STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 2
Executive summary
The report presented below highlights strategies which the organisation ought to be implemented to tackle the current crisis. The company is on the verge of dissolution, and therefore effective measures have to be considered to turn around the situation. The report covers three major themes which when effectively addressed will enable the organisation to get back to its performance levels. One of the themes is getting into the root cause of the problem- under this; the organisation will undertake intensive research and analysis of the development process of the cameras to identify instances of deviation from the intended results. Under this, the report suggests that the organisation should undertake initiatives aimed at rectifying the current issues with the cameras. The report suggests product redesigning to ensure that the product developed matches the organisation’s concept of the product.
The second theme addressed by the report is establishing means through which the current crisis condition can be stabilised. Under this, the report suggests that the firm engages in niche marketing. Identification of new markets ought to be undertaken, and these new markets served with the rectified product. The third theme addressed by this report is on ways through which the organisation will ensuring brand repositioning is achieved. The current situation whereby the camera is exploding has led to the tarnishing of the brand image.
Table of Contents
1.0. Introduction. 4
1.2 Objective of the report. 4
1.3 Rectification of the current situation. 5
1.5 Organizations opportunity 6
1.6 Brand repositioning 7
1.7 Conclusion. 9
1.8 Recommendation 9
1.0. Introduction.
Pro-Go Pty Limited has enjoyed major growth and expansion since its founding in 2004. The success has been attributed to their innovativeness approach in the development of their market offering. The technology advancement in their cameras has given them a competitive edge over their competitors, making them enjoy improved sales volume not only in Victoria but also in China. However, these technological advancements have presented some operational challenges to the organisation. The company is currently suffering from technology failure which has left it on the verge of dissolution. The firm’s main client who buys over 70 per cent of their products has cancelled the contract due to the failure of the newly developed Cameras. The innovation failure is not only affecting the sales volume expected from the selling of the newly developed Cameras but also the organisation as a whole. The product developing technological team has been unable to find the cause of the product failure which leaves the company future at jeopardy. The firm’s sales are reported to have reduced by half within 24 hours. The report presented, therefore, seeks to provide approaches and mechanisms which can be implemented by the organisation to survive during these hard times and probably turn things around for the benefit of the firm. The report presents alternatives the organisation can utilise to operate effectively. The report is presented by the general manager of the organisation. This report is essential at the moment since it provides the organisation with ways through which it can leverage and survive the current threat.
1.2 Objective of the report.
The main objective of this report is to provide a conceptual base which the organisation ought to implement to survive its dissolution threat.
1.3 Rectification of the current situation.
Product failure has led the organisation to the current situation it is suffering. The organization has to move fast and address this issue before the company gets dissolved due to lack of meeting its operational obligations and failure to meet the expected margins. The process will be aimed at identifying the cause of failure, and which stage of product development is responsible for the failure. The company has formulated a technical team led by the head of information and communication technology (ICT) of the company. The team is tasked with the task of engaging in intensive research to identify the core reason as to why the newly develop cameras are bursting into fire. The team, therefore, is set to analyse the product development cycle critically. Under this, the team will identify areas where the specifications of the proposed product were not followed. Production analysis will guide the ICT team to come up with a solution for the problems and identify areas where rectification is required. To facilitate the entire process, the organisation has allocated financial support to ensure that the ICT team is well equipped for the task. Previous analysis, however, failed to present substantial reports on the cause of the problem and that why the firm has decided that the analysis will not only address the complete product but will address it from idea generation to the fully developed product. After the analysis, the team has been tasked with the function of ensuring it undertakes product redesigning. Through this, the team will ensure that they redesign the product avoiding all the errors which may lead to the repeat of the same. The product developed under this has to be and operate effectively. The newly designed product will then be set for the market to help the firm recover from its current situation. The directives given to the team is to mainly focus on the development of the existing products which have been proven to work effectively rather than coming up with entirely new products. The approach is meant to ensure that uncertainty caused by new technology implementation will be avoided entirely during this time. Through this approach, therefore, the product redesigned will be based on an already existing product in the market.
