Introduction
Any organization might face multiple challenges during its evolution. The complexity of contemporary society contributes to the gradual increase in the number of problems that can stop the development of firms. Additionally, rivalry and diversified clients’ requirements precondition a need for more effective functioning and creative solutions that will serve as the basis for successful work. For this reason, problem-solving acquires the top priority as the central activity that helps institutions or various organizations to move forward and face complex issues. The presented paper is devoted to the in-depth investigation of an organization and a problem it experiences and the three creative solutions that can be used to achieve positive results.
The selected organization (hereinafter referred to as GoodServices(GS)) is a company working with various categories of people providing them with services on their demand. It includes the purchase and delivery of many products regarding individuals’ requests and looking for demanded specialists to perform some activities. The company accepts orders from broad populations and tries to raise their satisfaction levels to remain popular at attractive for clients. It also means that GS has to work with multiple suppliers and professionals to be ready to find goods or services that meet individuals’ demands for quality. The company managed to achieve significant progress and acquire loyal customers who cooperate with it on a regular basis. However, at the moment, it faces a serious problem that deteriorates GS’s functioning.
The problem is that a big mass of clients and their diverse needs contributed to the growth in the number of suppliers required to meet all requirements and continue the evolution. At the same time, it indicates the need for better organization and cooperation with all agents that offer their products. At the moment, the company fails to do it, and its effectiveness decreases. The central issue is the emergence of multiple papers such as reports, request forms, blanks, and letters to other departments that should be filled to ensure that all existing orders are considered. The increased complexity of the interaction between departments and suppliers becomes a severe challenge to the company as its employees are unable to process all documentation and make mistakes resulting in delays or inappropriate quality of delivered goods.
In such a way, the central purpose of the given document is the creation of three different solutions to the outlined problem to show that utilization of unusual approaches might help to solve all existing problematic issues and guarantee further stable development and evolution. The given purpose also presupposes that all relevant peculiarities of the company will be analyzed to acquire a complete understanding of the problem and find the most effective way to overcome present challenges.
Analysis
Prior to offering various solutions to the described problem, it is essential to analyze it and determine the significance and the possible impact on the company and its evolution. The relevance of the selected problem cannot be denied. Questions in the cooperation between departments and with suppliers might become critical for GS as it is the core element of its functioning. The further increase in the number of clients will also mean the growing number of documents and blanks that should be filled to ensure that all requirements are met and clients are satisfied with the provided services (Kotler & Keller, 2015). Otherwise, the failure to organize this component in a proper way will create new problems because of the employees’ inability to demonstrate high-performance levels and help the organization to evolve.
Evaluation of the problem is also an important step that will help to reveal the most important factors and aspects having a negative impact on the organization. First, analyzing the outlined issue, one should note that the increased sophistication in relations with suppliers reduces the level of employees’ performance (Kotler & Armstrong, 2015). It means that they become unable to cope with the growing quantity of papers that should be filled, which result in mistakes and delays. Second, the outlined factor also affects cooperation between departments as teams responsible for relations with clients are not able to state their demands clearly. It lays the ground for problematic procurements, and vice versa, goods of inappropriate quality might be provided by other companies because of the misunderstanding between members of the collective (Kotler & Keller, 2015). The long-term consequences might include the decrease in clients’ loyalty and their decision to use services of other similar companies, which will be fatal for GS.
In this regard, it becomes critical to solving the existing problem by using creative solutions and decisions. The proposed method should include the potential for improvements and multiple benefits to provide the basis for the further development of the company and guarantee that it will be able to evolve and avoid similar problems in the future. Additionally, the offered approach should be not costly and contribute to the reduction of existing spending. For this reason, the following three ways are offered.
Creative Ideas for Problem Solving
Considering the fact that only unusual, innovative, and fresh ideas are required to solve the outlined issue, brainstorming is selected as a possible method to find the demanded intervention. The given perspective provides an opportunity to analyze a question from various angles, outline several possible ways to improve the situation, take into account their positive and negative aspects, and make a decision regarding the current needs of the firm (Kotler & Keller, 2015). In this regard, among the existing broad categories that include many various tools, the decision to transform the company and go paperless is accepted. There are three possible approaches in which the outlined task can be performed.
Prohibition of Printers and Fax Machines
The first creative idea includes the complete prohibition of printers and fax machines in the office of the company. At the moment, every member of a team uses a printer around 3-4 times per day. As for fax machines, regardless of the obsolete character of this technology and the dominance of the Internet, it is still used by employees in GS. There are several consequences that result from this situation. First, the amount of paper waste grows as the majority of documents will lose their importance in several days or weeks (Kotler, Kartajaya, & Setiawan, 2016). Second, it results in an increased inaccuracy because of mistakes in various blanks or the inability to find them. Finally, the question of storing becomes topical as the given way of documentation maintaining requires specific approaches to its management.
