Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses - Case Study Example

Running Head: CASE STUDY OF THE CANADIAN FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES Case Study of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses in APA Style by Student's Name Course Name Course Name I. Executive Summary The changes in its business environment present Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) with new challenges which require the modification of its strategy in order to ensure its success and even mere survival. In particular, the organization retains its previous strategy and fails to offer services which are necessary in keeping its member satisfied. Secondly, since the services offered by CFIB encompass serving the non-members as well, there is no incentive for them to join. Lastly, CFIB is still stuck with the typical marketing practice and is not taking advantage of technological advancement. This report proposes that CFIB strives to increase membership by 5% annually, boost revenues by 10% annually, and enhance customer satisfaction. The company can do this by utilizing its strength of being one of its kind in the country and the strong ties with the government. However, it also needs to surpass the weaknesses mentioned above as well as the continuous threat of small market base. This report concludes with the recommendation that CFIB enhance its image through the addition of service which will enable its member to interact and help each other by the provision of an online platform. This is expected to attract new members, enhance revenue, and promotes customer satisfaction. II. Overview The CFIB is a non-profit organization that represents independent companies nationwide from home-based to midsized businesses which employs hundreds of employees. CFIB offers several products besides support services which the companies can avail through annual memberships at reasonable fees. True to its commitment of representing the plight of its members, CFIB serves as the voice of these business organizations which currently numbers over 105,000. Since its establishment in 1971, CFIB has irrefutably accomplished massive victories against the government's unfair policies which has proven its loyalty to its members. III. Issues Faced by CFIB Because of the ever-changing external environment, business organizations should frequently revisit their strategies in order to ensure their efficiency. What is notable in CFIB is its inability to recreate itself amidst the changes in its environment. Since its inception in 1971, CFIB strategies' remained almost unchanged. It should be credited for its aggressiveness in fighting for its members against unfair government regulations and its ability to bring about changes in some of the policies yet the conservative strategies that it utilizes in accomplishing these feats are irrefutably outdated making them unsuitable for today's business environment. CFIB failed to realize that its members' desires and need have evolved over the years. Some of the services such as sources and information that CFIB is offering can now be acquired and are readily available elsewhere. Previously, the major concerns of members are knowledge on issues such as taxation, banking and regulations. Yet, it is increasingly becoming apparent that members are now well-equipped with these information and are looking for something more. Thus, CFIB should recreate itself in order to cope with these changes and serve the emerging needs of customers. In addition to this, there are some loopholes in the organization's operation. Because it is the nature of its objectives that CFIB is fighting for small businesses as a whole, it cannot fight for each member individually. Thus, CFIB services are not limited to its members but are extended to non-members as well. The point is, there are no incentives for nonmembers to join, as their rights are being fought for whether they became members or not. CFIB should answer this question convincingly: "Why would a small business join our organization" The incentives should be logical and it needs to give reasons that can benefit the members directly on daily bases. CIFB's main objectives and services are not obvious to nonmembers which make them unmotivated to join. Furthermore, CIFB fails to take advantage of the technologies currently available in the market which can help enhance its efficiency in serving its members and reaching out to non-members. Nowadays, whenever a person is in need of information regarding a service for example, the first thing he uses is the Internet as it is the fastest and the most convenient source available almost in every house or office. For that reason, companies and organizations around the world have invested and are investing thousands of dollars if not millions to improve their websites and maintain it periodically. Websites have become the virtual locations of organizations, as they reflect these organizations in many aspects. Most organizations have enhanced their marketing strategies through building online presence which makes them accessible by any potential customer anytime and anywhere. Amidst this development in market, CFIB is still stuck with the old marketing practice and did not care much about its website. Its official website (www.cfib.ca) is outdated, listing only general information and news about the organization, and historical facts about its glory in the past. The website is not interactive and fails to show services that could attract small businesses and convince them to subscribe. Instead, it mirrors very poor marketing strategy as if it is an organization under the government. When an email was sent to them to inquire about their services on March 25th, that email seems to be lost which is another point to prove that poor marketing. CIFB should comprehend that the email is one of the most important way of communication these days, even for nonprofit organizations. Their poor marketing has resulted into a major issue which is CFIB's image in the business community. Typically investigating about an organization requires checking others opinions and reviews on some online forums. But this proved to be impossible in the case of CFIB as it is very difficult to find a review about it. 105,000 members is a very small number when it comes to small businesses in Canada. Sadly, CFIB lacks popularity to this business sector which is supposed to be its target market. The organization's popularity is limited only to its members, former members, and a small fraction of independent businesses in the nation. Considering its objective and its history, CFIB could have been more popular, which brings us to the same conclusion-poor marketing, hence, poor strategies. IV. Measurable Objectives These issues currently faced by CFIB require immediate actions. In particular, these are the measurable objectives which the organization wants to achieve: 1. increase subscribers/members by 5% annually; 2. increase revenue by 10% annually by offering more