HMA Motor Company - Identification of Options, Staffing, Budget, and Timeline - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal of HMA Motor Company Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction & ment of Need 3 Background 4 Identification of Options 5 Staffing, Budget, and Timeline 7 Request for Authorization 10 Works Cited 11 Name of the Student Name of the Professor Name of the Course Date Research Proposal of HMA Motor Company Introduction & Statement of Need HMA Motor Company is one of the most renowned motor corporations of the world which has been rewarded “Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards” during the tenure of 2007 to 2009. Of lately, the company has been incurring losses due to various reasons like, stiff competition, slow growth rate in the industry and various other factors. The author of the study would highlight the specific issues that have led to the incurring of losses for HMA Motor Corporation and the recommendations that can improve the sales of the company. One of the major problems incurred by the company is that the designs of the new Tyranny series are yet to be authorized by the senior marketing manager of the company. The new car model named “Tyranny Sedan” has the potentiality of capturing the market share and recover from the losses incurred by the company. However, the approval for the design of the car is a time consuming process which is becoming an obstacle in the process of manufacturing the car. The author of the study would highlight the specific issues faced by HMA Motor Company and the recommendations which can help in the removal of the complexities of the problems. The study would also include the weekly schedule activities that would include staffing, budgeting and various other marketing activities which are required for the success of the marketing strategy. Background HMA Motor Corporation has been facing several issue related to the manufacturing, design and the process of the company. The various issues are as follows: One of the major issues that the company has to face is that the competitors have introduced similar series with the same design. The car design of the competitors has similar features in terms of functionality, exterior and interior designs (Charalampous, “Technology Strategy in Automotive Industry”). In terms of functionality and car designs, Force Drive has a special section which has the mug and drink bottle holders in the gear section, additional storage compartments under the arm rest section of the car and the contactless tailgate ("Goosebumps vs Speedbumps"). The biggest similarity between Tyranny Series and Force Drive would be the ergonomics design of both the series. This has led to a major problem because the management of HMA Corporation has to alter the entire marketing strategy for its entire Tyranny Series. This would include the development of strategies related to process manufacture, and also the redesign of entire car and its related products. The alteration would include the Harman surround system, adaptive headlights, passive safety car products and the contactless opening of headlight (“Incremental Innovation of Products and Services”). The management of HMA Corporation had a delay in the design approval system. The technical department had passed on the car designs of the company. The designs of the Tyranny Series were passed from technical department to the top management on April 2013. The top management is yet to approve the designs of this series because they want to test the functionality of the car design before launching it in the real market. Testing of the car design functionality in the pre-test market will help to realize the actual potentiality of the car series. However, the competitor had introduced their car designs in the market in April 2013 and later, launched the car in the actual market in the October 2013. The series had received positive response from the customers and also, had garnered attention from the analyst (“Ounces of Thrill vs Grams of Co2 "). This is one of the serious problems because the management of HMA Corporation would have to revamp their existing strategy with consideration to the budget. It is the alteration of the existing marketing strategy which might turn out to be time-consuming. Identification of Options The management of HMA Corporation cannot afford to alter their marketing strategy at this stage as it will be a time consuming and an expensive process. The management of the company can invest in certain solutions as a part of strategic analysis and can help in removal of complexities of problems. The management can utilize incremental innovation theory which will lay emphasis on the product redesign and development and process enhancement of the car manufacturing process. Incremental innovation will lay emphasis on the redesign of the existing car design (operating system) or the entire product structure for the success of the car series. Honda utilized the incremental theory when introducing the 50 cc motorcycles and also, Mar Kay had utilized this theory concept to develop new goods and services ("Passion Wins"). This theory will help in the constant development of the product innovations system and also, deliver high quality cars with the cost effective technological concepts. There is a lot of risks associated with it like, the delivery time in the actual market will be a lot more than usual and also, lead to inefficient removal of complexities in the systems. In the context of the HMA Corporation, the management needs to invest in quantum technological change, innovations and incremental change innovations. The incremental change innovation will help in modifying the base of the product design. The major focus would be to alter the passive safety options, navigational system professional, speed limit (increase/ decrease), head up display and the surround view system. The navigational system professional would require the redesign of the entire car series and also, the improvement in the lines