Service Operations and Marketing for Business- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theService Operations and Marketing for Global Business. Answer: Introduction The purpose of this business report is to critically analyze a case study of Australian Premium Produce. This is one of the major companies in Australia that have operated locally for a period of five years. Just like any other objective oriented business enterprise, Bentley Beverage Services was able to expand business operation from local business operations to international business level[1]. Initially, the company was producing products such as food as well as alcoholic drinks to different parts of Australia. This was just a local business operation where the company operated as a main wholesaler. In that connection, many local business operators have a motive and a desire to expand the operations of the business to a wider markets. This is driven by desire to generate more profits as well as offering goods and services in areas where a business gap have been spotted. Many companies that aim at moving from local to global business operation have applied various strategies that ha ve enabled them to achieve competitive advantage at global level[2]. In that case, the idea of re-badging Bentley Beverage Services as Australian Premium Produce can be classified as a good strategy in this particular business operation. When a business enterprise decide to shift from local operations to global operations, there are many factors that need to be factored in so as to fully initiate a progressive operation. The facts that Australian Premium Produce expanded it markets for products to other states and territories, then a lot of issues were to be considered so as to sustain the business in both short run and long run business growth and development[3]. It also involved shifting from contractual situations to BYOD situations. From such kind of business growth, a quality mobility and accurate data are very necessary so as to maintain upward trends in business growth and development of Australian Premium Produce. As a business consultant, I wish to apply by skills and expertise so as to offer a detailed and comprehensive recommendations and advice to Australian Premium Produce. This will assist the company to solve all the issues associated to shifting business operations from local levels to global levels. In that connection, this business report will be implemented by Australian Premium Produce so as to achieve the short term and long term objectives of the business[4]. Finally, the report will form a benchmark on strategies to solve business operations by critically analyzing the following issues concerning Australian Premium Produce case study. Data requirement by customer representatives such as inventory levels, pricing and location. Information concerning currency, warehouses holding stock and management of orders This section aim at considering business processes and management necessary for the purpose of addressing the aspects of data needed by customer representatives, currency, warehousing and management of orders. By laying down the advice on these particular foundations, then Australian Premium Produce will be in a better position to address the issues at hand. Data required by customer representatives The importance of data in any business operations cannot be ignored in any way. Data concerning business processes need to be gathered in a way that offers the solutions to the underlying problems[5]. Data appropriateness and accuracy need to be considered in the operations of the business. This will promote more market venture and generation of more profits from the sales of goods and services. Therefore, we aim at addressing the data concerning inventory levels, pricing and the location of the business. To start with, customer representatives need data on inventory levels. In this case, we can term the underlying inventories as stock of Australian Premium Produce. These inventory or simply stock need to be in manageable levels in terms of all the features of quality inventory[6]. In this case, the customer representatives need to have the following data on inventory levels. First, the quality of inventory. This is very important for sale of any products. In the market place, the rate at which inventories are consumed by customers and consumers is highly associated to the quality of stock offered by Australian Premium Produce. If the inventory is in good quality, then the customer representatives will have ease time to convince the customers and customers to buy the products. This will in that return increase the market sales of the products thus generating more profits for the business. The other aspect of inventory level quality is competition. The aim of any business in operation is to attain competitive advantage in the market place[7]. Therefore, customer representatives need these data so as to outdo the competitors. In case the quality of inventory under consideration ii not up to the desired qualities, then customer representative need to forward the trend of sales of the inventory to Australian Premium Produce management team for upgrade and for rebranding. On the case note, the quantity of inventory is important. Customer representatives need the data of quantity of inventory that can sustain the market for a given period of time. This will reduce cases of oversupply and undersupply in the market with regards to the demand from the consumers. Therefore, may advise to Australian Premium Produce on inventory levels is based on marketing strategy. Marketing strategy put into consideration the forces of demand and supply mechanisms[8]. Always make sure that the business maintain quality inventory levels so as to attract the customers and outdo the competi tors. Maintaining the market quantity of inventory levels ensures that the market is in equilibrium will proper prices of good as well as adequate supply of inventory levels to sustain the market. This data is important to customer