Customer and Satisfaction Loyalty Thought IT for Atlantic Quench Company - Term Paper Example

AND SATISFACTION LOYALTY THOUGH IT FOR ATLANTIC QUENCH COMPANY Type of Company Atlantic Quench Company is a Cranberry juice production company based in the United States. This company was formed about 80 years ago and recently managed by 46 grapefruit farmers and 630 cranberry farmers. This company has developed to become the leading producer of canned and bottled juices in North America and has been named to have the best selling brand. The company is well-known for the production of the juice of various varieties both juice and non-juice drinks. Examples of juice products we have Cranberry mixed juice and Grab ‘n Go and non-juice products like Cranberry sauces and fresh Cranberries. Competition Industry The products of the company have been promoted due to their healthy quality and for many years the company has been standing as a monopoly in the market. However, in the recent years, there had been competition brought by the growing interest of the consumers in superfine juices which are believed to be having huge amounts of antioxidants and nutrients, leading to a market that is more competitive. The competition in the market has also been caused by huge industries producing carbonated soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The company has, therefore, got the market very competitive with the soft drinks industries taking the biggest share of the market. Organizational Mission The mission of the Atlantic Quench Company is to become the largest producer and distributor of fruit juice in the American continent. The organization is towards inspiring people to have improvement in their lifestyle and health through consumption of more of fruit drinks (Ferrell et al. 2014). Organizational Vision Leading-edge technology promotes development and affects both the product quality and the environment for the products production. The organization can, therefore, form tough and everlasting ties with its partners to preserve an active long fresh product development that is jointly beneficial (Ferrell et al. 2014). Current Situation of the Company; Technology & Security aspects Fruits are processed in various ways depending on the end product desired. The technologies applied are very simple, with the exception of some multifaceted processes of chemical preservation and canning. Drying, chilling and pickling of fruits are reasonably easy processes. The industry has however innovated some packaging of products such as improvement and propagation of microwave –proof plastic. Some other processing and advancements in technology also affects the operations of the industry. For example, the application of EFS electronic regulates running scheme which has made costs of distribution lower and improved the trading relations between the food service merchants and distributors. EFS involvement and other relevant logistics have enabled reduction of costs linked to products ordering and supply chain transactions management through replacement of manual processes prone to errors with more effective and perfect electronic processes. The security aspects seen in the industries are CCTV cameras and alarm alerts in sensitive areas like financial departments and managers offices and corridors. Furthermore, security officers are also employed to provide security at the gate and within the company during the nights. Information technology roles for starting business venture Information technology constitutes a fundamental and essential part of all organizations in their plans and development. IT plays an important role in both multi-corporations who uphold supercomputer schemes and records and small businesses that operate single computers. Therefore, in undertaking various business ventures, some IT personnel are supposed to be considered for the success of such business ventures. In the success of Atlantic Company in the maintenance of better grip of fulfillment and fidelity of consumers, the following IT roles should be in place. The role of communication played by IT is vital. The organization requires a chief communication means between the suppliers, employees, and consumers. An email was one of the initial internet drivers giving simple and cheap communication means. Various communication tools have also come in over the years allowing communication between the staffs such as by use of live chats schemes, systems for video conferencing and online meetings. Voice through internet practice telephones and smart phones provide yet more high-tech methods for communication between employees (Zee, 2002). Therefore, for the promotion of the business venture, there should be a well-organized communication system between the organization and the consumers. This is especially important for the promotion of both the existing and new products. The organization should, therefore, ensure that the advertisement information can reach the consumers in the right time and through the right means. Inventory management should also be put in place before venturing into the business. This requires the maintenance of sufficient supply to meet the demand of the consumers with no investment in the excess of what they need. The inventory management system follows the amount of every item a company upholds, activating an order of more stock when the amounts go below the preset quantity. This system requires the connection of inventory management scheme to the point of the scale system. Consumers satisfaction to the other extent depends on the availability of the product when needed. This system will allow the organization to supply enough quantity to the market without any shortage. Data management is another IT role that should be in place before venturing into the business. This requires digital storage of data into storage devices or servers. The company is therefore in the position of storing the large amount of historical data economically for future retrieval (Kamel, 2003). This role is important for management of information on market trends and hence consumers buying or demand trend. It will allow for control of production to prevent wastages, for example, the amount of juice consumption during summer being high as compared to winter. Management information system is another role that should be in place. This system will help the organization in tracking the data on sales, expenditure and the levels of production. This information can be applied to the tracking down of profitability over the period, maximizing return on investment and identification of improvement areas. Managers are therefore in the position of tracking sales daily, and the can act on lower sales abruptly through improving the productivity of the employee or lowering the item cost. Having this role in place, the monitoring of consumer satisfaction and loyalty will be easier which will be monitored through sales made daily (Khosrow-Pour et al 2002). The customer relationship management role of IT should also be considered. IT is always used by the companies to improve on the ways in which they manage and design consumer relationships. This system takes any interactions made by the company to consumers to allow for a more inspiring experience. If the customer makes a call to the call center raising a problem, the representative of customer support will be in a position to observe what has been purchased by the customer. All the interaction is stored in the CRM system, to be used