Management of Fonterra Dairies New Zealand - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Report on management of Fonterra Dairies New Zealand Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction The organizations in the current world are facing challenges concerning interpersonal and group communication in their work places. This is as a result of changes in the lifestyles caused by reforms in the environmental factors such as economic political and social. Communication is most essential in any organization requiring group work as it enables the individuals to interact and fully understand each other hence makes it possible to combine efforts and work as a group. Communication is a process which requires some parties and steps and it is considered to be complete when the intended message reaches the receiver and he fully understands its meaning. The importance of the communication is reflected by the performance of Fonterra Dairies New Zealand (Oecd, 2005). Fonterra is considered to one of the largest dairy firms which exports approximately 20 million tones of dairy products per year especially in USA and Asia. This has made New Zealand to be most famous across the world due to its dairy products. It has customers across 14 countries of the world. The study below considers the impacts of communication in effective management of Fonterra Dairies New Zealand. The forms of communication used by Fonterra Dairies New Zealand As a dealer of the most perishable products which requires faster markets to avoid losses hence meet its targets as the main source of revenues for New Zealand. The strong network between the parties involved in the marketing of the products is enhanced by good and effective communication processes considered by the management. Their communication is general and involves all the forms under the various methods like oral, written and electronic. According to the information provided by the second CEO of the organization, Andrew Ferrier, the management concentrates more on the organization communication techniques. The leader said that according to his observations, substantial amount of management time is spent while directly communicating to the shareholders. These are people who are accountable for the ownership of the organization by contributing to raw materials used. While addressing the students of Auckland University’s Business School, the CEO said that various forms of communication are considered so as to reach as many audiences as possible and effectively communicate the intended message. The farmers who are the shareholders of the organization have differing levels of illiteracy thus requiring different forms of communication suitable for their understanding (Davidson et al, 2009 pp. 3). In the current world, the meaning of communication is changing depending on the methods used and the reforms in the lifestyle. Many of the researchers categorize communication into non-verbal and verbal depending on the forms used. The verbal communication mostly uses the form of oral communication or the use of words; this mostly involves the use of sounds and speeches. The non-verbal kind of communication which does not involve the use of words, this is mostly applied to the parties who are less educated or physically challenged hence cannot use the verbal forms. Communication as the key to evolution and it has highly evolved with the changes in the lifestyle of the people. The management of the Fonterra Dairy firm concentrates more on communication so as to bring together different parties involved in the production, manufacturing and marketing processes of the products. These include: the farmers as the producers, the staff members in the organization who carry out the manufacturing process and customers are the most important as they consume the final products and bring in income in the organization (Auer, 2010 p. 365). Verbal communication is most used in the organization when communicating to the shareholders as the CEO said that a considerable amount of time is spent in direct communication with the approximately 12634 shareholders. Apart from direct communication, other forms are also considered to reach as many audiences as possible. These forms include field briefings; this is a form through which the agents are able to interact with their customers or shareholders and discuss issues relating to the operations of the organizations. This is close to direct communications although it deals with mass audiences compared to face to face. The field briefings can also be done by the use of the electronics like the projectors whereby the managers addresses a group of audiences without necessarily interacting with them or discussing with them but just presents the information and the audiences pay attention. This can be done on half yearly or annually basis but must give an account of all the events that took place for the considered duration (Hayes & Bajzek, 2008 p. 104). Monthly magazines are another form of communication which is considered in Fonterra Dairies. These are publications made at the end of everything month and distributed to the concerns to brief on the activities and the performance of the organization through the month. A website which can be accessed by the concern is also used as a form of communication. The management posts the news on the recent happenings in the organization to keep the audiences on their tores, for example, up to date statistics and a scanned updated; letters from the chairman of the board. Due to the technological changes, most of the audiences use the internet as source of whichever information they want. This is considered to be the most reliable form of communication since the information is accessed by many people and very efficient. The road shows on the prices of milk and other environmental issues are also a commonly used form of communication. This is enhanced by the located of units in various parts of the world thus the distribution of the resources required. The management at any unit level is responsible for the efforts to plan on the coverage of the area. They ensure that they reach to any corner of the area that they represent and fully inform people on the existence benefits and prices of the available products (Davidson et al, 2009 pp. 3). The electronic forms are commonly used especially during the annual general meetings whereby the proceedings are televised different nine venues serving the farmers. The executives also organize for meetings at the district level to reach the shareholders at that level. This is an opportunity for both the parties to exchange ideas regarding the organization hence come up with the ways of improving their performance. Effects of feedback on the sufficient to ensure accuracy and completeness of communication Although the management of the organization benefits mostly by listening to the feedback of the audiences, there is need to consider two way communication. This is whereby they interchange ideas for better understanding of each party. Communication is a process which involves various parties and stages. The entire process can be divided into major parts including the medium, form, source and destination. This also enables the understanding of personal awareness in reference to the activities of the organization. It also emphasizes on the feedback which is given to the shareholders. The source is the element which is considered as the origin of the message. This party packages the information in the preferred forms like magazines, documentaries, newsletter, posters or electronic media for effective understanding of the audiences who are targeted. The audiences also get information only through the mediums which they access, for example, some of the people in the local places may not be able to access the internet while others may not get the publications. This means that they can only access information through the common forms like radios and television (Brassington & Pettitt, 2006). The second stage is that of encoding or packaging of the information into