Review of Performance Improvement in relation to Competitiveness and Innovation - Coursework Example

Your name Tutor Subject Date Review of performance improvement in relation to competiveness and innovation The company is facing a possible challenge of shutting down. However based on the company’s strength and weaknesses a proper performance improvement strategy can avert the imminent shutdown. A focus on improving employee’s ability through training and developing employee’s intrinsic motivation will result in performance improvement. We are looking into merging the operational goals with the company’s strategic goals through performance improvement strategies .In essence we need to develop new strategies that are in line with both operational and strategic goals and, get the commitment in these strategies. We need to encourage product development and all other organizations activities to be based on performance and innovation. The organization needs innovation in its products development, sale of product, product awareness, client handling and response. These areas are very critical because the company is developing poor products, have poor sales, have poor product awareness and bad client handling and response processes. Performance improvement aims in introducing new ways in carrying out the processes involved in these areas. Such an improvement in this area is likely to lead to better company performance hence profitability. The key performance areas and indicators will include the company’s strategic goals, its technological performance and the management of the program. We also need to look at the changes or effects of the program on the organization culture and employee’s. An increment in sales, customer satisfaction, quality products, timeliness in delivery, growth of the company and its profitability goes a long way to show the results of the program .A good and working program will ensure the organization survival and profitability. A positive change from the ongoing trend the business is facing does indicate that the program is working. Performance improvement strategy We aim to achieve our goals of performance through the use of innovation .The company has a number of areas where innovation will come in handy. These are areas of production, sales, customer response, diversification into new products and line of businesses and delivery. Innovation needs to be encouraged in all areas of the business. Though this may carry its advantages it also has its disadvantages. The concept being new is likely to face challenges in implementing as many people fear change and this is a change in the way the organization operates .Innovation encourages leaving the employees to come up with ideas and this leads to loss of control .A company that encourages innovation needs to hire very innovative people who are hard to find in the labor market. Even if a company manages to gets the right staff it’s widely believed continuous innovation leads to staff getting tired due to constantly trying to improve performance. The company is also large that it used to be and its very complex and implementing innovation in a complex environment proves challenging. Every new idea or concept requires an initial cost and implementing innovation in the company will need a cost implication whereas the company is already having financial troubles .Some innovation methods such may result I having no need to have human resource and this may make the employees’ fear some innovation and may refuse to participate fully. Employees may also try to protect their jobs first cutting and not the organizational goals leading to poor or little innovation methods. The employees may also sell innovative ideas to competitors and, there can be a heavy reliance on employees to move forward as they are the one s generating the ideas. In essence the cost of innovation failing is high. Innovation may however lead to reduced organization cost .It’s also worth to note that innovation is closely related to improving processes and or products. As such good innovation is bound to increase customer’s satisfaction as they become more satisfied with the improvements. Many innovative companies such as apple are usually in the lead in their markets and generally dictate the market as they usually tend to have customers loyalty. With globalization it’s easy to access the world market; however, innovative companies have an edge in the markets. In regards to the company innovation may lead to a wider market due to it being innovative thus increased sales. Allowing employees to come up with ideas does in certain cases create motivation in the employees. Since they are the ones on the ground there is a high chance of them identifying a problem and dealing with it the best way. Innovation may encourage specialization and the employees become expert in their fields. This enable an employee to be able to solve problems professionally coupled with the advantages of specialization. In improving this strategy there needs to be a cordial working relationship between the employees and the organization. The goals of the employees need to be in line with those of the organization. An employee having a good understanding of the organization goals is very critical in attaining homogeneity between the goals of the organization and those of the employee. The company will also need to have a management style which believes that the employee are capable of innovation .Such management styles usually involves delegation to the employees. The principles of delegation will therefore be critical in ensuring that innovation is well implemented and that it’s working in the best interest of the organization .The company has the ability to have basic research innovation, disruptive innovation, breakthrough innovation and sustained innovation. The domains and the problems may or may not be well defined in each of the four categories .As such this may cause difficulties or ensure a smooth innovation depending on the domain and problem definition. In solving the issue a number of creative techniques can be used to achieve the desired outcome. One notable technique is brainstorming whereby people are encouraged to share their ideas however radical in an informal way and then ideas are looked at. However key staff might be asked to come up with ideas and the other staff to give what they think about it this, is known as brain-writing. One can also do star-busting where questions are asked as to regards to a product. Other methods may include role playing and metaphorical thinking among others. All these methods may include written exercises and different types of improvisation, games, or algorithms for approaching problems. The company has option ranging from the development of products, new marketing techniques, and new client handling techniques, new products, new work and production processes, rebranding, repackaging and advertisements. Since the company experiences problems from it human resources, its financial structure, market response and to its product a number of suggestion are bound to rise. A change in management style is also appropriate but a thorny issue is it with the kind of products the company produces, quality, how it gets the product to the market, how its handles its clients and staff and how