The case study indicates that Charles Chocolates is “a leading marketer of hand-wrapped chocolates, truffles, almond bark, brittles, caramels, nut-corn, and chocolate-covered ginger” (Zietsma, 2014, p. 2). The company was founded in 1885 thus becoming the oldest chocolate manufacturer in New England. Steve Parkland is considering various strategies in order to triple the company’s size within the next 10 years. However, the company should overcome various internal and external issues in order to emerge successful.
How Charles Chocolates can Deal with Internal Pressures
The internal environment determines the efforts and strategies embraced by a company in order to achieve its potential. Charles Chocolates should address various internal pressures before embarking on a journey to grow the firm. To begin with, the company is associated with poor stocking and planning practices (Zietsma, 2014).
Data distortions have been affecting the company’s productivity. A powerful inventory system will ensure every store has enough stock. Most of the sales agents are unaware of the benefits of different links. The firm should empower these agents in order to address the needs of more customers.
The company’s workers are against new ideas and innovations. Steve Parkland should present new ideas and technologies in order to improve the level of production. The company operates 11 retail stores across the country. New stores should be opened in order to increase the level of sales.
The firm should hire competent marketers and collaborate with different shopping malls (Zietsma, 2014). The number of online consumers has also been increasing steadily. Charles Chocolates should therefore have a powerful online presence in order to attract more consumers.
Internal wrangles have also been affecting the company’s success. For instance, Mary Bird has been disagreeing with Ray Wong thus affecting the company’s productivity (Zietsma, 2014). Decision-making processes are also troubled thus affecting the firm’s marketing processes.
New incentives are needed such as teamwork. The new president should encourage these individuals to work as a team. They should also focus on the best leadership approaches in order to make the company successful. New production capabilities should also be considered in order to produce superior products (Zietsma, 2014). A new growth strategy will eventually support Charles Chocolates’ goals.
Dealing with External Pressures
The company should also address some of the external issues affecting its future performance. For instance, the aging baby boomers are focusing on ethics and quality. The firm can therefore deal with this pressure by embracing ethical production processes. More people “prefer organic and dark chocolates because they have heart-healthy anti-oxidant properties” (Zietsma, 2014, p. 1). The company should produce such chocolates in order to achieve its goals.
Many consumers also want their companies to become socially responsible. The “idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is critical because many chocolate producers were engaging in forced and child labor” (Zietsma, 2014, p. 2). The issue of climate change is forcing many companies to embrace the best operational and packaging practices. The firm should therefore devise a powerful CSR strategy in order to address these needs.
Charles Chocolates is facing competition from companies such as Nestle and Lindt. Such companies have been producing and marketing quality products. Such products are marketed at cheaper prices. Other competitors include Delice Chocolates and Cardon’s (Zietsma, 2014).
Candy companies were also attracting more customers. The companies are also using powerful marketing strategies in order to emerge successful. Charles Chocolates should therefore use powerful practices in order to deal with competition. The firm should also produce new products that can satisfy the needs of its customers.
Reference
Zietsma, C. (2014). Charles Chocolates. Ivey Publishing, 1(1), 1-15.