Business analysis of UMUC Haircut Company - Stage 1
One of the strategies of UMUC Haircuts is to have a competitive advantage of the customers. An analysis of the company using the Porter’s Give Forces shows that there are some challenges that the company face. The threat of new entrants is a real threat of the company because of the start of a new competitor. This force is high and will impact negatively on the operation of the company. There is a need to ensure that there is proper strategy to counter the force. Supplier power force is low because there is no threat that suppliers of the shaving machines and spare parts are not threatened. This force is not threatened and it can be said to be low.
Buyer supplier is a threat which has been threatened and will be considered at the same level with the threat of the new entrants. This can be categorized as high for UMUCs Haircut Study. From the case study, it is clear from the case that the company enjoys a monopoly in the area and has been enjoying this for a long time. This means that if there are changes on the customers, this will affect the way the company operates. The profits of the company will be affected. With the formation of a new company on the nearby, it will mean that the customers will be affected and might impact negatively on the operations of the company. The force will affect negatively on the company (Eden, & Ackermann, 2013).
The threats from substitute products are not that negative and are not a strong force at the moment. This is because there are no substitute products in the business. This force can be created and used to be an advantage to rival the threats and the competitors. This is an important aspect that should be used to advantage of the company.
The rivalry among the existing competitors is an important parameter that affects the company. This is because the company will be affected by the new competitor and they will have to look for new tactics for the company to be successful.
Business model of UMUC Haircuts
Generic strategies
One of the generic strategies of UMUC is differentiation. This is where the company should have new services to offer to the customers. This will add value to the services they provide. It will also enable the company develop a working strategy. Another generic strategy for the company is cost leadership. The company should concentrate on the cost of the services so that they are seen to offer cheaper prices for excellent services. The third generic strategy for the company is segmentation. This is where the company can focus on a given type of customers and who want a given lifestyle. This could be a working strategy for the company (Freeman, 2010).
Strategic business areas and process improvement
There is a need to have a new way in which customers are reached in the marketing strategy. With the need to improve the marketing strategy of the company, it is important to understand the new ways of undertaking marketing for the company. One process improvement that can be integrated to the strategy is to integrate new technologies for the marketing process of the company.
One area of concern for Myra is customer information and marketing. Perhaps, one of the areas that need to be improved in this process is that of customer interaction and information gathering from the customer. When a customer enters the UMUC enterprise, they get the service and leave the premise without leaving any information that could be used in later stages to reach them. There is a need to ensure that the customer will come back to the premises. There is need to engage the customer when they get to the premises and get information that will be used to reach the customer after they get the service. It is important to know what the customer wants to be added to the services they have and what needs to be improved. One way in which this could be done is to have a customer relationship management (CRM) system which is integrated with a kiosk. The kiosk will be used to get the customer information regarding the services that they get. It is important to understand the requirements of the customer and how satisfied they were with the service that they received. When this is done, there will be information that will be used to get enough information regarding the customer service. With this information, there will be a relationship which will be built in the process (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2012).
The technology solution that is proposed is that the customer will enter UMUC premise, will be received by the staff members. The customer will be attended after getting what service they need. After the customer will be served, they will be directed to the kiosk to enter information that they like. This will be through a special questionnaire that has been prepared to get information from the customers. The kiosk has a data entry system. They should be made aware that this is an optional process. If they are willing to enter this information, they will interact with the system from the kiosk. This will be used for further follow-up in the system.
With this new system, the customer will be understood and they will raise the issues of concern with the services of the company. There will be a better way of understanding the customer. With this, there will be proper marketing of the services that are offered by the company. It is important to understand the services that are offered so that it will be easier to know what the customer needs. The kiosk solution will be integrated with a customer relationship management system. This is a system which will be used to build relationship with the customer (Rothaermel, 2013).
Areas for IT considerations – Stage 3
When new information systems have been introduced in an enterprise, there is a need to ensure that different areas are considered before fully adopting. There is a need to evaluate each area of the IT process and undertake a ranking and give reasons why the ranking is done. With the new system, there will be considerations done so that the major areas of concerns are evaluated and the issues of major concern will be solved after assessment.
References
Aleksić-Marić, V., & Ilić, G. (2012). Strategic management of information systems in the function of efficient business of companies. Strategic Management, 17(3), 36-46.
Charitou, C. D., Markides, C. C., & Strategy, B. M. (2012). Responses to disruptive strategic innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol., Nº.
Eden, C., & Ackermann, F. (2013). Making strategy: The journey of strategic management. Sage.
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press.
Hitt, M., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. (2012). Strategic management cases: competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning.
Rothaermel, F. T. (2013). Strategic Management: Concepts. McGraw-Hill Irwin.