representatives to avoid price fluctuations in the market and unnecessary supply in the market. Another data that customer representative may need in this scenario is pricing. A pricing process require a tactical consideration along with other pricing strategies[9]. The price of products offered by Australian Premium Produce need to be reasonable when venturing into new markets. This will be able to attract the consumers and tame them into future reliable customers. Again. On the same note, Australian Premium Produce need to take care of untrusted sales agents and customer representatives. This is because, a lot of complains have been reported from a similar case study on sales of products by sales agents and customer representatives. Some of these staffs then to sell the products at higher prices different from recommendations of the company management. They use the information inside the business for their personal gain. Therefore, customer representative need this data in the issue of pricing. Any attempt to conduct such act will be an offence based on insider trading. In th is case, the aspect of true governances will be implemented to maintain proper pricing of goods and products offered by Australian Premium Produce. Lastly on data, the issue of location need to be well established to customer representatives. The operations of the business need to venture in areas where high turnout of consumers will be located. There is need to reduce unnecessary expenses and costs that will result too insignificant sales of the products[10]. Therefore, consumer representatives need to research which location to venture o as to make more sales with reduction in the cost of venture. The main aim of a business is maximization and optimization of sales and profits. Again, the business aims at minimization of cost of operations. Thus, the location of the business should be reliable with potential customers and consumers. This will include urban centers with high population[11]. This location is very important since there is high likelihood of increase the customer threshold which may favor the growth and development of Australian Premium Produce in the future. Therefore, may advise on location is based on operation al aspects of business processes. Currency of information The modern trade is based on currency unlike the traditional barter trade. It is important to note that currency is affected by various aspects such as deflationary gaps and inflationary gaps. This king of information is very necessary in business operations and processes. Currency is highly affected by inflation[12]. Typically, inflation is a condition where there is too much money or currency in supply in the economy. In that case, the purchasing power of the currency lowers which is likely to affect business operations. Therefore, the company need to know when to hold currency as a liquid asset and when to hold it as a fixed assets. My advice on currency information for Australian Premium Produce is to hold money as fixed asset during inflation and as liquid cash during deflations[13]. This will help the company to reduce that problems associated to deflationary and inflationary gaps. This will assist in management of cash inflows and cash out flows in the business operations and processes. This will also assist the company to organize the resources during the different business cycles such as boom, recession, recovery and peak seasons. Stock Warehousing A warehouse is also known as silo in business terminology. This is a room where the stocks or inventories of a business enterprise are held for ready supply to the market once they arise. The issue of warehousing is very crucial for any business that need to operate both locally and globally.[14]For the case of Australian Premium Produce, the issue of warehouse holding stock may become a challenge bearing in mind that the company expanded the market for the products from local to global level. This implies that the quantity of stock that need to be kept ready of supply and shipment has increased significantly. The problem that arise from warehouse holding stocks is based on the costs for hiring the warehouses and complex legal procedures used to access a warehouse together with security and risks associated to holding stocks in a warehouse. First, the cost of hiring the warehouse is quite high which challenge the operations of Australian Premium Produce. Warehouses are charged highly due to competition by investors and scarcity of warehouses. Again, to secure a warehouse, the legal procedures followed may hinder the operations of the business[15]. There are documents that need to be provided when holding products in a warehouse and when collecting the products from the warehouse. In those documents are in question in any time of holding and collecting the products, then there could be delays that may affect the operations of the business. This may result to losses in case the products under consideration are perishable products. Another issue associated to warehousing is security of the products and stocks to be held in the warehouse[16]. This is because, a given warehouse may be used to store stocks for different clients which may expose the stock in to risks of mishandling. Therefore, my advice to Australian Premium P roduce is to ensure they reconsidered the type of ware house to use for their products. There are different types of warehouses that are offer for commercial services. They include government warehouses that are operated by government agents top offer warehousing services to the public[17]. There are public warehouse that are owned by the members of the public. These are less costly compared to government warehouses since not duty is included in the products. I this business report, the best warehouse to hold stock for Australian Premium Produce is private warehouse. The company need to build a private warehouse so as to mitigate all the negative issues associated to warehousing. A private warehouse is convenient to the company at any time of