Principles of logistics management

Introduction

            Hi-Beau is an aesthetic and healthcare product company with its headquarters in Singapore. The company was founded in 2004 by Mike Zhang and Doris Du who was his partner (Hi-Beau, 2011) Its success was after the great reception of Avalon Aloe Multiple Detox which was its first product. Some of its other products include Avalon Probiotic detox; fat burner; and ginseng slice with honey. Hi-Beau uses the state of the art technology combined with the latest developments and research in healthcare science to produce effective, natural and safe products for its consumers. With the constantly growing demand for beauty and healthcare products, the company surveys the market constantly to ensure that its products are able to meet the customer’s needs. This has made Hi-Beau a recognized and trusted brand in Singapore and has gained the trust of its target market.

            Despite the high level of competition in the field of healthcare products and cosmetics, the company was able to grow from a small medium enterprise company to the recognized brand it is in Singapore today. In order to maintain this position, the company has had to undergo various changes and upgrades so as to adapt to the changes in the market and ensure that the needs of the consumers are met satisfactorily so as to get a competitive advantage. As a result, the company has a large variety of customers ranging from hypermarkets to small family owned shops. In order to maintain its continued success, the company must ensure that it has a working order processing and distribution system to ensure that its products are accessible to all of its target customers (Hi-Beau, 2011).

Interface

            There are various areas where logistics and the three core functional areas may interact in ensuring that the products are available to the customers. The company’s business model is mainly based on business to business. Hi-Beau plays the role of manufacturing the products and ensuring that the products meet the needs of the customers and the target market. It then teams up with other businesses or retailers who are responsible for re-selling the products to the consumers. The interface in the system could therefore occur in the interaction of the company and its retailers for the purpose of marketing and production (Schonsleben, 2007).

            Since other businesses are responsible for making Hi-Beau products available and selling them to customers, they play an important role in marketing them and ensuring that customers prefer Hi-Beau products over those of the competitors. The company’s marketing strategy must therefore take into consideration and produce products that are in line with the information collected by the retailers concerning what the customers want. This will ensure that the customers get what they want and that their supply to meet the existing demand. For this to be effective, the company must therefore try to maintain an efficient order cycle (Schonsleben, 2007).

            Another area that logistic management could affect a core functional is in the area of production. Poor logistic management may result to the company producing more products than there is demand for in the market. Since both distributors and the company are involved in marketing the products to the customers, they may have different ideas of what the customer wants (Logistics management, 2014). Since the distributors relate at a more personal level with the customers, they may have more information concerning the demand for Hi-Beau products. Though this may be the case, there is a possibility that they may oversell the demand, leading the company to produce more goods than the existing demand.

            The result of excess production will lead to the final way in which logistics will interface with finance. The false demand created will lead the company into investing more on production. However, it will not be able to get the expected returns since the products will stay longer in store and thus not collect the predicted revenue. This will affect the company’s finance because the money spent would have been used to fund other projects not to mention loss of capital as a result of products that may be damaged while in storage. A solution for this issue would be well conducted market research of the target market; the level of competition and other factors that affect the customer’s purchasing decisions (Schonsleben, 2007). This research will give relevant information and help the company to decide the appropriate number of goods to produce without being in excess or under surplus.

Order Cycle

            An order cycle is the process through which an order is made, processed and then made available to the customer or the person who made the order. This process starts from a sales enquiry which is then accessed, processed and then made available to the customer either by delivery or placing it in a position that is accessible to the customer for purchase. A good order management system plays an important role as it helps to ensure that the production and delivery process runs smoothly. It also helps to cut down expenditure and waste thus improving on efficiency in production and increases the profit margin (Lambert & Stock, 2001). The current order process for Hi-Beau is as shown below,

Order Transmittal: Image retrieved from; Kingscroft Logistics, 2014

The process starts with collecting all the orders that have been received from the various retailers and other businesses that deal with distributing Hi-Beau products. The production will therefore be greatly influenced by these orders when it comes to deciding the amount of products to produce. After collecting, the orders are processed mainly by the sales administrator who assesses whether there is adequate stock to supply the orders. He is responsible for logging in the transaction into the company’s system so as to create a pick list and also create a notification that there was a deduction in the stock. After the pick list has been generated, the products are packed and made available to the distributors and retailers who in turn make them available to the customers in their premises (Hi-Beau, 2011).

            Since Hi-Beau operates on a business to business model, most of its products are purchased at other business stores displaying them. Though this helps them to reach customers in different geographical region, it creates an issue when it comes to storing the products before delivery. Hi-Beau is responsible for manufacturing the products and then making them available for sale. Because of this, it has to ensure that it has enough products to meet the demand. However, it incurs a lot of cost in storing the products before they are delivered to its distributors. It not only incurs inventory holding costs but also lack of revenue from the goods that stay in storage awaiting delivery (Sharma, 2009).

            To solve this problem, the company could invest in various practices that will create a good flow in its order cycle. One way to create flow is to ensure that all the departments that are involved in production and supply are working in harmony (Ismail, 2009). This will ensure that all departments are aware of what products are required, the amount that is available and whether the available products will be enough or others ought to be manufactured. Having good flow will help to avoid waste and loss incurred in cases where there is overproduction.

            Another approach to enhance the order cycle is by ensuring that all the relevant departments are made aware of the rate at which customers are using up the products. This will help the departments to plan their work in a way that is geared towards meeting the need created without going overboard. The consumers needs will be met and the organization will have a nice flow in its order cycle where there is little surplus and there are no excess products stored for long in warehouses (Coyle et al, 2012). The company could also focus on improving its lead time. This is the process that is taken from the time the order is made to the time the product that was ordered is delivered. By improving the lead time, Hi-Beau will be able to ensure that goods are not only made available to the customers but also in adequate time to ensure that little or no products stay in its storage warehouses.

Inventory management

            Inventory management is essential in any organization. If done correctly, it ensures that the goods stored are sufficient enough to meet the demand created by the target market without oversupply and undersupply of goods. In the case of Hi-Beau, the inventory will comprise of raw materials needed to create the products and also the already finished products. The company’s daily activities involved taking stock of the activities that take place in the warehouse, noting down any discrepancies. Some of the duties of the personnel in the warehouses involved making records of transactions that took place and presented them for auditing. This helped in identifying the raw material that was used and the end goods that were produced (Muller, 2011). 

            There was however an issue where there was no accurate description of the demand for the company’s products. As a result, the company would produce products to meet a not well estimated demand. As a result, products often stayed in the warehouse if in excess and this exposed the company to various issues. The company incurred extra cost when catering for labor for managing their inventories (Muller, 2011). There is also the cost that will be incurred in refurbishing or repackaging products that may have been damaged in storage and lastly, the company had to deal with the issue of expanding warehouses used to store these products as they await delivery. To solve this issue, the inventory manager ought to first know the amount of stock that is available in the warehouses. This will help them to determine whether the stock will be able to meet the current demand or that new products will need to be manufactured. In doing so, the manager will help prevent the manufacture of new products when they are not needed and thus prevent over surplus and maintain the inventory at appropriate levels (Sharp & Voorhees, 2000).

Another way to tackle the problem will be to learn to identify warning signs. Some factors that show a problem in inventory management include discrepancies between the physical goods and the inventories kept in the books. As a result, the staff will find difficulty finding actual products even though they are indicated in the book records because of these discrepancies. Another indicator is as simple as the amount of dust that accumulates on the products while they are in storage. A lot of dust will indicate that the products have stayed in storage for too long and thus indicating a problem in inventory management. Knowing what signs to look out for will help the inventory manager to know when there are problems in the inventory and thus try to correct it before experiencing serious problems (Muller, 2011).

Conclusion

            Hi-Beau is not only a well established and recognized company, but also deals with products that are trusted by the consumers. This gives it a competitive advantage over other companies in the market because it is able to attract and retain customers thus ensuring a steady demand for its products. Though this is, to a large extent, an advantage, it may cause problems for the company if not dealt with properly. The constant demand for Hi-Beau products may create a scenario where production of products is done without the proper amount of research and planning due to the misconception that there will always be a demand for them. This however may not always be the case because the nature of the market is constantly changing and various factors may hinder customers from purchasing the products. The customers may develop a different taste and thus seek new products; new entrants in to the market or already existing ones may create products that are favored thus reducing demand for Hi-Beau products. To deal with these and other scenarios, Hi-Beau must invest in better principles of logistic management. They ought to identify with areas that may interface within the organization and ensure that the interaction runs smoothly. This will ensure that the order cycle for the company’s products runs smoothly and that the goods produced are only meant to meet the actual demand created. This can be enhanced by keeping good inventory so as to ensure that what is produce is what is needed. By sticking to good principles of logistic management, the company will be able to competitive in its current market.

References

Coyle J, Gibson B, Langley J, and Novack A, (2012) “Supply chain management: A logistic perspective” Cengage Learning

Hi-Beau, (2011) “Who we are” retrieved from, http://www.hibeau.com/index/Who-We-Are

Ismail, R. (2008). Logistics Management. New Delhi: Excel Books.

Kingscroft Logistics, (2014) “image of order cycle” retrieved from, http://www.fulfilmentpackaging.com/offer.html

Logistics Management, (2014) “Inventory management 101: Time to revisit the principles” Peeerless Media

Müller, M. (2011). Essentials of inventory management, New York: AMACOM.

Schonsleben P, (2007) “Integral logistic management: Operations and supply chain management in comprehensive value added networks” CRC Press

Sharma, K. (2009). Logistic management: A competitive advantage for the new millennium. New Delhi: Global India Publications.

Sharp K. and Voorhees D, (2000) “The principles of logistics revisited” JSTOR Journal

Stock, J. R., & Lambert, D. M. (2001), Strategic logistics management, Singapore: McGraw-Hill.

Discussion Q1

1. Leaders and managers have similar tasks but with different personalities, points of focus as well as orientation. Leaders and managers are both heads who work for a common goal of success whereby they both attribute their teams to move forward (Roussel, 2013). The other similarity is that good managers must be augmented with good leadership skills and so managers are dependent on leaders. Despite the leaders and managers working for the sake of success, there exists a number of difference between them. Managers control and coordinate their teams in a harmonious way in order to achieve a certain goal. Leaders on the other hand use the ability to influence and motivate their teams for the same purpose. Mangers also are task oriented such that accomplishment of the tasks assigned is prioritized. Leaders are people oriented and therefore the wellness of the people they are leading is their priority. Managers use policies and strategic methods to solve problems while leaders are able to devise new ideas and hence employing creativity in problem solving (Roussel, 2013).
2. Diagnosing requires conceptual skills so that the leaders can understand exactly what is going on in the company. Adapting requires the technical skills so that the available resources can be assessed. Finally the communication competence requires the human skills so that an interactive environment is achieved (Roussel, 2013).
3. Planning is the fundamental function because all the other functions are dependent on planning. Planning involves a managerial task to come up with strategies that will provide a guideline through which the achievement of certain goals shall be reached. The leader or the manager first should examine the issues that are facing the company. The function of organizing involves assigning of roles that a leader does according to how the strategies were planned. The manager or the leader is expected to delegate authority, assign work as well as give the required guidelines to the involved team (Roussel, 2013). Motivation involves the art of encouraging the workers to work to achieve the highest level of productivity. Other interpersonal relationship also included and therefore the employees can have time with their leader. Control is the final function of management and this requires the leaders to evaluate the results that come out of the work done and compare it with the goals of the company. The function also requires the leaders to put corrective measures so that everything comes back into the track (Roussel, 2013).
4. A manager should have technical skills which enable a manager to use equipment processing, human skills which enable a manager to understand the ability of his or her team and conceptual skills as well which enables the manager to understand the overall organization. Diagnosing requires the conceptual skills, adapting requires the technical skills while the communication competence requires the human skills (Roussel, 2013).

Discussion Q2

1. Low level employees results to self control of the employees, there is improved performance, the employees are also assisted in helping each other in terms of need and also the general working environment is made conducive (Adeniyi, 2007).
2. Likert’s casual, intervening allows the managers to visualize the relationship between the worker and managers. They also support leadership depending of the nature of the situation.
3. The three leadership styles include democratic, autocratic and laissez (Adeniyi, 2007). Autocratic leadership involves the making of decisions without consulting the other members of a team, democratic involves the inclusion of all the members of the team while the laissez-faire gives the employees all the freedom they require. The best style is that of democratic because it allows creativity for a quality output (Adeniyi, 2007).

