Jaguar Land Rover Case Study

Introduction

I am going to identify and explain in detail the various business functions within Jaguar Land Rover.

Legal

Legal Affairs are responsible for corporate governance, protection of intellectual property and the development of commercial contracts. They also ensure compliance with any legal requirements and defend any legal challenges to company’s worldwide. Risk and Compliance help companys adhere to relevant laws and regulations, while ensuring ethical and proper principles are embedded within the business. Audits cover operational, commercial, compliance, and financial controls. They provide assurance to the Audit Committee that the business is operating in a controlled and ethical manner, meeting all legal and regulatory requirements.

Human Resources

The business may be increasingly focused on technological innovation. But people are – and always will be – the indispensable, individual and invaluable driving force that make JLR who they are. Sourcing, attracting, retaining and rewarding these exceptional talents is the job of HR. As they continue to evolve, the HR challenges they face will evolve with them.

Purchasing

Purchasing performs a critical role for JLR. Whether it’s for the products they make or the things they need to make a success of the business. Key strategic decisions take shape in purchasing. Robust supplier relationships are forged. These have a massive impact on their ability to produce the quality their customers expect. So everything they do will be done with them in mind. This means making every penny of the £15billon-plus they spend each year count – towards the value they deliver and their profitability in a highly competitive marketplace. Together they manage in excess of 3, 000 suppliers from offices here in the UK, as well as China, India, Slovakia, Austria and Brazil.

Quality

Quality means putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. Meeting their expectations is the entry point; exceeding them to inspire loyalty to their brand and enhance every aspect of their experience is their objective. Creating globally renowned vehicles in a class of their own means applying a quality mind set at every stage of a product’s lifecycle. Design. Engineering. Manufacturing. Customer Service. Everything is stage-managed. Nothing is left to chance. This degree of diligence relies on ability to use key metrics and advanced problem-solving techniques to fine tune the processes, products and customer service quality levels. This means reinventing perfection every time they go to market. AssuranceAssurance is the review of financial data and procedures within a company to ensure that shareholders' money is being put to proper use, and to provide them with the information they need when considering investing in an organisation.

Finance

Finance refers to sources of money for a business. Firms need finance to: Start up a business, e. g. pay for premises, new equipment and advertising. Run the business, e. g. having enough cash to pay staff wages and suppliers on time.

Health and safety

Safety comes first, last and always in businesses. The health and wellbeing of people. These are the priorities of their Occupational Health and Safety team. The employer has a duty to ensure employees’ safety, health and welfare at work as far as is reasonably practicable. In order to prevent workplace injuries and ill-health the employer is required.

JLR tendering

“Business with suppliers is now based on ‘contracts of trust’. ”Formal agreement through which a trustor vests the ownership rights to one or more assets to one or more trustees for conservation and protection on behalf of one or more beneficiaries of the trust. It normally states the purpose for which the trust was established and fulfilment of which will terminate the trust.

Merit Innovation

The process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay. To be called an innovation, an idea must be replicable at an economical cost and must satisfy a specific need. Types of innovationIncremental InnovationIncremental Innovation is the most common form of innovation. It utilizes your existing technology and increases value to the customer (features, design changes, etc. ) within your existing market. Almost all companies engage in incremental innovation in one form or another.

Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovation, also known as stealth innovation, involves applying new technology or processes to your company’s current market. It is stealthy in nature since newer tech will often be inferior to existing market technology. This newer technology is often more expensive, has fewer features, is harder to use, and is not as aesthetically pleasing.

Architectural Innovation

Architectural innovation is simply taking the lessons, skills and overall technology and applying them within a different market. This innovation is amazing at increasing new customers as long as the new market is receptive. Most of the time, the risk involved in architectural innovation is low due to the reliance and reintroduction of proven technology. Though most of the time it requires tweaking to match the requirements of the new market.

Radical innovation

Radical innovation is what we think of mostly when considering innovation. It gives birth to new industries (or swallows existing ones) and involves creating revolutionary technology. The airplane, for example, was not the first mode of transportation, but it is revolutionary as it allowed commercialized air travel to develop and prosper.

Commercial protection

Guaranty by a media vehicle (newspaper, radio, TV, website) to its advertisers that their ads or commercials will be separated from those of their competitors, by a specific amount of space or time. Also called competitive separation.

Copyrights

Copyright is legal right that protects the use of your work once your idea has been physically expressed. Copyright law lays out a framework of rules around how that work can be used. It sets out the rights of the owner, as well as the responsibilities of other people who want to use the work. You can do many things with your copyright work including for example copy, change or sell it, share it online or rent it to someone as well as prevent other people from doing those things.

Patents

A patent for an invention is granted by government to the inventor, giving the inventor the right to stop others, for a limited period, from making, using or selling the invention without their permission. Logos A Logo is a design symbolizing ones organization. It is a design that is used by an organization for its letterhead, advertising material, and signs as an emblem by which the organization can easily be recognized, also called logotype. Logotype is a graphic representation or symbol of a company name, trademark, abbreviation, etc. , often uniquely designed for ready recognition.

Trademarks

Trademarks are badges of origin. They distinguish the goods or services of one trader from another and can take many forms; for example words, slogans, logos, shapes, colours and sounds.

Benefits of cost control

Effective cost controls create significant opportunities for a business.

Pay down debt: Paying off debt is always a good move. A lower debt load reduces the ratio of debt to equity.

Improve creditworthiness: A lower debt-to-equity ratio improves the financial strength of the firm and increases its credit rating.

Purchase better equipment: With better profits, an owner can buy more efficient and updated equipment. It could be high-speed manufacturing machines or better computers and software for the office.

Reduce repair and maintenance costs: New equipment needs less maintenance: You will spend less money on repairing old equipment that breaks down.

Increase budgets for marketing and advertising: A more efficient operation generates more funds for aggressive sales campaigns. More sales and new equipment lead to better profits.

Improve your competitive advantage: For a company to stay in business, it needs to maintain an efficient operation, which gives it a competitive advantage. This means more investment in better capital equipment, and increased productivity from employees.