Introduction
CACI Inc is a technology solutions company that is listed in the New York Stock Exchange. The company boasts of more than 1500 employees spread over its 120 offices in North America and Western Europe. This paper seeks to give an explanation on how the company can implement its strategic plans, make strategic controls and contingency plans to ensure that it remains relevant and profitable in its industry which is faced by a very uncertain future business environment.
Objectives
CACI Inc is faced with an uncertain business future due to the ending of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, increased completion in the industry and budget cuts in the military and intelligence arms of governments which provide the bulk of its clientele. As a result, the company needs to expand into new markets, with a focus on the emerging economies in South America and Asia. This will enable the company increase its revenue streams and effectively counter the adverse effects of its current hostile operating environment. The company also needs to develop new products targeting the civilian markets in its existing and new markets since the environment is ripe for such an investment. This will be towards improving the revenues of the company and increasing its profitability both in the long run and in the short run (Olsen 2012).
This strategic plan is aimed at establishing ways in which the company can weather successfully the challenges that the changes in the environment pose to the profitability and growth of the company. The strategic plan implementation will also seek to ensure that the company maintains its high standards of service delivery to its customers and that the effects of a harsh economic climate currently being experienced in its established markets.
Functional Tactics
For the strategic plan to be successful, the company will have to integrate a level of functional tactics to ensure that the achievement of the objectives of the strategic plan. Functional tactics are principal activities that an organization must take routinely in each functional area of a strategic plan implementation.
The establishment of new offices in new markets will be one of the measures that will be taken to ensure that the company establishes a foothold in new markets. These new offices will be established in the major cities of Latin America and the Far East, and an emphasis will be made to ensure that each city that occupies a national government sitting will have an office of CACI Inc. The functional tactic that the company will implement in these offices is ensuring that they are well staffed at all times. This means that the company will have to conduct routine hiring processes, preferably annually to replenish the human capital available to it in the new markets. This will enable it to deliver high quality services to new clients and create a powerful presence in these markets and thus ensure both its short term and long term success in revenue growth and profitability (Olsen 2012).
Another functional tactic that the company will have to undertake to ensure the success of its strategic plans is the development of a powerful lobby group in each of the new markets that it intends to operate. Lobbies play a key role in the determination of the commercial success of a company, and by making such a move, CACI Inc will ensure that it is well positioned to work with governments to provide technological solutions that may be needed. Lobbying will also go a great way in ensuring that the company develops an intimate knowledge of its customers and therefore able to meet their demands more successfully.
The creation and development of new talent in the company will also be a functional tactic that the company will undertake in its quest for growth. The company will undertake to recruit new graduates through an annual graduate recruitment program to ensure that it has within its workforce new talent that can fuel innovation in the company. Since the technology industry is very competitive, the company will through this program ensure that it retains within its workforce the ability to innovate and remain relevant and competitive in the market.
Another functional tactic that will be employed by the company is the acquisition of smaller technology companies in the markets that it will be operating in. This is an established tactic which CACI Inc has employed before with success. The acquisitions will serve two purposes; consolidating the markets that the companies are operating in by eliminating completion and increasing the capacity of the company technologically since acquired companies will bring into the fold a high level of experience and knowledge of the local market dynamics and needs.
Action Items
Human capital
One of the principal areas that will be focused on in the strategic plan implementation is the improvement of the human resources available to the company. This will be in line with the intention of making the company remain competitive in an industry which is growing very fast in terms of innovation. The replenishing of the human resources available to the company will be through the strengthening of the human resources department and the enlisting of other third parties to assist the company in the recruitment of the appropriate talent. The company will also develop closer liaisons with top of the range institutions of higher learning to ensure that it is able to identify talent in such places and mentor them towards joining of the company.
Market research
The strategic plan implementation of the company involves venturing into markets that the company has not operated in previously. To ensure that the move is successful, substantial resources will be invested in market research for those new markets. In this way, the company will be able to deal with all the issues that may arise as a result of entry into the markets and minimize the time it will take to set off profitable and revenue generating operations in those markets (Allison & Kaye 2005).
