The Key Partners
Discuss about the ICT Factor in Strategic Organizational Change.
Entrust ICT is an Australian company that provides wholesale information and communication technology solutions. “It was started in 2013 by QRHUB after the purchase of Nextep Broadband resources and facilities from AAPT. Formed in 2010 QRHUB is meant to offer quality assets for the information and communication technology sector.
The business do not sell directly to the final customers of their products. It has partnered with foremost IT business, system integrators and Service providers in the country to be able to deliver the result to their clienteles. The company has partner’s acknowledgement forum that invoves listening to their needs and even requirements. In case of need for specialist support, the company takes the role of an enabler which is in most cases outside their normal level of expertise as by Osterwalder, & Pigneur, (2010).
They have developed a model in which their partners are the important part of the organization. They have acknowledged that the partners depend on them to provide exceptional services and products to their customers. It is due to this that they provide market leading, affordable and reliable solutions.
A business model is used to describe the basis of how an organization creates, conveys, and seizures values. The Entrust ICT has a model that concentrates on the partners and not the customers. As discussed above it uses the partners as the middlemen, and thus it lacks direct contact with the customers.
Mellado, (2012) says customer is the most important part of the business in an organization. In Entrust their partners are like their customers. It targets the partners who in turn aims their customers. As explained previously Entrust does not sell its services and product directly to the end users.
Access to the partner’s requirements and suggestion act as an essential part of partners. The acknowledgment of the partners and their contribution to bettering the services and the products being provided by the organization are significant in the partnership. The use of partner insights has helped the company to improve the partner interaction.
The proposition value of the company can be described as:
- To make it easier for the end users to be able to access their required services and products from their partners.
- To enhance the ICT services required by customers and to meet their cost value as required.
The organization is required to perform well in it the various department of production to ensure a steady flow of services to the partners. According to Kakabadse, Kakabadse, & Kouzmin, (2005) a well – organized partnership provides knowledge of the market requirements and adjustments required for the services and products.
Customer Relationships
The direct contact with the partners ensures that there are no complicated channels that are required by the company. The direct channel has seen the rise and even the improvement of the company products and services. The company can contact the partners and listen to their suggestions and market requirements.
The company is not affected by the customer willingness to pay directly due to it partnership approach. It thus means that the price that is set by the company is fixed to the partners who then set their prices to the end users. Although there are usually some changes to the prices and revenue due to the market, the company is well able to deal with the issue.
The production cost differs for each product. In case of need for a specialized product from the partner, the cost will differ from the normal costs. The stock is usually 40 percent of the sale price. Distributing the product to the partners usually cost around 20% percent of the revenue. Administration gathers a revenue of about 35 percent.
Due to the design of the solutions provided to be high quality and the business-grade network that include Voice, Hosting, Infrastructure, and applications the resources required may differ from each field and will entirely depend on the Partners requirements.
The lack of direct contact with the end user and the good partnership deed with our partners are part of the company relationship management. Providing partners with high-quality services and products act hand in hand to ensure they got a good relationship with the end users.
The above nine relationships of the organization are interrelated. For instance, if the company generates as 75 percent sales turnover, the linkage between the customer relationship, cost structure, key resources, and channels is foundational
As according to Model (2011) the value proposition links the customer to the cost advantage of the channel with the partners and distribution. The key resources segment of designing and generating high-quality products and services guarantee that the customer’s relationship segment, key activities and cost proposition are handled.
Linking of the cost, and revenue in inventory management, and the pricing tactic that are meant to ensure that products and services do not become a dead stock by continuation rolling of discounts of slow stocks as by Okai, Uddin, Arshad, Alsaqour, & Shah, (2014).
The company marketing success can be attributed to the connection among missing returns over competitions and important partners that maintains sales as documented by Nash (1950) and extended (1953).
Critical Success Factors
For the company to continue its rising trend in the market, they need to look at their production levels and raise them a little higher. The acknowledgment of the partners and rewarding the most active and royal partner may work to improve the relationship with them. The company should look to high highly qualified personnel. Constant practice development and solicitation of capital savings permits the company to enhance the swiftness of fulfillment at a inferior cost and less mistakes. (Roberts, 2017)
The company is built on teamwork and should also be enhanced. They should be able to provide an encouraging environment to the staff’s members for a balanced life between corporate and home life. Also it should be aimed at achieving their goals as dictated by Graham, (2017, Feb 7).
