The Secrets of the Equal Exchange's Success - Case Study Example

Equal Exchange Case Study of Affiliation Equal Exchange Case Study The successes that Equal Exchange has witnessed over the years have been attributed to a number of managerial perspectives. Below are the managerial factors enabling the company to execute its perspectives. 1. Staffing the organization The major managers who played a vital role in the company served as co-founders of the company (pg. C-150, p. 2). Major founders of the enterprise led to the success of the company based on the passion they portrayed towards its operations and success (pg. C-151, p. 2).

Other major players in the company are worker advocates, supporting the growth of the company from the perspective of an employee (pg. C-151, p. 3). 2. Building Organizational Capabilities To boost its capabilities, Equal Exchange lays significant emphasis in developing trade partnerships, which were economically and environmentally viable (pg. C-151, p. 4). It fosters mutually beneficial relationships between its consumers and farmers (pg. C-151, p. 5). 3. Creating a strategy-supportive organizational structure Equal Exchange developed worker cooperatives and emphasized on fair trade, making it more democratic, equitable, and sustainable (pg. C-151, p. 6).

Training illiterate farmers on the appropriate ways of gathering market information as well as cultivate crops that are of high quality to boost the marketability of the company (pg. C-152, p. 1). Paying farmers higher for products that they grow following sustainable methods (pg. C-152, p. 2). 4. Allocating sufficient resources to strategic execution To oversee overall continued success of the company, Equal exchange worked with financial institutions to help it offer its farmers pre-harvest loans as well as affordable exchange rates (pg. C-153, p. 1).

Guaranteeing farmers a quarter of pre-harvest loans to ensure they cope with misfortune risks, keeping the organization operational without hiccups (pg. C-152, p. 4). 5. Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate strategy execution To cultivate excellent working relationships, the company instituted policies that facilitated for shared responsibility among employees leading to higher levels of satisfaction and productivity (pg. C-153, p. 4). The company ensured that the wage gap between highest-paid and lowest paid employees was reasonable to encourage productivity in the organization (pg. C-153, p. 6). 6. Adopting best practice and business processes that drive strategy execution activities Making consumers aware of the realities that farmers who grow their food go through for them to know understand the story behind their favorite products (pg. C-153, p. 7).

While marketing, the company emphasizes on brand image, price, and quality of the product to appeal to the consumers (pg. C-154, p. 1). Educating their consumers regarding unfair trade practices to empower make rational choice when purchasing products from the company (pg. C-154, p. 3). 7. Installing information and operating systems that enable company personnel to do their strategic roles proficiently The case study has not portrayed the manner in which the company manages its information systems, revealing that this could be one of the major issue affecting the performance of the company. 8. Tying rewards and incentives directly to the achievement of strategic and financial targets Rewarding employees who show significant achievement in the enterprise through transparent mechanisms (pg. C-154, p. 1).

Offering incentives, such as to encourage employees tom work hard towards the realization of the company’s future goals (pg. C-154, p. 1). 9. Instilling a corporate culture that promotes good strategy execution Reconnecting clients with farmers who grow food and showing clients the products that farmers get better pay to improve their livelihoods (pg. C-155, p. 5). Embarking on quality control of the products lines to make sure that clients are provided with fine products at prices they can afford (pg. C-155, p. 6).

The company sells its products under fair trade model to assure its clients that its coffee producer are well-treated and follow farming practices that are sustainable (pg, C-160, p. 6). 10. Exercising the internal leadership needed to propel strategy implementation forward Incorporating an equitable and democratic sustainable model owned by individuals working in it. Imposing various, rights to govern the operations of the company, including right to vote, serve a leader, information, and speak one’s mind (pg. C-154, p. 4).

Reference Kaminski, J., Marchese, S., & Vullo, C. (2012). Equal Exchange: Trading Fairly and Making a Profit. New York: Manhattan College.