1.5 Organizations opportunity.
The firm opportunity in this situation is to offer the new product into a new market. Under this the firm will ensure that it engages in niche marketing, offering the redesigned product into a completely new market. The marketing department will undertake intensive industry research to ensure that they understand the effectiveness of their intended new offering to the intended target market. The marketing team, therefore, has been tasked with the task of ensuring that the organisation fully exploits the opportunity. The marketing team, therefore, has to ensure that it undertakes intensive market research to identify the areas where their product has not reached yet. The new market ought to be around Victoria; this will help the firm avoid high distribution cost since the firm currently is not in a place to finance that. The organisation, however, is determined to ensure that effective market development is undertaken within the newly found market. The organisation has to engage in the intensive promotion of its cameras to this new market. The report suggests that the organisation creates a media kit about the newly developed product targeting the new market. The kit developed in this case will be used to showcase the product capabilities and quality to the niche market. The team must ensure that the new market identified has the potential to help the firm acquire stability. The market identified, therefore, must have a high purchasing power so that the organisation can undertake premium pricing to reap maximum benefits. Another task delegated to the marketing team is ensuring that they regain the firms China market. Through this, the team ought to ensure they convince China’s market on the quality of the firms newly developed product. The organisation can do this by offering free samples for testing by the company. Through this, the organisation will be able to regain the market and secure another sales contract with the company. The team may also undertake press release for the company aimed at demonstrating the functionality of the newly developed camera. Through this, the company will not only regain the China market, but it will also be in a position to reach other potential customers. The marketing department ought to utilise the innovativeness of the organisation to the advantage of the firm. The team ought to demonstrate the innovation aspect of the newly developed product to the new market. Through the acquisition of the niche market, the organisation will be able to not only improve their customer base but also improve their sales volume. before actual commercialisation, however, the report suggests that the marketing department ought to engage in market pre-testing initiatives. The pretesting stage will enable the organisation test not only the product acceptance to the market but also the product effectiveness. Through this, the firm will be able to avoid the occurrence of such a situation in the future, since any product rectification will be undertaken before the official commercialisation. The testing should be undertaken with the use of the loyal customers to the brand.
1.6 Brand repositioning
The third theme of this report is aimed at ensuring that the brand repositioning is achieved. Through this the organization seeks to find ways through which they will recover the lost brand image and turn the situation around. Product failure on the parts of the cameras has affected the customer’s perception of the brand’s product. The organisation, therefore, ought to ensure the image is recovered not only for the sake of the Cameras market but also the other products under the brand. The marketing department is tasked with a strategic objective of ensuring that they regain the brand trust on the part of the customers. The report suggests that the product promotional team engage in giveaways to the loyal customers. Under this initiative, the report suggests that the newly developed product be tested with loyal customers. The firm will engage in giveaways of some of their new cameras to the customers so that they can do testing before the purchase. The giveaways will enable the brand to regain trust and a positive perception on the part of the customers. The marketing team will engage in promotional initiatives aimed at the positioning of the brand within the niche market. The new market doesn’t know about the existence of the brand; the team should, therefore, engage in an informative advertisement which will help relay the intended information. The niche market ought to be informed about the innovative advancement of the brand. The information given will enable the firm to capture and retain the niche market. The organisations highest consumer which is the China-based company, in this case, has to be assured of the quality standard of the rectified product. The marketing team, therefore, must demonstrate the changes or advancements made to these products, this can be achieved through the use of press release directed to the company. The report also recommends the organisation to engage in corporate social responsibility as an approach to ensure brand repositioning is achieved. The firm, therefore, should engage in the compensation of their customers for the loss suffered from their previous purchase. Through this, the report suggests that the marketing department through the use of the sales data, engage with the customers who had purchased their previous unstable product. Through this approach, the organisation-customers relationship will be effectively managed to enable the organisation to secure future sales. The report suggests that consumers be compensated not only for the material loss but also for any physical damage as a result of the unstable product. Effective repositioning will enable the firm to regain its operational position and thus enabling the firm to survive from being dissolved.
1.7 Conclusion.
The report aimed to give the guidelines on what the organisation should do to survive the current situation they are facing. The report has achieved this objective by addressing three approaches which are essential to ensuring that the firm doesn’t suffer dissolution. The report suggests that the organisation engages in product redesigning to rectify the issue. The report also suggests that the organisation utilise the scenario as an opportunity by engaging in niche marketing. The report finally suggests that the organisation should engage in repositioning to regain its operating base.
1.8 Recommendation
The report recommends that such scenarios must be avoided at all cost shortly. The reports affirm that to prevent failure product at the marketplace, the organisation must engage in market pretesting shortly. This will help the organisation to analyse product performance before the commercialisation stage. Through this, any product rectification will be undertaken before product commercialisation and avoid such instances since their results could be non-amendable
Reference
Kuehlwein, JP, Schaefer, Wolfgang (2015). Rethinking Prestige Branding – Secrets of the Ueber-Brands. London: Kogan Page. pp 115–116
Urde, M. and Koch, C., (2014) Market and brand-oriented schools of positioning, Journal of Product & Brand Management. 23(7), pp 478-490