BSB61015 Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management

Supply Chain

TGA Mobiles’ supply chain involves various processes including planning, where mobile phone concepts are translated by the planning department into designs and determines the requirements of resources like raw materials. The procurement team then uses the information gained from the planning team for purchasing the raw materials for supplier packing and products. The purchased materials are then delivered to the company and a review of the whole process is made to look into the effectiveness of the process.

Operational systems

The company’s operational systems include the making of the prototype, software installation, testing phase, mass production, and packaging. The company does not need to start from scratch when making new models since it already has older models, hence the product is fine-tuned according to customer feedback or expert advice.

Product / Service Delivery

TGA’s sales team takes orders from clients and forwards them to the distribution department which arranges for the delivery of mobile phones to the customer through the use of the contractual system of transport, while the retailers are at the end of the product delivery through the direct delivery of product to the customer.

1. Analyze the three key systems and processes mentioned above, and develop a review strategy for TGA Mobiles

In regards to the supply chain process, TGA Mobiles can look into the lead time which is the time taken for the raw materials to be delivered after the company has made an order. The company should ensure that it sources its raw materials from suppliers with the minimum lead time and the ones offering quality products. The supply chain process can be evaluated by looking into the level of services by the suppliers and the efficiency of the procurement department. In regards to the operational process, the company can measure its performance through customer feedback from their experiences while using the products. Negative feedback shows that customers were not satisfied while positive feedback shows that customers were satisfied with the products (Bayraktar et al., 2012). In regards to service and product delivery, the company can measure its sustainability of the process through measuring how efficient customers get their products. Generally, the company can use benchmarking, SWOT, check sheets and graphs and charts to evaluate the processes’ effectiveness (Webb & Sheeran, 2008).

1. Using an example of another company (real or hypothetical), test the effectiveness of the elements of your review strategy and write an evaluation of the effectiveness of your review strategy for TGA Mobiles and suggest improvements to your strategy.

MRA Mobiles is a cellphone producing company based in New Delhi. As a major company, the organization has experienced employees and has acquired a good brand reputation in the recent years due to the quality of services and products. The aspect has led to the company maintaining customer loyalty hence commanding the market. Through the review of MRA’s processes and key systems, TGA can benchmark the performance of their supply chain, operational systems, and product/service delivery and make improvements to their strategies.

1. Using the data provided for results up to 2013 analyze the variances from plans and targets for the key result areas (KRAs). Explain the performance with regards to:

Quality – design/ manufacturing, Sales, Profit, Supply chain performance, Staff and management performance, and Business growth/turnover

TGA Mobiles experienced a decline in phone quality, with customers complaining of poor making and design of phones. Additionally, customers complained that the new designs of products were overly-priced and were of poor quality. In terms of sales, the sales staff were increased by 50% in 2007. However, in the following year's sales dropped significantly and the company decided to use manufacturer representatives which were cheaper. The company has been making minimum profits while the performance of the supply chain has been poor. Furthermore, the company has been operating with a low number of staffs which has led to losses. In terms of business growth, the company has been lagging behind and struggling to implement new product lines and organizational changes hence leading to a loss of $4.5 million in 2012-2013.

1. Using the data provided for results up to 2013 and using the Key Milestones describe how TGA Mobiles’ measures, assessment tools, and techniques have previously monitored performance. 

The assessment tools have previously monitored the increasing number of staff to determine the growth of an organization. If there is an increase in staff it means there is the growth of the company (Porter & Kramer, 2011). By setting targets the company is able to monitor the profit margins and gaps between years. The assessment tools have also monitored the feedbacks from loyal customers and it is easier for the company to determine the progress of products in the market and what competitors are doing to increase their sales.

1. Discuss trends relevant to TGA Mobiles. Which trends had the most impact (positive or negative) on business growth and performance up to 2013?

The launch of cheap imitations has impacted TGA mobiles with some customers and competitors linking the company with originality issues. Additionally, the 3G trend in the market had an impact on TGA Mobiles with the majority of customers who use 2G networks opting to shift to 3G networks. When comparing all the trends, the invention of 3G networks had the most impact on the company. The invention of 3G saw the company revenues increasing from 2.4 to 3.9 with the majority of customers from the age of 14 years and above spending the majority of their time online. TGA has a great market share because the company has already established customer loyalty. This strength has facilitated the company to survive in the competitive market with many customers considering its products. In regards to reputation and stability, the company has strengths of maintaining brand loyalty. The company has also had higher profit margins as its sales are increasing every day. The customer service standards provide customer satisfaction to the company with the nature of the company being flexible for change. Employee’s performance is also excellent as a result of the training performed by the company, with creativity and innovation highly encouraged.

1. Three changing trends in the telecommunication industry that will create opportunities for TGA Mobiles in the coming year. Discuss how this opportunity will boost performance and areas (from the list above) that will be improved. Discuss the resources that may be required to take advantage of the opportunities.

Unleashing the power of 5G into the telecommunication industry around the world is the most trending technology that will create an opportunity for cellphone manufacturers (Andrews et al., 2014). According to Hu et al. (2015) the pressure of Internet of Things (IoT) is getting high with many internet consumers around the world desiring to have fast and reliable internet that will increase productivity in many industries. The 5G architecture is intended to be launched in the market late this year and the internet is expected to be ten times faster as compared to the current 4G with a download speed expected to be 10 GBPS (Fettweis & Alamouti, 2014). The 5G network will create a market opportunity as the majority of customers who are using 4G networks are likely to migrate to 5G networks hence they will need to upgrade their existing mobile phones and others will buy new mobiles phones. The 5G network will increase the overall performance of the company with more sales experience. Furthermore, the sales and marketing areas will be improved significantly. However, the implementation of the technology will see the company adding more resources like consultants and experts who are skilled and knowledgeable about the technology. Other resources include infrastructures such as upgrading of current network booths.

