Experience of Strategically Managing the BSG Online Game Company - Term Paper Example

Reflective Report on the Experience of Strategically Managing a Company The bsg-Online game This report presents a reflection of my personal experience during the fourteen years I strategically managed Company H. Sitting at the helm of Company H for almost a decade and half was not easy. It was interesting and other times complicated to handle the team during all those years. There are employees I worked with for all the fourteen years while others came and left. A lot of input came from the team members in the process of overseeing the company rise to the greater heights it is enjoying today. Company H runs business in the competitive athletic footwear industry. Being a multinational company, Company H has eight other competitors in the market considering the fact that its market spreads across four economic zones of North America, Africa, Europe, Latin America, as well as Asia Pacific. Over the fourteen years, I had the biggest challenge and responsibility of making strategic decisions each year to enhance sustained profitability in addition to expanding the company niche in the market. Among other areas where strategic decisions were necessary included branded production and distribution decisions, corporate social responsibility, plant capacity, sales forecasts, marketing and other promotional activity decisions, private label operations, endorsement of celebrities, and most importantly, financial decisions (Goldratt, 1997, p. 63). At the end of each year over the fourteen years, four features served as the yardstick applied by the board to evaluate my performance. They included Earnings per share, credit rating, return on equity, and image rating. To me, it was clear that the operational performance of the company directly influenced these four significant performance measures. Therefore, it was my responsibility to oversee effective running of all operational activities within company H. Teamwork Evaluation Assessment of the PESTEL gives insights of company H currently, a position achieved under my guidance. This analysis will allow proper understanding of various factors within the macro environment that influence daily operations of the company. The relevance of evaluating PESTEL is that it brings forth a bigger picture of the environment within which Company H operates as well as opportunities and threats occurring within the same macro environment. Knowledge of the external environment within which the company runs business helps the management on behalf of the company take advantage of opportunities availing themselves and cut down threats posed by external factors. I understood clearly the five force structures, which turned out important elements in responding to the analysis of the industry. Five forces is a significant framework that managers as well as Chief Executives can use to assess the industry within which the company they oversee falls. This becomes important during the process of developing a successful business strategy. Five essential factors constitute the five forces framework. Understanding the five factors was important in running Company H over the fourteen years namely; buyer power, entry barriers, substitute competitions, supplier strength, as well as competitors in the industry. These elements remain crucial when the manager is interested in balancing or improving the position of the company within the industry considering that Company H operates in the global market in the four identified zones (Thompson, Peteraf, & Gamble, 2009, p. 71). While PESTEL applies in understanding tackling the macro environment, SWOT is an important in assessing the internal otherwise referred to as the microenvironment of the business organization. I used it as a tool for strategic planning in the process of analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and Threats. Strengths entail features of the business company resulting in the company securing and maintaining a competitive advantage over competitors in the industry. On the other hand, weaknesses put the business organization at a disadvantage compared to rivals in the industry. External opportunities available to the business institution to enhance growth and development regarding sales volumes and profit levels within the business environment constitute the opportunities as a factor of analyzing the microenvironment. Threats refer to the factors opposing the opportunities. They cause trouble, emanate from the external environment, and have the capacity to ensure that a company does not grow and generate enough profits to sustain development. The current situation in the athletic footwear industry is under high-level competition. In the four zones of North America, Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, company H has eight other competing companies. Eight is a considerable number of companies running businesses within this industry. The scope and scale of operations is wide, covers large global agencies through to small local business companies. The competitors create joint ventures with local companies where they feel their levels of establishment still rate low (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 1979, p. 63). They also take the initiative of acquiring small local business firms and takeover their market share therefore, posing great threat to the market share of Company H. However, the market and industry still offers adequate business opportunities. In the whole world, the sports industry continues to expand giving room for companies in the athletic footwear industry among them Company H to develop appropriate budget being sure that the market is sustainable. Overall, the sports industry is on a path to prosperity and maturity. This means that Company H has assurance of the market today and in future. Competitive advantages within the athletic