Corporate Profile of ABCD Inc - Case Study Example

Corporate Profile of ABCD Inc The Corporate Profile ABCD Inc is an organization engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of world class packaged food products. Commenced as a small manufacturing unit more than a decade ago, the company has gained envious growth in the local market. At present, the ABCD products are spread across the US market with a satisfactory record of serving millions of customers. With new companies coming to the market with equal choices for the buyers, it becomes an immediate necessity for ABCD to look beyond the local market. The company is now planning to expand its business worldwide by mainly focusing on the potential markets like India and China. The management is conscious about the responsibility it has towards the multi-level stakeholders of the organization and is working hard for making the expected results. Even though the company is standing amidst the tough competitive market conditions, its products continue to remain the customers’ top priority. Beginning with a single-stall outlet making over-the-counter sales the growth of the demand was rapid and the incredible rise in the demand for its products helped the ABCD to open numerous sales counters over the year. The company’s product line includes the varieties of fried chicken, smoked fish and meat, canned meat and various readymade soup combinations besides a number of powdered edible materials. Being a purely non-vegetarian brand, the company has to make sure that the prospective international markets set a background for the trade without cultural barriers and regional issues related to religious norms. The production, marketing and distribution of ABCD products are under the departmentalized management system which employs the personnel for areas like quality control, product development, market analysis, sales and distribution etc. The responsible participation of these management wings ensure the smooth functioning of the organization while guaranteeing its growth and sustainability. Address (fictitious): ABCD Inc. Street No. 123 Big Boss Industrial Estate Heaven City Alabama State United States of America Contact No. Email: Web: The Mission Statement “To develop a healthy, hygienic and responsible eating habit across customers of all age, sex and localities” Mission and Values The ABCD Inc. is a business organization with the pure intent of making profit through legally accurate and socially responsible activities. The company is focusing on the international exposure by extensive business practices aiming at amassing global customers across different age groups. The company expects the customers to derive from all choices and natures; they may be male or female, young or old, but their passion for experiencing new tastes is the ultimate reality. While making profit is the most basic objectives of all organizations, food processing industry has to look beyond this principal aim and remain responsible for the health conditions of the customers as well as the employment of a real system to maintain the social responsibility of its activities. The sensitivity of this industry is so high that a single mistake by any participant during the production or distribution can spoil the reputation of the company. Hence it is important for the management to maintain a comprehensive surveillance of the activities of all employees in the operational process. All edible substances are the essential need of the customers across places and times; therefore, building trust is an important factor for the companies dealing with food products. The company insists on the healthy use of its products by the customers. In that perspective, the management protects the social responsibility by making sure that the taste of its product will not result in massive obesity concerns from overeating. Each of the packs contains a catalogue to describe the nutritional facts and guidelines for the effective consumption of the products. This will help the customers (or guardians of the customers) to decide the pattern of their consumption. Hygiene is a concept of intertwining interests of both customers and the company itself. While the company promises to maintain the international standards in the processing of its products with regards to cleanliness, it also asks the customers to develop a hygienic consumption trait. The descriptions of serving styles and dietary course will enable the customers to design a perfect eating style. Responsibility is a fundamental driving force for both customers and organizations. ABCD reminds its customers by inscription the responsible ways of consumption and disposal of the empty containers with specific alerts about the social impacts of their irresponsible ways of handling the products and their scraps. Policies and Guidelines The management of ABCD aims at making the right path for the distribution mechanics while ensuring that the market analyses bring favorable report about the upcoming tendencies. The prime focus will be on market acquisition, as a part of which the company will engage in widespread advertisement campaigns. The company looks for long term market share; therefore it is important for the management to find stable strategic partners in the deal. The selection of franchise model business expansion aims at promoting local employment and socioeconomic development as the prime social objectives of the company. This model of business will