Mpm701A Business Process: Business Model Assessment Answers

Through an analysis of an organisational business model case ( Angus Dairy Co), students are expected to address a range of key theoretical perspectives on processes and practices that relate to organisational structures, people management, marketing and finance. 

Students will draw on the Essential and Recommended Readings as set out in this Learning Guide as well as their own research This assessment is designed to foster learning in relation to the first four unit learning outcomes.

Answer:

The 21^st century is the age of rapid technological advancements and developments. Each and every organization has to face a   tough competition to survive in the long run. In order to survive in this scenario, it is really important for the managers to build a successful organizational structure for attaining success in the long run. Each and every organization has certain goals to accomplish in the short and the lob run. They can attain those goals properly only with the proper guidance and support from this managers. One of the most important things that the organizations have to focus on is customer satisfaction (Wolfson 2014). So, they need a structure that will help them to maximize their profit and their customer satisfaction at the same time. Angus Dairy Company is one of the leading dairy manufacturers in Australia. The managers make sure that they are using a particular organizational structure that helps their employees to upgrade themselves and also meet the customer demands at the same time.

Contemporary organizational structure and design

There are different types of organizational structures that can be seen in different companies. The organizations have to take many different aspects into consideration while setting up the organizational structure. This is because they have to check the long and short-term goals of the organization, the skill of the employees, the needs and demands of the customers. There are many different types of structures in an organization life functional structure. This is one where the employees are usually under a less stress as they have to report to only some known departmental heads like the customer service department, the marketing department, and the sales department. However, there is a problem that the employees might need some extra detailed communication channels. They might also need some specialized departments to help them understand and deliver their work better. The other structure is the matrix structure. As the very name suggests the employees will have to report to a matrix or a larger group of managers and departmental heads. This will ease their workloads there will be clearance in the decision-making skills. However, at the same time, there is a chance that employees might suffer from confusion (Ashkenas et al. 2015).

As far as the given information of Angus Dairy Co. is concerned, they make sure that the employees are getting all the possible support from the manager and the other departmental heads. The company believes in following a diverse and unique business model that will help them to make and also maintain the business profitability and also the member profitability. They also make sure to take into account the customer demands in this modern scenario (Sayles 2017). They make sure that they are being able to upgrade the quality and the number of products both for the local, national and the International (Global) level as well. So, it is evident that they need to have several departments that will help the workers to fill their skill gaps. They will be able to reach put to one department in the absence of the other. At the same time, the decision-making process of the company will also be smooth. So, it can be said that they use the network structure. This is a modern kind of organizational structure where the power is decentralized. In other words, the managers do not try to keep all the power only within their own hands. They make sure that the structure is smooth and also employee friendly (Erevelles, Fukawa and Swayne 2016). In other words, they follow both the employee-centric and the customer-centric approach. This is also a social networking structure that helps in the art of socialization. The chances of innovation and technology are also higher as it involves both the inter-organizational and the intra organizational aspects. There is also less number of tiers which ensures that the decision-making process is carried on in a bottom-up flow manner and is devoid of obstructions. As Angus Dairies aim at working both for the local and the global level they have to expand their innovative approaches on a larger geographic area. This structure is also less hierarchical and thus the decisions can be made promptly without any loss of time.

Figure1: The Network Structure

Source: (Schilling and Fang 2014)

People management and Practices

People management is one of the most important aspects that the company has to look after. Angus Dairies have about 3000 farmer members, 500 temporary casual staffs and 2000 full-time workers. On the other hand, these employees are also scattered among all the different branches that are located in and around the country. Angus Dairies makes sure to use the workplace safety approaches for the welfare of their employees. So, it is evident from this fact that they give due importance to the health, safety and well being of the employees. In the modern day scenario, the competition is increasing at a rapid rate. As a result of this, the amount of work pressure is also rising day by day. This has made the entire production process quite challenging for the employees. Angus Dairies uses the scientific management process for managing its employees. This is one of the useful methods as it helps in making the employees satisfied. Some of the important features of this process are –

The rewards of improvement and development in production must go to the employees. In other words, it is the duty of the managers to distribute rewards among the employees. The level of work stress and anxiety must be checked (Scott 2015). This can be done by dividing the workload among the employees so that the no single employee is being burdened with the maximum amount of work. It is for this reason that Angus Dairies follows the workplace safety measure and makes sure that none of their employees are suffering from any workplace injuries (Shields et al. 2015). It is for this reason that the company has also decided to outsource some of its functions. This helps them to ensure that their employees can be concentrated on some selected areas of work rather than doing a large amount of work within a very short period of time.