footwear industry develop from innovative and creative ability, breadth, and range of products and services on offer. Over my fourteen years at Company H, it was clear that the capacity behind innovation and creativity remains the most important driving force within the footwear industry. An essential element differentiates services and products among the eight different companies within the industry in the four business zones that Company H operates. From the marketing perspective, creativity and innovation attracts clients compared to any other factor. Stakeholders at Company H continue and will always expect long-term brand development in the international market besides positive achievements. However, there are occasions when stakeholders remain divided over company matters among the set objectives on the priority list. Sometimes it becomes challenging them to choose between reducing the income per share and venturing into new markets. It is appropriate to state that the current performance of Company X is successful. More so, some features of the company require enhancement. Primarily it entails attraction and retention. The ratings on market research capacity remain positive for Company H. This covers among other things comprehension of market channels, segments, and distribution options. The score on innovation and creativity remains high with the exception of Africa where the company ranks third among all the eight business companies doing business in the continent regarded as the emerging market. The magnitude of the business matches the average performance of the entire industry (Tritch, 2003, p. 4). Assessing the leadership capacities leads to the conclusion that some of the offices across the four trading zones perform better compared to others. Regarding management of operations, the African market performs poorly besides ineffective management of the flow of information and administration. This explains the reason the company performs below the average performance of the industry in Africa. I would attribute the mismanagement to the fact that the market receives inadequate attention as others do partly because of referring to it as an emerging market. However, it is important for the stakeholders to realize that the rate at which the African market grows is wonderful and carries the greatest potential for increased profitability. Company H scores highly in terms of risk management. The greatest score goes to financial risk management. The only error in this sector was acquisition of particular assets in the Asian Pacific market perceived as financial astute (Ismyrlis, & Moschidis, 2013, p. 19). Previously, the performance of Company H in the corporate social responsibilities was excellent. However, over the past five years, the ratings continue to drop because of the divisions among the stakeholders sitting in the board. One section holds that since the company operates within communities it has the biggest responsibility of being part of those communities. This according to them, will people own the company an important factor in attracting and retaining customers. This is important considering the fact that company scores poorly in terms of retention of clients. The other section of the board believes that the way to continue attracting and retaining customers revolves around enhancing company promotional activities. The divisive nature of the board meant that over the five years no concrete agreement existed concerning corporate social responsibility status of the company. Therefore, the amount of money allocated to this section was little forcing the company to engage in flashes of the same activities. On a positive note, the last Board of Directors meeting resolved to embark on full corporate social responsibility activities. In my view, this is a move in the positive direction because it makes the company identify with local communities. This is an important factor in retention of clients and attraction of potential customers (Locke, 1976, p. 113). This will generate high scores for Company H in terms of corporate governance previously low over the past five years, improved social profile, and ethical position. Essential issues following the evaluation are many and include marketing. Company H musty enhance and increase promotional activities. Revenue generation for Company H in Africa regarded, as the emerging market is low. This is because the market receives little attention from the head office. Stakeholders still do not understand the potential of this enormous market (Schmidt, 2010, p. 121). Political instability in the continent makes most of the members of the board make assumptions that it is the market with greatest risk. The reverse is actually true. The assumption by the board results in the poor performance of the company. Attracting and retaining customers appears difficult coupled with the fact that the offices in Africa receive limited funds for expansion and conducting promotional activities. Another important issue is the financial problem. In some of the business zones where Company H runs businesses, the company uses high-level employee costs. The result is that fifty-five percent of revenue generated goes towards the recurrent expenditure that constitutes of majorly payment of salaries and wages. Issues in the management hierarchy in other trading zones that includes corruption entail the third issue generated from evaluation of Company H. Culpable regions experience weak leadership capacities and bad procurement procedures as well. It would be appropriate for the company to engage in the movement of staffs from zone to another to enhance effective management (Harter, & Hayes, 2002, p. 271). Questionable acquisition of assets in the Asian Pacific market termed as awful by financial experts led to the zone missing huge financial support to develop and expand the brand value. Poor leadership and management