Integration of Business Functions

Bulldog Skin Care Ltd

Tutor:

Arjun

B00……..

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Contents
...........................................................................................................................................1

Introduction......................................................................................................................3

Leadership, time frame and changes............................................................................4

STEEP model...................................................................................................................5

Social factors:..............................................................................................................6

Technological factors:................................................................................................6

Environmental factors:................................................................................................7

Economic factors:.......................................................................................................8

Political factors:...........................................................................................................8

SWOT analysis.................................................................................................................9

Stakeholders of the firm...............................................................................................10

Organisational culture of the firm...............................................................................11

Role of business function in the firm..........................................................................12

Marketing management:...........................................................................................12

Operations management:.........................................................................................12

Corporate social responsibility:...............................................................................13

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................13

References.....................................................................................................................14

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Introduction

This particular report is determined to evaluate and excavate the change strategy of a

prominent male grooming product manufacturer in United Kingdom i.e. Bulldog Men’s

Skin Care Ltd. This company was established by Simon Duffy, in the year 2005. The

brand is producing natural skin care products especially for men. The proposal of men’s

skin care products was a creative idea. Before 2005, there were no such brands were

making products only for men. Same time, Simon had realized that, there were no such

products which could claim totally organic or natural (Life goggles, 2008). On that note,

Simon worked hard to accomplish his organizational goal and made products

exclusively for men that are purely natural and organic. But his organizational vision of

making skin care products exclusively for men forecasted in the year 2016, when

Bulldog skin care Ltd by Edgewell Personal Care had invested on it.

This entire report has been segmented into four sections. In the first part, we will

discuss about the leadership, time frame and changes in Bulldog. Then, the next

session will be the organizational assessment with the assistance of some strategic

tools such as SWOT, Porters five Forces tool and STEEP. Apart from that, there will be

a thorough analysis of organisational culture in this session. In the next session, we will

scrutinize the significance of business functions. Finally, there will be a concluding part

also.

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Leadership, time frame and changes

The leadership style of Bulldog Skin Care Company before the acquisition and after the

acquisition have huge differences. It will be interesting to conduct a research over this

particular topic. Simon Duffy is still holding his office and the position of CEO of the firm

Bulldog, but after the acquisition the new management is trying to implement the style of

autocratic leadership inside the firm. The whole procedure of the M&A has commenced

in the year 2014 and the mission was accomplished in the year 2016.

So many strategic changes occurred during this period especially in areas like

marketing, corporate and HR management since 2016. The remarkable change

occurred in the firm Bulldog Skin Care is with respect to its organizational structure. This

change was the after-effect of acquisition of the institution by the corporate Edgewell

Personal Care Group in the year 2016. It is significant to analyse the change prior to the

acquisition and after the acquisition. As per the observation of Scouller, (2011) the

emotional connection enhances the performance of the team and it improves the total

environment of the firm as well. The involvement of the entire team in decision making

process and collective working style will empower the firm to achieve its organizational

objectives.

Before the acquisition of the firm by the corporate group Edgewell Ltd in 2016, the

Bulldog male grooming product manufacturing was an institution guided by the Simon

Duffy (CEO). He was an eminent leader with his magnetic leadership style. He had

followed transactional approach towards leadership. According to the opinion of Bass,

(1990) Charismatic leadership brings up the performance level beyond expectation. It

helps to develop an emotional bond between the leader and the team members. Simon

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was brilliant enough to explore the possibilities of charismatic leadership style as well as

the transformational approaches. This has paved the way towards success and he

became successful in making his firm as a leading brand for men’s skin care products in

Europe.

The transformational leadership will have all the positive sides of a charismatic leader.

Due to this similarity, many scholars have categorized both styles under the same

heads (Holzmann and Golan, 2016). Simon, with his exclusive style of charismatic cum

transformational leadership brought several changes inside the firm which include a

clear vision and aim for improving the firm. Simon was successful in developing a sense

of ownership among the employees and managers of the firm and he was smart enough

to motivate them and bringing out the best out of them. They all dream together to

achieve the common goal. According to the observation of Grint, (2015) this particular

style of leadership had enabled him to execute many short term changes in Bulldog.

Even so, the post-acquisition era had unravelled the new administration strategy inside

the firm Bulldog. The new administrative strategy was lenient towards autocratic

leadership and transactional leadership styles. The most luminant feature of autocratic

leadership is its clarity in vision and dominance in firm management. According to the

opinion of Clark, (2011) lack of democratic approach in leadership will result in non-

commitment and non-cooperation from the employee side.

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STEEP model

The framework of Steep Model has been used to organize scientific researches about

the external environment factors that make an impact over the firm. According to the

opinion of Grant et al. (2015) it is significant for the firm to identify the so called external

factors that influences the firm while decision making process.