business operation. The security of the products is a guarantee where the risks of uncertainty are highly reduced[18]. In that case, the company can hold any quantity of stock desired unlike the public warehouse where there is a limit of quantity of stock to hold. Managing order completion The management of order completion is another very important aspect in this case study. In that case, the central system that will be incorporated for lodging orders must be reliable and accessible to the relevant offices. This will pave way forward to design a methodology that best fit the location for the products where huge sales will be generated[19]. The central system need to offer an alternative way to manage orders so as to have smooth completion. Thus my advice to Australian Premium Produce is to maintain a working central system for lodging orders along with manual backup to support the lodging of these orders in case of a technical problem in the central system. Business mobility and BYOD issues of security and risk It is important to note that the owner of any business can do anything that will support the operations of the business. The owner of the business is ready to commit all the necessary resources so as to motivate his business in the process of growth and development[20]. In that connection, the owner of Australian Premium Produce must commit the necessary resources so as to witness the appropriate mobility for this business as well as to commit resources to mitigate the issues of security and risks. Business mobility Australian Premium Produce need to design a reliable mobility of factors of production. There are four factors of production. They include land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. Therefore, for Australian Premium Produce to have upward mobility in business growth and development, then, all these factors of production need to be factored in and need to be mobile as well[21]. The first factor of mobility is land. Land refers to the general area of operation under which the business is laid. In this case, Australian Premium Produce deals with food and alcoholic drinks. This implies that, there are certain plants that the company have set to produce these products. In terms of mobility, these areas are typically referred to land. Thus, since the company expanded the market to global level, there is need for mobility of land in production process. Australian Premium Produce need to expand more plants to other areas of operations. So my advice to Australian Premium Produce is to set mor e retrial outlets to other parts of the global where the business have been able to venture. In that case, the business will be able to generate the products from a closer plant rather than spending a lot of costs in warehousing and shipment of these products to international users[22]. There is need of devolution to be closer to the consumers. This will expand the company to other territorial boundaries. Other aspect of mobility is labour. It is very important for any business that need to enhance growth and development to recruit the best labour in terms of skills and expertise. Intensive labour will assist Australian Premium Produce to increase on quality and quantity of production. This is because, there will be innovation and creativity so as to satisfy the consumers lists of preference[23]. In this this, it implies that mobility of Australian Premium Produce will be achieved by capitalizing on intensive labour. This go along with proper wages, salaries and remunerations to the labour force so as to motivate them to achieve the set objectives of Australian Premium Produce. Another aspect of mobility is capital. This factor of production need to have mobility so as to expound on business operations. For any business to achieve the mobility in term of scale and scope of operations, then there is need to in put more capital in to the business operations and processes. Therefore, my advice to Australian Premium Produce is to commit more capital to the production process and marketing strategies[24]. This will involve reinvesting generated profits to the business. This will improve the scale and scope of business operation to a wider perspective in the global levels. Last nature of mobility is entrepreneurship as a factor of production. Mobility of entrepreneurship will assist Australian Premium Produce to reach more markets in the long run. The profits generated by the company will be reinvested[25]. The legal procedures required to expand the business an entrepreneurial scheme will not be subjected to complex legal formalities. This will favor Australian Premium Produce to a large extent. If all these factors of production are subjected to the mention mobility, then Australian Premium Produce will become a global company whose net worth of the business will in a position to sustain the company for a long period of time. BYOD issue Once Australian Premium Produce shifted from local to global operations, it was able to shift from contractual situation to BYOD situation. In that connection, there are two aspect that come along and need to be factored in in this business report. That is, security and risk. The facts that Australian Premium Produce expanded it markets for products to other states and territories, then a lot of issues were to be considered so as to sustain the business in both short run and long run business growth and development[26]. Among other factors that were embraced by the company were initiation of customer representatives who were to be situated to different areas of operations. It also involved shifting from contractual situations to BYOD situations. There is need to reconsider the issue of security and risks associate to the business operation a global level. There is the issue of security of products during the production process, warehousing and shipment to international markets[27]. In that connection, my advice to Australian Premium Produce is based on the fact that a lot of many more products from other investors from