Introduction
Dole Food Company and Amgen are companies in different industries. The Dole Food Company operates in the consumer and Industrial products industry whereas Amgen operates in the technology industry. Nonetheless, the two entities share common long-term strategies. Furthermore, their strategies share common strategic priorities. With special attention to this, the paper will discuss the business objectives and the environment that surrounds the strategic priority of each of the two entities.
Additionally, the paper will compare and contrast the operational responses of the two entities. The paper will also highlight the measures that the company can enhance performance and behavior to meet the objectives as well as comment on the company that is better at managing the issues highlighted. Finally, the paper will comment of how either company can learn from the other. The strategic priority that is common for the two companies is research and development.
Discussion
Business Objectives and the Environment
Amgen serves to transform the lives of patients by using science and biotechnology to provide therapies that restore health. The environment in the business is guided by values and the mission of the company to serve patients. The values that define the business environment include intense competition and winning, being ethical, basing their activities on science, teamwork, ensuring quality, collaboration, communication and accountability, trust and respect and creating value for staff, patients and stockholders.
Dole Food Company on the other hand strives to set industry standards through nutrition education and research. Its business environment is controlled by values that are embedded in the company’s philosophy. The company expects their staff to uphold the highest ideals of ethics in very business dealing, social policies, environmental policies and the treatment of fellow employees.
Operational Responses
Operational responses of both the Dole Food Company and Amgen are similar in a number of ways. Firstly, both companies are dedicated to quality in order to increase operational efficiency and the safety of both their employees and the consumers of their products. This is backed by very rigorous quality control measures, transportation technologies and compliance to quality standards. Additionally, both companies have placed the importance of innovation and creativity in their operations.
The operational responses of the two companies differ in a number of ways too. For instance, in its approach to research and development, Dole Food Company is trying to implement natural control procedures to a greater extent. This is in view of serving the environment and its every day consumers. On the other hand, the Amgen has a strong emphasis on return on capital for the investments channeled to research and development. Therefore, the company employs an increasingly selective approach to its strategic priority by embracing an approach dabbed ‘pick the winners’.
Measurement of performance
For Amgen, measurement of performance is quite straightforward. Its focus on return on capital implies that the Chief Financial officer ought to evaluate the profitability of the company endeavors. The perspective of this evaluation should not be just limited to the amount of money injected into the research and development process. Capital also encompasses the other non-monetary aspects like human resources, physical facilities and time. As such the chief financial officer should value all the capital involved in monetary terms and review the return on capital in a specified period of time.
Additionally, other performance measures like working within the budget and meeting targets and goals are also important. The research and development team should be tasked with delivering products within specified time limits and budget allocations. In line with the company’s operational response, assessment of targets set will provide an overview of whether the companies are increasing their efficiency. While this may apply for both companies, some measures are unique to the Dole Food Company because of some of the differences in their operational response. To this effect, the company should establish the rate at which the natural control methods are phasing out artificial control methods.
Additionally, the resource allocation is also important the relationship between resource allocation and the rate of phasing out artificial control methods is important. Arguably, the resource allocation to research and development endeavors should decrease with an increase rate of phasing out unless the company initiates other projects. A relationship different from this would imply poor performance.
Company Effectiveness
Of the two companies, Amgen is more effective in managing these issues. Firstly, the company has established a fully fledged department charged with overseeing research and development in the company. With a functioning department to oversee these issues, the company is not strained because the department has all the resources to deliver their mandate. Additionally, the company has set out stern indicators for success which are used by the chief financial officer to value the cost effectiveness of the department and its value of the company.
Conclusion
The operational responses of the two companies have a lot to imply about the companies. There is much that both companies can learn from one another. For instance, Amgen could learn from the environmental consciousness of the Dole Food Company. The insistence on natural control methods is a demonstration of its corporate social responsibility nature. The Dole Food Company can also learn from the economic model of Amgen. Every investment requires an outlay and it should be one of the top most indicators of performance.
Works cited
MaRS Discovery District, Case study: Amgen-From drug development to the mass market. 2012. Web. 2 Dec 2013.
Daniel Roberts, Case study: The Dole food Company. 2013. Web. 2 Dec 2013.
