EVANSVILLE ARC INDUSTRIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is a combination of the strategic assessment of Evansville ARC using which the discrepancies of the business will be rectified. With the analysis, new strategies will be defined using which the excelling prospects of the organization will be studied. In this report, the company profile and the background of the business will be assessed. Based on the current position of the organization the further goals and objectives that the business wishes to acquire will be analyzed. This report presents a discussion of the strengths, weaknesses and challenges which the firm is facing currently. Using this all the prospects and aims of providing employment to the disabled people will also be presented. The specific target market and the strategies used for the segmenting purpose will suggest the positioning and the target markets of the strategies. These strategies of the business will promote customer relationship. The marketing strategies will include the Customer Relationship Marketing, Holistic Marketing and Internet Marketing approach. The implementation of the plan and evaluating the outcomes will suggest the success acquired in emphasizing on the customers and meeting the needs of the customers effectively. The aim of all the strategies is to meet the needs of the customers and associate the business in such a way that more and more jobs can be created for the disabled persons. All this can only be acquired if the scope of the business operation is thriving and all the goals of the firm are being achieved.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Evansville is a manufacturing and distribution facility which operates as a non-profit organization and aids in the vocational training to individuals with disabilities. Besides supporting individuals who have disabilities, revenue generated by the firm provides the organization the ability to sustain the inadequately funded operations of the industry. The firm is a specialist in the field of packaging, assembly and order fulfillment. The existing project on which the firm is working includes the folding and gluing of the cardboard pieces for producing the trays. Labeling of the boxes, bottles and cans along with creating sealed bags for shrinking the wrapping item and grinding the industrial plastic are active activities which the firm is pursuing. Power washing and reusable packaging in the form and pallets and drums are also used actively for the wrapping of the plastic bags.
The firm provides numerous development and employment facilities to the disabled which is the scope using which the firm intends to progress. Evansville ARC is the parent company of Evansville ARC industries which supports the funding of various programs and services of the firm. As an employer, the firm requires the services of all kinds of individuals those with disabilities and those without and disabilities. The firm operates for the completion of the task oriented goals using which various packaging and assembling related operations are performed and completed catering the customers. The operations of the firm are managed in-house, but the scope of the business is having difficulties in stabilizing within the business environment. In some of the cases, the firm has failed in maintaining an appropriate relationship with its customers which has subsequently led in failure of anticipating the needs of the customers. Understanding the strengths of the organization and meeting with the challenges the organization will stabilize its existing reputation within the industry.
OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
Evansville ARC requires designing the strategies which will assist in reacquiring the market reputation amongst the customers. This will enhance the customer base, and at the same time funding from the Evansville ARC industries will also increase. Maintaining a strong relationship with the existing customers and increasing the scope of the business is the goal which the organization wishes to accomplish.
- The goals and the objectives on which the emphasis of the firm will rely include developing a strong presence of business on the internet. The existing portal which the firm is using for promoting the business on the internet is limited. The scope does not sufficiently determine the abilities of the business which is making customer retention difficult for the firm.
- The business must aim at forming an association with the relevant businesses so that similar corporations and the federal governments may provide opportunities to the disabled for meeting with the goals of the organization.
- Maintaining a relationship with the existing customers will ensure stability of the business. Working with the existing customers will enable gaining knowledge of the customer needs. Making phone calls to the customers and conducting visits to the location will enable understanding the needs of customers in a better way.
- The firm aims at developing a product for the customers. The firm performs the work on the basis of the tasks which are assigned to them and this will help in accomplishing the specific goals and targets effectively.
The goals and objectives of the firm which have been defined above determine the scope of the business. In the organizational setup, the firm needs to aim at all these goals in order to cater the needs of the organization in a suitable manner. This will assist the firm in accomplishing all the targets and cater the customer needs in the most effective and efficient manner.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Operating in the business segment and meeting the needs of the customers requires overcoming the challenges and using the strengths of the business for the future growth prospects.
Strengths of Evansville ARC
Evansville ARC has certain strengths within the industry on the basis of which the organization aims to accomplish the goals and further progress in the business segment. The list of the strengths which the customers get for doing business is the following.
- Partner companies of the group are entitled to receive the tax benefits from the government.
- The organization is based on the concept of stability and persistence. This decreases the employee turnover for the organization. Most of the employees are extremely committed to the organization and are entitled as the lifelong employees of the organization.
- The availability of the workforce is high because it provides employment opportunities to the individuals who are disabled.
