Internal Analysis
The paper is an assessment of the business environment of Blackmores Limited, Australia which is an naturopathy medicine manufacturer. The assignment has two sections, internal analysis and external analysis. The internal analysis section delves into the qualities apex executives of the company followed by study of resources and capabilities. The external analysis section is in turn divided into macro and micro environment analysis. The macro environment analysis is divided into political, economic, social and technological factors affecting the company. The micro environment analysis section shows the financial strength, the image power and the organisational culture of the company. The various sections draw their substance from a rich array of literature by various authors. The work also contains graph showing the financial power of the company.
Christine Holgate, the chief executive officer leads the senior management of Blackmores Limited. One of the most remarkable leadership qualities is her rich experience of managing organisations from diverse industries like healthcare, media and telecommunications. She has over twenty years of holding senior management positions in Asia, America and Australia. She was cited among the hundred most influential women in Australia by Australian Financial Review magazine. She is the chairperson of the Australia-ASEAN Council which reflects her vast knowledge about international business environment.
Cecil Cooper is the company secretary having thirty years of professional experience. She has functioned as the head of several departments like business manager for development, marketing and sales. She is one of the chief decision makers who looks after board administration, governance, secretariat, risk management, compliance and corporate communications initiatives. He has looked after statutory and management accounting and taxation knowledge. She has received the Paul Harris Fellow award from Rotary for her charitable work. This shows that she has the quality of leading the company in a sustainable way.
David Fenlon, the director has over twenty five years of retail experience and sales channels. He leads the company marketing activities using its experience and knowledge. He also contributes towards recruiting high quality executives to ensure that the company retains its leading position in the market of Australia and abroad. He like the Cooper is associated with Quest for Life, a charitable foundation which shows his decision making quality directed towards benefit of the society.
Richard Henfrey, the chief operating officer, central services has the experience of developing business in blue chip and start up ventures. This he has the quality to lead both new and established companies. He also has knowledge of product innovation and modern techniques of production. He is currently interacting with the government to give more importance to alternative medicine and treatment.
External Analysis
Aaron Canning, the CFO has rich experience of working at multinational companies like Goodman Fielder, Westfield and Diego Plc. He has worked in the top financial positions in several companies in Asia Pacific region which shows his deep knowledge about the international business environment.
Peter Osborne, the managing director, Asia was a trade diplomat with over twenty five years of working and living in Asia. He has expertise of working in business development, sales, marketing, trade development, export, investment and promotion. He plays an active role in business development of Blackmores Limited in Asia in countries like Cambodia and Singapore. He has worked with Australian Trade Commission, South Pacific Forum Secretariat and the United Nations (Blackmores.com.au 2017).
The above discussion shows that the management of Blackmores Limited is capable of leading the company. The top managers like the CEO have the quality of leading in the diverse areas which lend the abilities to take right business decisions. Fenlon and Cooper are associated with social and charitable work. This shows that the top management of the company is capable of taking ethical business decisions which will help the society (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015).
Blackmore is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of Australia and use huge resources to support its operations. The products of the company include organic medicines to treat ailments of heart, eyes, bones and digestive systems. The company obtains its resources from sustainable sources from suppliers in ten countries. The company maintains high quality standard of inventory management to ensure reduction of wastage. The company before acquiring ingredients assess the risk it poses to the environment and maintains a matrix of those ingredients. The company also collaborates with third parties to acquire resources sustainably. It gives a lot of emphasis on environment friendly packaging and innovation to retain its leadership status natural medicine manufacturing. It uses modern technology to manage its resources and ordering time to minimise wastage (Jennings and Stadler 2015).
The company acquires and maintains talented human resources and provides them with a healthy working environment. The management encourages highest standards for ethical, professional and business aligned behaviour among its employees. The company provides legitimate wages, flexible working facility and leave benefits to maintain a strong and highly efficient human resource (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).
Blackmore is present in more than ten countries in the world which shows its capabilities to cater to customer needs. The company carries out innovation and research to produce new products to satisfy the changing market needs. Its official website provides complete information about the products, prices, ingredients and allows online ordering of products. The company maintains talented human resources to contribute towards its high performance and profits. The company maintains a network of sustainable supply chain around the world which provides it with environment friendly raw materials. This proves the company’s capabilities to work in ethical, sustainable and profitable ways and remain a market leader (Barrientos and de la Mota 2016).
