Sustainability Consultancy Report - Coursework Example

 Sustainability Consultancy Report i. Business Insider is the consultancy group that I represent. The group has a diverse portfolio which includes handling local entrepreneurial ventures to overseeing business transactions for multinational companies. In this case, the company usually adapts to the demands of the clients. The consultancy group is made up of different employees whose expertise vary in conformity with the world’s changing demands. Generally, the consultancy firm is versatile enough to meet the demands of most businesses. Given that it has been operational for almost ten years, it has leverage when it comes to handling issues related to business consultancy at any level. ii. Wooden furniture Stores is a business which is based in Sweden. It mainly deals with the production of furniture and other related material. In this case, it approached the consultancy firm to help improve its business ventures, and particularly the turnover registered from the sales accrued. The company chose Business Insider as the ideal consultancy group given the experience that comes with the group. When it comes to sustainability and risk management, our consultancy group has a good reputation. As stated earlier, the consultancy group is quite diverse and is also well versed with many markets including the Swedish market which is the focus of the Wooden Furniture Stores. Other than that, the consultancy group has people who have worked with similar companies before and help improve their sustainability plans. The company approached the consultancy group last month following the close of their financial year. It was part of their financial resolution to look for a consultancy firm which is reputable to help transform their business outlooks. Of importance, the employees which work for the consultancy group are self-driven in way which makes their levels of competence quite admired (Paton, 2008). Based on this, the company saw it fit to seek the services of out consultancy group. Besides, we have proven to have been the best consultancy group in terms of business sustainability and enforcing the culture of risk management amongst businesses. iii. The company has a good business model. In fact, the company can be described as a second wave corporation. This comes from the fact that the company, despite seeking to be profitable from the resources it has in terms of timber and employees, seeks to ensure that its operations become sustainable in the long run. In this case, one of the issues that affect the company is the availability of raw materials. In the acquisition of timber, there are many policies and by laws that the company has to abide by to ensure that it does not breach the laws. This eventually impacts on the company’s performance and productivity. Other than that, the company has to deal with the issues of employee turnovers. It is evident that out of the sixteen thousand employees that the company has, the levels of productivity are not full exploited. The company should come up with a way of outsourcing some of the services that it needs. Just as it outsources for supplies, the company can incorporate other aspects of outsourcing to improve its levels of efficiency. For the sustainability of the business even in the years to come, the company should seek to expand into other markets strategically. Currently, being located in Sweden, the company only manages to reach out to a given market niche which is not that wide. In this regards, the company should consider exploring other markets which are most promising in terms of return on investments. Therefore, the company should also embrace emerging technologies in the wake of the challenges that come its way. In the long run, the company would have to invest in its own plantations of pinewood which is the main raw material that it uses for the production of the timber products that it offers. The alternative source of Timber which is Ukraine is acceptable as at now but with the dynamics that come with such forms of trans border trade, it is important for the company to nurture its own source of trees. iv. The first issue will be downsizing the employees. Currently, the company runs with over sixteen thousand employees which make the wage bill to be quite high. In terms of sustainability, it would be impossible to meet some of the set demands and objectives of the business. Consequently, it is important that the company thinks of downsizing the number of employees to ensure that only the most performing and efficient employees are retained. Secondly, the company should adopt the use of technology. In managing the workforce, it is imperative that the company develops a culture which will encourage the use of machines and other automated systems. Through this, the company would definitely save on a lot in terms of spending on employee wages. For long term sustainability, the company should continue with the project of expanding into new business frontiers. The South American market seems very promising for the products of the business. However, the company should assess and evaluate the market first. In evaluating the anticipated market, two factors should be considered: the likely risks and the anticipated returns. However, risk aversion should not be embraced since that would not encourage the abrasive idea of diversification. Lastly, the company should think of making its expanded branches work like independent portfolios. For instance, if the company invests in South America, everything should be locally sourced to minimize the costs of production. However, what should carry on should be the company’s culture and employee practices which should all be in conformity with the company’s mission and business objective. v. The most important and urgent need that company should consider implementing is managing its employees. In this regards, the company should consider having a lean workforce which would still guarantee maximum productivity. In this regard, there are various ways of approaching the issue. It should be noted that currently the company has about sixteen thousand employees. Out of these employees, some roles are redundant in that they can be performed by only one employee. In addressing the issue, the report suggests that the company adopts what is known as the Evolutive Model of change. In this aspect, the company should seek competitive strategies that would make its operations sustainable in view of emerging trends and dynamics. In this model, the company should seek new ways of gaining competitive advantage (Meyerson, 2001). The first way would be through