if the customer calls another time (Khosrowpour et al. 2000). This role being in position makes it easy in the faster provision of solutions to the customers problems. It is, therefore, important towards winning the loyalty of the customer as they will see the organization as being honest with the services and products. SWOT Analysis The marketing environment of Atlantic Quench has devastating. The business venture will, therefore, experience various strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the success of its implementations. On the strengths, having producing fruit products the company has high chances of being taken positively in the market. This is because fruit juices are taken into considerations for their roles as antioxidants and nutrients hence preferred by the consumers. It, therefore, satisfies the need of the consumer for the maintenance of good health. The weakness seen in the venturing of this business is the loyalty the consumers already have in other brands of drinks like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. These companies are said to have the largest share of the market and to defeat them need the organization to win the loyalty of the consumers. This will not be easy for the business as it will require more time to convince the consumer to change taste and preference (Böhm, 2009). The opportunity that comes in is the shift of the consumers towards putting more emphasis into their health and observes what they consume. They are after the consumption of substances that adds value to their lives. Fruit juice serves as one of these substances, and it will be of benefit when venturing the business. The threats that arise are those of the competitive companies who produce the fruit juices using the same raw materials. These companies would make it difficult to carry out the business venture as they will be giving a tough completion with both sides trying to win the consumers with the same product (Böhm, 2009). Major goals for IT Strategic Plan The Strategic IT Plan carried out by the business venture is towards the achievement of several goals at the end of the business venture. First, the strategic plan is towards the increment of the market share in the market. This would allow for a high profit to the organization thus expansion of the organization through the investment into the latest technology. The business will, therefore, be after making sure that at least new consumers are brought into the market of the organizations product. Second, the plan targets to minimize the level of competition of the competitors. The business will, therefore, be finding out what the consumers admires in the competitors products and come with innovations of applying the same to the organization. This will help to narrow down the competition gap. Third, the plan is also towards coming up with new products that can easily attract the consumers. The business will, therefore, try to find out from the consumers what they expect of the new product and ensure the fulfillment of the needs of the new product. Having the new product in the market will be like opening new ways for the organization. Fourth, the plan is towards coming up with best methods of promoting the companys products. The business will, therefore, look into the target groups and innovate the best way of doing promotions especially through advertisements by way of social media. Lastly, the plan targets to improve the relationship between the organization and the consumer. This will, therefore, require the promotion of the positive image of the organization. The business will, therefore, ensure of innovations that provide the best services to the consumers. For example, innovating a package that is easy to dispose or biodegradable (Schwalbe, 2002). Positive organizational impacts for strategic plan implementation The organization in its current position has proved to have positive in the implementation of the strategic plan for the success of the business venture. First, the financial position of the organization and the period of which it has been effective has shown its capability in providing the financial support needed for the success of the business venture. The organization is accessible to external loans from banks or other monetary institutions since it has various securities making it access to the loan. The company also due to its size is in opposition to lease property or equipment for the improvement of its technology. Second, the technology used in the company is a recent technology. This is important as only minimal improvements will be required to achieve the most current technology. The company also composed of skilled professionals in all departments and, therefore, the new technology will be easy to adopt. Lastly, the prices of the products of the organization are at the level affordable to the average consumer. This would make the promotion of the products in the business easier as the issues concerning the prices will remain constant. The products are therefore packed in bottles and tins of different sizes hence a wide choice to the consumers on an affordable size. All the above factors together influence the implementation of the strategic plan positively. In my conclusion, after consideration of the above factors of the industry, business venture on consumers preference and loyalty is possible. Having all the IT roles above in place, the implementation will be made easier. The current situation of the company in terms of technology is not that bad as it is within the application of most companies. However, the business venture has experienced various weaknesses and threats but the strengths and opportunities still under weigh them. Formation of a good organization-consumer relationship is crucial as this would be the foundation for the determination of the success of the business venture. The goals of the strategic plan have also shown to be compatible with the mission and vision of the organization which usually guide all the activities undertaken by the organization. The organization has also shown to be very supportive for the achievement of the business venture objective as shown by its current position. The success of this venture is, however, more dependent on the decisions of the organization. REFERENCES Top of Form Böhm, A. (2009). The SWOT Analysis. München: GRIN Verlag. Page 6-8. Bottom of Form Top of Form Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. D. (2014). Marketing strategy: Text and cases. Mason, OH: South- Western/Cengage Learning. Page 30 Top of Form Information Resources Management Association., & Khosrow-Pour, M. (2002). Issues & trends of information technology management in contemporary organizations. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing. Page 156. Top of Form Kamel, S. (2003). Managing globally with information technology. Hershey, Pa: IRM Press.Page 4.Bottom of Form Top of Form Khosrowpour, M., & Information Resources Management Association International Conference. (2000).Challenges of information technology management in the 21st century: 2000 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, Anchorage, Alaska, USA, May 21-24, 2000. Hershey, Pa. [u.a.: Idea Group Publishing. Page 1081 Top of Form Schwalbe, K. (2012). Information technology project management. Page 146 Bottom of Form Top of Form Zee, H. . (2002). Measuring the value of information technology. Hershey: IRM Press. Page 16 Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More