makes the suspect areas lose talented and skillful employees to rival companies within the same market. This behavior influences reputation and creation negatively. In general, Company H continues to match the average performance of the entire athletic footwear industry in all the four trading zones that entail North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Europe. Sustainability and enhancement of the company global brand requires further adjustments by both stakeholders and managers in the trading zones. Course Integration The strategic gaps identified in this section need to make Company H reconsider its future position in the market. The focus should turn to various aspects supporting its future position and existing market development, human resource perspectives that regard poor leadership, and lack of employees with adequate talent. This is besides budget and financial issues. In this respect, I recommend various issues to respond to the issues following my fourteen years’ experience. Company H should factor in suitability, feasibility, as well as acceptability alternatives. The management ought to understand that raised issues require remedies but at different stages and in various forms. Among other areas where strategic decisions were necessary included branded production and distribution decisions, corporate social responsibility, plant capacity, sales forecasts, marketing and other promotional activity decisions, private label operations, endorsement of celebrities, and most importantly, financial decisions. The magnitude of the business matches the average performance of the entire industry. Assessing the leadership capacities leads to the conclusion that some of the offices across the four trading zones perform better compared to others. It is necessary for the company to venture into new markets such as the ever-increasing Chinese market to tackle the problem at a corporate level. To enhance attraction, the company should revise its leadership in questionable zones and improve financial risk management. Change Strategy The existing strategy for Company H is good no wonder it continues to keep the performance of the company above average making it successful. However, few aspects of the strategy need development to facilitate maintenance of competitive advantage in the industry. First, the marketing approach requires development to enhance the capacity of promotional activities. This is because many news features await Company H to achieve. They include among others increasing penetration into the emerging market of Africa as well as enhancing the performance in the Asia Pacific market (Dess, Lumpkin, & Eisner, 2009, p, 156). To fight stiff competition currently in Africa the company ought to invest in promotional activities to market company products through existing forums. International forums in Africa include The Nairobi International Standard Marathon held in Kenya in the month of November every year; The Johannesburg International Rugby Series (IRB) that brings together the best sevens teams in the world, The Africa Nations Cup held every two years, The CHAN Championships, and many more sporting activities held at national, regional, and continental fronts. The idea of opening up new markets is also an important venture. Putting into consideration that Company H defines itself as a creative and innovative athletic footwear company that insists on quality products, the company should equip itself for the challenges within the industry in addition to emerging ones (Bates, 2004, p. 47). The company can achieve this by retaining and attracting talented staffs across the four-business zones through high-level innovation and creativity. After implementing changes in retention of employees, the company should address the issue of weak leadership and poor procurement procedures. Bad governance plays a crucial role in questionable acquisition deals that rocked the Asia Pacific market. This will tighten the lose notch that makes the company lose money unnecessarily (Ansoff, 1979, p. 51). The company should improve its budget and control spending to facilitate improvements in financial management that currently score badly. These aspects require immediate actions without procrastination (Fox, 2010, p. 37). Maintaining the effective sources of revenue will give the company the capacity to sustain its market position and create room for implementation of proposed changes. This is the avenue to strengthening the company’s purchasing power, enhance reputation through brand attraction, and enter new markets with ease as well. Bibliography Ansoff, H. I. (1979). Strategic management. New York, Wiley. Goldratt, E. (1997). Critical Chain. Great Barrington, MA: The North River Press. Bates, S. (2004). Being engaged. HR Magazine, Vol. 49(2), pp. 44-51. Dess, G., Lumpkin, G. T. & & Eisner, A. (2009). Strategic Management: International Edition. Oxford: McGraw-Hill ISBN. Fox, A. (2010). Raising Engagement. HR Magazine, Vol. 55(5), pp. 34-40. Harter, J., & Hayes, T. (2002). Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a Meta analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 87(2), pp. 268-279. Hellriegel, D., & Slocum, J. W. (1979). Organizational behavior. St. Paul, West Pub. Co. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 04(02), pp. 12-20. Ismyrlis, V. & Moschidis, O. (2013). Six Sigmas critical success factors and toolbox. Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job dissatisfaction in Organizational Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill. Schmidt, F. (2010). Organizational Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill. Thompson, A., Peteraf, M. & Gamble, J. (2009). Crafting and Executing Strategy. Chicago: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Tritch, T. (2003). Engagement drives results at new century. Management Journal of Vol. 4(11), p. 4. Read More