The Changes in Business Strategies for the Royal Furniture - Term Paper Example

 Business Proposal Executive Summary Royal Furniture is currently facing significant decrease in consumer demands and purchases. Research indicates that these losses are actually linked with the traditional business strategies and policies of the organization. Rapid change in business environment all over the globe has substantially altered the nature of business operations. For instance, previously businesses used to focus on manufacturing then they transformed their strategies to marketing, however today they face a greater challenge of continuously changing consumer demands, societal trends and prevalence of internet marketing. In order to cope with these challenges Royal Furniture has to bring a positive change in the company’s overall structure through the integration of change management, organizational behavior and corporate strategies. This is important to sustain long term modifications because critics argue that change management comes along with unavoidable risks and failures (Burnes, 2009). Hence Royal Furniture would have to critically evaluate its past and present performance prior to making future strategies. This paper will critically analyze this subject while persuading the senior management to change company’s processes, procedures, products, people and structure. Moreover some potential change strategies would be suggested in order to remove discrepancies between the organizational policies and the changing business environment. Business Proposal Introduction The Royal Furniture is operating in the international furniture industry since more than four decades.However, the company is currently facing immense challenges in terms of business policies, structure and people. For instance, competition is drastically increasing because competitors are implementing new management and marketing strategies. Moreover thebusiness environment all over the world is now dominated by customized products and services. This has persuaded many organizations to change their traditional business structure and policies. Globalization has greatly facilitated business expansion while unveiling new markets and business opportunities, but it has also boosted the competition in international consumer market subsequently leading to the change in business environment [Pet07]. The consumer mindset is transforming as per the latest trends prevailing in the societywhich has been facilitated by intense communication networks. Social networking and internet marketing has proved fairly beneficial to the progress and development of different organizations. Therefore operating on previous business techniques would not help Royal Furniture anymore and hence it requires adopting novel business ideas, processes, procedures, products, people and the organizational structure. New business proposal is substantial for the progress and profit maximization of the organization while lowering down the current losses. In addition to this the changes in business strategies will help the stakeholders to achieve their long term goals and objectives. Thesis Statement In the last few months Royal Furniture has lost many of its valuable customers. Research indicates that this has primarily happened because of internet marketing and online purchase systems introduced by the competitors, both of which are not practiced by Royal Furniture. Hence it is now high time for the Chief Executive Officer, Managers and other associated decision makers to critically analyze and evaluate their traditional business strategies while making changes to them. This will subsequently require altering the overall business policy and making it more customer oriented. Hence this paper will focus on the following thesis statement. “In order to compete and excel in the current business environment Royal Furniture would have to make certain changes in its organizational structure while learning from its past experience”. Critical Analysis Social media is strengthening the buyer and seller relationship by removing the communication barriers. Now people can easily communicate their product requirements and price queries. On the other hand organizations are gaining an edge in identifying new consumer markets, trends in the society and the overall detailed description of customer choices, needs and wants. Furthermore the rapid technological changes have also facilitated new businesses to expand their product categories[Geo08]. In comparison to this our organization is still practicing the traditional customer service methods at physical stores while depending only on the designing department for launching new products. Marketing department is also not working as per the current industry demands due to lack of training and professional facilities. Moreover the organization is experiencing stagnant growth andlimited innovation in its products. This has ultimately resulted in decreasing market share while ceasing new business opportunities and profits. Change is initiated on the basis of integration between corporate strategies and organizational behavior [Ber09]. Hence the senior management is persuaded to make steady changes in the following areas: Process The business processes from procurement to final selling must be revised in order to make them consistent with the changing corporate trends. Procurement is currently done on the basis of revenues earned and demand in the market.However, in the coming years it should be made periodical so that the business process remains unaffected by shortage of direct raw material. Similarly all the intermediate processes prior to product assembling should be done using latest technology and equipment. Procedures Installment of new machinery would require entirely different financial procedures so that the organization can efficiently generate funds for purchases. The assembling procedure must be altered by hiring new labor and applying different job assigning strategies. This will significantly facilitate the organization to increase its production and sell revenues. In addition to thisthe marketing strategies are required to be analyzed thoroughly by introducing online marketing