It is for this reason that the marketing, advertising and the promotion of the company have been outsourced. The organizations who are taking this work also conduct the market research analysis, advertising campaigns, and methods of product development, market strategies, and others. So, it is an understanding that this helps is managing the work of the company is free, smooth and less time-consuming manner.

Figure2: Organizational structure

Source: (Ashkenas et al. 2015)

Angus Dairies take care of their employees and also focus on their skill development. This is indeed very essential as this company specializes in a large number of products. They also carry out a huge research and development process so that they can excel in the quality and the quantity of the products produced by them. So, they are devoted to making the work environment employee friendly. They make sure that they are making the manufacturing process easier and smooth by introducing the modern scientific methods of production and manufacturing.

Marketing practices in contemporary organizational setting

In this modern scenario, the companies are trying to adopt many contemporary marketing practices so that they can prosper in the long run. As per the opinion of (Xu, Frankwick and Ramirez 2016), traditional approaches help the companies in carrying out their marketing processes in a simple traditional manner. As a result of this, they can concentrate on the rest of the work taking place in the company (Parsons, Maclaran and Chatzidakis 2017) argues that in order to make a strong base in the market the companies have to adopt the modern approaches of marketing. They have to use an intensive R&D system so that they get a clear idea about the ongoing trends in the market. For instance one of the contemporary marketing approaches is the shared value (Crane et al. 2014). Here, the company has to show some perks or some attractions to the co summers in the said market before penetrating into the same.

Angus Dairies have started producing a large number of other products like butter, cheese, and other such products. They have also started adding elements like omega 3 into their products so that the consumers feel that they will be getting several perks after if they are making purchases from this company. Angus Dairies also make sure that they are creating many events where they can meet with many other companies of the same industry and exchange many new business ideas.

Financial practices in contemporary organizational setting

The modern scientific methods of maintaining the finance and accounts are used. This helps in keeping all the important data at the same place (Horowitz 2014). CFO is one of the most modern kinds of system that can be used for keeping all the financial data at the same place. This helps in modernizing the entire financial system in the company. This helps in structuring and running the financial affairs of the company in a better and more effective manner. Angus Dairies believe in adopting all the modern scientific methods or making the work much easier for the employees.

References

Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T. and Kerr, S., 2015. The boundaryless organization: Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons.

Crane, A., Palazzo, G., Spence, L.J. and Matten, D., 2014. Contesting the value of “creating shared value”. California management review, 56(2), pp.130-153.

Erevelles, S., Fukawa, N. and Swayne, L., 2016. Big Data consumer analytics and the transformation of marketing. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), pp.897-904.

Horowitz, N., 2014. Art of the deal: Contemporary art in a global financial market. Princeton University Press.

Parsons, E., Maclaran, P. and Chatzidakis, A., 2017. Contemporary issues in marketing and consumer behaviour. Routledge.

Prasad, P., 2015. Crafting Qualitative Research: Working in the Postpositivist Traditions: Working in the Postpositivist Traditions. Routledge.

Sayles, L.R., 2017. Managing large systems: Organizations for the future. Routledge.

Schilling, M.A. and Fang, C., 2014. When hubs forget, lie, and play favorites: Interpersonal network structure, information distortion, and organizational learning. Strategic Management Journal, 35(7), pp.974-994.

Scott, W.R., 2015. Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural and open systems perspectives. Routledge.

Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., Johns, R., O'Leary, P., Robinson, J. and Plimmer, G., 2015. Managing employee performance & reward: Concepts, practices, strategies. Cambridge University Press.

Wolfson, T., 2014. Digital rebellion: The birth of the cyber left. University of Illinois Press.

Xu, Z., Frankwick, G.L. and Ramirez, E., 2016. Effects of big data analytics and traditional marketing analytics on new product success: A knowledge fusion perspective. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), pp.1562-1566.