Final Submission of Systems Analysis Portfolio

Eliane L. Barbosa

Walden University

11/11/2015

Baria Planning Solutions is American consultancy firms that deal with service provision on matters of procurement, purchase contracts, advising on pricing models that help improve services of their clients. BPS has several divisions in their firm, the main three divisions are sales operations department, the North American head office and the sales support team (Saxena, 2012) Just like any other business, the road to success cannot be smooth but can be posed with myriad of predicaments including low sales, low profits margins system delays and lack of commitment by the sales team. This essay has described the BPS nature of the business and the factors posing challenges in its operation.

The issues facing BPS sales are quite a number and have impacted on their sales leading to low sales margin. In the entire industry, they have faced a very stiff competition that is arising from the new entrants of the market. Among the firms joining the market include, SAP and Accenture, which are offering consultancy services about procurement and improving the systems operations, This made BPS report low sales because the market cake had been shared compared to before it used to monopolize the market. The general performance has declined rapidly, and this has made the managing director draft an email outlining the root causal of the decline in its sales. Another challenge that is facing the business is the cost of training expenses which are expensive and therefore, reduced productivity of employees. This productivity has in turn affected the performance of the industry. The sales group have had no assistance from the directors of the branch and hence caused the delayed submission of proposals to clients. The failure to submit the substantial proposals in time to the customers have reduced the sales. This is because the company had missed of the deadlines set by its clients. This essay has highlighted the problems that BPS has gone through in the competitive industry.

A feedback loop is an essential tool to enhance the productivity in the system (Harris, 2005). It refers to a structure that causes the output from one point that in turn causes in put in the other point of the node. For instance, in this case, study, BPS loop feedback can represent the factors causing its inefficiencies. The factors to include in the feedback loop include the following: the cost of training, sales force, late proposals, competition, low sales margin. The causal loop diagram, in this case, study would look like this:

This feedback loop diagram shows a cycle of problems that is facing the firm (BPS). In the above figure, reduced sales and low performance have reduced the company's profits and, therefore, it is expensive to train the sales forces on business related issues. The sales workforce in turn delayed and missed the proposals deadlines given by clients resulting to stiff competition by new entrants in the markets (Skolarus, 2015). The arrows indicate that one node will influence another, and there is a correlation between the variables in the system. Managers can, therefore, use the feedback loop to identify easily the problem in the system, where it originates and find possible solutions to the problems.

It is no doubt that when we are faced with problems we try to find the solutions of the problem by asking ourselves questions “why” may able no more than five times (Benjamin, 2015). Such questions will lead us to get the cause of the problem. BPS is a consultancy firm that has challenges that some are already addressed in the causal loop diagram. The 5whys tool applicable here based on this problem: Baria Planning Solution is making a low profit margin.

1. Why? Stiff competition from SAP and Accenture

2. Why? Proposal deadlines we have missed

3. Why? Cost- train has become expensive

4. Why? Employee reduced productivity

5. Why? Reduced/low turnover or annual sales

Baria Planning Solutions, therefore, needs to implement some of the above questions to become more effective and develop a competitive strategy. The company should train more employees to increase their service delivery that will improve the output. BPO should consider implementing the total quality management principle in the production line. This theory will help to improve and add value to the systems processes. The submission of proposals should be made in the right time to avoid delays and any inconveniences caused to the client. BPO should counter competition through value addition and acquiring the most sophisticated technology in term of software improvement and development. The system causal loop diagram (CLD) helps us to understand the problems the firm is facing, their origin and where to begin if we are to eliminate them.

In conclusion, I would recommend that BPS should embark on thorough and serious market research so that they are not overtaken by their competitors. Its acquisition strategy should go hand in hand by training their work forces, ensuring timely proposal deliveries to clients, improving systems productivity. Research work should be aimed at identifying gaps in the market, reasons for low turnover and the need to satisfy customer needs. To solve simple problems and obtain quick solutions, use the tree loop diagrams to identify easily problems.

References

Saxena, H. R., Peris, N., & Baria, N. (2012).Leaders’ Quagmire in Driving Innovation Amidst the Bounds of Strategy. TMTC, 37

Harris, S. L., & Levine, A. J. (2005) The p53 pathway: positive and negative feedback loops. Oncogene, 24(17), 2899-2908.

Benjamin, S. J., Marathamuthu, M. S., & Murugaiah, U. (2015) The use of the 5-WHYs technique to eliminate OEE's speed loss in a manufacturing firm Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 21(4), 419-435.

Skolarus, T. A., & Sales, A. E. (2015 Implementation Issues Complex Interventions in Health: An Overview of Research Methods, 265.

EXPENSIVE COST TRAINING

SALES WORK FORCE

MISSED PROPOSALS

MARKET ENTRANTS-COMPETITION

REDUCED SALES AND PERFORMANCE