value-added products and services to customers; and 3. enhance customer satisfaction by setting up a measure which will be used to assessed if their needs are being met. V. Environmental Assessment Strengths. CFIB is the only one of its kind in the country because the government has long respected its voice-defending entrepreneurs. Throughout the year, it holds meetings to discuss the various issues faced by small businesses with highly respected personnel in the government including the prime minister of Canada. In addition, it has become a useful source for its members on government-related issues such as government policy and legislation, and how it can affect their business, corporate challenges and solutions, tips and daily management solutions, and good help with taxation, banking and regulations. Its members can easily reach CFIB through its 12 offices nationwide. Since CFIB was founded, it has achieved its objectives and established a very strong relation with the government to be the main representative of the small businesses. Weaknesses. As discussed above, CFIB is struggling with its image in the market having been unable to establish a strong presence amidst its having been in the market for the past 37 years. This is coupled with the company's poor marketing strategy which hinders it from gaining new members. Lastly, CFIB fails to offer products and services in response to the changes in its business environment. Opportunities. The evolving business environment posts huge opportunities for CFIB. The technological advancement presents it the opportunity of improving its marketing tactics in order to serve its customers better. Also, the rapid growth of the small business sector can increase its customer base if it is able to employ a strategy which attracts these new small business organizations. Threats. According to Garth Whyte, the Executive Vice-President of CFIB, the organization's growth is not in sync with the market expansion. The organization is only breaking-even and the number of members is not growing as it used to be, which will definitely stops the organization improvement and threats its existence. It should be noted that over the past years, the number of small and medium enterprises is being increased rapidly which strongly indicates that the percentage of CFIB members relative to actual number of SMEs is decreasing. VI. Proposed Solutions In order for CIFB to adjust its current situation and gain more members, it must change its strategy to mirror the changes in its environment which includes customer needs. CFIB should attract nonmembers by offering new services and substantial incentives. This can be accomplished by considering an improvement of the services which are currently offered with the members rather than changing the main objective of being the voice of the members. In order for these services to be useful and attractive, they have to be easily available and are required more often. That new strategy must be presented with a new technology: web technology. According to AC Nielsen, the number of Canadian Internet users that have made a purchase via the Internet (placing order with or without online payment) is increasing: Year Percentage 1996 11% 1997 13% 1998 17% 1999 25% AC Nielsen, The Canadian Internet Survey, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000; www.acnielsen.ca Other surveys conducted by CFIB and Static Canada indicate that Small and medium enterprises (SME) have increased their connection to the Internet: Year Percentage 1996 15.2% 1997 30.9% 1998 43.1% 1999 63% 2000 69% CFIB Internet surveys 1996-2000.1999 Q4 65.1%; www.cfib.ca On year 1999 Private Sector Public Sector Canadian Business Connected to the Internet 52.8% 94.4% Canadian Business with websites 21.7% 69.2% Canadian Business using Internet to sell goods 10.1% 14.5% Canadian Business using Internet to procure goods 13.8% 44.2% Statistics Canada, August 10th 2000, Public sector 94.4% www.statcan.ca CFIB is currently offering access to information offered to members only through its website. However, other information should also be readily obtained when a business organization is asks a question or in need of a management related help. CFIB should look for new venues to extend help to its members such as increasing their sales and marketing their products. Consultancy should also be offered utilizing the unique and very valuable information that it has-its database of current and past members in hundreds of categories. If every member has a special access to that database whenever that business is in need of products or services that can be obtained by other members, then many small businesses will be interested in becoming members. In order to implement this, new members will be added and given access to that database in a certain category depending on what they offer to consumers. If other member is in need of a product for instance, they will be given the ability to send their request to other members in that category. Members in that category will receive that request through their emsild, and they will be able to send their proposals. The member who requested the product would receive several offers and is able to contact the company with the best offer. This service can be offered in the members' area on CFIB official website beside the current services offered there. If a member decided not to renew their membership, they will be removed from the database, and will lose the benefit of that service; members will know how advantageous that service is, and it is going to be an important reason for them to keep their membership renewed every year.By having such a service, members of CFIB will become dependent and they will be able to support each other independently from large businesses. This kind of lobby is going to attract new members to be part of it. By constituting a marketing plan and advertising the services it provides, CFIB will be able to perform like a business organization. Advertising in business related media, such as the business section of newspapers and magazines on long-term bases would require sacrificing a small percentage of its yearly budget. However by targeting small to midsized businesses the expected return greater profits. This will also help CFIB reach its goal of gaining new members. CFIB could also encourage members to post a predesigned logo with a new brief motto on the bottom of their homepages, with a link to CFIB's official website and create an affiliate program. This could give members an incentive of a small percentage of the new signups or give them points to get free membership renewals. VII. References Canadian Internet Commerce Statistics Summary Sheet.Retrieved March 30, 2008, from http://www.operation-dialogue.com/e/pdf/ Canadian_e_commerce_statistics.pdf The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (http://www.cfib.ca/). Whyte, G. (Speaker). (2008, February 4). Small and Medium Enterprises, and CFIB. [Lecture, ADM 1100]. Ottawa: University of Ottawa. Read More