This may involve the contracting of third party companies to conduct an in depth market research. The company will be able to save costs in such a measure while at the same time benefiting form the expertise of such companies to deliver well researched information for CACI Inc (Allison & Kaye 2005).
Marketing
Venturing into new markets in the Far East and Latin America will require a very well coordinated effort to make potential clients aware of the operations of the company in those markets. Well coordinated marketing will have to be conducted to ensure that the customers in those markets are fully aware of the products and services offered by CACI Inc and the addresses where they can be found. It will also be prudent to ensure that the potential customers fully understand the reputation of the company in the military technology industry and how they are well suited to address their specific problems (Allison & Kaye 2005).
Marketing will be mainly conducted through popular media advertising, specifically newspapers and televisions in the new markets. This type of advertising will be targeted to civilian customers in the provision of technology services by CACI Inc in the security sector. This will be conducted continuously during the prime time and in the most popular publications in the new markets (Allison & Kaye 2005).
Marketing for big corporations, institutions and governments will be carried out through lobbying. Representatives from CACI Inc will be sent to market the services of the company to this clientele and ensure that they have a well placed understanding of the operations of the company in the new markets.
Marketing will be geared towards ensuring that the company successfully and within a specific timeline achieves a particular level of revenue growth and profitability from these markets. Failure of marketing operations of the company may lead to a failure of the whole strategic plan (Allison & Kaye 2005).
Research and development
Since the technology industry in very competitive in terms of innovation, the company will invest resources in research and development. This will ensure that it produces new services and products that are relevant to the needs of its markets.
Research and development will be conducted with some collaboration from research institutions. This will give the company a vast source of information which it will be able to utilise in the development of new products for its markets. This will be also essential in developing its already existing services and products to meet the growing needs of its customers.
Milestones and Deadline
Venturing into new markets in Latin America and the Far East will be based on several milestones and within established deadlines. Conducting market research will be the first milestone that will need to be achieved. This will have to be done within the first six months of the setting out the strategic plan implementation. All the countries in Latin America and the democracies in the Far East will be targeted. From the market research, the company will identify the top ten viable markets that it will base its operations on. This will be informed by the economic conditions and ease of doing business in those countries that will be subjected to market research.
Establishment of CACI Inc in those ten countries will have to be carried out within one and half years of the start of the strategic plan implementation. These offices will have to be staffed and operational within this timeline. They should also be able to offer the principal services to customers.
The operations in these new markets should achieve a breakeven within three years of commencing operations. All the costs that would have been incurred in the establishment of the company in these markets should be fully recovered within this time, and the company should be able to start operating at a level of profitability after this period.
Within five years after the start of the implementation of the strategic plan, the company should be recording profitability above ten percent. This will mark the last milestone of the strategic implementation and afterwards the company will be expected to operate as it has in its traditional markets.
Tasks and Task Ownership
The human capital department of CACI Inc will be responsible for the development of human resources needed for the implementation of the strategic plan. It is expected that this department will make all the necessary arrangements to ensure that the plans that need human resources are well provided for and within the specified timelines.
The research and development will be responsible for the development of the most appropriate products for the new markets. Liaison with relevant research institutions will also be under the research and development department, and will seek to ensure that the company has access to information to help it develop new and competitive products and services for its markets.
Financing for the operations of the strategic plan will be the responsibility of the boards of directors. Since this undertaking requires vast financial resources for its successful completion, the board will be expected to source funds from various sources to ensure that the plan is fully financed.
Resource Allocation
Mobilization of resources for the implementation of the strategic plan will be the responsibility of the directors of the company, specifically those in charge of finance. Allocation of these resources to the various needs of the implementation of the strategic plan will also be their responsibility. It is expected that this allocation will be informed by well thought budgets which will justify all expenditure that will be carried out.
Conclusion
The implementation of CACI Inc strategic plan will be successful if there will be well coordinated efforts by all the stakeholders involved. The company will be able to achieve its strategic objectives within the set timeline.
References
Olsen, E. (2012). Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies, 2nd Ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Allison, M & Kaye, J. (2005). Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations. 2nd Ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Mckeown, M. (2012). The Strategy Book, New York: FT Prentice Hall.
CACI Inc Website. Retrieved March 24, 2013 from http://www.caci.com/about/profile.shtml
