Final Paper Abby
kimdevore
ADWeek8Paper1.doc1
8
Operations, Technology, and Management, and Social Responsibility Plan (with Financials)
Abby Davis
Strayer University
BUS 599: Strategic Management
Professor Dr. Andrea Banto
May 29, 2022
Operations, Technology, Management, and Social Responsibility Plan (with Financials)
Operations Plan
Facilities
The company will rent the facility where all its operations will be conducted. Buying the facility will be significantly costly for the company as it is located in the city center. The facility space in which the company's operations will conduct will cost approximately $950. Since the company embraces technology, it will develop a friendly and easy-to-use website at $550 plus frequent service maintenance. The significant inventories, including refrigerators, cooler, ventilation, and packaging machine, will cost the company $4327.05 with packaging taking $700.
Production Process/ Description of Operations (if service company)
The production process for the company will begin with the suppliers. Most importantly, the company management will develop strong and effective relationships with its suppliers. These include individuals like farmers who will be selling raw materials to the company for further processing to achieve the end-consumer's needs. The quality of the raw materials will matter a lot to the company's production sector for the customer's attraction (Lake, 2018). After the company's processing activities, it will pack the fresh fruit snacks in quality and attractive containers to deliver to the respective customers as they order. Balance Body Snack's essential equipment includes refrigerators, coolers, ventilations, fruit vending machines, trucks, or motorcycles for delivering services and packaging containers. The company will purchase refrigerators, fruit vending machines, coolers, and ventilation equipment. It will rent other trucks and motorcycles on specific occasions of customer orders.
The management will ensure quality control is achieved by reinforcing and emphasizing suppliers' high-quality standards to produce end-user products. It will prioritize the health status of its customers when consuming fruit snacks (Ciurzyńska et al., 2019). In addition, it will consistently improve its sectors following the feedback offered by its consumers on the website. By the end of the second year, the company plans to open other stores across the city of its operations to increase its sales to over one million.
Research and Development
Balance Body Snack intends to embrace technology to the core of its operations. It heavily invests in the research and development sector to evaluate some of the most advanced technologies and innovative approaches. Some of the new products the company is having in its development are offering dried fruits, improving its door-to-door delivery services, and increasing its store presence across the state and later across the country for efficiency. The organization's R&D manager will be in charge of the research and development activities within the organization. Currently, the company operates with a maximum number of 24 employees whose salaries range from $500 per month. Moreover, there will be eleven part-time employees who will cost the organization $300 of salary per employee. There will be four key management employees including operations manager responsible of all operations and activities in the organization, accounts manager for accounting activities, marketing for products promotion, and quality control manager for quality checker.
Technology Plan
Software needs
One of the powerful software to use includes online food ordering software. Especially after the recent pandemic, many customers prefer shopping online which has attracted many businesses to shift their operations to the internet (Landon Post, 2021). The tool will enable the company to present its products to the potential online consumers and allow them to make an order and pay for their fruit snacks through the internet. Another powerful software to apply would be the Waiting Software, a tool that will respond to the customer's orders and feedback. The entity will also utilize Menu Building Software, which helps create a diverse menu list for the fruit snacks available on sale. Besides, it will use Inventory Management Software to eliminate any potential harmful factors that may lead to food poisoning. The tool will also help the company make the right decisions regarding its purchasing choices. The use of tracking software will also benefit both the company and the customers, as it will be used to acknowledge an order status. The overall cost of the software implementation will be an estimation at $350 per month.
Hardware Needs
The company will also anticipate spending an estimated $5100 to purchase new hardware for the snack store. The company's hardware will need to include desktop computers to access its website activities, mobile ordering, and payment tablets for ordering and payment efficiency (Landon Post, 2021). It will also need workstation peripheral devices to increase the efficiency in printing and accepting customers' receipts and cards.
Telecommunication Needs
The telecommunication needs will cost the entity approximately $300. The company will require a landline to receive calls from consumers and avail of its customer services. Besides, it will also need cell phones for remote access to customers' calls at any given time and place. Moreover, it will set up a Wi-Fi connection within its premises to allow its workforce members to access the internet for research and information regarding the properties of the fruit.
Personnel Needs
The IT management department will handle the entity's technology needs. The entity will have all of its activities and operations done by in-house team.
Management and Organization Plan
Key Management Employees
One of the key management employees in the organization is the operations manager. The individual is responsible for all operations taking place and the financial success of the organization's business (Hofstrand, 2020). He has experience in the production and marketing sectors of the business. Another significant management employee is the quality control manager. He is responsible for handling OSHA compliance, monitoring the quality of fruits from the suppliers, EPA compliance, and employee training. Also, another critical management employee is the accountant or bookkeeper manager. She is responsible for all financial income statements and balance sheets in the organization. The manager also has experience in receivables collection, payroll, and cash management every month. Also, the marketing manager is another significant management employee whose responsibility is to ensure the company's products, including the brand, are known in the market (Hofstrand, 2020). She also has experience in product promotion and sales.
Advisors
The first significant advisor for the company would be an accountant. The advisor is an expert in business accounts and will contribute to the organization by advising the management on taxes and tax planning following the entity's bookkeeping (Roberge, 2015). Another key piece of advice would be a lawyer whose expertise is based on business law. The advisor will also contribute to the company by advising the management on the essential procedures that the entity should consider following the stated law and regulations by both federal and state government agencies. An insurance agent is also a significant advisor whose contribution will be offering advice to the management on how effectively they can protect the business against significant changing events that might impact the business operations.
Management Hierarchy
Social Responsibility Plan
Impact on Stakeholders
The company management will focus on satisfying its employees to improve their services to the entity’s customers. It will compensate employees according to the laws and regulations that protect employees at the workplace. The company will offer employees opportunities of growing their careers within the company by promoting those with high performance. Based on its customers, it will ensure they have good interaction with its employees by offering quality products and services for a satisfactory level of customers. Moreover, it will make payment of raw materials to its suppliers on time and as agreed in the contract. The company will also support the community by providing quality seeds and fertilizers to farmers who supply them with raw materials. Doing so will provide employment opportunities to the community members since the farmers will need more labor to meet the company’s demands.
Environmental Impact
Positively, the company’s activities of supporting the plantation of fruits will encourage afforestation. This is by encouraging the community members to plant more fruit trees on their regional farms. In addition, due to lower GHG emissions, fruit production will help foster the elimination of green gases that lead to global warming. The company’s operations, especially in the production sector, may pollute the environment by dumping waste products and water. The company will have a proper way of dumping its waste materials without polluting the air or water sources to curb the issue. It can, for instance, bury or burn the waste in a free and open area.
Sources
Ciurzyńska, A., Cieśluk, P., Barwińska, M., Marczak, W., Ordyniak, A., Lenart, A., & Janowicz, M. (2019). Eating habits and sustainable food production in the development of innovative “healthy” snacks. Sustainability, 11(10), 2800.
Hofstrand D. (2020). Lead Management and Key Personnel Positions in a Business. Retrieved from;
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-111.html
Lake, A. A. (2018). Neighbourhood food environments: food choice, foodscapes and planning for health. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 77(3), 239-246.
Landon Post. (2021). 15 best examples of new software solutions in the Food and Beverages industry in 2021. Retrieved from;
Roberge M. (2015). 3 Key Advisors for Every Small Business Owner. Retrieved from;
https://www.slcbookkeeping.com/blog/3-key-advisors-for-every-small-business-owner
