The presented strategy comprehensively and in detail describes the work of Prime Chocolate. Strategic and technical processes are perfectly aligned, and the company’s work processes focus on financial and personnel management. However, the presented strategy overlooks some details that may transform the business under the requirements of new realities, including the challenges associated with the pandemic. This paper aims to analyze the internal factors that could contribute to the future success of Prime Chocolate.
The company may reconsider its CSR responsibilities, as phasing out palm oil and partnering with charities are not adequate steps to create a competitive marketing position. At the same time, Prime Chocolate can revisit its motivation strategies (Aldossari et al., 2020). Participation in local and national economic processes is a side effect of the company’s activities and cannot be considered a strategic aspect or advantage. Such participation is an indirect consequence of the core business, not the targeted CSR practices. If a company has goals of improving its image in the local labor market, it needs to develop a corresponding strategy and tactics.
In advancing and conquering the market, a company can focus on its strengths, including a complex pattern of personnel management and the use of hired labor. At the same time, a more ethical corporate culture will improve workflows in personnel management. Aligning the relationship between managers and employees can positively contribute to employee motivation (Dhamija et al., 2021). Given the discrepancy between the roles of employees and managers, there is a need to create new job positions for middle managers. At the same time, the entire personnel management system must undergo a radical transformation to ensure greater transparency and straightforwardness of processes, including transparency in payments and evaluation of employees’ work.
Equally important, despite market fluctuations in demand, it is necessary to ensure more stable production processes. Because, at this stage, fluctuations in profits value can have an indirect impact on employee retention, which leads to increased costs for training new employees. Changes in finance may be related to changes in personnel processes management described above. In particular, the system of payments and rewards could be revised, providing better opportunities and autonomy for the craft production of chocolate for sale in small local markets (Dhamija et al., 2021). The work of employees, subject to dynamic leadership from middle managers, can give good results.
The manager-to-employee ratio may be established 1 to 10 rather than 1 to 80, as the current practice creates overload for HR managers and at the same time significantly reduces employee motivation, career opportunities, and potential personal contribution to the production process. In other words, the company is sticking with an older HR model to keep up with market demands. However, revisiting this model and looking for new strategic opportunities to implement it from a socio-economic and marketing perspective can be beneficial.
These are general comments on the case scenario presented above. In general, organizational change in leadership is required, including new management practices to improve employee retention. Reconsidering social and economic roles on the local and national levels is necessary. These changes will lead to an improved strategical marketing position of Prime Chocolate. The participation of the company in the socio-economic processes and the declared attention to this area is a positive attribute since such attention is a solid prerequisite for improving the strategic marketing position and expanding market share.
References
Aldossari, K. M., Lines, B. C., Smithwick, J. B., Hurtado, K. C., & Sullivan, K. T. (2020). Best practices of organizational change for adopting alternative project delivery methods in the AEC industry. Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management.
Dhamija, P., Chiarini, A., & Shapla, S. (2021). Technology and leadership styles: a review of trends between 2003 and 2021. The TQM Journal.