Operational Efficiency in Sales Growth

Part A

Introduction

Efficient management of the operational processes is an important aspect that might be considered by the business leaders in order to ensure the growth of their sales volume while addressing the needs or priorities of the customers. The operations in a factory are specifically reliant on the availability of the raw materials and the changes in the market demand. Choi, Wallace and Wang (2018) increased availability of raw materials might be considered as an important aspect that supports an organization in maintaining the continuity of the business activities while addressing the specific needs and requirements of the customers. On the other hand, sudden change in the buying behavior of the customers might create a havoc concern for any organization in maintaining the stability of their operational processes while ensuring the growth and development (Demeter 2017). The current discussion would be focused towards identifying the objectives and constraints that are encountered by the peas processing case organization in their production process. The discussion would also identify the capacity management issues and capacity constraints that are encountered by the business while producing and processing the harvests. Therefore, the discussion would specifically detail the diverse range of challenges that are being faced by the peas processing organization in terms of their lower capacity and different other constraints that the same faced during the operational processes.

Objectives and constraints of the production processes

The concerned organization is focused towards offering their valued customers with high quality processed vegetables while applying a range of quality agricultural technology, freezing facility and processing activities. The objective of the organization’s operational processes is reliant on providing the customers with fresh and high quality processed harvests. Glock et al. (2019) stated that the quality related aspects that are considered by a business contributes towards the brand image and growth while operating as per the strategically changing needs of the customers. In this connection, the organization focused towards developing a range of high quality fresh vegetable produces while positioning the same in the different markets as per the changing needs of the customers. It has been observed that most of the immediate customers of the chosen organization were specifically the large retailers. In this connection, the consideration of quality propositions is a necessity for the business in order to retain their competitive position and brand image in the UK markets. However, in the recent case report it was observed that the organization has been encountering significant concerns in the operational aspects. The concerns in the operational aspects might limit the scope of sustenance based growth for a venture while addressing the specific demand patterns of the customers. Lee and Tang (2018) opined that businesses take the initiative of undergoing changes with the purpose of addressing the specific demands and needs of the customers. However, in the case of the concerned organization it was observed that the change in the weather situations in the current year affected the capability of the organization in processing such increased loads of peas. Although the organization deals with the development and processing of different other fresh vegetables like carrot, sprouts and broccoli, peas production and processing was a challenging activity for the venture. The major attribute that is being focused by the organization is improving the quality of the peas propositions in the markets in order to empower their retail customers in making extensive sales. According to the marketing manager Chris, from the case, it was observed that improving the quality of the propositions would allow their business in gaining a competitive edge over the other existing players in the markets. The nature of change that was introduced in this connection was the blancher which would contribute towards improving the quality of the final peas production and processing. However, it was witnessed that the implementation of the latest technologies increased the costs of operations of the businesses. Magon et al. (2018) stated that the typical increase in the cost of operations might significantly affect the profitability based practices. The concerned organization has been encountering significant constraints in implementing some other latest technologies which might increase the cost of their operations, apart from the fact of improving the quality of their propositions.

