Furniture Bank or Acquiring New Trucks: Evaluating and prioritizing each of the proposed - Term Paper Example

? Case Study: Furniture Bank Table of Contents Evaluating and Prioritizing Each of the Proposed Competing Ideas 3 Acquiring New Trucks 3 Capital Campaign 3 Information Technology 4 Determining the Operations Capabilities That Are Needed to Ensure Proper Implementation of the Recommended Option(s) 5 Conclusion 8 References 9 Evaluating and Prioritizing Each of the Proposed Competing Ideas Acquiring New Trucks The acquiring of the new trucks has been done with the view of increasing their cash in books, which is at rate of $350000 earned from the generation of their services. Thus, it is proposed that by acquiring new trucks the services rendered by the company will increase in terms of pick-ups and delivery. Since it is a charitable institution the company will also get some rebate if they go for the trucks which are diesel. Moreover, the trucks which were bough at the initial incorporation of the furniture bank are not performing well due to some engine related problems. Though the company is going to incur expenses which have to be given from the cash in hand or go for bank loans. But furniture bank being a charitable organization will also get some rebate in the interest levied on the loan. Once the furniture banking starts building up on the cash, they will also be in a position to spread an awareness regarding their cause for which they are working in the country. Moreover, a further cash of $127000 can be earned from which the expenses of the truck drivers can be borne. Thus, the truck which gets utilized for five days for 90 hours can give more output. Capital Campaign The problem faced by the charitable institution like furniture banking may be that of many other organizations which non profit making institutions are. Being a charitable institution the land acquired by furniture bank was given for free; which is now being taken away forcefully with the intention of building houses at affordable rates. The institution also wants to move to a place which is easily accessible to their entire volunteers who live in Greater Toronto Area. But getting a property there even at a subsidised rate accounts to $1.5million to 3.5million which is almost beyond the limit of furniture bank. Though the institution is having a favourable cash balance yet the rate proposed is beyond their limits because if they go for a property at exorbitant price then the cash required for rendering services will get reduced hampering the cause which is their main motive behind starting of the organization. So in order to get rid of the relocation problem some steps need to be taken like the create more volunteers for the organization, improving fund raising skills and confidence and train the existing staff for making a strong team towards the achievement of the goals. But until a suitable place to set up the institution is found it would not be advisable to shift from the present location under any circumstances (Kihlstedt, 2010, p. 2). Information Technology The information technology is an essential element to run any business effectively, be it profit making or non profit making organization. To track the caller of the furniture bank a proper information system should be built up so that the company can expand more. The cause of the company though a good one is not yet marketed properly so the number of volunteers is a mere 30 members. For a non profit making organization to grow it is very important to spread the cause near and far. This will require more volunteers than presently existing, so marketing through the information technology will not only spread the cause of furniture bank but also do the needful at an affordable cost. Even the records of the institution related to its policies and procedures will be well maintained unlike now. Answering calls will be much prompt than that of now. Customer relationship will also get enhanced. Though the initial cost will come to around $90000 approximately with a monthly payment of $1500 for system maintenance and direct technical support, yet it is advisable to bear with the cost to expand the cause further so as to generate more cash for the institution for further development. Along with the given conditions it is also very important to train the volunteers in the information technology thus adapted to carry out the functions of furniture bank in a smooth way. Determining the Operations Capabilities That Are Needed to Ensure Proper Implementation of the Recommended Option(s) The taking care of the above problems faced by the furniture bank 4V topology of operations management is to be implemented, i.e., the service provided by the furniture bank along with the variability of the outcomes with respect to the forecast made would help in the proper estimation of the company. This would help the company in analysing as to where the backlogs of the company have occurred and thus a probable step could be taken in rectifying the same (Trott, 2008, pp. 117-118). The process design and the innovation technology should also be adopted so that the charitable cause of furniture bank could reach to the mass in general. With the adoption of the innovative technology the delivery and pick up services of the company could be provided in a short duration of time. If the work of the charitable institution gets equally divided amongst its volunteers then the cost spend on hiring people could be curbed, thus, increasing the cash in hand of the people. Design simplification is another process which can help in overcoming the shortcomings of the furniture bank. Through the implementation of the design implementation problem is taken care of, the problem in the field of the operations related to the delivery services of furniture bank can as well be solved because the development of the furniture received can be done with lesser trouble, as well as the quality management procedure which can also be applied with lesser complexity (Iyer et al., 2009, p. 2). Managing multiple customers is a tedious task in itself thus the operational management has to be implemented for the effective management of various customers. Since all the customers that furniture bank serves are not homogeneous in nature hence different ways of dealing with those customers are very important so much so that the satisfaction