Business Process Management: Games Galore - Case Study Example

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT Table of Contents Executive Summary Games Galore is a toys, board games and adult and children fancy Clothes Company that was established in 1998. The company was founded by Hilary Manzini and Bobby Haque. It started with seven products under its belt but has grown to acquire 120 lines and see list products at prestigious stores like Harrods and sophisticated supermarkets. The company has grown to the level of employing 20 staff members and 15active suppliers working with the company. The company has been having massive profit returns and the last one was 3.25 million pounds for the year 2012-2013. The reason for their success is that they are innovative and have expanded to tow major areas of sale that is their own label and their branded labels to be sold in high end shops. Even though games galore is making profits and advancing its branches there are process inefficiencies. Games Galore’s previous database was created for a small company but as the company is progressing the system is becoming a hindrance to growth. This is because the data is unsearchable and comparisons analysis cannot be done. In addition to these games galore has inefficiency in that they have a small number of concept developers who work on a huge number of concepts at the same time. This huge number of projects delays production. Furthermore, quotes take a long time to complete since parties involved all put their quotes before a comparison is done and a decision made. However, the company can stabilize their systems to accommodate their growing company and reduce the delays. Games galore can also write effective reports quickly for their high end and stylish retailers and supermarkets. This is to beat competition as these high end retailers and supermarkets have a stiff competition coming from other reputable companies who want space in their stores. Introduction This paper is going to discuss the games galore case study. Games Galore is a company in the UK that was established in 1998. The company is a wholesaler company that supplies toys, fancy clothes for adults and children and board games. The case study includes a brief interview with two of the staff of games galore that is purchasing coordinator nana Rahman and operations manager John Okoro. The report is going to explain process inefficiencies in the company and the stakeholders that would be affected by these inefficiencies. Additionally, the report is going to propose some potential improvements in the company and finally the report is going to change management issues. The report will also give out a comprehensive conclusion and recommendations for the company. An executive summary will also be provided by the report and list of references and a table of content. Furthermore, a bibliography will be included in the report. Findings Process Inefficiencies and Stakeholders Affected The process inefficiencies at games galore are lack of stable database where data can be searched in reality (Weske, 2012). This is because the original designs of the company were for much less complicated and lower volume of trading since it was a start-up company with few workers. Since the database is not active historical data cannot be found that can be used for analysis and comparison of new and old work. Another of Games Galore Process inefficiency is the working system of concept developers at games galore. Here 8 concept developers are always working on 6-8 projects at the same time with each project consisting of five or more products. This is often held back by the systems and growth in the company is hindered if not eliminated. The processes at games galore are hindered by limited business intelligence reporting, repetitive data entry tasks, lack of a uniform centralised database and the variety of formats and documents which is time consuming for customers (Panagacos, 2012). There are many stakeholders that can be affected by these process inefficiencies. The first stakeholders affected by process inefficiencies at games galore are the suppliers, concept developers, manufacturers and retail outlets like Harrods. This is because when there is unstable process inefficiencies the suppliers cannot proceed on with their work and at the same time the concept developers have a hard time. This is because they do not have any previous data to analyse and work with. The retail stores like Harrods cannot have delays and long breaks from stocking products from other brands as this might hurt their customer base. Proposed Potential Improvements The old process needs improvements because it takes time. First after deliberations over a new concept then the purchasing coordinator talks over with the concept developers and begin quotations spreadsheet with all the necessary information on the concept. The company then compare costs based on quality if high quality is going to sell less, meaning low returns then the company will decide to go with a low quality product but with a possibility of high sales volume and high returns. The purchasing manager then attempt to get as more quotes as she can but since the process inefficiency that are witnessed at games galore there is always shortage of time. This means that the operations manager only gets one quote and production begins. Quotes also take a lot of time in that they are firstly estimated since previous data is never available (Ould, 2005). Then suppliers get theirs and then the company compares it to their estimate and make a decision. However, the proposed process improvements do not take such a long process. First, games galore can find a more stable system to make their data accessible and searchable (Brocke & Rosemann, 2014). This will really help them have access to old data that can ease and quicken the quotation process. Secondly, games galore can decide to make sample of both high quality and low quality products and putting them in the market so that their sales can speak for themselves. These will reduce the time used deliberating which product will do well because as with everything estimations and predictions can be wrong. Lastly, games galore can design a system where suppliers can all check the intended products and make their quotes online (Burlton, 2001). This will mean that the time taken by the purchasing manager is lessened and made faster. Change Management Issues The change management issues that management of games galore will have to consider include changing of the data access systems. This new system will have to carter for complex and high levels of trading. Since the company is growing adjustments of their system will have to advance too and be able to accommodate the new level of trading the company is getting (Smith & Fingar, 