In this regard, the complete prohibition of printers and fax machines seems to be an appropriately creative solution. First, it does not demand any additional costs because no equipment is needed. Instead, employees will have to work using online versions of documents and sending them using e-mail. Additionally, it will help to reduce waste and spending due to the refusal to use paper that was traditionally demanded (Kotler et al., 2016). Moreover, new, innovative forms of cooperation with suppliers instead of outdated fax machines will be introduced, which will help to reduce the level of mistakes and guarantee the clients’ needs will be satisfied faster (Kotler & Keller, 2015). Finally, the offered measure will also stimulate the use of innovative technologies and new forms of cooperation between workers. It is an essential element of any modern company, which becomes an obvious benefit of the proposed approach.
It is expected that due to the introduction of this very measure, several positive effects can be achieved. First of all, costs will be reduced as no additional supplements for printers and fax machines will be needed. Regarding the current company’s problems, it should be taken as a serious advantage. Second, as far as a significant number of questions emerge because of the problematic cooperation between departments and with suppliers, the use of online versions of documents and communication forms might help to increase the effectiveness and ensure the preservation of the high level of clients’ loyalty, which is one of the prior tasks at the moment (Kotler et al., 2016). That is why the proposed creative solution can be considered an appropriate way to reconsider the work of the organization and solve the existing problem.
Creation of Corporative Network
Another creative idea presupposes the creation of the corporative network to provide employees with the platform to cooperate. As it has already been stated, one of the core problems of the company at the moment is its inability to align the meaningful interaction between all departments, including those working with clients and suppliers. As a result, in many cases, the existing requests are not satisfied, or satisfied partially, which deteriorates the image of the organization and contributes to the gradual decrease of clients’ loyalty (Kotler & Keller, 2015). That is why the creation and introduction of the given network will help to reconsider the negative tendency and offer new ways of collaboration at all levels, which is critical for the achievement of positive results.
The offered intervention can be implemented in several ways. First of all, additional costs might be demanded to hire developers and create the desired network. However, the existence of multiple benefits that can be generated due to the given solution still proves its necessity. The suggested approach will provide workers with an opportunity to avoid unnecessary and ineffective movements needed to discuss some vital aspects, share information, or show a document (Kotler et al., 2016). Instead, using the newly created network, individuals will save time and utilize more potent forms discussing all problematic issues online and finding the best fitting solution. It will also help to minimize the use of papers and give preference to online versions which can reduce the number of mistakes and the negative impact of the human factor.
Adherence to the given paradigm can generate the following benefits. First of all, statistical evidence that the use of corporative networks in companies that work with multiple suppliers and clients contributes to the increased level of effectiveness and reduced number of mistakes (Freberg, 2018). It is achieved due to the paperless and cost-saving forms of cooperation between workers. Additionally, the speed of requests’ processing rises significantly, which is also one of the core components of the functioning of any organization that aims for future development and growth. Another advantage of the proposed solution is that it offers new opportunities for the integration of new departments or parents if the company moves forward and evolves. For this reason, the proposed solution becomes a potentially powerful approach to achieve better performance.
Cloud Service
Finally, as it becomes clear from the nature of the problem, the company demands tools and methods that might provide it with an opportunity to work with suppliers and clients faster. For this reason, the existing innovative and creative approaches that might guarantee 24/7 access to demanded files and requests can be a potent approach regarding the current situation. The use of cloud storage becomes one of the most attractive options in terms of the given task. Its utilization will allow any team member an opportunity to access the desired piece of information anytime and remain effective during the whole day (Laudon & Laudon, 2017). At the same time, as against traditional ways of data storing, digital files do not demand any additional place as they are saved on servers and are provided by request.
The advantageous character of this very method becomes a central reason for its utilization to solve the existing problem and achieve some progress. Renting cloud storage, GS can help to minimize the number of mistakes made by workers as same page, and the same document will be available to all team members in real-time and in any location (Laudon & Laudon, 2017). That is why it can be discussed and analyzed by managers. This approach will help to reduce the number of misunderstandings between departments and achieve serious progress in working with both suppliers and clients. Moreover, cloud storage can also provide access to selected actors outside the company for them to look for the demanded information and use it for better collaboration
The use of this method will grant some benefits to the company. First of all, the high level of clients’ loyalty can be preserved because of the increased effectiveness in the cooperation between all agents involved in the process. At the same time, information about companies that cooperate with the organization can be available in cloud storage for customers to find the demanded facts. Furthermore, the utilization of this very method means a better connection between departments as their member will be able to analyze important documents together and find the most appropriate solutions (Laudon & Laudon, 2017). In such a way, regardless of additional costs required to rent the cloud storage, benefits will help to achieve new levels of performance and guarantee the further evolution of the company.
Conclusion
Altogether, any organization might face serious problems that should be solved to guarantee its further development. However, considering the complexity of modern society, there is a need for innovative and unusual solutions that might help to generate a competitive advantage and work with all parties better. Regarding the outlined situation, the intention to go paperless and use the three possible scenarios to achieve this aim can help GS to restore its positive image and work with clients more effectively. Prohibition of printers, fax machines, use of cloud storage, and creation of the corporative network should be considered beneficial methods that stipulate reconsideration of some outdated approaches and achieve the desired outcome.
References
Freberg, K. (2018). Social media for strategic communication: Creative strategies and research-based applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2015). Principles of marketing (16th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., & Setiawan, I. (2016). Marketing 4.0: Moving from traditional to digital. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2015). Marketing management (15th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2017). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (15th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.