level of the customers can be taken care of. But above all understanding the service concept even it is related to the charitable cause should well be guarded. As for some the buying concept has to be applied where as for some customers the selling concept has to be applied. Mixing of both the concept can lead to great complexity in the services thus rendered by furniture bank. Understanding the needs of the customer in either ends be it buying or selling is very essential for the smooth running of the furniture bank organization. Managing of the outcome and the experiences that is drawn from the services rendered through pick up and drop has to be taken care of. By analysing the outcomes of the organization the corrective action regarding the deviation against the formulated plan can be taken. Thus, managing the outcome of the company along with the experiences of furniture bank is of utmost importance to the company with respect to the operational strategy undertaken. The customers’ behaviour related to the service provided is of various natures and managing the customer at that particular situation is a given challenge faced by the organization because based on this factor the interest of the customers in donating furniture or buying the same from the organization will be decided. The cash factor of the company is important in the sense that an increase in the same will solve all the problems faced by the furniture bank. Though the services provided are for a charitable cause, yet to render further service to the mass at large money is an urgent factor required for the firm. Thus, to improve the quality of service managing the real time is an important operational strategic factor for the organization. If the delivery and the pick-ups are done within a stipulated time span then the quality of service provide can tend to improve. Coordinating different departments of the organization being one of the important strategic implementation towards the operational management of the organization should be well guarded. The adoption of the information technology in the organization help in keeping all its records updated which will enhance the coordination of the various departments of the furniture bank improving the quality of its service. Most importantly understanding the relation between the decision made by the organization in tandem with the charitable cause of furniture bank needs to be undertaken because sometimes the decisions of the organization may tend to be taken to increase the cash in hand of the company which is not the motive of the organization. Thus the deviation needs to be well guarded so that the main purpose of setting up the furniture bank is correlated to the decisions taken in favour of the company. Along with the knowledge and influence; significance of the implementation of the strategy is also there for the success of the furniture bank. Furniture bank should adopt ways of improving operations so that the organization can reach to the common mass on a larger scale. Many people who are interested in donating furniture for the noble cause headed by furniture bank may not be aware of the organization. Thus, an improved operation will help them reach out to a larger mass spreading the cause on a wider-scale. Innovative strategy is the need of the hour for the furniture bank. The implementation of the information technology along with other improved technology is required. Moreover, innovative strategy regarding the relocation factor of the organization is also a vital requirement for the organization as the land over which the workings of the organization are being carried over is a gifted property whose records are not maintained by them. Thus, applying a strategy by which their relocation can be stopped has to be put to practice. The urgency of the operations of the company leads to focusing only on the short-term requirements of the company, for example, the cost and quality of the company is mainly concentrated upon. But the management of furniture bank need to take care of both the short-term and long-term problems of the organization (Johnston & Clark, 2007, pp. 31-42). Conclusion The analysis of the various ideas of organizational strategy of the charitable institution like furniture bank we get to know that it is mainly involved in the task of raising fund and providing services related to the delivery and picking up of the furniture given as donation for the needy. For the successful working of furniture bank management of the volunteers of the organization is essential as though the workforce may be highly motivated yet they are not organised at all. Raising the level of fund flow through efficient management of the resources obtained by the organization is the urgent requirement of furniture bank. Conflict in the requirement of the customers might arise in the process of dealing with the differences in activities related to the donors. Even working on a situation where the excessive demand in the services might pose trouble for the company is to be taken care of instead of getting overwhelmed by the current scenario. At times crisis in the leadership of an organization can turn out to be the reason behind the organization to fall apart posing the greatest trouble in running the organization. Same will be the case if the person responsible to lead the organization is an incompetent one. The cash margin being tight the cost of operation should be kept low. But due to the maintenance of the low cost the quality of the service thus rendered should not lack the present quality as well as the speed of deliver of the products should be enhanced. The various challenges faces by the organization have to be dealt with utmost perseverance and in an intelligent way (McNabb, 2008, pp. 61-62). References Kihlstedt A., 2010. Capital Campaigns: Strategies That Work. United States: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Trott P., 2008. Innovation Management and New Product Development. India: Pearson Education India. Iyer A. V., et al., 2009. Toyota: Supply Chain Mgmt. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Johnston R. & Clark G., 2007. Service Operations Management: Improving Service Delivery. India: Pearson Education India. McNabb D. E., 2008. Research Methods in Public Administration and Non-profit Management: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Read More