Discussion Q3

1. The factors that affect performance include goal clarity means people must have a clear picture of their goal. Repertoire factor refers to behavior that is expected from the people. The people must have the knowledge of their structure for various situations they encounter (DuBrin, 2012). Feedback is another factor which gives the actual progress of the people. Mental model is a factor that can substitute feedback if it is not available. Motivation is another factor that involves giving encouragement to the workers. Working environment is the other factor that determines the suitability of the working conditions. The last factor is recapitulation which is an environment that is manageable (DuBrin, 2012).
2. Implementing performance management involves planning where goals are penned down. Monitoring is the next step which requires a close surveying of the progress. The last step is rewarding which is a way of motivating the employees for a job well done.

                                                       Pros                                             cons

                                                  Pros                                                           cons

Discussion Q4

1. Regressive cycle comes when performance’s effectiveness drops. To recognize it, a leader should evaluate the nature of competition; evaluate personal problem as well as checking the leadership style. To improve, the leader should match the leadership style with the nature of the people he or she is working with (Zigarmi, 2005).
2. The leader is required to evaluate the reasons that might have caused the follower to suddenly increase his capability to R3. On the same knot, the leader should maintain an open communication line so that the follower can become comfortable with the new level of skill (Zigarmi, 2005).

References

Roussel, L. (2013). Management and leadership for nurse administrators. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

 Adeniyi, M. A. (2007). Effective leadership management: An integration of styles, skills & character for today's CEOs. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

DuBrin, A. J. (2012). Essentials of management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western/Thomson Learning.

 Carson, M. (2006). Saying it like it isn't: The pros and cons of 360-degree feedback. Business Horizons, 49(5), 395-402. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2006.01.004

Zigarmi, D. (2005). The leader within: Learning enough about yourself to lead others. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

FINAL EVALUATION REPORT

            Abstract

            Practice based investigation ought to be performed in all practice settings while the results and recommendations are to be applied to all as well. However some of these practice settings such as the private hospitals have their own special; features and administration that makes conduction of any research challenging. I was undertaking my research which involved the task of exploring the risks of infection control within operating theaters among hand hygiene.  It is during my research period that I realized how difficult it was to undertake any research in a private institution and in that case a hospital. This paper therefore will evaluate and develop evidence on how difficult it is to acquire skills based on practice and ethical considerations relevant in the practice setting. I did fail in my attempt to get ethical approval for my research in the organization and this made me to be determined more to research on pitfalls and challenges that I and other students went through in their attempt to carry out a research in this kind of private organization. Information was acquired from different sources including secondary and primary sources where later I was not able to analyze and come up with conclusions and recommendation on my research since I was not permitted to continue with my research by the ethical committee in the private settings.

            Analysis of the research approach and findings

            Earlier on before engaging in the research, I was only limited to my thinking as I thought that I was only to learn on how to be a good practitioner to all professionals working in high peril environments such as operation process in operating theaters which are susceptible to various communications errors and infection prevention concern.

I strongly believed that hand hygiene is one of the most ignored and forgotten activity in theatre operations and how the new practitioners who are emulating the already registered professional surgeons may copy the wrong things from them. I thus was determined to prove my theory by engaging in a research which would enhance me to prove how health associated infections especially via microbial contamination would be caused by reduced hand hygiene of operators in the theatre. However in undertaking the research I was able to learn that the general start in being able to become a good practitioner is not only focused while in operating theatres. However, performance measure starts with the environment outside the operating room where a practitioner can be able to see a challenge and work towards solving it and later is when one can be able to effectively work in the inner circle of the medical operations. I used to think that private hospitals are the best in all they did starting from their organizational structure but it is after my research that I was able to see what really happens in the private settings. Most of the students emulate and aspire to carry out research in these institutions but the challenges are numerous with so much experience to be learned from this kind of challenges for they that agree to push on their research till completion.

            According to other scholars who also investigated on the same issue it is clear that this is an emerging issue in which hand hygiene in operation theatres are not upheld. Some of the scholars have argued out that the hand surface contacts all the way from the waiting bay to operating rooms to the recovery rooms is not the sole cause of infections in the patience (Megeus et al 2015). Environmental contamination together with poor cleaning practices is another problem that causes infections to theatre patients.

Most have argued that it makes no difference in ensuring that hands are washed before, during and after the operation as they think that expertise and academically they are taught on how to handle vulnerabilities and how to control infections which to them is just but enough (McInnes et al 2014).

            In my observation, I was able to realize that there was need for improvement in the operation strategies in the hospitals. More awareness needed to be created and knowledge on hand hygiene practice ought to be transferred especially to all practitioners whether qualified academically or whether working as staff as unqualified in the hospitals and in theatres (Pittet 2001). Trainees within practice program are the major concern for all hospitals as they are the doctors to be in charge tomorrow. Neglecting the simple task of washing hands all through the basic practices have caused one patient out of twenty five patients to be infected with health care associated infections during their health care and this has contributed to approximately 722000 infections annually (Anderson et al 2014).

            While collecting data I was able to acquire quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data enhanced me to be able to describe central tendency of hand wash activity for most of the practitioners including the trainees. This involved the mean times and how often these doctors observed hands hygiene through observation, interview and survey method. Whereas the qualitative method enhanced me to acquire inferential statistics which explained the correlation between poor hand hygiene and infection control in theatres specifically.

            I was focused on the major issue of hands hygiene which would involve improvising a technique that would ensure each practitioner washed their hands within the duration of 40-60 seconds.

However my requests to the administration to improvise a running tap at the entrance of the theatre with provision of detergent as well was accepted after a long face to face discussion with the manager.

            My methodology was structured to be extensive to all the participants. However, I was only able to investigate a few personnel one of them being the manager through conducting of personal interview with him. The limit of methodology that I used was due to the fact that my research was rejected hence I could not go against the hospitals strict restriction on research by students.

            According to my personal interview with the newly employed manager in the private hospital, he was as helpful as he clearly explained to me that they would not allow me to conduct my study as it is a threat to the hospital as they thought that I would expose them to the public hence costing them their patients flow. According to him research is only to the junior doctors in the hospital than to the students since they believe that the junior doctors has what it takes in researching and in being discrete.

            Some of the superior surgeons in the hospital and other theatre practitioners were so busy in their work that they did not offer any help in the research due to their busy schedule.  Also investigating the patients was not allowed by the private hospital principles as they disregard it. I was therefore left with the option of using one on one interview with the manager as my main support tool who worked within the department.

The demonstration of an ethical approach to research and your practice setting

            Ethical clearance is important in the medical field as it ensures that certain ethical principles are adhered to. I however did not necessarily need the ethical clearance             since I did not involve others in my study as I was only limited to observing and carrying out the one on one research with the manager which required no clearance.

            Ethically participation is voluntarily and any withdrawals from participating from the research anything while those who participated, they are guaranteed of confidentiality and inscrutability. My project ensured that all the participants were able to acquire a leaflet which had the information that they were to help collect (Lenfant 2003). However the nature and the rationale for undertaking the research were well explained to them. I had to assure them that any information that they would provide would not be published without their consent. I therefore offered them with a written report of what data I was to publish for them to verify that it was the right information they had given and if they signed for the acceptance of me including their part then I did include that but failure to permission led to me not to include that data in the report.

            Research of ethical issues in undertaking this project within a private set up posed a lot of difficulties. This kind of setting restricts such kind of research as the administration is insecure that the results may work out more harm than good. This would show the negligence of the hospital, ignorance of their practitioners and this would act as a threat to the organization.

This has therefore led to many private hospitals refusing these projects and in most cases they scare away students indirectly by offering them with minimal facilities and information for their research.  The participants are given such a large workload thus leaving them, with minimal time to participate in the research interview or answering of questionnaires.

            This kind of unpredicted harsh environment for carrying out my research gave me an eye opener which enabled me solve the problem but yet conduct my research. I therefore did seek to ask one question at a time to each practitioner instead of giving them a couple of questions in a questionnaire. I ensured that these questions needed just a yes or no question. In collecting data on whether these practitioners received recent training on hands hygiene I ensured that I asked a sample of the practitioners while on their small interval breaks.

            The participants were effective in their support in the research. They provided relevant information that helped to have a clue on the issue of hand hygiene but not fully adequate as the hospital was against the research. Discovering that most of the practitioners had stayed without being trained on hands hygiene posed that they were harm to themselves and also to others. This led to more research so as to know whether the right policies and guidelines in the hospital or not. This enhanced me to take action by proposing that the theatre management ought to be changed since the ones that were there had not conversant with the significance of hands hygiene in the hospital. Observing some of them use the same gloves for a different task endangered the patients as the bacteria’s were transferred to the bloodstream from the air resulting to more vulnerabilities of infection.

Constant follow ups through emails to the volunteering customers reminding them of how important this research was to them and involving them in them asking questions and me being able to answer them made me able to show my participants how valuable they were in my research.

            Carrying out this research was not only of benefit to me but it was for the greater good of all the participants and in general the hospital itself and the patients as well. Full participation of the participants showed how their valued their patients health and theirs’ also.

The result of the research attributed to acquiring scientific valuable information to the participants on hands hygiene significance. The results also enhanced immediate intervention of the hospitals administration into controlling the infection thus providing better services to the patients. Using the data collected from observation, the hospital will be able to offer enough gloves and offer training to all staffs in the hospital and will be able to ensure that they offer clean environment in the operating rooms.

            While undertaking research which involve ethical engagement even in the future projects in search an organization, it is important to ensure that one protects their participants fully to avoid their privacy leaking out which may cause them to lose their jobs. It is also essential that the research puts first the health, human rights and care for their participants before their own interests.

            The development of evidence-based practice

            Throughout the project I was able to experience personal development as there were so many lessons to be learnt. My interaction with people was enhanced as I dealt with a group of professionals and staff as well.  I was also able to increase my knowledge on the theatre operations as I worked closely with the theatre operators. Hygiene has become one of my personal habits since I learnt of the importance and influences that may occur due to poor hygiene.

            Reading and researching more made me realize that there were so many other scholars who were concerned with medical care (Shah et al 2015).  However not all aspects of medical concerns are attended to in the medical departments and this enabled me to realize the gap that existed in the medical research and this drove me to researching on the problem.

The literature review also enabled me to understand some of the challenges that other scholars faced in their research and this enhanced me to evade and to be better able to face these challenges (Shah et al 2015).  I was also able to identify some of the methods that yielded better results in the private set-up and new methods that were not yet used I was able to utilize them such as the pilot study.

            My research enhanced me to understand how poor hygiene is a causal effect of infection and this enabled me to realize that the best way to curb this ill-treatment is by maintaining hands hygiene of the highest degree as academic approach and skills may not be enough for this careless mistake of unhygienic.

Conclusion and recommendation

            Application of proper hand hygiene in the future set up would result to minimal infections and actually those that have not been caused by the practitioners themselves. Semi-annual training on proper hygiene would remind practitioners of how this activity is of importance while the newly joined practitioners would have a chance to be trained on the same. This would enhance the development of a generation of professional practitioners who are responsible for their act of proper health care.

            When the hospitals agrees to correct some of their mistakes by changing the organizational structure in the hospital through inclusion of hygiene supervisors in the organization would ensure collaborative and cohesion support towards acquiring of good human health through good health hygiene. The issue of concern is whether these organizations are financially stable to offer hygienic facilities as required because most of these facilities are profit oriented thus expenses are minimized. It is thus recommended that extra funds in hospitals be set-apart for the training and purchase of hygiene equipments and hiring of hygiene professionals. A department of hygiene also ought to be established in private hospitals to ensure that hygiene is achieved.

            Private hospitals should support student practitioners and should allow them conduct clinical research on their institution as they have the best of interest while undertaking the research. This will enhance them be more experienced so that they can be able to be better practitioners even after their studies. Everyone deserves a chance and the hospital should be willing to give the students that chance by at least allowing and permitting them with ethical clearance and the ethical committee approving them.