prove more beneficial for the authorities of the new expansion destination in earning higher revenue from taxes and other commercial charges. The company management will be responsible for meeting the expectations of the franchise owners of the outlets and for protecting them from the fears of exemption from the policy making process. In this regard the company will adopt a democratic policy of open ownership allocation. According to the observation of ‘2015 Franchise Public Policy Platforms 2015’, a declaration of the entire franchise business as a single unit under one management will pave way for waning the trust and commitment away from the franchise owners whose eventual disinterest can bring an adverse impact on the goodwill of the company. Therefore, the ownership policy will be democratic and the franchise owners will be given the freedom and power to work as localized employer groups while the important aspects like brand name, trademark and quality will be the choice of the federal leadership. The guidelines for pricing and choosing the medium of advertisement and transportation will be flexible as the local franchise owners will be better judges to select the best practice. However, the company management will maintain recurrent quality checks and auditing procedures to ensure that each franchise provides fine quality product at reasonable price. The announcement of audit reports and socializing of public response will result in improved performance through which the company can ensure extended trust among the customers. General Guidelines for Employee Behavior Qualified and experienced workforce is the greatest strength of any organization. However, the existence of a uniform behavioral pattern is necessary for the extraction of quality labor from the employees. In most cases, the regulation of employee behavior is managed by enforcing certain guidelines for the workforce. Some of the guidelines in ABCD for the employees are listed below. Be punctual and regular Gain respect by behavior and appearance Be cost-effective Be attentive, patient and courteous Be expressive about issues Be positive towards workplace Cooperate with fellow employees and contribute to the growth Be dutiful and take accountability of mistakes Be active and professional at workplace The employees and managers at all levels will be warned strictly against the consumption of alcohol, drugs or any other substance of intoxication. The management primarily focuses on the employment of certain Biblical principles which stand ahead of the profit motives. As the Bible says, “Wine (is) a mocker, strong drink (is) raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs20:1, King James). Therefore it is not advisable to hold a team that gives in to any sort of addiction or intoxication in the business. When the management can ensure that the employees follow these guidelines, a major share of the task towards managing their behavior is complete. The remaining part of the regulation can be done through various performance appraisal methods. Managers’ Role The managers of franchise business of food processing and distribution industries have a multi-dimensional role to perform. ABCD expects its managers to be strong competitors and reliable strategic partners to the organization. Franchise managers are the real players of the franchise business. Therefore the company will entrust them with the responsibility of finding the right location and capable franchisee for the expansion of the business. In the process of managing franchises, the top level managers will remain policy makers and strategists who set targets and evaluate the existing management mechanisms. They forward their instructions and guidance to the middle level managers who execute the plans at the franchise level. In ABCD, the top level managers will be the departmental heads who can best design the policies and operational methods. Dress Code To be precise, style makes man. Therefore ABCD will ensure the management of the following dress code for commanding respect CEO : Casual wear of personal choice. But for meetings, Sky blue and white striped shirt, indigo trousers and blazer General Manager: Sky blue and oceanic blue striped shirt and dark purple trousers with dark purple blazer and tie Departmental Heads (Senior Managers): lavender and ink blue striped shirts, oceanic blue trousers, blazer and tie Supervisors (Production) Red half coat over green shirt and trousers, skull cap and glasses or masks Supervisors (Marketing and sales) Executive designer blue striped shirt and black trousers with grey waist coat and dark tan tie Workers: Green shirt and trousers, long apron, gloves and head clothes. With this kind of a dress code, ABCD can ensure discipline in appearance and dignity of labor maintained smoothly. Safety First Safety remains one of the priorities for the management. Since the production and transportation staff is vulnerable to accidents the company at franchise level provides for the safety measures. Besides establishing world class fire safety apparatus and emergency management systems, ABCD operates individual risk benefit insurance schemes for all the employees. The risk management team will look after the affairs associated with accidents and process the remedial proceeding in the event of mishaps. Well-treated Employees The management will treat the employees as the company’s priceless asset and give them priority and participation in all managerial decisions