it adapts to the changing external and internal environment. Use of superior raw materials is important. The company also needs to train its staff, get skilled staff and do proper financial planning. Not all ideas are bound to be taken into account and it may occur that none of the ideas can be taken into consideration. Employees should be made aware that their contribution is of equal importance. However every idea even those taken should be well looked into. To avoid conflict there should be an equal playing field that allows free participation. The process of idea generating should also allow for every idea to be considered fairly. The process should allow for continuous participation and interaction of ideas. At the end of the group session all ideas and suggestions should be taken into account. There exist a number of models which reflect on a good group discussion. The participation of the team involved is critical in ensuring a smooth implementation of agreed strategy. The agreed strategy should be presented to the team as agreed. The amended strategy should be clear to explain and implement. Clarity of any strategy often leads to quick understanding and implementation .Very complex strategies are hard to understand or implement and control. In the discussion held a number of viable options were presented. The company strategy will therefore be geared towards innovation. However we need to develop new products, use superior raw materials, use skilled employees and have a customer relationship department to handle clients. There needs to be proper financial planning and there is need to do away with middle men who spoil the customer’s loyalty though poor services. The company use of skeleton human resource also needs to be done away with and the company to hire productive staff. The existing employees with no experience need to be trained on skills whereas there needs to be a skill development and training program. The company needs to invest in quality products and stabilize its niche market. However there is a need to cater for the cultural change that is happening in the market. To avoid future financial difficulties loans taken by the company should be largely invested in yielding and productive activities. It is worth to note that’s these decisions and strategies will require quick management decision. The company risk in implementation is likely be in the planning, prioritization, changes in the environment and other external unforeseen situations. Thus we need to identify the potential risks either through the use of SWOT and PEST analysis. The company needs to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. It also needs to identify other external factors and technological issues. The company also needs to establish contingency plans to ensure that plans are fully met. The existing resources should be channeled to productive activities. Business continuity should be at the fore front to avoid closure however profitability of the same should commensurate with the investment. Activities should be well planned and coordinated .There should exist a measurement or control to ensure that targets are met and corrective action is well taken. A back up should exist in these plans .The Company is trading at very critical point and as such its activities should be carefully monitored. The political, environment, technological and social environment should be taken into keen consideration. The change in consumer culture and preferences is bound to affect the organization and as such products developed should cater for the wild generation in the 1960s. The entrant of new products and players in the market can adversely affect the company profitability. Whereas great technological advancement is likely to affect negatively the company should the company fail to this into account. The company also poses great internal risks. The proposed strategy might be met with resistance from the staff or management. There is also an ongoing internal strife which needs to be addressed. Should the company invest its capital into bad projects there is a high likelihood that the company will not be able to get out financial difficulties since it’s already facing a high debt. Its however important to note that the risks that organization faces can be analyzed and well managed. Proper and efficient management of the strategy will be very critical and the organization will have to use the best implementation strategy available. Among external factors that developed in the period one notable one which is critical in the company is cost benefit analysis. A course of action needs to be determined and cost associated with it needs to be encompassed in it. The cost and benefit are then analyzed and determine if the course of action is viable given the state of issues raised. Such an analysis will help the company determine which course of action is viable for the company. The company will be in a position to prioritize its activities and decide on when and how to carry out a preferred course of action. The approach is mostly of financial approach. The decision to hire new staff, introduce new products, and diversify, use of quality materials and other critical decisions all have cost attached to them. The company need to identify which of these has a economic viable cost and should be undertaken. Sourcing for additional capital should also be considered. If the source of capital can be determined and accessible then the cost associated with these cost should also be taken into account. Activities may be prioritize on the basis of returns and cost associated with it. However the company may also use any other means in prioritizing the projects based on sound management decisions. The continuity of the company critically relies on the financial and profitability of the company .As such the management will need to look at the financial cost benefit analysis in their decision making. Cost in respect to any of the project or course of action will therefore need to be quantified in monetary terms. The economic benefit will also need to be derived from the opportunities available. . Work cited Achilladelis, B. and N. Antonakis (2001) ‘The dynamics of technological innovation: the case of the pharmaceutical industry’, Research Policy, 30, 535-588 Albury, D. (2005). Fostering Innovation in Public Services. Public Money & Management, 25 (1): 51-56. Andrews, J.P., H.L. Sirkin, K. Haanaes, D.C. Micheal (2007 ) Senior Management Survey on Innovation, Boston Consultancy Group. bcg.com Bright, A. (1949) The Electric Lamp Industry: Technological change and economic development from 1800 to 1947. Macmillan, New York Christensen, C., The innovator’s Dilemma. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998 Cooper, R. G. (2005a). Product Leadership. USA: Basic Books. Evitt, (2007) Modelling the innovation process: A multi-case comparison. Master Thesis Unitec New Zealand Francis, D. And J. Bessant (2005) ‘Targeting innovation and implications for capability development’, Technovation, 25(3), 171-183. Freeman, C. (1982) The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 2nd edn. Frances Pinter, London revolution, Oxford University Press Hamel, G., and C. Prahalad. Competing for the Future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994 Read More