References

Anderson, D.J., Podgorny, K., Berríos-Torres, S.I., Bratzler, D.W., Dellinger, E.P., Greene, L.,    Nyquist, A.C., Saiman, L., Yokoe, D.S., Maragakis, L.L. and Kaye, K.S., 2014.       Strategies to prevent surgical site infections in acute care hospitals: 2014 update.         Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 35(06), pp.605-627.

Lenfant, C., 2003. Clinical research to clinical practice—lost in translation?. New England           Journal of Medicine, 349(9), pp.868-874.

McInnes, E., Phillips, R., Middleton, S. and Gould, D., 2014. A qualitative study of senior            hospital managers’ views on current and innovative strategies to improve hand hygiene.     BMC infectious diseases, 14(1), p.611.

Megeus, V., Nilsson, K., Karlsson, J., Eriksson, B.I. and Andersson, A.E., 2015. Hand      Contamination, Cross-Transmission, and Risk-Associated Behaviors: An Observational     Study of Team Members in ORs. AORN journal, 102(6), pp.645-e1.

Pittet, D., 2001. Improving adherence to hand hygiene practice: a multidisciplinary approach.      Emerging infectious diseases, 7(2), p.234.

Polit, D.F. and Beck, C.T., 2004. Nursing research: Principles and methods. Lippincott    Williams & Wilkins.

Shah, N., Castro-Sánchez, E., Charani, E., Drumright, L.N. and Holmes, A.H., 2015. Towards     changing healthcare workers' behaviour: a qualitative study exploring non-compliance         through appraisals of infection prevention and control practices. Journal of Hospital        Infection, 90(2), pp.126-134.

Case 13: Lennar Corporation’s Joint Venture Investment 

Synopsis

Lennar Corporation stands as one among the largest and dominating homebuilders in U.S. Apart from offering homebuilding services; Lennar Corporation offers financial and other subsidiary services to both potential buyers and sellers (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Some of the homebuilding service operations conducted by Lennar Corporation include construction and sale of attached and detached homes for single families, sale of residential buildings, and development of residential land among other related services. Citing from the company’s history, it was founded back in 1954 as a locally situated homebuilder in Miami (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). After few years of operation, the company listed its common stock in NYSE back in 1972 one year after completing the initial public offering. By the turn of the new millennium, the company had advanced its operations where in the year 2003 the company had acquired numerous companies such as U.S Home Corporation and other regional homebuilders (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). As the company continued to advance its operations, it decided to form joint ventures with other financial organizations, landowners and home builders in 2008 (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Through these joint ventures, the company was able to develop, acquire and trade particular assets within a short time.  However, in 2009 Lennar Corporation was caught in the middle of a global recession during the collapse of housing prices. Additionally, the company was facing fraud criticism from FDI with regard to off-balance-sheet debt and huge personal loans that the top executives had taken out (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Therefore, the management had to find a solution for these challenges that Lennar Corporation was facing.     

Alternative Solutions

• One of the alternative solutions that Lennar Corporation ought to implement is to outsource finances reviews.
• Analyzing homebuilding segment in order to make sure that the company adheres strictly to the provisions of corporate and social responsibility together with business ethics
• Lowering the performance in the open market through financial buffering so as to prevent the influence of market crashing to the overall performance of the company

 Selected Solution

Analyzing homebuilding segment in order to make sure that the company adheres strictly to the provisions of corporate and social responsibility together with business ethics

This will make sure that the company becomes vigilant on ethical issues together with corporate and social responsibility issues such as those criticized by FDI.

Implementation  

Lennar Corporation can assess the homebuilding segment and through Research and Development (R&D) it will be easy to adjust to the provisions of business ethics and evade the associated risks. Some business ethics concerns such as fraud can be evaded through implementation of strategies that will make sure that the company does not feature in the regulations of FDI.   

Recommendation and Conclusion

Citing from the challenges that Lennar Corporation faced back in 2009, it is recommendable that the company should implement different strategies that will act as solutions for those challenges. Some of these challenges include outsourcing financial reviews, assessment of homebuilding sector in order to identify associated business ethics issues, and minimizing performance in the open market. These solutions will cover all the challenges that the company endured starting from FDI fraud criticism to being affected significantly by the global market recession. Other solutions that can be executed include cutting out external borrowing and assessing all the accounts of joint ventures in the business area.  

Response to Classmate 1

It is factual that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be delineated as the responsibility of an organization to comply with the demands of the society in general and fulfill the interests of the stakeholders with regard to the financial output. Citing from the society perspective, the company is obliged to comply with business ethics provisions and act responsibly. Precisely, the organization has to serve the local community and the environment in order to retain their trustworthiness both in the market and to the general society. Additionally, execution of CSR in an organization is not meant for evading social and responsibility issues but also to evade regulations by government which can result to heavy fines. However, regardless of the benefits associated with implementation of CSR in an organization such as improving the reputation of the company and increasing profit, it is factual that in the next decade, the society’s expectations for CSR might evolve. This might be resulted by the encroachment of technology demanding the government in expand its involvement in the performance of the companies.  

Response to Classmate 2

Citing from the contemporary path followed by technology and the general pattern of the encroachment, it is true that general expectations of CSR by the society might change in the next decade. CSR can be delineated as the pledge by the company to be responsible with regards to ethical, legal and environmental provisions. Precisely, the company ought to be compliant with ethical and legal provisions in order to gain trust in the market and in the society. Therefore, with the change in technology the issue of environmental pollution is becoming a concern which means that the expectations of CSR might change in advance.

Reference 

Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2013).Strategic management: Planning for domestic & global competition (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

PLANNING AND CONTROL FOR SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

Jesse’s Security Alarms case study

SECTION ONE: Understanding the small business environment

What this means is that when starting a small business enterprise, there are various steps which need to be taken into consideration that are essential in planning, preparing as well as managing the business- while taking care also of the startup legalities (Barrow, 2012). Although not all of the steps do work or apply to all business enterprises, basically working through them effectively offers a sense of all that needs the owner’s attention and what he can check off.  In choosing this business, personal preferences together with other mental and physical capabilities will be the main deciding factors. In addition to that, the focus ought to be on the demand of the targeted market as well as its limitations which assists in determining whether the business will be successful.

Operating the business from home typically provides convenient, flexible, and affordable option. Regardless of that there are legal requirements or restrictions which will be associated with it. In most cases such requirements keeps on varying from one council to another and because of that, it is clear that home-based business enterprises do not require special operating permits in case the building that the business will be working from is the primary place of residence (Barrow, 2012).  Contrary to that, in case workers will be hired from outside Jesse’s immediate family, it then means that such considerations will change. This is to say that it will be the requirement by the law to have a permit if the business will end up hiring more than one employee who does not share the owner’s home (Stokes & Wilson, 2006).

In addition to that, the size of the floor area to be covered by the business will also affect the nature of the kind of permit that will be required for the business to be operated from the home setting. It should be noted that majority of councils do stipulate that for those business that are to be operated from home, such a business should not occupy more than 50square meters or just a third of the total area of the owner’s home.   Moreover, there will also be other restrictions which will be imposed prior to running the business out of an apartment. Conversely, in case operating it from home will also make it to be a meeting avenue for its customers, the council may demand extra off-street parking space to be provided or just a separate entrance to be provided for the business customers (Bloomsbury, 2012). If this will be the case or even if the owner will wish to erect any signage, it is likely that he or she will have to submit a Development Application (DA), requiring the approval of the council before any necessary alterations are to be made at the owner’s home. Furthermore, additional information, for instance site plan, a Statement of Environmental Effects and existing floor layout plans might also be required.

Despite of the above requirements or restrictions, there will be the need of giving the business a name. Therefore, choosing the name of the business will be an important step in its planning process. The reason for this is because not only the name will be reflecting the business’s brand identity or awareness but also it will ensure that it’s properly registered as well as protected for the long term (Bloomsbury, 2012). Moreover, there are various factors to consider when selecting the name and one of them is the legal requirement. After choosing the name, it means that that there is the ensuring that the name complies with the law. In most cases registering the name of the business remains to be a confusing area for majority of new business owners. Therefore, registering the name of the business will involve the process termed as Doing Business As (DBA) trade name. This process should not be confused with incorporation process since it doesn’t provide trade mark protection.

This means that registering the business will be the opportunity of letting the state’s local authority to know what the business doing as the name will suggest.  Whenever the business will be expanding, it is the requirement by the law that the name of the business should be distinguishable from the names of other business organizations on the record of the state (Pakroo & Stewart, 2016). Nonetheless, it is the requirement by the law that the name of the business should include certain words which indicates the business structure.

On the other hand, there is the need of managing all the resources of the business especially the accounts receivables. Accounts receivables, or at times referred to as A/R, is basically the money which the business will end up receiving from its clients for all the goods and services to be provided at the end of the day.   Therefore, the main reason for this consideration is because they are the lifeblood of the cash flow of the business. They will remain to be the most essential part of not only calculating the profitability of the business but also the clearest indicator of its income. In the long-run, they should be considered as an asset since they will be representing money which will be received into the business. Keeping track of the accounts receivables will also be a better opportunity of having documentation supporting proof of returns at tax time.

Nevertheless, the business will be needing money for the purpose of purchasing materials for resale, settling employees’ salaries as well as covering all of the other operating expenses. Thus the revenues to be collected are the ones which will be used to cater for that and also turn out as the realized profit. On the balance sheet, the accounts receivable will be regarded as assets since they are the guaranteed money which will be coming back to the business. The reason for this is because the client will have the legal application of paying the business and it will be an issue which the business could, in an extreme case, take to court for payment on the contract to be entered. As much as the accounts receivables will be the most visible asset on its balance sheet, it management will be a paramount activity since poor receivables management might hinder the business cash flow hence causing it to incur bad debt expenses (Richmond & Powers, 2009). Debt collection, credit application, early pay discounts, and timely invoicing will be the main practices that should be considered when managing these receivables.

SECTION TWO: Financial preparation & analysis - budgeting

C

Key performance indicators that can be obtained from the Profit & Loss budget

1. I) Stock turnover-days_ this will assist in reflecting the number of days which will be consumed in selling inventory. This means that the lower the ratio the quicker the stock will be sold.
2. II) Debtors turnover-days_ this will ultimately reflect the average length of time form making sales as well as cash collection. The lower the ratio, the quicker the accounts are to be paid. From the viewpoint, it will be essential to keep the days outstanding to a minimum (McGrail, 2008).

III) Current ratio_ this will be used for the purpose of indicating the extent at which the business’s short-term assets will be in the position of covering its current liabilities (McGrail, 2008). It will also be the measure of the business’s capacity of meeting its short-term liabilities. This ratio should be 2:1. This is to imply that for every $1 of the liabilities the must be at least $2 short-term assets to be used in meeting such liabilities.

1. IV) Debt/equity_ this will be used for the purpose of measuring the degree at which the business will rely on external borrowing for the need of funding its on-going operations. After estimation, it will be found that the higher the ratio the more heavily that the debt financing is to be.
2. V) Gross profit margin_ this will be not only an indication of the business’s profitability but also a reflector of the control over costs of sales as well as its pricing policies. This ratio will be compared with preceding periods and with any other available industry data (Coles, 1997).
3. VI) Breakeven sales _ this will assist in reflecting the sales which must be generated for the purpose of covering all the expenses to be incurred. In other words, this will be the level of activity in which neither losses nor profit will be made or whether total costs will be equal to total returns. This will be an important ratio which the owner must monitor on each monthly basis (Coles, 1997).

Reasons why the cash flow budget is an important tool

In case the business will end up running out of cash or will not be able to obtain new finances, it will finally become insolvent. In the long-run there will be no excuse that the owner did not see such flow crisis coming. The inflow and outflow of cash for a start-up business enterprise must be regarded as being its life-blood. Because of this consideration, the identification of any potential shortfall in the cash balances will be the main reason as to way cash flow forecast will be essential. On the other hand, this forecast will assist in ensuring that the business has the ability of paying suppliers and workers. This is important because in case suppliers will not be paid in time they will be likely to stop supplying the business with resources but it will be worse if workers will not be paid on time (Fleming, 2000). 

