Introduction
Kudler Fine Foods is a business entity that was started by Kathy Kudler. This was after Kathy Kudler became weary of the excessive pressures and travel of the corporate world. With a main mission of finest wines and foodstuff provision, Kudler Fine Foods tries its` best to assure clients aspiring to buy epicurean that it is the best among the numerous available options. The business world is dynamic and full of static changes every now and again. For any firm to uphold healthy competition there is a significant need to develop strong strategic plans. Kudler Fine Foods is not an exception to this fact and faces various threats and challenges. The threats faced by Kudler Fine Foods include declining economy and stiff competition from other gourmet shops. In addition, Kudler Fine Foods faces some challenges which include small management, poor performance of Del Mar location, and perishability of products among others.
Development of strategic plans is essential as it makes a firm to remain focussed with an aim of achieving its` goals and objectives at large. Kudler Fine Foods draws its` strategic plans with an aim of realizing various goals and objectives. Kudler Fine Foods ultimate goals include expansion into high-end areas, development of a website, standardizing its` ordering procedures, as well as venturing into provision of tea, coffee, fish and deli.To achieve these goals, all the departments at Kudler Fine Foods must work hand in hand. For instance, the human resource department is tasked with ensuring employees effectiveness. This is very essential as for an organization to be productive; it has to ensure it has well equipped employees with relevant skills and knowledge. In addition, effective training strategies ensure both organizational and personal growth. Kudler reviews it performance and goals attainment by the additional number of stores it has opened, the additional variety of products included and comparing financial performance over the years and with other firms in the same industry.This paper seeks to develop an effective training strategy proposal that is in tandem with Kudler Fine Foods strategic plans. Further, this paper analyses in depth the reviews employed to illustrate the need for the training strategy.
Strategic planning refers to the process of verifying how best to meet an organization`s mission as well as meeting the demands of the business environment. Strategic plans aims at placing an entity at the competitive edge in the market. In addition, strategic plans ensure an entity gains competitive advantage among its competitors. Traditionally, human resource department was considered to be administrative in nature. As such, human resource department was more concerned with duties such as hiring, firing, compensations, and dismissals. Development of strategic human resource management has seen the shift from focussing on administrative duties to focussing on organizational development. Therefore, the human resource unit is tasked with developing tactics that are in tandem with the organization`s mission. Decisions concerning competitive strategy must be incorporated in the human resource strategies. This is extremely significant because by ensuring the human resource systems are in tandem with organization`s strategies, an organization is able to acquire competitive advantage. In general, the essence of human resource department to competitive strategy depends on employees’ expertise. The strategic roles of human resource department include provision of business strategies information, developing strategies that support human resource development, and ensuring employees are competent enough to attain strategic performance demands. In addition, human resource department ensures all the barriers to achievement of productive results are eliminated by offering solutions to existing human resource problems. Kudler Fine Foods should apply organizational development as a training strategy that will enable it realize its` goals and objectives.
Organizational development refers to the field that deal with establishing and implementing desired changes. Organizational development provides a basis related to change management and organizational improvement. Nevertheless, Kudler Fine Foods must consider the following reviews in order to apply organizational development. Firstly, there is a significant need to consider technical design issues. Technical design issues are concerned with the manner in which the service or product are created, determined, and delivered. Secondly, there is a need to consider cultural or rather ideological issues. Ideological issues are concerned with the values and beliefs employees require in order to effectively implement strategic planss. Thirdly, Kudler Fine Foods should consider political issues. Political issues emerge due to change of resources and power from one party to another during the pursuit of the strategy. The three issues will be used to verify a firm`s ability to meet its` strategic plans. Organizational development aims at enhancing employee and organizational effectiveness at large. Organizational development includes nine steps that should be followed in order to enhance productivity in the organization at large. Firstly, Kudler Fine Foods has to determine the need for change. Kudler Fine Foods faces stiff competition. Therefore, there is a need to ensure employees are well equipped in order to deliver efficient services. Continuous training and development is necessary since it enhances employees` knowledge and skills. This is lacking in Kudler Fine Foods since only new employees are trained. Secondly, there is a need to set the organization`s objectives. Thirdly, there is a need to analyse the existing strengths and weaknesses. In Kudler Fine Foods, there is a small management team that is burdened with a lot of work. In addition, Kathy Kudler oversees most of the activities in the organization. However, she is aging and at times absent from work due to other personal businesses. This poses a risk to the stability of Kudler Fine Foods. Therefore, there is need for continuous training and development in order to ensure smooth transition in future. The other steps in organizational development include evaluating alternative approaches to solving the problem, selecting the most appropriate approach, implementing the approach, evaluating the results, and finally internalizing the change in case the results are favourable. Nevertheless, Kudler Fine Foods should address organizational development in three different levels. These include change within the organization, groups and between individuals in a group. Further, Kudler Fine Foods should be aware of the existing chances of resistance to change. This is due to fear of the unknown, lack of effective communication, lack of motivation, and natural fear towards change.
Conclusion
In summary, training strategies need to be in tandem with an organization`s strategies. As such, it is essential for training agents to comprehend the strategic plans as well as the goals and objectives. Kudler Fine Foods need to apply organizational development as a training strategy in order to realize better results in future. Through organizational development, Kudler Fine Foods will be able to identify the need for continuous training and development. Continuous training and development is essential as it increases employee involvement in the organization`s activities, ensures smooth transition, and makes an employee more knowledgeable and skilled. These make an organization to gain competitive advantage in the market.
References
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Kudler Fine Foods. (2003, January 10). https://ecampus.phoenix.edu. Retrieved January 02, 2013, from Strategic plan: 2003: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Kudler2/intranet/docs/StrategicPlan2003.pdf
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Waclawski, J., & Church, A. H. (2002). Organization Development: A Data-Driven Approach to Organizational Change (Illustrated ed.). Newyork: Wiley & Sons.
