The Company’s Balanced Scorecard
A balanced scorecard is a performance measurement tool commonly used by international businesses, which allows companies to track their progress against objectives in four distinct categories: customer, financial, process, and learning and growth. These four areas provide an accurate picture of how the business is doing overall (Pham et al., 2020). The benefits of a balanced scorecard to international businesses include increased visibility into current performance levels across all areas of the organization (Vladimir et al., 2020). For example, a company with operations across several countries could use a balanced scorecard to track progress against service levels for each location so that any gaps can be identified and addressed quickly.
The Company’s Four Perspectives in IP3
Customers
- Ensuring that all the employees in the customer department are trained in customer services activities.
- Setting fair prices for the services delivered to the clients at the distribution center.
- Providing customers with a comment box; this will aid in ensuring better customer service by working on negative customer comments.
Finance
- Having the stock of the most needed commodities to avoid cases of stock out which may lead to lost sales.
- Increasing the revenues and sales for the offered products by investing in marketing and promotion during the introduction stage in the market.
- Investing in large-scale operations to save on finances; for example, adopting transport consolidation to reduce the number of trips made by delivery vans.
Business Processes
- Approaching the relevant department leaders for operation direction in case of any concern and proper coordination in departments.
- Ensuring on-time and accurate services or product delivery, not to inconvenience clients.
- Making sure that all the activities within the distribution center are conducted within the institution’s policies and procedures, such as core values, mission, and vision.
Learning and Growth
- Promoting job rotation to increase the learning scope of the employees.
- Introducing employee appraisal systems to help in knowing the employees’ weaknesses.
- Subjecting all the newly hired employees to training and mentorship regarding the distribution center’s operations and rules.
Consideration to Remain Competitive
To conduct business in China and remain competitive, I will need to consider the language barrier, cost, and geographical and demographical factors. The language barrier will be due to the fact that I do not understand Chinese. Therefore, I will hire a translator, learn the local language, or hire China citizens who understand the language. Similarly, I will consider lowering storage/shipping costs, especially bulk storage/transportation, so that the clients may return later or refer their friends. Regarding geography, I will ensure that the distribution center is placed near the road or an exposed place for easier accessibility or visibility. Demographically I will also prefer a busy locality where a lot of storage and shipping activities will be taking place.
Competition Analysis
Concerning my research and analysis of China laws, property management policies, premise location, business licensing, and solutions to the language barrier, I find it possible to compete. Learning about China’s licensing and laws will help me become competitive by informing me about the specific restrictions and regulations placed on businesses operating in the country. Additionally, gaining an understanding of local tax laws will aid in minimizing tax liability, and knowledge of labor laws will aid me in ensuring that employees are treated fairly. Finally, familiarizing myself with the language and culture will assist in avoiding vulgar vocabulary that may scare clients away.
Global Marketplace Plan
In evaluating the global marketplace plan in the future, I will focus on the clients’ feedback to see whether our services are satisfactory to the client. If complaints will be more than compliments, then I will need to adjust in those areas. Similarly, I will have a sales book, recording the returning clients and the most needed products or services so that I major in delivering those respective services or products. Moreover, I will closely monitor my competitors’ profit margins and sales to know the extra customer services needed to remain on top of the competition by either adopting cost leadership or differentiation strategies.
References
Pham, C. D., VU, S. T., Pham, Y. T. K., & Vu, N. T. (2020). Evaluating performance of Vietnamese public hospitals based on balanced scorecard. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(6), 339-349. Web.
Vladimir, V. F., Mercedes, N. C., Francisca, C. M., & José, M. V. (2020). Balanced scorecard: Key tool for strategic learning and strengthening in Business Organizations. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 9(3), 1. Web.