Moreover, cash flow forecasting will be essential in that it will aid in spotting problems associated with customer payments. This will be easier due to the fact that preparing the cash flow forecast will encourage the enterprise to look on how quick the clients are settling their debts. Additionally, as much as this will be an important discipline of financial planning, it will remain to be a significant management process just the same way as preparing a business budget (Weygandt et al, 2010).

Discuss the use of variances: Actual vs Budget

Majority of small scale business enterprises do assume the other half of budgeting. This means that although the owner will be preparing the budget for the purpose of planning the evolution of the business, the budgeted expenses will assist in setting prices, sales, as well as estimating profits (Carroll, 2007). For various reasons, revenues and costs might become higher or lower that calculated. Therefore, budget variance analysis will aid in not only addressing such differences but also adjusting the procedures so as to avoid similar discrepancies from happening in the near future. 

Furthermore, when the business will be comparing budgets with actual figures, variance has the ability of including changes in sales, material costs, or labor costs (Hansen et al, 2009). Variance will in turn remain to be favorable in case revenues will be higher or costs are to be lower and vice versa.   Ultimately, variance will arise from expenses or changes in price and volume.

SECTION THREE (3): Financial preparation & analysis – forecasting

Mostly, creating financial forecasts from old information becomes daunting for most business managers. Financial forecasting of the business should be considered as a technique or method which will assist in estimating the business’s future aspect or other operation. This is because the long-term success of this business will be closely tied to the extent at which its management is capable of foreseeing its future as well as developing appropriate strategies to be used for dealing with future scenarios (Sivanandam et al, 2006).  Awareness, good judgment and intuition on how well the economy will be doing will in turn give the business owner a rough idea of what is to be expected or likely to evolve in the near future. Forecasting method, for instance regression, will be beneficial in the sense that it will aid the management of the business in estimating many such future prospects of its on-going operations.

For instance, assume that those who will be in charge of financial preparation and analysis are required to provide an estimation of the total sales for a particular product for the next there quarters. Basically, at the end it will be noted that various decisions will be impacted by such estimates or forecasts of sales to be offered by the business’s forecaster. Clearly, policies regarding inventories, production schedules, sales quotas, and raw material purchasing plans will end up affecting such forecasts (Sivanandam et al, 2006). As a result of this, it means that poor or ineffective forecasting can result into poor planning hence increased operating expenses to the enterprise.

SECTION FOUR (4): Financial preparation & analysis – finance options

For effective running of any business enterprise, there is need of having sufficient capital outlay. Conversely for the need of renovating the business’s existing property, acquire new equipments as well as an additional employee will depend on the availability of cash in order to meet or that. On the other hand, it might be that such cash cannot be available immediately but there are various options that the owner can take in meeting his financial obligations;

1) Raise money from family and friends_ hitting up friends and family will be the most common means of obtaining fiancés. It should be noted that when the owner will end up turning his loved ones into creditors, it will imply that he will be risking their financial future as well as jeopardizing significant personal relationship (Ang, 2015). Another mistake will be approaching family and friends before any formal business plan is in place. Therefore, in order to avoid this, the business should supply formal financial projections which will act as an evidence-based assessment. The goodness for this is that it will limit the likelihood of any unpleasant surprises. It will also let any willing investor to know that the owner will take their money seriously.

2) Venture capital_ This refers to the fiancés which comes from companies or other individuals in the enterprise. This usually offers finance to any small scale business organization for exchange for the ownership share of the enterprise. In most cases, venture capital firms does not desire to participate in initial business financing unless the business will proved a proven track record of its finances. Generally, they do prefer to be investing in other business organizations which have not only managed to receive important equity investment from its founders but are already profitable (Ang, 2015).

In seeking for venture capital, the owner should also understand that these individuals or companies do prefer business organizations which have a strong value proposition for instance proven demand for their products or diversified competitive advantage. This usually take a hand-on approach of their investments, hiring managers or just requiring representation on the board of directors. They have the ability of offering valuable guidance and advice to the business. Regardless of that, they will be looking for considerable returns for their investments as well as their objectives might be at cross purpose with the business owner.

Equally, although they at time remain to be focused on short-term returns, they will be creating an investment portfolio for any business that has high-growth potential which arises from high rates of returns.

3) Banks and other financial lenders _ Banks and commercial lender remains to be a popular sources of business financing. For this reason, the owner should know that most lenders will demand a positive track record, solid business plan or plenty of collateral.  Although usually this may not be the case for a start-up business, once the enterprise will be underway, the business will have the opportunity of borrowing additional funds whilst presenting cash flow budgets, profit and loss statement, and a net worth statement (Fullen, 2006).

4) Commercial finance companies_ Moreover, commercial finance companies can also be regarded as being a good source of finances in case the owner will not be in the position of securing finances from other commercial sources. Such firms may be willing to depend on the quality of the business’s collateral in repaying the loan unlike its profit projections or track record. Despite that one, a commercial finance company cannot lend it money in case the business will not have substantial collateral or personal assets (Fullen, 2006)..

 SECTION FIVE (5): Succession planning

To

JESSE TAWONG

 JESSE’S SECURITY ALARMS

Dear Sir,

            RE: SUCCESSION PLANNING

Effective succession mainly deals with the development of variety of feeder groups of individuals. Usually, succession planning remains does not remain to be an issue that majority of business enterprises address in a systematic way. The reason for this is because at times many nonprofits are small or they may be facing various organizational challenges, for instance about who will be the next manager or what might be encountered in case the financial director leaves (Rothwell, 2010). Therefore, there exist many reasons which will compel the organization to consider having succession planning. The most significant reason of all is the dependence of the staff in carrying out the business’s mission, provision of services as well as meeting its set objectives (Dahlke, 2012). Therefore, there is the need of first thinking of what might evolve or happen to such services or the capacity of fulfilling the business mission in case the staff member leaves.

Another reason to be focused during the succession planning is mainly the changing realities of the business’s workplace. The awaiting retirement of the baby boomers will be expected to be having major impacts on the workforce capacity. Moreover, with careful preparation and planning, the enterprise will be in the position of managing the changes which will result from generational transfer of leadership and other ongoing changes which will evolve repeatedly whenever key workers are to leave the business.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that the type and extent of the succession planning will be different at the end of the day, the organization will be required to have sort of succession plan. The reason for that is because it is the effective succession planning which will support the organizational stability as well as sustainability through ensuring that there will be establishment process of meeting its staff requirement (Clutterbuck, 2012). Executive directors and boards can also demonstrate leadership through ensuring that processes and strategies are in place so as to ensure that such transitions have to occur smoothly, with little or no disruption to the business.

This is to imply that, with succession planning, the organization will be forced to ensure that workers are to be recruited as well as developed in order to fill each key role within it.  Thus, through this process, there will be the need of not only recruiting superior workers but also developing their knowledge, skills, and capabilities as well as preparing them for promotion into ever more demanding duties in the business. Conversely, actively pursuing this process will ultimately ensure that workers will be constantly developed so as to fill each position in the business. This is to say that this will guarantee that there still will be enough workers to fill new roles.

Reference

Barrow, C. (2012). Business Start Up For Dummies Three e-book Bundle. Hoboken: Wiley.

Stokes, D., & Wilson, N. (2006). Small business management and entrepreneurship. London: Thomson Learning.

Bloomsbury. (2012). Good small business guide 2013: How to start and grow your own business. London: Bloomsbury.

Pakroo, P., & In Stewart, M. (2016). The small business start-up kit: A step-by-step legal guide

Richmond, T., & Powers, D. (2009). Business fundamentals for the rehabilitation professional. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK.

McGrail, A. (2008). The essential business guide. Hove: Essential Business.

Coles, M. (1997). Financial management for higher awards. Oxford: Heinemann.

Fleming, L. (2000). Excel preliminary business studies. Glebe, N.S.W: Pascal Press.

Weygandt, J. J., Kieso, D. E., & Kimmel, P. D. (2010). Managerial accounting: Tools for business decision making. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Carroll, N. V. (2007). Financial management for pharmacists: A decision-making approach. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Hansen, D. R., Mowen, M. M., & Guan, L. (2009). Cost management: Accounting and control. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Sivanandam, S. N., Sumathi, S., & Deepa, S. N. (2006). Introduction to neural networks using MATLAB 6.0. New Delhi: McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited.

Ang, C. S. (2015). Analyzing financial data and implementing financial models using R

Fullen, Sharon. (2006). How To Get The Financing For Your New Small Business: Innovative Solutions From The Experts Who Do It Every Day. Atlantic Pub. Group.

Rothwell, W. J. (2010). Effective succession planning: Ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within. New York: AMACOM.

Dahlke, A. (2012). Business succession planning for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Clutterbuck, D. (2012). The talent wave: Why succession planning fails and what to do about it. London: Kogan Page.

CASE 13: LENNAR CORPORATION’S JOINT VENTURE INVESTMENT 

Synopsis

Lennar Corporation stands as one among the largest and dominating homebuilders in U.S. Apart from offering homebuilding services; Lennar Corporation offers financial and other subsidiary services to both potential buyers and sellers (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Some of the homebuilding service operations conducted by Lennar Corporation include construction and sale of attached and detached homes for single families, sale of residential buildings, and development of residential land among other related services.

Citing from the company’s history, it was founded back in 1954 as a locally situated homebuilder in Miami (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). After few years of operation, the company listed its common stock in NYSE back in 1972 one year after completing the initial public offering. By the turn of the new millennium, the company had advanced its operations where in the year 2003 the company had acquired numerous companies such as U.S Home Corporation and other regional homebuilders (Pearce & Robinson, 2013).

As the company continued to advance its operations, it decided to form joint ventures with other financial organizations, landowners and home builders in 2008 (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Through these joint ventures, the company was able to develop, acquire and trade particular assets within a short time.  However, in 2009 Lennar Corporation was caught in the middle of a global recession during the collapse of housing prices. Additionally, the company was facing fraud criticism from FDI with regard to off-balance-sheet debt and huge personal loans that the top executives had taken out (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Therefore, the management had to find a solution for these challenges that Lennar Corporation was facing.     

Alternative Solutions

• One of the alternative solutions that Lennar Corporation ought to implement is to outsource finances reviews.
• Analyzing homebuilding segment in order to make sure that the company adheres strictly to the provisions of corporate and social responsibility together with business ethics
• Lowering the performance in the open market through financial buffering so as to prevent the influence of market crashing to the overall performance of the company

 Selected Solution

Analyzing homebuilding segment in order to make sure that the company adheres strictly to the provisions of corporate and social responsibility together with business ethics. This will make sure that the company becomes vigilant on ethical issues together with corporate and social responsibility issues such as those criticized by FDI.

The company can achieve this through implementation of CSR which will act as a guideline for the organization towards serving its market segment and the society in general. Apart from benefiting from the CSR on the basis of adherence to business ethics together with corporate and social responsibility, the organization can also benefit from advantages such as increased profit through increased savings. These benefits are based on the fact that implementation of CSR comes with no additional costs for the company.  

Implementation  

Lennar Corporation can assess the homebuilding segment and through Research and Development (R&D) it will be easy to adjust to the provisions of business ethics and evade the associated risks. Some business ethics concerns such as fraud can be evaded through implementation of strategies that will make sure that the company does not feature in the regulations of FDI.   

Therefore, as Pearce & Robinson (2013) asserts, CSR will act as the principle for the organization in making sure that the business maintains the trust of the stakeholders and the general society by emphasizing on and adhering strictly to corporate and social responsibilities. Thus, assessment of the homebuilding segment will be reinforced by implementation of CSR in order to effectuate the achievement of projected goals on overcoming the current challenges that the company is facing.     

Recommendation and Conclusion

Citing from the challenges that Lennar Corporation faced back in 2009, it is recommendable that the company should implement different strategies that will act as solutions for those challenges. Some of these challenges include outsourcing financial reviews, assessment of homebuilding sector in order to identify associated business ethics issues, and minimizing performance in the open market. These solutions will cover all the challenges that the company endured starting from FDI fraud criticism to being affected significantly by the global market recession.

