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Report is for MGT604 Strategic Management critically evaluate different strategy formulation processes utilised

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MGT604 Strategic Management

Executive Summary

                The following is a strategy modification of the Pro-Go company to enable the company cope and still be in business regardless of the changes in the market. The Pro-Go company is an American technological company valued at $ 0.85 billion and has over 963 employees. Over the years, the company had dealt in developing mobile apps, cameras and video editing software. With change in technology, the management has found it necessary to readjust the company’s products and strategize in order to cope with the changing trends in the market.

The company offers highly functional, waterproof, light weight, high resolution and easily mountable video camera. The target market is the extreme sport enthusiast and professional athlete. With the help of this article, the company should be able to get back on its feet and regenerate back to its initial status, focusing on both sales and creating a wider customer base.

Introduction

                A matter of company emergency should be handled with the urgency that comes with it. In the face of such a situation, drastic measures should be taken with immediate effect lest the company faces dire consequences. A number of Pro-Go cameras have burst into flames, which has adversely affected the sales of the company, cutting it down to half. The company’s major chain supplier from China has cancelled their contract with the company which means that even the other suppliers are expected to do the same if the situation is not handled with immediate effect. The Pro-Go CEO has summoned an emergency meeting to address these issues, as seen in a viral video. The executive panel from the previous meeting are expected to discuss this concern and come up with a modified strategic plan. The panel should come up with ways to curb both the sales and the explosion problem. I will discuss a few options, as both the Operations Manager and a member of the panel.

 

 

 

Aim

The aim of the organization is to adjust the strategy developed in the previous stakeholder meeting in light to the development of the disruption and submit a final report to the CEO of the company.

Discussion

The explosions of the cameras could have been caused by a number of reasons which have not yet been identified. The emergency at hand is the drop-in sales by half, which if not handled will push the company out of business. To solve this issue, we came up with a number of strategic plans. Some short term and some long term as listed below.

Top 3 Short term Strategies proposed by Executive Panel        

1.       Product recall and testing (as an immediate action to avoid further explosions) (Hill & Terry &Westbrook (1997))-

To curb the disruption and prevent further occurrences, the company will recall all the products already sold for further testing and giving a reassurance to the clients at the same time. This will also help protect the image of the company from further damage and liability. The products will be recalled avoiding any harm to the customer and prevent legal suit against the company.

2.       By embracing accountability (Privacy Legislation) - When Disaster struck Samsung has dealt the same scenario gracefully and turned it as opportunity, we decided to take this lesson and to be proactive and need to take responsibility. We will address a press conference and address we are taking full responsibility for the crisis and we assure we will not rest until the actual cause for the malfunction of the device is discovered. A public assurance is a good gesture and will buy some time for the company as we try to identify the actual cause for the explosions. This technique has proven to work with many clients as it keeps them at ease knowing the situation is being handled (Maribel, 2017).

3.       Reduce supplier risk (for cancellation the product).

 

 

Top 2 Long term Strategies proposed by Executive Panel

1.    Feature enhancement can be introduced in the standalones, where there will be features like smart voices and quick stories, which will be a cool feature to attract the new people in the marketplaces. ProGo QuikStories will be filtering the best captured moments and create the best videos from a huge pile of footage which can be uploaded in the social media platforms (Carayannis, Clark & Valvi, 2013).

2.      Cost leadership---By cutting the middleman and selling directly the customer it will help to decrease the cost of sales. The company can also consider retrenchment, where they lay off a number of employees to help cut down on costs while aiming to maximize on profits.

Preferred Strategy

Taking into consideration the situation at hand, as an Operation Manager, I would prefer reducing supplier risk for the short-term strategy. Suppliers are the ones who intervene on behalf of the company to the consumers. Reducing or rather managing any risks associated with them will benefit the company in tremendous ways. Retrenchment is the best option suited for the current situation company is. As already a retail chain in china has voted to cancel the contract may be, we need to go ahead and respect their decision. Downsizing its sales sector will aim at generating savings and can be invested to seek contract in other global parts once current issue resolves (Janice).

Shrinking to Grow? 3 Reasons to consider exiting as a business Strategy

As David discussed in his article mentioned few interesting points, I believe the below 3 ways exiting can help Pro-Go company grow (David, 2017)

1.       Get Focused – With the one of the core retail suppliers exiting from the contract. Now Pro-Go should concentrate on rectifying its issue and gaining the trust back from its customers. Also, as executives we should think on business lines to divest so that we can refocus our strategy and resources and what we truly excel at.  

2.       Avoid Losses – We need to first recall all the products and retest using more recent technologies and first find out what is the reason behind the issue. Then communicate openly with the customers on its progress and release the new tested products into the market. Sometimes holding accountability also will gain trust within the market. This will prevent major losses and revive from the situation.

3.       Grow your bottom line – While overall sales or number of customers may shrink if you exit a market, your overall profit may grow. We can sale our old equipment and invest in the latest technology. As a result, customer base will shrink but profits might rise. Because we need to reinvent ourselves into a maker of speciality components in our sector.