Social factors:

So many factors are influencing the internal as well as external environment of an

organization. According to the angle of David, (2015) some factors of social nature like

life style and trends among people are directly influencing the decision making policies

of the organization. Apart from that, many social factors are also playing crucial roles.

The positive consequences for Bulldog have been enhanced as a result of public

awareness regarding the organic products of the company. Since the products are

exclusively meant for men, their attitude and consciousness had undergone changes

regarding the fair skin tone. It a matter of fact, that no peculiar products were available

for grooming of men in the country prior to the launching of this particular brand in 2005.

As Cole, (2008) has observed the enhancement in the number of skin and fair

conscious male professionals had ameliorated the idea of skin care and grooming

products in the UK market.

Technological factors:

According to the opinion of De Felice et al. (2016), technology is playing a significant

role in enhancing the quality and performance of manufacturers around the globe. The

introduction of fast and hi-tech internet connectivity as well as the gadgets made it

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possible to reach the products of Bulldog all over the country. The promotional

campaigns with the help of technology had promoted the products and extended its

reach. The accessibility to high speed internet connectivity and the smart devices had

enhanced the marketing of the company products and it had also helped to create

brand awareness among the people regarding the products (Research and market,

2016). The social apps like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram

have been doing a significant role in promoting the products in open market. According

to the view point of Scott, (2012) the so called production techniques like Lean

manufacturing and Just In Time methods have has enabled the firms like Bulldog to

manufacture grooming products with low cost.

Environmental factors:

According to the reports of Lennard, (2019) the skin care and male grooming products

in UK have developed in the recent years and experienced many changes as well. The

Cosmetic Products Safety Amendment Regulation (2012), have regulated the business

development in the country especially in European Union. According to the amended

Act, it is mandatory to provide the details of basic ingredients on the label of the

products (Lionetti and Rigano, 2018). The transparency of the products has generated a

confidence in the minds of the customer. Besides that the customer can also approach

the European Commission or the Court of Law for any issues related with malfunctions

regarding the labelling of the products. According to the observation of Beckmann,

(2011) even thought, the Steep analysis has certain limitations it is considered to be the

best available option for providing information about the external factors that are

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adversely influencing the market and the decision making power of the organization (Hill

and Jones, 2017).

Economic factors:

The Brexit had a significant impact upon the rate of employment and it also influences

the customer behaviour and confidence in the country. The reports of Partington,

(2017), make it clear that there is rapid decrease in customer spending after the Brexit

vote. The number of unemployment had escalated in the country during the season and

the normal cost of living also had enhanced comparing with last year.  According to the

opinion of Maurice, (2013) the low pricing of petroleum products creates an ideal

circumstances pertaining to operational cost of business.

There has been a worsening of pound against major currencies as a result of Brexit but

the current positioning of GBP is promising for the business operations in UK. As per

the analysis of Bloomberg (2017), the export as well as import operations inside the

country have adversely influenced by fluctuations in currency exchange rate. The

exchange rate of British pound against Euro is weakening and it is reduce the import

revenue of the country. Apart from that the inflation rates had also fallen to 0.2% in last

April and have now improved to 1.19% now. As per the assumptions of Statista (2020)

the rate of inflation in UK would hit 3.8% within the upcoming year. As per the

observation of Trading Economics (2020) rates of interests are still persisting at the

base line which is 0.10% and this might be beneficial for the organizations while

borrowing money with respect to their investments.

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Political factors:

The political scenario of the nation as well as the stability of the government highly

influences the organization while embracing its strategic options. The current political

environment of the country is not suitable for any business organization to develop

since, there is much confusion with respect to the execution of Brexit and discussions

are on-going with the European Union still there are uncertainties regarding the end

result of it. According to the observation of Partington, (2017) the population of the

country has been divided into two sections. Brexit who favoured assemblage of people

and Brexit who doesn’t favoured gathering. This peculiar situation has created

difficulties for the organizations functioning in the country.  The corporate law will

undergo changes, so as to overcome the economic dilemma instituted by Brexit. The

rules and regulations with respect to employment law have become more and more

serious and the impact over it had become challenging to hire workers at a

remuneration which is competitive for the firm.

SWOT analysis

Strengths Weaknesses
Organic nature of their products The bargaining power of suppliers in
Brand name this sector is relatively high
Market share Lack of organisational flexibility
Financial backing from Edgewell The pricing strategy of the firm lacks
Personal Care flexibility too
Transformational leadership Slow to react to changing business
Innovative culture inside the firm condition

Opportunities Threats
The reports of economic recovery The Covid 19 pandemic is a major
The reports of trade agreement with threat for the Bulldog Ltd
many European and other world Potentially high investment needs for
economic power houses like USA and promotional campaigns

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Japan Increasing competitiveness in the male
Growing online sales of cosmetics grooming sector

Stakeholders of Bulldog

Stakeholders are those categories of individuals who have some definite interest over

the firm. They have direct influence in decision making of the firm (Friedman and Miles,