Other solutions that can be executed include cutting out external borrowing and assessing all the accounts of joint ventures in the business area. These solutions will minimize the possibility of fraud materialization by making sure that financial resources are recorded appropriately and with regard to the provisions of the government regulations. Thus, with reinforcement from CSR implementation, the company will overcome all the challenges affecting it today and prevent future materialization of those and related challenges.   

DISCUSSION TOPIC: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE FUTURE

To start with CSR can be delineated as the pledge for the business will adhere to the business ethics while fulfilling its responsibilities in order to effectuate its service to the stakeholders and the society at large (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Therefore, this means that the company in question will have to balance its financial interests and business ethics that might affect its service to the society. Precisely, some of the concerns under implementation of CSR include business ethics, legal matters and environmental concerns. It is noteworthy that CSR appears to depend on the seasonal changes with regard to the technological changes and environmental concerns. This means that the corresponding regulations of the government might also change.

A good example of the change that can occur with regards to society’s expectations for CSR is Exxon Valdez’s case that occurred back in march 1989 (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Following the spilling of more than 10 million gallons of oil in the sea, the government decided to form the Collation for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) in order to promote environmentally responsible behavior by companies that pollute the environment (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Thus, one can assert that future changes of society’s expectations for CSR will be achieved as the society attains more concern for the environment with regard to the changes in the technology that might be polluting the environment.    

RESPONSES

Response to Classmate 1

It is factual that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be delineated as the responsibility of an organization to comply with the demands of the society in general and fulfill the interests of the stakeholders with regard to the financial output. Citing from the society perspective, the company is obliged to comply with business ethics provisions and act responsibly. Precisely, the organization has to serve the local community and the environment in order to retain their trustworthiness both in the market and to the general society. Additionally, execution of CSR in an organization is not meant for evading social and responsibility issues but also to evade regulations by government which can result to heavy fines. However, regardless of the benefits associated with implementation of CSR in an organization such as improving the reputation of the company and increasing profit, it is factual that in the next decade, the society’s expectations for CSR might evolve. This might be resulted by the encroachment of technology demanding the government in expand its involvement in the performance of the companies.  

Response to Classmate 2

Citing from the contemporary path followed by technology and the general pattern of the encroachment, it is true that general expectations of CSR by the society might change in the next decade. CSR can be delineated as the pledge by the company to be responsible with regards to ethical, legal and environmental provisions. Precisely, the company ought to be compliant with ethical and legal provisions in order to gain trust in the market and in the society. Therefore, with the change in technology the issue of environmental pollution is becoming a concern which means that the expectations of CSR might change in advance.

Reference 

Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2013).Strategic management: Planning for domestic & global competition (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

APPENDIX

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Dominates its market segment
• Serves a large market
• Offer extended product line and services (home building and financial services)

Weaknesses

• Financial challenges
• Recognized in united states only
• Subject to fraud

Opportunities

• Global expansion
• Increasing demand in market segment served
• Sustainable construction

Threats  

• Recession
• New entrants
• Stiff competition

PERFORMANCE BUDGETING

1. What is the name of the government organization that incorporates your selected activity?

Security intelligence service department of the National Security Agency

2. What is the government mission of the organization?

To establish a leading edge of defense against the present network threats and intrusions in the country (Madsen 2013)

3. What is the key objective of the activity?

To install an invasion detection system that is sensors across the national project (Madsen 2013).

4. What activity flows from the objective for which you will construct a performance measure?

Performing automatic full packet examination of transfer entering or exiting the state

5. Define a valid and reliable measure of activity performance?

Once the sensor detects any threat it alerts the US CERT in real time of the malicious detrimental activity in the nations network transfer. This provides the expertise personnel responsible for attending to these threats, they verify the correlation and visualizes the derived data and verifies on the threat. Later they address the issue and the vulnerability and they share the relevant security information with the government network protectors and with security experts both in the American public and the in the government.

6. What data will need collection, who will collect it and when?

Technologists on reporting for their shifts they have to cross check on the status of the sensors and verify that they are working properly. Weekly reports and monthly reports are forwarded to the superiors in the NSA where they analyze the data collected and resources are deployed to ensure that the best solution is acquired for solving the most occurring threat.

7. What are all the cost components of the activity, including indirect costs?

Some of the costs will be for the payment of all the technical supporters, the supervisors and the managers in the department, the cost of buying of sensors and other equipments. Other indirect costs will be on the outside payment of other specialized security experts who might be contracted from outside the department to help solve a national threat.

8. At what intervals will your performance information be communicated to stakeholders?

Weekly threats and monthly reports should be forwarded to the superiors following the chain of command in the department for immediate action after analysis to be taken.

9. How will you benchmark the performance measure?

Regular referencing may be conducted for the past attacks probably referring to the records of the past five years with other similar agencies such as the private agencies. The managers of the department may identify some of the similarities in all those threats and may form a pattern in those threats which they may hand over to the government for more handling.

10. How will you link the activity performance to the budget?

All costs incurred in enhancing that the network security is attained are compared with previous costs and the report is forwarded to the government for inclusion in the annual budget.

11. What are three advantages associated with the performance measure you propose?

It enables the department to supply information that is reliable thus enhancing better decision making

Timely alert on real time allows timely addressing of the issue thus curbing the problem.

It enables the organization to evaluate their performance with that of other agencies especially during bench marking activities thus allowing them to be motivated.

12. What are three disadvantages associated with the performance measure you propose?

More experts are required even when there are no threats just in case malicious threat is detected ensuring that the budget is un-overloaded.

Collection of a consistent data that is to be used while benchmarking is difficult to acquire.

Transition from use of a certain level of technology to a high-tech technology is more costly.

13. Based on your narrow experience in this exercise, do you feel that the benefits from developing a performance measure outweigh the time and effort involved? How much of your conclusion is based upon the kinds of governmental activities for which you might reach another conclusion about the utility of using performance measures?

Most of all the governmental activities require performance measurement as the benefits of these performance measures are far much more important in any government agency regardless of resources and time taken.

                Reference

Madsen, W. (2013). National security agency surveillance: Reflections and revelations 2001-2013. Place   of publication not identified: Lulu Com.

Classic Label Company

Executive Summary

Classic Label will be a clothing boutique located at Los Angeles offering both men and women fashion outfits; regular, slim and straight fit. Citing from the number of clothing boutiques that exists in Los Angeles, Classic Label will be looking forward towards making partnerships and alliances with numerous local boutiques in LA as one of the strategies for expansion. The other strategies intended for enlarging the customer base include setting up manufacturing and distribution relationships with similar organizations in New York City. Venturing in New York City market is based on the fact that the area has developed greatly with regards to the market served by Classic Label which means that demand on fashion is very high in the area. Therefore, Classic Label will be targeting on gaining a larger market penetration in different areas that exhibit demand in fashion and design particularly of clothing for both genders. On the other hand, considering the issue of environmental responsibility, Classic Label will be focusing on starting a recycling program for their clothing by allowing customers to drop off their used clothes which will be used to manufacture new clothes. Thus, Classic Label will be enduring stiff competition from counterparts such as Nudie Jeans Company, Kuyichi and Denim Company.

Overview

The organizational name of the company will be Classic Label and will be headquartered in Los Angeles. Precisely, the company will focus on selling fashion wears for both men and women which will be manufactured locally in the organization. Therefore, the type of business that will be adhered to by this organization is manufacturing and retail business. The type of business ownership for Classic Label will be partnership where potential entrepreneurs will combine their financial powers for the initiation of the company. Furthermore, citing from the products and services offered by other fashion companies such as denim, Classic Label will not focus on manufacturing jeans alone. The company will extend its product line to other fashion and design outfits such as shirts, blouses, ties, belts, hats, sports outfits among other products.

The target market for Classic Label will include potential customers at the age of 17 to 40 years living in Los Angeles and New York City.  The reason for targeting this market is because this group dominates the population in LA and New York City, and exhibits high demands on fashion and design. Conversely, some of the factors that will influence the success of Classic Label include stiff competition, government involvement, lack of brand equity, and a threat of new entrants.

Citing from the personal experience, I as the founder of the business have sufficient experience as a fashion designer and have worked in other similar organizations such as Levi and the GAP which have given me enough competence in the sector.  However, the major weakness that I have with regard to this venture is based on the market and customer base that my company will be focusing on. Los Angeles and New York are large and new to me as I had experience with smaller markets that were easy to analyze and control. Therefore, citing from the fact that these markets greater changes that demand effective changes in the organization’s strategies, it will be challenging to adjust to the market changes. Thus, in order to cope up with the challenges, I will focus on making prompt planning and implementations in order to prepare for the potential changes in the market.

Mission Statement

To produce variety of fashion and design products for men and women at affordable prices that is slightly lower than those of other boutiques in LA and New York.

MARKETING PLAN

It is factual that the fashion and design industry in the contemporary market depends on mass market sales in order to achieve success. Therefore, the organization serving this market ought to have a wider product line that will cut across different potential customers. Citing from the market analysis, it is exhibited that men and women at the age of 25 to 50 years spend approximately $35 billion annually on clothing. This means that in order to serve these target consumers maximally, the business ought to offer wider range of products that satisfies their demands. However, for women, fashion clothing covers the largest part of their spending on clothes and outfits. Thus, targeting men and women on fashion and design basis, the competitive advantage of Classic Label will be on offering variety of fashion outfits at lower prices than the competitors. Producing goods at slightly lower prices will be achieved through recycling programs that will lower the production costs. Additionally, the company will use cheaper fabrics and simpler manufacturing processes that will effectuate the lowering of the production costs. As a result, the company will be able to sell products at cheaper prices to the massive customers.

Some of the potential competitors for Classic Label Company include the GAP, Denim, Ralph Lauren, Nudie Jeans Company and Mango. Some of the strengths exhibited by these competitors include economies of scale and brand recognition in the fashion and design market. However, one of the weaknesses of these competitors is based on the fact that they focus on offering narrow product line such as jeans. Therefore, offering wider product line at slightly lower prices will mark the competitive advantage of the company. Some of the factors that will influence success of the company with regard to competition from these companies include better product quality, wider customer base served, mass production, stronger reputation and domination of the market by these competitors.

Advertisement Plans

Citing from the fact that the target market of the company is composed of fashion forward, social media oriented and addicted to technology (mobile phones and personal computers) customers, the following are some of the promotion mix methods that will be employed.

• SEO

Using internet as the basis of company’s promotion, the company will use blogs and web content with keywords such as “organic fashion clothes”, “eco-friendly outfits” and other phrases that will be targeted towards achieving a competitive rank by the company.

• Social Media Channels

The company will have accounts in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest which will be used to advertise fashion and design products. Additionally, these social media accounts will be used to notify on offers and discounts together with the launching of new products.

• Public Relations

Public relations will be used to promote values, fashion and other stories of the company on fashion magazines and blogs in order to support our value on environmental conservation strategies ethical production of our brands.

• Business Development

Through research the staff of Classic Label Company will search for the dominating fashion boutiques in the local areas selected by the company and through research and development, we will be able to advance our strategies and operations to increase competitive advantage of the business.

FINANCIAL PLAN

To start with, the projected startup cost is $300,000 in order to get the organization off the ground. Therefore, this money is anticipated to be acquired from business loans and potential investors.  Currently, I have raised approximately $100,000 which has to be invested in Classic Label Company. According to the financial planning, the potential investors are anticipated to raise an approximate amount of $150,000 and the remaining $50,000 will be obtained from business loan.

For the startup cost, the capital will be used to rent a building, pay for the renovations, purchasing of the required equipments, and advancing the acquired building to attain the standards of a fashion products manufacturing company.

