Company Profile
From a small apothecary shop, Biotech became a small manufacturing plant in 1932. By 1934, Biotech succeeded in expanding the sales into the markets of New York. At this stage, the sales revenue of Biotech experienced an upsurge, as the customers exposed an inquisitive nature into the products manufactured. Currently, the annual sales revenue of Biotech is $35 billion. Barney holds the sole proprietorship of the company. He is a proud man, as he has emerged successful in taking the operations into the markets of US, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean and Canada (Biotechlife.com, 2018). The personnel of the company envision enhancement of the standards of lifestyle for the customers through the delivery of quality health supplements. The mission of the company is ensuring that the health needs of the customers are catered through the production of safe, effective, natural and affordable health supplements.
Strengths
Wide supply chain network is one of the greatest strengths of Biotech. Typical evidence of this lies in the presence of huge workforce, which provides support regarding the efficient execution of the activities. The operations of the company are widespread, which indicates strong customer base (Biotechlife.com, 2018). Variety in the product lines is assistance in terms of preserving the purchasing power of the customers. Strategic approach in terms of expanding the sales is appropriate in terms of dealing with the competitors effectively and efficiently.
Weakness
Lack of target segmentation is the cause behind plans like selling the products to everyone. Selling the products to the local peddlers, receiving commission is illegal. This is a violation to the ethical code of conduct as well as the buying power of the customers.
Opportunities
Increasing the product line is an opportunity for Biotech in terms of gaining new customers. Strategic approach in terms of developing long term goals would help the company personnel in securing their position within the competitive ambience (Biotechlife.com, 2018). Growing demands for bio-nutraceutical marketplace is an opportunity in terms of expanding the market share.
Threats
Lackadaisical approach towards the conducting business process re-engineering would compel the personnel to encounter vulnerability in the market position. Not involving the HR faculties in the decision-making process would aggravate the complexities in terms of implementation of the strategies.
Political
Political unrests and harsh tax impositions adversely affects the import and export activities of Biotech. On the other hand, EU Commission provides guidance and support to the company in terms of carrying out the activities according to the legislative requirements (Biotechlife.com, 2018).
SWOT Analysis of Biotech
Economic
Increase in the sales revenue expanded the market share for Biotech. Accumulating the health supplement assisted the company in taking the sales revenue to $20 billion. This is due to alliance with the trade union members, which helped in dealing with the instances of inflation, high exchanges rates and high prices of raw materials.
Social
The lifestyle of the customers is changing. In the fast-paced life, the health supplements need to be such, which provides energy to the customers for dealing with the pressures (Robson, 2015).
Technological
Social media marketing helps the company in increasing the trafficking of the audience towards the brand image. Uploading the product specifications on the websites and the social networking sites helps the personnel in achieving large scale customer satisfaction.
Legal
Adhering to the marketing legislations is assistance in terms of achieving loyalty, trust and dependence of the customers. Typical example of this is Consumer Protection Act, which is directly related with the business of Biotech. Complying with the standards and protocols of European Commission and National Health Survey are mandatory for the company in terms of ensuring the wellbeing of the customers (Scarborough, 2016).
Environmental
The company staffs use natural ingredients in preparing the health supplements. Using solid waste management techniques helps in maintaining the cleanliness and hygiene within the workplace premises.
Threat of substitutes
As the number of competitors are huge, the threat of substitutes is high for Biotech. The health supplements by GlaxoSmithKline and Nestle can add vulnerability into the market position of Biotech.
Bargaining power of the suppliers
The raw materials for the health supplements are the distributors and the agencies, who rule the markets of US, Europe, America and Canada. Therefore, to extract high prices for the services, the personnel need to indulge in contracts (Biotechlife.com, 2018).
Bargaining power of the buyers
The customers in the present generation are tech savvy, which indicates their high bargaining power. Their needs, demands and requirements are ever changing. This is especially applicable in terms of healthcare. Mention can be made of the women customers, who are concerned about the health.
Threat of new entrants
The threats of new entrants are high in this case because the start-ups are looking for market expansion. The product line expansion by established brands can add vulnerability into the market position of Biotech. Typical example can be health supplements by Nestle, which would result in customer turnover (Biotechlife.com, 2018).
PESTLE Analysis of Biotech
Competitive rivalry
The competitive rivalry is intense, as the competitors are huge in number. Personal skincare products of Nestle can give intense competition to the night cream products manufactured by Biotech.