different business operations. The process to be used by all these investors will be similar. Therefore, to avoid the confrontations associated to this public mode of operation that may damage the stock and other programs, the best thing for Australian Premium Produce is to embrace privatization. This will reduces the insecurity related to damage of stocks and risks of uncertainty. Access to the applications by Australian Premium Produce staffs The fact that only a small number of staffs access the all the information including the accounting system is an issue that need to be addressed because a lot of implications can be associated to this particular decision. As a consultant, a have a privilege of analyzing different scenarios similar to Australian Premium Produce case study. The issue of accessing business information and application by staffs is very sensitive at times to business operations and processes[28]. Australian Premium Produce have only permitted a small number of staffs to access business applications including accounting information systems. With that as a baseline, I tend to offer the following recommendations. I tend to believe information is power. This statement implies that, only relevant information is required to assist a specific staff or a cohort of staff to execute a particular task. Everything else is substantial[29]. Australian Premium Produce only need to allow access of applications to authorized staffs only. This is important to limit the rate at which important and confidential data leak to the outside. Again, it is important for Australian Premium Produce to realize that data vulnerability is very common from the inside of business operations. There is a lot of applications and information that need to be put confidential for a chosen cohort of business staffs. Thus allowing a large portion of staffs to access accounting systems may compromise the entire strategies laid down by the business. Therefore, a recommend a definite authentication to be put in to consideration what it comes to issue of accessing business applications such as accounting systems. Let every staff access the information relevant to his scale and scope of operations. Another recommendation is based on the issue of insider trading. Many cases have been reported where staffs in a given business enterprise use inside information for their personal gains and personal interest. Insider trading is an offence punishable by law[30]. Therefore, to help the staffs from the activities of insider trading, it is important to limit the access of information and application to relevant and authorized users. Let the payroll system remain the mandate of the owner so as to limit cases of financial frauds by other staffs. Management of IT services It is a fact that almost 80% of global business operations cannot work without information technology. Therefore, the owner of the business need to be equipped highly in the area of information technology. The owner need to be updated on any occurrences that Australian Premium Produce undertake. This can be achieved via information technology. The owner can manage IT services by utilizing a number of IT experts so as to fully focus on business operations. The owner can manage this by creating a local area network for his business operations[31]. A local area network will be reflecting all the operations taking place in Australian Premium Produce. From that perspective, the owner will be able to manage IT services from that angle. The aspect of outsourcing cannot be achieved without considering other stakeholders. In this case, the stakeholders are from global level. Thus, the owner need to work closely with international stakeholders before shifting business operation in to cost effe ctive approach. The owner of Australian Premium Produce need a cohort of IT staffs. These staffs include a data clerk, a networker, IT specialist, inventory system controller and database administrator. This cohort of IT staff will be of great importance to Australian Premium Produce. Data clerk been used in data collecting and data cleaning, a networker will be used in maintenance of local area network, IT specialist will oversee the whole IT service, inventory system controller will be used to forecast on inventory needed for particular market while database administrator will safeguard Australian Premium Produce data and confidential information from competitors. The management of these staffs will be based on scope of operation. Each staff will have authentication of his own area of operation without compromising on other staffs area of operations. Advise on service operations for owners business The owner of Australian Premium Produce business enterprise need to understand that his business cannot operate without the impact of other workers in his business. In simple terms, he cannot operate alone in his business. Therefore, there is need to have a management team that will oversee service operations for Australian Premium Produce. These team must comprise of reliable stakeholders who will have business operations at heart[32]. The owner need to reconsider the consumers and customers because they are the main clients of his business. Enquire on things the customers want done right for sustainability of service operations of Australian Premium Produce. These questions can be framed for the owner to realize the importance of his business operations to the market. Are the products offered by Australian Premium Produce satisfy the consumers and customers? Do the staffs enjoy working in Australian Premium Produce? What are the future objectives of Australian Premium Produce? Which mechanisms does Australian Premium Produce aim to apply to achieve competitive advantage in market place? Conclusion The operations of Australian Premium Produce need to focus on the future of the business so as to meet the long term objectives. In that case, the owner need to work closely with all the stakeholders to his business. 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