Integrated Communication Planning at Woolworths - Case Study Example

Integrated Communication Planning Name Course Institution Date Media release and backgrounder Dwindling profits The core goal of most organization relates to the earning of profits. By generating profits, a business proves that it is offering the good and services that are desired by their consumers and at the same time offering them at reasonable prices. the development of a strong and formidable clientele as well as gaining a competitive advantage over ones competitors calls for time as well as efforts from the management team as they try to make their services and goods desirable to make profits. When most businesses fail to complete the above mentioned function they are likely to lose money from the various operations that they engage in and they may incur financial losses. Following the declining profits at Woolworths, it is necessary to respond appropriately to solve the problem. One of the major action plans includes lowering the prices of food and groceries and investing most of our savings (around $500 Million) on the mentioned items. To raise the proposed amount and meet the goal, the company is considering engaging in a major shakeup of its management team and employee structure, a move that will see the company lay off a total of 1200 workers and other employees from management roles. This will be an appropriate step towards cutting down the company’s expense costs and save more. Declining profits are seen as red flag for most business. Owners need to investigate the operations and financial operations. By identifying and correcting the issue is imperative to make certain that the business continue into the future and succeed. When business stops making profits they are likely to sink into debts eventually leading to their eventual failure. As a result of the declining profits the investors took off almost $3.4 billion off the total value of the shares of the company. Woolworth had to find an immediate action since the profits were expected to fall further as the plans are undertaken to spend almost $500million in the reduction of the grocery prices as well as in the improvements of the services offered in the supermarkets in an aim of reversing the declining sales. By ensuring that the company make profits there are some associated benefits arising from the issue. A major benefit will be the growth of Woolworth. By making profits Woolworth will be bake to expend, grow and even offer support to the immediate society. Companies such as Woolworths reinvest a portion of the profits they make from their operations into new business opportunities and they also use the profits to expand their operations and presence with the aim of increasing the business output. Woolworths need to take these steps to increase their market share in their respective business environment and also to generate additional profits from those expanded operations. When Woolworths is back on the track of making profits, we will venture into new markets and mostly in the developing countries and in the emerging markets so as to take advantage of the probable opportunities in the emerging economies. When these is done we will be able to employee more employees. Also, through the making of profits in the near future the livelihood of the owners, managers and employees will be improved. These will be in terms of increased compensation level and performance bonuses. These measures will be considered so as to generate goodwill among the employees since they will be more than willing to work harder and increase their overall efficiency so as to achieve more profits for the company. Since we are currently experiencing declining profits due to a lesser market share due to the low demand Woolworths have been forced to reduce their operational output. That is the reason why we are laying off some of the employees. Such measures will reduce the cost of operating the business to manageable levels and ensure that Woolworths continues to make profits and expand their operations to other emerging markets. The issues we are currently experiencing will eventually come to pass and we will be back on our feet if each one of us plays their role in ensuring the success of the changes to be implemented. Speech writing I would like to share some observations in relation to our company profits (Woolworths). This is, and I believe is an important and relevant to all you here since it is likely to affect you in directly or indirectly. Companies have been faced by a widespread failure of understanding the level and function of their profits and cash flow and based on my judgment I believe that many are blinded to the fact that businesses are not accumulating and at the same time retaining the required resources that they require to meet any challenges that they may face in the future. The society has placed increasing demands in meeting national objectives which are diverse and important such as environmental protection, energy independence and full employment. The problem associated with the marshalling of adequate capital for the business to undertake their role is a major one. The effects of inflation and stiff competition calls for additional capital since currently we believe that the corporations are making adequate funds to meet their demand for the money. I believe that as a company we are rather than generating high level of profits they are earning at very low levels based on the responsibilities were are expected to undertake. Since the profits trends are essential aspect of evaluating stocks in the marketplace our stocks fell drastically since we started experiencing the declining profits. Due to the declining profits we plan to adopt the below strategies: Proactive strategy Organize a dismissal meeting focused on firing employees Discuss with employees the need to reduce number of