started implementing advanced process of analytics so that they can analyse the data easily and improve their manufacturing units.

Finance – The financial data of an organization helps in the management of the investment that are made in the market. The increasing use of technologies in the maintenance of financial data enables rapid growth of the companies. The storage of financial data provides opportunities related to the analysis and processing of the data in an effective manner. The competition in the market is enhanced with the usage of financial data of the company. The analysis of data has become important for the organizations in the retail sector. The changes that occur in the demands of the products and the economic environment affect the sales and profitability of the company (Galliers and Leidner 2014). Sainsbury’s has made use of the financial data after Brexit was announced in the UK. The economic position of UK was unstable and this had an effect on the sales of Sainsbury’s. The previous financial data has helped the company in judging the financial implications of the Brexit and take further decision regarding the investments that will be made in future.

Data Management Strategies at Sainsbury’s

Marketing – The data related to the previous sales and demands of products that have been stored by Sainsbury’s will help them in formulating strategies related to the promotional activities to be undertaken by the company. Sainsbury’s uses the previous data in such a way so that they can detect the demands of the products that are marketed by them and further plan their future marketing activities. The data related to the previous purchases of the customers is mainly used for the design and manufacturing of new products (Kaivo-oja et al. 2015). The analysis of data is done with the high level analytical tools that have been implemented by Sainsbury’s in the recent times.

Data integrity is mainly related to the maintenance, consistency and accuracy of the data during the entire life cycle. Data integrity is considered to be major aspect related to the designing, implementing and the usage of the systems which store data. Validation of the data that is being stored by organizations is conducted before the process of data integrity. Any changes that occur to the data during the storage period, the retrieval or the processing operation is considered to be the failure of the data integrity process (Kasemsap 2015).

The different ways by which data integrity can be ensured are as follows,

• The data or electronic records should be trustworthy and reliable in nature and the levels of trust should be same as the paper records. The computer systems where the data is being stored need to be updated and compliant so that data integration can be maintained.
• The development life cycle of the software and the methodology of this development helps in the testing, integrating and the installation of the maintenance of the systems (Liu and Wang 2016).
• The computer systems and the software related to these systems need to be validated on a regular basis. This will help in ensuring that the process meets the requirements of the products consistently.
• The electronic systems need to be based on a computer-generated, secure and time based audit trail that helps in detecting the time of the data entries and the changes in the data as well.
• Error detection software needs to be installed so that the accuracy of the documents and the data can be maintained (Mao et al. 2016).
• The records can also be secured by implementing a login system which is based on two different pieces of information and the access is provided to the required individuals.
• Procedures related to backup maintenance and recovery of the data is also an important part of data integrity. This process helps in the reconstruction of the data that is collected from different mediums.
• Quality management systems need to be designed with the help of the standard operating procedures which help in building quality within the process. The effective procedures need to be written and followed in a systematic manner (Mu, Kirsch and Butler 2015).
• The logical and physical security of the systems need to be controlled and protected so that the continuity of systems can be maintained. The continuous development of the organizations can be maintained with the help of data integrity.
• The processes related to data integrity need to be analysed on a regular basis so that the necessary changes can be brought as and when required.

The success of data integrity and ensuring the important data of the customers are not compromised will help in the increase of trust and improving data infrastructure of the companies (Ogiela and Ogiela 2015).

Data integrity is related to the process of data security and both are important for the authorised access of data in an organization. Data security can be defined as the process of protecting the data so that the data is not accessed in an unauthorised manner. On the other hand, data integrity is the result of effective data security. The unauthorised access of data related to the various processes of the organization, the financial investments, the marketing plans, the buying behaviour of the customers can cause many issues for the company. In case Sainsbury’s, the unauthorised access of customer data can enable its competitors to gain the advantage in the market (Olson and Wu 2017). Hence, it becomes extremely important for them to protect the data and maintain integrity.

Data collection has become a necessity in the ever-changing business environment where the challenges are increasing on a continuous basis. Huge volumes of data need to be managed in an effective manner so that the organization can gain from the processed data. However, the collection and use of data for the profitability of the organization has many ethical perspectives related to it. The ethical issues related to data collection need to be faced by organizations of any sector or industry (Pérez-Méndez and Machado-Cabezas 2015). The major ethical concerns related to data collection and handling are as follows,

• The regulations and laws that are applicable at the gathering location of data.
• The information provided to the customers or the clients regarding the usage of data.
• The consent taken from the clients or customers for data usage.
• Protection of the identity of the clients whose personal data is being used.
• Taking care about the welfare of the clients or the customers.
• Being aware of the consequences that can be faced after the data is collected and used.
• The potential threats that can be caused to the data (Soomro, Shah and Ahmed 2016).

Human Resources and Customer Management

Conclusion

The report can be concluded by stating that the protection of data or information related to the stakeholders, customers or the clients of the organization is an important role played by the management. Sainsbury’s has also implemented modern data analysis and data security techniques so that they can effectively use the data. The organization has been collecting data related to the various aspects of the management including finance, marketing, human resources and manufacturing. The data related to these departments can be used effectively by Sainsbury’s to judge the current demands of products. The planning of the future activities undertaken by the organization are also influenced by the analysis of this data.

References

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