empowering the workforce. The workforce can be empowered in ways that would make them productive and competitive enough. For instance, the employees should be taken through trainings which would instill the company’s core philosophy and culture in them. In doing this, the company would find ways of improving their employee performances. Other than that, employee appraisal is a culture which should also be inculcated in the company’s performance habit. In this case, innovative and most performing employees in terms of productivity should be rewarded (Meadows, 2008). The rewards should come in terms of bonuses and perks. For the employees involved in the managerial works, the company should focus on giving promotions based on merit. Likewise, the employees should who are involved in the production and design of furniture should be inspired to come up with creative designs which go against the norms. People associate furniture with particular designs. However, if the designers and production team can come up with incredibly good designs, the company’s might realize improved sales. The selection as well as the retention of the employees in this model would impact so much on the direction that the business will take (Doppelt, 2010). For instance, the model demands that the most productive employees be retained while those who will be evaluated and deemed not to be productive will be dropped. All these will be aimed at improving the business operations of the company. Being a company that deals in timber and furniture, The Wooden Furniture Store will have to embrace these concepts since they directly translate to the returns that would be accrued from the business. Employees are the mainstay of any business. However, appreciating the employees comes in many ways. For the company, it should acknowledge the fact that with a proper attitude, a psyched up workforce can really transform a company. Therefore, what is important is developing the current workforce to ensure that they work towards improving productivity. The company has a unique position and it should use this to ensure that it succeeds in the ventures that it follows. For instance, by being located in rural Sweden, the company occupies a place which ensures that it is near the source of its raw materials which is timber. However, the objective of the company should be being included as part of the third wave corporations which appreciate their employees as well as customers. The strategies that are recommended above can work very well for the company. However, the company should also weigh the possibility of failure. In addressing some of the facts that need to be changed, for instance, it might come out that innovative ideas might not be successful in the end. However, it should be noted that the much needed change can only be achieved if the proposed recommendations are put in place. In other aspects, the Evolutive Model is still applicable when the company seeks to expand to new markets. New markets usually offer quite a challenge to businesses with expansionist strategies. For a business which conforms to the model of second Wave Corporation, it is important to change its approach to focus more on developing the employees and coming up with products which would really meet the customers’ expectations. Irrespective of whatever that the business might come across, the aspect of risk management should be embraced at all times since it is through that the business which manage to overcome the challenges that it comes across in the anticipated new markets. The management of the business is key to its success. In this regard, the managerial approach that the business should incorporate is a top-down approach. In this kind of arrangement, the company would formulate and dispense its actions from the top. The implication is that the management will bear responsibility for the fate of the business at any time. vi. The Wooden Furniture Stores is a company which is strategically placed to succeed in the new markets that it ventures in. With reported estimations that the consumption of timber products stand at about 1% of the world’s population, the realization is that the market is so big. In fact, the idea of expanding to other markets needs a very good strategy to ensure a smooth transition. In this regards, the company should consider having a future plan which would ensure it sustainability. The most important thing in the life cycle of the business is the raw products. The raw products of the business, in this case, is pine wood. The wood is rare and mostly grows in rain forest. Therefore, the company should come up with a way of cultivating their own trees to an extent that the demand will never outstrip the supply. For the Swedish market, the demand seems to be met by the raw products that come from Ukraine. However, that should not be entirely relied on since businesses which go past borders are affected by political ties. In this case, the current situation in Ukraine should be a pointer to the challenges that might come the way of the business. Consequently, it would be very prudent for the management of the business to acknowledge such possibilities and think of way of mitigating crises that might arise from such (Beech, 2012). What would be eventually sustainable for the business would be to have its own Pinewood plantations in the demography that the company would be setting up bases. The Swedish production should be used as the point of reference for all the anticipated businesses that would be set up. In doing this, the management should acknowledge the fact that failure is a possibility and in pursuing the proposed changes, there is a level of risk that the company will be exposing itself to. Bibliography Beech, N.; Macintosh, R. (2012) Managing Change: enquiry and action. Cambridge University Press. DOPPELT, B. (2010) Leading Change Toward Sustainability: a Change-Management Guide for Business,Government and Civil Society. Greenleaf Publishing. Sheffield, UK HOLMAN, P., DEVANE, T. & CADY, S. (2007) The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource On Today’s Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems, Second Edition. Berrett-Koehler Publishers: San Francisco, CA, USA. JAMES, S. and LAHTI, T. (2004) The Natural Step for Communities. New Society Publishers: Gabriola Island, B.C. Canada. Classic. MEADOWS, D. (2008) Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing. MEYERSON, D. (2001) Tempered Radicals: How Everyday Leaders Inspire Change at Work. Harvard Business School Press. Boston, USA PATON, R.A., MCCALMAN, J. (2008) Change Management: a guide to effective implementation. 3rd Read More