2009). As mentioned by Dess, (2007) the conventional or traditional organizational

approach fabricate the interests of the stakeholders of that organization. However the

stakeholder interests have been changed with respect to the modern context. The

strategic decisions and the organizational policies are also changing in accordance with

the interests of the stakeholders. As in the case of Bulldog, the major stakeholders are

their employees, managers, bankers, shareholders, suppliers, lenders, retailers,

wholesalers and communities (Bulldog, 2019). The firm management of Bulldog is

always dedicated to uphold the society and its stakeholders. Their strategic plans are

formulated in accordance with the benefits of the stakeholders rather than shareholder

benefits. The strategic plans regarding the CSR audit and publication of the financial

reports is the evidence of their dedication towards stakeholders of the firm. Another

point that stipulates the stakeholder’s approach of the firm is their strategic move

towards the principle of sustainable development.

Organisational culture of Bulldog

The organizational culture is evolving upon the long term practices, customs, norms and

values. There has been a great change in cultural characteristics of Bulldog after its

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acquisition by Edgewell Personal Care Group. According to the opinion of Gibson

(2011), organisational culture is the values, beliefs and customs that control the

workplace behaviour of the workers. The employees of Bulldog are properly trained and

organized in order to fulfil their organizational goals and objectives in an appropriate

manner. This dedication has enabled them to reach out their products in every

bathrooms of the country (Bulldog, 2019).

The employees of the firm Bulldog have been trained in a way to learn the goodness of

collective working and mutual respect. They are individually trained and developed. The

company has been hard working to generate unity among the employees so as to

accomplish their organizational goals. Each employee was motivated to actively take

part in decision making process of the organization. Simon has developed a culture

inside the firm that every individual is equally important in the organization. This

professional approach had paved the way for zero conflicts inside Bulldog. Simon

makes sure that each individual is properly taken care of by the management and

ensures the right of freedom and expression to each of them. He truly believed in the

culture of democracy inside his organization and guaranteed every chance to make the

employees contribute towards the wellbeing of the institution with the help of their valid

decisions. The firm also empowered with mutual trust and provided their customers with

quality and customised products.

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Role of business function in Bulldog

Marketing management:

According to the view point of Doole and Lowe, (2012) the targeted customers have

already segmented and their requirements are fulfilled accordingly. The well-disciplined

marketing management of Bulldog makes it sure that each customers are satisfies with

their services.  Prior to the acquisition in the year 2016, Bulldog was not familiar with the

techniques of External Marketing Communication and Integrated Marketing

Communications for advertising and promoting their products and services. Even

though, they had made all possible efforts to generate awareness about their products

which is made up of natural as well as organic ingredients.  This peculiarity of their

products range attracted many customers and enhanced their brand value. It is

recommended to the firm that they need to adopt the Integrated Marketing

Communication processes for achieving market expertise as cited by Keegan, (2013).

Operations management:

The department of operation is highly responsible for planning and resource

management in an organization (Krajewski and Ritzman, 2015). As per the strategic

options of Bulldog, they are procuring quality materials directly from the farmers and

suppliers which guarantee the supply of eco-friendly and healthy skin care products to

the end customers. The operation department is liable for reducing the production cost

without compromising the quality of the products. The methods used by the

management of Bulldog for achieving this goal are the JIT or just-in-time, Six Sigma and

lean manufacturing (Meredith and Shafer, 2017).

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CSR:

In order to guarantee sustainable development and to preserve the transparency of the

organization, the company has adopted the strategy of Corporate Social Responsibility

Policy (CSR). According to the opinion of Brent (2015), the policy has been developed

in a way to ameliorate the reputation of the organization by way of improving the

management activities of transportation, waste management, production and

procurement of resources.  As part of transparency measures, the organization has

decided to publish the annual financial reports along with the CSR and audit reports.

Besides these, the report also includes the steps taken by the firm management to

decrease the carbon emission, carbon footprint and other practices that create waste

and pollutants. The CSR policy and related activities also highlighted the purpose of

organizational contributions to the entire community (Pitman, 2017).

Conclusion

After the acquisition process in the year 2016, in Bulldog Skin Care Ltd there have been

some structural changes in the areas of corporate strategies, organizational culture and

leadership. Certain external factors are influencing the management of Bulldog after the

acquisition such as political, economic and social factors. An eminent leadership is

unavoidable for organizational growth. The management is showing more lenience

towards the policy that gives more importance to the stakeholder’s interest rather than

the shareholder’s interest. The organization is trying to achieve the organizational goal

by cooperating and coordinating the departments of human resources, marketing,

finance and operations.

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References

Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the

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Bulldog, (2019) Key Financials, [Online].Available from:
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Keegan, W.J. (2013). Global Marketing Management (8th edition), New Jersey: Pearson

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Lennard, C. (2019). Market Report: Men’s Care, GCI magazine of November 2019, pp 23- 25.

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