Gap Inc. has recently experienced a loss in its market share because of its low performance in the market. This scenario is common when the product produced by a company reaches the declining stage in the product life cycle. Appropriate strategies are urgently needed to put the organization back to profitability.
It has been discovered that the organization has some unprofitable divisions such as GAP kids and GAP nursing which are responsible for the general decline in the market share. One way of bringing the organization back to profitability is by divesting these unprofitable divisions and coming up with other viable and promising product lines through the process of product development (Ammot, 54).
New product lines that offer something new in the market would be introduced to the market as appropriate strategies are put in place to ensure market penetration. The introductory stage of the product life-cycle requires a lot of input in terms of finances, time and strategies for penetration in the market.
Things can only be made easier during the product development stage where those responsible are supposed to come up with more promising and attractive product lines. This paper will highlight the future of GAP Inc. in terms of strategies that will ensure the company remains strong in the market share.
For effective growth and development, all the departments have to implement specific strategies to ensure growth and development. To begin with, the marketing department should invest heavily in research and development in order to understand the consumer behavior and needs.
The human resources department should recruit competent employees and put in place both training and employee motivation structures (Stark, 130). Motivation is key to creativity and self-development in the organization.
The operations development should employ economies of scales and scope which are key to reducing operational costs and in the process making some funds available for investment in other areas.
The operations department should strictly monitor all the operations in the organization to reduce all the costs arising from defects and inefficiencies. The purchasing department can become very efficient if it stops relying on one supplier.
Multiple sourcing helps the department to purchase the best of everything in the market. The logistic s department is another key department that can determine how efficient an organization can be.
The Just-in-Time strategy helps a great deal in reducing inventory costs and ensures timely delivery of materials and products. The company should also have strong contractual agreements with their suppliers to minimize delays and delivery defects.
In conclusion, the company should constantly evaluate and control its performances in order to achieve its goals and objectives. The implemented strategies are evaluated all the times as the performance of the company is compared with the desired results.
The implemented strategies will be evaluated using various approaches such as return on investment, the balance scorecard approach, variance analysis and customer surveys. The process of evaluation ensures that the performance of the organization meets the required standards. In case of any deviations, corrective measures are immediately put in place.
The implemented strategies will be controlled using strategic surveillance and operational control approaches. This ensures that all the events inside and outside the organization are closely monitored. Expenses and revenues are controlled at each division depending on the type of product line.
Works Cited
Stark, John. Global Product: Strategy, Product lifecycle management and the billion customer question. New York: Springer, 2007. Print.
Ammot, David et al. The Product Life Cycle: Lessons for Business Process Re-engineering from Decision Support Systems. New York: Dept. of Information Systems, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, Monash University, 1993. Print.