On the other hand, the major concern that is being encountered by the business is based on the planning activities for the pea harvesting. The pea harvesting activity is made on acute calculations based on the seasons of reaping the harvest and processing the same in the factories. Cachon, Girotra and Netessine (2020) opined that sufficient planning and execution of different strategic interventions supports an organization in gaining a competitive edge over the existing market players. In this connection, the organization desired to expand the time of their harvesting season with the purpose of reducing the pressure of processing in the factories, which seemed to be intense in the peak months. The insufficiency of planning and execution activities might affect the capability of the organization in improving the degree of operations as per the strategic needs and requirements. According to Mahmoudi and Parviziomran (2020), the planning stage is an integral part of operational processes in an organization. The coherent planning and execution of different strategic supports an organization in improving the scope of their operations while achieving the strategic outcomes. The organization is focused towards developing efficient processes that would contribute towards improving the quality of their propositions. However, in unavoidable circumstances, specifically the sudden change in the weather conditions or the shifts in the preferences of the customers might limit the scope of operations of the organization while addressing the strategic needs and requirements. The current situation that is being challenging the efficient functioning of the organization is specifically reliant on the unsupported weather conditions which created an extensive pressure on the processing and manufacturing units in the factories (Merigó et al. 2019). The risk of weather changes and the shifting needs and preferences of the customers might be considered as important factors that drives the success rate of any business operations. In this connection, the nature of change in the organizational operations is specifically reliant on effective planning on the harvesting and reaping periods. The crop planning manager of the organization stated that effective crop planning and execution techniques like the use of different variation of seeds, conducting harvests in different altitudes and planning plantations in the south and north facing fields might significantly contribute towards ensuring quality propositions. However, in other unavoidable circumstances, the organization encountered significant challenges and concerns in developing an idea on the different strategies for elongating the harvest period while creating lower pressure on the factories. Moreover, it has been observed that the intensified competition in different UK markets has largely affected the capability of the businesses in gaining a competitive edge over the other players. However, the organization has been developing quality peas propositions and distributing the same through different large retailers. The increased quality of the propositions has significantly supported the business in improving their market position while gaining a competitive edge over the other competing forces in the markets (Hong et al. 2021). Ren and Huang (2018) opined that the major attribute of any organization is specifically based on extensive planning and execution of strategies towards ensuring the quality of their propositions. In this connection, it has been witnessed that the organization developed processes and technologies towards ensuring extensive quality propositions which strategically contributed towards the goodwill and brand image of the venture among the large competing forces in the UK markets.

Capacity management issues and capacity constraints which was encountered during the operation of peas processing factory

Capacity managements an important consideration that is made by the businesses with the purpose of influencing the quality of propositions and delivery of offerings within deadlines. According to Tursunov (2017), management bodies in businesses assume the capacity of a workforce based on the past performances while calibrating the organizational needs in order to address quality outputs. Efficient understanding of capacity by an organizational management also ensures effective planning and execution of different strategies towards ensuring the growth and expansion. In most cases, it was observed that businesses fail to identify their capacities and imposed unrealistic targets on the workforce which largely affected the quality of outputs. Therefore, identification of the resources and capacity of the workforce supports an organization in setting goals and developing processes towards meeting the goals while addressing the quality related needs. However, Gao et al. (2020) stated that in different situations, businesses fail to identify their capacities in unavoidable circumstances which might largely affect or limit the scope of delivering quality outputs on a timely basis, as per the schedules. In certain situations, the organizational stakeholders are overburdened with work which might result to compromise on the quality of outputs, resulting to a degraded brand image in the different markets. The case organization has been encountering a capacity management concern in the current year due to the improved weather conditions and the improved yield. The weather of the current year was exceptionally good which reduced the schedule of the harvesting period with greater yield. The fine weather conditions shrunk to a normal 44 days period within which the peas were required to be processed in the factories which created an immense pressure on the resources for the business. From the case it was also witnessed that the organization mostly processed the peas, which created problems as they were required to be processed in shorter time intervals after being picked. In this connection, John often consulted with Dave, the Crop planning manager on extending the harvest period. However, the concern related to an increase in the harvest period as indicated by Dave was that there was a limit to manipulate the harvesting period. The insufficient capability of the organization in manipulating the different areas of harvesting period in the peak months has been reducing their capacity of managing the capacity related aspects. Cariou and Guillotreau (2021) stated that increased pressure on the work force might create significant challenges like degradation of the quality standards, the exhaustion of the workforce and the incapability of the organization in meeting the client deadlines. It was observed that the organization mostly hired 200 to 400 people as the workforce for the processing and manufacturing units along with marketing depending on the peak or the lean months. However, the shortage of time available after picking the peas might create a haul for processing the same as per the organizational requirements. The nature of change in the organizational operations is based on the efficient functioning of the different systems while addressing the strategic needs and requirements o the business. Incapability of an organization in identifying the overall capacity of the workforce and investing on the different resources might result to poor management. Božič and Dimovski (2019) stated that businesses take the initiative of identifying their capacity parameters and thereby plans their activities and outputs based on the overall capacity of the resources. In this connection, it was witnessed that the inadequacy of planning while undertaking plantations and the lack of calculations on the overall capacity has limited the capability of the organization in gaining a competitive edge while ensuring effective outcomes. In most cases, the organization’s peak months were considered as winter with increased demand for their processed vegetables. In the winter peaks (October to May), unlike the summer months, the demand increases due to the unavailability of sufficient vegetables in the markets. The organization is also required to meet the quality parameters with the purpose of dealing with the needs and requirements of the large retailing firms and gain a competitive edge over competitors like Asda.