the forms which the receivers can access it and be able to interpret the meaning intended by the sender. The management of Fonterra Dairies is the source of the information and encodes the message it wants to deliver to the audiences. This message is packed into the most suitable forms considering the kind of the audiences who are targeted. The message is the other and most essential component of communication because it is the ideas or information which is delivered from one party to the other and the main intention is to have the information well understood. The channel or medium is an essential element because it enables the information to move from the source and reach the intended audiences with effectiveness. These include the magazines, newsletters, electronics like radio, television and internet and word of mouth. The receivers are the audiences who are targeted to get and interpret the information at hand for their understanding. The shareholders and the consumers are the key receivers of the information communicated by the management of the Fonterra Dairies. They are supposed to decode the information as a way of analyzing it so as to understand the message that the sender is trying to pass across. The respond of the receiver is essential to test whether the intended message is fully delivered. The senders can also participate in the process of decoding to enable the receivers to fully understand the contents. For example, many of the shareholders and consumers may not be able to interpret the information contained in the statistical tables thus calling for the attention of the senders to help them understand the content (Farr, Ludden & Mangin, 2006 p. 567-578). Two way communication is thus essential in the communication process in enabling the parties fully understand the information. The management as the sources of the information in the communication process in the organization should be highly involved in the process not only to get the responds of the receivers but also discuss issues with them and come up with a conclusion which is meant to have a positive impact in the improvement of the performance of the organization as well as encourage group work enhanced by personal understanding. The cooperative is keen on two way communication after realizing that new and unique ideas from the staff members and other parties are the only option to remain innovative. The organization is also committed to being fully integrity and mostly stresses on honest and open communication. The two way communication also focuses on delivering the effective results by emphasizing on the customer focus enhanced by good communication with them (Elsevier Science, 2007 p. 57-79). Informal communication used in Fonterra Dairies The set up of the Fonterra Dairies organization is that of the formal set up especially because of the organization of the management. Informal communication is however common as the formal one. This is because of the relationship between the management staff and the other parties and the message which is intended to be delivered. The formal communication is mostly used through forms such as newsletters and magazines, annual reports on the activities which have taken place in the organization during a given period of time, for example, a year or month. The annual general meetings which are televised to the nine venues servicing the farmers and the district meetings held with the shareholders at their level or other forms of formal communication. These forms of communication are the best when communicating serious messages which requires the formal context of communicating. The executives direct communicates official messages to the shareholders and the customers on an official set up. The informal communication is also applied to communicate the messages which are not very formal and enhances the relationship and interaction amongst the parties (Wells, 2007). The parties are able to understand their personalities and express their feelings towards the topic of discussion. The informal communication is applied through the social connections like the internet and face to face communication. The New Zealand Telecom has tried hard to improve the access of the internet by the local farmers in the remote rural areas which do have the facilities to support the internet hence cannot access it. To the locals accessing the internet and the information available on it is very difficult since there are no facilities like boosters to support the internet. These are the mediums of communicating informal messages because the users are free to comment anything thus communicate even the message they feel is not very essential (Grant, 2009 p. 536-542). BY accessing the internet the shareholders will be updated on the most current events in the organization. These include the performance of the organization depending on the information which is posted on the website by the management of the organization to be accessed by the audiences and they are free to comment anything based on the organization. To ensure that these local areas access the internet, it is making use of the satellite as wireless technology through the use of ADSL modems and other forms of wireless and satellite technology. The Fonterra organization also introduced Fencepost.com for the provision of internet services for the access of the well based farm management tools as well as the other generic items of interest to the rural suppliers. This includes the status of the market, weather and news reports (Davidson et al, 2009 pp. 4) Conclusion Effective communication is considered as the major tool in the assurance of good performance of the organization. The management of Fonterra organization concentrates much on communication in efforts of improving their performance. The process is well strategized to ensure that all the stages and parties involved are considered. Fonterra has been able to bring together various parties of the organization and ensure that they communicate their goals and objectives to come up with the ways of working towards their achievement. For example, it has not made modeling on the amount of money that it expects to make from the farmers and how it would invest it but concentrates on the retiring benefits or ways of creating new baby-formula plants which brings up to 30% return. The cooperative considers all the forms and methods of communication to ensure that all the audiences ate reach depending on the facilities available to access the information. For example, those that cannot access the internet can get the information through the other mediums like electronic media like radio and television. Both informal and formal communication is considered in the communication process of the organization. This is for the purpose of enhancing interpersonal and group communication and facilitating the process of decision making because the members will be free to express any opinion. Bibliography Davidson et al, Fonterra Dairies New Zealand: Management; Core Concepts and Applications, chap 14, 2009: p. 493. Auer, Matthew, Policy Sciences: Communication and competition in environmental studies. Amsterdam: Dec 2010. Vol. 43, Iss. 4; p. 365 Brassington, F & Pettitt, S., 2006, Principles of marketing, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Farr, M., Ludden, L. & Mangin, P., Enhanced occupational outlook handbook Enhanced Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006 (3)2; p. 567-578. Elsevier Science, Computers in human behavior: Psychology , 2007 Vol. 17, Iss. 3; p. 57-79 Wells, G., 2007, Major hazards and their management, IChemE, Uganda. Grant, T., 2009, International directory of company histories, Volume 48 International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 48 Iss 3; p. 536-542. Oecd, 2005, OECD Economic Surveys: New Zealand 2005, Volumes 2005-2015 OECD Publishing, Paris. Hayes, John & Bajzek, Diana, Written Communication: Understanding and Reducing the Knowledge Effect: Implications for Writers. Beverly Hills: Jan 2008. Vol. 25, Iss. 1; p. 104 Read More