APPENDIX

According to the statistics, from 2012, United States has been importing textiles of value amount not below than $100 billion as International Trade Administration infers (CITA, 2015). This figure derives the demand that exists in the fashion market as the manufacturers and retailers continue to imported utilize textiles. Furthermore, different segments in this market exhibit different increase in demand with women leading with the highest purchasing habit of the fashion products (California Fashion Association, 2011). From the market analysis, it is exhibited that women spend approximately 80% of their income on fashion and sportswear products (Cadigan, 2014). This translates to 96% of the capital expended on their own clothes, 93% of the money spent on their children’s clothes and 60% of that spent on men’s clothes. Since 1999, the spending habit of women on fashion clothes has been increasing up to 52% of the overall sales recorded on fashion outfits (Jones, 2005). On the other hand, the purchasing habit of men has been increasing steadily where it has reached approximately 31% of the total sales recorded on fashion apparel. With regard to age, it is approximated that individuals at the age of 30 years and below cover approximately 53% of the fashion clothes market whereas individuals at the age above 50 years make approximately 25% of the sales.

Citing from the fact that Classic Label Company will base much of its promotion strategies on the internet, it has been approximated that for more than $500 billion sales that recorded back in 2012, approximately $70 billion sales were recorded from the internet (CITA, 2015). As a result, the figure has been enlarging as people continue to embrace the use of internet and the development of technology. This means that the company will acquire wider customer base from the internet as it continues to offer its products through the internet.

References          

Top of Form

Cadigan, E. (2014). Sourcing and selecting textiles for fashion.

Jones, S. J. (2005). Fashion design. London: Laurence King.

California Fashion Association, (2011). “The Los Angeles Area Fashion Industry Profile”

United States Department of Commerce International Trade Administration (CITA), (2015). Office of Textiles and Apparel  

Importance of logistic management

Introduction

            Hi-Beau is an aesthetic and healthcare product company with its headquarters in Singapore. The company was founded in 2004 by Mike Zhang and Doris Du who was his partner (Hi-Beau, 2011) Its success was after the great reception of Avalon Aloe Multiple Detox which was its first product. Some of its other products include Avalon Probiotic detox; fat burner; and ginseng slice with honey. Hi-Beau uses the state of the art technology combined with the latest developments and research in healthcare science to produce effective, natural and safe products for its consumers. With the constantly growing demand for beauty and healthcare products, the company surveys the market constantly to ensure that its products are able to meet the customer’s needs. This has made Hi-Beau a recognized and trusted brand in Singapore and has gained the trust of its target market.

            Despite the high level of competition in the field of healthcare products and cosmetics, the company was able to grow from a small medium enterprise company to the recognized brand it is in Singapore today. In order to maintain this position, the company has had to undergo various changes and upgrades so as to adapt to the changes in the market and ensure that the needs of the consumers are met satisfactorily so as to get a competitive advantage. As a result, the company has a large variety of customers ranging from hypermarkets to small family owned shops. In order to maintain its continued success, the company must ensure that it has a working order processing and distribution system to ensure that its products are accessible to all of its target customers (Hi-Beau, 2011).

Interface

            There are various areas where logistics and the three core functional areas may interact in ensuring that the products are available to the customers. The company’s business model is mainly based on business to business. Hi-Beau plays the role of manufacturing the products and ensuring that the products meet the needs of the customers and the target market. It then teams up with other businesses or retailers who are responsible for re-selling the products to the consumers. The interface in the system could therefore occur in the interaction of the company and its retailers for the purpose of marketing and production (Schonsleben, 2007).

            Since other businesses are responsible for making Hi-Beau products available and selling them to customers, they play an important role in marketing them and ensuring that customers prefer Hi-Beau products over those of the competitors. The company’s marketing strategy must therefore take into consideration and produce products that are in line with the information collected by the retailers concerning what the customers want. This will ensure that the customers get what they want and that their supply to meet the existing demand. For this to be effective, the company must therefore try to maintain an efficient order cycle (Schonsleben, 2007).

            A problem in interface is where the distributors misinform the company of the demand that exists for its products. Since both are involved in marketing the products to the customers, they may have different ideas of what the customer wants (Logistics management, 2014). Since the distributors relate at a more personal level with the customers, they may have more information concerning the demand for Hi-Beau products. Though this may be the case, there is a possibility that they may oversell the demand, leading the company to produce more goods than the existing demand. To solve this issue, both the distributors and Hi-Beau must come up with a way of identifying the demand and the appropriate goods to supply. This will help prevent overproduction and reduced the costs that will otherwise be incurred when storing the excess products. A solution for this issue would be well conducted market research of the target market; the level of competition and other factors that affect the customer’s purchasing decisions (Schonsleben, 2007). This research will give relevant information and help the company to decide the appropriate number of goods to produce without being in excess or under surplus.

Order Cycle

            An order cycle is the process through which an order is made, processed and then made available to the customer or the person who made the order. This process starts from a sales enquiry which is then accessed, processed and then made available to the customer either by delivery or placing it in a position that is accessible to the customer for purchase. A good order management system plays an important role as it helps to ensure that the production and delivery process runs smoothly. It also helps to cut down expenditure and waste thus improving on efficiency in production and increases the profit margin (Lambert & Stock, 2001). The current order process for Hi-Beau is as shown below,

Image retrieved from; Kingscroft Logistics, 2014

The process starts with collecting all the orders that have been received from the various retailers and other businesses that deal with distributing Hi-Beau products. The production will therefore be greatly influenced by these orders when it comes to deciding the amount of products to produce. After collecting, the orders are processed mainly by the sales administrator who assesses whether there is adequate stock to supply the orders. He is responsible for logging in the transaction into the company’s system so as to create a pick list and also create a notification that there was a deduction in the stock. After the pick list has been generated, the products are packed and made available to the distributors and retailers who in turn make them available to the customers in their premises (Hi-Beau, 2011).

            Since Hi-Beau operates on a business to business model, most of its products are purchased at other business stores displaying them. Though this helps them to reach customers in different geographical region, it creates an issue when it comes to storing the products before delivery. Hi-Beau is responsible for manufacturing the products and then making them available for sale. Because of this, it has to ensure that it has enough products to meet the demand. However, it incurs a lot of cost in storing the products before they are delivered to its distributors. It not only incurs inventory holding costs but also lack of revenue from the goods that stay in storage awaiting delivery (Sharma, 2009).

            To solve this problem, the company could invest in various practices that will create a good flow in its order cycle. One way to create flow is to ensure that all the departments that are involved in production and supply are working in harmony (Ismail, 2009). This will ensure that all departments are aware of what products are required, the amount that is available and whether the available products will be enough or others ought to be manufactured. Having good flow will help to avoid waste and loss incurred in cases where there is overproduction.

            Another approach to enhance the order cycle is by ensuring that all the relevant departments are made aware of the rate at which customers are using up the products. This will help the departments to plan their work in a way that is geared towards meeting the need created without going overboard. The consumers needs will be met and the organization will have a nice flow in its order cycle where there is little surplus and there are no excess products stored for long in warehouses (Coyle et al, 2012). The company could also focus on improving its lead time. This is the process that is taken from the time the order is made to the time the product that was ordered is delivered. By improving the lead time, Hi-Beau will be able to ensure that goods are not only made available to the customers but also in adequate time to ensure that little or no products stay in its storage warehouses.

Inventory management

            Inventory management is essential in any organization. If done correctly, it ensures that the goods stored are sufficient enough to meet the demand created by the target market without oversupply and undersupply of goods. In the case of Hi-Beau, the inventory will comprise of raw materials needed to create the products and also the already finished products. The company’s daily activities involved taking stock of the activities that take place in the warehouse, noting down any discrepancies. Some of the duties of the personnel in the warehouses involved making records of transactions that took place and presented them for auditing. This helped in identifying the raw material that was used and the end goods that were produced (Muller, 2011). 

            There was however an issue where there was no accurate description of the demand for the company’s products. As a result, the company would produce products to meet a not well estimated demand. As a result, products often stayed in the warehouse if in excess and this exposed the company to various issues. The company incurred extra cost when catering for labor for managing their inventories (Muller, 2011). There is also the cost that will be incurred in refurbishing or repackaging products that may have been damaged in storage and lastly, the company had to deal with the issue of expanding warehouses used to store these products as they await delivery. To solve this issue, the inventory manager ought to first know the amount of stock that is available in the warehouses. This will help them to determine whether the stock will be able to meet the current demand or that new products will need to be manufactured. In doing so, the manager will help prevent the manufacture of new products when they are not needed and thus prevent over surplus and maintain the inventory at appropriate levels (Sharp & Voorhees, 2000).

Another way to tackle the problem will be to learn to identify warning signs. Some factors that show a problem in inventory management include discrepancies between the physical goods and the inventories kept in the books. As a result, the staff will find difficulty finding actual products even though they are indicated in the book records because of these discrepancies. Another indicator is as simple as the amount of dust that accumulates on the products while they are in storage. A lot of dust will indicate that the products have stayed in storage for too long and thus indicating a problem in inventory management. Knowing what signs to look out for will help the inventory manager to know when there are problems in the inventory and thus try to correct it before experiencing serious problems (Muller, 2011).

Conclusion

            Hi-Beau is not only a well established and recognized company, but also deals with products that are trusted by the consumers. This gives it a competitive advantage over other companies in the market because it is able to attract and retain customers thus ensuring a steady demand for its products. Though this is, to a large extent, an advantage, it may cause problems for the company if not dealt with properly. The constant demand for Hi-Beau products may create a scenario where production of products is done without the proper amount of research and planning due to the misconception that there will always be a demand for them. This however may not always be the case because the nature of the market is constantly changing and various factors may hinder customers from purchasing the products. The customers may develop a different taste and thus seek new products; new entrants in to the market or already existing ones may create products that are favored thus reducing demand for Hi-Beau products. To deal with these and other scenarios, Hi-Beau must invest in better principles of logistic management. They ought to identify with areas that may interface within the organization and ensure that the interaction runs smoothly. This will ensure that the order cycle for the company’s products runs smoothly and that the goods produced are only meant to meet the actual demand created. This can be enhanced by keeping good inventory so as to ensure that what is produce is what is needed. By sticking to good principles of logistic management, the company will be able to competitive in its current market.

References

Coyle J, Gibson B, Langley J, and Novack A, (2012) “Supply chain management: A logistic perspective”             Cengage Learning

Hi-Beau, (2011) “Who we are” retrieved from, http://www.hibeau.com/index/Who-We-Are

Ismail, R. (2008). Logistics Management. New Delhi: Excel Books.

Kingscroft Logistics, (2014) “image of order cycle” retrieved from,             http://www.fulfilmentpackaging.com/offer.html

Logistics Management, (2014) “Inventory management 101: Time to revisit the principles” Peeerless Media

Müller, M. (2011). Essentials of inventory management, New York: AMACOM.

Schonsleben P, (2007) “Integral logistic management: Operations and supply chain management in             comprehensive value added networks” CRC Press

Sharma, K. (2009). Logistic management: A competitive advantage for the new millennium. New Delhi: Global India Publications.

Sharp K. and Voorhees D, (2000) “The principles of logistics revisited” JSTOR Journal

Stock, J. R., & Lambert, D. M. (2001), Strategic logistics management, Singapore: McGraw-Hill.

Part 8.

Cheesecake factory market research

Overview

 The purpose of this research is to find out the opportunities available for cheesecake restaurant to sell its products in the US and the international markets and the possibility for further expansion locally and globally. The report also evaluates the market of various foodstuffs especially cheesecakes products that are favoured by consumers and which faces stiff competition both in the local and the wider market. The general cheese market and production of cheese have been increasing over time and this is especially true because of the expansion of the market segmentation based on the changing consumer preferences. The sales of cheese has become a key component of the US and other major international economies  due to the increase in consumer demand  for cheese based products like the  cheesecakes whose main content is cheese. The huge consumption of cheese products can also be traced to the increase in the preference for artisan cheese and products thereof. The potential for artisan varieties seems to be very promising especially due to domestic upward trend in the consumption of such specialty cheese. Cheesecakes’ popularity in the market can also be attributed to a growth in organic food supplies in the market and a key component of these supplies is organic cheese.

The market for dairy products is highly competitive and there are substantial number of products that compete directly and indirectly with cheese products like cheesecakes. The cheesecakes products are affected by various factors like the taste of the consumers, discretionally patterns of spending, the trends in the markets, the cost and availability of substitute products and the industry quality standards set by regulating authorities and the rival cheesecake factories. Emphasis on the nutritional value of dairy products has also had a big influence on the changes in the consumption of cheese cakes. Thus the selection of a good marketing plan will be very important in keeping up with the completion in the market and ensuring that the cheese factory performance in terms of sales and profit-making is maintained. The report also provides information on the general restaurant market in the US and globally and gives a lot of focus on the competitive nature of this market.