In summary, early visibility into any possible changes within the supply chain will help prevent major losses for the company. In addition to that a good supplier risk management will help boost the company sales and prevent a number of setbacks in the sales of the company. The suppliers play a vital role in moving the company products hence careful handling of this sector is required.

As an Operations Manager I would choose option 1 as long term, that is to introduce feature enhancements, that includes smart voices and quick stories which will help the organisation to enter into new emerging markets and to increase the revenue earning of the company. As Pro Go company is into cameras and videos “Differentiation Focus” strategy might work out well in this situation. We felt the something extra that we add can contribute to reducing costs perhaps through the knowledge of specialist suppliers or to increasing differentiation through our deep understanding of customer needs (Dobbs, 2014)

After introducing these features, the company can advertise the new and improved cameras to the market with remarkable features that give prospective customers the confidence in our products.

In the matter of adjacent markets, Pro-Go can diversify its business away from the traditional cameras and venture into new line of products like surveillance cameras or even body cameras. The market for body cameras and surveillance cameras is expected to increase with 17% and 11% respectively in less than five years to come. This could be an opportunity for the company to boost its income by picking up this new line of products. They will attract new investors and create confidence to the existing ones not to pull their funds. The company’s cloud backup service is well suited for body and security cameras and would do very well in this particular market. In addition to that, the company can give a stiff competition to the companies already in.

Although competing in international markets offers important potential benefits, such as access to new customers, the opportunity to lower costs, and the diversification of business risk, going overseas also poses daunting challenges. Political risk refers to the potential for government upheaval or interference with business to harm an operation within a country competing in international markets. Need to do PESTEL analysis to gather all the risks at the beginning stages to avoid failures in the later stages. Because ProGo cannot afford another loss in the market (PESTLE analysis Contributor).

Analysis

Carrying out PESTEL analysis will help the company have a better understanding of the external environment and its challenges (PESTLE analysis history and application). The macro- environmental factors will not impact the strategy negatively. In the event of the manufacturing of the new and improved product, the economic factors are highly favourable. The foreign exchange rates impact the market in the company’s favour and the profits will definitely be high. The political and legal factors governing the manufacturing of the product are also quite favourable. The social factors and technological factors are also highly favourable considering the market’s attitude towards change in technology, which is highly appreciated. This means our new and improved product will find favour in the current market.

A SWOT analysis will help in relation to this strategic planning. The strategies proposed may be a failure or a success or do more damage than good. The plan stands a chance to boom because of strengths such as internal attributes which include adaptability, flexibility, strategy and the Board of Directors. With a load of great team, leadership and enthusiasm, the strategies will be put into place within no time. The company’s quality assurance gives it an advantage over the other competitors. Weaknesses such as unfavourable competition from opponents may also jeopardize the success of the new laid plans. On the other hand, laying off some of the employees will interfere with the labour force.

The five forces in the five-force analysis consist of close factors that affect the company’s ability to serve customers (Michael, 1979). In the competition analysis, the company has an advantage over a number of its competitors, which will come in handy in the body and surveillance cameras. The Cloud Backup Services of Pro-Go will it an upper hand over its rivalries in that particular line of production. With a number of suppliers, the company stands a chance to choose a cheaper supplier which will cut down on costs on our side, which means more profit. The threat of new entry into the market is minimal since the restrictions, both financial and legal pose a challenge to young and beginner firms. The threat of substitution on the other hand is quite a challenge since people can choose to substitute cameras with mobile phones that can offer them the same services.

Conclusion

In summary, the aim of the meeting has been met and strategies from the previous meeting modified to suit the disruption that occurred recently. As immediate damage control to the company we as a team came up with few modifications to our long-terms and short-term strategies. As an operations manager these slight modifications include reducing supplier risks and introduction of feature enhancements in the standalones that will not only capture new customers but also help solve the explosion problem. The proposed improvements in the products and the adjacent markets will also help boost the company’s sales and immediately deal with the losses.

 

Recommendations

As an Operations Manager my role is to transform inputs (labour, capital, software, materials, information) into outputs (goods and services) that provides added value to customers (Lumen, Boundless Business). I believe Operational decisions that are strategic in nature have long term consequences but in the current situation we need to think of immediate short term strategies too. These include

1.       The type of technologies that the organization will use to retest all the devices and find out the actual cause for camera blast.

2.       Take accountability and also focus on retrenchment strategy

3.       Once the business is stable then go for the long-term strategies which are on hold currently

 

After doing some SWOT and PESTEL analysis we also found the short- and long-term challenges that organisation might face on undergoing the changes in future (Porter’s Five force Analysis) –

Short Term Issues

-          Internal Alterations in order to move out from the declining stage

-          Allocation of Funds

 

Long Term Issues

-          Technology is one of the most important way of being competitive in the highly competitive market arena. An organization should innovate and be compatible with the technologies.

-          High Threat of substitute products - High threat of substitute leads to low profitability as it limits the industry profits by placing a price ceiling due to the fear of being substituted by other product. Apart from this it also affects the growth potentials of the industry as a whole but reducing the profitability margins. 

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