Sustainable Operations
Gabe et al.(2015) in their work state that pharmaceutical companies have the power to impact the society and make it healthier. This places the pharmaceutical companies in the face of political game between the stakeholders like governments. Blackmores Limited must abide by the laws and policies laid down by various governments. The company must comply with tax laws, labour laws and the international laws while operating. The management should take the international ties and laws while making strategies (Markle 2015).
Blackmores Limited is a pharmaceutical company and acquires materials from around ten countries. The company must consider the economic conditions of the countries like employment, population and resource availability while operating. It employs the human resources in the host countries it functions and must abide by the labour laws and provide legitimate wages to the employees. The company must acquire land in the host countries to make factories and offices in legitimate ways. Infringing labour laws and not providing adequate wages will attract conflict, stoppage of work and even government intervention. The company must use the resources of its host countries efficiently so as not to waste or cause pollution (Figge and Hahn 2013). Blackmores Limited must get enlisted in the stock exchanges in the host countries to be able tap investment from those countries. It will create huge capital for the company which it can use in expanding its operations and bring about innovations. It will allow the company to diversify its risks and deal with market challenges like inflation by spreading them over huge base of capital (Chung et al. 2013).
Pharmaceutical companies have huge impact on social health through their life saving medicines. The society in turn has a deep impact on the sustenance and growth of these companies (Alam and Rubel 2014). Blackmores Limited must act in responsible ways and manufacture products according to the taste, culture, income and other social factors of the customers. It must work towards green and sustainable drug manufacturing to reduce its impact on the environment (Roschangar et al. 2017). The company must operate ethically so as not to harm the society and produce useful drugs.
Blackmores Limited is a pharmaceutical company which is dependent on technology heavily to produce natural health medicines. The level of technology depends on several factors like economic conditions and resources available. Tierney, Hermina, and Walsh (2013) in their work mention that the global pharmaceutical companies are facing the challenge to map their production processes and bring about innovation. Blackmores Limited should use modern technology like using hot melt extrusion and nanohybrid technology to produce drugs. The company must harness the technology sustainably and carry out innovation in making higher quality medicines.
Financial Strength
Blackmores Limited is an organic medicine manufacturing company which operates in several countries. The company owing to its superior quality products, sustainable operations, product innovation and talented management enjoys a great company image. The strong image helps it to sell its products in new markets, acquire more efficient human resources and enter into business partnership to enter new markets (Ko et al. 20.13).
The company has vast financial resources owing to its international status. Fillat, Garetto and Oldenski (2015) state international expansion and presence help the companies leverage their costs and offers diversification of risks. Blackmores operates in more many countries which allow it to diversify risks and provide it avenues to invest its funds to ensure maximum return. The company is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and generate huge capital from the market which provides it with strong financial base.
Figure 1. Figure showing profit in $’000s
(Source:blackmores.com.au 2017)
The graph below shows the profits of Blackmore which proves the company’s growing financial strength. The power of the company to respond to changing customer preferences and market trends can be attributed to its growing revenue. According to a data the company was voted Australia’s most trusted supplement and vitamin medicine brand reflecting its deep knowledge of customer preferences.
The company Blackmore provides healthy organisational culture and environment which allows it to employ highly talented staff (Jehanzeb Rasheed and Rasheed 2013). It provides its human resource opportunities to work with integrity, equality and dignity. The company trains its employees to encourage better performances and increase their efficiency (Clayton. and Liu 2016).
Conclusion:
The study shows that the company Blackmores Limited is increasing its power to earn profit. The growing profit reflect outlook of the company which is to grow to meet the customers’ needs. The company wishes to act in more sustainable ways to ensure reduction of environmental pollution and social benefits. The company is capable of expanding into new markets and increase its product line to gain deeper market penetration. The company wishes to act in more responsible ways to ensure maximum return to the stakeholders. The socially responsible and dynamic outlook of the company is reflected in its sustainable social development initiatives. It is even working with international bodies like the United Nations for environmental benefits.
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