One of the goals is expanding the sales revenue, which can be achieved through the objective of expanding the market share, maximizing the profit margin and conducting target segmentation. Expanding the market share into Arab countries would be effective if standards and protocols of EU are followed. One of the other goals is increasing the production lines. Here, the objective can be to develop cosmetic products, which have natural flavours, conducting quality assessment and to conduct total quality management. This would effectively cater to the health needs of the customers. The third goal, which the business unit of Biotech can develop is bringing innovation within the products. For this, the objective would be to revise the recruitment and selection procedures, prepare budget for training and development programs and conducting marketing mix. If the employees are trained about the use of technologies, they would be able to manufacture innovative products.
Fourth goal can be to ensure the protection of the suppliers. For this, the objective would be to develop policies related to the contracts, deals and transactions. Revising the existing policies along with revision of the legislation and protocols of marketing legislations would be effective in terms of dominating the suppliers in terms of delivering quality products to the clients and the customers. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) methodology can be one of the goals for Biotech. For this, the objective would be to indulge in meetings with the experts in terms of conducting review of the business operations. This review would enhance the awareness towards the need for additional resources. Within this, consideration of the previous years’ financial reports would be beneficial in terms of modifying the mistakes.
The organizational structure of the organization consists of the CEO of the business who takes the overall decisions of the firm’s activities while considering the reports that are produced by the director executives of South America division, North America division, European division and Asia Division. It has helped the business in conducting the functions as per the different market changes in the diverse regions. On the other hand, the R&D, Purchasing, Finance, HR and IT departments working under the respective regions has helped in undertaking continuous innovation in the functions that are planned by the business. Decision making functions of the organization is supported through the knowledge of the internal and external contingencies that are faced by the business while operating in the diverse markets. The R&D department of the business has helped in undertaking continuous innovation in the line of products as per the analysis of the needs of the customers. On the other hand, the IT department of the organization establishes the link between the organizational management and the customers to understand their preferences. The data that is collected by the IT department assists the R&D department of the business in undertaking modifications in the product design. The HR department identifies the staffing needs of the business to support the objectives of the firm. on the other hand, the finance department helps the organizational management in understanding the financial position of the business through research on cash flows and expenditures. It assisted the organization in understanding the key areas where change is required to be induced to enhance the functioning of the business. Purchasing and sales department of the organization has helped in identifying the resource needs and the capabilities of the organization while operating in the diverse markets (Tax, McCutcheon & Wilkinson, 2013). Therefore, the integration of the different departments has helped the management in undertaking proficient decision making to enhance the operations.
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
The organization facilitated collaborative decision-making system through involving the employees in the process. It has helped the organizational management in inducing positive culture in the same while operating in the diverse regions. The collaborative decision-making system of the business has helped in facilitating the smooth functioning of the business. On the other hand, the organization has induced customer-centric culture in the organizational functioning, which has helped the same in enhancing the processes through the identification of the specific inclination of the customers. The understanding of the preferences of the customers has helped the R&D department of the business in developing products.
The continuous innovation approach of the organization is facilitated through the understanding of the needs of the customers while operating in the diverse markets. Therefore, the induction of positive culture in the organizational context and the coordinative functioning of the workforce with the management while undertaking a decision have helped the business in bringing forth improvements in the firm’s performance (Zeynep Ata & Toker, 2012). The smooth functioning IT department of the organization has helped the same in understanding the preferences of the customers. Understanding the preferences of the customers has supported the organizational objective of adhering to the healthcare needs while designing and developing their line of products. It has added to the competitive advantage of the business while operating in the diverse regions (Spiess et al., 2014).
Active participation of the employees in the decision making and operation processes of the business has assisted the venture in undertaking the smooth functioning of the same while operating in the diverse economies. The chief objective of the organization is to sustain in the competitive markets, which is supported through continuous innovation and Customer- Centric approach of the same. On the other hand, the active involvement of the employees in the processes that are designed by the organizational management has helped the business in undertaking the smooth functioning of the systems.
The different products that are developed by the organization are Protein and Fitness, Personal Care, Nutraceuticals, Vitamins and Food Supplements as per the identification of the requirements of the customers. The products that are developed by the organization are based on the customer centric needs, which have helped the business in undertaking continuous modifications in the business models. The involvement of the employees in the different processes that are designed by the business management has helped the same in undertaking the smooth functioning of the product development and operations (Meng et al., 2018). The identification of the need of the customers and thereby framing the business propositions has provided the venture with a wider scope of expanding in the international markets.
