Operational Plan for Smart Ville - Case Study Example

Operational Plan: The organization under consideration is referred to as Smart Ville, and it is responsible for the provision of telecommunication services. Smart Ville is a multi-national organization, with offices in various parts of the world, and this includes Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America. Smart Ville does not only provide telecommunication services to these countries, it is also responsible for the provision of services in the money transfer industry. The company operates its own online payment system, referred to as Smart Pay, which makes it possible for people to sale and buy products through the internet. Smart Pay acts as the intermediary between these business associations, because it holds money for the buyers and seller alike. Smart Ville is a very large company, and it has employed over 5000 direct employees in the countries in which it operates. The company also has agencies, and through its agencies, the company has employed over 7000 people. On this basis, the total number of people employed by Smart Ville is 12,000 people. The headquarters of Smart Ville is found in California, and it is at this place that all the senior management of the company is found. The mission of Smart Ville is to make it possible for people to communicate across the world in a fast, efficient, and affordable manner. The vision of the company is to be a leading company in providing services in telecommunication. The company aims to control 6o% of the telecommunications market in the world. The company values honesty, integrity and kindness amongst its employees, and any person that is dealing with the company. The head of this company is the president. The president of the company is elected by the organizations share holders, and he normally serves a period of three year, before he or she is then elected. The president has the duty of directing all the employees of an organization into implementing and undertaking the various policies of the organization (Strydom, 69). Furthermore, the president oversees other heads of department in the creation of the long term strategies of the company. This includes in production, as well as marketing strategies. Furthermore, the president of this company is responsible for reviewing the financial statements of each and every department of the organization, for purposes of ensuring that these departments work within their established budgets. It is also the responsibility of the president of the company to communicate new policies, or a shift in the managerial style of the company. The activities of the president are accountable to the share holders of the company. The company also has two vice presidents, and they are in charge of marketing, as well as production. The Vice president who is in charge of marketing has the responsibility of coming up with marketing programs that are beneficial to the company, and have the capability of increasing the market share of the organizations services and products. Furthermore, he is responsible for approving as well as developing advertisement campaigns that the organization needs to follow. This department is also responsible for carrying out market research, for the main purpose of identifying the needs of customers, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the organizations competitors. On the other hand, the vice president in charge of production has the responsibility of ensuring the services and products of the company are developed in a manner that satisfies the needs of customers. Under the Vice president of the marketing department, there are three managers, who are in charge of advertising, research, and sales. The manager in charge of research has the responsibility of carrying out market research on the needs of customers, new markets, and the competitors of the organization. The manager in charge of sales has the responsibility of ensuring that the products of the organization are sold, and targets met (Sen, 88). On the other hand, the manager in charge of advertising is responsible for developing advertising campaigns for the company. Under the department of production, there are two managers, one is in charge of quality control, and another one is in charge of manufacturing. As a telecommunication company, the manager in charge of manufacturing is responsible for the production of sim cards, which are to be used in mobile phones. Furthermore, it is this department that is in charge with the distribution of these products to customers, and agents of the company. On the other hand, the department of quality control is responsible for ensuring that the products of the company are of high quality, and they satisfy the needs of the company (Drucker and Joseph, 27). Furthermore, the company has the position of a country director. This position is equal to that of the general managers, since the country manager is only responsible for overseeing the activities of the company at the country level. The country manager is directly answerable to the vice president in charge of marketing. The role of the country manager is to market the products and services of Smart Ville. The table below indicates the chain of command of Smart Ville Corporation (Plunkett, Gemmy and Raymond, 207). The President Vice President (Marketing) Vice President (Production) Sales Manager Advertising Manager Research Manager Production Manager Quality Control The basic planning process of this organization consists of four steps, namely setting of goal setting, developing the action plan, reviewing the progress, as well as conducting a performance appraisal. The president of the company plays a great role in influencing this process, and this is mainly because he is responsible for setting up the goal corporate goal of the company. The Vice president in charge of marketing and production would each set up the goals for their departments. Their goals must be in line