In a period of the five years that Entrust has been in business, there has been an increased in the revenue achieved. This does not mean that the company does not run the risk of loses. The fact that the company uses partners to get it product to the end user can because of it loses. With the computation of the company, there may be an occurrence of downside risk. The possibility that there will be a change in market preferences or maybe an increase in the price by the partners may scare the customers away leading to the risk Fenech & Perkins (2015).
The customers/end users may be unwilling to purchase at a higher price. Also, an entrance in the market of a new company may lead to the shift. For instance, if the company may be providing the services directly to the customers. The foreign market may also add costs to the global business. It should be noted that “Response improves visions into future list choice and offer design” (Data Services Inc. 2015)
I choose to go toward a better indulgent of how the end users buy the services and products while moving away from the propensity to casualty. I would study them to establish the activities and factors that would lead to the increased need for the services and products and also the willingness to purchase as noted down by Zott, Amit, & Massa, (2011).
The Christensen’s (2016) disruptive innovation concept of competing against zero consumptions may contribute to the success of the business. The disruptive innovation will mean that I study the market to know the already established companies. I would then start to move up the market and eventually displacing the already established competitor. It will help me evolve at a faster rate than what the customers’ needs are evolving and by doing so fulfilling their needs.
The Entrust ICT has been successful in the approach of using the partners as the middlemen between them and the end user. The greatest risk that might face them in the coming years is coping with drastic change in the customer preferences. Due to their lack of direct contact with the customers Entrust may find it difficult to cope with any change in the market change as by Citrina, Stem, Spangenberg, & Clark, 2003).
Entrust may need to start a platform in which the end user can get into contact with them. If it is not possible, there is a need to set up constant market research to avoid market frustration in the future.
According to Morris, Schindehutte, & Allen, (2005) perspective Entrust can also look to change some of their approaches with the partners and start a customer relationship approach. In case, a partner has a weak relationship with the customer, the company relationship with customers is also challenged. Having a customer relationship platform will help attract more customers.
Key Partners 2 The partners who account for the most important part of business. |
4 Key Activities Organized partnership. Making required adjustments to the products and services. |
Value Propositions 3 Make it easier for the end users to access required services and products Enhance ICT services by customers. |
9 Customer Relationships. Enhanced partnership relationship, transmitted to the end users. |
Customers Segment 1 Business owners who ask to partner with the company. |
8 Key Resources Voice, hosting, infrastructure and application resources. |
Channels 5 Use of partners as intermediaries with the customers. |
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Cost Structure 7 Stock is 40% Distribution takes 20% Administration 35%. |
Revenue Stream 6 Fixed selling to the partners who in turn set the tone for the customers. |
References
Christensen, C., Hall, T., Dillon, K., & Duncan, D. (2016). Know your customers’ “jobs to be done.” Harvard Business Review, 54-62.
Citrina, A. V., Stem, D. E., Spangenberg, E. R., & Clark, M. J. (2003). Consumer need for tactile input An internet retailing challenge. Journal of Business Research, 56, 915 – 922.
Data Services Inc. (2015, Aug 19). How Charles Tyrwhitt Does It With Mail. Retrieved 03 22, 2018, from https://www.dataservicesinc.com/newsletter/how-charles-tyrwhitt-does-it-with-mail/
Fenech, C., & Perkins, B. (2015). Made-to-order: The rise of mass personalization. The Deloitte Consumer Review, 11(1).
Graham, N. (2017, Feb 7). My First Million: Nick Wheeler, Charles Tyrwhitt founder. Financial Times. Retrieved 03 16, 2018, from https://www.ft.com/content/a421b5b4-bc85-11e6-8b45-b8b81dd5d080
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Mellado, D. (Ed.). (2012). IT Security Governance Innovations: Theory and Research: Theory and Research. IGI Global. 2012
Kakabadse, N. K., Kakabadse, A., & Kouzmin, A. (2005). After the re-engineering: Rehabilitating the ICT factor in strategic organizational change through outsourcing. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 1(2005), 55-71.
Zott, C., Amit, R., & Massa, L. (2011). The business model: recent developments and future research. Journal of management, 37(4), 1019-1042.
Morris, M., Schindehutte, M., & Allen, J. (2005). The entrepreneur’s business model: toward a unified perspective. Journal of business research, 58(6), 726-735.
Model, B. P. (2011). Notation (bpmn).
Okai, S., Uddin, M., Arshad, A., Alsaqour, R., & Shah, A. (2014). Cloud computing adoption model for universities to increase ICT proficiency. SAGE Open, 4(3), 2158244014546461.