Research methodology

The research method used in studying the market is mainly the analysis of the available secondary data and the review of the historical trend in the food staff market more so the consumption those based on the dairy products like cheese.

Review of market in restaurant industry

The restaurant industry in the US and international market continue to grow gradually after recovering from the global economic recession that saw may restaurants record minimal to no growth or lossmaking altogether. Driven by strengthening local and global economies, the restaurant industry continues to rebound and thus more opportunities are opening up in this market in the midst of stiff competition (Mazzone& Associates Inc, 2015).  The location of business associated with the restaurant industry are normally distributed in accordance to population. Hence, the distribution of the restaurant establishment is based on the income distribution of the population with the largest concentration within or near those areas with households having higher income (Bill and Laura 2011). The industry offers food services in the locations that are convenient for consumers and thus Cheesecakes Factory has to base its operations in the arears that are near the target customers.  Restaurants add a lot of value to downtown areas since most workers or residents that represent their markets are normally located in such areas. These restaurant also attract visitors in those downtown areas thus serving the larger part of the community. Few such establishment are located in central business areas of major towns or cities and the few that are located there serve mostly the high end consumers or the lower income earners who visit once in a while (Bill and Laura 2011). The major restaurants in the market that can compete with Cheesecake restaurant offer fast foods, table services, restaurant for casual dining which serves foods that are moderately priced within a casual atmosphere. There are also family style establishments that offer traditional food services and the diner serve themselves or restaurants for fine dining.  The residents of primary location area are the most important segment of the market that Cheesecake Factory can count on for the current operations or for any future expansion. This population provides a sizeable market whose preferences and consumption behaviour can easily and fairly be assessed accurately.  

Similarly , employers in downtown come with a market that consist of daily streams of employees , and these can mostly be found during the day and thus spend substantial amount of money at food outlets or establishment. The international Council of Shopping Centers report indicate that expenditures on downtown lunch among the downtown office employees  are more than the expenditures reported by office workers in the suburban areas (Bill and Laura 2011). This market consist of consumers who enjoy taking their lunch at restaurants and other outlets like grocery, carry-out and market businesses. They also stop over after work at these establishments for drinks or dinner. These business operators and the workers indicates that this is good market that Cheese Factory can target and setting up restaurant establishments in those areas will ensure that there will be a constant stream of customers(Bill and Laura 2011). The Cheese Factory can come up with varieties in the food servings so that to cater for the differing customer preferences in such a large market a strategy that will ensure that it realises economies of scales and thus increased chances of higher profit. To have a competitive advantage over other restaurants and outlets that offer food services the Cheesecake Factory has an opportunity to set-up many outlets in these areas since the population is huge and a single or few restaurants will  not allow full exploitation of the market.

Another market that the Cheesecake factory will target is the Culinary Tourism market. The US market and other market abroad also consist of culinary travellers who visit communities to have an experience on their retail or restaurant establishments for food tours or such events that are related to foodstuffs. Studies by Travel Industry Association have shown that around 17 percent of leisure travellers in the US market engage in activities that are related to culinary or wine. These are mostly the younger, affluent and more educated travellers and their motivation for travelling is unique experiences (Bill and Laura 2011). Theses reinforces the opportunities that Cheesecake factory have for expanding their restaurant to serve the needs of this important market segment. This segment consist of the consumers who usually seek out food and wine experiences in while they are travelling. They are likely to visit destinations that offer local cuisine and thus Cheesecake Factory has to come up with such cuisines in the local restaurants branches to capture this market (Bill and Laura 2011).

In a challenging economic environment, the Cheesecake factory has to come up with innovative and advertising and marketing strategies to reach out to consumers. This is because the market is currently consisting of consumers who are active in media outlets especially the social media. Social media plays an important role in generating spending by the consumer, due to the influences that is associated with it. The National Restaurant Association reports that those consumers who are active social media users visits restaurant more than the average customers. Also, 80 percent of restaurant businesses owners’ points out that social media is and will be necessary for the consistent growth of their businesses in future (National Restaurant Association, 2015). This present a market that is continually leaning towards the use of social media for communication and for Cheesecakes factory to reach out to them, it will have to have its presence in the same platform.

Over the recent years market reports indicate that sales in restaurant industry are expected to grow. However, the 2015 performance report indicates that performance in the restaurant industry continued to fall to the end of that period.  With the realised growth since 2011 after the global economic recession, the performance has continued to fall, thus making it necessary for Cheesecake Factory to come up with ways of ensuring that this negative growth is not realised. With the health of the industry analysis done with a level of 100, the 2015 performance fell by 1.6 percent as per the month of December which indicates an undesirable trend in growth of this industry. The restaurants operators also reported a decrease in sales of same-store. This represents a bleak future for restaurant industry if the trend is continue in this way (National Restaurant Association, 2015).

Report for restaurant operators: Higher sales and Lower sales reports in the same month

Between the month of December 2014 and December 2015, 42 percent of restaurant operators experienced a small gains in the sales while 43 percent experienced a decline in sales. In the month of November, 44 percent of the operators reported a slight increase in the sales, while 33 percent reported decrease in sales. Prior to the Month of November, majority of the restaurants had reported higher sales and then the sales started declining. Most of the restaurant operators said they had a net decrease in customer traffic in the month of December. Only 33 percent of the operators reported a rise in traffic of customers between the months of December 2014 to December 2015 (National Restaurant Association, 2015). The month of December had the lowest performance in terms of customer traffic since January. The decline in the performance of the market industry indicates that the market had not been growing as expected previously. The number of the restaurants that were reporting lower sales was generally increasing for the month of April up to the month of December a trend that is not very promising (National Restaurant Association, 2015). This means that for Cheesecake company to start off well and expand continually the marketing strategy must be very suitable for attracting customers in such a tough economic environment.

A review of cheesecakes market

Cheesecakes are the main product that are offered by this restaurant and serve as a selling point for other food services. The International Dairy Foods Association regards cheese products as being highly nutritious and a food that has almost all the important vitamins, minerals, proteins and many other nutrients that can be obtained from milk (Lactimed, 2015). Also there are a variety of cheese products that can be used in making cheesecakes. This can explain why the market for cheesecakes is very wide and has differing preferences for cheesecakes by different consumers both locally and internationally. The various categories of cheesecakes available in the market is based on the kind of the milk from which it was made. The most obvious types of milk are the cow, goat, sheep, moose, camel and reindeer milk (Lactimed, 2015). The consumption of dairy products based foodstuffs is seeing surging in the general food market. Studies done by various local and global organisation have shown that growth of dairy products consumption will continue to grow locally and globally which provide a huge market potential for the cheese factory to make hit the ground learning and the expand the market globally. Regions in the America and Europe might have markets which are in the mature stage but the markets in the Asian-Pacific areas present the highest current growth but high potential in future (Lactimed, 2015). This would explain why the cheesecakes market is very high is in such regions and it provides a good opportunity for start-up companies to start –up companies or for small companies which are trying to have a significant market share.

To have a good understanding on the potential market it is important to understand the rate consumption of dairy products like cheesecakes both locally and globally. This is in consideration that consumption growth projection for dairy products shows a significant possible increase in the developing and the least developed countries thus presenting a very good opportunity for marketing of cheesecakes. This opportunity makes it possible for Cheesecake Company to set-up branches in such unexploited areas which would guarantee long term growth and profitability.  According to the estimates by OECD and FAO, the consumption of dairy products in the developed countries appears to indicate a considerable rebound even though these markets are quite saturated. This recovery can be attributed to the new packaging technology that makes it possible to have a high observation of hygiene in storage of the products for longer period and the available option for consumers to replace meat products with dairy products in their meals’ ingredients (Lactimed, 2015). This appears to be one of the major drivers of the growth in worldwide consumption potential.   

In the US market the sales of cheese based products is a major component of the dairy products market. The overall cheese products consumption also takes a big portion of the other animal based products in the food market a fact that can be confirmed by the increase in the allocation of more milk in the making of various varieties of cheese products. For instance, of the pounds of milk amounting to about 188.9, 127 billion pounds were used in dairy products’ manufacturing. The production of cheese used around 65 percent of the entire amount used for dairy products which represent 82 billion pounds of the milk (Lactimed, 2015). This means that the consumer need for cheese based products is big and thus a big potential for the Cheese factory to penetrate into the market with an assurance of attaining a considerable market share.  The consumption of the cheesecakes or the sales will be determine by various factors: whether the factory can make various varieties of cheesecakes; the expansion of cheesecakes sales by the pizza and fast-food restaurants; more use of cheesecakes as a diet ingredient at home or in institutions, both large and small; inclusion of cheesecakes in the consumption of ethnic food such as Mexican and Italian dishes. The market for the cheesecakes is always influenced by the emphasis on the consumption of dairy based products due to their nutritional benefits. Calcium content in the milk is retained in cheese, and makes up one of the three healthy and nutritious dairy nutritious products that are highly recommended (PM food & dairy consulting, 2012).

The cheese market in the US is quite dynamic mainly due to changing preferences in the consumer tastes, a fact that the cheese factory should really look into. Over the last decades the makers of cheese products especially the artisan cheese base products have realised this market dynamism and have resulted to particular strategies that aim at fulfilling these needs. Currently, these producers market their products by identifying them with names that represent their area of origin, ethnicity or tradition. Being the largest producer of cheese products globally, the US producers have come-up with such and many other ways that help them penetrate the market and remain afloat (PM food & dairy consulting, 2012). This is has become necessary due to the stiff competition between the various dairy products and the substitute products that always provide options for the customer. This in addition to a very high quality standards in the market calls for much keenness by the cheesecake factory , in order to penetrate the market, attain a significant market share, beat stiff competition from substitutes products and the other cheesecakes producing factories. The factory will be required to have above standard products by ensuring that it create products with good brand image, which can be achieved if its cheesecakes can build a consistent reputation of quality through efficiency in the production process, and a food safety measure or record that is unparalleled. Such an innovative way of marketing will ensure that the restaurant attracts the consumers who are more conscious of quality in a market that is full of varieties of similar products or substitutes.

Part 15

Financial analysis

The market for Cheesecake Factory restaurant products is quite big. The success of these products in this tough market will depend on the amount of effort and time that the marketing team spends on looking for clients especially for cheesecakes which is the major selling point of this restaurant. Since there no members of the marketing team who can work fulltime, lack of commitment and effort by the members will stifle any expected early growth. Where there are good indicators of penetrating the market in at the earliest time possible, the marketing team will be highly motivated by the prospect of an early break- even. This financial projection analysis will depend on some logic assumptions. To begin with, the first year will be spent in the preparation and learning of the best way to approach the clients and in building of solid relationships with the potential customers which may include individuals or institution. The other assumption is that all the senior managers will be maintained in their positions in other branch restaurants. Also, the marketing team will put emphasis on the opportunities available for the main restaurant until sufficient revenue is accumulated for opening other branches whether locally or in foreign markets. In addition, all the revenue will be realized after the restaurant has fully maximized on any available opportunity. If this model brings in good results in terms of revenue collection, it will be implicated in other branches of the restaurant.

The break-even point is expected to be reached at $10,316, assuming that the percentage in average variable cost is maintained at 13%, and the monthly estimated fixed cost is $8,975.

The financial contingency and risk

The financial risks to the Cheese factory faces in its present plan are few. The most expenses relates to the basics as a website, business cards and communication mechanisms that are very basic. There are few expenses that do not link directly with generation of revenue and thus they are profitable intrinsically. In case the Cheesecake factory restaurant is financed by a venture capital organisation by taking care of some expenses like salaries, the organization risk  incurring loss if the restaurant is unable to raise enough revenue to cater for the debt.