working staff Reactive strategy Organize an external interview for employees to secure them employment elsewhere. This reassures remaining employees of the company’s goodwill towards them. Based on the fact that the layoff may even affect the employees who will be left as accompany we have a number of strategies to ensure that we are more engaged with the employees who are left. This is because the employee left may show some level of anxiety, may lack commitment and decrease in their creativity and productivity. Thus, the following will be adhered to: Hold regular meeting Listen to the employee and respond to their concerns Set realistic, clear and attainable goals Stay focused Establish an open door policy. Though a great number of you may see the layoff as just an excuse we really need to lay off people to reduce the wage bill though the fraction is very small it will go a long way in helping us in increasing our profits in the coming years. On one hand we have the cutting of jobs and on the other the aspect of strengthening a competitive advantage so as to compete favourably with our close competitors. When addressing you next year, I expect that I will have better news other than the decreasing profits and layoffs and will report on the various accomplishments we will have achieved in the year. I am very sustain that we can survive these era of disruption and achieve prosperity. Thus for those who will be left I expect that you will assist in realizing prosperity in the coming years. I would also like to assure you that you were not laid off due to non-performance but on the contrary you did a wonderful job and the reason for lay off are due to various competitive forces that are beyond our control as an organization. Thank you for the time you spent and your dedication to your allocated duties and I would like to urge you to look for something stable as the company tries to set up interviews with other companies who may be hiring. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavours as you seek greener pastures and may you get employment opportunities soon. Newsletter To all stakeholders, I have had the honour of being the company managers for a number of years and I very in regard to reports we have received after the general meeting. A great number of the board members were present based on the urgency of the meeting and issues being discussed because if they are not dealt with properly they are likely to have adverse effects on Woolworths. I ask you to allow me to explain the facts and issues to the best of my understanding. Last month, I received an urgent request from David Guise the human resource manager to schedule a meeting with all the departmental heads. The meeting was scheduled and all those expected in the meeting were present the main issue that was discussed was the declining profits in our company (Woolworths) and thus there seemed to be an urgent need to balance and at the same time reorganize the capital budget. A major issue was the lay-off of some employees as the company felt that the huge wage bill was affecting them severally and thus saw the reduction of employees as a good way of dealing with declining profits in the company. The lay-off was to affect about 1200 workers and other employees from management roles. Based on these this was the most appropriate step towards cutting down the company’s expense costs and save more. We were also told in case we came up with suggestions as well as ideas to help in saving about $300 million dollars a total of 1000million dollars would be allocated to us to ensure that the layoff do not take place. The board member stated that they need to be involved and employees need to be working with no layoff thus the reason for offering us the chance. Despite our numerous attempts we were unable to save the requested amount and thus there was no other way out than to lay off some employees. After deliberation with the company’s attorney it was agreed that we were to make use of the already existing contract language and thus employees who were already scheduled for lay off would be requested to move to the lower pay rate as opposed to being laid off. Employees did not take this kindly and none of them was willing to move to the lower pay. Based on these the company had no other option but to lay off the workers. As a company were are also experiencing stiff competition from our competitors Aldi and Coles. In addition to the lay off the yearly profits will be lower by $300 million dollars as compared to the previous years and we mainly attribute these to the weak sales growth as well as a total of $270 million dollars that will be spent in transformation costs. The performance have been below expectations and disappointing. The layoff will also be followed by new leadership and I believe that this will usher in a period of such and augmented profits for Woolworths. I would also request that all involved parties should give time to the plan since it cannot yield results immediately. As a company we have been very tactical in outlining the challenges as well as opportunities for growth in each of our businesses. Additionally we have set put a detailed plan so as to win back the sales momentum in the coming months. I would request all of you to bear with us as we turn the improvements done to sales momentum. I believe that all parties involved have tried a lot in mitigating the issues and in the best way possible and make out the best out of the horrible situation. The layoff was not an easy decision for me and other managers. I also know that those who have been affected by the layoff are angry but since we are looking at better times in the future rest assured that when we are back on track we may require your services again. Yours sincerely: C.E.O Grant O’Brien Budget Activity Approximated Costs Media release $600 Speech $50 Newsletter $100 Read More