- Large locations of the warehouses are provided to customers who are equipped with climate control.
- The firm has all kinds of labeling equipment using which the bottles, jars and cans and other items can be appropriately labeled.
- High end machinery and equipment owned by the firm for handling the complex tray formers and compression units.
- Equipment owned by the firm for bagging and knitting the products.
- Facility for power wash is also available.
- Grinders and heat sealing equipment are also available for recycling and heat shrinking lines.
- The firm has 10 shipping docks available for the smooth shipping of the products.
- Clean rooms available for wrapping the products for the customers.
- The firm is ISO certified along with FDA & USDA certifications which enable the smooth running of the business operations.
All these traits are the strength for the company that will help in gaining competitive advantage. Utilization of the resources efficiently will strengthen the association and collaboration with the customers which will benefit the future prospects of the organization.
Challenges of Evansville ARC
The common list of challenges which the firm is facing while operating in the industry includes the following.
- The huge segment of the workforce employed by the firm includes individuals who are disabled. This makes the customers concerned that whether the products or the place packaging order will be handled with the appropriate care. The customers for the safety and concern of the goods refrain from giving the packaging order to Evansville ARC.
- The competition in the industry and operation of the similar businesses are operating in the American business scope. The competitors have the similar machinery, and along with this they have a skilled workforce which is in a certain time not considered to be disabled. This reduces the scope of the business and abstains from the protection of the operations of the industry.
- For the cost cutting purpose and securing the business operations, the businesses ensure that the functions that were outsourced once must be brought back to the organization. This will enable the scope of the business and create a platform for accomplishing the goals of the business keeping in consideration the minimization of cost.
All these challenges need to be considered in the expansion strategy of the business so that the relevant goals and the scope and the business measures can be dealt with in the most effective manner. This will increase the efficiency of the business. All the actions of dealing with the challenges of the business will improve the business scope and benefit the organization with its growth and development in the future.
Target markets of Evansville ARC
Evansville ARC is operating in a saturated industry where the competitive pressure is also high. The business must adapt the strategies for retaining the existing customers by ensuring that a healthy and cordial relationship is managed and maintained for the benefit of the firm. Actions like these will assist the organization in acquiring its short term goals which will ultimately expand the scope of the business.
The strategist will acquire new customers through incorporating the effective marketing strategies using which the business scope and prospects of the organization will be acquired. The target customers are all the companies which seek the services of a packaging and distribution firm. The logistical efficiency of the organization will also be promoted so that new customers can be attracted through the promotion of the services within the business industry.
STP Analysis
(Consumer Psychologist, 2010)
The process of aiming at the target market requires appropriate segmentation of the market. In the initial process, it is necessary that the segment is identified in a meaningful manner. This requires that different groups of the customers are managed in the most appropriate manner, and the offering of the firms are structured to cater the specific needs of the customers. The second segment requires targeting on the customers so that the appropriate segment for serving the customers can be appropriately addressed. After the analysis of the segmenting and targeting plan of the business, the positioning will be done. This is the implementation of the chosen image which appeals to the chosen segment. This will require that the product, price, distribution and promotion of the services are done keeping in mind the goals which the organization is aiming to acquire.
MARKETING PLAN
Application of the marketing plan by the organization is to ensure that the scope of the business is acquired, and all the organizational goals are attainable. The application of the Customer Relationship Management and the Holistic Marketing will be performed for analyzing the future prospects of the firm.
- Customer Relationship Management
The dimension of the marketing plan is to ensure that customers of the business are motivated, and all the organizational goals are appropriately acquired. Through the customer relationship management, the organization aims for the marketing orientation, information technology innovations and the shareholder value creation. The application process of the organization is based on acquiring, retaining and extending the organizational goals. All this ensures the growth of the organization using which the aims and the targets of the organization are appropriately accomplished.
This explains the significance of the model in attracting customers and accomplishing the organizational goals. Customer relationship is the essence of the business using which all the goals of the organization can be acquired.
- Holistic Marketing Approach
The Holistic Marketing approach is the model which defines the goals keeping in mind the integrated marketing, internal marketing, performance marketing and relationship marketing.
Internal Marketing: During the process of internal marketing the organization ensures that the senior management, marketing department and other departments of the organizations are appropriately aligned. This strengthens the firm internally improving the overall business scope.
