Pars Food Limited
Pars food Limited is one of the leading manufacturers of frozen potato products in the United Kingdom. As explained in Henry Fayol’s administrative theory, the success of the company could be attributed to the highly organized leadership structure guiding its operations on a day to day basis (Augustine, 2008). The organization currently has a total of 400 employees within its human resource fonts (Baziotopoulos, 2008). The top managerial level comprises a board of directors made up of six shareholders. Despite its immense success, the case study reveals a number of challenges faced by the company in its bid to ward off competition and hence become one of the best in its line of production. In this paper the core strategies and how they could be used to make Pars a better company are discussed (Bidgoil, 2015).
The operations occur in sectors such as transport, packaging, storage, marketing, finances, administration, accounting, sourcing as well as purchasing. While the department of purchasing oversees the sourcing of raw materials before transporting them to the production plant, the finances and accounting departments are charged with the core role of controlling the related budgets. The manufacturing departments handle the aspects of packaging, storage and transportation of the finished products to the final consumers (Blanchard, 2009). One of the eminent challenges at Pars is the lack of a standard processes and procedures within the organization. As explained in Ludwig’s systems theory, it becomes hard for the company management to standardize its operations without specific procedures. The other operational challenge is the fact that the company is currently obtaining its raw materials through external transport (Christopher, 2010). This can cause inconveniences and an increase operational costs.
With regard to the missing process procedures, the company ought to come up with a set of procedures meant to guide operations in each of these departments. These procedures can be structured by the quality assurance department and communicated to the staff effectively. Secondly, coming up with its own means of transporting both the raw materials and the finished products would be a major boost to the company’s development. This would not only increase the convenience levels in terms of delivery duration but also lower the production costs (Cozzolino, 2012).
The company strategy currently involves the inclusion of a number of middlemen since most of the operations are diversified but is working on unifying its operations to be conducted from a more central position. The supply chains vary depending on the target market. The most common chain at Pars is the manufacture-distributor-consumer format. The finished products are distributed to the first middlemen mostly through road transport (Donald, 2012). The distributors then take the packaged products to restaurants in their frozen form. However, it is a point worth noting that the company’s supply chain strategies have not only been time consuming but also quite costly. For instance, the physical delivery of the finished products is majorly done via road transport which is subject to obstacles like accidents and breakdowns which slow down the processes
Operations Management
In line with the noted supply chain challenge, the company could introduce the use of smart connection in addition to the incorporation of technology in the sales process. Smart connection implies the consumers can view the variety of products online before making orders based on their presences. The deliveries can then be made to specific recipients hence making the supply process more definite and effective.
Pars main product, the frozen potatoes, has experienced a high consumption rate over the past decades (Mallik, 2010). This achievement may not only be associated with the increasing population in the UK but the effective marketing strategies which has been put in place by the company. The company uses a number of promotional approaches in a bid to improve the awareness about the products and services among the consumers. One such strategy involves producing a wide range of products in order to fit the various consumer segments set by the company. The company is currently driving a campaign to introduce its clients to a set of new products one meant for the average buyers and the second intended to capture the more luxurious market. In addition to product variation, Pars offers discount services to its loyal consumers. A better chunk of the marketing strategies are achieved through audio and visual media where the consumers are informed of the company’s products and services as well as their prices via radio, newspapers and television. It can however be deduced that the company’s marketing modes are not only expensive but may not be applicable in cases where a large audience is targeted (Handfield, Straube, Pfohl & Wieland, 2013) .
The organization can employ the use of online platforms in order to make marketing more effective and speedy. Through the internet, company website and the social media, the company can interact with its consumers in a more comprehensive manner informing them of the product prices and any variations
Preston Plant situated in Preston had precision printing papers as its major product. The company operates with machines which apply precision coating to printing papers which can then be used on specific printers. Before the turn around, a number of challenges can be deduced from the case study which could be directly linked to the operation and supply chain strategies. To begin with, the company’s main customer is Hp which insisted on good quality as part of their terms of agreement. At some point, the organization noted that the paper would curl at low humidity a situation which the management did not address with the needed frequency. This led to losses of about $2million. In addition, the production line was quite slow leading to increased the operation costs.
Recommendation
From the summarized study, it is easy to point out the key operational strategies which led to the turnaround in the company. One of notable and most effective operational change involved boosting the moral of the employees which had dropped leading to the downfall. Motivation became one of the new management’s key objectives which in turn improved productivity and the overall output within the company (Johnson, Christensen & Kagermann, 2008). Secondly, the speed of the production lines were improved which literally enhanced the speed of the production process.
In a bid to salvage the drowning company, the management used three major operational strategies. First, improving the product quality involved enhancements at the manufacturing level where the necessary elements were added to the products to prevent curling which was a major quality challenge. The second approach which involved variation of products also brought a notable change in the performance of the company (Jones, 2006). The products would be varied to ensure that each performs best in a given segment of the market. For instance, the Green wrap was specifically meant for the Japanese market. The company’s idea to reduce production cost by reviewing a number of its processes also paid off. This was achieved majorly by increasing the production speed and motivation of the working force which did not only enhance the general output but also ensured that the production process involved lesser costs due to effective system and proper time management.
