Introduction
The main purpose of this recommendation report is to analyze the key issues, which Clemency Priors business currently faces and propose the strategies for coping with these problems. To fulfill this task, it is necessary to examine the external and internal environment of this company and identify those factors, which prevent the enterprise from becoming more productive. This will enable to map of the action plan. These measures may involve changes within the structure of this firm, new policies in human resource management, a different marketing approach, and so forth.
Statement of the problem
The difficulties encountered by Clemency Prior can be explained by several causes: 1) poor relationships with the customers, who are dissatisfied with the services that this business provides. It should be borne in mind that they do not complain of the low quality of the products; they are more concerned with untimely or even wrong delivery, packaging, labeling, etc. In part, this evidence indicates that the work of personnel is not effectively coordinated. 2) Another reason why Clemency Prior and her assistants cannot stand the competition is inappropriate marketing strategies. Their ice cream is positioned as a luxury brand and they are oriented towards a certain type of consumer. The firm has to cut down prices otherwise their ice cream will be in demand. Thus, sales rates are increased only by cheapness, and such a method is normally unprofitable (Wansink, 2005). 3) The third aspect of this issue is ineffective interactions with retailers: especially failure to meet their quality expectations and deadlines. All these problems can be resolved only by a set of actions.
Marketing strategy
At first, the management should focus on the range of their products. Presently, they are targeting only socio-economic groups AB and offer only three flavors. Probably, they should enlarge the variety of their output, because it is popular only among the limited number of buyers. Clemency Prior has to incur extra expenses by selling luxury brands at a very low price. Certainly, we do not insist that they should completely abandon their initial positioning in the market, but probably they should produce the ice cream that would better suit purchasing power of potential clients (Kerin et al, 2003, 136). Now they are using their own Seth milk which is very distinctive and rather expensive. They should find a less expensive milk supplier because this will help to reduce operating costs. Most importantly, this boosts the firms growth. The experience of many leading enterprises shows that diversity is one of the indispensable conditions for development (Elearn Limited, 2005, p 110). Clemency Priors business should act as the producer of both luxury and mass brands, subsequently, this will attract the attention of a larger population. Apart from that, this business may find new distribution channels because more shops will be interested in retailing their ice cream. By adopting more flexible pricing policies this firm will be able to strengthen its position in the market.
IV Operations actions
This is only one part of operations management. A well-developed supply chain and a wide range of products are not sufficient for success (Shim et al, 1999, p 423). The management must also establish set quality standards. For a very long time, customers acted as “the best quality control”. Naturally, their demands and claims were usually met. Delays, problems with packaging were compensated. However, now some of them are not willing to collaborate with Clemencys business. And this is quite understandable because any consumer who buys any good or commodity expects quality. Even if this client gets indemnity he will think twice before going to this firm (Lewis et al, p 81). So the establishment of quality control and customer service is one of the crucial steps that Clemency and her partners should take. Additionally, they need to work out a schedule to meet deadlines set by the retailers, who dislike any loss of time.
Human Resource management
Effective human resource management is an inseparable element of any companys success. Some members of the staff have recently given an ultimatum to the management: they believe that they should be sharing more in the rewards; in other words, they ask for pay raise or they may seek another employee. The major problem is that now Clemency is not quite ready to respond to their request. There are several ways to resolve this dilemma: 1) at first, it is necessary to tell the workers that at the moment, the firm cannot offer pay raises to all members of the staff. Even though the business is established now it passes a very difficult stage, thus one should not expect an increase in wages immediately. This explanation must not take the form of point-blank refusal as this will only make employees search for a different job. They need to understand that improvement will come as soon as the company becomes more productive. Nevertheless, without proper motivation, none of the workers will be content with his or her position. Perhaps, Clemency may offer competitive salaries to stimulate her workers. The rewards or bonuses may be given judging from each persons performance during a month (Torrington et al, 2004, p 224). Such a strategy may retain members of the staff and make them more engaged.
Clemencys firm is mostly a family business. On the one hand, this is very helpful because there are practically no conflicts among colleagues. But, occasionally this leads to a lack of responsibility. Everyone knows that mistakes are always forgiven within a family. As a result, some workers may be even careless knowing that their careless attitude will not be fined or prohibited. It is a very hard decision but Clemency should hire only those people who are well-qualified for the job rather than relatives or acquaintances.
Structure and culture of the organization
Unfortunately, we do not have accurate information about the structure of this firm. What we know for sure that that this number does not exceed seventy employees. This business can be organized in the following way: 1) the department dealing with suppliers; 2) the production unit; 3) the delivery service; 4) the quality assurance department. We have tried to present only the most general overview because we lack sufficient data. Larger companies usually have a coordination department but Clemencys enterprise does not need it because it is rather small. We also need to discuss the culture of this organization. 1) Many researchers believe that the company can be successful only if each employee takes pride in his work and the companys products (Bratton, 2001). 2) This is only the first element of organizational culture. Secondly, each member of the personnel has to feel that he or she plays an important role in this company. Workers should know that they have opportunities for professional growth; otherwise, they will lack motivation even if they are well-paid. 3) The third component is relations with the customers. Every person, who takes part in this business, has to realize that the outcome of their project strongly depends upon the customers opinion, and their dissatisfaction can lead to the loss of profits and even the decline of this enterprise.
Financial Actions
First, it should be mentioned that the firm sets a target of £18 m turnover by 2014. This means that Clemencys business needs to improve cash flow. It can be done in the following way; the management must first decrease its creditor days. This means that Clemency should return money to the creditors in a shorter period.
As result investors will think that this business is trustworthy and reliable. In this way, the management will win the trust of creditors and attract more capital to their company. Clemency Prior may as well shorten creditor days. Now the partners borrowing money from the firm usually return them after more than three months and they may do it a little bit quicker. Maybe, this approach is not very soft, especially to the partners but the management has to gather financial assets or there will be no prospects for development.
Conclusion
In this report, we have tried to show how Clemency Priors company can become more efficient. The first step is to widen the range of the production and offer several options to the buyers. The second policy is to establish a quality assurance department to ensure customer satisfaction. This firm must no longer be only a family business because familiarity only leads to irresponsibility and a careless attitude towards one’s duties. Clemency must also apply firmer rules for its debtors because now the average return time is too long, In the long run, this can make this business more effective.
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