However, the incapability of the organization in predicting or planning the overall operations process or the capacity required for addressing such large quantities of harvest created a greater pressure on the operational aspects. It was observed that the company’s sales target for frozen peas was 15115 tonnes which was measured in frozen state whereas the actual output was slightly more than the expected output being 15396 tonnes. It was observed that the organization devised unrealistic targets without identifying the overall capacity of their workforce or their infrastructure which created a hefty load on the resources. Adamenko, Pasichnyk and Polishchuk (2018) stated that unrealistic targets create an extensive pressure on the workforce while degrading the quality of the outputs that are created by the same. In this connection, the organization deviated from their quality based parameters towards their productivity based needs in order to suffice to the increasing demands in the markets and the retailers. The organization was specifically focused towards developing and positioning AA graded peas which has significantly contributed towards their reputation in the UK markets over all the competitive forces. However, it was observed that the intensification of work pressure in the current year might affect the capability of the organization in retaining the quality of the propositions while addressing the specific needs and requirements of the client retailers and the customers. The most important concern that was being encountered by the business in addressing the capacity is specifically based on the difficulties in planning for the peas business. It was observed that the sowing or growing and harvesting plan for the peas are to be made through a year ahead of the demand for peas. The coordination of the marketing and the operational departments is crucial, in this connection, with the purpose of assuming the overall produce that must be considered while maintaining a static profitability. Again, on the other hand, it has been observed that the incapability of the organization in developing coherent assumptions affected the capacity identification process that might be required in order to influence the efficiency of the production process without creating pressure for the existing workforce. Moreover, it was witnessed from the case study that the organization managed to provide capacity of extensive vining through the deployment of three vining machines, of which two operates continuously and one is kept on standby in order to address challenges related to breakdowns. The farmers work in different shifts in order to relieve them of the pressure of production. However, in difficult situations, based on the demand that is being faced by the factory, the farmers are forced to increase their produce and work overtimes which might create a quality breach for the business while addressing the specific requirements of the clients and the customers. Nikola (2018) stated that extensive operational planning activities in an organization is based on the identification of the overall capacity and engaging resources towards meeting the strategic needs and requirements. However, the assumption based pea planning and harvesting process, based on the identification of the market demand might affect the capability of the organization in gaining a competitive edge over the existing players.

Conclusion

Therefore, it might be stated from the research that efficient management of the objectives in an operational process and the identification of overall capacity while setting targets are important aspects that might be considered by the businesses in order to keep up with the quality parameters. The current research identified the objectives and constraints that might be faced by the peas producing factory while developing views on different capacity constraints and management issues that are likely to affect their efficiency of growth while addressing the specific needs and requirements of the clients and customers.

Part B

Introduction

The effective marketing strategy of an organization significantly contributes towards its sales and profitability while addressing the specific needs and preferences of the customers. It has been observed that creativity of marketing contents supports businesses in attracting the attention of their target audience while influencing their buying behavior. Dębińska (2019) stated that the aim of marketing is not only to create awareness among the target group of customers but also improve their engagement in the buying process extensively in order to improve the sales of a business. Most businesses develop coherent processes in order to identify the specific needs and priorities of the customers while designing propositions and position the same effectively in order to ensure sales and profitability. On the other hand, businesses conduct situational analysis with the purpose of identifying the different market trends and the manner in which the propositions might be manipulated with the purpose of addressing to the specific needs and requirements of the customers. The current discussion would be conducting the situational analysis of the organization, Red Bull, while devising different strategic interventions in order to ensure the operational and marketing efficiency of the venture while improving the growth prospects in the intensely competitive international markets.

Background of the organization: Red Bull

Red Bull is an energy drink that is manufactured and marketed by an Austria based business Red Bull GmbH, which was established in the year 1987. It has been observed that the organization holds a major market share in the energy drink industry around the world. The quality of the propositions and the unique offerings made by the business has enabled the venture in gaining a competitive edge over the existing market players. Moreover, the extensive expansion activities of the organization in the different economies around the world have ensured their sales and growth while addressing the different priorities and requirements of the customers.