As a further strategy aimed at enhancing the organizational performance, the company could consider removing the middlemen and hence conducting direct sales to its clients. This strategy would help reduce the number of inventories in its supply chain consequently reducing the delivery time and the involved operation costs.
Domino’s Pizza is one of the leading fast foods enterprises in Australia with various outlets in different parts of Europe and beyond. The strategic management approaches put in place by the company explains the immense success it has experienced. The case study reveals proper customer relations as one of the major approaches used by the company to increase the awareness about their products. Additionally, Domino’s conducts a number of promotional campaigns as a marketing strategy. The campaigns are normally conducted especially during the launching of a new product by the company. Provision of discounts to its loyal customers is another strategy which has constantly been used by the company to increase awareness (Raue & Wieland, 2015). In this approach, most of the returning customers are noted and knitted into a given segment after which they are supplied with the goods at a more subsidized rate. This approach enhances good sales and customer loyalty (Wallenburg, Cahill, Michael & Goldsby, 2011).
Supply Chain Management
At Domino’s Pizza, a variety of products are produced. Each of these is meant to serve particular market segments. Variation of products and market segmentation are important marketing strategies which has made most consumers fond of the products. This is because the organization is able to note the consumer preferences. The market is then segmented appropriately and the products varied to fit each of these needs (Poluha, 2016). These strategies have led to an increase in the awareness among consumers about the company’s products. The other common marketing strategies used by Domino’s include; use of billboards and mainstream media like radio and television where the products and their prices are advertised to the willing audience. These strategies may however prove costly in the long run for the company. At the same time, the marketing approaches may only be effective in reaching a portion of the market and not a wider section.
Domino’s Pizza could get more strategic with its marketing approaches by harnessing the technological innovations which have made most operations in business faster and cheaper. The organization could resort to the use of the online platforms to conduct the marketing campaigns. This can be done by establishing a user friendly and interactive website where the company’s main marketing ideas are posted (Ronald, 2007). For instance, through the online platforms, the users can be easily introduced to a new product together with its price before the clients are given room to make their orders online and deliveries made to them promptly. Furthermore, the company could also use these platforms to obtain consumer reviews regarding their products and services (Shah, 2010). These feedbacks can then be used to enhance the marketing strategies. One advantage of online marketing is the fact that it covers a wider range of audience hence can be used to reach many people within a short period of time. This is because most individuals in the market have easy access to the internet and the enabling devices.
References
Augustine, N. (2008). Reshaping an industry: lockheed martin’s survival story. Harvard Business Review (May-June).
Baziotopoulos, P. (2008). An Investigation of Logistics Outsourcing Practices In the Greek Manufacturing Sector. Journal of Management. 23(1), pp. 24-34.
Bidgoil, M. (2015). The Handbook of Technology Management: Supply Chain Management, Marketing and Advertising, and Global Management. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 104
Blanchard, B. (2009). Logistics Engineering and Management. US: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Christopher, M. (2010). Logistics & Supply Chain Management: creating value-adding networks. New York: Prentice Hall.
Cozzolino A. (2012). Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, In Humanitarian Logistics. New York: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Donald, M. (2012). Supply Chain Logistics Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mallik, S. (2010). Customer Service in Supply Chain Management: An Introduction to Supply Chain Management. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Handfield, R., Straube, F., Pfohl, H.C. & Wieland, A. (2013). Trends and Strategies in Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Embracing Global Logistics Complexity to Drive Market Advantage. Journal of Business Logistics, 2(1), pp. 3-9.
Johnson, M. W., Christensen, C. M., & Kagermann, H. (2008). Reinventing your business model. Harvard Business Review, 86(12), 50.
Jones, J. (2006). Integrated Logistics Support Handbook. US: McGraw-Hill Logistics Series.
Raue, J. and Wieland, A. (2015). The interplay of different types of governance in horizontal cooperations: a view on logistics service providers. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 26(2), pp.3-7.
Poluha, R. (2016) .The Quintessence of Supply Chain Management: What You Really Need to Know to Manage Your Processes in Procurement, Manufacturing, Warehousing and Logistics (Quintessence Series). New York: Dordrecht.
Ronald H. (2007). Business Logistics: Supply Chain Management. New York: Pearson Education.
Shah, A. (2010). Dell Acquires Systems Management Company KACE. Journal of Logistics Management. 3(1), pp. 17-21.
Wallenburg, C., Cahill, D., Michael Knemeyer, A., and Goldsby, T. (2011). Commitment and Trust as Drivers of Loyalty in Logistics Outsourcing Relationships: Cultural Differences Between the United States and Germany. Journal of Business Logistics, 32(1), pp. 83-98.
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