and equipments system (“Safe vs Limited”). This also requires alteration in the service offerings of the car’s basic designs, lines and equipments. The management needs to chart out the activities that require both basic and immediate attention and a time-frame needs to be prepared for the accomplishment of these objectives. Secondly, the management needs to analyze the similarities and differences between the car series introduced by the competitors and the company itself. The company should chart out these binaries based on technicality, functions, exterior and interior designs, steering mode, driver dynamics, lines and equipments (“Shape Up or Ship Out "). After the analysis, the management should set out an investigation method which would analyze and determine the cause of the high number of similarities in the car designs. The investigation team would probe into the matter. Thirdly, after the approval of the basic designs by the top management, the focus should shift on the marketing strategies. These marketing strategies would encompass the change of name of series, alteration of promotion and advertising strategies and the execution of these strategies in a timely manner. The management needs to think about the change in name series, which would highlight the altered car features and make it distinctive. A brainstorming session should be conducted to pool out different kinds of names for the existing services. A distinctive marketing plan should be adopted which would highlight the concept behind the emergence of such series. The advertisements should be distinctive too and quite discerned than the previous promotion strategy. The managers for the advertising purposes should be decided cautiously and the duties should be allocated with much consideration. Staffing, Budget, and Timeline This marketing strategy would require appropriate staffing. Appropriate staffing would ensure the cautious, careful planning and also, lead to smooth execution of the desired activities. The staffing would be done with the help of top management and middle level managers. The staffing would include the following personnel for the required projects: Figure 1: Hierarchy in HMA Corporation (Source: Author’s Creation) The above chart shows the top authorities responsible for the marketing, financial and technical activities. The main task of these managers would be to check that the activities are executed in compliance with the plan. They would also be responsible for the delegation of the duties to the suitable personnel along with the allocation of budget. There would be various subordinates working under each head who would be responsible for the following activities. Financial Analyst They would be responsible for the preparation of budget for each department. The budget would be prepared and then it would be allocated accordingly to the various departments. Marketing Advisor They would be responsible for the allocation of duties in the marketing department and for advising the subordinates for any change in the marketing plan. Automotive Engineers They would check the functionality of the cars by testing it and then, rate it according to the chart prepared by the head of technical department. Lawyers After the investigation has been done, the lawyers would be hired to sue the competitors for the copying the car designs. After the staffing plan has been executed, a financial analyst would be required for the preparation of the budget in order to get it approved by the higher level authorities. The budget has been prepared after careful consideration of the existing strategy along with the allocated budget for a revamped marketing strategy. The budget signifies the present actual financial potentiality of HMA Corporation. Employees Rate Per Hour Time Total Financial Analyst X1 $ 42/hr 30 months $ 151,200 Marketing advisors X2 $ 35/hr 12 months $ 50,400 automotive engineer X4 $ 26/hr 36 months $ 449,280 Lawyers X4 $ 40/hr 3 months $ 57,600 Other expenses $ 250 $ 500,000 Grand Total $ 1,208,480 After the budget has been prepared, the timeline would be developed by the marketing manager which would signify details like, date, venue and the nature of marketing activities. Activity Date Handling Manager Duration Preliminary Research 10/11/2013 to 15/12/2013 Technical Department 3 weeks Analysis 15/11/2013 to 20/12/2013 Technical, Design and Marketing Department Preliminary Report 16/11/2013 Head of Technical Department 3 weeks Draft 20/11/2013 to 25/01/2014 Senior Level Manager 2 Weeks Review 23/01/2014 3 Weeks Final Proposal & Report 26//01/2014 Head of Marketing, Financial, Technical Department. 3 Weeks Hiring & Staffing 16/11/2013 Senior Level Human Resource Manager Allocation of Budget 18/11/2013 Financial Analyst Marketing plan Preparation (Advertising ) 20/11/2013 Senior Head (Marketing Manager) Execution(Promotional) 25/11/2013 to 30/11/2013 Marketing Managers Request for Authorization I would be highly obliged if you choose to accept this proposal of market analysis of the new car series by HMA Corporation. The project has been studied and prepared with the permission of teachers and by following their given guidelines. The subsequent recommendations have been provided after considering the problems faced by the company. I appreciate your cooperation and consideration in reading this project and also am looking forward to you approval for the chosen topic and project. Works Cited Charalampous, Panagiotis. “Technology Strategy in Automotive Industry." The Academia. The Academia, 2013. Web. 15 November. 2013. "Goosebumps vs Speedbumps." BMW. BMW, 2013. Web. 15 November. 2013. “Incremental Innovation of Products and Services." Incremental Innovation. Incremental Innovation, 2003. Web. 15 November. 2013. “Ounces of Thrill vs Grams of Co2." BMW. BMW, 2013. Web. 15 November. 2013. "Passion Wins." BMW. BMW, 2013. Web. 15 November. 2013. “Safe vs Limited." BMW. BMW, 2013. Web. 15 November. 2013. “Shape Up or Ship Out." The Economist. The Economist, 2003. Web. 15 November. 2013. Read More