2007). The company will also have to increase the number of concept developers such that many concept developers can be working on each project to make it quick and not as long and tiring as the current process. The current process withholds growth of the company as the eight concept developer’s work on five or more products with 6-8 projects at a go which is very tiring. In addition to this the company will need to have an integration that can support the accounts they have on sage even if it is not a requirement (Khan, 2004). This will eliminate the current process inefficiencies like repetitive data entry tasks, lack of centralised database, limited business intelligence and few common formats known to customers like word and excel. Finally, the company must improve its client service through improved reporting on customer accounts more so on stylish autonomous retailers and supermarkets (Bpm (Conference), & Dayal, 2009). This will help Games Galore beat their competition since other rival companies want supermarkets and they need to be proactive when developing customer reports. Thus such setbacks that bring delays should be eliminated as reports need to be done quickly and efficiently. Conclusion Games Galore are a business that started in a small way but has risen to be a reputable business that has its brands in high end stores like Harrods and independent retailers. However, as evidenced by the case study and interviews conducted on the company it looks like there is process inefficiency. Games galore lack a stable database where data can be searched in reality. This was because they had an original system which accommodated their small capacity but how the company has grown and the systems cannot still accommodate it they need to be upgraded. Also process inefficiency is in the working system of concept developers at games galore. Here 8 concept developers are always working on 6-8 projects at the same time with each project consisting of five or more products. This reduces the time taken to complete any particular project and hinders growth of the company. Furthermore, these inefficiencies put certain shareholders at stake like the suppliers, supermarkets, concept developers, manufacturers and retail outlets like Harrods. However, there are proposed potential improvements that games galore can use to improve the process inefficiencies for example they can adjust their systems to create a centralised database to avail information to suppliers and the staff. This means that quotes can be done online and every party involved can say their quotes hence reducing time taken to make decisions and start productions. The adjustment of the systems will also eliminate repetitive data entry tasks, lack of centralised database, limited business intelligence and customer friendly documents on reports like excel and word. Recommendations There are various recommendations that games galore can use in order to continue expanding their business. First, games galore ahs to adjust their systems since their original systems did not allow for high volume of trading like they do now (Dumas, 2013). The company recorded 3.5 million pounds which means that the company’s considered to be a high end company which needs a system that can back its growth. Secondly, games galore can reduce the cumber some time it takes the company to start reductions since quotes take a long process. Instead the company can make a centralised database where suppliers and the purchasing manager can state their quotes and make work easier than waiting for suppliers to make their quotes, then have them compared with the operations manager quotes and then a decision is made and production starts. Thirdly, games galore can increase the number of concept developers in that concept developers can be working on few projects at a time. This will hasten the developing process as currently the eight concept developer’s work on around eight projects and five different products at ago. This is tiring and terribly slow hindering the company’s growth. Finally, games galore can emphasize on writing of quick and efficient reports for high end retailers and sophisticated supermarkets. This is because supermarkets and stylish retailers have a stiff competition from companies who want them to stock their products and any company that delays in their reports which are also not up to standards can easily be thrown out and beaten by rival companies. References Brocke, J. V., & Rosemann, M. (2014). Handbook on business process management. 1, 1. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=839020. Burlton, R. T. (2001). Business process management: profiting from process. Indianapolis, Ind, Sams. Bpm (Conference), & Dayal, U. (2009). Business process management: 7th international conference, BPM 2009, Ulm, Germany, September 8-10, 2009, proceedings. Berlin, Springer. Dumas, M. (2013). Fundamentals of business process management. Berlin, Springer. Khan, R. N. (2004). Business process management: a practical guide. Tampa, Fla, Meghan-Kiffer Press. Ould, M. A. (2005). Business Process Management a Rigorous Approach. Swindon, British Informatics Society. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=483623. Panagacos, T. (2012). The Ultimate guide to business process managment. USA, [Place of publication not identified]. Smith, H., & Fingar, P. (2007). Business process management: the third wave. Tampa, Fla, Meghan-Kiffer Press. Weske, M. (2012). Business process management concepts, languages, architectures. Berlin, Springer. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10650313. Bibliography Bpm (Conference), Ardagna, D., Mecella, M., & Yang, J. (2009). Business process management workshops BPM 2008 international workshops, Milano, Italy, September 1-4, 2008 : revised papers. Berlin, Springer. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=450368. Dustdar, S., & Fiadeiro, J. L. (2006). Business process management 4th International Conference, BPM 2006, Vienna, Austria, September 5-7, 2006 : proceedings. Berlin [etc.], SpringerLink [host]. Gillot, J.-N. (2006). The complete guide to business process management: business process transformation or a way of aligning the strategic objectives of the company and the information system through the process. [S.l.], Jean-Noel Gillot. Harmon, P. (2007). Business process change a guide for business managers and BPM and six sigma professionals. Amsterdam, Elsevier. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=28223. Smith, R. F. (2013). Business process management and the balanced scorecard using processes as strategic drivers. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. http://rbdigital.oneclickdigital.com. Verma, N. (2009). Business process management: profiting from process. Delhi, Global India Pub. Read More