system. Having online presence has become crucial for the current businesses because today people are more focusing on internet purchases rather than buying through a physical store[Geo08]. In order to implement online marketing strategy Royal Furniture would have to build an online store where customers can easily select the required product and they can also make customized orders. Sales procedures should be upgraded with home delivery options so that customers can easily avail the product services by staying at home. Making an effective online presence and stimulating home delivery would not cost much to the organization as compared to physical sales and therefore the senior management can safelyexecute this strategy. Products Currently Royal Furniture has three major product categories including bedroom, drawing room and office furniture. An addition of customized home accessories such as decorative, paintings, bed sheets and curtains would immensely improve the overall sales of the company. This product range with comparatively small and flexible items will also help in strengthening the online consumer market for Royal Furniture since people are now usually fascinated by such products because they do not hold any risk of quality or durability[Pet07]. Extending the facility of customized products will help the organization in developing the understanding of consumer mindset while discovering new business opportunities. People Training and development of workers, employees and managers is vital for achieving sustainable growth in the current business environment[Ken03]. As new technology and managerial strategies are revealing, employees are required to equip themselves with the latest tools and techniques. This is substantial for theenhancement of their job performance and overall capabilities. Hence the organization especially the senior managers, are needed to support the development of their employees particularly in the area of customer relationship. Moreover Royal Furniture is required to train and develop employees for successfully facing the future business challenges. Recruitment of new and talented individuals would also help the organization in achieving long term success because it will facilitate novel ideas and better on job energy level. Apart from this utilizing different motivation strategies and addressing employees’ issues would increase their productivity level which will ultimately benefit the organization. Structure To facilitate the learning procedure and attain superior business status Royal Furniture would have to build a transparent organizational structure. This should be done while focusing on the needs of employees and their job performance. Fair and transparent structures actually give rise to cooperative workplace environment where teams can easily work together while eliminating unhealthy arguments and criticism[Jas10]. Moreover employees and the lower working stuff must be involved in major decision making, especially the one which concerns their job and expertise. This will induce a sense of respect and ownership in them towards the organization while increasing their overall enthusiasm in achieving the organizational goals and objectives. The reporting structure of customer complaints and employees interpersonal issues must be improved so that customers can be facilitated with their queries on immediate basis while the working staff can also handle different situations on their own. This will play a significant role in the overall reduction of detrimental conflicts.Royal Furniture has to bring social innovation i.e. utilizing changing social dynamics in order to avail new business opportunities. For this purpose Jason Saul has identified few major strategies which can significantly help any organization to achieve competitive advantage through altering its organizational structure. These include launching submarket products along with sensitive customer bonding and reverse lobbying (Saul, 2010). Changing the current procedures, processes and business strategies is significantly difficult therefore Royal Furniture would have to follow a specific pattern (Gottschalk, 2007): At the initial stage the organization has to identify its specific resources while transforming them to respond to the changes in business environment. Change incurs huge costs thus analyzing the current market needs along with the strengths and weaknesses of the organization are crucial for Royal Furniture. Moreover the changing strategies must be made consistent with the current business environment. Evaluating the change outcomes is important to remove any discrepancies. For instance,performance measurement systems can be effectively used to meet this challenge (Kennerley& Neely, 2003). Conclusion Learning from past experiences is essential for the development of any organization. Royal Furniture has been operating in furniture industry since a considerable time period but currently they are experiencing drastic decrease in sales. Organizational research reports indicate that the change is actually initiated by the shifting business trends, which has not only affected the progress of Royal Furniture but has significantly altered the major business practices in the industry[Geo08]. Postmodern business strategies especially those concerning with customer choices and marketing products have substantially changed. For instance, now the consumer market is prominently seeking for customized brand experiences which not only allow them to enjoy individuality rather it also facilitates the organization to develop new products and consumer services (Simmons, 2008). Therefore Royal Furniture has to bring an innovation in its traditional business approach while changingthe business processes, procedures, products, people and structure simultaneously considering the financial status and market share of the organization. Bringing change is not an easy task and hence the senior management should involve the employees and working staff in order to meet future competition and business challenges. References Pet07: , (Gottschalk, 2007), Geo08: , (Simmons, 2008), Ber09: , (Burnes, 2009), Ken03: , (Kennerley, 2003), Jas10: , (Saul, 2010), Read More