The digitalized customer support is another trend that will create an opportunity for 5G networks. The invention of technology will enable the companies to be able to track down and predict problems of customers. The introduction of this approach will give users capabilities of solving problems and questions on their own using their mobile phones (Lerch & Gotsch, 2015). The trend will create an opportunity for TGA as more people will purchase mobile phones with the latest 5G feature since they are compatible with the digitalized customer support software. The trend will improve the supply chain area and more human resource including engineers and consultants will be needed as they are good developers of the system.

Advanced cloud computing services is another trend that will create an opportunity for TGA Mobiles. People who use mobile phones are likely to shift to advanced mobile phones with latest features that will enable them to access the services and backup their mobile phones’ data online (Dinh, Lee, Niyato & Wang, 2013). The services will create an opportunity for TGA to manufacture more phones with the latest features. Both production and information technology areas will be improved with the services requiring more resources for engineers, developers, and designers who are creative and innovative.

Part 2

Task 1

1. Performance improvement strategy related to competitive positioning of TGA Mobiles in the Mobile Phone industry.

The performance strategy ideal for TGA is to change the existing culture of the organization. If the culture of the company is set on low strategic goals, then it needs to change its culture and set high goals. The changing of culture will change the initial process of the way the company does business. The proposed process will begin with the company reviewing the existing targets, the competence of employees and organizational assets. Furthermore, increasing the market share by 20% is an important strategic objective to the proposed process. The target will improve the KPI’s and KRA’s by enhancing customer loyalty, increased brand awareness, and improving competitiveness in the industry and positive customer feedback. Furthermore, the strategy will renew the bad reputation of the company as customers’ organizational image will be viewed as new. In order to implement the new culture and performance, the company will have to use its strengthened financial resources. Furthermore, the main strategic goal to be accomplished by the organization through the implementation of this strategy will be producing high-quality products by reducing production time and wastage. However, the strategy has disadvantages to the organization as employees might take time to adapt to the changing organization. The restructuring of the organization may expose the company to risks of losing skilled employees and more costs may be incurred as a result of the addition of resources.

Task 3

1. Risk analysis for strategy

1. Cost-benefit analysis for strategy

1. Meet with your manager (your assessor) to discuss strategy, risk, and cost-benefit analyses. Seek approval for strategy.

I met with the manager to discuss the analyzed strategies for innovation and the continuous improvement of processes in the company. We agreed that the number of skilled employees was low and needed to be improved. Additionally, we agreed that employees needed to be trained on the new innovations in order to improve efficiency and minimize risks. Furthermore, we discussed that the new machinery needed to be acquired in order to quickly implement the new strategy for innovation. I got an approval from the manager to implement the strategy and ensure that continuous improvement and evaluation of the process has been effected.

Part 3

Task 1

1. Develop action plans for Transition

1. Action plans for Communication

1. Develop a contingency plan

1. Action plans and contingency plans to address implementation failures.

Establishment of strategies will evaluate and monitor sustainability and performance of key processes and systems. Additionally, undertaking an analysis will assist in the identification of performance measures, techniques, and tools assessment, improve the effectiveness of analyzing plans variance and performance reports for the vital areas of the organization, and identify opportunities and changing trends which are relevant to the organization. According to Sniehotta (2009) seeking advice from experts and professionals helps to amend contingent and action plans as the identification of technology becomes easier.

1. Schedule

1. How I will enhance the promotion of continuous improvement, communicate the costs and benefits of innovations and improvements to all relevant groups and individuals

I will promote continuous improvement and communication costs by briefing groups on improving performance strategies and further considering innovation as an essential element towards competition. Furthermore, I will also encourage entrepreneurial behavior, recognition of new ideas as I accept the challenges and undertaking of cost-benefit analysis as well as risk management. Furthermore, approval of innovation as per the agreement of the organizational process helps in the improvement of relevant individuals and groups (Bryson, 2018).

References

Bayraktar, E., Tatoglu, E., Turkyilmaz, A., Delen, D., & Zaim, S. (2012). Measuring the efficiency of customer satisfaction and loyalty for mobile phone brands with DEA. Expert Systems with Applications, 39(1), 99-106.

Dinh, H. T., Lee, C., Niyato, D., & Wang, P. (2013). A survey of mobile cloud computing: architecture, applications, and approaches. Wireless communications and mobile computing, 13(18), 1587-1611.

Fettweis, G., & Alamouti, S. (2014). 5G: Personal mobile internet beyond what cellular did to telephony. IEEE Communications Magazine, 52(2), 140-145.

Hu, Y. C., Patel, M., Sabella, D., Sprecher, N., & Young, V. (2015). Mobile edge computing—A key technology towards 5G. ETSI white paper, 11(11), 1-16.

Lerch, C., & Gotsch, M. (2015). Digitalized product-service systems in manufacturing firms: A case study analysis. Research-Technology Management, 58(5), 45-52.

Sniehotta, F. F. (2009). Towards a theory of intentional behaviour change: Plans, planning, and self?regulation. British journal of health psychology, 14(2), 261-273.

Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley & Sons.

Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2008). Mechanisms of implementation intention effects: The role of goal intentions, self?efficacy, and accessibility of plan components. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47(3), 373-395.

Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011). The big idea: Creating shared value.

Andrews, J. G., Buzzi, S., Choi, W., Hanly, S. V., Lozano, A., Soong, A. C., & Zhang, J. C. (2014). What will 5G be?. IEEE Journal on selected areas in communications, 32(6), 1065-1082.