Stakeholders of cannons and how their actions affect their stakeholders

University: Business Studies

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For this assignment I will look at the organisation ‘Cannons’, which is a health and fitness provider. I will look at and evaluate who the main stakeholders are and what affects them with regards to Cannons actions.

A mission statement is a statement of what an organisation sees in themselves, in terms of what they do. From mission statements you must have aims and objectives, the objectives should be related to the aims that have been set. Objectives can be broken down into long term, medium term and short-term objectives. For example a long term objective for an employee working at cannons could be at the age of 45 they would want to be the director, a medium term objective could be at the age of 35 they would want to be a senior/middle manager and a short term objective could be at the age of 25 they would want to be a team leader or supervisor.

A lot of organisations objectives would be things like the following:

• Getting and keeping a skilled workforce
• Expand
• Make a profit
• Gain new customers

As with all organisations ‘Cannons’ have a mission statement, which follows:

“Cannons believes that emotional, physical and psychological well being is essential to a healthy life. We will work with those organisations that help and care for those whose quality of life in one or more of these areas is threatened. Our aim is to make a positive difference to the communities in which we operate.”
(www.cannons.co.uk 12.10.2004)

This mission statement is saying that cannons are committed to delivering a service that inspires people to achieve their potential – physically, emotionally and psychologically. Cannons concentrates on assisting other organisations that help others to achieve their potential – psychically, emotionally and psychologically. This includes supporting both of those who are in need of care and those who care for them. They aim to educate, enable and encourage organisations and individuals to lead their lives as fully and as independently as possible. It also supports people of all races, gender and ethnic grouping, regardless of disability or sexual preference.

The mission statement given by Cannons has an affect on stakeholders as they are sending a particular message across to them. The message that cannons is given to stakeholders is that customers are not discriminated on how they look speak or act. What I mean by this is that cannons supports people of all races, gender and ethnic grouping regardless of disability or sexual preference. To a customer this would be a vital point and very important to them because they know that cannons does not care who you are i.e. the sense of gender etc, but they do support you 100%. To the government they would think that Cannons is a benefit to the economy because Cannons are supporting charities such as the British heart foundation. To employees Cannons statement comes across as supportive so employment of Cannons will feel appreciated when working for Cannons. They are also encourage employees and managers to help within the local community in ways that are “more then money”.

The three stakeholders that I will evaluate in relation to Cannons will be customers, government and employees. I will evaluate to the extent of which Cannons achieves the objectives of these three stakeholders.

Customers

Customers are very important to any business especially Cannons. With out customers Cannons would not be able to survive. In order to keep hold of your customers as well as attracting new customers you must meet the needs of customers this can be things such as:

• The location of the gym
• What facilities are offered i.e. gym, swimming pool, sauna, steam room spa etc
• Is it affordable
• How much equipment is available i.e. how many treadmills are there?
• Is there a variety of equipment offered?

When advertising you must attract the customer/s. when you market your services you must ensure you have evaluated the market before hand so you know for example who your competitors are and what they are offering.
Within Cannons they are providing a service to the general public for all ages and it is so much more then just a gym that they are offering. I will compare the fitness classes at Cannons to the ones at Fitness First. This will be shown in a table on the next page.
Cannons fitness classes Fitness first fitness Classes
Pilates
Pilates

All over body workout circuits
All over body workout circuits

Muscle toning/strengthening body pump
Muscle toning/strengthening body pump

Cycle
Cycle

Body combat
Body combat

Re-energise and relax body balance
Re-energise and relax body balance

Yoga
Yoga

Total abs
Total abs


Aqua
Aqua

Aerobics
Aerobics

Circuits
Circuits

Legs, Bums and Tums
Legs, Bums and Tums

Calorie burning step
Calorie burning step

Dance
Dance

Boxing fit
Boxing fit

Specialist running
Specialist running

Specialist karate
Specialist karate


All of this is offered and this is for all fitness levels so you can go at your own pace. A lot is offered to customers as well as this they are timetabled for a whole week Monday to Sunday and some classes are twice a week so for example say you could not make aqua on Tuesday you could go on Friday or Saturday.

Other facilities offered by Cannons include gymnasium, swimming pool, sauna, steam room and spa. Sun beds, retreat treatment rooms, club bar and lounge and also a crèche for the young ones.
Comparing this to Fitness First they have a gymnasium, exercise studio, free video and DVD rental (providing the video/DVD is brought back to fitness first within 24 hours otherwise there is a charge of £1.00 a day), members juice bar, sun beds, sauna, steam room and spa, ice room, beauty salon and aromatherapy room. They do not have a swimming pool which some people may not be bothered about whilst others may want to attend to a swimming pool after a good workout in the gym. But Cannons do not offer video and DVD rental but this may not matter to customers as they would want to go to the gym to get fit, not to hire videos out they could go down to blockbuster to hire a video out. Whilst other customers may feel that this an added bonus to the club, not only do they have gym and that to keep fit etc but they also have the chance to hire videos out. I suppose on a Friday night you go down to the gym after work have a workout then once you have finished you could get a video out saving you going to blockbuster for example.

The next thing that customers would look at is the price of the services and products that are being provided. They do not want to pay an excessive amount to keep fit, so that is why Cannons have offered a price list that meets different needs for customers. There is no annual contract so if you did not want to be a member no more all you would have to do is write let Cannons know a calendar month ahead. Here are the details:

Monthly membership prices:
Monthly membership includes pool, free parking, exercise classes, gym, sauna, spa, steam.
Premier £39.00
Off Peak £29.00 (6.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday & all Weekend)
Over 50’s £19.00 (8.00am – 4.00pm Monday to Friday & all Weekend)
Guest Fee £10.00 (adult)

Annual Membership Prices:
Premier £429.00
Off Peak £319.00
Over 50’s £209.00

There is a joining fee of £25.00.

Customers would want things to easy when it comes to paying for services. These days there are many methods of payment, Cannons accepts all payments apart from American Express cards. But they accept everything else such as:

• Credit and debit cards –Solo, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro (formally know as Switch), Switch
• Cheques
• Direct debit
• Postal orders

Fitness First classes are shown in the table but here are all the other details.

Membership includes free parking, exercise classes, gym, sauna, spa, steam.


Gold £39.99
Off Peak £29.95 (6.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday & all Weekend)
Student £29.95

The joining fee is £30.00.
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*Very simple registration required first