Situational analysis

PESTLE analysis

TOWS assessment

Marketing recommendations for the organization

Product: The concerned organization, specializes in manufacturing and marketing energy drinks that helps in combating physical and mental fatigues. The ingredients that are being used by the organization are specifically caffeine, taurine, glucuronolactone, sucrose and glucose, B-group vitamins, and alpine spring water. It has been observed that the increased awareness among the customers of the negative impacts of caffeine on cardiac and psychiatric conditions has been restricting the active engagement of most of the organization’s target audience in making purchase decisions. In this connection, the concerned organization might take the initiative of implementing diversification strategy through the introduction and development of a line of beverages that are healthy. As per research, it was observed that around 62% of the global customers are making a shift towards healthy beverage alternatives (Learning 2020). In this connection, the introduction of healthy range of beverages would be allowing the organization in improving their sales volume with greater participation of the customers. Dębińska (2019) opined that diversification of the propositions that are offered by an organization supports in gaining a competitive edge in the markets through an expansion in the range of propositions while improving their reach in the target markets. Moreover, McCarthy (2017) stated that diversification of propositions offered by an organization increases the chances of making better sales which extensively contributes towards the growth and expansion of an organization in the global markets. Therefore, the concerned case organization must take the initiative of devising alternative healthy propositions in order to attract the attention of a variety of customers and influencing the improvements in their sales activities.

Price: The organization has focused towards positioning the energy drinks as premium products. The positioning of an organizational offering as premium propositions affects the capability of an organization in improving the scope of increasing the sales figures. Santee (2020) stated that positioning a proposition as a premium offering narrows the scope of a business while making sales to the niche audience. In this connection, the concerned organization might take the initiative of developing a differentiation pricing strategy while introducing their new propositions. The use of differentiated pricing strategy would support the organization in addressing the sales targets while improving the rate of profitability as per the strategic requirements and sustenance based needs of the business. According to Dębińska (2019), the introduction of differentiated strategies allows an organization in gaining a competitive edge through increased engagement of the customers while influencing the same to make purchases. The widened target audience, in the case of the concerned organization, through the implementation of the differentiated pricing strategy would allow the organization in improving their sales volume around the world.

Place: The organization distributes its propositions mostly through the creation of a small network of local subsidiaries and small distributors. Moreover, the organization also operated through collaboration with small chains of restaurants, bars and pubs in order to maintain the availability of their propositions., It was observed that the organization never made its propositions available in different e- commerce platforms or supermarkets which restricted the same in improving their sales volume. Santee (2020) stated that restricted accessibility of the propositions or limited availability of the offerings that are made by a business limits the capability of the same in improving their sales with increased customer participation in the purchasing process. Therefore, the concerned organization must take the initiative of implementing omni- channeled distribution strategies in order to empower their sales volume while addressing to the different needs and requirements of the customers. The omni channeled distribution strategy would be supporting the organization in maintaining availability of their propositions in different e- commerce platforms and supermarkets stores which would encourage online and offline purchases. Bremser, Walter and Goehlich (2018) stated that the increased availability of propositions through online and offline distribution channels supports an organization in gaining a competitive edge over the other existing market players through better sales prospects. Therefore, the omni channeled distribution strategy would be contributing towards the diversified growth and development of the organization in the global markets.

Promotion: Celebrity endorsements are one of the major promotional techniques that are used by the organization in order to reach out to their target audience. Sponsorship in different extreme sports events, television and print media advertising campaigns are also considered by the business as an integral part of their promotional activity. However, it has been observed that the organization has failed to mark an effective online presence which extensively limited the capability of the same in gaining a competitive edge over the existing market players. McCarthy (2017) stated that the utilization of social and digital media advertising enables an organization in widening their reach among their target audience while encouraging and influencing their active participation. In this connection, the concerned organization must exploit the opportunity of utilizing a range of social and digital media platforms with the purpose of making their target audience aware of their new and healthy propositions while influencing their buying behavior, for empowering the continuous growth and economic sustenance of the business.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above research it might be stated that the identification of the situational attributes supports an organization in gaining an insight on the loopholes while strategizing with the view of improving their market position. The discussion conducted a situational analysis of Red Bull while identifying the areas of concerns that are being encountered by the concerned organization. Moreover, the discussion also suggested certain recommended interventions that might be considered by the business in order to ensure the continuous growth and development in the global markets.

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