Shareholders Perspective
Market share is a strategic objective that can be measured by organization market growth with the targets being 3% market expansion per annum for a decade. Competitive market position objective is the second strategic objective which is measured by examining patent infringement in terms of designs and features of the products with the target being target zero patent infringement. Profitability is another objective which is measured by the rate of profitability growth with the target being at least 10% growth per annum for the first three years and 5% thereafter.
Risk facing market share increase objective is the intense competition in this industry. Every major player is heavily investing in research and development thus becoming hard to anticipate what the other players will achieve. However, in order to mitigate this plan, the firm should always apply market intelligence not only to anticipate the changes of its customers but also the trends by the competitors to gain an understanding of their path of reasoning thus the product they will produce (Stegmann, 2009). Market expansion objective is highly linked to profitability in that price wars not only affect profitability but also the firm market expansion capabilities. As such, the firm should always explore cost reduction strategies such as lean manufacturing and effective costing approaches such as activity based costing and business practices such as outsourcing and relocating the manufacturing wings to low costs countries (Keuleneer & Verhoog, 2003). Considering market positioning, the risks are associated with patent infringement or ease of firm’s products to be copied. It is common for the competitor to find a slight twist in the firm’s devices, thus managing to find a way to the firm’s patent protection. As both precautionary and contingency plan, the firm should always structure the patents wording to limit loopholes that may be exploited to create the twist by the copycat. Also, the firm needs to invest in considerable market sensitization that will inform the consumer of their products features such as colors and thickness that may assist the customer to easily identify their products thus maintaining a level of clarity among the consumers.
The ethical concern is the ability to compete ethically even when others are employing dirty tactics. The firm should strive to expand its market, increase its profitability and position itself by offering quality goods that offer value for the customer’s money (Malachowski, 2001). Never should the firm dupe the customers in the name of gaining a competitive edge.
Customer Value Perspective
Customer retention objective can be measured using the rate of return customer with the target being maintaining a given percentage of return customers. Customer satisfaction can be another objective which is measured by evaluating the likelihood of a customer referring another to the firm products, net promoter score, targeting one reference per customer. The evaluation should be done through a survey. Customer value can be measured by evaluating the customer view of the tradeoff between quality and price through the application of customer value model with the target being ensuring that the organization offers products at a price where the customers get value for their money. These can only be done through market surveys.
The biggest risk that the firm will face is losing its customer base due to various reasons such as deterioration in the value the firm product offer to the customer or superior products from competitors (Denton, 2001). Such event will lower the customer satisfaction to the disadvantage of the firm. In order to counter this, the firm should invest in market intelligence thus placing the firm in a good position to match the prevailing customer needs and anticipate the future direction. This should be coupled with sufficient research and development that will keep pace with the changes in consumer tastes and preferences, thus having ready technology as and when future trend materializes. As a contingency, the firm should maintain a sizable distance with its competitors with regard to research and development advancement to ensure the firm can respond to abrupt changes in preference and preferences.
Considering ethics in business, in a competitive world, the firm may be tempted to exaggerate its value, thus resulting to falsified advertising championing the value of the products. As such, a firm should always campaign based on facts and value that the firm can provide (Malachowski, 2001).
Measures of Performance
Productivity improvement is another objective which can be measured by the productivity rate, which is obtained by revenue divided by man-hours targeting to improve productivity by 10% per annum. A measure of performance is another objective that can be measured by examining the rate of production efficiency as measured by the rate of default products. Finally, operations metrics can be measured by the number of locations the products are available targeting opening at least 10 retailing centers per year.
The biggest risks associated with performance are attributable to demand management. There are various factors that affect demand, thus the amount of products produced. Accuracy in demand forecasting is the most important element in performance management since demand management eliminates risks associated with wastage thus its predominance importance in the firm’s operations. As such, a firm should constantly analyze time series data to determine the level of production to meet its demand. Therefore, the firms should always have its production process operational in order to meet demand and also maintain sufficient capacity to handle demand at any time (Neely, 2002). In addition, as a contingency strategy, the firm should always have safety margin production in order to address fluctuations in the level of demand.
Considering ethics, the process of production should not cause any harm to the end user nor the people directly involved in the production process. The organization has a moral responsibility to ensure that the process is safe and the goods produced are right for the intended purpose (Malachowski, 2001).
Learning and Growth Perspective
The employee turnover objective can be measured by evaluating the rate of employee turnover with a target of having less than 2 employees leave the organization in two years. Second, employee satisfaction can be measured by the willingness to stay in the organization despite them having opportunities to leave with the target being retaining employees for least 5 years. Lastly, organization culture objective can be measured by evaluating the chances of promotion and gaining additional responsibilities with the target being according to all employee equal chance to be promoted.
The risks in these elements are best understood from the organization culture. A fragmented culture means that there is no fair remuneration, a discrepancy in remuneration of work of equal value, poor working conditions and the junior employee being bullied by their superiors among others. To counter this, the organization must have a code of ethics and operational framework that determines the relationships among employees and the mode of behavior while in the office (Denton, 2001). In addition, firm policies on remuneration and employee training and development must be in place. However, as a contingency, the firm should have developed all employees equally in order to eliminate the dependency of few employees which may be dangerous if such employee leaves the firm (Neely, 2002).
The ethical issue of concerns relates to fairness in dealing with employee welfare. Employees should be accorded fair treatment even when on the wrong in that every employee should be entitled to a fair defense when found guilty of a wrongdoing (Malachowski, 2001). Another element relates to remuneration, training, and job security among others.
Communication Plan
The preferred communication method is through face to face meeting. Considering the audience, matters concerning learning and growth and shareholders perception should be discussed with top management since there are matters of policy than an appeal to the workforce. Customer Value perspective and Measures of performance should be discussed with top management and direct supervisors. The direct supervisors will then be expected to hold a meeting with their respective teams and deliberate on the information passed on to them. The purpose of involving the supervisors is to make them the go between top management and employees. Since they have a close relationship with the employees, they are better placed to make a passionate appeal to the employee regarding improving performance and customer focus related matters (Paul, 2011). The purpose is to have the supervisor communicate management expectation with regard to customer orientation and productivity while the management, through various policies and frameworks, discloses their incentive to improve productivity and consumer orientation (Paul, 2011). Ultimately, the management will disclose the financial direction expectation as a result of increased customer focus, increased productivity as a result of increased workforce enticement.
References
Denton, D. K. (2001). Horizontal management: Beyond total customer satisfaction. New York: Lexington Books.
Keuleneer, L., & Verhoog, W. (2003). Recent trends in valuation from strategy to value. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley.
Malachowski, A. R. (2001). Business ethics: Critical perspectives on business and management. London: Routledge.
Neely, A. D. (2002). Business performance measurement: Theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Paul, C. (2011). Strategic communication: Origins, concepts, and current debates. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Stegmann, J. P. (2009). Strategic value management: Stock value creation and the management of the firm. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