Integrated Marketing: During the completion of the process the integrated marketing approach of the organizational process is managed and secured. This enables that the products and services which the firm offers are at the best quality and caters the need of customers in an effective manner. Appropriate communication and the proper channel are essential functions for the management.
Performance Marketing: Some businesses require attracting the new customers through offering the appropriate performance which accomplishes the goals of the organization. This is beneficial for the sales revenue using which the brand and customer equity can be appropriately secured. Ethical strategies are legal and beneficial for the community therefore these strategies must be made part of the strategy.
Relationship Marketing: The firm must focus on the relationships of the firm. This strategy will secure the customers, channels and partners using which the organizational goals and objectives will be accomplished.
(Marketing Holistics, 2011)
This approach targets on all the components of the business.
- Internet Marketing
This global business environment cherishes the scope of connectivity. Using the internet for the marketing of the products and services is effective and efficient both. Marketing of the product using the internet is cost efficient and a larger target audience can be addressed. The tools for making the application effective are creating a website which promotes the purpose of the firm (Chaffey, 2012). Moreover, the business strategies of competitors can be analyzed using which specific goals for promoting the business can be measured in a better way.
- Other tools for the promotion of the business require that the latest development in the industry is noted and the strategies must be aligned with those developments.
- The need for managing the social media updates must be understood so that connection can be maintained with the customers.
- Influential actions and understanding the needs of the customers must be assessed so that their needs can be managed with complete efficiency.
- A comparison must be developed assessing the popularity of the company website with that of the competitors.
All the three plans discussed in this segment will aid in the accomplishment of the organizational goals. The application of the customer relationship model, holistic marketing and internet marketing techniques show the plans which Evansville ARC will adopt for the development of the model.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Once the goals of the organization have been defined and plan for the development has been structured then the plan must be implemented. For the implementation, the firm must assess the resources and expertise which are available with the firm. This will determine the direction using which the business direction can be set.
The effective application requires that the staff of the organization is aware of the goals of the management. They must show the ownership with the quality of work which is performed. The team must be confident of the goals of the organization and must set the strategies on the basis of priorities and strategies of the organization. The employees of the organization must be provided with the opportunity to progress. The right resources and hiring additional members must be considered for setting goals and there accomplishment. The firm must identify its USP and using the relevant goals the competitive scope of the business must be set.
Evansville must consider that the customer retention and the satisfaction of the customers are ensured. The organization must monitor the progress and determine the strategies for addressing the goals of the organization. Evansville must analyze the adjustments and the relevant changes in the technology, markets, competition, customers and suppliers. The firm must also develop a contingency plan with the alternate set of activities of the firm. The firm will also seek the expert advice of the users which can be treated as feedback. Coming up to the needs of the customers and setting the strategies for catering the customers will be the prior goals of the organization. The firm will also need to deliver to the customers the idea that through hiring the disabled the efficiency of the firm is not affected.
EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Evansville ARC is a goal oriented organization which has its goals already defined. The successful implementation of the strategies will make competing with the competitors easier for the business. The USP of the business is its workforce. The aim of the organization is to provide employment to those individuals who are disabled. The firm will need to ensure to the customers that the disability of the workers does not affect the efficiency of the workforce. The aim of the firm must be spread which explains the concept of employment for all. The firm must ensure the following for promoting the scope of the business.
- A strong internet marketing strategy must be presented along with different partnership and collaboration so that the goals can be delivered to the customers.
- The operation of the business which are difficult to manage or the firm lacks the resources must be offered to the customers. Outsourcing the activities will improve the scope of the business.
- Strong bond and relationship must be maintained with the customers so that the goals of the organization are accomplished with maximum efficiency.
- The services of the firm must be portrayed as a product itself to the customers so that the efficiency can be acquired.
All these are the recommendations through which the evaluation of the business operations can be done. Implementation of the business strategies will ensure that all the goals of the business are acquired through catering the customer needs and accomplishing the organizational goals.
References
Marketing Holistics. (2011). Diagram of The Holistic Marketing Model. Retrieved January 24, 2014 from http://www.marketingholistics.com/marketing.html
Chaffey, D. (2012). 10 free online marketing tools that every “hands-on” marketer should use. Smart Insights, Retrieved January 24, 2014 from http://www.smartinsights.com/marketplace-analysis/competitor-analysis/10-free-online-marketing-tools-that-every-hands-on-marketer-should-use/
Consumer Psychologist. (2010). Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning. Retrieved January 24, 2014 from http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/cb_Segmentation.html