Part 16

Scenarios

Since the restaurant want to attract more customers into the establishment, the market team will employ a strategy where the consumers will be directly involved. The first instance will involve picking the most tantalizing products more so the cheesecakes. In order to estimate the number of the customers who are likely to remain attached to the restaurants especially in the downtown market, any passer –by to use the product without paying for it. The potential client will then be requested to rate the foodstuff, and this will show those consumers who will develop an interest in the product. Those who show interest will provide a qualified lead which can be followed by the marketing team, and such consumers are likely to become solid customers of the restaurant. The future behaviour of such customers will be used to estimate the viability of the marketing strategy and the future response can present the number of consumers that will express interest in the restaurant’s food services.

Part 17

Controls

The Cheesecake Factory will seek to work with various marketing firms in the local market in order to advertise and market their presence in the local market and also in case of expansion in the foreign market. In the Asian market, the restaurant will employ the help of established companies to market its cheesecakes and other products such as Alshaya Group, which is based in United Arab Emirates and have its firm presence in the area. In put control measures are those actions that are aimed at implementation of the marketing strategy. They are the steps that are needed for ensuring that the marketing strategies adopted yield results.  Such actions include recruitment of employees, selection and training them. These actions also include allocation of human resource, financial resources, capital outlays and the expenditures on research and development. To ensure the marketing plan strategies work out as plan, Cheesecake factory will embark on recruiting, selecting and an extensive training of the marketing team members. This step will serve as an important step that will ensure that the set marketing targets are achieved and that there will be no deviation from the set goal.

The restaurant will also include process controls actions that will be aimed at ensuring employees remain on course in the marketing efforts. These controls will involve the reviewing of compensation systems, evaluation of employee performance, empowerment, and programs for internal communication, establishment of authority lines in the marketing teams and encouraging employee commitment to the set target. In the process controls the evaluation of the employees will be done on measures that are stated specifically in the marketing strategy, like customer service or commissions on the number of customers that one can manage to gain. For instance, if the strategy identifies a certain goal upon which to improve, or the achievement of a specific goal relating to customer service or sales volume, the marketing team members will be evaluated and compensated according to how much their performances align to the expected result. These are important controls for ensuring that the employees remain focused to customer attraction and retention.

Appendix:

Financial Estimates

The projected income statement for the Year 2015

                                                                       Amount            Amount           Amount

Sales                                                             18,500.00           250,500           450,500

Direct Cost of Sales                                     2,405.00              47,595             77,306

Other Production Expenses                            -                     -                            -

Total Cost of Sales                                     2,405.00               47,595             77,306

Gross Margin                                                16,095.00          202,905             373,194

Gross Margin                                                    87.00%          81.00%            82.84%

Expenses                                

Salaries                                                             90,200.00        120,200          260,200

Sales, Marketing and Other Expenses            2,199.00           26,100              46,800

Utilities                                                              900.00             2,100                 2,100

Insurance                                                           100.00               2,500                2,400

Rent    -                                                                                    11,000              12,000

Payroll Taxes                                                 13,400.00           18,000              38,500

Total Operating Expenses                           106,699.00           179,900          362,000

Profit before Interest and Taxes          -           90,604.00            23,005                11,194

EBITDA                                                         90,604.87           23,005                11,194

Interest Expense                                                                               0                         0

Taxes Incurred                                                                              6,810                 3,174

Net Profit                                                         90,604.00           16,195                8,020

The projected Cash flow statement for the Year 2016

                                                                                     Amount      Amount             Amount

Cash Sales                                                                       4,600           63,500               113,500

Cash from Receivables                                                   11,300         158,980           312,900

Total Cash from Operations                                            16,700        221,500             425,450

Sales Tax, VAT Received                                                 0                   0                         0

 Current Borrowing (new)                                                 0                   0                         0

 Other Liabilities (interest-free)                                         0                   0                         0

Long-term Liabilities (new)                                              0                   0                         0

Sales of Current Assets (others)                                        0                  0                          0

Sales of Long-term Assets                                                 0                  0                          0

 Investment Received (new)                                             0                 9,500                9,800

Subtotal Cash Received                                                16,700         231,000            435,250

Expenditures   Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Expenditures from Operations                                   

Cash Spending                                                             90,000           120,100         260,100

Bill Payments                                                             18,860      106,450             176,970

Total Spent on Operations                                         108,860      226,450             436,970

Additional Cash Spent                                   

Sales Tax and VAT, HST/GST Paid Out                      0                  0                      0

Repayment for Current Borrowing                                 0                  0                      0

Other Liabilities Repayment                                          0                  0                      0

Long-term Liabilities Repayment                                  0                   0                    0

Purchase Other Current Assets                                       0                   0                     0

Purchase Long-term Assets                                            0                   0                     0

Dividends                                                                       0                    0                    0

Total Cash Spent                                                       108,860      226,450             436,970

Net Cash Flow                                                           -93,060         -3,930                  2,550

Cash Balance                                                              15,800           10,582               8,300

References

National Restaurant Association, (2015). Restaurant Performance Index. Retrieved from: https://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/News-Research/index/RPI-Dec2015.pdf

MAZZONE& ASSOCIATES INC, (2015).2014 Restaurant Industry Report. Retrieved from: http://www.globalmna.com/assets/2014restaurantindustryreport.pdf

Volha B. (2012).Analysis of the Upscale/Fine Dining Sector in the Restaurant Industry: Johnson & Wales University. Retrieved from: http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=mba_student

Bill R., Laura B. (2011). Evaluating Restaurant and Culinary Opportunities. Retrieved from: https://fyi.uwex.edu/downtown-market-analysis/

PM FOOD & DAIRY CONSULTING, (2012) .The Global Cheese Market Report 2000-2015. 2-12

Lactimed, (2015).The dairy products market Documentary study. 19-43. Retrieved from: http://www.animaweb.org/sites/default/files/document_etude_debouches_lactimed_en_web_final.pdf

CASE ANALYSIS - DYSON

1. What is Dyson’s product strategy?

Dyson’s product strategy started way back in mid 1990s when he offered the bagless technology as a way of adding value to his customers and later designed these bags with art decorations and he took it into the market mix. He continued to be more innovative as he now based his marketing strategy on producing highly quality products that are more convenient at a finest price. He used the media to advertise his product but he basically focused on the use of word of mouth and positive media reporting which ensured that he did not spend too much on advertising (Carruthers 2007).

Dyson in his struggle to shift from the long-established vacuum cleaner into the latest robot vacuum cleaner, he decided to place electronics at the centre core of its product developmental strategy.  This has seen the company expanding to an extent of increasing more use on the hardware and the software. As the consumer product is increasing its popularity it has attracted the establishment of exploration and developmental centers that are involved in supporting the developing electronic design practice (Zizzo 2015). He has therefore applied much of research and development (R&D) in his market strategy. Throughout his business career he has remained consistent identifying the competitors’ changes and renewing his products but he has remained consistent all through his market strategy which has enabled him to be superior in his financial performance.

2. Do Dyson’s new products enhance that strategy? How?

Dyson’s new product has enhanced the use of the product strategy in so many ways. The company has used so much of R&D strategies as the company regards the incorporation of the hardware and the software as so essential in the development of product hence the company advocates for more mastering on the use of technology (O'Brien 2015). In their research and development program they have come up with a strategy that they are planning to implement in homes through the use of intelligence and robotic technology so as to innovate a new standard of intelligent product. The company has ensured that the new product that is the vacuum cleaner is of higher quality than any other product in the market and that it is convenient while the price is at its finest as compared to its competitors.

3. How does Dyson differentiate its products? Is it effective?  Why?

The company uses technical and well-designed characteristic of the product to position them as finest appliances that are able to compete with other competitors products. Their products are differently designed using aesthetic designs that outstands that of others. The products especially the newly innovated are created in such a way that they possess unique characteristics than other goods and they also have additional advantages to the consumers. After a while the company usually modifies their existing products into better goods while others are newly created (Zizzo 2015). The company’s products are designed to suite the consumers needs and wants as the company engages in an in-depth research on customers specification before production thus they are able to cater for the market effectively. This method of product differentiation is relevant and effective as it sets apart the company from others hence attracting so many customers who are interested in unique properties and highly quality goods. This ultimately results in positive and high rating that attracts other potential customers in the business and in the end the company ends up having so many demands to supply to hence more sales.

4. Discuss the impacts of the product lifecycle on Dyson products?

Dyson’s products are involved in several stages in which their new products evolve with time and this process is referred to as the product life cycle. Most of the products in Dyson must follow this cycle. Immediately after Dyson develops a product, they introduce it in the market. This is where the product is made known to the public and the launching process may occur on media or on showcasing event. At the introduction phase there is minimal pressure on profit, however, the company offers promotions to the public with an intention of creating awareness. This process influences the market mix and plan by only distributing goods to the selected customers until the product is accepted that’s when the distribution becomes extensive. Marketing communication is at per so as to create product awareness. There is the establishment of brand and its quality in this stage. The product starts to gain popularity as people starts consuming the product and with time the product grows. When the product has been fully accepted that’s when its sales start increasing with so much pressure from the company for profit. This stage allows the improvement of the products quality and features so as to increase the growth rapidly. At this phase, the competitors may decide to join in the market thus lowering the demand thus the profit. This may lead to the company reducing some of its prices so as to attract their customers. Maturity phase in the company marks the stage when the company makes a turning point in the success of the product in the company.

This phase encourages the aspect of product differentiation where the distribution now turns to be intensive.  There is low profits gained and this leads to the decline stage where profitability is at its lowest. This stage results to the discontinuing of sale in the Dyson Company.  This marks the last product life cycle in the company. However it is at this point that the company decides to produce a totally new product and the phase begins a fresh.

5. Role does pricing play in the product strategy?

Product pricing is core to the success of any business.  Therefore for the Dyson’s company they produce their goods at high prices since their products are of high value. This therefore associates the company with an image that portrays that the company produces goods of relatively high quality. Use of prestige pricing allows a company to become more of a tolerant perspective to associate with consumers perceptions. The pricing strategy in Dyson Company uses the best significance of the organization’s projected sales targets and marketing goals. However, price may appear as the core restriction to buyers.

6. Discuss the implications of new competitor like Shark on Dyson’s product strategy.

The emergence of Shark as the new competitors in the market, the production of similar product scenario occurs hence resulting to more of competition. Dyson therefore had to lower their pricing so as to be able to be able to compete with Shark. They had also to change some of their market strategies such as the product differentiation strategy so as to be competent.

References

Carruthers, I. (2007). Chapter 8: Marketing: The Dyson Way. In , GBS: Dyson (pp. 141-   166). Marshall Cavendish Limited.

O'Brien, A. (2015). Creative force. Money (Australia Edition), (179), 20-22.

Zizzo, C. (2015). Dyson on fast electronics trajectory. Electronics Weekly, (2613), 10-11.

            Management Seminar

            One thing that I learn from the management seminar that will be useful is that improving the communication skills helps in attaining a competitive advantage in business. Additionally, I learned that the management course helps in developing leadership skills both in individual and team operation. This is essential in enhancing one's potential. This is because management training incorporates the training of becoming an effective leader (Vázquez, 2010). Through the learning, an individual is able to fulfill their potential via the gained skills. The skills that are generated from the management course, therefore, include decision making, strategic planning, team building and much more (Vázquez, 2010).  Moreover, I learned that in order to be successful in the outside world an individual must be able to utilize the gained knowledge as well as experience.

            One thing that I liked is the fact that the seminar provided strategies that are helpful in ensuring that everyone was well incorporated despite the different capabilities. Additionally, I also liked how the seminar generated useful information on individual participation in team work and the associated benefits. Something that I did not like is that the seminar did not use examples and visions in order to create a lasting thought and reflection. In order to improve this class learning, it is useful to integrate technology, cooperative learning, and comprehensive assessments. This helps in increasing the level of participation in the classroom thus boosting the overall performance (Vázquez, 2010).

            One interesting idea that I have in learning activities in the management class is the use of interactive learning. This is by allowing the students to share their responses among themselves and noting them to the tutor. This helps in improving the understanding of the students as well as developing openings for the tutor to improve his message delivery strategy. Also, the provision of learning materials in different textures is effective in increasing understanding and motivation.

            Reference

Vázquez, L. R. (2010). Management skills and leadership techniques: Their application in            managing works teams. Vigo: Ideaspropias.