Insight into Lakeland Wonders
Change is an inevitable issue, which alters the business scenario of the companies and organizations. The proposed changes need to be managed, so that the desired outcomes can be achieved. Strategic approach towards change management improves the focus on the business activities. This includes the strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats and competencies. Developing short term, realistic and achievable goals are assistance in terms of measuring the extent to which the changes have been achieved (Cameron & Green, 2015). Change management also includes regulating the resistance towards change. This resistance is appropriate in terms of deviating from the traditionalism. However, the managers need to play an effective role in convincing the employees about the benefits of altering the workplace scenario (Doppelt, 2017). This report attempts to assess the effectiveness of the proposed changes in the workplace of Lakeland Wonders and propose recommendations for improving the productivity.
Lakeland Wonders has achieved accolades and glory by serving quality toys to the customers. The operations of the company are spread all over Minnesota. Presence of 5000 skilled workers results in the production of quality toys. A new chief executive was hired for bringing change within the workplace scenario. Cheryl Hailstorm was appointed as the new CEO. The major drive behind this was his prior expertise and enthusiastic approach towards executing the business activities. This enthusiasm proved effective for Lakeland Wonders in terms of achieving success (Kuipers, Higgs, Kickert, Tummers, Grandia & Voet, 2014). She was offered the post, due to her prior expertise as Chief Operating Officer in one of the associates of Lakeland Wonders.
Cheryl utilized the opportunity by proposing radically changes for upgrading the quality of revenue generation. The change process focused on the need for offshore manufacturing through reduction in manufacturing and production costs. Cheryl proposed that these activities would increase the profit margin. Hailstorm needs to be credited for exposing conscious approach towards evaluation of the available facilities before implementation of the project. Along with this, review was also conducted for labor management and the manufacturing capabilities. One of the weak points was lack of consideration towards the aspects like pace of the change process, implementation of the changes, dealing with resistance, acceptance of leadership changes (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). Along with this, negligence was also exposed towards cultural changes in the organization, reforms proposed for improving the practices. One of the striking features is not considering the norms while evaluation of the strategic position.
Cheryl laid stress on changing the way the activities were managed in the workplace. For this, a number of changes were proposed in the human resource department. She is aware of the globalizations in markets, consisting of the demands of non-electric toys. In this, mention can be made of the competitor Bull’s Eye. Therefore, she proposed to introduce new product lines at lower prices and high unique selling propositions. This would be one of the factors, differentiating the brand from the contemporaries (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). She intended to bring the comparison of the way; products were manufactured and packaged in US. She also proposed to incorporate offshore manufacturing, as it would reduce the manufacturing costs. She believed that offshore manufacturing would act as an agent in terms of accumulating greater share in the mid and the upscale markets. This type of manufacturing would act as a deviation from the traditional management practiced within the workplace of Lakeland Wonders.
Changes proposed
Changes in the field of human resources are appropriate in terms of improving the standards and quality of the business operations. For this, effective quality resources are needed. Manufacturing processes need to be appropriate, so that flawless toys are manufactured. According to Ceulemans, Lozano and Alonso-Almeida, (2015), conscious approach is needed in this direction for averting the instances of customer complaints. Stable relationship needs to be developed with the suppliers in terms of getting quality materials for producing quality toys.
Market research prior to the venturing project is appropriate in terms of averting the instances of competition from the contemporary brands. Consideration of the demands for the products indicates Cheryl’s approach towards identifying the target audience. Strategic approach in this direction is evident from the proposition of introducing new product lines. Along with this, features like low prices and unique selling proposition are the determinants, which Cheryl thinks would make the brand stand out competitors like Bull’s Eye. Comparative study regarding the production and packaging of toys in US can be considered as an attempt towards assessing the current position (Altamony, Al-Salti, Gharaibeh & Elyas, 2016).
Lack of knowledge towards approaching the employees attached negative value to Cheryl’s personality. Not considering the history of the company degraded the organizational culture. As a result of this, Cheryl lost the support and cooperation of the staffs. Ignoring the implications of the change process on human resources, offshore manufacturing, resulted in loss of jobs for more than 5000 employees. Termination of 2000 workers stained the reputation of Lakeland Wonders. This failure was inevitable, as no research was conducted on offshore manufacturing. This absence can be considered as a weak base towards supporting the change.
