Organizations function more effectively if they function having open door policies, adapting to the constant changes in the external environment. Since such organizations are affected by changes in the external environment, managers must understand the nature of this environment. The external environment of an organization comprises of the mega environment alternatively known as the general environment along with the task environment.
Organizations include people belonging to different cultures, cast, creed, race etc. Each individual varies in his nature and this indicates that personnel would certainly be extremely unpredictable. The management of organizations thus is a daunting task. Growing diversity, knowledge and information explosion, strategic partnership, global competition and emphasis on various aspects like total quality management are the plethora of other challenges that contemporary managers, more often than not, face. In order to handle this varied range of challenges effectively and efficiently, managers require support and mutual aid from individual personnel and their teams who, most often than not, resist change.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the key to organizational efficiency and success is to properly manage change by utilizing pragmatic planning approaches. The purpose of strategic planning is to offer a framework to the management which helps in effective decision making that will have a positive and long lasting impact on the sustenance of the organization. A conscious effort to systematize the effort and to manage its evolution is preferable to an unmanaged and haphazard evolution. The basic planning problem is how to allocate the organization's limited resources. The major benefits to be expected from planning include an improved sense of direction for the organization, better performance, increased understanding of the organization and its purpose, earlier awareness of problems, and more effective decisions.
Acquiring and retaining good human resources is an important pre-condition for the victory of every organization. Organizations that can accomplish this can be both effectual i.e. they will be able to accomplish their goals as well as competent i.e. they will use least amount resources needed to achieve their goals. Incompetent or unsuccessful organizations face the risk of declining or going out of existence of the corporate world.
However, as society become more pluralistic, competition became more intense, which raised the need for an evaluation mechanism that ensures focus on mission, strategy and performance management. The evaluation has to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of management of state resources in terms of user satisfaction. There is an existing intention to provide transparency of results and performance to gain the agreement of both internal and external stakeholders. In order to do so, the evaluation has to monitor the implemented activities and offer a solid opinion on the achieved results. The evaluation process needs to include a description of the objectives of the activities established by decision makers, followed by a definition of the parameters and the indicators. The next step is gathering and analyzing information (both quantitatively and qualitatively) to deliver a clear opinion. Finally, the output of such process needs to be followed by actions by bodies in charge. Organizations, all over the world, target to accomplish their objectives by way of effectively making use of the available resources.
In this paper we look at ‘Efficiency’ in the context of Nestle, the global food and beverage manufacturer.
The fundamental business objective of Nestle is to be considered as the global leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness; should be trusted by all the stakeholders and to be an example of exemplary financial performance in the industry. Innovation and Renovation, communication with the customer, and operational efficiency are the key components of the business development strategy of Nestle. All these components are inter-related and all of them are aimed to drive product development, quality and restoration, operational performance, interactive long-term relationships with consumers and stakeholders. Recently, Nestle created Nestle Nutrition, a separate business unit that focuses mainly on the organization’s core nutrition business. Strengthening the leadership in this particular business unit is a significant element of the organization’s corporate strategy. This is a very good example of the key business strategy of operational efficiency as the organization has charged this particular business unity with operational responsibility and the fundamental objective of this unit is to deliver superior business performance through providing trusted and scientifically proven nutrition products to its consumers.
Nestlé’s success in its business development strategies is very evident from the strong customer loyalty that the organization enjoys. Even though there are numerous brands under Nestle, the focus of the organizational business development strategy is on the priority and the strategic brands rather than on the number of brands it owns. In addition to the enormous amount of loyal customer base, Nestle also enjoys a command on premium pricing of its products. This again is an indication of the successful business development strategy. Nestle is known for having a focused product line in eye care and health care business sectors. This indicates the ability of the organization to diversify and at the same time maintain a line of products and strategic brands supporting the organization.
The challenges of the corporate business environment are increasing by the day. These days, firms have to deal with a plethora of logjams like for instance, technology that is outdated, unused or infrastructure that is not very sophisticated and state-of-the art, out of place payment systems, and futile scheduling and control systems, which have in an inferior position their progress. Many organizations today have started recognizing the significance of automation, optimization of scheduling and an appropriate inventory management system, and are integrating total quality management and quality control into their operations. The fundamental objective of any business is to make money. While this could be the end the major means to reach this end is to achieve optimized productivity. Making money may be translated to increased net profits in synchronization with increasing returns on investment and cash flows. One of the principal aims of any business is to attain a position that enables them to attract more number of clients when compared to their competitors. In order to achieve such a competitive advantage, businesses try to recognize their discrete competencies. The distinctiveness of an organization’s operations function is significant in shaping its choice of various types of products and markets, and the rudiments of its competitive potency. A variety of operational and strategic decisions are taken in this process.
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