with the corporate goals that the president of the organization has set up. The departmental managers with also set up the goals of their departments, which must be in line with the goals that has been set up with the Vice presidents in charge of marketing and production. The next process in this planning is the development of an action plan. During this process, the president will oversee the planning activities of the Vice Presidents and the Managers. It is important whatever plan that the managers develop, has to gain the approval of the Vice President, and whatever the Vice President approves, has to gain the approval of the president. On this basis, the President has the overall authority on the action plan that will be implemented. The next stage is reviewing the progress of the action plan. Under this stage, the departmental managers will have to conduct a performance appraisal, for purposes of determining the effectiveness of the action plan (Sen, 201). This performance review program will have to be developed by the vice presidents, under the supervision of the company’s president. The aim of this review is to find out whether the objectives of the action plan are met (Martin and Martin, 109). This process will also entail taking of corrective measures by the management, in case some elements of the action plan are not effectively achieved. These corrective measures are always developed by the Vice Presidents in charge of marketing and production, and implemented by their departmental managers. The last stage is the performance appraisal, and it is aimed at determining whether the action plan is a success or not. Departmental managers play an important role in this stage, as they are responsible for conducting the performance appraisal activities, and presenting the results to the Vice Presidents, and later on to the president. In case the action plan is effective, the President will give a go ahead for the continuation of the program. During this process, it is important to explain that productivity, quality and profitability of the planning process are important elements of the action plan. This is because for the company to achieve its objectives of being a leading company in providing telecommunication services, that its products be of high quality. This would increase sales, and hence make the company to achieve profits. When the organization is able to make profits, then shareholders of the organization will receive dividends, and hence support the policies of the company. Furthermore, the company will get money that will help it in its expansion process. On the other hand, high quality services play an important role in creating customer loyalty. This is essential if the organization intends to achieve profitability. The organization also considers the importance of human resource management in its activities. Before coming up with the overall strategy of the organization, the management will always identify the kind of skills they have, and hence develop a management strategy that its employees can implement. This would most definitely ensure effective implementation of the strategy under consideration. The philosophy of management applicable to this organization is bureaucratic type of management (Legutko, 37). This is because the organization is a very large organization, and hence there is a need of maintaining control over the affairs of the organizations employees. To achieve this objective, there is a need of the organization exercising control over its employees. Furthermore, the structure of the organization will motivate employees to work hard, in order to gain promotions to higher ranks. This is based on the top down structure of the organization. In conclusion, to achieve efficiency and productivity, there is a need of the organization controlling the activities of its employees. The organization has established a four step criteria for controlling the activities of its employees. The first step is establishing standards to measure performance. These standards include how efficient an employee is, whether he or she is innovative and good at keeping time. The next step is measuring actual performance. This would involve conducting performance appraisal programs where the supervisor of the employee will evaluate him or her, and hence prepare a report on the actual performance of the employee. The third step involves comparing the performance with the standards established by the organization. For instance, the company requires that its employees be innovative, and time compliant. This would be measured by basing on the results of the report. The fourth step would involve taking corrective measures aimed at improving the performance of the organizations employees. This can either be through punitive measures, aimed at punishing inability of the customer to meet organizations standards, or even initiating innovative measures to motivate employees into working hard. It is important to understand that the types of control initiated by the organization are external as well as internal control. Under external control, an employee is supervised by a senior employee, to ensure compliance of the work. Under internal control, an employee will always be responsible for his or her work. Works Cited: Drucker, Peter F., and Joseph A. Maciariello. Management. Rev. ed. New York, NY: Collins, 2008. Print. Legutko, Cinnamon. Organizational management. Lanham, Md.: AltaMira Press, 2012. Print. Martin, John, and Martin R. Fellenz. Organizational behaviour and management. 4th ed. Andover: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Plunkett, Warren, Gemmy Allen, and Raymond Attner. Management: Meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Sen, Mridul. Business management. Jaipur, India: Oxford Book Co., 2008. Print. Strydom, J. W.. Principles of business management. 2nd ed. Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 2011. 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