taken at the executive level. Employees will have strategic partnership in higher level decisions regarding the workforce management practices. There will be timely meetings and democratic talking sessions to give them the freedom of speech. The management will be happy to accept and adopt the useful suggestions by the employees. In strategic management, the leadership often finds solutions through and with the help of employee participation in the decision making process. This will help build trust and commitment which results in improved productivity. Concerns, Whistle Blowing and Resolutions ABCD aims at pure growth based on trust –both from employees and from the customers. In order to build trust among employees, there must be a transparent ambience of communication. The company believes in the policy that favors democratic communication in which employees can present their views about a possible or persistent problem in the organizational process. According to a Barnett in ”Why Your Company Should Have A Whistleblowing Policy”, the existence of an improper communication system damages the employee trust, which results in alarming situations like whistle blowing initiated by certain employees (37-38). Therefore ABCD is focusing on creating awareness among the employees about the right process of conveying their concerns about ethical and personal issues happening in the process. To serve this purpose, a special jury will be hired permanently to work with the company’s HR management wing. This jury can work independently and resolve the issues at individual level within the organization and prevent the shameful incidents of whistle blowing. The potential problems relating to ethical challenges are strategic issues gaining the attention of the top level management. While personal issues and conflicts among the workers are under the jurisdiction of the HR manager who will discuss the matter with the concerned department heads in the presence of the conflicting parties. The HR manager will also provide time and stage for discussions between the differing employees and amicably settle the issue by ensuring equal justice to all. Moreover, the company will be serious about the discouraging practices such as bullying and harassment at any level of the management. Individuals will enjoy a free workplace environment in which they can feel the security for their dignity and liberty at given positions. Diversity Franchise business is all about occupying diversity in all elements of the operation. Employees, managers, destinations and customers are all diverse in the conglomeration of franchises. The balance of diversity in workforce and target customers will make the process easy and free from issues. Therefore ABCD will treat the element of diversity as a treasure from which it can extract a lot of potential for competitive advantage in the changing market conditions. Customer Care The management will ensure that the company can offer the best customer satisfaction at reasonable prices while maintaining its commitment to the stakeholders and society in every move it makes forward. The ABCD food products are for the customers of all age, gender and region. For effectively meeting the demands of millions of its customers, the company will run the franchise under its direct supervision and evaluate the customer feedback for making timely changes in required regions. At all points, the company will rely on the policy, ‘customer is first’ and remain loyal to them while striving to get to their expectations. Dealing Vendors Franchise outlets cannot get the going without the participation of vendors at the end point. As everyone works for their remuneration, so do the vendors. The company will provide training to unskilled sales personnel and entry level executives to boost their morale and performance. A series of advertisements will make the sellers’ job easy by popularizing the brands and products among the customers. Along with the visual and print media, ABCD will make the effective use of social networking sites for the promotion of new brands in target markets. Besides this, the company will offer lucrative career to the vendors by treating them parallel to the permanent employees. Handling Competitors A consistent demonstration of value-based application of the company’s mission can prove beneficial for gaining long term trust. As consistency is the summary of trust and sustainability put together, organizations have to work hard on meeting their standards with comprehensive care. The company will continue to maintain the quality standards and reserve financial security for dealing with economic challenges resulting from the threat of competitors. The practice of SWOT analyses will extend the company’s scope to identifying the competitors’ strength and weakness and improve the standard of performance without cutting the prices down. With reasonable patience and thoughtful application of strategic plans, the company can overcome the threats of competition and showcase better results if the management can collectively handle the franchises as a confederation. Works Cited Barnett, Tim. Why Your Company Should Have A Whistleblowing Policy. Sam Advanced Management Journal, (Autumn, 1992): 37-42. Print. The Bible. King James Version. 2015 Franchise Public Policy Platforms. IFA. Web http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/FRANCHISE/479577e9-acc7-49c0-a6a6-73a5073b4e18/UploadedFiles/2015%20Issues.pdf Read More