Along with this, the absence implied lack of planning, due to which Cheryl encountered failures in terms of implementing the proposed changes. Ignoring the implications of change on the business aspects is one of the greatest mistakes of Cheryl (Matos & Esposito, 2014). This is because consideration of the implications is one of the essential components of evaluation. Termination of the workers might be one of the solutions; however, in terms of negligence towards evaluation, termination of the workers seems inappropriate. Moreover, lack of research is an inappropriate step towards bringing change within the workplace of Lakeland Wonders.
Offshore manufacturing was considered as one of the effective strategies towards reducing the manufacturing costs. Cheryl is right in terms of offshore manufacturing being one of the prime factors in capturing large shares in the mid and the upscale markets. Assembling the spare parts of the toys from neighbouring countries would expand the scope and arena of the business of Lakeland Wonders Company. Moreover, offshore manufacturing would provide financial assistance to the company, as the spare parts of the toys might be cheaper in the other countries. Offshore manufacturing lowers the labour maintenance costs. The spare parts of the toys would be cheaper if they are acquired for the neighbouring countries. One of the other advantages of offshore management is that it eliminates the operational concerns related to the overall operations.
Critical approach to the proposed changes
Manufacturing is one of the difficult and time consuming activities of the management. Offshore outsourcing can expand the knowledge horizons towards managing the production activities. Here, skilled experts are needed for carrying out the outsourcing activities. This is in terms of transmitting the information to the neighbouring countries.
Offshore sourcing can be a great help for Lakeland Wonders in terms of scaling the production. This is in terms of gaining an insight into the uprising demands. For this, assessments need to be done for the available manufacturing equipments. If needed, additional equipments are to be acquired for maintaining the pace with the increasing demand for the toys. Until and unless planning is done for the selling the manufactured products, Lakeland Wonder personnel might encounter difficulties in fitting the additional requirements within the budget. Offshore manufacturing would be assistance in terms of measuring the production for maintaining the balance between the supply and demand. Here, financial efforts would be much lower. This is because; the earned income would be gradually used for increasing the sales revenue.
Offshore manufacturing would bestow productive systems and labour to the company. However, one of the weaknesses here would be carrying out the activities of one-off or trial projects. These projects would enhance the capability of the personnel to tackle with the complexities. Unique equipments for manufacturing toys might be expensive, if the duration of its demand is short. Hiring trained workers would be fruitful in terms of manufacturing innovative toys. However, capability needs to be assessed before hiring the workers; otherwise it can be a challenge towards manufacturing. Therefore, training can be effective in terms of training the workers in case large quantity toys need to be sold within a limited time.
Offshore manufacturing reduces the production cost. Therefore, selling the products in low price would help the company in maximizing the profit margin. Dropping the prices of the toys at the initial price might bestow fewer customers on the company. On the other hand, if quality toys are levied to the customers, the personnel would achieve their trust, loyalty and support. The satisfaction of the customers would increase the sales revenue and profit margin. Offshore manufacturing would bring stability into the economy of Minnesota as well as the neighbouring countries. Reducing the production costs would be important in terms of passing the savings to the customers. The savings, if used in community development would enhance the corporate social responsibility of the company. This approach would be a stimulus in terms of ensuring the wellbeing of the clients and the customers.
Optimizing the resources can be one of the effective steps towards catering to the needs of the clients and the customers. However, strategic planning is needed for using the raw materials in an efficient and judicious manner. Prior assessment needs to be done, so that the workers can be supplied with the required resources. This assessment would be effective in terms of reducing mis-utilization of the resources. This rationalistic approach would result in enhancement of productivity for Lakeland Wonders.
Consequences of implementing the changes
Planning is needed by Cheryl for achieving the proposed changes in an efficient and effective manner. Within this, inclusion of risk assessment would be a rational step in terms of ensuring the wellbeing of the clients and the customers. This planning would also be an important step towards executing offshore manufacturing. Installation of privacy cookies and policies would increase the safety and security of the organizational data. This step would be crucial as the data is being transferred from one country to other. Planning would result in the achievement of positive outcomes. Planning during the process of offshore manufacturing would be crucial in terms of enhancing the awareness towards equipment cost, demands and standard price of the toys. For this planning, Cheryl can take the help of Total Quality Management (TQM), which would be helpful in regulating the overall business.