Communication Plan
|
Goals |
Activities |
Timeframe |
Communication medium |
Rationale |
|
Promote innovation in the products |
1. Analyzing the reports that are developed by the IT department of the business to identify the requirements of the customers 2. Undertaking an analysis of the required funds to support the development of the new line of products as the business offering 3. Making the R&D department aware of the different changes in the needs of the customers |
2- 3 months |
Emails, Social media platforms |
The innovation in the line of products will be helping the organization in gaining a competitive advantage in the market over the existing players |
|
Formulation of a promotion strategy to expand the organization in Saudi Arabia |
1. Consultation with promotional and advertising agencies 2. Making the sales department aware of the objectives of organizational growth |
7- 9 months |
Emails, newsletter, social media platforms |
Market expansion will be helping the organization in upholding the efficacy of the business sustenance while designing the products as per the needs of the customers. |
Human resource management is a strategic approach of the management of an organisation for the purpose of increasing the performance of the employees and gain competitive advantage. In this age of globalisation, the market scenario is continuously changing, and only the organisations that have a flexible, innovative and dynamic approach can success under such uncertain circumstances (Lengnick-Hall, Beck & Lengnick-Hall, 2011). Therefore, in order to gain resilience, organisations need to develop effective human resource plans. Hence, the director of Biotech needs an effective human resource plan for the new Asia Division to identify the future human resource needs of the organisation. The human resource plan is a step-by-step process that follows the following process.
The new division currently has only the Director of the company, and needs the Assistance Division Directors (ADD) in IT department, R&D, purchasing, HR and finance department. Each of these departments needs to be staffed sufficiently in order to function efficiently. The company also needs enough workers for the manufacturing of the products, and necessary management and supervisors for the monitoring. Apart from the employees that need to be hired, there is also a need of proper facilities for the training of the selected employees. In addition to this, an effective evaluation strategy also needs to be developed for the evaluation of the selected employees.
Determination of Recruiting Process
After determining the needs, the next step that follows is the determination of the recruiting process of the employees. Advertisements will be posted in newspapers in Asian countries for the hiring of factory workers. Asian countries, such as India and China, are known for their skilled labours. Therefore, it is expected that there will be a number of responders with prior experience who would submit their resumes. A specialised recruiter will be appointed for the recruitment of the several directors, both nationally and internationally, through a submission of resumes and interviews (Bratton & Gold, 2017). In order to recruit staffs for the several divisions and supervisors, an announcement will be made in the local newspapers and magazines. Given the cultural circumstances, it is best to recruit these employees from locality. In each division, the company must recruit enough people so that it is able to select only the most qualified candidates.
Employee Selection Process
The selection of factory workers will be based on their skills. After taking time to thoroughly check the resumes in terms of skills and experience, the labours will be selected. The resumes of the applicants for the supervisory and staff role will also be thoroughly checked, and then the applicants with required skills and experience will be called for the interview. The interview is the final step of the selection process. In this process the intellect of the candidates will be evaluated and their willingness and to work will be identified. After the interview, the candidates with the best qualities and possibilities will be selected and a formal mail will be sent to them with the joining date and process. The HR department will conduct these hiring processes. The specialised recruiter will select the three most appropriate applicant for each of the director posts, and after the interview with the interview panel, which consists of HR manager, the director, and the recruiter, the most suitable candidate will be selected for the director posts.
Providing Training Facilities
Although the selection would be based on the qualities and skills of the candidates, there will be training program for them after the joining. Training is significant as it makes the employees feel valued. Expensing on the competence and growth of the employees demonstrate that the company is committed to its employees and keeps the employees retained (Nkosi, 2015). Therefore, for the factory workers, training programs will be developed according to the various division of works they will be doing. The staffs will also go through trainings as per the requirements of their job profiles.
Determining the Process of Evaluation
Another important way of retaining employees is the evaluation of their work as it is another opportunity for the companies to demonstrate their commitment towards the employees (Kakar, Raziq & Khan, 2017). Therefore, a planned evaluation strategy needs to developed. The achievement and progress of each employee will be recorded on a weekly basis. After each month, the reports will be compared and matched with the prior evaluation before the hiring. This will provide a clear idea on how each employee is working and the progress, production, and achievement. Each new employee will be evaluated based on this report. The human resource planning also includes estimating a budget for the recruitment process and training programs.
Work Culture and Safety
Safety is the most crucial consideration in any circumstances. The employees will work without any worry if they are aware that they work under a safe environment. Therefore, proper safety measures will be taken in the company policy, both in terms of workplace and personal. Work culture is another significant issue when it comes to employee retention and increase productivity. A positive work culture would provide a positive mind set to the employees which subsequently increase their work efficiency (Baldassarre, 2015). Thus, it is important to create a policy regarding all the safety measures, behavioural issues, and the interests of both the employees and the organisation (Merchant, 1982).
Conclusion
Strategic approach is beneficial for Biotech in terms of achieving the planned market expansion. For this, development of real and achievable goals needs to be developed, which would improve the focus in the business activities. Business process re-engineering is appropriate in terms of upgrading the standards and quality of the business operations. Marketing mix is crucial in terms of gaining an insight into the prospective customers, who would increase the sales revenue and profit margin.
References
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