Resource allocation needs planned and rational approach for extracting the right labour. Before allocating the resources to the workers, Cheryl needs to prepare the budget, which would enhance her awareness towards the cost of the resources. The next step would be to conduct research on the market demand for the toys. Countering this, this research can be the primary step towards altering the business scenario. Next is the formation of a strong and efficient team, which would be successful in completing the manufacturing process within the stipulated time. For this, recruitment and selection process needs to be appropriate. Developing policies would be effective in terms of getting the desirable candidates.
Training would be one of the effective recommendations in terms of enhancing the preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge of the employees of Lakeland Wonders. Cheryl needs to conduct planning for hiring experts for providing training to the workers. Here, budget would be crucial in terms of arranging all the materials and resources needed for conducting the training. Dividing the training courses into segments would assist the workers to achieve an easy understanding about the ways and means to carry out the activities. Taking post training tests would help managers and Cheryl to assess the capability of the workers to apply the learnt skills in executing the workplace operations. The performance of the workers would help Cheryl to assess whether Lakeland Wonders is successful in fulfilling the identified goals and objectives.
Levying quality toys to the customers would be one of the means of reaching to large number of customers. For this, quality tests needs to be included within the strategic planning. Hiring foreign experts for conducting the quality tests of the toys would reduce the occurrence of defective toys. These tests would help in assuring that the toys would not cause any kind of discomfort to the user (children).
Marketing mix would help Cheryl to gain an insight into the specific tastes and preferences of the customers. Levying one kind of toys to the customers can be an effective step towards identifying the target market. For this, social media would be an efficient option towards reaching to a large number of customers. Uploading the details of the manufactured toys on social networking sites would enhance the trafficking of the audience towards the brand image of Lakeland Wonders.
Recommendations for improvement
Toys are popular among the children. Therefore, introducing special offers and discounts on the sale of toys would be an effective option for Cheryl in terms of gaining trust, loyalty and dependence from the customers. Awarding toys would act as a partnership for Lakeland Wonders, indicating expansion in terms of financial assistance. Manufacturing fusion toys would be a means for attracting the customers all over the world. However, maintaining traditionalism would enhance the brand image of Lakeland Wonders.
Gifting toys to the poor children would enhance the popularity of Lakeland Wonders. Delivering the toys free of cost would be a Samaritan approach of the company towards the happiness of the underprivileged children. However, for such an initiative, the financial condition needs to be strong and flexible. Under such a situation, such initiatives would result in negative outcomes, degrading the image of the company. However, governmental assistance can be a wise step in terms of ensuring the development of the community people. Within this, projects like providing 100 days work to the marginalized section, collecting donations for girl child education can be planned. Rational approach towards executing these projects would be an efficient execution of the social responsibilities, which the Company holds towards the stakeholders and shareholders.
Organizing special programs for the customers would help the company to understand the tastes and preferences of the customers. For this, budget would be a crucial document. Programs for launching the newly manufactured toys can be one of the examples of the events. Celebrity endorsements would add to the enthusiasm of the customers to have a look at the toys. At the end of the shows, toys can be given to the children. Feedbacks from the parents would help the company to understand the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of the plans. This understanding would help in making estimates about progressing towards the identified goals and objectives.
Evaluation of the proposed plans towards change would bring to the forefront the drawbacks. Spontaneity in modifying the drawbacks would help Lakeland Wonders in regaining the trust, loyalty and dependence of the customers. Developing short term goals would be assistance in terms of measuring the extent to which the improvements have been achieved. Taking into consideration checklists and templates would enhance Cheryl’s awareness towards the achieved changes. Maintaining consistency in the execution of evaluation would help Lakeland Wonders in upgrading the standards and quality of performance. Adopting customer centric business would help the company to achieve competitive advantage over the contemporary brands, securing the market position.
Conclusion:
Lack of planning adds a negative touch to the experience of Cheryl. This negativity holds nullifies all the propositions, which she made for changing the workplace scenario of Lakeland Wonders. Careless approach is reflected from lack of research towards executing offshore manufacturing for the toys. Working haphazardly resulted in failure and employee turnover, which degraded the reputation of the company. Her irrational approach compelled her to encounter difficulties in the crucial stages of change management. Strategic planning along with evaluation and training would have helped Cheryl in implementing the proposed changes in an efficient and effective manner. Within this, offshore manufacturing would have helped her in gaining guidance and assistance towards increasing the sales revenue and profit margin. On the contrary, she experimented with her skills and expertise, leading the company to a vulnerable position within the competitive ambience of the market. Training is the need of the hour in terms of restoring the lost balance in the business as well as trust of the customers.
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